Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 17: Second Level (2)

Given that the NPCs didn’t show any particular hostility towards him after he learned the Airak Martial Art, it seemed their dislike was not that serious. However, it was best to be cautious.

Unlike Ainzhar and the dwarf, there would certainly be NPCs who were hostile enough to kill each other.

“Do you need anything else?”

“I don’t have any money. This will do for now.”

“Then hurry and go down. You don’t want to lose your nerve from hanging around unnecessarily, do you?”

“I wouldn’t, even if you didn’t say so.”

Taesan passed by the store and headed toward the second level. The dwarf waved his hand in farewell.

“See you on the next floor.”

Thud.

The door closed. At the same time, a system window appeared.

[This is a place a little bit further away from the entrance of the Labyrinth] [This is where those who die when stabbed with a knife live. The power of this place is not very strong] [Starting quest on the second floor] [Defeat the boss of the second floor and pass] [Reward: Basic Mana Increase Potion] [Secret Reward: ???]

“A Mana Increase Potion?”

It was a very valuable potion that increased mana and was not sold in stores. While roaming the labyrinth, there was no choice but to try to discover it. Even Taesan hadn’t seen more than a few of those potions.

If it was a basic potion, it would give about a 10-point increase. Since his mana was only about 15, it would be of great value. With that much of an increase, a lot of the constraints on using his skills would disappear.

As Taesan proceeded down the passageway, anticipation began to build up within him.

Ding.

An alert rang as someone was calling him. Taesan opened his Community feed.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: What's up?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Ah. You're here.]

Taesan had posted his messages for a brief moment before responses began pouring in.

[Lee Sang [Solo]: It's Mr. Taesan! You're still alive!] [Kim Taejin [Solo]: Thanks to you, we were able to reach the Fountain of Life! Thank you so much!] [Kim Junan [Solo]: Mr. Taesan! I have something to ask you!] [Kim Suhyun [Solo]: Mr. Taesan! Mr. Taesan! Oh! It's Mr. Taesan!]

Messages directed towards him quickly filled his vision. Taesan clicked his tongue and answered in a hurry.

[Kang Junhyuk has requested a whisper to Kang Taesan.]

Taesan clicked accept.

[Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Wow. This is no joke. I don't even know what to say?] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: What's going on?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Nothing much. Just checking if you're alive?] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: How about worrying about yourselves rather than me?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Well, I'm stuck here. Really, thinking about it again gives me the creeps. Thank you, bro. Everyone is grateful to you.] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: You guys followed because you trusted, so let it go.]

Taesan had left information about the first floor in the Solo Community. If they followed the most optimized route to the Fountain of Life, they had a reasonable chance of survival.

However, he did not hold out much hope after that.

Was it possible for a person, trapped in an unknown space and driven to the edge, to risk their life and take on a challenge based solely on the posts from a simple and faceless Community? Taesan thought it was impossible. Most would think that it was unbelievable and would not follow it.

However, contrary to Taesan’s assumptions, most of the Solo Mode players followed his guide.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: I'm not the one to say anything, but did you guys run here just believing in a single post?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: We had no choice. We were all desperate. You grasp at straws when you're drowning, right?]

Listening to Kang Junhyuk, their reasoning was quite simple.

If they didn’t enter the labyrinth, they couldn’t get food. Not eating didn’t mean losing health or death, as only stats and mental strength were consumed. If one was determined, they could hold on as long as they wanted.

But hunger was a different issue.

People trapped in this disaster were starving to the point of considering cutting and eating their limbs. The pain of hunger was greater than the fear and pain of amputation.

Since they couldn’t die here, they had no choice but to live with endless hunger.

Those people would become haggard husks.

If they could meet other players like in the other modes, they would have at least been able to have conversations, but even that wasn’t possible.

The village outside the labyrinth only had NPCs who gave predetermined responses. The Broken Man refused to converse altogether.

Although some interaction was possible through the Community, it was a world apart from meeting and talking directly.

There was no one to talk to.

There was nothing to eat.

It was an environment perfect for driving people insane.

In fact, many Solo players in his previous life died in droves because they gave up on survival and entered the labyrinth as if they were committing suicide.

In such a situation, Taesan made a post.

A strategy guide for the first floor.

[Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: You said you didn't expect much, but from our perspective, that post was really necessary.]

In Taesan’s post, there was information.

There was a shopkeeper inside the labyrinth, and on the first floor, rat-like monsters similar to capybaras appeared. They were ankle-targeting monsters; if you saw them and ran away, you could return to the shop. That was the information.

To the Solo Mode’s players, the labyrinth was an unknown entity. Not being able to enter it was a big reason for their fear. They were too scared because they didn’t know what would come out.

Thanks to Taesan, they obtained information.

The fear of the unknown began fading, and they started preparing to enter the labyrinth.

Among them, Lee Taeyeon attempted it first.

Following Taesan’s words, she entered the labyrinth, met the shopkeeper, and arrived at the Fountain of Life. She survived her journey through the labyrinth.

Lee Taeyeon had left many complaints in the Community. To those viewing the Community, she was a human just as fearful as they were.

And yet she had succeeded.

In other words, they could also reach a place where infinite recovery was possible. It was an extremely appealing proposition. After Lee Taeyeon’s success, many Solo players ran into the labyrinth.

Not everyone was successful. Even knowing the strategy didn’t guarantee easy progress. The Fountain of Life was quite a distance from the shop, and the likelihood of encountering a Big Rat along the way was not low.

Still, the number of people who managed to reach the Fountain of Life was incomparable to his previous world. The difference was even surprising for Taesan.

However, reaching the fountain and defeating the Big Rat were two separate issues.

Even with infinite recovery, defeating a monster that exceeded a normal human’s speed was impossible without natural talent.

Most were only satiating their hunger at the fountain while continually attempting the challenge.

Only two had succeeded in hunting.

Lee Taeyeon.

And the one currently conversing with him, Kang Junhyuk.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: What were you planning to do before my post came up?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Well, I was just planning to run into the labyrinth. I couldn't stand being hungry. I thought of defeating the monster or whatever and then eating them.]

A 17-year-old boy, not yet an adult, had already won against the Big Rat, indicating he had similar talent to Lee Taeyeon.

But he was a name Taesan had never heard before.

Perhaps in his previous world, he had immediately challenged the Big Rat and died. He was an irregular who survived by following his post.

Would the number of clearers increase if he left a strategy?

In Taesan’s view, that was not the case. Even if one managed to narrowly defeat the Big Rat, they probably wouldn’t be able to go any further. Survival rate and clear rate were two different things.

Even in his previous world, there were a few who had reached the Fountain of Life. But aside from Lee Taeyeon, no one had managed to clear the first floor.

Only Lee Taeyeon and Kang Junhyuk had a chance to clear it. Just the two of them.

‘Are they worth nurturing?’

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: What are you doing right now?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: I'm currently taking a break after hunting the Big Rat.] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: What about Lee Taeyeon?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: She's probably sleeping now?] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: Have you met the paladin yet?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Huh? Who?]

He seemed not to know. Given that Lee Taeyeon from the previous world had met Ainzhar, it would be fair to say that one would meet him at least once if they stayed at the Fountain of Life.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: An eccentric old man searching for a god will come looking for you. He's an NPC whose treatment changes based on your actions, okay? He will attack you outright but don't panic and respond properly. Then, you can get something useful.]

Although he didn’t know if the old man would give the Airak Weapon Skill, Kang Junhyuk could gain other skills. In the early stages, every skill was precious.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: Tell Lee Taeyeon when she wakes up.] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Uh……] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: What is it?]

Kang Junhyuk seemed to be considering something for a moment. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he left a message.

[Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Are you okay, hyung?] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: What do you mean?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Aren't you giving too much to me? I appreciate your help, but we are, after all, competitors trying to clear the labyrinth.]

Taesan was taken aback by the sudden remark. Junhyuk continued typing.

[Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Of course, I'm weaker than you for now, but aren't you worried that I might catch up to you if you give too much away? I, of course, have no intention of doing anything to you, but isn't it too much of a favor? You don't need to just give away what you've earned through hard work.]

Taesan laughed softly.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: So that's what you're worried about?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: It's a serious concern of mine……]

Taesan could understand Junhyuk’s point. It was natural for anyone not to want to give away what they had earned with hard work without any conditions.

However, Junhyuk was misunderstanding things.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: What competition? We are all humans from the dying Earth.]

They were not competitors. They were comrades.

There were a few opportunities to go out to the outside world before clearing the game. He’d realize then how foolish he had been. There were some fools who didn’t get the bigger picture and acted recklessly, but they all died either by monsters or by Lee Taeyeon.

And there was another misunderstanding.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: There's one reason why I'm telling you all this. It's so that you don't die in some strange place.]

Knowing the strategy and being able to implement it were two different things.

It was pure luck upon luck that Lee Taeyeon had cleared Solo Mode. She herself said she had no confidence in surviving if she entered Solo Mode again.

It was a place where even those who had cleared it once couldn’t guarantee another clear.

That was Solo Mode.

Even if Taesan told Junhyuk about the secret room, he wouldn’t be able to clear it. The chances of being skewered by the last fifteen arrows were high.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: And you think you can catch up to me just by knowing that?]

Even when he cleared Easy Mode, he was already compared to Lee Taeyeon. Junhyuk’s words felt similar to a chick saying to the owner who fed it that if they kept feeding like this, it would become stronger than the owner.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: Don't waste your time and just focus on descending.] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: True, I haven't even cleared the 1st floor yet, I am being too ambitious.] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: Good, you understand. Work hard. I'm going to descend further.] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Where are you right now?] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: 2nd floor.] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: ……Wow. I've just managed to kill a Big Rat. It's only been a week. Isn't this too fast?] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: Fast? It's just normal.]

In the middle of the conversation, he had a thought.

‘Speaking of which, isn’t it about time?’

A week had passed. It was the adaptation period for Easy and Normal Mode players. Taesan asked,

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: How is the Community these days?] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Normal, I suppose? Ah, recently, people from other modes have started to interact a bit. But... There are some people who start fights. I've ignored them for now, but I don't understand why they're doing it.]

There were those who would start disputes.

Taesan knew who they were.

‘Those ignorant ones have started to make trouble.’

Players from different modes could not see players from other modes.

They misunderstood each other’s strengths and believed their mode was the hardest.

In his previous world, Taesan had interfered, but since he was not there, they started to run amok as they wished.

He wasn’t very interested in humoring them. If they acted up, he would just have to deal with it.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: Good luck.] [Kang Junhyuk [Solo]: Yes, you too.]

Taesan turned off the whisper chat.

The structure of the 2nd floor was similar to the 1st floor. It changed every 10 floors, so there was little difference until then.

He saw mossy bricks and the brick floor. The interior of the labyrinth seemed likely to be similar.

However, Taesan knew from his previous experience that the 1st floor of Solo Mode was half a tutorial. The real start was from the 2nd floor.

A labyrinth where even the Fountain of Life couldn’t be found,

Where recovery methods were limited.

Taesan knew what would appear here.

Taesan walked down the passage, and a door came into view. Once he passed through this place, he could see the room. Taesan opened the door just slightly, enough to check the inside.

“Kieek.”

“Karuk. Karuk.”

Green monsters came into view. These creatures, with a human-like form, were small and didn’t reach past Taesan’s chest. Each held a sword and shield or a bow, and they were chattering with their protruding tusks.

“Karuk.”

“Keck, Kieek!”

When one said something, the other monsters roared with laughter. They seemed to have heard a funny joke.

[A Goblin with a bow has appeared.] [A Goblin with a short sword has appeared.] [A Goblin with a short sword has appeared.] [A Goblin with a shield has appeared.]

‘Goblins.’

Green monsters. The most common monsters that appeared everywhere in the middle and upper floors.

The monsters of the 2nd level were these goblins.