Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 221

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

221. God of Play
The Previous Previous Master, who had far more experience than I did, never knew of this god. Neither did the Previous Master nor Chun-bae. And yet this god had left me a clue?
It certainly wasn’t left in words. I’d searched my memories thoroughly, and if it had been, Chun-bae would likely have sensed something.
If not words, then three things remained. The first was the inscription I’d seen before encountering the flame monster.
-Only those who do not fear fire may proceed.
-A gift awaits you.
No matter how many times I reviewed it, nothing changed. The first was an inscription from the Gate itself, so only the second could have been left by the god.
A god with a terrible temperament, devoid of any sense of decorum…
Ah, was it absurd to judge a god’s character? In any case, it bordered on a prank—placing a flame monster resembling Ja-tan inside.
[Coordinate-Designated Return Secretary (A-rank)]
-Upon use, transports the user to the designated coordinates regardless of distance.
-Cannot move between the interior and exterior of a Gate.
The second was the Return Secretary, and this too was the same. Even considering it through Korea’s time-honored tradition of acrostic wordplay, it remained the same. Buy it? Buy it for me?
Nonsense. That left one thing. The Heavenly Sword. I had seen the broken Heavenly Sword in the open Subspace.
[Heavenly Sword]
-A blade forged by a legendary blacksmith who gazed upon meteors and became enamored with the sky. Currently broken and difficult to function properly.
-Crafted from a mixture of rare metals, making it extraordinarily hard and sharp.
-Blessed by a god; the user’s physical abilities increase the farther they are from the ground.
The description had been updated to note that it was damaged and broken by The Butcher, its rank removed, but everything else remained unchanged from before.
I focused on the final description.
‘Blessed by a god.’
That ‘god’ was likely that ill-tempered deity. Since it was what that being had left for me. Coincidentally, the first character was also ‘god.’
Then what if I took the first characters from the other descriptions?
‘Play, joy, god…? God of Play?’
Was such a god real? Well, if it’s a god from another world, nothing would be surprising. I’ve already faced an evil god, after all.
Play, by definition, means ‘to enjoy oneself through amusement and pranks, or such an act.’
In other words, simply put, a god of pranks. Then the series of events made sense.
A flash of insight struck my mind. Fragmented information about the God of Play came together.
-The way it expressed that ‘we’ created the Gate incident.
-How it observed the Previous Previous Master, the Previous Master, and me.
-How it called the flame monster resembling Ja-tan a gift for me.
-How the results were good, but the process was riddled with malicious pranks.
And most decisively, when I encountered it in the Hall of Winners, it had taken the form of a mischievous young child.
A god of pranks—truly a name befitting the God of Play.
I had uncovered a truth that the Previous Previous Master, the Previous Master, and Chun-bae had all failed to discover. Of course, it was partly because the god had given me the clues.
It was somewhat absurd.
‘How was I supposed to figure this out?’
Was it an acrostic because it’s a god of pranks? How many people would read the first letters of item names?
Then it made sense why Chun-bae couldn’t figure it out. This was a place with a different writing system.
Creating an acrostic in the item descriptions was far harder than it would be in Korean.
Well, since it was an item given by The God, I might have figured it out sooner if I’d examined it more carefully.
‘Chun-bae.’
Regardless, I called out to Chun-bae before this momentous discovery, but naturally, there was no response. It was because his divine essence was still insufficient.
I’d requested items related to divine essence from Seo-ung, but it turned out to be far more difficult than I’d anticipated.
Gates related to divine essence were appearing at level 50 and above, but divine essence items were scarce.
Unless we entered those Gates ourselves and directly recovered the divine essence.
‘And it needs to be at least B-rank.’
My intention wasn’t simply to awaken Chun-bae. Though I’d resolved the Hall of Winners Gate, a grave problem still remained for me.
Perhaps even more important than the Hall of Winners—the conspiracy of the Übermenschen.
The conspiracy ring still remained just before pitch darkness. Once the second Gold Ticket day arrived, it would likely approach that threshold.
Just from how Chun-bae nullified the Previous Previous Master’s magic, his utility was remarkably high. I needed to awaken him to a normal state before then.
-I’ll contact you as soon as we acquire one.
In any case, it meant I couldn’t converse with Chun-bae immediately. But that was fine. Who was I? I may not have received formal education, but I possessed a keen intellect.
In other words, there was plenty for me to contemplate about this problem alone.
“Ugh….”
However, that resolve lasted less than ten minutes. It was because I possessed far too little information.
Knowing the identity of that God wouldn’t change anything in the first place.
Whether our intentions aligned or not seemed like I’d simply end up watching how things unfolded.
The fact that I described the Gate incident as something “we” created meant that he had a stake in it too.
For now, he was aligned with the erosion of mana. But the possibility that our intentions might align—wasn’t that intriguing?
From that playful God’s perspective, my overcoming the erosion of mana would surely seem entertaining as well.
‘There’s one question that remains.’
I don’t know exactly what this “erosion of mana” is. But I do know that it consumed the world and even the Gods themselves.
The Evil God’s lingering thoughts and the Flame Spirit King were aware that they were already dead and trapped within the Gate.
But then….
How on earth is the God of Play still alive? And uniquely so at that.
* * *
[If we go by what the Dragon Guild says, it seems certain that other worlds exist, but what’s the deal with them?]
-Right. We’ve only been speculating until now, but since we fought an Awakener from another world, it’s 100% confirmed.
-Even if we expected it, it’s still pretty creepy lol
-This is so unfair, so unfair
┗What’s unfair about it?
┗I mean, in this universe besides Earth, there’s magic and sword energy and… there probably were worlds like martial arts novels too, right?
┗So what?
┗But why do I have to be born on Earth and live an ordinary life?
┗?
┗?
┗Even on Earth where Awakeners exist, people live ordinary lives, so what would be different if you went there?
-Hey, the author is asking what happened to the other worlds, why are these guys talking about something else?
┗lmao
┗But seriously, what happened?
┗If it came out of a Gate, isn’t that world completely destroyed?
┗Earth appears in Gates too
┗That’s extremely rare and not actually real—just similar locations appearing
┗Maybe that’s what happened to them too
┗No, I mean the Awakeners from that world actually emerged from inside the Gate.
-It looks like they were destroyed and devoured. If we can’t resolve the Gate incident, won’t we get devoured like that too?
┗Appearing like monsters inside the Gate?
┗That’s insane;;
Mm-hmm, exactly right. Well done.
I silently applauded while observing Hunter Net. Though some people spouted nonsense, they were paying attention exactly as I’d intended.
They still didn’t understand what mana erosion was, but the hypothesis “What if we can’t resolve the Gate incident?” was already circulating.
As this interest accumulated, when the Gate incident eventually occurred—when mana erosion happened—people would rally their strength.
While investigating Australia, I’d already recognized that rising mana density was becoming a problem.
It wouldn’t take long for people to connect that to the Gate incident.
[If the Dragon Guild came out in such terrible shape, how strong are the Awakeners from that other world? Is Earth doomed?]
-For real, based on recent speculation, that world inside the Gate seems already destroyed. Aren’t we heading toward the same fate?
-Nah, it’s the “Hall of Winners.” They were probably the strongest in that world too, and Han Hye beat them
┗For real lol we won so we’re stronger
┗Those other world losers, get rekt!
I didn’t appreciate the dismissive language toward the Previous Previous Master, but it wasn’t entirely wrong. We’d defeated them even after the God of Play’s interference.
Naturally, I felt only gratitude toward the Previous Previous Master. Without the Subspace’s arrangement, it would have been far more difficult.
I felt sympathy too. With only their will remaining, the Previous Previous Master perceptively sacrificed themselves for us, committing to a team kill.
Toward that, I could only feel an indescribable emotion.
‘I don’t know how to describe this.’
They were truly like a tree that gives without reservation.
The arrangements they’d left for me in the Subspace, the way they unhesitatingly threw their life away—all of it.
If only that damned god hadn’t interfered, the Gate would have progressed far more smoothly. The outcome itself wasn’t bad. We fought fiercely and achieved considerable growth.
Looking purely at results, that god helped us more than the Previous Previous Master did.
‘If I look at it objectively, that’s true.’
Growth or whatever—personally, I didn’t feel good about it. It felt like I hadn’t truly received the Previous Previous Master’s heart.
And didn’t that god interfere with the Previous Previous Master, who had moved me so deeply?
That bothered me. The Previous Previous Master, who’d willingly smiled and chosen sacrifice, had their expression vanish as they hurled magic.
Perhaps we could have had a deeper conversation.
‘I was pierced by the sword, but if I’d used healing magic….’
Well, that was all speculation anyway. The Previous Previous Master knew their teammates and still chose to cast magic and sacrifice themselves.
Or perhaps they thought the God of Play would intervene if we talked without me piercing them with my blade.
Even after being stabbed, the god still interfered, but in that brief time, the Previous Previous Master must have agonized and made their decision.
Regardless of the outcome, I couldn’t help but feel resistance toward the God of Play.
-But the result turned out well, didn’t it?
That God might say it this way: my feelings aside, it was an undeniable fact. We gained much, but our losses were considerable as well.
There were many injuries, though I wouldn’t call it a loss in the truest sense. Time would heal those wounds.
I was fine since I had access to healing facilities, but Han Chul suffered the most. As our vanguard, he bore the brunt of the battle.
Min-jae and Lee Shin-hee were also nearly depleted of mana, their conditions far from ideal. While they benefited from healing items, they’d continuously cast buffs and barriers.
“I suggest everyone rest for about two weeks. I won’t stop those who wish to train individually, but….”
“…!”
“Han Chul, absolutely not. Rest until the doctor clears you for discharge.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”
“That includes weight training.”
“What? But I’d like to reconsider that… This gym thing actually helps with recovery in unexpected ways. It doesn’t seem like it, but I’m that type of person….”
Han Chul spoke far more than usual, but I shook my head firmly.
“No.”
“…Yes.”
Han Chul looked quite dejected, but considering what lay ahead, giving him sufficient rest was the priority.
These weren’t minor injuries. The Sword Guardian had slashed him in multiple places, and the Martial Artist’s fists had connected as well.
Moreover, the Previous Previous Master’s magic had pierced through various parts of his body. Even though I’d blocked vital areas with my shield, the smaller wounds were far from trivial.
He’d continued fighting even after receiving only emergency healing spells.
‘Level 57. I suppose I can be called an Advance Team member now.’
Gaining three levels in a Gate above level 50 was extraordinarily rare. It meant the difficulty had been absurdly challenging.
In that sense, we’d bought enough time that we didn’t need to rush into other Gates before facing the Übermenschen.
Of course, the other guild members seemed to think differently. They planned to dedicate the next two weeks to intensive training without Han Chul.
The Übermenschen coming to Korea to strike us?
‘That’s not a decision made by ordinary thinking.’
Terrorists were madmen, true. But those who survived this long were mad geniuses who calculated their moves.
In other words, they were coming because they’d determined the odds favored them.
Though I’d set traps through Saebyeokbit and Fist King, that didn’t mean I was safe from danger.
Therefore, I needed to prepare diligently.
“Where should I use this?”
The first step was naturally the ‘Skill Rank Promotion Ticket’ I’d obtained from this Gate.

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