Ascension Through Skills

“Ohh.”

A delighted glow spread across Taesan’s face. The reward for the first level was a random stat increase potion. This was a reward that was only given after finishing the tenth level in Easy Mode.

‘It’s indeed on a different level.’

The system window didn’t stop.

[As soon as you set foot in the maze, whether it is courage or recklessness, those who know the dangers of the abyss will praise you.]

Another advantage of the Solo Mode. It was solely for single players. You were unable to meet other Solo Mode players.

This meant that he could get all the initial rewards. Considering the benefits, it was a significant advantage.

[You received the title ［Pioneer]]

Taesan quickly checked the effect.

“Title verification.”

[Title: Pioneer] [NPCs feel favorably towards you.]

Taesan’s face cooled.

This was because Lee Taeyeon had told him that the NPCs of the maze were hostile toward players. She always said they disliked her, and there were even some who occasionally tried to kill her.

She thought that the concept of favor was meaningless. She also received the Pioneer title, but she judged it as just an achievement that was given to anyone.

All of the verifications were now done. All that was left was to break through the maze.

He walked through the brick passage.

As Taesan walked the corridor, he recalled Lee Taeyeon’s words again.

It was impossible to break through to the 100th floor in a condition where you have nothing. Naturally, the labyrinth provided a minimum level of preparation.

One of which was the shopkeeper.

[Taesan. There was a shopkeeper in Easy Mode, too, wasn't there?] [Of course. Is there any difficulty level without one?] [What kind of merchant was he?] [What does it matter? He was just a simple merchant.]

The shopkeeper would appear at the entrance of each floor, selling only a limited number of items.

Generally, he didn’t sell anything too extraordinary. Just potions to buy and throw away. That was how he operated.

[But Solo Mode is different. He sold a lot of things. Look at this.]

She showed him a piece of equipment.

[Are you bragging?]

It was a wrist protector made of dark light. It was one of the most powerful items she possessed, reducing all incoming damage by 50%.

[I bought this from the shop.] [...They sell stuff like this?] [There was much more than this, but I couldn't buy them because I was short on gold. If I could buy everything in the shop, I could be even stronger, don't you think?]

She had said it with confidence,

Taesan just listened with an annoyed face. After all, he was a player of Easy Mode.

‘But not anymore.’

He could go to the shop she talked about.

Finally, the passage showed its end. Taesan flung open the door.

“What? You’re already here?”

There was a dwarf in the room.

He had a long, white beard and a typically dwarf-like and grumpy face.

At least he didn’t look like a monster.

[You have encountered the Lost King.]

Taesan looked at the dwarf carefully. This was the shopkeeper of Solo Mode that Lee Taeyeon kept talking about.

“Hello?”

“Hello?”

The dwarf gave a forced laugh.

“You’ve got a good mentality.”

The dwarf knew where Taesan came from and how he got here.

The dwarf opened his mouth.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Taesan. Who are you?”

“The shopkeeper.”

“But there are no items?”

In a room about the size of a small apartment, there was only the dwarf. The dwarf chuckled.

“Kid. If I were to lay out all my items, even the entire first floor wouldn’t be enough.”

The dwarf took out a pipe and lit it.

“And I have no intention of showing my children to you.”

“Huh?”

A shopkeeper who didn’t sell items. Taesan chuckled.

“So why are you here?”

“Do you think I want to be here? I had to abandon my kingdom because of those crazy things, and I’m struggling in this crazy place.”

The dwarf puffed his pipe nervously.

“Anyway, I don’t want to show my children to those who don’t understand their worth.”

“I see.”

Taesan wasn’t surprised since this was as Taeyeon had described.

[But that insane shopkeeper was so foul-tempered? He didn't sell anything at first, and I almost died, you know? After that, he always ticked me off and ignored me. Ah, it makes me mad.]

She had trembled as she said this as if she was truly irritated. According to her, that dwarf only opened his shop after certain conditions were met.

“If you show me what kind of guy you are, the story might change.”

The dwarf lifted his pipe. At the end of the room, there was another passage.

“Go and come back alive. Then, I’ll show you my items.”

Survival.

That was the dwarf’s condition. It was also a poignant statement about the difficulty of the labyrinth. Taesan asked calmly.

“Is that all I need to do?”

The dwarf was taken aback by his too-calm demeanor.

“Is that all?”

“So what should I do? Will you show it to me if I clear the labyrinth?”

“….No, it’s not that.”

The dwarf shook his head in surprise.

“You’re a strange one.”

“Can I go now?”

“Yes, do as you please.”

Taesan strode towards the passage. The dwarf watched his back with a strange gaze.

“Is such a thing even possible?”

He looked as if he could not feel fear itself. The dwarf took another puff of his pipe.

“I guess it doesn’t matter since he won’t be able to return anyway.”

The difficulty of the labyrinth wasn’t set with solo play in mind.

Even if he were to return, he’d likely be overwhelmed with fear. He would return with a face consumed by terror.

Those kinds of people were worthless to him. It would be enough to just throw a few useless items at them.

Whatever happened, it would be convenient for the dwarf. He lit his pipe again with a sullen face.

Taesan crossed the passage and arrived in another room.

‘Passage, then a room. The structure of the first floor is the same as in Easy Mode.’

After assessing the structure, he surveyed the room. The labyrinth, made of moss-covered bricks, looked safe enough without any apparent threats on its surface.

‘That can’t be right.’

Taesan gripped his sword. A wailing sound could be heard.

This place was in Solo Mode. The monsters that appeared from the start were at the level of bosses in other modes.

“Squeak. Squeak.”

Soon, a huge rat revealed itself.

[A Big Rat has appeared.]

“Big Rat?”

Taesan let out a hollow laugh. He was familiar with this monster.

Its defense was pitiful but it moved at a speed difficult to track with the eye. This monster, which caused many players to vent their frustrations, served as the boss of the fifth floor in Easy Mode.

Yet, here it was, a common monster on the first floor. Once again, the stark difference between the two difficulties was engraved in his mind.

‘What should I do?’

First, analyze. It was a monster he had faced decades ago, so his memories were vague. Taesan eyed the Big Rat.

“It’s as disgustingly big as I remember.”

It was the size of a cat. It was comparable to the world’s largest rodent that lived in tropical regions, a capybara.

It resembled a rat.

However, it didn’t look as cute as a capybara.

Its black, bristly fur and those grotesquely protruding incisors were striking.

“Squeak!”

After briefly examining Taesan, the Big Rat charged at him.

The Big Rat was fast. In the blink of an eye, it was at his ankle.

A sharp pain was felt at his ankle.

[You have taken 10 damage.]

Taesan swiftly swung his sword. However, the sword only ended up striking the floor.

“Squeak. Squeak.”

Before he knew it, the Big Rat had run far away. Taesan let out a hollow laugh.

“It’s indeed fast.”

It moved so quickly that even keeping up with it was a challenge. A speed many times faster than a cat. Its speed of running away was much faster than the speed of his arm movement.

Without increasing his stats, he couldn’t react to its speed that even left an afterimage.

In Easy Mode, he had, of course, managed to catch the Big Rat, given he had cleared the mode. However, the situation then and now was very different.

In Easy Mode, players could meet and party with each other. Naturally, they gathered together and overpowered the boss monster by using numbers.

‘We used to exhaust it by chasing it around.’

And there was also a difference in stats. Even though it was Easy Mode, by the time he cleared the fifth floor, his reaction speed had easily exceeded a normal human, so he could respond to the speed of the Big Rat.

But now, he was alone, and his stats were at the base level. Overcoming it was practically impossible.

Lee Taeyeon had run away from it.

Returning to the store in a near-death state, she had received the dwarf’s pitying gaze and took his advice.

And that was an extremely correct decision. Among the Solo Mode players who had broken through the first floor, there wasn’t a single player who had fought the Big Rat. This meant that all those who had done so were dead.

“I have a rough idea now.”

However, Taesan held the sword with a cheerful face.

He was well aware of the difficulty of Solo Mode. If he wasn’t confident, he wouldn’t have come here in the first place.

The reward principle of the maze was simple.

Achieve what others could not.

If you accomplished a feat that everyone would recognize, your reward would match that feat.

Taesan’s goal was to become stronger than anyone else here. There was no reason to run from the Big Rat.

And it wasn’t something he couldn’t catch.

He calmed his heart.

He didn’t waver.

He had seen countless people who died in confusion, even though they could have cleared the game. Serenity was the greatest thing of value in the maze.

[Your mind becomes deeply calm.]

In his quiet mind, Taesan calmly recalled the information about the Big Rat.

It was the size of a cat. Not very big.

Its jumping power was not very high. It couldn’t reach to bite a person’s neck.

Then, there was only one place it could aim for.

“Squeak!”

[You have taken 9 damage.]

The Big Rat bit his ankle. Taesan quickly stabbed with his sword, but it only sliced the air again.

Taesan grimaced and focused once more.

The Big Rat that had been watching him charged again.

Taesan slashed his sword down.

It was much faster than before.

Clang!

But the sword was still only hitting the ground.

[You have taken 8 damage.]

‘I thought it might work, but it didn’t.’

Even knowing that it was coming and focusing all of his senses, there was a difference in reaction of more than 0.3 seconds. Responding by using sight was impossible.

The Big Rat charged again.

This time, Taesan didn’t even swing his sword.

[You have taken 10 damage.]

His health was gradually decreasing. But there was no wavering in Taesan’s face.

“Status window.”

[Kang Taesan] [Level: 1] [HP: 63/100] [Mana: 10/10] [Strength: 10] [Intelligence: 10] [Agility: 10] [Attack + 1] [Defense + 2] [The target is in the best condition.]

He had plenty of health. There was also no sign of other monsters intervening.

A single attack caused about 8 to 10 points of damage.

It was quite simple.

He just needed to succeed within six attempts.

‘It’s spacious.’

Getting hit only once and dying was infinitely more merciful than what he had gone through before.

In the meantime, the Big Rat continued to attack his ankle. Damage was inflicted again.

‘It’s always aiming for the ankle.’

Because of the basic size difference, the Big Rat couldn’t target anywhere else.

But the problem was that he couldn’t react fast enough.

Human reflexes could not react to a speed that left afterimages.

‘Give up on this side.’

With a clear conclusion in mind, Taesan’s eyes calmed.

His unwavering, serene gaze turned towards the Big Rat. The Big Rat flinched momentarily.

The Big Rat’s instinct warned it of danger. It was certain that the creature, which had been foolishly hit up to now, would bring about a different outcome this time.

“Squeak!”

However, the Big Rat’s shallow intellect denied its instinct.

This creature was weak. It couldn’t react to my movements. The moment the Big Rat kicked the ground to bite…

Thud!

The sword struck the ground.

“Squeak!”

The Big Rat momentarily stopped its charge, startled.

Did it see that it was going to charge? No, it didn’t. It couldn’t react to the rat’s movements.

The Big Rat, which had drawn this conclusion, charged again, but it was the same this time.

Thud!

“Squeak!”

The moment the Big Rat tensed its body, the sword hit the ground. The Big Rat was momentarily intimidated and stopped moving.

“Squeak, squeak.”

The Big Rat couldn’t understand the situation. With its tiny brain, it seemed like Taesan was suddenly reacting to its movements.

[The Big Rat is thrown off balance. The Big Rat's movement slows down.]

Taesan smiled slightly.

“This is working.”