Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 294

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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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294. Fist King
“Lead with your fists. I want to feel the change.”
The reason Fist King had been so eager to spar with me was actually rooted in the Iron Wing Sword Technique.
We’d met briefly during the Australia subjugation and talked about it, and Fist King had shown great interest in the fact that my skills had merged.
Back then, I was exhausted and Fist King was doing something insane training his poison resistance, so we couldn’t spar.
Instead, he’d asked me to show him for sure sometime later.
“I’m ready.”
After loosening up lightly, I stood across from Fist King.
“Really, seriously?”
Fist King grinned and continued.
“Last time I couldn’t go all out because I was worried about Shin Chang’s reaction.”
But truthfully, our last spar was less of a “spar” and more of “instructional guidance.”
However, now that I’d reached my stride, Fist King saw me as a worthy opponent—things had changed.
I felt a bit grateful. Rather than saying I was “weak” back then, he’d created Shin Chang as an excuse.
A subtle consideration was visible. This person was quite clever indeed.
“I’ll balance it out with my fists, then go all out after.”
“You’re not trying to slice me with a sword, right?”
“Come on, you’re wearing S-rank gauntlets.”
“I could take them off too?”
He sounded sincere, so I stepped back.
“Well, let’s take off the gauntlets and use a different sword. Don’t you have one without a blade?”
“Without a blade? I don’t have anything like that.”
“?”
No matter how skilled someone is, this was too much. If something went wrong, it could be catastrophic.
“Shin Chang and I just fought normally.”
That’s probably why Shin Chang makes that fed-up expression every time he comes here. He enjoys sparring like Fist King does, but not to this extent.
“I can’t do that. I have one in my Subspace, so let’s use that.”
“What kind of man——”
Fist King gave a disapproving jab. A low-level provocation. I wasn’t about to fall for something like this.
I wasn’t an idiot like Shin Chang.
“Are you sure about going all out? I wasn’t worried about me getting hurt.”
Instead, I turned the provocation back on him.
“?”
Fist King’s eyes widened and his head tilted in confusion before he broke into a fierce grin.
“Yeah, that’s it. That’s what I’m talking about. Good. Let’s go.”
Hmm. Would this be okay?
And…
It wasn’t okay.
“Phew.”
“Heh.”
“As expected, my fists alone won’t cut it.”
“Even if I look like this, I’m someone who bears the title of Fist King.”
Separate from the savage smile Fist King wore, our initial bare-handed sparring proceeded with equipment—stat-limiting gear.
The kind of tools we always used whenever we trained together, designed to constrain our stats.
“Ouch, you definitely threw that punch with feeling, didn’t you?”
My entire body throbbed with pain everywhere. It was embarrassing to admit, but I’d been thoroughly beaten.
I’d received proper retaliation for the provocation I’d thrown at him.
After that came sparring without the stat-limiting equipment.
Initially, we’d agreed to do it without gauntlets, but on second thought, that didn’t seem like it would work.
“You want me to put the gauntlets back on?”
Fist King looked at me strangely at my words.
“If I go all out, I’ll block with the Subspace. Without them, won’t your hands get injured?”
The Subspace—immune to physical damage. I genuinely couldn’t attack it seriously. It was permeable, after all.
But considering the impact when monsters like Earth Dragons and Fire Dragons crashed into the Subspace….
I couldn’t overlook it. With Fist King’s destructive power, his fists might actually get damaged.
Fist King, who’d initially felt a bit of wounded pride, nodded after hearing my explanation.
“So you’re saying even Dragons crashed into it and got bounced back?”
“Yes.”
“I’d better put them on then.”
I’d been somewhat worried, but he agreed surprisingly readily. Fist King really was a smart young man—or rather, a smart middle-aged man.
‘Wait.’
So what about me, who’d provoked him and gotten beaten?
Had I just become a young man who got his revenge taken out on him? And on top of that, the safety I’d been trying to ensure was Fist King’s safety.
“Are you really okay with that?”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t entirely without effect, though. After all, I would be sparring with a blunted blade now.
Honestly, this was more convenient than controlling my strength with a sharp blade.
“Let’s begin.”
Perhaps because I’d said to go all out, Fist King—who’d previously yielded first strike to me—kicked off the ground the moment I nodded.
His grinning face looked mischievous.
* * *
“Ugh!”
Fist King cried out as he threw a straight punch at the Subspace.
“Should we stop here?”
“A bit more!”
It didn’t seem possible. After hitting the Subspace several times, his destructive power had noticeably diminished. That must have meant the pain was considerable.
Given Fist King’s personality, it would be hard for him to say it first, so I stopped him.
“I’m struggling.”
The sparring that unfolded after that was about 6:4 in my favor. Probably because I had the Subspace. My compatibility with Fist King was decent, I’d say.
Though we called it serious sparring, we didn’t exactly attack each other as if trying to kill. More like—accounting for injuries?
It felt more like we were gauging each other’s martial arts and skills one by one.
I couldn’t use Inferno or Severance against the Fist King anyway.
-I think this is sufficient.
Chun-bae had offered his advice too. I hadn’t told the Fist King, but the purpose of this sparring session from the start was to use it in my Subspace.
By observing each technique and fighting style like this, I could gauge things to a reasonable degree. It felt somewhat deceptive, but there was no helping it.
-What? You have such an amazing facility? Put me in the Subspace right now!
-That won’t work? Then bring the machine out here!
His actual words probably weren’t quite like that, but I could predict the Fist King’s reaction to some extent. Still, since he’d said he was serious, we both dealt quite genuine blows to each other.
I desperately dodged his face since it looked like I’d actually die, but his fists did land on my forearms and sides a few times.
‘I thought I was done for.’
It wasn’t an exaggeration—my organs resonated from the impact. If he hadn’t held back his strength, his fist would have gone clean through my body.
I didn’t just stand there either. I slashed and thrust my bladeless sword against the Fist King’s body multiple times.
Still, I felt like I was getting the worse end of the deal. I was taking punches while my bladeless sword strikes didn’t quite measure up to that.
But it was still quite a fruitful day.
[The skill ‘Iron Wing Fighting Cock Sword (Grade A)’ has leveled up.]
The Iron Wing Fighting Cock Sword skill, which I hadn’t needed to use during the Australia subjugation with the Undead or the Red Dragon, had gone up one level.
It seemed high-grade martial arts really did teach you something when fought against someone of appropriate caliber.
“So shall we call it lunch here and go again in the evening?”
“?”
“Since we’re here, we might as well squeeze out every benefit. For you and me both.”
Certainly. I thought I was working hard, but the Fist King was definitely someone properly obsessed with this sort of thing.
I didn’t refuse. For the sake of elevating how the Fist King would appear in my Subspace, I needed to accommodate him more.
Moreover, the Fist King was a senior who’d been a hunter longer than me. It was natural that I’d gain much from fighting with him.
“Speaking of which.”
While taking a brief water break and resting, the Fist King broached the subject carefully. It was an uncharacteristic attitude for him.
“What is it?”
“Did you bring the Bone Dragon?”
“Suddenly?”
“Why not? It’s cool. I want to see it. I’ve seen the Red Dragon before.”
So the Fist King was human after all.
“I could even let you ride it, but… ah, that won’t work.”
I’d come here in secret, so that wasn’t possible.
“H-how about we just summon it here and take pictures?”
The Fist King’s eyes lit up.
“Well, that much should be possible, right?”
The Fist King’s training facility was enormous. I’d say it was even larger than the one I used in Korea.
Since it was a facility the nation had arranged specifically for the Fist King, summoning the Bone Dragon here posed no problem.
“Hehehehe.”
The Fist King was absolutely delighted.
“Can’t you sell me this one?”
“Huh?”
“You have two of them, don’t you?”
“That’s complete nonsense….”
“Think about it. I leap down from the sky and—boom!—punch it. How cool would that be?”
“Cool or not, it’s not happening.”
Is this man insane? How dare he suggest using the Bone Dragon.
“Ugh, tsk.”
Fist King expressed deep regret, but a refusal was a refusal.
“What if I give you a Skill Level-Up Ticket or something like that?”
“No.”
I had no intention of negotiating with anything.
“Once you completely destroy the Übermenschen and finish everything, I’ll consider it.”
“Well then, if that happens, I’ll find you a dragon too.”
Fist King let out a hollow laugh.
“Really?”
I responded seriously.
“What?”
“You promised.”
Both Fist King and Choin were among the leading hunters of the world. I’d obtained my dragon egg from a Level 90 Gate.
This meant they might soon acquire dragon eggs through Hidden Gates as well.
“If you do it, Fist King, I’ll give you the Bone Dragon.”
Fist King seemed to think I was joking as I responded seriously, and he chuckled while waving his hand dismissively.
“Fine. Once you destroy the Übermenschen, I’ll find you a dragon.”
“You promised.”
“Wait….”
Fist King raised his hand in realization.
“There’s no time limit, right?”
“Wait, what?”
“It’s too late. You already promised. Twice, even.”
When I spoke with conviction, Fist King gave me a reluctant glare.
“Tch.”
“Doesn’t a man keep his word?”
“Fine. I’ll give it to you when it happens. When it happens. You have to finish dealing with the Übermenschen too.”
“You promised.”
I answered with a grin.
* * *
That evening, Russia prepared an elaborate meal for us. It was delicious, though not quite to my taste.
After that, Fist King brought out black tea. Black tea….
“It’s safe to drink, right?”
“I made it myself, didn’t I?”
If it’s Fist King, I can trust him. It was a joke anyway.
“Hmm. Then that makes it even more suspicious?”
“This bastard?”
I thought I’d gotten somewhat closer to Fist King, but just seeing him curse like that told me everything.
That’s when something unexpected happened.
-Knock knock!
Someone knocked on the door from outside. With a rather serious expression, they called Fist King away separately. The conversation didn’t take long.
“Is there a problem?”
Since I’d come to Russia in secret, I was worried too and asked, but Fist King chuckled and spoke casually.
“A Trial Gate has appeared, apparently.”
A Trial Gate. It was a name I hadn’t heard in quite a while. I didn’t feel particularly interested when I heard it.
I’d heard that Trial Gates typically appeared at levels slightly above the average of awakened individuals.
I thought that’s why they’d been rare since I got on track. The God of Play must have been watching me.
Wasn’t it because of that bastard that Trial Gates, which don’t appear often in the world, kept showing up near me?
“I guess we should wrap up the evening sparring here.”
But something about Fist King’s words seemed off.
“Why?”
“This Trial Gate’s entry level is from 71 to 80?”
“What?”
Chun-bae’s information wasn’t wrong. It had been accurate until now. Did this change because I became high-level?
If so, this wasn’t the time to be sitting around. I needed to get back to Korea as quickly as possible.
“Then I should go too.”
Fist King shook his head.
“No need. Just drink some tea and stay put.”
“What?”
Could he think I’m a rival? The Advance Team members hadn’t been excluded from Trial Gates until now.
I wasn’t seriously suspicious. Fist King’s expression was full of playfulness.
“It’s not that. It didn’t appear in Korea.”
“?”
“It didn’t appear in Korea. Call and check.”
That couldn’t be…
I called right away, and Seo-ung said the same thing.
-Yes, this Trial Gate did not appear in Korea.
That God of Play bastard.
Could he have deliberately held back because he knew I was in Russia? No way. That guy knows everything there is to know.
There’s no way national-level cooperation like this would be possible. Maybe he thought he’d already given me enough recently.
Rather than deliberately withholding it, maybe he really just ran it randomly like before.
“Anyway, since Fist King will be going in, I should probably head back too.”
There was no real reason to stay in Russia without Fist King.
“Yeah. See you next time.”
It was just as I was preparing to return home.
The moment I arrived at the Airport, my phone rang.
-Hey.
“Yes?”
-Want to go in together with me?

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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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