Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 49

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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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49. Arachne’s Labyrinth (3)
What on earth was happening?
I couldn’t help but be bewildered. I’d naturally assumed there would be a boss spider monster at the end of Arachne’s Labyrinth.
But instead, a woman in silver armor was wielding a bow, fighting against Arachne. And that wasn’t even the end of it.
Chun-bae said he could feel divinity.
‘Divinity? A woman in silver armor?’
-Both. Though the divinity is stronger from the woman in silver armor.
Now that I thought about it, despite being outnumbered, the woman in silver armor appeared to have the upper hand.
There were many spider corpses scattered around, and several arrows were embedded in Arachne’s body. She was bleeding heavily too.
-I’m not sure why the spider woman has divinity, but that woman in silver armor is definitely an Apostle of some god.
A heavy silence hung over the vast cavern. Neither side moved.
It felt like a three-way standoff. The woman in silver armor was the first to speak.
“How did humans get in here?”
Her tone was oddly strange. The way she said “humans”… there was something condescending about it.
Chun-bae said that woman was an Apostle—were Apostles different from humans? There was no time to ask.
“Who are you all?”
“Us?”
Well, what should I say? If I said “Hunters,” they probably wouldn’t understand.
My party members looked to me. As the guild master, it was only right that I answer. Though I had no idea what to say.
“Just people who came in?”
“Intruders, then. I’m not sure how you got in, but this works out well.”
The woman in silver armor nodded with relief.
“Now then, help me kill that spider at once.”
I tilted my head at her commanding tone, as if addressing subordinates. That’s when Arachne hurriedly spoke up.
“Wait, please! I don’t know who you are, but don’t do this! Even though you’ve intruded, it seems you haven’t harmed my children, so you don’t seem like bad people…”
“Be quiet. How dare a hideous monster like you open its mouth?”
The message appeared then.
[You have reached the end of the Labyrinth too early. The Gate will transform.]
[Choose to help either Arachne or the woman. The Gate will change based on your choice.]
A choice.
This happened occasionally. Gates sometimes forced choices upon those inside.
Still, the sudden change left my party members flustered. I was too. Would there be time for a long discussion?
From the looks of the situation, I needed to make a decision in as short a time as possible. However, I had a solution.
“Give me a moment to think this through.”
The Room of Thought. Unlike others, I had a Subspace where I could deliberate sufficiently.
Since I’d done it once before, my party members nodded as if they understood.
Whoosh—
As I opened the Subspace, both women spun around to look at me, wary. They were watching closely to see what I’d do, but they didn’t seem ready to attack immediately.
…
I raised both palms to show I meant no threat and carefully stepped into the Subspace.
* * *
I closed the door and quickly reorganized the situation with Chun-bae.
“What exactly is going on? Do you have any idea? You said you felt divinity.”
-The nature of the divinity possessed by both individuals appeared similar. It seems the Apostle came to retrieve the divinity that was transferred to the spider woman for some reason.
Chun-bae continued.
-The woman in silver armor was stronger. Since the divinity felt different, if we hadn’t used the shortcut, Arachne would likely have lost.
Hmm. That seemed about right. From what I’d glimpsed, despite being outnumbered, that Apostle appeared to have the advantage.
But a question remained. We had entered Arachne’s Labyrinth, after all.
“Wait, shouldn’t Arachne be winning? If the woman wins, we won’t be able to meet Arachne.”
-No, you would have met her. Just in a slightly different state than the one you encountered.
“Slightly different?”
-The Apostle’s objective appears to be recovering the divinity. For unknown reasons, the spider woman possessed divinity, though not in great quantity… When ordinary beings lose their divinity, they typically succumb to madness.
I understood what he was getting at.
“You mean Arachne would have become a monster after losing her divinity?”
-Likely so. The spider woman you just encountered appeared stronger than a Level 21–25 monster. You probably faced a weakened, maddened spider woman who had lost her divinity.
Following Chun-bae’s explanation, I pieced together the scenario.
In the original Labyrinth, we wouldn’t have arrived here at this time. Arachne would have been defeated.
Stripped of her divinity by the woman in silver armor, Arachne would have become a crazed spider monstrosity.
So she’d try to capture us, the “intruders” heading toward the center.
‘I’m starting to understand the situation.’
Acquiring Chun-bae had definitely been a major gain. I’d learned so much about Gates that I didn’t know before.
Without Chun-bae right now, I’d be facing considerable uncertainty.
In any case, the turning point of this Gate was that we’d arrived far too quickly by using the Subspace.
“So who should I choose to help?”
-I cannot determine that. The woman in silver armor is stronger and might offer better rewards, but she might not.
Now that I thought about it, the Apostle had naturally shown an attitude of dismissing and looking down on us.
It meant she might take our help for granted rather than reward it.
“Hmm.”
I pondered for a moment. How the Gate would transform, what the reward for assistance would be—all unknowns.
But there was one certainty.
“Since the Apostle is stronger, if I side with the spider, the Gate difficulty would increase, right?”
Gate subjugation rewards and the experience we gain are determined entirely by the Gate’s difficulty.
We were currently in a state of having discovered a “situational hidden” element.
The problem was choosing only one, but this part was clearly decided.
-Yes.
“Then it would be better to side with the spider.”
The Apostle, was it.
From the way she spoke, it seemed like after recovering the divinity, she’d just leave us to deal with the maddened spider monster.
But then, wouldn’t that be no different from the original Gate?
-However, be cautious. There is a possibility the spider woman might turn on you.
“That’s right. I’m thinking of taking down both of them.”
Either way, Arachne is still a monster. Since I needed to consult with my party members, I opened a Subspace and stepped back out.
The Apostle and Arachne were still wary of me. The Mister who knew Chun-bae asked me a question.
“Have you decided?”
“The outcome is unpredictable. But there’s one thing I’m certain about.”
My party members focused on my words.
“Choosing the harder option yields better Gate rewards and experience.”
In this Gate, I’d already squeezed out most of the value by obtaining a C-rank Speed skill.
This was a choice to prioritize experience over rewards.
“I’m in favor.”
“Me too.”
“If that’s your choice, Han Hye, I agree as well.”
The Mister and Min-jae nodded first, and Lee Shin-hee also consented without objection as she looked at me.
It was a moment when I felt that my party truly trusted me.
While humans are often enemies inside Gates, the Apostle still seemed far more human-like than Arachne.
“That armored woman is much stronger. We’ll side with the spider.”
“That works for me. I’ve had a bad feeling about her from the start.”
When the Mister snorted, Min-jae chimed in with agreement.
“Still, be careful. Think of Arachne as a potential enemy too.”
The moment I made my decision, the Apostle opened her mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re whispering about, but help me now. Otherwise, I’ll deal with you first.”
I drew the Flowing Stream Sword.
“You.”
“Did you just address me as ‘you’?”
“Your manners are atrocious.”
When I mimicked the Apostle’s tone, I saw her face flush red. I’d struck a nerve.
Though I’d already made my choice, I found myself thinking I might not have sided with the spider otherwise.
That Apostle’s way of speaking was genuinely irritating. It felt like talking to that Evil God from before.
“Th-thank you!”
They say silence is half the battle.
Arachne, having received our support, was delighted with tears glistening in her eyes. Though her lower half being a spider was somewhat grotesque…
Once the choice was made, a message appeared again.
[Spider Enthusiast]
-Recommended Level: 26–30
-Help Arachne drive out the mysterious intruder.
Hmm. Spider Enthusiast, they call it.
That’s definitely not me.
* * *
As expected, the Apostle expressed her fury at Han Hye’s choice.
“You lowly creature…!”
In one-versus-many combat, numbers hold an advantage—but not universally across all scenarios.
If a single formidable opponent faces a group lacking cohesion, they risk being picked off individually or collapsing entirely.
This was precisely why hunters who specialized in powerful monsters devoted themselves to coordination training.
The Dragon Guild, though recently established, had invested considerable effort into such synchronized drills.
‘The real problem is Arachne.’
Han Hye kept her eyes on the Apostle while stealing a glance at Arachne. I couldn’t discern her fighting style.
Reckless movements risked inflicting damage on both sides.
‘She’s sustained injuries, but given the webbing around the Apostle, she can provide ranged support?’
I decided we’d need to start with a coordinated approach, Han Hye thought.
Since Arachne didn’t know my capabilities either, she’d struggle to fight at full strength. Han Hye spoke toward her.
“Are you struggling with close combat?”
“Somewhat…!”
Han Hye nodded.
Actually, I found it rather advantageous—I wouldn’t need to worry about Arachne’s movements.
“Alright. Provide support then. Let’s take it slow for now.”
“Yes. Be careful!”
Arachne quickly added on.
“I’m wielding a bow, but my close-combat abilities are formidable too!”
The armored woman drew the bowstring taut without hesitation. Her target: the Dragon Guild’s rear guard.
Han Hye casually extended her hand.
Whoosh.
A Subspace materialized before the guild members. The arrow whistled through the air with a sharp crack, but that was all.
Thud. It entered the Subspace and lost all momentum.
“I’m using it as a shield.”
“Wow….”
Seo Min-jae gasped in admiration.
“Against an opponent like this, you’re more reliable than most tanks?”
Warriors assigned to rear defense excel against melee threats, yet struggle when facing ranged attackers.
But a four-meter Subspace with physical immunity, positioned behind the formation, rendered all incoming attacks utterly null.
“We’ll proceed as trained. Mister, keep watch from behind.”
“Got it. I’ll join in if the situation calls for it.”
As Han Hye stepped forward, the Apostle’s expression darkened.
“Peculiar tricks indeed.”
Han Hye didn’t bother responding. In that instant, the man-sized spiders surrounding the woman began retreating.
It was Arachne’s doing—a gesture of consideration toward me.
The spiders, incapable of dealing significant damage to the Apostle anyway, could only hinder Han Hye.
Instead, she encircled the Apostle, preventing any escape.
….
The Apostle’s expression hardened, her lips sealed as her eyes darted about. She could capture Arachne.
But gauging the strength of these unexpected intruders proved difficult. One-on-one, she’d prevail—yet this wasn’t that.
“Huff.”
I wasn’t exactly at ease either. My opponent was an Apostle of the Goddess. It wasn’t easy to gauge her true level.
I took a short, measured breath. I decided to keep my Leap in reserve rather than reveal it immediately.
For now, I’d probe carefully while staying alert. That was my decision as I prepared to move.
“Moon and hunt, Goddess of chastity, I beseech you to grant me your blessing….”
The Apostle’s lips moved in prayer.
“Grant me your hands and eyes so that I may find my prey rightly and strike them down.”
Whoosh—!
Light began to bloom across the Apostle’s body as a wondrous divine energy erupted outward.
‘So this is divine power.’
A faint sense of déjà vu washed over me, and I immediately recognized it as divine power. I’d felt it before, after all.
Of course, I was somewhat taken aback.
‘A finishing move? An awakening skill? Starting right off the bat like this….’
When I’d fought Arachne, she hadn’t done anything like this, which meant the Apostle was revealing her true strength from the outset.
Wasn’t the standard protocol in situations like this to probe each other first before escalating to full power?
‘How underhanded.’
She was launching her finishing move right from the start. I clicked my tongue in displeasure.
If she was coming at me like that, I had no choice.
“Min-jae!”
I decided to unleash my maximum firepower as well.
“Let’s open with our best shot.”

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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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