TRPM 309

chapter 309

‘What… what’s going on here?’

The first thing I did was doubt my own eyes.

I thought I must have been mistaken about the button for the 5th basement floor.

But of course, I wasn’t.

No matter how many times I looked, the button for B5 was clearly there.

‘Then… is there something wrong with my senses?’

I checked my energy sense, but there didn’t seem to be any issues.

I just couldn’t feel the presence of a 5th basement floor—everything else was perfectly clear.

‘…So then what’s the problem?’

Since Yeon Mirae had pressed the button for B5 without hesitation, the 5th basement floor definitely existed.

That would mean my senses were failing me—but they felt just fine.

The only other possibility was…

“Why do you look so serious?”

As I was lost in thought, Sophia seemed to notice and asked me.

Her words drew the attention of everyone else in the elevator.

Hmm…

“Is the 5th basement floor hidden by some kind of barrier?”

That was my guess.

The elevator had a button for it, so the floor had to exist.

But if I couldn’t detect it, then…

‘…It must be hidden somehow.’

My energy sense has a wide range, but if there’s a barrier, it could block my perception.

Normally, I’d at least sense the presence of the barrier itself, but there are other ways to hide something.

“Ah, that. Rather than me explaining, it’ll be faster for you to experience it yourself.”

Sophia smiled as she answered.

Right. Experiencing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times.

I turned my eyes to the elevator display.

‘B4…’

Before I knew it, we’d already passed the 4th basement floor.

And then, the moment the elevator arrived at B5…

“!”

I felt it.

Just a second ago, I couldn’t sense B5 at all. But now… from B4 upwards, I couldn’t sense anything. Not even the surface.

‘A dungeon? No. It doesn’t feel like passing through a gate. Not a barrier either—I didn’t feel like I passed through one.’

More importantly…

‘Can you even call this “underground”?’

According to my senses, the space that supposedly contained a swimming pool was impossibly vast.

“What is this…?”

“It’s my subspace.”

Yeon Mirae answered my muttering.

Her subspace?

“Wait… the one I gave you a long time ago?”

I also owned one—a growth-type subspace artifact.

When she said “her subspace,” that’s the only thing that came to mind.

“Yes. Even though it was small at first, it kept growing. Now it’s big enough to separate into a space like this.”

So…

“You’re saying this whole place is inside your subspace artifact?”

“Strictly speaking, not exactly—but close enough.”

It felt like my common sense was breaking apart.

For one, you normally can’t put people inside a subspace artifact.

And subspace artifacts are complete items—impossible to modify.

But those “rules” were shattered.

‘…No, wait. I already knew subspace artifacts could be modified.’

I remembered what Director Shin Hanji had told me at the Seoul Awakener Academy.

[There are lots of subspace artifacts in the world. And there’s also spatial magic. I dismantled the artifact, reshaped spatial magic, and from that I created my own version of time magic.]

Thinking about it now, I should have considered this possibility back then…

“But seriously, how did you make this?”

Yeon Mirae herself couldn’t possibly modify a subspace.

And the Iron-Blood Guild didn’t have anyone like Director Shin Hanji either.

They had capable mages, sure, but not grand mages who could freely reconfigure magic.

So I asked—and the answer came not from her, but others.

“I did.”

“I helped too!”

Sophia and Lee Ha-eun.

That made sense.

Sophia had been analyzing artifacts and registering them into the Awakener System database, so it wouldn’t be strange if she had the technology to process subspaces.

And Lee Ha-eun, while not quite on Shin Hanji’s level, was still a grand mage—enough to lend serious help.

“Arrived~.”

As we talked, the elevator doors slid open.

Beyond them lay the swimming pool—or rather, Yeon Mirae’s subspace.

“Oh…”

“Wow….”

What unfolded before us wasn’t just a pool—it was more like a full-on waterpark, filled with facilities in the distance.

Right in front of us stood what looked like an entrance booth.

“What the… are you going to charge admission for this place?”

“Maintaining the subspace is fine, but the upkeep for the facilities inside costs money.”

For now, only guild members and invited guests would be allowed in, she added.

She pulled out a blue key from behind the booth, handed it to me, then pushed me toward the men’s locker room.

“See you on the other side.”

“…”

I watched the others take red keys and head toward the women’s locker room, then stepped into mine.

Inside, a few men were already changing.

Mostly familiar faces—naturally, since everyone here was either from the Iron-Blood Guild or from my own class.

“Oh, Gunwoo! You came too?”

Lee Dumin, already changed into his swimsuit, spotted me.

“Yeah. Where are the others?”

“Ryu Amin already changed and went ahead. Jin Cheonha’s over there.”

I followed his pointing finger.

Sure enough, Jin Cheonha was standing there—still wearing hanbok.

“…He’s not changing?”

“No, that’s his swimwear.”

“…?”

But… that’s hanbok.

“Apparently it’s hanbok designed for swimming.”

That exists?

“First I’ve heard of it. Anyway, me and Cheonha are heading in first. Hurry up and change!”

With that, Lee Dumin dragged Cheonha off before he could even greet me.

Probably because he knew…

‘Ever since Cheonha started wearing hanbok again, I can’t stand talking to him. He must’ve noticed.’

Before regression, I thought he had some deep reason for clinging to Taoist arts.

But now I knew—it wasn’t complicated at all. He just thought Taoist arts looked cooler than magic.

I couldn’t look at him the same anymore.

Shaking my head, I changed into my swimsuit.

It didn’t take long.

‘Let’s see… this way should lead out, right?’

Following the passage that led deeper inside, I grew more certain.

‘This isn’t a pool. It’s a full-on waterpark…’

I thought the guild’s “swimming pool” would just be a training pool—something functional, like for competitions.

But here, there were wave pools, water slides, and attractions you’d never find in a normal swimming pool.

And the space was massive enough to fit all of it.

Now that I thought about it, Yeon Mirae had said back at her house:

[When you see our guild’s swimming pool, you’ll probably think it looks empty.]

Now I understood why.

Even though there were more people here than a normal pool could handle, in this place it still felt spacious.

‘…Yeah, I get why she said they’d need to charge admission. The maintenance costs must be huge.’

I didn’t know what they were thinking when they built something this big.

But what mattered now was that the pool was roomy enough to enjoy without feeling crowded.

—Ssshhhhh!

…Not that I had any idea how to enjoy it.

Staring at the torrent of water cascading like a waterfall didn’t feel like the right approach.

‘Where should I start…’

Despite its size, nothing really called to me.

I was just about to wander around aimlessly when—

“Hey, Gunwoo! Over here!”

It was Lee Dumin, waving from the wave pool.

Ryu Amin and Jin Cheonha were with him.

I hadn’t planned to try the wave pool, but there was no reason to ignore him.

So I headed over.

And then…

“……”

“……”

Both Ryu Amin and Jin Cheonha looked at me and Dumin’s bodies, then at their own, and sighed.

I guess they’d seen our abs through our rash guards.

‘Well, Dumin and I never slacked off on training.’

Meanwhile, Amin was a transmutation ability user, and Cheonha called himself a Taoist mage—both jobs where physical training wasn’t emphasized.

So unlike us, their stomachs weren’t very defined.

‘Is it because they’re in swimsuits now? Usually they don’t care about this sort of thing.’

Their reaction surprised me.

“What’s with you guys?”

“Nothing. Just… jealous of your physique.”

“This one realizes he should train his body more diligently.”

“Uh, yeah. Exercise is good. If you’re interested, I can even recommend the gym I go to.”

Wait, Dumin goes to a gym?

Between school, duels with Elliot, and everything else, I never thought he’d have time.

“Anyway, since we’re all here—want to try that ride together? With four of us, the timing’s perfect. And the line’s short right now.”

He pointed to a massive water slide that used a four-person tube.

…So they had something like that too.

“Sounds great.”

Cheonha seemed eager.

But—

“Ugh… that looks scary…”

Ryu Amin wasn’t.

Was it the speed of the tube? Or the way it dropped steeply from above?

Either way, it didn’t matter.

“Let’s go.”

With Dumin, Cheonha, and me all voting yes, the majority had spoken.

“Wait, seriously? That one?”

“You’ll see—it’s nothing once you’re on it. Stop whining and come on.”

Even though Amin tried to back away, Dumin wasn’t letting him escape.

Sure, the ride probably didn’t need exactly four people, but…

‘It’s always more fun to drag the scared one along.’

Thinking that, I joined the others and headed for the slide—with Amin reluctantly in tow.