Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 298

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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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298. Poison Trial (4)
“If we’ve looked this thoroughly, it seems like there’s no one here, doesn’t it?”
“Right. Even accounting for two people per group, we should have run into someone by now.”
It was a conclusion I’d reached after wandering around with Fist King for a while. It appeared no other hunters had entered this Gate.
Normally, we should have encountered at least one person. We’d crossed paths even in that vast Sea during the Stamina Trial.
Even if the Poison Fog prevented us from securing visibility, we should have discovered some trace of them.
It was possible that hunters were inside but we’d simply never crossed paths by sheer coincidence.
“Master, this way is faster.”
“Really? But those guys said to go that way earlier?”
“They just didn’t know better. It’s a shortcut.”
“Hmm. You’re not trying to trick me, right?”
“Oh, no! Absolutely not!”
A minor incident occurred during our journey. Not long after we’d ventured into the depths the foxes had mentioned, we encountered the older sisters of the fox.
I’d already heard about them beforehand and was prepared. There wasn’t really much of a battle to speak of.
Earlier, I’d been caught off guard while soaking in the Poison Hot Spring, but hadn’t I anticipated this now?
And these foxes themselves weren’t particularly strong specimens.
‘If the poison is this potent and the foxes were that strong, it wouldn’t make sense.’
No matter how difficult a Gate might be, there exists an appropriate level range. The overall framework cannot be exceeded.
If the environment is that harsh, the enemies cannot be proportionally stronger. The same applies to Trial Gates.
It’s also true that Fist King and I are exceptions.
Without A-rank poison resistance and the heart of the Poison Fox, I would have succumbed to the foxes’ attacks while struggling.
Most hunters would have crossed the river of death long ago.
“Humans? You’re just snacks for our training! We can suck out your vital essence!”
I could confirm that these creatures pursued me because of the Poison Fox’s heart, but it wouldn’t have changed much without it.
The heart simply accelerated their pursuit. Originally, they would have come once the poison’s potency had intensified further during my wandering.
‘The absence of enemies at the start might have been a trap all along.’
Fist King wouldn’t be the only one with A-rank poison resistance. Initially cautious, they would have gradually thought, ‘Are there no enemies?’
Then, just like Fist King and me, they would have resolved to raise their poison resistance while enduring. That’s when the foxes would have appeared.
“How much stronger are your older sisters than you?”
“Completely! We wobble around in their poison….”
“So it’s all about poison?”
“Their physical abilities are better too!”
“Better than mine?”
“No, not that!”
Their physical abilities seemed clearly inferior, so I didn’t need to worry too much. This Gate itself is a place with S-rank poison.
Even if there’s stronger S-rank poison, I have a feeling I could endure it.
‘It’ll be pretty tough, though.’
If I proceed as I have been, suppressing them before they can properly deploy their poison, there should be no problem.
And the fact that the foxes fear fire helped too. Their older sisters even called me the ‘Demon of Flame.’
“How about we raise our poison resistance level a bit more and venture deeper?”
Even so, there were safer approaches we could take.
“No.”
Fist King shook his head.
“Whoever lasts the longest survives. That’s when the Gate ends. Time isn’t abundant, is it?”
Fist King’s logic was straightforward.
Since time was limited, we needed to rapidly increase our poison resistance. I agreed with him.
“Let’s do it.”
Deeper within, there would surely be toxins far more potent than what we faced now. Even among S-rank hazards, degrees of danger varied.
Perhaps what we encountered now was merely high-tier A-rank poison.
“Let’s go.”
Following the initial nine, we encountered five more of these elder sister foxes, and we sent all but two of them away.
Too many foxes nearby would only inconvenience us, and they might harbor second thoughts.
-If you’re caught lingering nearby, you die as is.
-N-no, we absolutely won’t come back!
-Do you dislike us?
-N-no, it’s not that….
Still, they didn’t seem intent on deceiving us. The elder sisters had resisted briefly before getting beaten down by Fist King.
Fist King’s body was indistinguishable from a beast’s, yet they appeared terrified of him as though facing another creature of their kind.
Of course, my scorching flames had contributed as well.
Thanks to that, we received their guidance safely and proceeded toward where their ‘big sisters’ resided.
* * *
We were advancing deeper into Poison Fox Valley when it happened.
“Ah, the big sisters are here!”
The foxes caught the scent first. Soon my spatial awareness picked them up as well.
Two of them—or should I say two foxes? Either way, there were two.
“If they’re elder sisters, they should be fairly strong, right?”
Fist King showed interest and loosened his fists, but we were immediately deflated.
“Hehe, welcome!”
“?”
“…!?”
The elder sister foxes greeted us respectfully and warmly. Not just Fist King and I were taken aback.
Rather, the guide foxes gaped in astonishment.
“What? No fight?”
“Well, we have different experience.”
The elder sister foxes smiled.
“The little ones mentioned that you’re people we shouldn’t touch?”
“?”
My eyes met Fist King’s. They weren’t fighting, yet they bowed their heads from the start?
Didn’t this feel like deception no matter how you looked at it?
“If you’re truly suspicious, you can bind us.”
“No, wouldn’t you naturally be suspicious?”
“We’re approaching a thousand years of age, so we must be cautious even of falling leaves.”
Ah, that’s right—these Poison Foxes live for a thousand years. Wasn’t the Poison Fox said to be a fox that lived ten thousand years?
Then were these creatures on the verge of evolving into Thousand Poison Foxes?
Like how a water serpent ascends to become a dragon? If so, their reaction made sense, though I still couldn’t quite accept it. It had been too easy.
“You’ve remained this clearheaded all the way here and unilaterally captured our younger siblings, I hear? We don’t want to take risks. It seems your purpose is poison cultivation training, so we’ll help you wholeheartedly!”
“Isn’t it the heart of the Poison Fox you want?”
“How could we, who haven’t even lived a thousand years, possibly defeat someone who possesses that?”
Even with further questioning, their answers didn’t change much. Fist King nodded readily.
“Then let’s bind them first. Guide us. You said you have a Poison Hot Spring only you use.”
“You’re also looking for poison insects and beasts, I hear….”
“Have your younger siblings handle that.”
The elder sisters nodded in agreement.
“You heard that? Bring the highest grade of everything.”
“Yes, yes!”
The foxes, whether due to their strict hierarchy, responded immediately and rushed off. As the situation unfolded this way, Fist King and I felt equally bewildered.
“We did enter our Gate, right?”
“That’s what I’m saying. It feels like we’re sightseeing. I’m not sure if there’s such a thing as addiction sightseeing.”
That didn’t mean I completely trusted the foxes. They were creatures approaching a thousand years of age. They would absolutely covet the heart of the Poison Fox I possessed.
Therefore, I planned to alternate with Fist King when using the highest-grade Poison Hot Spring and eating meals in the depths of Poison Fox Valley.
“Huh? Just do it.”
But Fist King offered a different opinion.
“If they backstab us, we just beat them down. You have the Subspace anyway.”
“I do, but you, Fist King….”
“What’s different about me?”
What was this—a question like something a girlfriend would ask?
“Huh?”
But looking more carefully, Fist King’s face seemed slightly different. There was a noticeable change from before when she looked gaunt and exhausted.
Of course, there was still a hint of that feeling now, but she looked considerably better, I’d say?
“I reached S-rank.”
“Wow.”
I was still B-rank, while Fist King had risen to S-rank. Well, there’s a difference since the heart of the Poison Fox filters things for me first.
I suppose my poison resistance accumulation speed is inevitably slower than Fist King’s.
Once I reach A-rank, I’ll put the heart of the Poison Fox into the Subspace. That small gap was all I regretted.
Well, if Fist King said it that way, there was no particular reason to hesitate.
“I’ll trust you.”
The hot spring the elder fox sister guided us to was certainly more luxurious. It appeared they had remodeled a natural hot spring to give it a somewhat antique aesthetic.
Of course, since its contents were poison, looking at it from the outside didn’t inspire any desire to enter.
-Splash!
I immersed myself alongside Fist King. The moment we submerged, I could tell. This was on a different level entirely.
My skin burned and stung where it touched the water. So this was how weakened the Poison Fox’s heart made the toxin.
It had to be among the highest-tier poisons even among S-rank toxins. I noticed a slight haziness creeping in, but it remained within safe limits.
The Thousand Poison Fox’s heart was already purifying it in real time.
[Your skill ‘Poison Resistance (B-rank)’ has increased in level.]
Perhaps because it had been filtered once through the Thousand Poison Fox’s heart, the rank didn’t rise like it had for Fist King.
If it reached A-rank, I could probably hit S-rank too. Was this the limit of equipment-based growth?
“Esteemed ones~!”
Just as I was lamenting this while exploring the Poison Fox Valley hot spring with Fist King, the older sisters approached carrying wine bottles.
“You must be drowsy from enjoying the hot spring, so we’ve brought some fine liquor for you.”
“Liquor?”
“It’s a poison liquor, but since you’re training in poison cultivation anyway! It’s precious, and we’re offering it hoping you might spare us!”
“Ho. Let me see it.”
Fist King immediately showed interest in the bottle. The moment he uncorked it, Chun-bae spoke up.
-Han Hye.
‘I know.’
I sensed divinity emanating from this bottle. It was faint, but because I had deep ties to the divine, I could feel it more clearly.
Even the Thousand Poison Fox’s heart couldn’t filter this. Wasn’t this the real purpose behind these older sisters’ cooperative behavior?
The foxes stared at us with wide eyes, clearly hoping we’d drink it quickly.
I stopped Fist King as he moved to smell it.
“Fist King.”
“What? Are you going to taste it first?”
“No, that’s not it. I think it would be better if you didn’t drink this.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s poison infused with divinity.”
At my words, Fist King’s eyes widened as he looked at the bottle again.
“I do feel something alien about it.”
“That’s because even S-rank equipment can’t detoxify it. Skills would be the same.”
“I know. I’ve experienced something similar before. It wasn’t poison though.”
As expected of the Advance Team, he seemed knowledgeable about gates related to divinity. Fist King turned his head toward the foxes, his gaze quite sharp.
“W-we just heard you were training in poison cultivation…!”
“I’ll take this for now.”
Given the circumstances, I took the divine poison liquor and placed it in my Subspace, sealing it. Perhaps I’d find a use for it someday.
“Leave these ones to me.”
Fist King rose from the hot spring. Was it because his Poison Resistance had reached S-rank?
Even though he was in an even more toxic hot spring, the gaunt appearance from before had vanished.
“W-wait, please!”
The older sisters suddenly dropped to their knees and threw their hands up. Had they heard this from their younger sisters?
“We’ll give you something even better!”
“Something better?”
“It’s a treasure we’ve been saving to eat after living for a thousand years…!”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
As Fist King raised his fist, the elder sisters frantically waved both arms.
“It’s, it’s really true! The Fire Demon—no, the Fire Noble can sense everything, so how could we dare tell a lie?”
“You were just now.”
“That, we didn’t know you could sense it….”
“Go get it then. If you play tricks again this time, I’ll make sure you’re dead for a thousand years or whatever.”
At Fist King’s threat, the elder sisters nodded frantically in panic and were about to retreat.
“Send just one of you.”
“Y, yes?”
“If you all run away like this, it’ll be annoying to track you down. Send just one. Or come with me instead.”
“W, we’ll bring it right away! Two minutes! Two minutes is all we need!”
“You’d better be prepared to run. Since you call yourselves Poison Foxes, I’d say eating you would make for quite good training.”
“Kyaaah…!”
As one of the elder sisters retreated, I thought—this was probably the final trial and the hidden stage.
Anyone skilled enough to reach here would have been training poison resistance like us and would have caught those foxes.
‘Since each fox begged for their lives, they definitely would have talked.’
After that, it was probably just whether you’d drink that liquor without being fooled?
We didn’t fall for it because Chun-bae and I were there, but seeing Fist King reach for it at the mention of alcohol showed it was quite a dangerous moment.
“H, here it is!”
The elder sister came rushing back, panting for breath, carrying the poison liquor. It wasn’t just strong alcohol—it was genuinely poison liquor.
[Thousand-Year Poison Liquor (Grade A)]
-A liquor made from extreme poison. Aged for a thousand years, it boasts exquisite taste despite its toxicity.
-Ordinary people die instantly upon consumption. If one can overcome the poison of the liquor, physical abilities increase dramatically.
The moment I confirmed this, both Fist King and I couldn’t help but open our eyes wide.
“This is a Grade A elixir, isn’t it?”
“Should we drink it right now?”
Since it didn’t contain divine power, I could detoxify it instantly using the Poison Fox’s heart with a ‘click’.
The moment I drank the thousand-year poison liquor immediately….
[The skill ‘Poison Resistance (Grade B)’ has increased in rank.]
My Poison Resistance skill had become Grade A. In other words, I could make it Grade S here.

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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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