Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 280

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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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280. Choin (3)
“Thank you.”
After passing through the long corridor, the darkness faded from my vision and the skill seal lifted.
It wasn’t something that applied to me. The Choin rescue team had entered knowing they wouldn’t be subjected to skill seals.
Probably, the seal only affected those people who had been in the center of the corridor initially.
In any case, now that Choin could use his regeneration skill, the strain vanished from his expression.
“Are you alright now?”
“Yeah. Thanks to you.”
We moved forward into the interior of the Fortress again. Unlike the corridor from before, I could see the landscape beyond the windows. It looked like ruins.
A question suddenly occurred to me. I posed it amid the slightly awkward atmosphere.
“Didn’t you think about flying out?”
The Fortress wasn’t underground. When I first saw it, I thought that if I rode Yong-yong and flew up, I could reach that place directly.
Choin pointed to the highest point of the Fortress and let out a soft laugh.
“That place? I tried.”
“But you decided to break through the orthodox way?”
Hmm, if it were me, I would’ve gone up there first and secured the hidden rewards. He certainly seemed different, being from the first generation of Hunters.
Choin shook his head.
“No. The sky was blocked.”
So that was it.
“Really?”
“You know. The transparent wall of the Gate.”
“Should I go check it out?”
“You?”
Choin tilted his head in confusion.
“I can pass through transparent walls.”
I hadn’t used it often inside Gates, but it was an undeniable fact. After all, I’d become Subspace Level 2 because of it.
“You can do that? How?”
Choin asked in surprise.
“Ah, so it’s the type of information I shouldn’t tell you about.”
He seemed to be assuming that some method had been discovered at the national level.
I laughed and shook my head.
“It’s not like that.”
It would be faster to show him through demonstration than to explain.
-Whoosh!
After confirming the sky’s wall with a leap, I opened a Subspace.
-Rumble!
The framework was the same as before. I set up the Subspace along the wall as a boundary. Actually, it was easier than back then.
Back then I had one Subspace, but now I had two. I just needed to make the one beside me the entrance and the one above the exit.
“Insane….”
Witnessing that sight, Choin’s mouth fell open. I could say with certainty that I had never seen Choin look so astonished.
Of course, we’re meeting for the first time, but there are interviews and such, aren’t there?
“I heard the Dragon Guild finds Hidden dungeons at every Gate.”
“News of that reached the United States?”
“Given the growth rate, it’s a reasonable deduction.”
He expressed his admiration.
“So this kind of thing is possible.”
“I haven’t actually used it that often.”
Choin nodded.
“There wouldn’t be anything beyond the wall. More like a workaround?”
“That’s correct. Though there have been times when something was there.”
“What was there?”
He showed interest.
“You know the Labyrinth Dead End?”
“I do.”
“I obtained a Necklace of Protection from beyond it.”
“And after that?”
“Nothing special.”
“Right. Not every Gate has a Hidden dungeon. Even less so beyond the wall.”
Being an Advance Team member, he seemed to understand this sort of thing easily. Experience made all the difference.
Thanks to that, the awkward atmosphere dissipated.
“Should we go take a look?”
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head.
“No. Let’s go together.”
Only I can move this way. I could go alone and claim the rewards, but right now I’m with Choin.
Since the only objective is to reach the end of the Fortress, the Gate will conclude soon.
If that happens, Choin would be left behind, and my guiding him would become meaningless. Moreover, I still have some questions about Choin.
Words I hadn’t heard earlier. Choin seemed to still be contemplating something.
“We can come back.”
“We’re together anyway.”
Choin nodded as well. I could feel his mood improving considerably.
* * *
“They’re coming.”
“I’ll take the left.”
The place where Choin’s team had advanced was only as far as where the dark vision had trapped them, so combat was inevitable.
I had a rough idea of the enemies since I’d seen them on the way in.
Death Knights.
They’re no weaklings. Depending on their level, they’re guarding the Fortress of a 76-80 level Gate.
-Zing!
-Clang!
-Boom!
Despite their considerable numbers, they weren’t particularly difficult to handle. I never thought I’d say this myself, but we do have the world’s first and second-ranked Hunters, after all.
Choin’s heat rays tore through them, followed by my incineration and severance.
The remaining ones were easily dispatched. Unlike in Australia, Choin didn’t hold back either.
He threw himself into close combat, relying on his physical enhancement and super-regeneration. It truly reminded me of those famous American superhero movies.
‘Did I judge it as quite dangerous back then?’
Well, the destructive power of Catoblepas’s tail was tremendous. I only managed it because I had the Subspace to retreat into.
If that tail had connected properly, even super-regeneration and the Subspace recovery facilities wouldn’t have saved me from instant death.
“It’s not that difficult.”
Even accounting for that, the monsters didn’t feel particularly strong. Choin nodded in agreement.
“We thought the same thing. We tried to stay alert, but our guard dropped.”
“So you fell into a trap?”
Choin nodded.
“Even if we had been prepared, it wouldn’t have been easy.”
True enough—invisible threads of death that only revealed themselves once shown.
Given that the enemy had such traps in place, it made sense that the other monsters weren’t particularly strong.
Separately, this battle had increased my curiosity about Choin somewhat. He’d said he wanted to see me fight and asked me to bring him along.
However, in reality, he didn’t seem particularly interested in my combat style.
‘He’s definitely different.’
Unlike Fist King or Shin Chang, who had stared at me intently, Choin seemed utterly indifferent.
He did use his fists, but it was clear he had little interest in martial arts specifically.
His earlier words didn’t add up. If that was the case, there had to be another reason why Choin asked me to bring him along.
That must have been what he’d tried to say before, but I still had no way of knowing what it was.
“Hmm.”
“Let’s go.”
I decided not to press him on it. We moved forward. As expected, there were no grand battles.
The two of us easily defeated the approaching enemies and advanced.
‘He’s definitely strong.’
As a team, our guild naturally had the advantage in overall coordination, but having an exceptionally powerful individual was a different feeling entirely.
I’d seen Shin Chang and Fist King before, but I’d never actually entered a Gate with them.
“You’re strong too.”
Choin seemed to share the same thought as me.
“Right? I’m not trying to rank us, but since we’re already being called first and second, here we are.”
Honestly, at the highest tier, rankings don’t mean much. There’s also the matter of matchups.
Hunters just need to hunt monsters well.
“Hmm. I suppose.”
Choin smiled enigmatically. Did he dislike the first and second-place debate?
I didn’t bother responding.
“…By the way, this is sudden, but…”
Choin spoke again as we approached the end of the Fortress.
“Hiding in Australia wasn’t because I’m a coward.”
Was that what he wanted to say? If so, I’d be slightly disappointed.
“The government advised caution for safety, but that’s not the reason either.”
“Then?”
“….”
Choin, this guy. I didn’t know he had a talent for frustrating people. He clamped his mouth shut again.
Still, I decided to be patient. Curiosity is a sin. If I hadn’t been interested, I wouldn’t have paid attention in the first place.
“And neither of us is the world’s number one Hunter.”
What came next was somewhat unexpected.
“?”
If I said it wasn’t me, he might think I was ungrateful and prideful, but both of us? That was strange.
“Are you talking about Fist King or Shin Chang?”
“No.”
Choin smiled with a hint of melancholy.
“Haven’t you considered that there might be Hunters who aren’t known?”
“Surely not….”
It wasn’t strange that the Übermenschen came to mind immediately. I’d been thinking about them a lot recently.
“Are you talking about the Übermenschen?”
“That’s right.”
In the Third World where nations have collapsed, they monopolize the Gates. Perhaps Choin’s words were true.
We receive certain privileges, but they would cherry-pick only the best opportunities.
“How do you know? Have you met them?”
My curiosity naturally grew. If there was someone stronger than Choin, why hadn’t they come to kill me?
No, perhaps they thought it was sufficient back then. If I hadn’t prepared, it would have been dangerous.
“I did. A long time ago.”
Choin stopped walking. Instantly, I became alert. Could Choin have ties to the Übermenschen?
If so, this was the most dangerous moment. I was ready to leap into action at any time.
‘Things might get really complicated.’
Even if I defeated Choin and left, the situation would become quite troublesome. As my mind churned, Choin opened his mouth.
“Do you know about my awakening?”
“At school, to save someone you cared about?”
Choin chuckled.
“That’s only half true. I did step forward bravely, but I didn’t actually awaken.”
“Then?”
“I received an ability.”
Received an ability? That was hard to understand easily.
“Just as you manipulate Subspace, there are even more mysterious things in awakening.”
“Surely not.”
“Yes. The ability to transfer an awakening to another person.”
Even after hearing the explanation, it was difficult to accept.
-I’m hearing about this for the first time as well.
Even Chun-bae, who had experienced two worlds, knew nothing of it. Well, that was possible. Chun-bae wasn’t omniscient.
“That person seemed to approve of my bold step forward. He appeared suddenly and awakened me.”
“Is that person the Übermenschen Leader?”
“Probably.”
Choin didn’t give a definitive answer.
“I’m 99% certain. If it weren’t him, I would’ve experienced something that makes no sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Übermenschen members whose faces are known sometimes used completely unexpected skills.”
This must be information the United States side possessed that I didn’t know about. Or if Choin were lying instead…
“You….”
“It’s not me.”
Choin denied it, but it was hard to believe immediately. I didn’t let my guard down.
“He was a hunter from the United States. His abilities were treated as state secrets while he led many hunters.”
Choin continued speaking.
“You know this too, right? Aside from abilities, you need the right temperament to work as a hunter.”
I nodded. Abilities were one thing, but the hunter industry was a place where weak-hearted people couldn’t last long.
“That person called his skill ‘Attunement.’ On a national level, he paid hunters deemed unfit and transferred their abilities to soldiers.”
“For something like that, I don’t think there are many military-origin hunters among the first generation?”
“That’s inevitable.”
Choin laughed softly.
“Before he left the United States, he killed them all and recovered the abilities. He said the skill levels had risen and summoned the hunters. I was lucky. I was traveling at the time.”
What Choin wanted to talk about was the Übermenschen Leader from the United States.
Was this what he meant by not being able to speak outside?
“Are you also under surveillance outside?”
“Of course. It’s America’s dirty secret.”
Would it work the same way as with Liu Zhen? But considering the circumstances, it was understandable.
“I didn’t expect it would be like that for you.”
“I survived because of who I am. There are quite a few people who’ve gone missing.”
….
This was shocking news. Right. The world doesn’t flow as morally as I thought it would.
“But why bring that up all of a sudden?”
My earlier curiosity was satisfied, but another question arose. What was his intention in telling me this?
I still hadn’t let my guard down. In fact, Choin could be from the Übermenschen and proposing to recruit me—or assassinate me.
I discreetly checked my fingers.
Fortunately, the Ring of Conspiracy remained unchanged. Right, if this were a conspiracy, it would have changed color by now. I was being overly cautious. My thoughts drifted elsewhere.
‘If I suspect further….’
The Übermenschen itself might be an organization created by the United States. Choin is asking me for help.
Choin opened his mouth.
“At that time, he was in Australia.”

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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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