Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 65
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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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65. Did I Say Something Wrong?
[‘Unscrupulous remark, caught everyone off guard.’ A barrage of hard facts directed at Liu Zhen]
[Space Mage Han Hye, ‘Liu Zhen? If we’re at the same level, I’d win.’]
Naturally, my interview sent the internet into chaos. It didn’t matter whether it was domestically or internationally.
The recent war of words between the hot super rookies had started when Liu Zhen criticized me.
In truth, it was an impulsive move on my part.
It wasn’t even a formal interview request—I’d essentially thrown chum to a rude reporter who showed up unannounced.
But honestly, did it really matter?
Formal or not, I wasn’t in the mood back then, but I was in the mood just now. That reporter was just lucky.
“You’ve held back for a long time.”
I was lounging around at home when Mister showed up and tossed me a beer can, opening with those words.
“Huh?”
It seemed like he’d come to console me. Ah, did he think I’d done the interview because I wasn’t satisfied with myself?
He’d gotten it wrong. It was impulsive, sure, but it wasn’t something I’d done thoughtlessly.
‘Making an impulsive decision is different from speaking without controlling my anger.’
I’d received plenty of interview requests. I’d naturally given thought to what I should say.
I’d made sure this statement had no angles for them to exploit.
As the media themselves acknowledged, the unscrupulous remark was a fact, and all I’d said was that I’d win at the same level.
You could say I’d scratched the right spot. If Liu Zhen overreacted to this, wouldn’t he just look worse?
“You’ve been suppressing yourself all this time. That’s what I mean by holding back.”
“What are you talking about? Holding back?”
Because of that, I could brush off Mister’s consolation with ease. His expression changed slightly.
He’d figured out that I wasn’t bothered. His face shifted into playful mode.
“Thinking back to when I first met you, if you’d heard that interview back then, there would’ve been chaos. Wouldn’t you have flown straight to China right after hearing it?”
“Come on, it’s not that bad. You’re exaggerating.”
I’m serious. Back then, I was ruthless, but I wasn’t the type to pick fights I couldn’t win.
I was the type to find ways to make guys who’d wronged me pay for it.
“And I’ve changed quite a bit since then.”
Meeting Mister had socialized me considerably. Mister chuckled.
“That’s right. I made you into a person.”
“I acknowledge that.”
Mister held out his beer can, so I clinked mine against his.
“I watched the interview—there’s nothing particularly problematic about it.”
“Right. If he wants to fight, I’ll just tell him to wait until we’re at the same level. If he stays still, he’s just losing out.”
If I’d fallen for Liu Zhen’s provocation back then and gotten heated immediately, an unfortunate situation would’ve occurred where we’d have to spar despite the level difference.
“Exactly. It’s been a while since the interview, and he hasn’t said much. But when you fought that American or French hunter, he was watching in real-time.”
“Maybe he knows too. Blake gave him an earful.”
“That was hilarious.”
Mister chuckled softly.
“It feels good to drink beer after so long.”
“Compared to back then, I really don’t drink much anymore.”
When Mister ran the samgyeopsal restaurant and I worked as a porter, I drank quite a lot.
After all, there was always alcohol and meat at Mister’s struggling Yong-yong Samgyeopsal.
‘If I added it all up, I probably lost quite a bit of business revenue that way.’
As if remembering those days, Mister gulped down his beer.
“You know, it’s remarkable how things change. Back then, I was seriously considering shutting down the restaurant.”
“What were you planning to do instead?”
“I was thinking about joining the Safety-Oriented Party and mining mana stones. The reason I hadn’t done Hunter work all that time was because I had an inferiority complex about the profession.”
Mister suddenly revealed his true feelings. I’d suspected as much, but this was the first time hearing it from his own lips.
He hadn’t drunk that much, yet suddenly he was getting sentimental. I understood this wasn’t the time to say anything about it.
“I just stuck around, hoping some path would open up, and then I gave up. I was deliberately turning away from it.”
“Well, it worked out.”
“It did. Who would’ve thought that feeding and putting up a Gate orphan would come back around like this?”
Mister chuckled playfully as he spoke, but his eyes were filled with gratitude.
“But still, how can you call someone a Gate orphan right to their face?”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“That’s too much. I’m confiscating Yong-yong.”
“Come on, just bring out Yong-yong. I want to see our pretty one’s face.”
I frowned sharply.
“What’s ‘pretty one’ supposed to mean to Yong-yong?”
“Because it’s pretty, that’s why. Why? How pretty is it? Thanks to Yong-yong, our family’s living luxuriously.”
In that moment, I felt that this time with Mister was quite peaceful.
It seemed like just yesterday I was working as a porter at the Gate and drinking with this restaurant owner whose business was struggling.
“Yong-yong, come out.”
“Oh, what a pretty thing.”
As I brought Yong-yong out, Mister rubbed his cheek against Yong-yong’s face. It had grown quite large by now, making the posture rather awkward.
Of course, since Yong-yong had gotten close to Mister for a while now, it didn’t show the same resistance as before…
-CRASH!
…or so I thought. Yong-yong tried to escape and destroyed the chair with its tail. It was quite expensive too.
I sighed quietly, but it didn’t matter. I could just buy another one. Hadn’t I brought back 50 billion won from Saudi Arabia?
“…”
Mister stared at me with a shocked and bewildered expression. To be honest, I was a bit taken aback too.
Before Yong-yong had grown, when it had gotten close to Mister, it never reacted like that even when he rubbed cheeks with it.
“Wasn’t that a bit too rough?”
“It must be going through adolescence. I mean, it’s a Red Dragon, so during its growth period its temperament is as fierce as fire…”
Mister fell silent because Yong-yong, having escaped from his touch, came and sat beside me.
As if it had just woken up, it rested only its head on my lap and immediately closed its eyes.
“Only to Mister…”
I was about to tease Mister, but he looked so shocked that I changed what I was saying.
“Maybe it recognizes me as its parent? You, on the other hand…”
“What about me?”
“…A friend?”
“…That’ll do.”
Mister lowered his head with a dejected expression. Though truthfully, it seemed accurate enough.
To be honest, Mister doted on Yong-yong far more than he did on me.
Of course I adored Yong-yong too, but from the moment of birth, Yong-yong had never once defied me.
“Would you like me to take out some meat for Yong-yong?”
I spoke with the intention of deepening the bond between Mister and Yong-yong, but Mister shook his head with a wounded expression.
“No. Leave him be.”
“Only if you’re sure.”
I simply smiled and stroked Yong-yong’s head.
* * *
[Did the Space Mage’s interview drop???]
‘Ah, I was somewhat taken aback. After all, he’s a Hunter ten levels above me. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if I picked a fight with a level 15 Hunter? If I had any conscience, I wouldn’t do such a thing.’
‘If we were the same level, I would win.’
Who delivers cutting remarks with precision?
Han Hye.
It was only natural that my interview, coming from someone who had remained silent until now, became a hot topic on Hunter Net.
The response was explosive.
-Hahahaha so refreshing
-Space Mage got destroyed
┗The phrasing feels a bit off?
┗Han destroyed?
┗That’s also a bit…
┗What do you want then?
-‘If we were the same level, I would win’ << This confidence is insane lol;;
┗She has every right to be confident, she's breaking records left and right
-My chest feels so relieved~
Most reactions were positive, though there were those expressing concern. Of course, there were detractors as well.
-It's refreshing and all, but will she be okay? I'm worried she might provoke unnecessary conflict.
┗No worries, he can't act up lol
┗Right, Liu Zhen said something that keeps him in check. He has to deal with Blake first. The Space Mage is seriously smart
Hmm. They're saying I'm smart?
I didn't understand what they meant at first, but after reading comments criticizing me, I grasped the reason.
-Ugh, he kept his mouth shut when he first heard it, but then chimed in late. Hate seeing that
┗Isn't that because you're full of inferiority complex, you parasite?
┗You're too dumb to understand, but that's a smart response.
-I genuinely don't know, why is it smart?
┗If he'd reacted immediately to the provocation, there would be room for criticism no matter how we responded. Even if we refute with facts, they could interpret it as 'So you're weaker than us after all?' by focusing on the level difference
I nodded, having deliberately kept this in mind when I chose to make no comment.
┗Ah, that guy's a master at arguing his way through anything.
┗But when Liu Zhen ended up in a similar position during the Super Rookie debate, he backed off, right? That's when the kick came into play.
Even with the condition of "if they're on the same level," I can't say anything lolol
┗Well, if he's gonna act crazy, he should fight Blake first and come back, right?
I was just voicing what I'd already been thinking about up to that point, so it was natural.
So basically, he was ignoring him smartly, and when Liu Zhen got cornered, he timed it right and landed a solid hit.
"So seeing you, you were a fucking coward, huh? You'd run away once we leveled up. Want to run now? Go fight Blake first and then come back."
┗And the timing of what he said was right after the Super Rookie debate ended and things had cooled down a bit, then he dropped the bomb. Yesterday's atmosphere could've actually turned into a real fight.
┗Wow, that’s right. You have great hair.
┗I didn't know it went that deep, but this is insane
┗There's a reason he's growing so fast. He's incredibly smart. Wasn't he top of the workshop too?
But the part after that wasn't intentional at all. I didn't really coordinate the timing or think it through before speaking.
I was aware that Hunter Net had opinions favorable to me, but….
'Isn't this just forcing the pieces together?'
But the way the timing fits so perfectly makes it feel like I actually considered all that when I gave the interview.
The replies were all like 'impressive,' so it seemed that way.
Hmm….
I just did it without thinking about it?
If the reporter hadn't approached me right after the match, it would've just been left alone.
Still, it probably seemed that way because I said something refreshing while a fellow Korean Hunter was being disrespected.
I stood quietly and scratched the back of my head. I couldn't really jump in and say 'I just did it without thinking?'
I don't know. It's nice when people think I'm smart.
'I'm actually smart enough, just didn't get proper education.'
If I'd received proper public education, would I really have thought it through like that and done the interview at exactly this timing?
Hmm.
Let's go with that…!
* * *
The next day, there was a special meeting.
It was a meeting between Lee Shin-hee's Grandfather, the Chairman of Han Ju Corporation, and our Dragon Guild.
It happened because of something Lee Shin-hee mentioned when we were receiving support for the Dragon Guild's Guild House and staff.
If I said I wasn't bothered by it, I'd be lying.
'The atmosphere is a bit awkward, after all.'
Still, since it was the Chairman who provided that luxurious Guild House, it was only right that I attend.
We were invited to a building owned by Han Ju Corporation, but… there was a slight problem.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Lee Seok-ho from Han Ju."
"Hello! I'm Seo Min-jae!"
"I'm Han Hye."
It was that the Chairman kept staring at me intently even as we were exchanging introductions with the other guild members.
'Why is he doing that?'
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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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