Chapter 3 - If I Only Awaken the Subspace
If I Only Awaken the Subspace
The dragon, which had been rushing in like crazy, stopped. No matter how ferocious a dragon was, it couldn't attack its own egg.
The dragon, frustrated, rolled on the ground a few times and made a whimpering sound like an anxious dog.
It was desperate because it couldn't take out its offspring even with it right in front of it. Of course, I didn't feel sorry for it at all.
It was the one that considered me a nutritional snack.
The dragon's claws tapped the entrance to the Subspace as if scratching it. However, it couldn't touch or enter the egg as if trapped behind some kind of barrier.
At that moment, I was certain.
'It can't come in.'
Was it because I hated it? I felt a little relieved, but it wasn't certain yet.
Just because its body couldn't enter didn't guarantee that its Breath wouldn't.
Moreover, the old man had turned into frozen meat after being hit by Magic.
Then, the dragon brought its eye close to the Subspace door.
"Hick."
A reptile's eye was visible through the narrow gap between the egg and the door. It was rolling quickly, seemingly looking for me.
I met its furious eyes. My body stiffened slightly, just like before. But there was nothing it could do.
"Holy crap, you scared me."
What was it going to do even if it saw me?
I felt very resentful. I gently pushed the egg and stabbed the sword I was holding through the gap between the egg and the door.
Thwack!
Even if the dragon's scales were tough, its eyes apparently weren't. It went in smoothly.
"Kieeeek!"
The dragon screamed sharply and thrashed around. The egg was pushed slightly by the sword that had pierced its eye. I was startled and grabbed the egg with both hands.
Even though I dropped the sword, the Cross Guard was caught on the Subspace entrance and the egg, and it was automatically pulled out.
Something hot splashed on my hands and face through the space that opened as the egg was pushed. I didn't have time to worry about that.
I hurriedly blocked the entrance again with the egg.
"Hoo."
That was close. If I had been startled and dropped the egg, I might have been hit by Breath or Magic.
It was then that something appeared before my eyes.
[Dragon's blood has touched your body. Since ancient times, dragon's blood has been considered sacred.]
[Your Health and Mana increase by 10.]
Apparently, what had splashed on me earlier was dragon's blood. It was an unexpected situation, but it was beneficial to me.
I had just stabbed the sword because my suppressed anger had exploded, but it turned out to be a pretty good result.
Of course...
There was also a sense of unease. If blood could come in even if the body couldn't, wouldn't Magic or Breath be able to as well?
"Crap."
And it was true. The angry dragon must have shot Breath somewhere, because heat rushed in through the gap.
Fortunately, it didn't shoot it at the egg. Sweat poured down like rain.
Next was Magic.
Something whizzed past near the Subspace entrance, and then I heard a bang—an explosion.
-Krrr!
However, the dragon was worried about its own offspring, so it didn't shoot directly at the egg. I gripped the egg, sweating profusely.
This thing was my lifeline.
...And the dragon didn't harm the egg for 6 hours.
That's right.
It meant I had survived. Considering the rest time, it was 12 hours. It was the hardest struggle of my life so far.
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[Mutated Gate 'Storm of the Azure Sky' subjugation complete.]
[You have gained experience.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
A sense of elation that I had never felt before rose from deep within me. This was leveling up.
My arms and shoulders felt like they were cramping from holding the egg in place for 6 hours, but that feeling disappeared all at once.
The level-up notification rang exactly 5 times.
Level 5. The maximum.
If you enter a Gate with too much of a level difference, you can't acquire full experience. The same goes for rewards.
That's why my level had risen to the limit. Even if the strongest Awakened on Earth had come, the result would have been similar.
But the notification didn't end there.
[You have acquired 'Sun Bloom (A-Rank)' as a reward for subjugating the Gate.]
"A-Rank?"
A-Rank elixirs are priceless.
There might be more that aren't known to the world, but A-Rank elixirs have appeared less than ten times so far.
The most famous one is the Millennial Snow Ginseng.
It came from a Mutated Gate, and a Russian ice-ability Awakened ate it and went from an A-Rank to an S-Rank hunter.
"Ugh."
Suddenly, I felt like my body was being sucked somewhere. The Gate subjugation was over, so I was being transferred out of the Gate.
When I closed my eyes and opened them, I was outside the Gate, back on Earth.
"Oh, he's out!"
The air felt refreshing. It wasn't that the inside of the Subspace was stuffy, but it felt quite suffocating because of the dragon.
Maybe it was because I had leveled up, but my body seemed to have more strength.
"Huh? He's alone?"
"He's by himself?"
The two Gate managers in front of me were looking at me in confusion.
"What on earth happened? Where are the others?"
Since I came out alone, the association employees were making a fuss and asking questions.
I had been thinking about something while enduring for several hours inside the Subspace.
"Ah, well..."
Would these people believe me?
* * *
The highest recommended level among the Gates that have appeared on Earth so far was 60.
The level of the Gates has been gradually increasing for 10 years, but it's still 60.
And the person with the highest level among the Awakened was 58.
The one I subjugated was a Gate of level 90 or higher. And a dragon that people had never seen before popped out.
Even if I had heard the news while using my phone at home, I would have thought it was a lie.
-He seems to have gone crazy inside the Gate.
-Is he an attention seeker?
That would be the thought of ordinary people, including me. Of course, there is a way to prove it.
Show them the dragon egg.
[Red Dragon Egg]
-A dragon egg that is not far from hatching.
-Heat is required for hatching.
That was the information about the dragon egg that I had confirmed inside the Subspace. Showing it would convince people.
'...Why would I?'
The situation after that was obvious.
Could I, a newly Awakened, have the ownership of the dragon egg clearly recognized?
I don't think it's possible.
First of all, wouldn't the guild or government of the Awakened who went into the Gate with me try to take the egg?
But this was an egg that I had brought at the risk of my life. I didn't want to hand over such a thing to others for reasons like regulations.
...Above all, there were times when I wanted to experiment with this egg.
-The Ground Tremor caused a mutation into a survival-type Gate. And the Great Worm appeared.
So I changed the situation and spoke.
I said that I had desperately escaped because there wasn't much time left. I said I didn't know about the others who went with me.
I had only changed the dragon to a Great Worm, but it wasn't a lie.
There was no sense of gloom. Whether they were Awakened or non-Awakened, hunters were a profession close to death.
'Gate mutations happen often, too.'
The Gate manager let me go. Originally, they tend to refrain from asking too many questions after a Gate subjugation.
The fact that I looked terrible after just getting out of the Gate also played a part.
Of course, I had to go to the association and write a report. It was a situation where a Gate mutation had occurred.
-I did Awaken while running away...
-You can tell us about that tomorrow, too. Please note that the association may come to you directly if you don't come.
After completing that procedure, I drove my clunky car back to my small studio apartment. I don't even know how I got there.
It was only after washing up that I finally realized it.
'I... I'm an Awakened hunter?'
I was still dazed because I was so out of it, but I had Awakened. Moreover, it was a rare job with an S-Rank skill.
And the skill worked normally!
Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Healer, Martial Artist.
According to statistics, 97% of Awakened are assigned one of the above five jobs according to their aptitude.
Even within the same job, they are not all the same. The skills they receive at the time of Awakening or leveling up are different, so their growth and combat methods also differ.
And like me, there are rare jobs other than the above five.
'There's about a 3% chance of getting a rare job.'
However, rare jobs are not always good. Even if they look good, they are subtly off.
Just thinking of the ones that come to mind, there are Psychics, Druids, Bards, Paladins, and Dragon Knights.
These are jobs that sound tempting just by their names. But the decisive flaw of these jobs is...
They had realistic limitations. They were ambiguous to kill enemies, or the skills didn't work.
-Dragon Knight can't use skills if there's no dragon lol
-Paladin can't use divine skills;;
Unlike their appearance, these jobs had strict prerequisites.
Dragon Knights needed a 'dragon,' and Paladins needed a 'god.'
...Of course, there was no such thing in reality. There were no dragons, and no religion on Earth could give divinity.
It wasn't for nothing that 60% of rare jobs were called trash.
'Even if the skills work, there are many abilities that are ambiguous for catching monsters.'
As a result, Psychics went to construction sites, Druids went to zoos, and Bards went to orchestras.
In the early days of the Gate incident, there were many accidents due to these rare jobs.
['Dragon Knight' Choi Cheol-gi, contacted by 50 countries but decided to stay in Korea.-Patriot
-Crazy;; If it were me, I would have gone to America
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['Dragon Knight' Choi Cheol-gi, can't use skills if there's no 'dragon'?]
-Really?
-lol Dragon Knight can't use his abilities because he doesn't have a dragon lol
-Then is he just a knight? (genuinely don't know;;)
-He could be a substitute driver lol
-No, seriously, what about the contract money that went in with blood tax?
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[Dragon Knight Choi Cheol-gi decides to voluntarily return the contract money, conscious of public opinion.-sssss
-At least he has a conscience
A Paladin in the Middle East was subjected to a religious trial for being an infidel because he couldn't use divine skills.
It wasn't for nothing that I was worried from the start after Awakening to a job with a strange name like Princess.
Fortunately, unlike other rare jobs, my skills worked.
'Should I... congratulate myself?'
I immediately grabbed my wallet. I had to go out.
There was one person I wanted to share this happy news of Awakening with.
'What should I eat? Beef?'
I made up my mind. Although I live in a studio apartment smaller than the Subspace, I have some money saved up from working as a porter.
9 PM. The time was just right. If I don't eat beef on a day like today, when will I?
* * *
[Yongyong Samgyupsal]
I went to the meat restaurant in front of my house. It was a bit late at nine o'clock, but there wasn't a single person there.
I scratched the back of my head. How could there not be a single table?
"Is this place not good? Why isn't there anyone?"
I opened the store door and said the thoughts that flashed through my brain without filtering them.
The owner standing at the counter frowned. He had a sturdy build.
"Look at this bastard's attitude?"
"This bastard? To a customer?"
"The owner is the king in our store, you bastard."
The old man said that and smiled slyly.
"Did you have a good trip to the Gate?"
"Yes."
I smiled. We're close like this. The old man is one of the few good people in my terrible life.
When I was wandering around without a home when other kids were in high school, he let me work here and sleep here.
"No, when will this place do well? Won't it go bankrupt like this? There used to be some customers. Now you don't even use part-timers?"
"Hoo. Hye-ya, you really want to get hit, don't you."
The old man raised his right hand.
"Uh-huh, you'll regret chasing me out. To the person who's going to order beef."
"Huh?"
The old man's eyes widened, and then he guided me with a lewd face.
"Welcome, customer. Please sit here."
"Give me three servings of Korean beef."
When I said that confidently, the old man sat across from me with a curious face.
"Did you get a bonus? You wouldn't have gotten it just because a lot of Magic Stones came out at your level, and did you find a Hidden Piece?"
I smiled slyly.
"I Awakened."
"What? Really?"
"Yes."
"Ha, Hye-ya. I'm really happy for you. Huh? What's going on?"
The old man was genuinely happy. He knew how much I wanted to Awaken.
Of course, as a good adult, he also tried to stop me at first. He asked why I wanted to do that dangerous job.
He also tried to dissuade me when I said I wanted to avenge the monster that killed my parents. But he's supporting me now.
When I smiled faintly at him, the old man got up from his seat.
"Let's go out. We have to close up shop here today."
"What are you talking about? I came to eat beef."
"You should eat beef at a beef specialty restaurant. Why are you looking for it at a Samgyupsal place?"
"Don't you have any?"
"Would I?"
The old man glared at me.
Geez, can't I even joke around?
How many years have I been coming here? There's no way I would mistake the menu.
"I'm kidding. I brought it."
"What? Beef? You came empty-handed."
That's right.
I came to this store empty-handed.
"I put it in the Subspace."
"What?"
Well, if I used my ability, there was no need to carry heavy luggage.
-Whoosh.
I opened the space and took out a black plastic bag.
Inside the bag was the beef I had mentioned, full to the brim.
"......"
The old man seemed to be in shock.
I continued to say to the old man,
"I have a rare job."
The old man's face looked complicated. Joy and surprise coexisted. It couldn't be helped.
Because no one would have suffered as much from a rare job as the old man.
"What the hell."
"Pardon?"
"Some people went into the Gate holding a lizard in their hands, hoping... Some people just have skills that work?"
Dragon Knight Choi Cheol-gi.
The person who made his name known all over the world in the early days of the Gate incident was the old man in front of me now.