Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 3

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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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3. Even in the Dragon’s Nest, if Only the Subspace Awakens (2)
The Red Dragon that had been charging at me with murderous intent suddenly stopped. No matter how ferocious a dragon might be, it couldn’t bring itself to attack its own egg.
Furious, the Red Dragon rolled across the ground several times, then let out whimpering sounds like an anxious dog.
It was frustrated—its offspring right before its eyes, yet unable to reach it. Of course, I felt no sympathy whatsoever.
This was the creature that had been treating me as a daily snack.
The Red Dragon’s claws scraped and pounded at the subspace entrance. Yet no matter how hard it tried, some invisible barrier kept it from touching the egg or entering.
In that moment, I was certain.
‘It can’t get in.’
Was it because I despised the creature? A slight sense of relief washed over me, but it wasn’t definitive yet.
Just because its body couldn’t enter didn’t guarantee its breath wouldn’t.
That old man took a spell and turned into frozen meat, after all.
Then the Red Dragon brought its eye right up to the subspace entrance.
“Ugh.”
Through the narrow gap between the egg and the doorway, I could see the reptilian eye. It was darting back and forth, searching for me.
I met its furious gaze. My body stiffened slightly, just like before. But there was nothing it could do.
“Damn, you scared me.”
So what if it sees me?
I was absolutely infuriated. I shifted the egg slightly, then thrust the sword I was holding through the gap between the egg and the entrance.
Squelch—!
For all the hardness of a dragon’s scales, its eyes were another matter. The blade slid in smoothly.
“SHRIEEEEEK!”
The Red Dragon shrieked and thrashed wildly. The egg shifted from the impact of the sword piercing its eye. I gasped in horror and grabbed the egg with both hands.
Even after I released the sword, the cross-guard caught between the subspace entrance and the egg, and the blade was automatically pulled free.
As the egg shifted and the opening widened, something scalding hot splattered across my hands and face. I had no time to worry about that.
I frantically sealed the entrance shut with the egg again.
“Phew.”
That was close. If I’d dropped the egg in my panic, I might have been hit by breath or magic.
That’s when something appeared before my eyes.
[Dragon’s blood has touched your body. Since ancient times, dragon’s blood has been revered as sacred.]
[Stamina and mana increase by 10.]
So what had splattered on me earlier was dragon’s blood. It was an unexpected situation, but it worked in my favor.
I’d simply thrust the sword out of sheer rage, but the result turned out quite beneficial.
Of course…
There was something unsettling about it. If the dragon’s blood could seep through even though its body couldn’t enter, what about magic or breath?
“Damn it.”
And it was real. The enraged Red Dragon unleashed its breath somewhere, and heat came pouring through the gap.
Fortunately, it hadn’t aimed at the egg. Sweat poured down like rain.
Then came the magic.
Something whistled past near the subspace entrance, followed by an explosion sound.
—Grrrrr!
Yet even the Red Dragon seemed concerned for its offspring and didn’t directly fire at the egg. I clung to it, sweat pouring down like rain.
This egg was my lifeline.
…And the Red Dragon didn’t harm the egg for six hours.
That’s right.
I survived. Twelve hours accounting for rest periods. The most grueling battle of my entire life.
.
.
.
[Subjugation of Mutated Gate ‘Tempest of the Sky’ Complete.]
[Experience gained.]
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
[Level increased.]
A euphoria I’d never felt before surged up from deep within my body. This was what leveling up felt like.
After six hours of holding the egg in place, my arms and shoulders had been on the verge of cramping, but that sensation vanished in an instant.
The level-up notification had chimed exactly five times.
Level five. The maximum.
Entering a gate too far above your level prevents you from gaining full experience. The same applies to rewards.
That’s why my level rose to exactly the cap. Even if Earth’s strongest awakened hunter had come, the result would have been similar.
But the notifications didn’t end there.
[As a gate subjugation reward, you obtain ‘Solar Flame (Grade A)’.]
“Grade A?”
Grade A elixirs are worth their weight in gold.
There may be unknown ones in the world, but Grade A elixirs have appeared fewer than ten times so far.
The most famous is the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
It came from a mutated gate, and a Russian ice-ability awakened hunter consumed it and advanced from Grade A to S-rank.
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, I felt my body being pulled somewhere. The gate subjugation was complete, and I was being transported outside the gate.
When I opened my eyes, I was back outside the gate—on Earth.
“Oh, I’m out!”
The air felt refreshingly clean. The subspace hadn’t been stale so much as quite suffocating because of the Red Dragon.
With the level-up, my body seemed to have more vitality too.
“Huh? You’re alone?”
“You’re by yourself?”
The two gate administrators in front of me were staring in bewilderment.
“What on earth happened? Where are the others?”
Since I’d emerged alone, the Hunter Association staff erupted in a flurry of questions.
During those hours holding out inside the subspace, I’d thought of something.
“Ah, well….”
Would these people really believe me?
* * *
The highest recommended level gate ever discovered on Earth was level 60.
Over ten years, gate levels had gradually increased, but we’d never exceeded 60.
And the highest-level awakened hunter was only level 58.
I’d subjugated a gate over level 90. And a Red Dragon—something no one had ever seen before—emerged from it.
If I’d heard this news while lounging at home on my phone, I would’ve thought it was a lie too.
-Lost consciousness inside the gate.
-An attention-seeker?
That would be the natural reaction of ordinary people like me. Of course, there was a way to prove it.
Show them the dragon egg.
[Red Dragon Egg]
-A dragon egg not far from hatching.
-Heat is required for incubation.
This was the information about the dragon egg I’d confirmed in the subspace. Showing it would convince them.
‘…Why should I?’
What came next was predictable.
Could a newly awakened hunter like me clearly establish ownership of a dragon egg?
I didn’t think it was possible.
Surely the guild or government of the awakened hunters who entered the gate with me would try to seize it.
But this egg was something I’d risked my life to obtain. I didn’t want to hand over such a treasure to someone else based on mere regulations.
…Besides, this egg was something I needed to experiment with.
-The tremor caused the gate to transform into a survival-type gate. And a Great Worm appeared.
So I changed my story.
I said I’d fled desperately because time was running out. I claimed the others with me didn’t know about it.
I’d only swapped the dragon for a Great Worm—the rest wasn’t a lie.
I felt no guilt. Whether awakened or not, being a hunter is a profession that dances with death.
‘Gate transformations happen fairly often anyway.’
The gate administrator let me go. Usually, they avoid asking too many questions after a gate subjugation.
My appearance, having just emerged from the gate, certainly helped matters.
Of course, I still had to file a report at the Hunter Association. A gate transformation had occurred, after all.
-I did awaken while fleeing, but….
-You can tell us about that tomorrow. If you don’t come, the Association will visit you directly, so please keep that in mind.
After finishing that procedure, I drove my clunker of a car back to my small one-room apartment. I don’t even remember how I got there.
Only after showering did it finally sink in.
‘I’m… an awakened hunter now?’
My mind was still reeling, but I’d awakened. And with a rare class and S-rank skill at that.
A skill that actually worked properly too!
Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Healer, Martial Artist.
According to statistics, ninety-seven percent of awakened hunters receive one of the five professions above based on their aptitude.
Even among those with the same profession, they’re not all identical. The skills granted during awakening or upon leveling up vary from person to person, which means their growth and combat styles differ as well.
And like me, there exist rare professions beyond those five.
‘Roughly a three percent chance of landing a rare profession.’
However, rare professions aren’t necessarily good. Even when they sound promising, something’s invariably off about them.
Just off the top of my head, there’s Psychic, Druid, Bard, Paladin, and Dragon Knight.
These professions sound tempting just from their names. But their fatal flaw is….
Practical constraints. They’re either ineffective at killing enemies or their skills simply don’t activate.
-Dragon Knight but no dragons so can’t use skills lol
-Paladin can’t use holy skills;;>
Despite their appearance, these professions came with demanding prerequisites.
Dragon Knights needed a ‘dragon,’ and Paladins needed a ‘god.’
…Obviously, such things didn’t exist in reality. There were no dragons, and no religion on Earth could grant divinity.
It wasn’t for nothing that sixty percent of rare professions were called garbage.
‘Even if their skills work, many of these abilities are too ambiguous for monster hunting.’
As a result, Psychics ended up at construction sites, Druids at zoos, and Bards in orchestras.
In the early days of the gate crisis, these rare professions caused numerous incidents and accidents.
[‘Dragon Knight’ Choi Chul-gi, contacted by fifty countries but chose to remain in Korea.]
-True patriot lol
-wtf;; I would’ve gone to America
.
.
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[‘Dragon Knight’ Choi Chul-gi, can’t use skills without a ‘dragon’?]
-fr?
-lololol Dragon Knight lol no dragon so can’t use abilities lol
-So he’s just a regular knight then? (genuinely confused;;)
-Substitute knight might work lol
-But wtf what about the contract money from taxpayers?
.
.
.
[Dragon Knight Choi Chul-gi voluntarily returns contract payment amid public pressure.]
-sssssss
-The bastard still has a conscience
A Paladin in the Middle East even faced religious trial for being called an infidel because he couldn’t use holy skills.
It wasn’t without reason that I’d worried upon awakening to such a bizarre profession called Princess.
‘Fortunately, unlike those other rare professions, my skills actually work.’
‘I suppose I should celebrate…?’
I immediately grabbed my wallet. I needed to get out.
There was one person I wanted to share this joyous news of my awakening with.
‘What should I eat? Beef?’
I made up my mind. Though I lived in a one-room apartment smaller than my pocket dimension, I’d saved up some money from working as a porter.
9 PM. The timing was perfect. On a day like this, how could I not treat myself to beef?
* * *
[Yong-Yong Samgyeopsal]
I found the meat restaurant right in front of my place. Though nine o’clock was getting late, there wasn’t a single customer inside.
I scratched the back of my head. How could there not be even one table occupied?
“Is the food here not good? Why isn’t there a single customer?”
I walked through the door and spoke my unfiltered thoughts aloud.
The owner standing at the counter frowned. He had a sturdy build.
“Listen to the way this punk talks.”
“To a customer, no less?”
“In my shop, I’m the king. You punk.”
The man laughed with a snort.
“Did you make it back safely from the gate?”
“Yes.”
I grinned. We had this kind of easy rapport. Among the few good people in my wretched life, this man was one of them.
When everyone else was in high school, he let me work here and gave me a place to sleep while I wandered homeless.
“When is this place ever going to do good business? Won’t it go under like this? There used to be customers before. Now you don’t even hire part-timers?”
“Sigh. Hye, you really want to get hit, don’t you?”
The man raised his right hand.
“Hey now, you’ll regret kicking me out. I’m about to order beef.”
“Huh?”
The man’s eyes widened before he guided me with a sly expression.
“Oh my, customer. Please, sit here.”
“Give me three servings of Korean beef.”
When I spoke confidently, the man sat across from me with curiosity in his eyes.
“Did you get a bonus? At your level, I doubt you got paid extra just for finding a few more mana stones. Did you discover a hidden piece or something?”
I grinned.
“I awakened.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, Hye. I’m truly congratulating you. What? This is incredible!”
The man was genuinely delighted. He knew how desperately I’d wanted to awaken.
Of course, being a good man, he’d tried to talk me out of it at first. He’d asked why I wanted to do something so dangerous.
When I told him I wanted revenge on the monster that killed my parents, he’d tried to dissuade me. Though now he supports me.
As I smiled faintly across from him, the man stood up from his seat.
“Let’s go. I’m closing up for the day.”
“What are you talking about? I came here to eat beef.”
“You need to go to a beef specialty restaurant for beef. Why are you looking for it at a pork belly place?”
“You don’t have any at all?”
“How could we?”
The man gave me a sidelong glance.
Seriously, can’t he take a joke?
I’d been coming here for years—there’s no way I’d confuse the menu.
“I’m joking. I brought some.”
“What? Beef? But you came in empty-handed.”
He had a point.
I’d arrived at this shop with nothing in my hands.
“I stored it in my spatial pocket.”
“What?”
Well, with the ability I possessed, there was no need to carry heavy loads around.
—Whoosh.
I opened the space and pulled out a black bag.
Inside the bag was the beef I’d mentioned, packed full.
“….”
The man seemed to be in shock.
I continued speaking to him.
“It’s a rare job class.”
The man’s expression looked complicated. Joy and astonishment coexisted. It couldn’t be helped.
Few people had suffered as much from a rare job class as he had.
“What the hell.”
“Yes?”
“Some people enter gates holding lizards in their hands on a whim…. And then there’s someone like you who just uses skills?”
Dragon Knight Choi Chul-gi.
That man standing before me was the very person who had made his name known across the world in the early days of the gate crisis.

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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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