Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 199

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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199. Preparation
[Trial Gates Appear Again—What Trial Awaits This Time?]
Korea and the entire world buzzed with anticipation as the Trial Gates reappeared simultaneously across the globe. These competitive Gates had manifested in a coordinated wave across every continent.
[Trial of Fire Gate]
-Recommended Level: 36~50
-Party Limit: 10 members
The level range suited us perfectly, yet something nagged at me with doubt.
Every Trial Gate that had appeared so far fell within my level bracket. Could it truly be coincidence?
‘I suspect that god’s hand is at work here.’
-A suspicion well-founded, I’d say.
Chun-bae agreed with my assessment.
-Typically, Trial Gates calibrate their requirements to mid-to-high tier Awakeners, though they do occasionally deviate in either direction.
‘The situation does seem suspicious, I must admit.’
-Affirmative. I too sense some form of intervention. They’re appearing with increasing frequency in a short span.
Though Chun-bae offered no definitive answer, his suspicion of that surviving god mirrored my own.
It was the same instinct I’d felt when suspecting Jo Ji-hyuk. The rapid proliferation of Gates reinforced that intuition.
[Dragon Guild Reaches Level 50! Breaking World Records Yet Again]
[Unstoppable Leveling: How Far Will the Space Mage and Han Hye Ascend?]
After news of the Trial Gate broke, discussions of our conquest revealed my level fifty status.
-Might I ask what your current level is, Han Hye?
“Level fifty.”
-Thank goodness. Truly, a relief beyond measure.
The Association Staff exhaled deeply at my answer, their relief palpable. We could have emerged from the Ruins Gate having gained two levels—a scenario they’d clearly dreaded.
I heard the Trial Gate had appeared three hours before we emerged, and the entire world had fixed its attention upon us.
[The Space Mage! Level 50, Not 51—Eligible for Trial Gate Entry!]
[Han Hye Reaches Level 50—Will She Conquer This Trial Gate Too?]
Since we’d conquered all previous Trial Gates, the scrutiny was inevitable.
Public opinion within Korea anticipated our inevitable victory.
-Han Hye’s definitely clearing it lol
-Who knows though;; there might be people going in first
-All the previous ones were insanely hard though—they probably won’t clear it before Han Hye enters
-Yeah, China’s preparing too instead of rushing in
-True lol, rushing in isn’t everything—gotta prepare thoroughly
-Overconfidence is a losing strategy, you know;; don’t count your chickens before they hatch
-Fair point given what she’s shown. Han Hye plus a Trial of Fire? Game over, right? She’s got the Red Dragon too
Their reasoning was sound enough. The name alone was the Trial of Fire. My mastery of flames was already legendary.
Hadn’t I consumed Veronica in inferno mere weeks ago? Moreover, we had Yong-yong at our side.
“It might actually be easier than the others.”
Even within the guild, such sentiment took root. Though this didn’t mean we’d grown careless.
“We shouldn’t be overconfident. While Han Hye commands flames and Yong-yong fights with us, not all of us possess high fire resistance.”
“Even with your flame resistance, the trial itself might prove challenging.”
Truth be told, with my A-rank Flame Resistance skill at level 7, I wasn’t particularly worried about the Trial of Fire Gate. The same went for Mister with his Dragon Unity skill.
However, my guild members were a different story. Just because someone could manipulate fire didn’t mean they could repel it.
“At least we have the Heart of the Sea, right?”
“That’s right. We can generate water with it.”
Still, it was clear we had plenty of positive factors in our favor. We’d obtained the Heart of the Sea from the previous trial.
I suspected this might have been intentional as well.
In any case, since we could create water at any time, it should prove invaluable in controlling the flames.
‘Chun-bae, do you have any sense of this?’
-It’s not particularly meaningful. I’ve experienced a trial with the same name before, but even at the same level range, the contents were completely different.
‘Still worth mentioning though, isn’t it?’
-In the latter stages of Erosion, the Trial of Fire Gate in the 90-level range featured a Red Dragon.
‘Hmm. Doesn’t seem like it’ll be much help.’
Unfortunately, I couldn’t gain much insight from this angle. Chun-bae had only experienced the Trial of Fire Gate once, and even then it was against a Red Dragon.
Having faced a Red Dragon myself before, I couldn’t think of any viable solution.
‘With Yong-yong around, maybe some cute strategy… no, that won’t work, will it?’
There was no way a dragon would appear in the 35-50 level range. In the end, we had no choice but to enter and see for ourselves.
* * *
“You’ve arrived.”
First, I headed to the Hunter Association. They naturally assumed our guild would be entering this Trial of Fire Gate.
However, since the required number of participants was ten, we needed others besides our own members.
“Lee Hong-ju. I hope we haven’t kept you waiting long?”
The team joining us for this trial gate turned out to be Lee Hong-ju’s team from Chulbyeok. I knew they were exactly level 40 during the Trial of Mana last time, and now they were in the mid-to-late 40s.
While they’d been surpassed by us in levels, they were among the top-tier teams in the 36-50 level range.
It wasn’t as though there were no other candidate teams. There were teams comparable to Lee Hong-ju’s. However, it was certain they were among the strongest.
They’d also received bonus points for the experience of clearing the Trial of Mana Gate together with us previously.
“Not at all. We just came out of a gate recently and were resting. This friend here just arrived from Busan a moment ago.”
At Lee Hong-ju’s words, the Iron Wall Healer laughed with an embarrassed expression.
“I was being considerate of my girlfriend’s feelings.”
“Is it because of the gate situation? Were you worried it might be dangerous since it’s a trial gate?”
“No. I went down for wedding preparations… we were just looking at venues. Both our families are from Busan.”
“Ah…”
At those words, Chul-gi, the married man, opened his mouth. No wonder his speech had a slight regional accent—he must be from Busan.
“That’s tough to do alone.”
“Yes. Still, she was worried. Told me to be careful. I feel bad about it.”
I didn’t know much about such matters, but wedding preparations seemed like something to do together, so I could understand why he’d feel awkward.
“Well then, let’s clear this as quickly as possible so you can head back down.”
At my words, Chulbyeok’s healer smiled.
“That would be more than appreciated.”
Of course, it was just something we said out of courtesy. We didn’t know what the trial gate would be like, but we couldn’t just rush in unprepared.
Soon after, Seo-ung arrived and the meeting began.
“China and the United States haven’t arrived yet.”
Unlike last time, the nations were no longer rushing into the Trial Gates.
Having gone through the Trial of Mana and the Trial of Stamina, they’d realized there was no need to move hastily just because it was a competition.
“They seem to be preparing quite thoroughly.”
“Yes. There are rumors that China is searching for flame resistance techniques.”
“So Liu Zhen doesn’t have a flame resistance skill, or his skill rank is low.”
“Likely. Overall, the atmosphere is quite passive. That’s good for us. We have Han Hye.”
I thought he was praising me a bit too much, but hearing the explanation, it made sense to some degree.
I’d heard that in cases like this, they would normally use an escape secretary to gather information about what’s inside the Gate.
However, the Trial Gates so far hadn’t been the type that could be easily cleared just by knowing what’s inside.
Moreover, in the last Gate, the Übermenschen appeared and some hunters suffered damage.
And with me here, the chances would decrease even further.
From other nations’ perspectives, they’d become passive, not wanting to waste resources on such low odds.
“Some countries have given up entirely. The ones preparing for the Trial of Fire Gate right now are basically all the major hunter powers.”
“The competition has decreased significantly. Of course, there will still be those entering on a whim.”
“Yes. The United States is also gathering hunters with flame resistance skills, and Russia is currently the furthest along in their entry.”
After finishing the briefing on the current situation, it was time to discuss our entry.
“After confirming it’s the Trial of Fire, we’ve completed preparations assuming a flame zone Gate.”
“So we just need to be ready and we can enter.”
“Yes, you just came back from the Gate—are your conditions alright….”
Seo-ung asked carefully. The Iron Wall Guild members quieted as well. It was actually an important concern.
We’re always entering Gates without rest, but other teams are different.
They sometimes suffered minor or serious injuries, and when they’d consumed a lot of stamina, they needed to rest.
Especially since we might look fine on the surface, but we’d just come back from the Ruins Gate, so they’d naturally be worried.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Everyone’s in good condition.”
Aside from me, Min-jae had it rough. He’d unleashed lightning magic against the demons rushing at him underwater.
However, he’d rested sufficiently during the journey. This Gate had also proceeded relatively smoothly for a Ruins Gate.
“That’s a relief.”
“However, we’ll need about an hour.”
Still, we couldn’t enter immediately.
We could handle the skill level-up vouchers from Saebyeokbit or Daeup’s items later….
“One of our guild members acquired a new skill, so we need to test it out.”
It was good to familiarize myself with Chul-gi’s skill before entering.
Since the Gate had ended almost immediately after he obtained it, he hadn’t had a chance to use it in practice.
“Yes, I’ll prepare the Training Ground right away.”
In any case, it wouldn’t take too long, so Seo-ung continued with a smile.
* * *
-Whoosh!
The Dragon Scale Piercing Spear, an A-rank skill that Chul-gi had just obtained, was quite an interesting skill.
There are some ambiguous aspects, but depending on how you use it, you could say it has infinite potential?
-Whoosh!
Dragon Scale Pierce, to be precise, wasn’t really a spear technique.
If anything, it was a ranged attack. Though it wasn’t limited to ranged use only.
When Mister wielded the spear and activated the skill, mana gathered in the weapon. Then, when he thrust it forward, the accumulated power extended in a straight line.
The ambiguous part I mentioned was that the power being accumulated worked similarly to a charge mechanic.
“The destructive power varies drastically, doesn’t it? It’s like a charge skill in a game.”
“Hmm, it would be better to charge it up most of the time.”
If used immediately, the range wasn’t large and the destructive power wasn’t strong.
What mattered was when Mister fully charged it with abundant mana.
-Uuuuung!
-Kwaaang!
A crimson light extended forward in a straight line.
“Wow, isn’t the range wider and longer than Wyvern Descent?”
“The important thing is that it’s ranged. Mister doesn’t have to move directly.”
Without charging, it looked ambiguous, but the reason it was an A-rank skill was certain.
Moreover, wasn’t Mister a Dragon Knight?
“Actually, it’s perfect. It suits Mister well. If he rides Yong-yong and charges it from the sky, it would be a calamity for the opponent, right? It wouldn’t even be easy to intercept.”
“Ah? That’s true?”
“And when engaging in close combat, if you use it in short bursts, you could catch the opponent off guard too.”
Lately, immersed in combat, various fighting methods came to mind. Mister seemed very satisfied with my suggestions.
“That’s enough. I think I’ve mastered it. I just need to focus on targeting.”
The slightly difficult part was using the skill accurately on the target, since it was a ranged attack.
It was fine when stationary, but Mister would be moving while riding Yong-yong. The enemies wouldn’t stay still either.
“The speed itself is fast, so it could work even from the sky, or it could work while charging like using Wyvern Descent. The combinations aren’t bad either.”
After getting a feel for things in the large Training Facility that Seo-ung had prepared, it was time to enter the Gate.
.
.
.
“Dragon Guild, fighting!”
“Iron Wall! Iron Wall!”
“Han Hye!”
Word had already spread about the Trial Gate, and many people had gathered. Domestic media outlets and foreign press alike filled the area in front of the Gate.
I heard that Russia, which entered first, still had no news, China hadn’t entered yet, and the United States was entering around the same time as us.
“Let’s go.”
I didn’t particularly worry. Considering the special nature of the Trial Gate, it wouldn’t be easy for them to defeat us.
We entered the Gate amid the cheers of the crowd.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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