Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 94

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

94. Nonsense
[China: ‘We purchased information about the Trial Gate from Korea. We should receive compensation in return.’]
China’s official statement was absolute nonsense, so naturally a rebuttal from Korea followed.
[Korean Hunter Association: ‘Ridiculous claims,’ dismissing the controversy.]
[China: ‘We have evidence,’ countering again]
[Korea: ‘If you have evidence, present it’]
[China: ‘We cannot present evidence to protect our source’]
It was absurd—like watching a child throw a tantrum. After all, since it wasn’t true in the first place, there was no way to prove it.
Eventually, Kang Seok-du, the Hunter Association President, took the stage to speak officially.
-It is lamentable that concrete evidence is not presented, yet one-sided claims are repeated—this cannot constitute productive discussion.
-If discussion is desired, clear and objectively verifiable evidence must be presented first.
-Should one-sided claims persist, it may have negative consequences for mutual trust and constructive relations between our nations.
Though wrapped in political rhetoric, it essentially boiled down to this.
-Stop spouting nonsense.
-If you keep spouting nonsense, hunter cooperation between our nations will cease.
While China was indeed one of the hunter superpowers, Korea was no less formidable in that regard.
In fact, international relations had shifted considerably. Before the Gate crisis, China’s influence was substantial, but…
‘Korea had been actively providing hunter cooperation.’
China had virtually refused hunter cooperation to prevent the exodus of its own hunters abroad, whereas Korea had taken an active stance.
As a result, Korea had built favorable relationships with other nations.
[Has China’s wounded pride driven them to make baseless claims?]
[After the Trial Gate’s subjugation, hunters moved only under the Chinese government—who could possibly have leaked information?]
[China’s inexplicable and absurd claims]
The reaction wasn’t limited to our country; international responses were similar. Everyone wondered why China was acting this way.
The uncle who had shown up at my house with beer after China’s position became public shared the same sentiment.
“Why are they acting like this?”
But I had a suspicion about what was really going on.
“I think it’s because of the mana core.”
“The mana core?”
“It supplied almost infinite mana, didn’t it? They probably thought they could take it with them.”
According to Chun-bae, it wasn’t actually infinite. It was a matter of using magical formations to gather mana from a vast area into one place.
But even that alone would be enough to make Earth’s scientists’ eyes pop out of their heads.
Nations purchase mana stones precisely for research into energy sources and mana itself.
I understood why China, having confirmed the interior of the Gate, would covet such a thing.
‘Seeing how they sent Liu Zhen as their elite force and then immediately dispatched a second Subjugation Team after his defeat, they must have been desperate not to lose it.’
However, as Chun-bae had said, it wasn’t something that could be taken. It was merely a design created by the magical formation.
The uncle furrowed his brow.
“It can’t be taken, but if it could have been and those bastards had subjugated it first, it would’ve been a disaster.”
“A massive Gate would have opened in China, wouldn’t it?”
“Exactly. Setting aside the nation’s collapse, China’s a continent—monsters would spread in all directions. I heard monsters are appearing more and more off the coast of Australia too.”
That’s right. The monster problem in the waters near Australia had recently become one of the hot topics of discussion.
Moreover, the United Nations had announced that the land near Australia, where the Gate operated continuously, had undergone bizarre changes.
If the monsters in the waters off Australia spread in all directions, it was obvious that chaos would ensue.
Because of this, discussions were emerging about either cleaning up those waters or reclaiming Australia.
‘Well, no nations are stepping forward aggressively.’
That was only natural. After all, their own countries hadn’t been affected yet.
‘What happens if we just leave that alone?’
-The erosion accelerates.
The thought suddenly occurred to me, and I asked Chun-bae, only to receive a chilling response.
‘The erosion accelerates?’
-Open-type Gates must be closed as quickly as possible, regardless of location. If the world’s erosion accelerates and gains momentum, it becomes uncontrollable.
‘…It’s already been open for a while now?’
-That is a negative situation. Even if not immediately, it would be best to close it as soon as possible.
This meant that Australia, which I hadn’t paid much attention to, could potentially become a catastrophe descending upon us.
But knowing that didn’t mean there was anything I could do about it right now. It was beyond my level to handle.
‘There’s Catoblepas….’
I showed Chun-bae what Catoblepas looked like, but it wasn’t a monster he knew.
-I don’t know either, but at that level, Han Hye would need to be at least level 60.
‘You mean by my standards, not other people’s, right?’
-Affirmative. By Han Hye’s standards, level 60.
Considering I was nearly 15 levels ahead, it meant others would need to reach level 75.
And Australia didn’t have just one Catoblepas.
“That’s somewhat of a problem.”
Even Mister was taken aback upon hearing this. It meant that if we left it alone, danger would eventually reach us as well.
The problem was that we couldn’t reveal the information we knew to the outside world.
“There’s nothing we can do about it right now. Let’s just observe for now. Neither we nor the world are ready to reclaim Australia yet.”
That’s true. Currently, Earth’s highest level is in the early 60s. It’s not something we can resolve immediately.
By that time, Earth might also become aware of how serious the situation in Australia is.
‘If worst comes to worst, I’ll have to reveal everything.’
The information in the Subspace is important, but if Earth is destroyed anyway, Subspace skills don’t matter.
Well, I’m hoping there’s some way to handle it before that happens.
* * *
[Lv34 Space Master, Han Hye]
Strength : 40
Agility : 40(+1)
Stamina : 41(+1)
Spirit : 32
Mana : 76(+10)(+1)
Bonus Points : 9
Skills : Subspace(S-rank) lv3, Blaze(S-rank)lv2, Leap (A-rank)lv4, Flame Resistance(A-rank)lv7, Crescea Swordsmanship (B-rank)lv4, Throwing(C-rank)lv4, Swift Step(C-rank)lv1, Cold Resistance(C-rank)lv3, Imperial Basic Swordsmanship (E-rank)lv6 *Wind Slash
This is my current status window. It’s absurd, really. I was already incomparable to others, but….
In this Gate alone, I gained 20 Mana points for free.
An ability stat of 20. It’s as if I leveled up seven times while sitting idle.
If I include the 10 I invested to prevent Mana depletion when using Blaze, that’s a 30-point increase.
‘I’ve gained quite a lot.’
Normally, I would have thought that such a disproportionate Mana increase needed some balance.
Hadn’t Chun-bae emphasized stat equilibrium before?
And before acquiring Blaze, I hadn’t needed much Mana. My stats were already high, so if I fell short, I could rest in the Subspace and return.
But that wasn’t the case anymore. A flame that burned through Mana itself. Blaze consumed Mana proportionally to its destructive power.
‘Thinking about how close I came to depleting it, I’ll need at least 70 to use it comfortably.’
Well, it’s convenient to think of it as leveling up stats I’d eventually raise anyway. From now on, I should focus on developing other stats, shouldn’t I?
To achieve stat balance, it seemed I’d need to diligently raise other attributes for a while.
[Korean ‘Trial of Mana’ Gate Report Released.]
After China’s nonsense, the Korean Hunter Association received the report from the Subjugation Team and revealed details about the Trial of Mana.
The public’s reaction was quite bewildered.
-Magic Tower conquest? Even with level adjustment, isn’t that insane?
-Mages casting magic without rest? The Mana core was on top of the Magic Tower—how did they even break through?
Naturally, attention poured in on Mister and me.
-The Dragon Knight drew attention and the Space Mage handled it alone?
-Wasn’t the Space Mage’s Guild the lowest level on the Subjugation Team?
-The Space Mage is seriously cool
-Versus Han Hye
-Honestly, I used to think they were just hyping up the Space Mage, but at this point it’s clearly real lol
Regarding this, some voices emerged understanding China’s nonsense. Ah, of course, they didn’t truly understand.
-China was trying to snatch that Mana core lol
-Why do they always try to steal everything lol they can’t do anything themselves
-Facts) China entered first, failed, and came back out
-Info) Even though the Space Mage has an S-rank support skill, not S-rank swordsmanship, there was like a 10-level difference lol
-Damn, it’s a shame they couldn’t bring it back. With that, wouldn’t it be perpetual motion?
-According to the Space Mage’s report, it’s not exactly perpetual motion. It’s a structure that draws Mana through magic circles.
This became somewhat established fact when China, hearing our announcement, refrained from spouting more nonsense.
Though I heard there was some noise in the process.
-They caught internal spies, right?
Seo Seung-yeon told me that there were movements within the Association trying to verify whether the Gate report was true.
When they investigated, they caught several employees who had received bribes from China.
-Liu Zhen! Just one interview!
-What happened? The Space Mage you dismissed succeeded, but Blake in relation to this….
Beyond that, much attention poured in. China failed, and we succeeded. Comparisons were inevitable.
Especially since there had been a verbal exchange between Liu Zhen and me, super rookies, before this incident.
-….
Of course, given the outcome, Liu Zhen simply ignored the interviewer and walked past without a word.
Though his gaze was remarkably sharp.
‘Who couldn’t clear it?’
They’d gone in first and spouted nonsense, yet their glare was almost amusing.
One thing became crystal clear from this.
The next time a Trial Gate appeared, I absolutely had to enter first.
Other nations would likely catch on too. They’d seen the Gate vanish the moment we finished.
‘It wasn’t for nothing that I said these gates devour Hunters.’
If this pattern repeated, everyone would rush to enter Trial Gates first and subjugate them.
Desperation breeds problems.
-Trial Gates are created at the intermediate level of Awakeners at the time of generation, and the required level gradually increases as time passes.
Based on what Chun-bae said, I suspected Trial Gates would continue to match my level as I progressed.
Of course, my growth rate differed from others, but this conviction came from somewhere inexplicable.
‘Because there’s a god who supposedly survived alone.’
I hadn’t encountered them since, but that overwhelmingly vivid memory continued to weigh on my mind.
Something unusual had occurred at the last Discharge-type Gate too. Perhaps they were watching me even now.
.
.
.
The settlement for the Hunter Association’s cooperation request was still in progress. There were simply too many people involved.
Before we’d even entered, the regulations had stipulated differential payments based on individual contributions inside.
‘Suddenly providing a dozen or so useful potions would be difficult.’
Like last time—Gate entry priority plus potions? Or maybe two Gate entry priorities would work too.
Potions were nice, but I only had fond memories of when I’d used Gate entry priority.
With my spatial sense, I could easily discover Hidden Dungeons in most decent Gates.
Just before the Hunter Association’s settlement was finalized, we gathered for a dinner with the Subjugation Team members.
“Wow, this is my first time here.”
Naturally, it was Yong-yong Samgyeopsal, run by Mister. We’d gathered right after closing hours.
The Subjugation Team members all wore delighted expressions.
“Wow, with Chul-gi and Han Hye finishing it all, for us to even eat at this precious place…”
“It’s fine. Good things are good things.”
The affable Mister chuckled heartily at Sang-yeop’s flattery and even patted his back.
“This is seriously so delicious?”
“Deliciously to death!”
While everyone was enjoying themselves, Sang-yeop approached me and expressed some regret.
“Man, I wish it had been a fight where we stood on the front lines together, swinging our swords around.”
It was about the Gate. Something separate from the rewards. Honestly, all the Subjugation Team did was block magic while we climbed the Magic Tower.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Mister and I handled everything. Once we destroyed the Mana Core, it was smooth sailing.
“There’ll be another chance next time.”
That’s when the conversation was happening.
Seo Seung-yeon’s call came through suddenly.
-Han Hye.
“Yes?”
I wondered what it could be, but it was precisely what I had been waiting for.
-I found a Skill Level-Up Voucher.

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