Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 231

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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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231. Fist King (1)
[China Issues Official Apology, States ‘Understanding of Korea’s Anger’]
The reason we were shocked was because China apologized. Honestly, I never expected it. Haven’t they been shameless about this the whole time?
-Investigation confirmed that Wang Tao and some hunters following him joined hands with the Übermenschen….
-We express our sincere apologies to Korea….
-Hunters related to Wang Tao are being arrested, and severe punishment will be administered as they are apprehended….
It wasn’t a simple expression of regret—it was a statement that genuinely included an apology.
Naturally, my eyes went wide.
“What the hell did these guys eat?”
“Did Wang Tao really act on his own?”
I had my doubts too. Liu Zhen had warned me, but what if Wang Tao really betrayed them separately?
If Liu Zhen had simply seen his master’s transgression and offered advice, it might have nothing to do with China.
“These aren’t the types to apologize even if that were true, are they?”
“Well, that’s true too.”
Whatever the truth was, it was unexpected. We all thought China would dodge responsibility.
If they maintained the stance that they knew nothing about it, there wasn’t much we could do short of actual war.
I thought that even if the situation escalated, it would probably end with the cessation of hunter exchanges. But to think they’d bow their heads and apologize like this.
In fact, it was proof that the situation was serious. If even China would humble themselves to this extent.
“Was it really Wang Tao acting alone?”
“Who knows.”
Honestly, there was no way to know immediately. What Liu Zhen told me was a warning. Liu Zhen said he was from an assassin organization raised by the Chinese Government….
But Wang Tao, as a top-tier awakened one, held considerable power in the regime and could be viewed separately.
“Honestly, it seems like something China would do.”
“Yeah, it does.”
Honestly, it was hard to drop suspicion of China. After all, they set up the board to avoid getting caught. The story doesn’t add up.
Of course, Wang Tao not getting caught would have been ideal for them, but China didn’t need to take such risks by revealing the identity of their top hunter.
-The masked figures were members of the Black Butterfly, an assassin organization that Wang Tao privately formed by recruiting rogues.
-Wang Tao used the Black Butterfly to assassinate his political rivals or people he disliked….
-He made contact with the Übermenschen several weeks ago and, in discussions with them, sought to damage China’s image and provoke conflict between Korea and China….
As the additional statements continued, I became certain. The investigation was too fast. It was as if they already knew everything about Wang Tao. If they had understood everything to this extent, there would have been no reason they couldn’t have stopped it.
Of course, before he died, Wang Tao had power, so they might not have been able to touch him. But….
“Sacrificial pawn?”
“It’s less of a sacrificial pawn and more like they dug two holes.”
Fist King opened his mouth in response to my words.
“From China’s perspective, either outcome worked in their favor.”
“What?”
“If the Space Mage dies, they achieve what they want—that’s a gain. And even if it fails and Wang Tao’s identity is exposed, it was still a gain.”
“Why is that?”
Fist King laughed wickedly.
“China’s had quite a bit of time since the coup. I’ve heard there’s considerable internal factional conflict. Especially because of Wang Tao.”
“I’ve heard that the real power behind the Chinese Government isn’t a high-level hunter, but….”
“That’s right. He’s the one who determines the direction of the Chinese Government. I heard Wang Tao clashes with him frequently. Wang Tao is an idiot, so he needs to do things his own way.”
True enough. Fist King was close with the Russian Government, so he would have heard more of these stories.
“And Liu Zhen has appeared now. There’s someone to replace Wang Tao. It wouldn’t be bad to abandon Wang Tao, who’s increasingly slipping out of control, and switch to Liu Zhen.”
“Even so, isn’t he China’s number one hunter?”
“That bastard is just lucky. Isn’t he the one who lost to Shin Chang, who has A-rank spear arts, despite wielding S-rank spear arts? If the Chinese Government hadn’t poured national resources into him, he never would’ve grown this strong in the first place.”
Fist King shrugged his shoulders.
“Besides, he’ll only grow stronger from here on, so he’ll become even harder to control, won’t he?”
“That’s true.”
“If this succeeded, the Chinese side would probably have revealed later that Wang Tao was involved in your incident and sent him away.”
“Huh?”
Fist King’s words carried considerable weight. The barrier, the coordinates, the Secretary—if we hadn’t known, they would have successfully killed me and vanished without a trace.
The Übermenschen would be exposed on the surface, but since the Chinese side controls information about Wang Tao….
If they then revealed my incident and turned Wang Tao into the culprit as if confessing, they could eliminate him.
If things went wrong like this time, they could simply dispose of Wang Tao anyway, so it wasn’t a bad outcome for them.
‘I didn’t realize the internal conflict in China ran this deep… No wonder Liu Zhen called the martial world rotten.’
With Liu Zhen and Mister around, I’d read a bit of martial arts fiction, and the rotten parts were truly rotten.
Regardless, China’s statement was one thing, but something else surprised me quite a bit.
‘That’s impressive.’
Honestly, I found myself admiring Fist King’s insight. Usually, he gave off the image of someone who just smashed everything he wanted.
That’s why I’d sometimes thought of him as a muscle-headed idiot. Didn’t he just laugh with a hearty laugh during combat?
“…?”
Fist King looked into my eyes, tilted his head slightly, and smirked.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“…!”
“You’re thinking that an ignorant lump of muscle can actually think deeply.”
“No, that’s not quite it.”
This sharp bastard. How did he know? You really hit the nail on the head. Of course, I quickly composed my expression.
Fist King continued casually.
“Well, it’s a look I always get. Just because someone is simple doesn’t mean their mind doesn’t work, you know.”
“…That’s because you always act simply.”
That was Shin Chang’s remark.
“You reap what you sow.”
I widened my eyes. This was the first time I’d heard Shin Chang speak at such length. And teasing like that, too.
Fist King chuckled.
“If the body is weak, the mind suffers. My body is strong, so my mind doesn’t have to work as hard.”
“Isn’t that just another way of saying you have a weak mind?”
What surprised me about this meeting was that Shin Chang could speak Russian and had quite a deep relationship with Fist King.
They were like real friends. When the two of them talked, they spoke more than usual.
“That’s different. I know that acting like I have a weak mind doesn’t cause much damage, so that’s how I live.”
Oh. Such insight.
Well, it’s true that a clever person can gain advantages by deliberately playing the fool.
Shin Chang is impressive, but I found Fist King even more so. From his earlier perspective to what he’s saying now.
I thought he was just a simple-minded giant with muscles, bigger than Han Chul, living without any pretense. But it was all calculated.
“Hmm.”
Shin Chang let out a small sound like a friend would. It was an answer that said: Is that really so?
“If you live like you do, people think communication is possible when you make demands.”
“….”
“But if you live like me? You come in assuming communication won’t work, so it’s much easier.”
“…I can’t seem to refute that.”
Fist King stared at Shin Chang for a moment before opening his mouth.
“From now on, abandon any thoughts of living like me. You have to be that way from the start. If you do it now, it’s just pathetic. People will only say Shin Chang has lost his mind.”
“….”
“Fool.”
“…!?”
* * *
The three of us—Fist King, Shin Chang, and I—met because of Fist King’s request. He said it would be awkward for just the two of them, so let’s make it three.
Honestly, from my perspective, it was something to be grateful for.
I had prejudices about Fist King even just hours ago. I thought he was simple-minded and might suddenly swing his fists.
Not that he would actually attack me—didn’t he ask for a sparring match the moment he heard my name?
‘Rather than the two of them meeting and it being awkward, Shin Chang will be a shield for me.’
I wasn’t exactly comfortable with Shin Chang like a friend, but I thought he would treat me favorably and protect me.
Now that I’ve seen Fist King’s true nature, I thought it wouldn’t have mattered much even if they’d met alone.
Unexpectedly, he has his head on straight, has insight, and you could say he’s a person with depth of thought.
Of course, those muscles didn’t come from nowhere.
“Huff!”
Right here where the three of us were meeting, he was doing one-armed bicep curls with dumbbells exceeding three digits.
“Now my arms finally feel refreshed.”
“Pardon? Refreshed?”
“Space Mage, you should be thorough about maintaining your body too.”
“I am being thorough though….”
No matter how high your strength stat is, one-armed bicep curls with three-digit dumbbells? Even a machine would probably beg for mercy.
“By the way, I was quite startled earlier.”
“You mean when I left?”
“Yeah. You called me out and then ran away alone, or so I thought. If you’d actually run, I would’ve gone after you and beaten you down.”
Fist King said this with a grin, but it didn’t sound like laughter at all—it was chilling.
If I’d really run, Fist King would probably have broken through that barrier somehow and pounded me.
“That seemed like the answer. If I broke through the barrier from inside, there would be too much interference, and it was already hard enough just getting to the barrier.”
“I almost died. I don’t know how many years it’s been since my awakening, but I felt quite a significant threat.”
Fist King spoke sincerely. He had endured it, but the situation back then was truly dire.
Fist King tapped Shin Chang on the shoulder.
“You had a rough time too.”
“…Not really.”
Shin Chang played ignorant at Fist King’s words. Fist King’s expression darkened.
“You bastard. I saw with my own eyes how you were pushed back by Lei Chuang.”
“…It was an act to draw out his weaknesses.”
“Ignore this fool.”
Fist King spoke to me. The situation should have been the opposite—Shin Chang acting childish while Fist King played the adult.
“Anyway, if a situation like that comes up again, we’ll need to be more careful.”
“Yes. The impact of having skills sealed is quite noticeable.”
“Right. When your usual movements don’t come out, you start doubting yourself. Can I still pull off the techniques I do as naturally as breathing? That kind of thing. Your performance naturally deteriorates.”
Shin Chang let out a small laugh.
“…Your training is lacking. Mine wasn’t.”
“Mine wasn’t either!”
“I had a tough time against Blood Master. He’s weaker than Lei Chuang.”
“Tough time? I think I landed more hits than you did.”
“He’s weaker than Lei Chuang, so that’s obvious.”
At Shin Chang’s stubbornness, Fist King shook his head in disbelief. Yet he kept smiling, seeming genuinely pleased. So this is what friendship looks like.
Now that I thought about it, I’d heard they first met around level 20, right after the Gate incident, when both awakened.
If they’d been exchanging visits regularly from then until now, surpassing level 60, they really were closer than I’d realized.
And from different countries too. After the Gate incident, it wasn’t easy for Awakened to travel overseas.
“In any case, I owe you my gratitude. I’m alive because of you.”
“You would have done fine without me.”
“I can’t guarantee that.”
Fist King offered a bitter smile.
“There were just so many of those Chinese bastards.”
“True. I was shocked when I saw the numbers myself.”
“It’s a place with surplus population. Awakened are overflowing there. In the old days, you’d have to tear them apart by the dozens.”
He was sharp, that was for sure, but Fist King remained characteristically blunt in both speech and action.
“Well, there’s no need to look further. If they apologize first and back down with a submissive stance, the international community won’t be able to pressure them much.”
It was certain that other nations would adopt a different attitude toward China than before, but active pressure would be difficult.
Even if China had done something wrong, there were too many entangled interests.
“So is this the end then?”
“After paying moral compensation, they’ll face a lot of criticism and struggle to voice their opinions in the international Hunter society for a while. Exchanges will decrease too.”
Fist King shrugged.
“Think about it. What nation would seriously pursue Hunter cooperation when their top Hunter might be assassinated?”
“That’s true. It’s unfortunate, but it means we need to gain as much as possible during this time.”
“Don’t stop at just being sorry. You need to sharpen your blade.”
Fist King looked at me with sharp eyes.
“Whenever an opportunity comes, you must keep your edge honed so you can strike back without hesitation.”
That was sound advice. Right. Grudges are never meant to be forgotten—just as I had done with Ja-tan.
At that moment, Fist King rose from his seat.
“While we’re at it, want to spar a round?”
“Huh?”
Now?
We’ve already had quite a bit to drink.
“You’ve been training in hand-to-hand combat, haven’t you? My body’s been itching for a match since earlier. I’d like to see what you’ve got.”

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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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