Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 60
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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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60. Godmon Ruins (1)
[Godmon Ruins]
-Explore the
Ruins.
Remaining time: 11 hours 59 minutes.
The moment I stepped through the Gate, the first thing that assaulted my senses was a sandstorm. Dust and grit obscured my vision.
Each gust of wind carrying sand made my skin prickle and sting.
“What the—ugh, ptooey!”
Mister coughed and spat as sand found its way into his mouth mid-sentence.
-Whoosh
I immediately opened my Subspace. I needed to retrieve masks and goggles. But that wasn’t all.
For a Desert Zone like this, I had loose, flowing outer robes prepared.
“Everyone, take one each.”
“Thank you.”
With masks, goggles, and thin robes covering our bodies, we found some respite from the sandstorm.
It wasn’t comfortable by any means, but compared to being caught unprepared, the difference was immense.
“Wow, I never would’ve expected a Desert Zone like this…”
“Right? Without you, we’d have been in real trouble.”
I listened to the Guild members’ familiar praise while surveying the surroundings. My spatial sense detected nothing unusual.
“We’re supposed to explore the Ruins, so should we dig around the desert a bit?”
The moment Mister spoke, the sandstorm weakened slightly. A hazy shape appeared in the distance.
“Look, isn’t that a building?”
“Huh? You’re right!”
The sandstorm intensified again, obscuring the shape, but we’d fixed the direction in our minds.
“Let’s head that way.”
We’d barely begun moving toward where the shape had appeared when my spatial sense detected something wrong.
“Wait.”
“What is it?”
“There’s quicksand ahead. Be careful.”
I could faintly sense sand being pulled into a depression below.
Moreover, the Quicksand Zone was quite expansive—roughly half the size of a sports field.
“Quicksand? Looks like regular desert to me.”
Of course, visually there was nothing amiss. Without my spatial sense, I wouldn’t have known either.
“Starting from here.”
I pointed and pulled a stone from my Subspace, hurling it forward.
Originally, I’d stored it to trigger pressure-plate traps from a distance, but quicksand was a trap too.
Thunk!
The instant the stone touched the center of the quicksand, the sand began sliding at terrifying speed.
Whoooosh—a sound like crashing waves filled the air as a swirling vortex of quicksand formed.
“Wow, that’s insane…”
The party members flinched and took a step back. Once the quicksand began pulling things in, it showed no signs of stopping.
“Where is all this sand coming from? It just keeps flowing in.”
“We’re inside a Gate, after all.”
“If it weren’t for you, we’d be in serious trouble.”
Mister patted my shoulder with a grimace on his face.
It was a trap that caught you off guard by the appearance of the Ruins—the kind of trap that was difficult to prepare for even if you knew it was coming.
“Let’s go around it.”
Just as I was about to circle around the Quicksand Zone, I sensed another one beside it. There wasn’t just one.
“There’s quicksand here too.”
Even when I took a wider detour, the result was the same.
“Here as well. It seems like we’re in the Quicksand Zone itself.”
“So it’s full of traps from the start?”
Mister stroked Yong-yong’s head.
“If Yong-yong were just a bit bigger, all four of us could ride on his back.”
“A bit bigger? That’s quite an understatement.”
Right now, he could barely carry one person. For that to be possible, he’d need to grow quite substantially—perhaps to the size of the Red Dragon I’d seen?
Mister chuckled.
“It’s just a figure of speech.”
In any case, there was a solution. There were small gaps between the patches of quicksand.
“It looks like we’ll need to pass through the spaces between them.”
It was like having to navigate around whirlpools on the open sea.
“If we just step where I step, we should be able to make it through…”
But if there was already this much at the start, I wondered if there would be more quicksand beyond. We’d have to navigate carefully through a complex path.
“I don’t think that’s necessary. Why don’t we just use Subspace Footholds to get across?”
I had a way to bypass traps like this. It was simple and fast.
Without spatial awareness, I wouldn’t have been able to find the path between the quicksand, but I could simply skip over it entirely.
“That’s better.”
“You’re amazing, as expected!”
The Guild members were delighted. Of course, Mister had different intentions.
“Then can I ride Yong-yong and move around? I could even check if that’s really the Ruins over there.”
Ever since the Hunter Association provided Yong-yong with a custom saddle, he seemed to have become completely enamored with riding him.
However, I shook my head.
“Moving together is fine, but not all the way to the Ruins.”
“Why?”
“The sandstorm is too severe. We could lose our way.”
“Ah…”
The shape of the Ruins was only barely visible when the wind died down.
Right now, I could only have this conversation because I was wearing a mask; otherwise, my mouth would be full of sand every time I opened it.
We’d only just entered the Gate. It was difficult to predict how that sandstorm might change.
Though Mister and I were far stronger than Hunters of the same rank, getting separated still wasn’t ideal.
“You’re right. Let’s just walk across.”
Mister simply gave up cleanly. We decided to move together using the platforms I created.
I formed platforms and connected everyone’s bodies with rope. I anchored them just like in Arachne’s Labyrinth.
The wind could suddenly intensify, and I didn’t want anyone getting swept away.
I advanced with some concern, but fortunately, nothing like that happened.
-The Quicksand Zone alone is already a sufficient barrier. If the wind turned into a storm, the difficulty would spike too much.
That was Chun-bae’s assessment, and I found myself nodding in agreement. Right. If a sandstorm blew through while we were passing, we’d just get sucked into the quicksand.
As we continued forward, the silhouette of the Ruins gradually drew closer.
“Hey. Is there something like a hidden dungeon under that quicksand?”
Mister suddenly spoke up.
“It’s possible, I suppose.”
To be honest, the probability isn’t high.
“I don’t sense anything with my spatial awareness.”
My current spatial perception range is thirty meters.
A hidden dungeon that could only be found by getting sucked down beyond thirty meters seemed somewhat ambiguous.
“It doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
Lee Shin-hee shook her head as well.
“Let’s search inside the Ruins first, and if there’s nothing, we’ll explore further.”
Hidden dungeons could exist anywhere, but this felt different. It seemed too much like an early trap.
After advancing for a while longer, the moment we crossed the Quicksand Zone, the sandstorm suddenly vanished.
A bright desert appeared beneath the scorching sun. Just one step behind us, the sandstorm still raged.
It was a remarkable environment within the Gate. In any case, with the sandstorm gone, the Ruins became visible.
“A pyramid?”
Just as Min-jae said, the Ruins truly resembled a pyramid. Of course, it wasn’t exactly identical.
There were pillar-like structures erected around the pyramid. But that wasn’t all.
“Wait, there are people over there?”
As we drew closer, human-shaped figures appeared in front of the Ruins.
“Could this be a narrative-type Gate?”
Mister looked at me. There had been instances where transformations occurred in the Ruins Gate because of me.
* * *
“They weren’t people after all?”
What I’d thought were people turned out to be sand soldiers. Like the terracotta army that appears in ancient Chinese ruins.
There weren’t hundreds of them like that. There were ten total—five on each side of the Ruins Entrance.
“Looks like we’ll have to fight those things in this Gate.”
“Yes.”
All the guild members shared the same thought. The enemies in this Gate would be the sand soldiers.
My lips curved upward slightly.
Some wielded swords, others held spears. This meant I could use Cresea swordsmanship.
‘Perfect.’
The sand soldiers weren’t as strong as Ogres or Grendel-class monsters. They’d have destructive power appropriate to their level.
What mattered was that they possessed the characteristic of regenerating wherever sand existed.
Sand soldiers that regenerated infinitely.
This meant it was an ideal environment to practice Cresea swordplay in actual combat, regardless of stats.
Of course, the orthodox response was to dampen the scattered sand with water and solidify it. I had to consider scenarios with multiple enemies as well.
That’s why I checked with Min-jae.
“Min-jae, can you use water magic?”
“Yes, I can. It was in the grimoire you gave me. Though it’s not very powerful.”
“That’s a relief.”
Before entering the Ruins, we devised a simple strategy. We had no idea what this place was like from the outside.
“The corridor won’t be wide, so if multiple enemies approach, I’ll block the rear with a Subspace.”
“I’ll use water magic depending on the situation.”
“Right. It’ll probably be best if Mister uses Crimson Dragon Descent after that. The sand soldiers need to be dealt with even after being soaked.”
It wasn’t anything grand. Just a simple strategy, you could say.
That’s when we were about to enter the Ruins Entrance.
Click—!
The sand soldiers waiting in front of the entrance began to move.
They drew weapons made of sand and pointed them at us. They didn’t attack immediately.
“It seems like they’re telling us not to approach, doesn’t it?”
“We have to go anyway.”
“Fine.”
“I’ll….”
Before I could even mention trying to face them with swordplay, Mister riding on Yong-yong suddenly flew forward.
Boom—! Sand dust scattered violently, clouding everything around us.
It was Crimson Dragon Descent.
Unlike when he was moving while holding Yong-yong, the destructive power was on an entirely different level now that he was riding it.
“You could at least listen before you move like that.”
At my complaint, Lee Shin-hee let out a light laugh before catching herself with a cough. It seemed less like my words were funny and more like she was sympathizing with me.
Somehow, I suspected that even in the last Gate we cleared as a group, he probably started with Crimson Dragon Descent right off the bat.
“The enemies….”
“Min-jae. Wait a moment.”
I hurriedly stopped Min-jae from immediately casting water magic. Mister, who had charged forward using Crimson Dragon Descent, was returning.
“What were you about to say?”
“I was wondering if I could practice that swordplay a bit.”
I’d heard that Mister trained spear techniques while clearing Gates with Guild members. He’d even leveled up once.
However, I hadn’t yet used Cresea swordplay in actual combat.
“My apologies. I’ve gotten addicted to using Crimson Dragon Descent while riding Yong-yong.”
I understood.
When I used to hold Yong-yong in my hand and use Crimson Dragon Descent, aside from the destructive power, it looked quite ridiculous from the outside.
Charging forward while holding a small dragon in one hand, after all.
Now, charging forward while riding the Red Dragon looked far more impressive.
“No, it’ll regenerate soon. Is everyone okay for a moment?”
I asked the guild members for their understanding, and they all readily agreed.
“Of course.”
“You could even take five hours. We crossed the Quicksand Zone easily thanks to you.”
Mister objected to Min-jae’s words.
“Even so, five hours is a bit much….”
“I was just speaking hypothetically, sir.”
Whoosh—
Well, I pulled out a comfortable chair and some beverages from my Subspace for the considerate party members to rest.
The regenerated sand soldiers began approaching. I drew the Flowing Style Sword and recalled Shin Chang’s advice.
The key wasn’t moving my body quickly, but rather concentrating on the path where the blade could move swiftly.
I visualized Cresea’s sword trajectory in my mind, then aligned my body to match that path.
Forcing speed would only drain my strength.
Slash—!
Cutting through sand soldiers felt different. But precisely because of that, it felt better.
With no bone or flesh to catch, the blade moved slightly faster.
It was good for getting a feel for the technique. I spent about ten minutes cutting through sand soldiers, honing my sense.
Anything more seemed unnecessary.
“I think this should be enough!”
Since we were at the Ruins Entrance, the sand soldiers weren’t particularly strong and their attacks were simple, so there was no situation requiring deep swordplay.
Min-jae, who had been sitting, stepped forward.
“Should I handle them with water?”
“Wait a moment.”
However, a thought had occurred to me during combat. These creatures collapse into sand and regenerate once they fall apart.
Whoosh—
But what if I collected the scattering sand into my Subspace? I was curious to see what would happen.
Would they revive with different sand, or would it end them?
“Huh?”
The answer was the latter.
I slashed and opened my Subspace beneath the sand soldier, and the sand tumbled into it.
And the sand soldier that disappeared never reappeared.
Min-jae scratched the back of his head.
“I thought I’d finally have something to do when I saw the sand soldiers….”
“You’ll be needed later. This is something I handle one at a time.”
Even these persistent sand soldiers were helpless before the Subspace. Well, since they vanish entirely, it’s only natural.
After all, my Subspace had absorbed even the tracking arrows fired by the Apostle.
“Now that we’ve dealt with the nuisances, let’s head inside.”
It was time to properly enter the Ruins.
“I wonder what hidden content awaits this time.”
The guild members’ expressions were bright. Ruins Gates like this had a high probability of containing hidden content.
And I am someone who can discover any Hidden dungeon with an extremely high probability, as long as it exists.
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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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