Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 50
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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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50. Arachne’s Labyrinth (4)
Seo Min-jae chanted the incantation. He cleverly deployed the ‘Swiftness’ skill he’d just acquired moments before.
The spell completed faster than usual, hurtling toward the Apostle.
Han Hye charged at the Apostle simultaneously—directly toward where the explosion would occur. It appeared reckless on the surface.
But it was far from reckless.
‘We trained for this.’
The extent of Seo Min-jae’s magic’s effect, whether Han Hye could pierce through it at close range—these were the variables they’d tested.
The reason they could experiment to their limits was because Han Hye possessed A-rank flame resistance.
A fireball slightly larger than ordinary. The Apostle dismissed it casually, extending her hand lightly.
Pure white divinity formed a transparent barrier.
“…!”
However, as the fireball drew closer, the Apostle realized the thermal energy of the mana contained within was different.
She pushed divinity into the barrier too late.
Boom—crash!
The defensive barrier made of divinity shattered. The shockwave hurled the Apostle backward. In that instant, Han Hye lunged.
The Apostle was greatly startled.
‘How?’
The answer lay in the Subspace.
Han Hye possessed A-rank flame resistance. What posed a problem for her in Seo Min-jae’s fireball wasn’t the flames themselves.
The shockwave from the explosion. By blocking that, the flames felt merely warm to her.
That’s why in Guild training, she’d practiced blocking or leaping through the Subspace in sync with the fireball’s explosion.
This time, she blocked with the Subspace. Though her speed was slightly reduced, it was enough to catch the Apostle, who’d been violently pushed back by the fierce flames and shockwave.
Just before impact, the Apostle twisted her body.
Slash—!
Han Hye’s blade cut across the Apostle’s thigh. The silver armor appeared sturdy, but it wasn’t full-body protection.
It was armor tailored for an Apostle who primarily used a bow.
The Apostle pushed off the ground, retreating sharply and loosing an arrow, but her stance was unbalanced and it went wide.
As the Apostle landed, she placed her hand on her thigh.
“Goddess, hear me….”
Bright light bloomed, and the wound on her thigh began to heal. Han Hye scratched the back of her head.
‘Chun-bae, if she has divinity, does she just keep recovering? Should I aim for the neck?’
-Divinity is not infinite. And recovery isn’t complete either. Damage accumulates.
‘So I just keep hitting her.’
-Of course, killing her in one strike would be ideal.
Han Hye twisted her body. The Apostle had fired an arrow at her. Han Hye was taken aback. It was different from before.
Because she’d been blessed with divinity, the arrow moved at nearly bullet-like speed.
Fortunately, the Apostle was positioned within 30 meters; if she hadn’t seen the initial trajectory, dodging would have been nearly impossible.
She needed to be careful. Han Hye adjusted her grip on the Flowing Blade.
“….”
Perhaps wounded pride at being injured by someone she considered inferior, the Apostle drew the bowstring with a hardened expression.
Whoosh! Arachne wasn’t idle either. She spewed threads from a distance to disrupt my movements.
The Apostle evaded the threads and released her bowstring.
The arrow cut through the air with a sharp whistle, but I read its trajectory and narrowly dodged it once more.
‘This is manageable.’
The thought had barely crossed my mind.
“Goddess, grant me the blessing to pursue my prey to the very end.”
The Apostle offered her prayer, and light began to frost over her arrow. It was clearly no ordinary shot.
The moment the bowstring released, I activated Leap.
Pop!
I materialized behind the Apostle and drove my blade toward her shoulder blade. The wound wasn’t deep.
She’d twisted her body upon sensing the attack.
Her response was swift. Instead of her left hand holding the bow, she drew a dagger from her right thigh and slashed upward at me.
Clang!
As our blades clashed, my spatial sense detected an arrow flying at me from the front.
‘How?’
I twisted my body desperately. But it was an unexpected attack—the arrow grazed my forearm as it passed.
‘A homing arrow?’
I quickly used Leap to create distance. And my suspicion was correct.
The arrow changed direction mid-flight, targeting me again.
‘This isn’t even Yondu-level stuff.’
Then I felt a soothing sensation on my shoulder—Lee Shin-hee had cast a healing spell.
There was no time for thanks. The arrow was coming again. The solution was simple.
Rumble.
I opened a Subspace directly ahead and closed the gate the instant the arrow entered.
“…?”
“Keep shooting.”
“What is this…?”
Whether the arrow was imbued with divinity or not, there was no way for it to move in a Subspace where time didn’t flow.
* * *
“You bastard!”
The Apostle in silver armor roared with fury. Loudly. I grimaced and covered my ears.
The arrow had entered the Subspace before too, but this time divinity went in—was that the issue?
I couldn’t tell if she was foolish or clever, but the Apostle immediately put away her bow.
The expression is odd, but the bow simply vanished along with light.
Was it made of divinity too? Instead, she drew the daggers from both thighs and wielded them dual-handed.
For us, that was fortunate.
‘If she’d aimed those arrows at someone else, it would’ve been troublesome.’
Seeing that she keeps targeting only me, I must’ve scratched her good. Was my initial provocation about her lacking manners the trigger?
Well, I don’t know. She seemed angrier after taking the wound. Either way, it’s a good thing.
“I’ll kill you….”
The enraged Apostle’s words couldn’t continue, as Min-jae unleashed a torrent of magic the moment he confirmed I’d moved away.
“Chain Lightning!”
Having prepared for quite some time, massive bolts far larger than those he’d hurled at the Ogre cascaded down in rapid succession upon the Apostle.
Unlike before, a barrier infused with holy power unfurled, yet it couldn’t block all the lightning.
“Ugh….”
Arachne fired another volley of webbing at the staggering Apostle. The Apostle rolled across the ground to evade.
Hmm. My head tilted involuntarily.
‘Did I overthink this?’
-What do you mean?
‘I thought this was a pretty tough opponent since you said it wasn’t just level 21-25, had holy power, and even did something like an awakening.’
-What kind of… it is a strong enemy. However, Han Hye and your allies are simply stronger than their level suggests.
I could hear bewilderment in Chun-bae’s voice.
‘Wasn’t he about to say something ridiculous?’
-Denial. Absolutely not.
It seemed like he was about to do exactly that. Well, my comment had apparently become something even Chun-bae, an experienced magical AI, found absurd.
In truth, the opponent is strong. Among all the creatures I’ve fought inside Gates, this one was the strongest.
It’s just that my standards got a bit skewed after being chased by four Grendels outside the Gate and sparring with Shin Chang.
And our Guild’s strength is far from ordinary.
“Goddess…!”
The creature brought its hand to its own body. I’d been waiting for this moment—when it would heal. One hand’s reaction would be slower.
I immediately used Leap.
“…!”
Since I’d used this strategy once before, its reaction was faster. The moment I leaped, it twisted its body.
However, this time I attacked from a diagonal angle. Slash! I managed to graze its forearm.
It lunged forward, swinging its dagger. I read the trajectory with spatial sense and blocked it.
From that exchange, I clearly felt that its swordsmanship surpassed mine.
‘Is that natural?’
I’m still only E-rank in swordsmanship. Though I’ve adjusted to the Gate’s level, it is the Goddess’s Apostle.
Still, the training with Shin Chang proved quite helpful in this moment.
“Damn!”
There was no reason to keep our blades locked, so I created distance again. As I used Leap, Min-jae’s magic struck once more.
Boom-!
The situation was quite satisfying. The sequence of events up to now had been the strategy we’d devised during Guild training.
‘If the enemy is singular, I take the lead and alternate attacks with Min-jae while Mister provides rear support.’
If there are multiple enemies, it reverses. Since Mister excels at area attacks.
“Goddess, let your prey bend to your will!”
In that instant, the Apostle cried out louder than ever before. Unlike previously, holy power began radiating outward from its body in all directions.
What is this—I understood immediately. The spiders that had been holding back turned their bodies toward us.
“Children, no!”
This time, instead of me, they rushed toward our Guild members. Arachne cried out, but it made no difference.
Perhaps it’s because we share the same divine power? It seems to be affecting Arachne’s children as well.
-Crash!
However, that didn’t become a problem. Mister’s Dragon Knight skill swept away the spiders rushing forward.
After all, these spiders are from a level 21-25 Gate. They’re no match for us.
Well, I can understand the Apostle’s thinking.
Mister was staying still and Arachne was injured. She wanted to face me, but Min-jae must have been in the way.
‘She was trying to prevent me from being checked and then deal with me.’
However, Mister, who had been resting quietly, was a Dragon Knight.
I could feel him looking at me with a bewildered expression. I grinned and rushed forward.
And then.
I used Leap right in front of him.
‘Bingo.’
And the situation unfolded exactly as I thought. The Apostle twisted her body in panic.
However, I hadn’t forgotten Shin Chang’s advice.
In other words, I had leaped toward her front.
Though now it had become her rear.
Skreeeee—
A chilling cutting sound rang out. My fingertips felt the weight of impact. The Apostle’s head flew through the air.
Was it because I caught her off guard? Compared to our previous exchanges, the battle ended far too easily.
[Your level has increased.]
Thud—. The moment the Apostle’s head hit the ground, everything about her began turning to light and vanishing.
‘Huh?’
I tried to grab the dagger to see if I could pick up anything, but it too crumbled to dust. My disappointment was great.
I had thought that armor and sword looked quite good and might be worth taking.
‘Eh?’
But the surprise wasn’t over, because that light seeped toward me.
No. To be precise, not toward me. The light was being absorbed by the bracelet—by Chun-bae.
‘What, what is this?’
-I’m absorbing divine power. Details later, but first look at the spider woman.
Right. I didn’t know how Arachne’s attitude might change. I quickly turned my body to stay alert, but fortunately she didn’t seem to have any such intention.
“Th-thank you! Really….”
“You know we didn’t kill those spiders on purpose, right?”
I asked, wondering if there might be any malice, and Arachne nodded with tears glistening in her eyes.
“Yes, yes, of course.”
.
.
.
“Understand me. I have no choice but to be cautious.”
“Of course.”
That said, I didn’t get close enough to Arachne to have a conversation. Lee Shin-hee had healed her, but I remained on guard.
From her, I learned the details of this situation….
It was Greek and Roman mythology as I knew it.
Truly.
Arachne, who had won a wager against the gods, had gained a faint trace of divinity, but was cursed by the gods and transformed into a spider.
Afterward, to prepare for such calamities, she hid here, and that Apostle found her.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
I was somewhat taken aback. I never expected mythology I knew to emerge from a Gate. Since it was a familiar story, it didn’t even feel like a lie.
Had this ever happened before?
I had no idea. Perhaps the information was being suppressed. It seemed faster to ask Chun-bae about this.
“There isn’t much I can do for you, but… I’ll make clothes for my benefactors.”
“Clothes?”
“In that craft, I surpass even the gods.”
Then Arachne created something with thread, and what was completed looked more like an undergarment than outerwear.
A bit like the inner wear you’d wear during sports? Hunters favored these too.
“Huh?”
“Insane.”
But once I received it, I realized it was in a completely different class from what we usually used.
[Arachne’s Inner Wear (B-Rank)]
-An undergarment made by Arachne, who defeated gods through weaving, for her benefactors.
-Soft and flexible yet quite sturdy, it blocks cold and heat, helping maintain body temperature.
-Stamina, Mana, Agility +1
B-Rank inner wear with three stat increases and exceptional additional effects—an absurdly overpowered piece of equipment.
“….”
“….”
Out of respect for Arachne, I didn’t say it aloud, but everyone in the party seemed to think that killing the Apostle instead of Arachne had been the right choice.
And so the Gate came to an end.
[You have subjugated the Deformed Gate ‘Spider Enthusiast’.]
[You have gained experience.]
[Your level has increased.]
There were no separate rewards, but what I’d obtained inside was so good that I wasn’t disappointed.
The Association Staff outside the Gate were quite startled.
“Huh? Already?”
“It’s only been less than two hours since you entered?”
We had cleared the Labyrinth Gate so quickly. There was no need for lengthy conversation with the staff.
We hadn’t even mined any magic stones. Rather, now it was time to ask Chun-bae about divinity.
“By the way, Han Hye, what was that light absorption earlier?”
I needed an explanation for the guild members too.
And I was personally curious as well.
-Chun-bae, what exactly did you do back there?
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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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