R1 Chapter 13

Posted by Lilac, Released on February 1, 2025

Chapter 13

A vast plain and endless trees.

Baek Hwan frowned at the scenery that had changed in an instant.

Judging by the remnants of pink slime scattered everywhere, this must be that woman’s space.

“Hah.”

A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

So, this was it. That woman had trapped him here as well. After taking Rank 1, now even him, Rank 2.

Could it be that she intended to trap every ranker? What an incredibly twisted sense of humor.

Baek Hwan found the situation utterly absurd.

An E-rank weakling, she claimed? All lies.

Even the tears she shed under his light intimidation, the way she flailed and fell pathetically—all of it was just an act.

What a ridiculous woman. He felt like a fool for even briefly believing her.

Even after he had personally witnessed her unbelievable ability to summon a gate and instantly absorb all the slimes…

He had foolishly let his guard down.

He shouldn’t have forgotten that this was the same person who had kidnapped the Rank 1 awakened. Yet, for a moment, he had relaxed his vigilance.

It was a mistake he was now regretting deeply.

Baek Hwan roughly ran his hand through his hair, pushing back the strands that had fallen over his forehead. The realization of his miscalculation made his fingertips clench into fists.

He never expected her to summon a dungeon inside the building. Nor that she could absorb him through a gate.

And he certainly didn’t expect to be so helplessly caught like this.

When her skill was activated, there was nothing he could do. He had been utterly powerless, dragged into this subspace.

He, who even other S-ranks wouldn’t dare to mess with so easily. For her to send him to this bizarre place in a single move…

She might not just be an S-rank. She could be the very first SS-rank.

It was a plausible theory.

And to top it off—

[※Error: Warning! �� is approaching!]

[※Error: Warning! The system is rebooting due to abnormal access!]

[※Error: Warning! Brace for impact!]

Was this also that woman’s power?

Baek Hwan looked up at the sky, filled with countless system windows. The sheer number of messages blocked his vision.

A system error? He had never seen or even heard of such a thing.

[System has been rebooted!]

The errors that seemed endless disappeared after a while.

[<Subspace Administrator>’s stats are too low! For safety, debuffs are applied to intruders!]

Instead, as the reboot message appeared, new windows began popping up in rapid succession.

[Debuff activated! Stats decreased by 99%!]

[Debuff activated! 99% of skills locked!]

[Debuff activated! Cannot receive any subspace benefits due to Subspace Maladaptation!]

What the….?

The flood of notifications left Baek Hwan’s face painted with disbelief.

His stats had plummeted in an instant. Most of his skills were now unusable.

It was an unbelievable reality.

[Debuff activated! The air feels heavy due to Subspace Maladaptation’!]

Thud!

The sensation of gravity crushing his entire body overwhelmed him. Everything felt unbearably heavy.

His legs gave out beneath him. Unable to adjust to the sudden change, Baek Hwan staggered.

Just as he managed to regain his balance—

Someone pushed through the tall grass and called out to him.

“Baek Hwan…?”

It was the very person Baek Hwan had been looking for.

“Why are you here?”

Shin Yeoul looked at him with wide eyes, clearly surprised by the unexpected encounter.

Baek Hwan’s expression twisted as he looked at Shin Yeoul.

What on earth happened to you?

The S-rank armor he was wearing was tattered and falling apart, and his face was smeared with dirt and dust, leaving him looking utterly bedraggled.

And what was that on his head?

Feathers? Red feathers were sticking out of Shin Yeoul’s hair, and Baek Hwan raised an eyebrow.

“….Well, you’re alive somehow. How are you holding up?”

“I’m better than you’d think.”

Shin Yeoul shrugged slightly, brushing it off as if he were fine. But contrary to his words, his face was filled with fatigue.

Baek Hwan couldn’t help but look at him skeptically.

They had both fallen into this strange place, stripped of most of their power.

It couldn’t have been an easy time.

While it didn’t look like Shin Yeoul had sustained any major injuries, the dark circles under his eyes, already prominent before, now threatened to reach his jawline.

Baek Hwan rubbed his face, thinking of the woman who had sent them here.

As if Shin Yeoul hadn’t already been worn out enough.

Did she really have to reduce him to this state? That merciless woman!

“Hey. Are you really okay?”

Shin Yeoul, as always, insisted he was fine. But Baek Hwan asked again, as if to double-check.

“I’m fine. Really.”

Shin Yeoul gave him a faint smile, lightly tapping Baek Hwan’s arm as if to say not to worry.

“It wasn’t easy with all the restrictions, but I managed to make it work.”

Truthfully, Shin Yeoul’s condition was the least of his concerns.

Though he had somewhat adjusted, the strange debuffs that had appeared since he’d entered this place had left him more drained and irritable than usual.

On top of that, he hadn’t eaten or slept properly in days.

All he wanted now was to leave this place as quickly as possible.

While he hadn’t expected Baek Hwan to end up here himself, it was still a relief.

Baek Hwan must have realized he had gone missing and tracked him down here.

“Let’s get out of here. Where do we go?”

Shin Yeoul assumed Baek Hwan must have had a plan, considering he had come here himself.

Normally, that would have been the case.

But for some reason, Baek Hwan didn’t reply right away.

“Um, Hwan-ah? You came to rescue me, right?”

It was only after a pause that Baek Hwan finally responded.

“No. I got caught too.”

“…..”

A long silence fell between them.

✦✦✦

Hello. I am the Ranker Collector.

Somehow, I ended up kidnapping both rank 1 and 2. Huhu.

Isn’t it fascinating?

“My foot!”

I grabbed at my hair in frustration. My brain couldn’t keep up with this sudden situation.

Hey. What are you going to do? What are you going to do about this?

I wanted to grab the system by the collar, even if it was intangible. How was I supposed to clean up this mess?

“Spit them out! Spit them out right now!”

[This skill is currently locked.]

“Then unlock it!”

[Your stats are too low to unlock this skill.]

Beep beep. It’s not possible, apparently.

I was losing my mind.

Sure, there was a dungeon in front of me. That meant there was a way to access the subspace.

But would it be faster to go in and explain the situation, or faster for the rankers to take my head off? Haha.

I’d bet on the latter.

“There they are!”

“Be careful, everyone. The stats are off the charts!”

What the heck?

While I was hesitating, voices echoed from beyond the door.

“This is really the end.”

The approaching footsteps sent me into a panic. On top of everything else, now people were gathering too? This was just adding insult to injury.

I really had to make a decision.

Get caught by these people, get interrogated about Rank 2, get accused as the culprit, and end up signing some weird contract again.

Or escape to the subspace.

“…..”

It wasn’t much of a choice. The answer was obvious.

Swallowing my tears, I took a step toward the dungeon.

A few minutes ago, I was dying to get into this place. But now? I couldn’t be less thrilled.

Still, I didn’t have any other options.

Ugh, whatever. What else can I do?

Let’s just do it.

They said the start of a gate is supposed to be safe.

As long as I summoned the entrance, I’d be fine—so long as no monsters popped up the second I stepped inside.

[You have entered the “Gorilla Jungle (S)” dungeon.]

The moment I passed through the dungeon gate, information about it surfaced in my mind.

And then.

[You have encountered the “King God General Gorilla (S-rank).”]

Holy—!

✦✦✦

So far, the pressure from S-rank hunters like Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan didn’t even compare to this.

At least hunters have reason. Sadly, monsters don’t.

There was no way a creature would show mercy to an intruder in its territory.

“Uooohhh!”

A massive gorilla pounded its chest and let out a deafening roar.

It was an S-rank monster.

My ears felt like they were going to burst. My whole body shook violently. Just hearing its cry made me feel like I might faint.

I had to run. Instinct screamed at me to get out of here.

Even though I knew the system would send me to the subspace if I was in danger, I was still terrified.

With trembling legs, I managed to take a few shaky steps backward.

Boom! Bang!

It wasn’t far.

My movement seemed to agitate the gorilla further, and it began stomping wildly.

Fortunately, its intelligence must have been low because it quickly lost interest in me and focused on thrashing around.

But the destruction it caused was unimaginable.

With a deafening crash, the ground was torn apart, and nearby trees fell like dominos. The tremors were like an earthquake, turning the entire area into a wasteland.

Huffing, I quickly dove behind a nearby boulder to avoid the flying debris.

Then, without hesitation, I shouted.

“Subspace!”

[Would you like to install the entrance to the subspace in the “Gorilla Jungle (S)” dungeon?

Yes | No]

My desperate cry summoned the system window. Thankfully, it was exactly the option I needed.

I frantically tapped “Yes” multiple times.

[The entrance to the subspace has been created.]

Just a few steps away, a door materialized.

Creak. Through the slight opening, I caught a glimpse of the familiar subspace scenery.

I couldn’t be more relieved.

Finally.

I immediately moved toward the entrance. With the monstrous crashes sounding right behind me, I couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the subspace.

“Uooooh!”

The presence I felt wasn’t something an E-rank like me could perceive.

Late to notice the sound of another roar, I lifted my head and saw—

[You have encountered the “King God Young and Rich Gorilla (S-rank).”]

Dammit!

Another S-rank Monster Appears

Right in front of me.

The monster suddenly appeared and was already blocking the entrance to the subspace.

It was a gorilla monster, so massive it looked like it could be the size of 20 grown men.

The creature swung its fist. There was no way I could avoid an S-rank attack.

What’s the deal with this “Slurp” skill right now?

[*There are no records of this monster being hunted! ‘Slurp’ can only be applied to previously hunted entities.]

But that hope was futile.

Hunted entities…?

There’s a restriction? Wait a minute, then how did Baek Hwan get “Slurped”?

I had plenty of questions about the inconsistency, but this wasn’t the time to debate them.

[“Still fragile as a sunfish! A little scratch, and you might die?”

: Danger detected. Initiating forced transfer to the subspace.]

It wasn’t exactly a skill I wanted to use while risking my life, but it activated nonetheless.

A lush meadow. Towering trees.

When I carefully opened my eyes, a familiar landscape came into view.

I had made it inside. Back to the subspace.

Huff, huff! I collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

Ugh, I seriously hate this. Experiences like these are the worst.

Even though I’d managed to enter the subspace unharmed, the image of the monster’s attack inches away from my face was still vivid in my mind. I could’ve died.

I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down as I slowly lifted my head.

I glanced around. I needed to assess the situation.

There were traces of slimes being “slurped” all over the place. Pink liquid dripped everywhere.

It looked like the boiling slimes had been dragged here as they were. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any living slimes around.

And the fact that their remains were here meant that Baek Hwan, who was also “slurped” by the same skill, must be here too.

But…

So, where is everyone?

Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan met, didn’t they?

It was something I’d confirmed after completing my contract with Baek Hwan. The two should definitely be together.

“Map.”

I opened the subspace map.

[Intermediate Map