1st Floor, Secret Room (9) Taesan returned to the entrance and took a step.
Swoosh!
An arrow flew at him. Taesan caught it with ease and came to a conclusion. The arrows are continuously replenished.
“Good.”
Taesan strode forward without hesitation. Two more arrows flew at him. He caught them and placed them in his Inventory.
Then, he took a step back. He caught the arrows that flew at him just the same and put them in his Inventory. And another step forward.
Two arrows flew, and he caught them. He put them in his Inventory again. The number of arrows he had was seven.
A very small number. But buying arrows was too expensive. At 10 Gold each, buying just fifty would cost 500 Gold.
So he would just get some here.
“About a hundred should be enough,” Taesan muttered as he caught the flying arrows.
As he continued this repetition, different kinds of arrows appeared now and then.
[Poison Arrow] [Attack Power + 2] [Attempts to inflict a poison Judgment on the target. Can fail depending on Level and Stats.]
[Paralysis Arrow] [Attack Power + 2] [Puts the target in a paralyzed state. Can fail depending on Level and Stats.]
“All sorts of things are flying at me.”
He quickly put them into his Inventory. Both were arrows you couldn't get because they were unavailable. After about thirty minutes, he had managed to gather a hundred arrows.
Taesan organized his Inventory. Eighty regular arrows. Ten poison arrows.
Ten paralysis arrows. The same Item could be stacked up to twenty times, and the Inventory had a total of twenty slots. He had used six slots.
It was a satisfying result. This much would be usable until the next floor.
“Quite a haul.”
It was a sort of loophole. The Labyrinth was designed so that the arrows from the Trap would break the moment they hit something, to prevent people from taking them.
It was a fairly reasonable method, since no Player on the First Floor would be able to catch the arrows, and once they passed the First Floor, they would have no reason to come to a place like this and waste their time.
But Taesan's Agility was 25. It was a Stat that couldn't be achieved on the First Floor, even in Alone Mode. It had already reached nearly a quarter of his previous self. Catching one or two arrows was nothing.
Thanks to this, he was able to gather a nice haul.
‘Now then.’
Taesan took a short breath. It was time to break through the Arrow Trap. If he only intended to break through, it was very simple.
Taesan had the Tower Shield, so he could just hold that and charge forward. But his goal wasn't simply to get the Reward. He had to squeeze out more from the process.
Thud.
Taesan kicked off the ground. He had no intention of going slowly, one step at a time. In an instant, he stepped on the floor in the middle of the passage.
P-p-p-pik!
The sound of arrows cutting through the air rang out. Five arrows flew toward him. He tilted his head back to dodge the arrow aimed at it.
He kicked away the one aimed for his leg. He caught one arrow in each hand. The last arrow aimed for Taesan's stomach.
Taesan swung the hand holding an arrow and struck it. With a ting, the arrow hit the wall. He leaped again.
The floor tile was pressed, and nine arrows flew out simultaneously. Hearing the sharp sound of them piercing the air, Taesan took a deep breath.
[You have activated No Breath Attack. For the next 10 seconds, you are free from the need to breathe.]
His breathing would not hinder his movements. His movements were maximized.
[The Proficiency for Vision Expansion has increased by 2%.]
He checked everything he could see. His vision, which should have narrowed during combat, was wide. Three in front.
Two on the left. Three on the right. One at his feet.
It was difficult to dodge them all.
[The Proficiency for Insight has increased by 2%.]
[The Proficiency for Composure has increased by 1%.]
But his heart did not waver.
[You have heightened your senses in a crisis. You have obtained the Special Passive Skill [Sense Enhancement].]
His senses sharpened. Even without looking, he could feel where the arrows were coming from. The arrows did not fly all at once.
There was a slight delay. First, he would dodge the closest one. He tilted his head back.
An arrow grazed past his hair.
Eight left.
He moved his leg to strike an arrow away. He caught one arrow in each hand.
Five left.
One on the left. Three in front. One on the right.
All of them were arrows aimed at his chest. Since they were flying from different trajectories, blocking them all perfectly was impossible. So, he would ignore what he could.
The arrow on the right was the fastest.
[You have activated Deflection. The next attack will be deflected.]
The arrow flying from the right twisted in front of Taesan's waist and moved away.
“Keuk!”
The arrow from the right grazed his skin but did not pierce it.
[You took 8 damage.]
He took damage, but it was a number he could endure. Moreover, by ignoring the arrow on the right, he gained more room to move. He caught and knocked away the arrows in front.
Since their trajectories overlapped, he dealt with them all at once. Immediately, he slammed down on the arrow from the left as well. The arrow crashed into the floor and broke.
Tatak.
And the final one. Taesan stepped on the floor.
P-ping.
Taesan's eyes wavered. Fifteen arrows flew at him.
‘Crazy.’
The number of arrows corresponded to the number of bricks on the floor. So he had expected ten for the last part, but five were suddenly added. Taesan clicked his tongue and quickly moved his arms.
[You have activated No Breath Attack. For the next 10 seconds, you are free from the need to breathe.]
Fortunately, since there were many arrows, most of their trajectories overlapped. With his left arm, he caught an arrow flying from the left and threw it. It collided with two other arrows, sending them flying in strange directions.
He tilted his head to the left to dodge one arrow, then immediately turned it to the right. Two arrows that flew with a slight delay hit the wall far away. The arrows on the right had perfectly overlapping trajectories.
Meaning, he could knock them all away with a single movement. He swung his right arm and knocked down three arrows. He moved his feet and stomped on two arrows.
Even after all that, five remained. But he had no room to block them. The arrows were already upon him.
Then, he might as well not block. Taesan pulled his arm back. The arrows pierced his arm.
"Ugh!"
Taesan let out a groan. The sensation of the sharp arrows digging in was extremely unpleasant. Five damage windows showing around 16 appeared, along with a System Window.
[You have become crippled.]
[You are now bleeding. Your Health will decrease continuously.]
“Damn it.”
Blood flowed down his arm. The pain, as if the arrow had pierced to the bone, shot through his brain.
“It hurts like hell.”
If he hadn't experienced this a few times in the past, he would be rolling on the floor right now.
[You have experienced terrible pain. You have obtained the Special Passive Skill [Pain Reduction].]
He obtained the Skill, and the pain lessened slightly, but there wasn't a big difference. There were skills that became useful only after their Proficiency increased, and skills that didn't, and Pain Reduction was the former. Still, it wasn't bad.
He broke off the shafts of the arrows while covered in a cold sweat.
[Health: 54/140] He had enough Health to spare.
He had already figured out it wasn't enough damage to kill him, so he could take the hit without worry. Once he reached the Fountain of Life, he could recover completely, so he just had to move slowly. There was something to be gained even from the crippled and bleeding states.
‘If I had dodged them all, I was planning to get hit on purpose on the way back, but that's not necessary now.’
Taesan pulled the lever next to the Treasure Chest. The sound of something breaking rang out from within the wall. The arrows would not fire anymore.
And it was time for the Reward. With a pounding heart, Taesan opened the Treasure Chest. Inside was a red Magic Staff.
Taesan was so surprised he even forgot the pain.
“A Magic Staff is already out?”
Healing, summoning water, creating flames, obscuring vision, or mesmerizing. It was a Magic Staff that could cast spells, possessing all sorts of powers. It was a precious Item that would make conquering the Labyrinth much easier just by having one.
And it was an Item that barely appeared even after passing the 20th Floor in Easy Mode. In Hard Mode, you had to pass at least the 10th Floor. For it to appear on the First Floor, even if it was Alone Mode...
It was hard to believe.
“Don't tell me it's a blunt weapon shaped like a staff?”
Taesan checked the Magic Staff, half in doubt.
[Staff of Flame] [A staff used by beginner magicians. Can use the basic magic [Fireball].]
“... It's real.”
And it was a Staff of Flame, which was much more valuable than other magic in the early stages.
‘Is this the average for Alone Mode?’
Lee Tae-yeon had barely cleared any Secret Rooms, so he had no point of comparison. If this was the average, things would be much smoother from now on. But it wasn't a Reward without a price.
He was only able to block the fifteen arrows at the end because he had obtained so much; a normal person would have died helplessly. There probably were others who found this place in his previous life, but it remained unknown because they likely died, unable to clear it. Taesan took the Magic Staff and turned around.
It was time to return to the fountain.
“Kiek! Kiek!”
On his way back, a Big Rat appeared and attacked him. He couldn't use one arm, but with his Stats, it wasn't a problem. However, Taesan didn't kill it right away and continued the fight.
Around the time the Big Rat was about to collapse from exhaustion, a System Window appeared.
[Despite being crippled for a long time, you had no problem taking action. You have obtained the Special Active Skill [Unbreakable Will].]
“Good.”
A Skill obtained by fighting for a long time while crippled. He got the Skill he wanted. Taesan stomped on the Big Rat.
“Kieek!”
[You have triumphed against the Big Rat.]
He dismissed the windows that popped up one after another. Since he couldn't Level Up and Soul Rank Ascension wasn't working anymore, there was no reason to check each one.
[You have reached Optimal Condition.]
After returning to the Fountain of Life, Taesan restored his Health and checked the Skills he had obtained.
[Special Passive Skill: Pain Reduction] [Proficiency: 1%] [You become slightly numb to pain. However, your senses do not dull.]
[Special Passive Skill: Sense Enhancement] [Proficiency: 1%] [Your senses are enhanced. For now, it seems you can only sense things like killing intent.]
Both were not bad Skills. They weren't very useful right now, but as their Proficiency rose, they would improve exponentially and become a great source of strength. Raising their Proficiency wasn't difficult either, as they were Skills that would naturally increase just by fighting and clearing the Labyrinth.
[Special Active Skill: Unbreakable Will] [Mana Cost: 1] [Proficiency: 1%] [All kinds of wounds and injuries cannot stop your fighting spirit. You can ignore injuries and fight for 10 seconds during combat.]
It was a lesser version of the Skill Unstoppable Power, which ignores all status abnormalities. Being able to ignore injuries, even temporarily, was a very useful Skill. And the Skill from the Staff of Flame.
Fireball.
[Basic Magic: Fireball] [Mana Cost: 3] [Proficiency: 1%] [Fires a fireball. Enemies without immunity will receive greater damage. Attempts to inflict a [Burn] status abnormality Judgment on the target.]
It was identical to the Skill he had seen before.
“This is a jackpot.”
The ways to use this were endless. Taesan put the Magic Staff into his Inventory with a happy expression.
“Is it about time to finish up?”
It seemed he had obtained everything he could from the First Floor. It was time to descend. Taesan stood up and walked through the Labyrinth.
It didn't take long to find the way to the 2nd Floor. The door itself was crimson red, as if to announce that this place was different, making it hard to miss. This was the room leading to the 2nd Floor.
And moving between floors always involved a Boss. Taesan raised his shield and opened the door. He saw a staircase leading down.
And he also saw the Monster guarding it.
“Kieeeek.”
Its basic appearance was similar to a Big Rat. Black, sharp fur. Hideously protruding teeth.
But it was bigger. A rodent about the size of a person was in the room. Its red eyes slowly turned toward him.
“So this is the First Floor Boss.”
A tricky Boss to face, one that had killed quite a few Players with its sharp claws. In Easy Mode, it was the Boss of the 10th Floor.
“Kieeeeeek!”
[A Giant Rat has appeared.]