Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 304
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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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304. Orcon Ruins (4)
“But is this even possible at this level?”
The question came from Min-jae.
“I’ve been thinking about it again, and seventy to eighty Draconians? That seems nearly impossible to break through, honestly.”
A fair assessment. The moment they spotted us, they roared. At the same instant, every Draconian in the ruins rushed at us as one.
Searching inside the ruins without encountering a single one would’ve been quite difficult.
However it played out, we’d have run into them and fought. Even for a Vanguard team, it wouldn’t have been easy.
Of course, it wasn’t quite impossible the way Min-jae suggested.
“It’s doable, yeah? The Vanguard members all have skills well above their level.”
Truth is, you can’t put ordinary hunters’ levels on the same scale as Vanguard members’ levels.
As levels rise naturally, those who have stats beyond their level through Spirit Medicine, Hidden skills, and support exist among them.
“But they wouldn’t have cut through as cleanly as we did. In fact, we ended up in an even worse situation than they did.”
We didn’t hold any ground—we started the fight already surrounded. It’s likely that other Vanguard teams couldn’t have broken through that either.
We could escape to the sky, but fighting while completely encircled, with the rear echelon trapped? Practically impossible.
Actually, if those creatures had caught on to our intentions any faster, escape wouldn’t have been simple for us either.
Summoning the dragon, mounting it, and taking flight all takes time. It was a pretty high-difficulty Gate.
“Excluding the area we’ve already searched, we’ll pair up in twos and look around. I’ll move solo.”
The ruins could be divided into four sections based on the center. We’d already searched one.
The plan was to split into three teams and search the rest.
“Is it alright if we search as well?”
That was Lee Shin-hee speaking.
“Not because I’m lazy, but because I’m worried we’ll miss something.”
“Ah, I’ll check my section again after searching it anyway. Since we want to find it quickly, it’s more of a time-saving approach.”
“I see.”
The reason for pairing people up was in case there were other scattered dangers lurking about.
Even though we’d dealt with the Draconians, you never know. You can’t be too careful about safety.
“Then Min-jae and I will go together.”
Since Mister was taking Min-jae with him, it naturally fell to Han Chul and Lee Shin-hee to pair up.
Lee Shin-hee looked slightly dissatisfied, but there wasn’t much to be done about it.
“Just in case—Mister and Min-jae, take Yong-yong with you. Han Chul and Shin-hee, take the Bone Dragon.”
I’d move with Leap anyway, and since I can evade, I don’t need the Bone Dragon with me.
If any enemies remained, the dragons would protect our people.
“If you find anything, send up a Signal Flare.”
I handed out one Signal Flare each—the ones I’d brought from the Subspace. Once we saw it shoot up into the sky with a sound, all we had to do was move.
We scattered in three different directions.
* * *
Sigh.
As the search dragged on, there wasn’t even a trace of S-rank Armor. I’d already searched one whole section solo.
Was there something I’d missed? I genuinely wondered.
Since I was using Spatial Sense to search, I hadn’t actually entered the buildings. But that itself was ambiguous too.
Spatial Sense can detect hidden spaces. It didn’t seem like the structure had been built for me to hunt through every building manually.
‘Or… could it be more difficult than that?’
Hidden isn’t called Hidden for nothing. Sure, some things are simply concealed, but some are made not to be found at all.
Like when you cross an invisible wall in a Labyrinth Dead End.
Maybe Spatial Sense isn’t even the key. What if there’s something like a puzzle inside a building that Spatial Sense can’t detect?
Or perhaps, as I’d first thought, it could be located outside the ruins.
‘Let me start by checking the interior a bit.’
No need to rush. With Chun-bae around, it’s just a matter of time before we find it. I’ll search steadily.
……But back then, I didn’t foresee this search would stretch out this long.
.
.
.
“I really can’t find this.”
“Tell me about it.”
A full day had been consumed. About eight hours remained. It meant we’d searched for more than a day and a half.
Of course, we’d fought Draconians, but that wasn’t a long stretch compared to the time we’d spent searching.
We’d naturally combed through the ruins’ interior with Spatial Sense, and we’d even entered buildings that looked suspicious to check them out.
Searching every building would’ve been impossible in the time we had, so we’d settled for the next best thing. We’d also looked around the outside of the ruins separately from where we’d entered. We’d found nothing.
‘Not a single result.’
Aside from the Mana Stones and weapons we’d taken from the Draconians, we’d discovered absolutely nothing.
“Is it really hidden in some rickety old building? Like a Hidden designed so you wouldn’t find it?”
Mister’s words made me waver slightly.
-Would you like some advice?
It was Chun-bae speaking. He’d asked a few times during our search, but we’d turned him down.
Part of it was wanting to develop our ability to find Hiddens, but since my Spatial Sense wasn’t picking anything up, I suppose stubbornness took over.
It wasn’t just my decision either. The Guild members had voted to search on our own.
‘We’re running out of time soon…….’
No. Let me think about this a little longer. Rather than search frantically right now, maybe we’re overlooking something.
Then I remembered what Chun-bae had said.
‘He said we’d be able to find it with our abilities?’
Even if it’s a Hidden made not to be found, the fact that he said that means there’s a way.
‘It doesn’t seem to be Spatial Sense, at least.’
Then it must be something else.
What abilities do we have that set us apart from other Guilds? First is Spatial Sense, which comes from the Subspace, and second would be…… Flight.
“Flight?”
“Flight all of a sudden?”
“What if we looked at these Ruins from above? Wouldn’t something stand out?”
Perhaps it works by leaving clues visible from the sky—the arrangement of buildings pointing in a direction like a picture.
“When we looked before, it didn’t seem like it.”
I’d seen it from above plenty of times riding on Red Dragon, but I hadn’t examined it carefully.
“But you know, looking at it again with fresh eyes might change things.”
“That’s true. Let’s go up and check.”
The way Chun-bae kept asking for our opinion rather than just telling us suggested it wouldn’t take a long time once we found it.
We split up between Yong-yong and Bone Dragon and climbed into the sky.
“Is this high enough?”
“We should go high enough that the Ruins fit in view.”
I glanced down cautiously.
“Right in the center would be even better.”
With something three-dimensional like this, the view changes depending on the angle. Looking from the center seemed right.
“Hmm. Even so, shouldn’t you feel something off if there’s anything unusual? They just look like buildings.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
I was gradually increasing altitude, thinking maybe I should just ask Chun-bae after all.
“Let me go higher first.”
Mister, riding Yong-yong alone, sped up. That’s when it happened.
Bang!
“Oof!”
Suddenly a strange sound came from Mister’s direction. I spun around in alarm to see him clutching his head.
“What, what is it?”
“There’s something up there?”
I felt the oddness when I raised my altitude a bit higher, following Mister. It was a strange sensation in the mana.
-You’ve found it.
That’s when Chun-bae opened his mouth.
-A Concealment Barrier made of high-level magic.
Was this what he meant when he said we could find it with our abilities? It really wasn’t easy. Who would have thought to come up this high.
Mister hadn’t received training in mana from Chun-bae, so it seemed he hadn’t felt this strange sensation.
“Huh? The mana flow is a bit…….”
As a mage, Min-jae felt the strange sensation just like I did.
Still, I saw nothing with my eyes. There was only this odd feeling in the mana.
How did the Previous Previous Master find this? If he was an excellent mage, did he sense the odd mana even from down below?
That could be. Or maybe he found it directly using Flight magic. It didn’t matter right now.
“How do we get in?”
When I brought my hand to it, I couldn’t pass through—as if blocked by a transparent wall. Of course, I had a way to handle this.
I could open the Subspace and enter from inside. But if I did that, the Guild members couldn’t come with us.
“Should we break it?”
It was Mister speaking, but I shook my head.
“It’s a barrier, but if we damage it wrong, we might not be able to salvage anything at all.”
“Fair point.”
“Let me look around a bit first.”
I guided Bone Dragon around near the transparent wall. There had to be a place where the mana flow was different.
Since I’d received training in mana sensing from Chun-bae, if such a place existed, I’d definitely notice it.
“Huh?”
After searching for roughly twenty minutes like that.
I was able to find an empty space among the similar yet alien mana signatures. And when I touched it, nothing blocked my hand.
“There’s no wall here! I think this is it!”
It was a hole roughly fifteen meters in diameter, and only this section had no wall. The position was directly above the north gate.
If it had been toward the center, I would have found it faster.
“Let’s go in.”
Since I was riding on Red Dragon, ascending wasn’t difficult. The entrance passage was about ten meters long.
It was a world where only sky had been visible until now, but the moment we reached the end, the landscape transformed.
“Wow, this is insane…….”
Something like the Sky Temple, gleaming white jade under the sunlight, stood before us. There was nothing to say but that it was beautiful.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
Perhaps the Orcon Ruins weren’t in the city below after all, but here above.
No—not perhaps. This had to be the Orcon Ruins. We found nothing down there.
* * *
The real Orcon Ruins looked like a temple, and the interior was entirely white jade. I’d say the sunlight from outside streamed in, making everything dazzling to look at.
At the far end of the interior hung an enormous mural. A white dragon and a person facing it.
“That looks like…….”
“A wedding photo? Well, not a photo exactly, but it has that kind of mural feeling to it.”
With the dragon and human facing each other against a background that was both elaborate and refined, we couldn’t help but get that impression.
“Maybe that person is an ancestor of the Draconian race or something.”
Draconians are said to be half-breeds between dragons and other races. So there must have been a moment when the first Draconian was born.
If something like this existed in the sky above the city where Draconians lived, wasn’t the meaning obvious?
And the Hidden of the ruins sat in front of it. S-rank Armor on the human’s side, and an enormous necklace in front of the dragon. It wasn’t a necklace for a person to wear. It was bigger than my waist.
I wondered if those two things might have been wedding gifts.
“Let’s check it out.”
“Yes.”
To be honest, my expectations had dampened a little by this moment.
That armor, which the human who married the dragon received, was probably S-rank. It would naturally fit Dragon Knight, wouldn’t it?
I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Min-jae even let out a playful sigh and tapped Mister on the shoulder.
Mister didn’t show it, but smiled softly and stepped forward first.
“Huh?”
But then Mister, after examining the armor, turned his head.
“Hae. Come look at this.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
Mister let out a hollow laugh.
“This looks like it might be yours.”
Joy and sorrow collided in that instant.
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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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