Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 208
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
208. Self-Directed Evolution?
[Lv52 Empty Master, Han Hye]
Strength: 63(+3)
Agility: 67(+3)(+5, +1)
Stamina: 66(+3)(+1)
Spirit: 59(+3)
Mana: 92(+8)(+1)
Spare Points: 18
Skills: Subspace (S-rank) lv5, Blazing Inferno (S-rank) lv3, Leap (A-rank) lv5, Flame Resistance (A-rank) lv9, Severance (A-rank) lv4, Crescea Swordsmanship (B-rank) lv6, Cockfighting (B-rank) lv6, Interpretation (B-rank) lv1, Swift Movement (C-rank) lv4, Cold Resistance (C-rank) lv4, Imperial Basic Swordsmanship (E-rank) lv8
This was my current status window. It was the first time I’d properly reviewed it since raising my stats before capturing Jo Ji-hyuk.
A few skill levels had increased, and that was all—five points of mana from the Trial of Flames Gate and five points of agility from the Ring of Conspiracy.
I wasn’t particularly obsessed with raising my stats. Since I was already in a state of excessive growth, I deliberately avoided equipment that boosted stats.
I planned to remove the ring before entering a Gate anyway. For now, I needed to keep wearing the Ring of Conspiracy.
‘No major changes yet.’
The Ring of Conspiracy remained as it had been initially. There was supposedly an intermediate stage before it turned jet black, but I hadn’t seen any signs of transformation yet.
I understood why. Even if the Übermenschen were plotting against me, they couldn’t attack immediately.
There was considerable distance between the Übermenschen’s headquarters and Korea, and security vigilance had been significantly strengthened since the Gate incident.
No matter what they wanted to do to me, it would be impossible to act right now.
Instead, as preparation took time, I was certain they would make a move—a real, full-scale move.
After all, touching me, who had become a global sensation, was no small matter.
[Lv52 Empty Master, Han Hye]
Strength: 67(+4)
Agility: 67(+5, +1)
Stamina: 66(+1)
Spirit: 63(+4)
Mana: 92(+1)
Spare Points: 10
I had considered saving my spare points to prepare for the conspiracy, but I had quite a few, so I decided to use some.
I allocated four points each to Strength and Spirit to bring them roughly into balance with the others.
I planned to keep about ten points in reserve. It was insurance for when the Übermenschen came after me.
I could hide in the Subspace if needed, but it was better to have one last trump card up my sleeve.
“Oh? It’s been a while.”
There was an unexpected bit of good fortune. The Spirit Medicine Farm had yielded a harvest. Two spirit medicines had finally ripened.
The Spirit Medicine Farm was divided into four sections—two planted with semi-spirit medicines, and the rest with confirmed specimens and experimental crops.
If the spirit medicines we consumed had seeds, we used those for experiments as well. However, most of the experimental cultivation had failed since that initial success.
It was a telling sign of why there hadn’t been many confirmed spirit medicine seeds to begin with.
‘They’ve decreased quite a bit.’
The confirmed seeds had originally filled about four glass bottles. However, since spirit medicine seeds were quite large, the actual quantity wasn’t that much. Two bottles remained.
I could cultivate for about another year with what I had, but thinking about the future, I couldn’t help but worry.
I thought I should buy plenty of spirit medicines and other such items once I converted gold coins to money. Chun-bae knew the names of spirit medicines that could be cultivated, after all.
In any case, I decided to consume one of them myself.
‘One D-grade Spirit Medicine, one E-grade Spirit Medicine.’
After consuming the D-grade Spirit Medicine, I noticed my stamina and mana each increased by one point. It was exactly the kind of effect befitting a D-grade Spirit Medicine.
I decided to distribute the E-grade Spirit Medicine among the guild members.
Since I was planning to give Min-jae one of the magical secrets from this fifth subspace, it seemed appropriate to give it to Lee Shin-hee instead.
Han Chul and the Mister had also received Spirit Medicine relatively recently.
“I should schedule the second Gold Ticket event as well.”
The second Gold Ticket included in Yong-yong’s merchandise. I had postponed the schedule due to recent incidents.
Now that things had stabilized somewhat, it was time to resume.
There was the Übermenschen conspiracy, but I couldn’t expose it at this stage.
Rather, it seemed not a bad idea to handle it quickly before the conspiracy’s ring deepened in color.
‘Hm? Wait a moment.’
A thought suddenly occurred to me. Perhaps the second Gold Ticket could have been the catalyst for the conspiracy.
The Gold Tickets were distributed randomly across the world, and an identity verification process was included in the selection.
However, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Übermenschen faction had actually drawn a Gold Ticket.
It was possible they devised the conspiracy precisely because they had secured a Gold Ticket.
‘The identity verification process would be meaningless anyway.’
Just looking at the Witch and Veronica, they weren’t faces I recognized. The process was implemented to prevent reselling, but it wasn’t exactly foolproof either.
Rather, proceeding with the Gold Ticket quickly didn’t seem like a bad idea.
If the conspiracy’s ring deepened according to the Gold Ticket schedule, I could actually turn it around and set a trap instead.
It would be easier to handle the matter than if the color deepened when nothing was happening.
“Han Bi.”
I called the guild immediately.
“I think it would be good to start preparing for the second Gold Ticket soon.”
* * *
“What? They’re coming out!”
“Wasn’t it less than 40 minutes since they went in?”
“It’s been 32 minutes.”
“That’s not the point—look behind! How many are there?”
“One, two, three… nine! We rescued everyone!”
“Dragon Guild! Dragon Guild!”
As we exited the Gate, cheers erupted from the crowd.
“Nothing’s changed at all?”
“It’s exactly the same as when we went in. Not a speck of dust on their clothes.”
It was a conversation the reporters shared as they quickly finalized their articles. Since preliminary drafts were already prepared, the articles went up rapidly.
[Dragon Guild! All Hunters Rescued from 41-45 Level Sequential Gate!]
[Dragon Guild Without a Speck of Dust]
Clearing this Gate wasn’t originally part of the Dragon Guild’s plan. The level range didn’t even match in the first place.
But while conducting guild training in the morning to prepare for the Gate announcement that would happen in the afternoon, the Association called.
-It’s a 41-45 level Gate, and we’ve confirmed it’s a sequential Gate. One person carrying an escape talisman was the only one who came out, but we’ve confirmed nine hunters, including those who were trapped before, are adrift inside.
It was because a chain-type Gate that had appeared in the United States previously had now surfaced in Korea.
After the first team failed, the second team entered and discovered the truth.
It wasn’t a level-restricted Gate, and since all the teams capable of clearing chain-types in the 41-45 level range had entered the Gate, a support request came to the Dragon Guild.
Since they were in the middle of training, the Dragon Guild immediately responded to the request and succeeded in the rescue in just 32 minutes.
“Sung-beom! Kim Sung-beom!”
Amid cheers, the exhausted Hunters were rushed to by their families. Everyone’s eyes were wet with tears.
The Hunters from the first team, who had failed to subjugate the Gate, had already held their funerals.
Upon hearing that the Hunters they thought were dead were alive, the families all came to the front of the Gate.
It was the same for the second team. When the Dragon Guild arrived, they grabbed their hands and shed tears.
-Hunters, please… please save our husband…
-Our only daughter is in there… please, I beg you…
After sharing such an emotional reunion, the Hunters and their families headed toward the Dragon Guild.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”
“We’re grateful! We will never forget this kindness…!”
From elderly mothers to the rescued Hunters, their expressions of gratitude toward the Dragon Guild were captured in photographs once more.
[Hunters’ Hunter, the Dragon Guild!]
[Warmth Blooming Before the Chain-Type Gate]
With reports of the emission-type Gate, tremendous growth, the subjugation of the Übermenschen and the discovery of Daeup’s corruption, along with their humane side, the Dragon Guild’s image was becoming increasingly favorable without end.
Of course, Han Hye and the Dragon Guild members hadn’t intentionally tried to cultivate such an image.
It was simply because Han Hye and the Dragon Guild’s growth was so exceptional—in reality, Hunters in the 41-45 level range were B-rank Hunters, those called elites in the Hunter world.
Losing such individuals would be a loss for the future, so they had simply stepped forward to prevent them from being harmed.
[Dragon Guild, A-Rank Promotion Naturally Completed]
Of course, the Dragon Guild had undergone A-rank approval review through the Hunter Association after the Trial Gate.
Like their level, this too was an unprecedented rate of rank advancement when searching the entire world.
Considering that Liu Zhen, who held the previous record for fastest advancement, had only recently reached around level 40, the Dragon Guild’s growth was incomparably transcendent.
In any case, it was then that Association Staff arrived at the Dragon Guild.
“Han Hye, there’s something we need to discuss…”
As I received the phone from the staff member, Park Seo-ung, the Association President’s Secretary, continued speaking.
-Han Hye, with the public examination approaching, we have a favor to ask of you.
“A favor? What is it?”
-In exchange for receiving Gate priority, would you be able to subjugate one Gate for us?
Hearing the explanation, it didn’t seem like a small matter. They were offering priority in exchange for separately requesting Gate subjugation.
“Has a level-restricted survival-type Gate appeared?”
If a level-restricted survival-type Gate appeared in the 51-55 level range where Han Hye currently belonged, the Dragon Guild would be the only one capable of subjugating it without casualties.
However, what Park Seo-ung brought up was different from Han Hye’s thoughts.
-It’s not a level-restricted survival-type. A self-evolving Gate has appeared in Korea for the first time.
“A self-evolving Gate?”
A self-evolving Gate.
It was something that had come up during the Guild Conference—a case where the Gate’s recommended level rises on its own despite not being subjugated.
‘Since that report came in, the mana density has been rising, so there’s nothing surprising about it appearing now.’
The chain-type Gate just now was proof—Chun-bae was right. The diversity of Gates was undeniably increasing.
Han Hye searched through her memories.
[The latter case is somewhat more dangerous. The priority is to subjugate it as quickly as possible.]
[Self-growth Gates become increasingly difficult with each evolution, surpassing the recommended level. If you overlook them, they can eventually become unmanageable.]
Those were the words Chun-bae had spoken about self-growth Gates back then.
Since they were Gates that grew on their own, as time passed, they could spiral beyond control.
“Yes, we’ll take it on.”
Still, I felt no fear or dread. They’d said Gates become difficult above level 51, but I’d already accounted for that.
Honestly, there was little reason to worry. The specs of our guild members were objectively outstanding.
Moreover, to subjugate the Hall of Winners Gate where the Previous-Previous Princess supposedly appeared, we needed to face even more challenging Gates and hone our skills.
A self-growth Gate that had evolved once would surely benefit us as well—that was my thinking.
‘Since they’re even giving us priority access, there’s no reason to refuse.’
Besides, difficult Gates always came with proportionally better rewards.
A self-growth Gate above level 51.
To be honest, I was quite looking forward to it.
* * *
“It seems the Hunter Association is being considerate.”
“Right?”
With three priority access tokens now, I checked the public notices even after the next Gate was decided.
There might be a Ruin Gate among them. But nothing particularly worth entering caught my eye.
“It looks like the Association simply gave us one priority token.”
“Yeah, if it had been marked as self-growth, we would’ve entered without being asked.”
I felt grateful to Seo-ung and the Association President once more. Considering our guild’s characteristics, we would’ve chosen a self-growth Gate just from seeing it marked in the public notices.
But if they’d arranged it separately, it could’ve caused gossip, so this felt like they’d handled it as a formal request instead.
Just as we were preparing with the guild members before entering the self-growth Gate.
Seo-ung called again after just two days.
“Did something go wrong with the self-growth Gate?”
It might have evolved again in the meantime, so I asked just in case—but that wasn’t it.
-No. I’m calling because we’ve finished organizing the Daeup Guild’s items.
“Oh?”
-Is this evening convenient for you?
“Absolutely, it works.”
A guild that had held the third position domestically since the Gate incident. They had connections with political circles too.
It meant they’d have plenty of quality items.
This was a chance to get an S-rank item for free—I would’ve canceled any evening plans for this.
-This evening? Wait, let me cancel my date real quick!
-I’ll cancel my plans too.
Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee were ready to rush over immediately. We headed to the Hunter Association with excited hearts.
What items could Daeup have hidden away?
S-rank items would definitely be there. But what I was really anticipating was something else.
‘Chun-bae, open your eyes wide and look carefully.’
-I will keep that in mind.
The better an item was, the higher the probability that Chun-bae would recognize it, so perhaps we could obtain items worth far more than what appeared on the surface.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————