Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 77

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

77. Daeup
-Thwack, thwack!
Brutal sounds echoed repeatedly from the Daeup Guild Master’s Office. The beaten hunters groaned, blood trickling down their faces.
“Ugh….”
“You crazy bastards. What? Confused? There’s nothing to be confused about.”
Jo Ji-hyuk, the Daeup Guild Master, sighed and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. Something that shouldn’t have gotten out had gotten out.
Articles were being deleted in real-time right now, but the fact that it had already spread was what mattered.
Originally, there shouldn’t have been a problem.
Daeup, which had deep connections with the political sphere, had been promised to mobilize to protect politicians when an Outbreak Gate opened.
“Do you have no brain? Try thinking once in a while.”
Of course, that didn’t mean abandoning their assigned Gate and rushing off to protect politicians.
Even when an Outbreak Gate opens, there are hunter teams that remain on emergency standby for additional support.
Politician protection was handled separately by the Daeup team in the emergency standby unit organized by the Hunter Association.
According to plan, this incident should have been handled by that emergency standby unit.
“I-I’m sorry!”
The problem was that the frequency of Outbreak Gate generation had increased since the Third Gate Incident.
The Hunter Association had reorganized the standby unit composition, even coordinating the hunters’ Gate schedules.
And when an Outbreak Gate was generated, the emergency standby unit was hastily reorganized once more based on its scale….
These idiots were drinking when the alarm sounded, didn’t properly verify which assignment they had, and rushed to the politician’s private residence.
“Sorry? As if you were trying to make some kind of impression….”
“That’s not it!”
From Jo Ji-hyuk’s perspective, it was absurd.
Re-confirming assignments when an Outbreak Gate occurs is essential knowledge for hunters. But they just rushed off? Weren’t these guys missing a few screws?
…Of course, they wouldn’t be shaken by one or two incidents like this. They were Daeup, after all.
They could fabricate a reason for being late. Protecting a politician with connections was more important than being late to a Gate.
The problem was that it got caught. By a social affairs reporter who had been waiting near the residence due to recent political issues.
“Guild Master. We’ve taken measures.”
Then the Secretary entered, opening the door.
“We announced it as independent action based on the personal political beliefs of an individual hunter unrelated to Daeup, someone with those tendencies normally.”
“What about the dismissal?”
“As of now, we’ve announced that the guild has processed their dismissal.”
Of course, they weren’t actually being dismissed. Once public opinion settled down a bit, they could just call them back.
From Jo Ji-hyuk’s perspective, they were idiots, but high-level hunters in the late 30s were hard to find easily.
[Daeup Guild Dismisses Problematic Hunter]
[‘Independent action based on personal political beliefs.’]
-Is this really what the country’s come to?
-They take salaries from taxes but act according to their political leanings?
-Big business trash bastards.
-Is this Daeup’s fault? It says it was independent action
-True, they did stop the Gate anyway
-If it wasn’t for the Space Mage, this could’ve been a disaster, you know?
-Well, they stopped it anyway.
-Daeup Guild really stepped in it. Honestly pathetic lol
In fact, internet opinion manipulation was already underway. The response wasn’t particularly negative.
It wasn’t for nothing that Daeup was the third-ranked guild in Korea.
There were certainly those in the hunter industry who knew their true nature, but they couldn’t go around spouting such things carelessly.
A third-ranked guild.
Getting caught lying could make it difficult to continue working in the hunter industry.
Beyond the opinion manipulation, the political circles connected to them stirred up a different controversy.
[Top Star B and Rising Actor K Confirmed Dating!]
Though only a few hours had passed, public opinion seemed to be flowing smoothly in Daeup’s favor.
-Kang Seok-du
Then, a call came from the person Jo Ji-hyuk, the Daeup Guild Master, disliked most. It was the Hunter Association President.
He didn’t answer. But the other side didn’t back down easily.
-Kang Seok-du
This stubborn bastard. When the third call rang, Jo Ji-hyuk knew the Association President wouldn’t give up.
“Get lost. If you cause trouble before I call you, know that you’re dead. I’m not joking.”
He glanced at the hunters collapsed in front of him. Then, he pressed the call button.
-You son of a bitch….
“It wasn’t intentional. Didn’t you see the article?”
-Don’t give me that bullshit.
“Well, that is bullshit, I’ll admit.”
Surprisingly, Jo Ji-hyuk acknowledged it coolly.
“But it really wasn’t intentional. It was an accident that happened because I didn’t realize the arrangement had been coordinated.”
The Association was also aware that Daeup was sending people to protect high-ranking politicians.
No matter how much it was the Hunter Association, it was still an organization created by the state. Political influence was inevitable.
It was a hidden arrangement that wasn’t known to the public.
In the early days of the Gate crisis, politicians who hired hunters separately caused quite a commotion during the second Gate crisis.
-At this rate, it’d be better to separate them entirely from the start.
After consultation with the government, a secret standby unit was deployed at a level that wouldn’t significantly burden Gate defense.
Daeup’s role was to assign competent hunters to the standby units of politicians connected to them.
Of course, Kang Seok-du wasn’t the Association President back then. It was behavior he didn’t approve of, but it was difficult to change now.
-You call that an explanation? Of all places, where the Space Mage was stationed, and you’re calling it an accident?
What angered Kang Seok-du wasn’t just the problem with the outburst-type Gate defense, but more so that the Space Mage had been in danger.
-It seems there was trouble before too. Am I mistaken?
It could have resulted in a major disaster. If what erupted afterward hadn’t been a Small-to-Medium Gate but something larger….
Korea might have lost not just the Space Mage, but the Dragon Knight as well.
“The Space Mage? Why is that name coming up? I have no particular feelings about them.”
-Don’t think you’re getting away with this cleanly.
“Now you’re threatening me again.”
-It’s not blackmail.
“Then try it.”
Jo Ji-hyuk let out a short laugh. Well. Would the Hunter Association really impose excessive punishment? It would be moderate at best.
Jo Ji-hyuk hadn’t cultivated political connections for nothing.
“This crazy bastard….”
But that thought didn’t last even twenty minutes.
[Hunter Association ‘Daeup, while not intentional, cannot escape responsibility for managing guild members.’]
[Daeup Guild’s Gate entry priority allocation for this year forfeited, guild points deducted]
[Daeup Guild drops from 3rd to 5th place?]
The Hunter Association had played an unexpectedly aggressive hand. Though little remained of the year, that wasn’t the real issue.
Jo Ji-hyuk’s eyes went wild as he immediately called the Association President.
“Are you insane?”
-Calling the Association President insane—you really don’t hold back.
“Are you seriously trying to do this?”
-If there’s something you want to do, go ahead and try. My term as Association President doesn’t have much time left anyway.
The Association President said that and simply hung up. Jo Ji-hyuk let out a hollow laugh and clenched his teeth.
“Kang Seok-du, you son of a bitch….”
Association President Kang Seok-du had been Jo Ji-hyuk’s obstacle since the Gate incident. Even when Kang Seok-du was still active, Jo Ji-hyuk could never surpass him.
Perpetually second place. Though both were warriors and vanguards, in the early days of the Gate incident, all national support flowed to Kang Seok-du.
Gritting his teeth and striving, he built the second-ranked guild and climbed up, but he could never match Kang Seok-du of the first-ranked Chulbyeok.
It was a long-standing inferiority complex.
Even after retirement, Kang Seok-du had established the Saebyeok Guild, dealing damage to Daeup and blocking his path forward.
“No matter what methods I have to use….”
What infuriated him even more was that this situation shouldn’t have escalated this far.
If the Space Mage hadn’t been involved, they would have simply paid a fine and ended it at a reasonable level.
‘The Space Mage.’
Just like before, all recent anger related to Kang Seok-du was connected to the Space Mage.
Honestly, Jo Ji-hyuk harbored no ill will toward him. Only regret.
If it hadn’t been for his subordinate’s shallow schemes, even if he couldn’t recruit him, they could have maintained a cordial relationship.
However, being repeatedly brought up in connection with the Association President had soured his feelings without reason.
‘Looking at his growth rate, it seems he’ll catch up and overtake me before long.’
Originally he’d given it no thought, but observing his recent growth rate, it didn’t seem it would take that long.
Of course, it wasn’t a major concern.
The Association President’s term would definitely change before then. After that, there would surely be ways to handle it.
‘Considering all the money and protection I’ve received so far, I should return that much.’
Still, for now he needed to curry favor to address the immediate crisis. He was about to call a high-ranking official he’d recently connected with.
Then a call came in. The caller ID was restricted.
“?”
What was peculiar was that it came to his personal smartphone, not his business line. Not many people had this number.
-Is this Jo Ji-hyuk of Daeup?
Moreover, when I answered the call, the voice speaking was in English.
“Who is this?”
-I can tell you that when we meet.
“Why would I meet someone when I don’t even know who you are?”
-Well, I think your perspective might change once we meet.
* * *
[Daeup Guild drops from 3rd to 5th place?]
-Wow, this punishment is insane
-Isn’t this a bit too harsh?
-I heard it wasn’t even Daeup’s fault
┗lol
┗Why are you laughing?
┗What do you expect lol
-Seems like they came down hard because the Space Mage was involved
┗They had to come down hard, seriously. If the Dragon Guild had collapsed, it would’ve been a disaster
┗Even without the Space Mage, it was the first irregular Gate incident, so the punishment had to be severe
┗Yeah, this is how you stop those bastards from making excuses and running away
“Hmm.”
According to the news, it was described as an arbitrary action based on personal political beliefs… but I doubt that’s the real reason.
I was genuinely curious about what actually happened.
I don’t particularly like Daeup, but I’m someone who can think objectively.
Daeup wouldn’t have harbored such ill will toward me that they’d abandon Gate defense.
‘They’re not foolish enough to no-show just because I blocked one employee number from the guild.’
Well, I don’t know. And I don’t really care to think about it.
Either way, the Association President delivered proper punishment. A demotion from 3rd to 5th place—that’s a massive difference.
Not only were their guild privileges revoked, but if they finish this year in 5th place, it affects their priority ranking for next year as well.
Plus, their tax benefits change too. Even a small percentage difference means enormous sums for a large guild.
‘Considering the loss of remaining priority and the reduced number of priorities next year, even farming equipment becomes a loss.’
They were receiving proper karmic retribution for everything they’d accumulated. They’d even deducted my wages when I was working as a porter…
It felt satisfying. I nodded with approval.
‘But on the other hand, there was no similar incident reported from elsewhere.’
This morning, Europe also experienced a release-type Gate incident. However, it wasn’t the same as what happened here.
Not only did no Gates appear nearby, but there was no instance of Gates opening without a waiting period.
“It seems like his doing, doesn’t it?”
-Affirmative. The probability is high.
“What does he want? Is he still watching me?”
-I’m not certain. However, while it wasn’t the Previous Princess, strange occurrences occasionally happened around the Previous-Previous Princess as well.
Hmm. Hearing this, a thought suddenly occurred to me. Last time, Chun-bae had also said the Previous Princess lacked talent.
Just how little talent did she have? Unlike me and the Previous-Previous Princess, she’s being discriminated against in this way too.
Or is it better that these things don’t happen?
Still, I couldn’t deny my gratitude toward her. After all, it was the Previous Princess who had brought the Eternal Farm into existence.
In any case, I’d come to understand that I couldn’t afford to let my guard down in reality either. There was no way to predict when or what that man might attempt next.
Frankly, couldn’t a massive Gate open right in front of me while I was sleeping?
[Dragon Guild. Composed and exceptionally responsive even to sudden anomalies]
[Making the impossible possible! Without the Space Mage, how much greater would the damage have been?]
Separately from that, this incident hadn’t been entirely unfavorable for me. My combat skill levels had risen, and so had my own level.
Moreover, I’d planted a positive image of our Guild in the minds of the citizens. But that wasn’t all.
[Hunter Association commends Dragon Guild and grants priority Gate entry rights]
Typically, additional compensation is rarely given in the aftermath of discharge-type Gate incidents.
However, because we’d managed to contain a suddenly-appearing Small-to-Medium Gate, we received one additional priority entry right.
‘Now I have two.’
I’d always intended to keep one in reserve as insurance for a precious Gate whose emergence remained uncertain.
Now that I’d obtained another, it meant I could put one to new use.
“Where should I use this one?”
The moment I thought that, I recalled the news that Daeup Guild’s priority rights had just been revoked.
That meant I could use my priority right on the Gate that the third-ranked Guild had applied for.
‘This is jackpot.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————