Ascension Through Skills

[Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: Uh, um. So, you're saying, if you take off all your armor and take the hit, that damage shouldn't occur?]

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: You understood it well, didn't you?]

[Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: ...What kind of crazy talk is that? It makes less sense than Endurance, doesn't it?]

[Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: More importantly, how did you even know about such a skill? That's more surprising.]

“Karguk.”

Taesan, with his arms crossed, waited quietly. The Lizardman was utterly puzzled.

“It’s annoying.”

Without a taunt skill, he had to wait for it to attack. Taesan just stood there quietly. The ghost muttered in a confused tone.

“I did something similar before, didn’t I?”

Taesan had previously shown the way to acquire the Forced Duel skill. But the ghost’s tone still expressed its lack of understanding.

[No, but I really don't understand this. Is there a reason to take off your armor? And why do you have to take a hit in this state?]

Even the ghost, who had made it to the depths, had never heard of such a thing before.

[Is there a skill that you can get by doing all this? I've never heard of it. I mean, it makes sense for Forced Duel, but what is this?]

“Just watch quietly since there is.”

Taesan gazed at the Lizardman intently. The Lizardman, with a resolved face, firmly held its spear.

“Kak!”

Kicking off the ground, it lunged towards Taesan.

Taesan looked at the tip of the spear. The speed was fast, but he could see it all. Taesan spread his arms and tensed all the muscles in his body.

He tensed the muscles throughout his body.

He couldn’t use any skills. He had to respond with the pure movements of his body alone.

The spear touched Taesan’s arm. It started to dig into the skin.

Feeling the pain, Taesan withdrew his arm.

The Lizardman unceasingly thrust its spear even further. It bore down, aiming to cut through Taesan’s arm.

He strained his body to the limit.

He moved his body in the direction of the force.

He managed to evade all the attacks being released at a breath’s distance.

He would have been skewered if there was even a minor mistake, but there was only a small scratch on Taesan’s body. No severe damage was done.

Eventually, the damage window popped up.

[You have taken 20 damage.]

The strike that would normally inflict 50 damage in an unarmored state only inflicted 20 damage.

The Evasion skill wasn’t a skill that forcefully reduced damage. It was about whether you dodged or took a hit squarely; there was a clear difference in damage.

At the same time, a system window popped up.

[You have received only half of the damage. You have acquired the special activation skill [Robust].]

Along with Robust, the skill Taesan was hoping for also appeared.

[Your health did not decrease from the first attack. You have acquired the special constant activation skill [First Attack Absolute Nullification].]

[Huh?]

“Kak!”

As the ghost exclaimed in surprise, the Lizardman thrust its spear. Taesan looked at it impassively. This time, he didn’t make any movements to evade.

The moment the spear touched Taesan.

[Your First Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.]

The attack was nullified.

The force carried by the spear vanished. The body of the Lizardman returned to the state it was just before the thrust.

The ghost was aghast at the sight. It was as if time had been rewound.

[Wait a minute. What is this?]

“Kak, Kaak?”

The Lizardman, also bewildered, hesitated and looked at its spear. Although it had definitely thrust the spear, it had returned without causing harm. It was as if the very act of the attack was erased.

Taesan had acquired a skill.

Taesan pulled out his sword and swung it. The stunned Lizardman was cleaved and collapsed.

“Kaahaa…”

[You have defeated the spear-wielding Lizardman.]

It was his skill that he had used until the very end: Absolute Nullification of Attack.

He was able to acquire it much quicker than expected, so Taesan murmured satisfactorily.

“I should thank Lakiratas.”

[First Attack Absolute Nullification...]

Belatedly understanding the skill’s meaning, the ghost let out a hollow laugh.

[This really is a crazy skill.]

[Special Constant Activation Skill: First Attack Absolute Nullification]

[The first attack from an opponent is nullified. This skill can only be used once per combat against the same opponent.]

It was incredibly simple. There was no proficiency because there was no meaning to it, given the absolute nature of the judgment.

Absolute Nullification.

Literally, any first attack from the opponent, whatever it may be, would be completely erased.

[What kind of skill is this? Forced Duel was already hilarious, but this is even more ridiculous.]

The ghost’s voice was filled with awe. The performance of the skill indeed merited such a reaction.

Both common monsters and players often aimed to end the battle with the first attack. They didn’t hold back their skills and strength.

But this skill could erase that attack completely.

It would turn it into something that never happened.

The opponent couldn’t respond at all. It was almost like altering reality, securing a forceful advantage.

Moreover, it was not an activation skill like Flow but a constant activation skill. It was impossible to counter unless the opponent knew about the Absolute Nullification in advance.

However, the ghost was even more surprised about something else.

[How on earth do you know about a skill like this?]

Taesan answered calmly.

“Because I’ve tried it.”

Skills didn’t contain any information. No one talked about the information of higher-level skills, not even the very basic skills, like expanding vision or insight. No one in the labyrinth was willing to give away what they had obtained with great difficulty for free.

So they had to find skills on their own.

The only known fact was this: you earned a skill when you managed to mimic its effect.

For instance, when you were fighting multiple opponents but you focused on battling with only one.

For instance, when you were on the verge of death, but you managed to block countless attacks.

For instance, when you didn’t take any damage from an attack that should damage you.

In such situations, you could acquire a skill.

It was a concept of prediction. A realm of possibilities. Whether a skill could be obtained that way, nobody would know. If done wrong, it could lead to death or danger.

Usually, they stopped in the realm of imagination.

But Taesan had tried it directly.

Countless trials and errors.

Duplication. Addition. Temporal freeze. Absolute judgment.

He obtained all of them this way.

“This difficulty sure is nuts.”

Usually, you would need to pass through a paradox in order to obtain a skill with overwhelming performance.

Absolute Attack Nullification was one of them.

One had to pass through the paradox of not taking damage while taking damage.

The ghost chuckled sarcastically.

[You couldn't have gotten this without a shield, could you?]

“I would have had a tough time.”

In fact, in his previous life, he did have a hard time. If the difference in level with the opponent was too great, you couldn’t acquire the skill.

He had to figure out where that precarious line was hundreds of times, and only after thousands of trials could he barely obtain it.

So, even in this life, he thought he could only get it much later after obtaining various other skills. Still, thanks to Lakiratas, the process was significantly shortened.

A shield was not a judgment of health. When you received the first Absolute Attack Nullification skill, the judgment that your health did not decrease would pop up.

Taesan’s judgment and the correct answer was that obtaining it was not difficult as long as you had a shield.

Since he was forcing the opponent’s damage to decrease, he naturally also obtained Resilience.

[Special Activation Skill: Resilience]

[Mana Consumption: 15]

[Halve the damage of the next attack.]

Likewise, since it was a fixed judgment, there was no proficiency. The mana consumption was high, but it was a good skill that even Hard Mode players couldn’t easily obtain, as it could reduce the absolute value of the damage.

[Ha. So, that's why you did that. So are we going down now?]

“No, not yet.”

[What else is there to get?]

“This is just the first Absolute Attack Nullification.”

There was also a second Absolute Attack Nullification.

Taesan took out the Blade of Self Harm and stabbed himself.

[Blade of Self Harm used. Your shield has been restored.]

“As expected.”

Although a shield wasn’t a judgment of health when hit, it was when it was restored. The judgment was convenient in various ways.

His shield was back to 35. The ghost, who realized what Taesan was saying, nervously said,

[I get the meaning. This is really a crazy skill. But is that possible? You took 20 damage, didn't you?]

The shield was at 35. He had taken up to the limit of damage but only took 20 damage. It was impossible to block two attacks.

“That’s why I have this.”

Taesan took out the Powder of Blessing from his inventory.

[Powder of Blessing］

[Rumor has it, it's a powder that comes from the wings of a fairy. It is said to bestow a blessing on the user.］

An item that neither the ghost nor the dwarf knew the effects of.

Its effect was setting a fixed probability on a minute chance.

Taesan sprinkled all three of the Powder of Blessing on himself.

And then, he went to find the next room.

There he met a Lizardman.

“Kak!”

With a roar, the Lizardman thrust his spear.

The first attack was completely nullified by the Absolute Attack Nullification.

The baffled Lizardman thrust his spear again.

This was the real deal from here.

Taesan moved to the limit, just like before, to dodge.

As a dotted line was drawn on Taesan’s body, a damage window popped up.

[You took 17 damage.]

[Uh?]

The ghost was surprised by the noticeably reduced damage.

[Could it be the Powder of Blessing?]

There were several judgments in an attack.

Hit judgment.

Dodge judgment.

Defense judgment.

There were several others, but these three were the basics.

Among them was a random judgment.

When damage was taken, 10% of it was completely randomly applied.

For an attack value of 30, anywhere between 27 to 33 total damage was determined purely by the system’s luck.

It was generally accepted that it couldn’t be controlled.

However, the Powder of Blessing allowed for a minute adjustment in probabilities.

It included random judgment.

If more than three were used at once,

It ensured that you took the minimum damage from said random judgment.

It was information that Taesan discovered only after more than half of the people had escaped from the labyrinth.

He dodged the second attack.

[You took 18 damage.]

[You didn't lose health from the second attack. You have acquired the constant activation skill [Second Attack Absolute Nullification].]

He acquired it. Taesan finished off the Lizardman. The ghost chuckled in disbelief.

[Really, how do you manage to obtain it in such a strange way?]

[Constant Activation Skill: Second Attack Absolute Nullification]

[It nullifies the opponent's second attack. This skill can only be used once per combat against the same opponent.]

Complete immunity up to the second attack. With this skill, he could win against any opponent of the same level. Absolute Nullification, like Endurance and Forced Combat, was a main skill.

[The skill itself is remarkable, but the way you obtained it is also fascinating. How did you figure out that the Powder of Blessing had the effect of reducing damage?]

“Countless trials and experiments.”

[Ah, yes.]

The ghost chuckled dryly.

[Yeah, you said it was your second time. That's understandable. Taking it into account, it's still amusing.]

He seemed to be getting an idea. If he had come this far, he should understand. If Taesan were that stupid, he couldn’t have made it this deep.

Since he had expected it, Taesan grinned inwardly.

‘I’ve already acquired up to the second one.’

And he was only on the 6th floor. He hadn’t used any tricks except for the shield.

In his previous world, Taesan had acquired up to Second Attack Absolute Nullification.

It was obtained after countless tricks and innumerable challenges, and even that was quite lucky.

Even if asked to do it again, he wouldn’t be able to acquire up to the second one.

But now, Taesan had a shield.