Ascension Through Skills

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: The 6th floor is no big deal. It's just an easy floor, so you should pass through it.]

[Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: ......That doesn't seem like good news for us.]

[Kang Junhyeok [Solo]: Doesn't it just mean we're always at risk of dying, as usual?]

[Rune of Strength]

[It increases your strength.]

A simple explanation. It was exactly as stated. It immediately increased your power.

It was a significant item even on the higher floors as there were no conditions or restrictions to increase the stat. Although it was a little less meaningful because it was still early on, it was much better than mediocre equipment.

[Used the Rune of Strength.]

[Strength + 10]

Strength increased by 10. It was a high figure. More than enough as a reward from the boss.

And, after a long time, he finally reached the title he obtained.

[Title: Recognized One]

[The gods have recognized your fighting spirit and strength.]

[The gods are fond of you.]

[Mana + 2]

There was a small increase in Mana too. Considering that the gods showed certain favoritism to those they were fond of, it was a title with some beauty.

And one more.

[Title: Rising Hero]

[You have made significant achievements in the labyrinth.]

[Power + 2]

[Agility + 2]

[Intelligence + 2]

The title was obtained upon clearing the 5th floor. The effect was an increase in all stats by +2. It’s a basic title that everyone received, but it was not without value. Just by simple calculation, there was a stat increase of 6.

And the secret clear reward.

[You have used ???]

[You have obtained the Robe of Shadows.]

“Huh?”

Shadows.

That word rang a bell. With a curious expression, Taesan checked the information.

[Robe of Shadows]

[Equipment possessed by a despicable thief. It can barely sustain his worthless life.]

[Becomes invisible for 1 second.]

[Can only be used once per hour.]

“A real stealth robe, indeed.”

Invisible for 1 second. One’s location cannot be tracked unless detected by a skill or innate senses.

“Isn’t it great?”

A 1-second limit. And there was a one-hour cooldown, but its value didn’t diminish.

After all, a stealth robe was not something easily obtained even after passing the middle floors.

Invisibility. The value of that word was immense.

Whistling, Taesan put on the black robe.

“Are we about done?”

There were so many rewards that it was almost overwhelming. It seemed like everything that needed to be checked had been checked.

And now, it was time to switch weapons.

He swapped the Brilliant Sword for his shield. Defense decreased by 5, but Attack increased by 4.

Although there may be some problems with defense without a shield, there was no need for an additional 5 defense points with his current stats.

His choice was to rather increase attack power to finish off enemies quickly. The ghost seemed to welcome this decision.

[Dual swords? That's good. My swordsmanship is also in that direction.]

“Then, why don’t you teach me quickly?”

[You can't do it now. With your stats, you'll probably die using it.]

“…Is that even swordsmanship?”

Even though his strength was nearing 150, he couldn’t understand how using swordsmanship could lead to death. The ghost chuckled.

[It's a swordsmanship that the Empire created, and I modified. It's going to be among the top even in the Labyrinth, so don't worry about it.]

He spoke with such confidence that it seemed there wouldn’t be a problem in that area. Taesan opened his status window.

[Kang Taesan]

[Level: 16]

[Shield: 32/32]

[Health: 655/655]

[Mana: 87/87]

[Strength: 146]

[Intelligence: 77]

[Agility: 105]

[Attack + 25]

[Defense + 17]

[The target is in the best condition.]

Good. Taesan nodded his head. He was definitely stronger than before. As many skills were contributing to his rapid growth, catching up to Taeyeon wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea.

Taesan descended to the 6th floor.

[Starting the 6th Floor Quest.]

[Defeat the boss of the 6th floor and pass.]

[Reward: Engraving Scroll.]

[Secret Reward: ???]

“So, the basic reward on the 6th floor is the Engraving Scroll.”

Muttering to himself, he opened the door. A waiting dwarf greeted him.

“You came quickly?”

“There was nothing much.”

The linearity had changed, and the enemies had gotten stronger. That was it. There was nothing to discover or analyze.

Hearing Taesan’s response, the dwarf chuckled.

“The fact that you say there was nothing much is unique to you. Clearing the 5th floor, you are slowly adapting. It’s time to congratulate you, but it seems like there’s no need to say that to you. Keep going diligently.”

Taesan blankly stared at the dwarf. The dwarf then spoke.

“Do you also give out quests?”

“What do you think?”

The dwarf flashed a mischievous smile.

‘Is an answer even necessary?’

The dwarf spoke as if it was not goodwill but an investment. Seeing Taesan’s expression, the dwarf clicked his tongue.

“You already know the answer. You seem smart, and there’s still a long way to go.”

The dwarf pointed at the quietly standing ghost.

“What becomes of you going deeper than that guy? That’s the question. Don’t bother yourself until then.”

The ghost had gone down to the 80th floor. The dwarf was saying that for his investment to show results, Taesan had to go further than that.

“Anything you want to buy?”

“Not really.”

Taesan looked around at the items, but there was nothing that caught his eye.

He had already prepared most of the basic equipment.

Even if he bought more here, it would only make a difference of about 1 attack power or 2 strength.

It would be equipment he’d naturally acquire as he progresses through the labyrinth, so he didn’t particularly want to buy it with his money.

“Don’t you have any of the Powder of Blessing?”

“I’m currently out. I thought it was useless, so I just bought it wholesale.”

Then there was really nothing to buy. Taesan, who had been stroking his chin, asked.

“When does good equipment start to appear?”

What the dwarf was showing now was already quite good. According to Junggeun’s words, in Hard Mode, you needed to pass the 10th floor before they sold anything similar in the shop.

However, the gear that Lee Taeyeon mentioned was on a different level. There was no equipment that could reduce the received damage by half.

The dwarf pointed down towards the labyrinth with his finger.

“You need to surpass the 10th floor, at least.”

“Then, I’ll be back then.”

Such equipment would be quite expensive. Since there was no particular place to spend money, he just planned to save it. The dwarf, who seemed to understand Taesan’s thoughts, waved his hand.

“You are indeed smart. Farewell.”

Taesan had arrived at the real start of the labyrinth’s floors.

There was a sticky swamp beneath his feet.

‘Just like the stories.’

The 6th floor. This was the floor where lizardmen appeared. Their individual strength wasn’t much different from orcs.

However, small swamps were spread throughout the entire floor, hindering movement.

Lizardmen, unaffected by the swamps, were considerably difficult to handle, according to Lee Taeyeon.

Of course, that was irrelevant to Taesan.

He took out his staff.

[You have activated Fireball.]

The flame collided with the swamp.

[Kiiii!]

The swamp howled. It moved roughly as if it was alive and then gradually quieted down.

[You have defeated the swamp.]

[The proficiency of your Detection has increased by 4%.]

In this way, the swamp covering the floor of the labyrinth was classified as a life form. It was immune to physical damage but took heavy damage from fire. With one fire staff, he could easily eliminate it.

[You really know everything. How did you even know this?]

The ghost mumbled in an incredulous voice. Taesan moved to another room.

It wasn’t long before he found a lizardman.

“Kaak!”

If you were to turn a lizard into a human, it would look exactly like this. The green monster thrust its trident.

Lizardman. A monster on par with orcs. In Easy Mode, it was a monster you could barely deal with if you went down to the lower levels.

Taesan stretched out his hand indifferently.

With a thud.

The quickly thrown spear was lightly caught. The lizardman’s pupils dilated.

“Kuk, Kaak!”

It tried to pull the spear away, grunting, but it wouldn’t budge as if stuck in a wall. Taesan kicked at the lizardman from this position.

[You dealt 20 damage to the Lizardman.]

“Kaaaak!”

The lizardman fell with a scream. He trod on it lightly. After a few stomps, the lizardman disappeared.

“Kaaaa……

[You have defeated the Lizardman.]

[It's as easy as expected.]

“There’s no need to struggle against a regular monster that has nothing.”

He had gone through numerous trials of gods and secret rooms. His current stats could let him run nonstop until the 10th floor.

It didn’t make sense to struggle against just a single lizardman.

[Your Soul Ascension has been activated. Your Agility permanently increases by 1.]

Soul Ascension. Always a welcome boost. And there was one more thing to check. Taesan checked his Mana increase.

[Mana: 88/88]

Evidence of Victory. Each time you killed an enemy, a designated stat increased.

His Mana had increased by 1.

“Is it one per kill? Not bad.”

Usually, there were about ten to twenty monsters per floor. It meant that each time he cleared a floor, his Mana would naturally increase by 20.

The ghost spoke uneasily.

[You casually say it's not bad. In my opinion, it's a really crazy skill.]

Each time he passed a floor, a designated stat would increase by ten, twenty. It was a skill no one else could have.

However, Taesan had quite a few similar skills. Soul Ascension. Desire for Victory. Evidence of Struggle, and so on. Their value had to decrease relatively.

Taesan continued running through the labyrinth.

[Your level has increased.]

His level increased as he got about to the halfway point through the labyrinth. He was also able to gain a new skill.

[Special Constant Activation Skill: Forced Action]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[You can somewhat ignore situations that impair your actions and movement.]

In fact, it didn’t matter to Taesan whether he erased the swamp or not. So he didn’t erase it and acted to gain an additional skill.

Forced Action.

If the proficiency reached 100%, it would be a good skill that allowed him to move without any restrictions, even underwater.

The increase in stats was quite high, along with the Soul Ascension.

The ghost spoke as if it was sleepy.

[It's boring.]

“It sure is easy.”

There was not a single crisis. There were situations where three Lizardmen appeared at the same time, but he easily wiped them out.

Trial of the Gods and the Secret Room. And the Named.

The difference was enormous. It became slowly but surely apparent.

“What would have happened if I hadn’t received the Gods’ Trials?”

[You would have been much weaker. You wouldn't have been able to pass this easily, right?]

That was exactly it. In Solo Mode, there were gods. They bestowed trials and gave suitable rewards to those who passed.

These significant rewards created a large difference between those who cleared the trials and those who did not.

The same went for the ghost. An NPC and a named monster. Since Lee Taeyeon said she had not seen them, it meant that if one only pursued absolute safety, one might not even be aware of their existence.

Gods and NPCs. And the Named.

Three realizations.

The gap could have been greater than the difference between Hard and Solo Mode.

“It’s challenging.”

If there was a problem, it was that even if you told people about this, there was nothing they could do.

As gods were capricious beings, they did not give trials considering the strength of those who came to the altar.

In the end, the others would have no choice but to ignore gods and the Named as much as possible while proceeding.

But was that really the right approach?

Lee Taeyeon did clear Solo Mode, but even she wasn’t sure if she could do it again. It was half-required for a safe clear.

He planned to look for it as he descended.

What kinds of gods were there?

If there truly were kind NPCs.

Taesan roamed the labyrinth. He encountered Lizardmen, killed them, and roamed again.

His current Defense was 35.

There was a skill to be gained. But before the skill, there was something else he had to find.

He soon found the Secret Room.

“It’s right out in the open.”

The Secret Room was perfectly hidden, but right in front of Taesan was now a brick half-protruding alone.

When Taesan pressed the brick, a passage appeared with a clunking sound.

[The monsters can't find it like that. You know that well because you've lived for a long time.]

Taesan entered the passage. Inside, there was a small room. A table and numerous magical tools were scattered on the floor.

“Oh. You’re here already?”

Tousled blue hair was visible. Lilis smiled broadly and waved her hand.

“Yahoo! Hi!”