Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 80

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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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80. Level 1 Choi Min-seok (3)
The next day.
As soon as Min-seok recovered his energy, he wanted to engrave my weapon and Mister’s. I managed to persuade him and put it off for later. According to Chun-bae, a weapon could only be engraved once.
Our current weapons were already quite good, and there was no telling how long we could use them. It felt wasteful to engrave them right away. The best course was to wait until Min-seok’s level increased.
“It’s been a while. We met briefly last time, and the meat was truly delicious.”
The Hunter Association was supposed to visit in the morning, but what surprised me was that Park Seo-ung and the Association President came together.
We had only exchanged brief greetings in front of Yong-yong Samgyeopsal. Mister shook hands with the Association President as he greeted him.
“Well, thank you. Please, speak comfortably.”
Since the Association President was older and held a higher position than Mister, he didn’t decline.
“Your recent activities have been remarkable. I’m grateful for them.”
“It’s simply my duty.”
“The Daeup matter is regrettable. I’ve made sure to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.”
“That wasn’t the Hunter Association’s fault, was it?”
“I appreciate your understanding.”
The Association President smiled gravely. I respected him quite a bit. He had high public support as well.
He had originally been the vanguard of Chulbyeok, the number one guild.
Had he not lost a leg while rescuing citizens from a Gate Break, he might have held the top domestic rank instead of Shin Chang.
He was truly superhuman, which was why people adored him.
‘The Association President’s term was ending soon.’
I hoped it would help in some way, but since it was a matter determined by law, I wasn’t entirely sure.
In any case, the verification process wasn’t particularly difficult. The Hunter Association had brought E-rank metal and an E-rank sword.
“Hmm…”
“Quite impressive.”
They had even brought mana potions for Min-seok, who had exhausted his mana. It showed thoughtful consideration.
Since Min-seok could only engrave once at this stage, he couldn’t do more, but the verification was sufficient.
“Only I and Seo-ung know about this. Don’t worry about information leaks. I’ll control it well.”
“Thank you.”
“Just in case, I’ll assign guards as well. Don’t worry. I’ll call trustworthy people from Chulbyeok or Saebyeokbit.”
With the first and second-ranked guilds, there was no need to worry. Honestly, they’d be better than Mister or I protecting him right now.
Mister’s expression became somewhat more at ease at the Association President’s words.
“However, if you want to do this professionally, it seems level-ups will be necessary…”
“Yes. Once a day is fine, but if the skill level rises, more mana will be required.”
“I’ll leave that to your judgment. He’s still a child, after all. If you wish, I can assign an Escape Secretary and perfect guards.”
Park Seo-ung added to the Association President’s words.
“In case of Gate transformation or crisis situations, we plan to assign guards who will immediately tear the Escape Secretary to enable retreat.”
It was one of the methods I had been considering. Therefore, contract discussions would take place after our decision.
If we didn’t enter Gates, we’d need to consider mana enhancement through elixirs instead.
.
.
.
.
“What would you like to do, Min-seok?”
“I want to keep polishing! But because of my mana, I can only do it once….”
Since Min-seok had always loved precious metals, his face showed clear disappointment.
Why, it had been quite the ordeal stopping him from wanting to polish the moment he woke up this morning.
“There are ways—entering a Gate or consuming an Elixir.”
“A Gate? I don’t want to fight though. But isn’t an Elixir incredibly expensive?”
“Just because Min-seok enters a Gate doesn’t mean he has to fight. If he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have to go. As for Elixirs, it will take time, but we can obtain them.”
To be honest, having Min-seok enter a Gate is the best option rather than obtaining an Elixir. Even with my Farm, Elixirs are that precious.
The Hunter Association has also guaranteed safety, and it’s far more advantageous for us to use the Elixir ourselves.
However, I didn’t want to force him. He’s still only ten years old. He’s also the son of Mister Chul-gi, my benefactor.
Even if it takes time, if he truly doesn’t want to, I can obtain an Elixir for him.
“Does it take a long time to get an Elixir?”
“Naturally. Elixirs are difficult to obtain.”
“Even if I go to a Gate, I really don’t have to fight?”
“Right. You can just watch from a distance or simply stand there.”
“Then that’s fine! I can go! As long as I’m not the one fighting.”
“Really?”
Min-seok spoke with a solemn expression.
“I want to be helpful to Dad and my brother too. And I want to do a lot of polishing quickly!”
As he spoke, his face grew increasingly eager, and I suspected the latter was perhaps the more important motivation.
After all, a ten-year-old who had awakened an ability he desired would naturally want to use it constantly.
‘Like father, like son?’
Mister had used his Dragon Knight skill repeatedly when he first obtained it.
Hearing Min-seok’s words, Mister nodded.
“Yes. That should be fine.”
That’s right. Min-seok doesn’t need to enter Gates up to level 20 or 30.
Even when his skill level increases, having enough mana to use his polishing skill is sufficient.
‘If Min-seok wants to level up further later, we can think about it then.’
With the method decided, I called Park Seo-ung again.
* * *
This time the Association President didn’t come, only Park Seo-ung returned. He must have been waiting nearby because it was quick.
The contract was presented immediately as well, and I suspected he had prepared it in advance after hearing about yesterday’s conversation.
“I believe the terms are favorable to both parties.”
The contract was in a completely different form from mine and Mister’s. It wasn’t a Hunter contract.
Like general contracts for awakened individuals who don’t pursue Hunter careers—healers or mages, for instance.
The point was singular.
In exchange for completely supporting the Polisher’s growth, there would be benefits regarding priority and costs when using the polishing skill in the future.
“That’s not bad, is it?”
In the space Seo-ung had vacated, Mister and I nodded in agreement as well.
With the Secretary’s escape guaranteed and leveling up assured through a safe and verified party.
We weren’t receiving a separate contract fee, but honestly, this direction was far more advantageous for us anyway.
Min-seok’s value would only grow greater as time passed.
Eventually, elite teams from various nations would come, and it was difficult to predict how much a single enchantment would be worth.
‘It’s better to offer priority and cost benefits rather than take a large sum now and provide free enchantments later.’
Moreover, the Hunter Association agreed to provide low-grade Gate metals and weapons needed for leveling up the enchantment skill.
The Association had accumulated quite a stockpile of Gate metals they’d collected over the past decade for research purposes.
And it was on the condition that we’d handle the tedious work for them as well.
The Hunter Association said they’d conduct research on the enchantment skill process together with us. It was convenient for us.
‘Analyzing the variance in enhancement based on skill level, weapon grade, and metal grade would be tedious anyway.’
In any case, that’s how the contract was finalized. Min-seok officially contracted with the Korean Hunter Association, so he’s under their protection from now on.
He’ll have escorts not just during commutes to and from school, but also in his daily life, apparently.
The announcement about the enchanter was naturally postponed. The later the announcement, the better for us.
For us and for the Korean Hunter Association alike.
“Han Hye, you should refrain from purchasing too much Gate metal at once. Other nations might catch on. We’ll be careful as well.”
Seo-ung’s timely advice was sound. We couldn’t afford to raise suspicions and expose ourselves carelessly.
“Ah, you’re right. Thank you.”
“No, we should be thanking you. We’re truly grateful you told us early.”
That was fair. Honestly, we’d done the Korean Hunter Association quite a few favors.
The Association probably had a decent stockpile of Gate metals themselves, but we were giving them the opportunity to purchase high-grade Gate metals.
I planned to tell this to close associates. The Dragon Guild members, naturally.
And beyond that, perhaps Shin Chang and Seo Seung-yeon from Saebyeokbit?
‘I should repay what they’ve taught me.’
I think of myself as helping Shin Chang, but honestly, considering what I learn from our occasional sparring matches, it feels insufficient.
We’ll continue sparring in the future, so I should share this information with them.
‘Of course, after we purchase a bit more Gate metal ourselves.’
First, I needed to gradually buy the high-grade Gate metals currently available on the market.
Doing so over time without drawing attention.
One regret was that there were no S-grade Gate metals on the market. Of course, S-grade items themselves were extremely rare, but…
I’d heard that Gate metals tended to drop at higher grades relative to their level, so there were supposedly some available.
‘It seems nations must have purchased them all.’
Since we didn’t know when a profession like blacksmith would emerge, they probably confiscated S-grade metals. Well, it’s not like I could use S-grade metals right now anyway.
So I purchased two A-grade Gate metals that were currently in circulation.
‘I wonder how they’ll be used later.’
* * *
And several days later.
All of Daeup Guild’s priority rights were cancelled, and new Gate announcements were released.
Our guild’s original plan was to enter a defense-type Gate and get more accustomed to combat, but…
We couldn’t pass up such a welcome opportunity.
‘The Gates the third-ranked guild was planning to enter.’
It wasn’t some run-of-the-mill Gate, and besides, I was claiming an opportunity that should have gone to those bastards I despised.
“Thinking about all the trouble we went through because of those Daeup assholes… We should be getting two of these.”
Though Mister said it was a shame, he was clearly excited too.
“Wait, since those guys are getting screwed over, shouldn’t we count this as double?”
Not just us, but Korean hunters in general were pouring their attention into this. From the top-tier guilds down to the lowest ranks.
Because there wasn’t much of the year left.
Most guilds had already exhausted their Gate entry priority rights. In other words, this was a situation where we might just catch a stroke of luck.
“The highest-tier guilds probably still have some Gate entry priority left.”
“That’s fine.”
It wouldn’t really affect us.
Naturally, the top-tier guilds would be targeting higher-level Gates than we were.
At our level, there were probably almost no guilds with priority rights, and even if there was competition, the Hunter Association would side with us.
We gathered at the Guild House and waited for the scheduled time with anticipation.
“It’s up!”
There weren’t that many. Min-jae screamed right in the middle of quickly scanning through the listings.
“Huh!”
“What?”
“Page two!”
Min-jae was staring at the screen with wide, shocked eyes… He was so startled he couldn’t even speak.
“What is it? What the hell is there?”
The moment I turned the listing to page two myself.
[Pharva Ancient Ruin]
-Recommended Level: 31~35
-Personnel Limit: 10
An Ancient Ruin Gate had appeared. Ancient Ruins—a super-popular Gate that ranked higher than regular Ruin Gates.
I never expected something like this to still be available.
“These guys haven’t cleared this yet? And it’s an Ancient Ruin?”
Mister spoke as if he couldn’t believe it, but Lee Shin-hee shook her head.
“This appeared in the recent public announcement. I saw it in the listings back then.”
“Huh?”
It seemed to be a Gate that existed when we last used our Gate entry priority rights.
“Why didn’t I see it?”
“When top-ten guilds use their priority rights, they disappear from the public announcement listings. I saw it and it disappeared right after.”
Ah, I see. Top-tier guilds aren’t popular for nothing. They have so many benefits.
“Let’s apply right now, okay? If it’s an Ancient Ruin, other top-tier guilds might be after it too…”
At Min-jae’s words, I hurriedly submitted the Gate application. If we land this, we’re guaranteed a jackpot.
An Ancient Ruin. And with me there, we’ll definitely find any hidden dungeons.
‘And it’s the Ancient Ruin that Daeup was after, so even better?’
What worried me slightly was that there were already others who had applied. What mattered was whether there was another guild among them that held priority rights.
If it got assigned to another guild, the priority would come back to us, but getting into that Gate was more important.
However, my worry didn’t last long, as a call came through from Seo-ung.
-Han Hye.
“Yes?”
-Your Gate application has been confirmed. Three guilds have used their priority rights, so there will be an examination, but you’re scheduled to be assigned to the Dragon Guild. Please prepare in advance.
It was news that I’d been pre-selected.
Perhaps Min-seok’s recent awakening as a jeweler had influenced the decision? That must be it. Of course, my own importance and the Mister’s mattered too.
Hmm.
The Hunter Association is the best.

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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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