Had Lee Tae-yeon mentioned Monsters with names? He couldn't remember. It was one of two things.
Either he had forgotten, or Lee Tae-yeon had never met one. If it was the latter, it meant she had avoided them. Taesan observed the Goblins.
Atlak. Genesi.
Their basic appearance was the same as other Goblins. Wielding Longswords, they were keeping their distance from Taesan, wary. Two pairs of endlessly sunken eyes were fixed on Taesan.
From this alone, he could tell. They were much stronger than other Goblins.
“Shall we test it?”
Taesan rushed forward. The Goblins began to move. They spread out, trying to surround Taesan.
If they were going to move like that, what Taesan had to do was simple. As he ran, Taesan took out his Magic Staff.
[You have activated Fireball.]
The Fireball shot toward the Goblin called Atlak. Atlak hurriedly threw himself aside to dodge it. Because of that, the encirclement on Taesan broke, and only Genesi was left exposed.
Taesan brought his sword down. Kaaang Genesi blocked with its sword. It immediately corrected its posture and struck down with proper form.
Taesan dodged by moving to the left and thrust upward. Genesi moved its sword.
Kagagak.
The upward thrust was deflected, grinding against the blade of the sword. It wasn't just swinging wildly; this was the proper way to use a sword. Genesi swung its sword.
Taesan raised his Shield. Kaaang The Shield was pushed back. The force he felt from the clashing sword was quite strong.
[You have received 7 Damage.]
‘That’s quite something.’
Speed and strength double that of a normal Goblin. There was a reason they were called Elite Goblins. But still, he had the upper hand.
Taesan put strength into the hand holding the Shield.
Teong!
“Kik!”
Genesi was thrown back. Instead of charging, Taesan turned his body and brought his sword down. Atlak, who had been aiming for his back, hurriedly blocked.
Jjeong “Kak!”
Atlak's knees buckled. It tried to endure, clenching its teeth, but the sword slowly began to press down. Genesi shouted and charged.
“Kaak!”
Taesan tried to push it back with his Shield, but it wouldn't retreat easily. In the end, Taesan had no choice but to take a step back.
“Kareuk.”
“Kik.”
The Goblins didn't advance. Their wariness toward Taesan grew even stronger. They had changed their tactics.
Rather than aiming for Taesan's openings, they decided to cover each other's weaknesses. Atlak and Genesi charged at the same time. He blocked Atlak's attack.
Then Genesi attacked. The moment he blocked both their attacks and tried to push them back with force, they voluntarily distanced themselves. And then they charged again.
Kagagak!
The sword wavered, and the Shield moved. Fierce sword strikes were exchanged. A small look of admiration appeared on Taesan's face.
‘It’s perfect.’
Atlak and Genesi. The coordination of the two Elite Goblins was flawless. No matter how he tried to push one away to aim for the other, they would both retreat together.
If he tried to focus on one, the other would press him fiercely. The abilities of the Elite Goblins were not low. It was difficult for Taesan to face both of them at once.
He had to take one down first. So, he would accept a loss.
[You have activated No Breath Attack. For the next 12 seconds, you have freedom of breath.]
Teong!
“Kak!”
He knocked away Genesi's weapon and charged at Atlak. Genesi immediately charged to aim for his back, but he ignored it.
[You have activated Deflection. The next attack will be deflected.]
[You have received 12 Damage.]
Ignoring the pain he felt, he swung his sword wide. Atlak's arm was thrown up into the air. Taesan swung his sword toward the exposed torso.
At that moment, his senses sounded a warning.
[You have felt a strong premonition.]
A single warning. This attack will absolutely fail. Following his intuition, Taesan barely suppressed his strength.
The sword stopped in front of Atlak's head. And at the window that followed, Taesan's pupils dilated.
[Atlak has activated Deflection. The next attack will be deflected.]
“What?”
“Kik!”
Atlak swung its sword at Taesan, and Genesi behind him did the same. He was surrounded. Taesan quickly rolled on the ground.
The swords struck the floor. Having escaped the Goblins, Taesan let out a dry laugh.
“What was that?”
He hadn't seen wrong. The System Window was still there in the corner of his vision.
[Atlak has activated Deflection. The next attack will be deflected.]
The window that appeared when Players used Skills. That was now appearing for a Goblin.
“Kaak!”
The Goblins charged. Atlak aimed for the left, Genesi for the right. Taesan ran to the right.
He ignored Atlak, who had activated Deflection, and tried to aim for Genesi, but Genesi was the same.
[Genesi has activated Deflection. The next attack will be deflected.]
“Well, I'll be.”
Taesan kicked off the ground backward, creating distance. It was certain. These Goblins were using Skills.
“Kaak!”
“Ki ek!”
The Goblins charged fiercely, unlike before. Seeing them disregard their defense, Taesan realized one more thing. Deflection was a Skill that absolutely deflected an opponent's attack.
It made attacks that disregarded defense possible. The Goblins were fully aware of the effect of the Skill they used. It meant they hadn't acquired it overnight.
‘Are all the named ones like this?’
Taesan swung his sword with a grim expression.
Teong “Kak!”
Overpowered by strength, Genesi was thrown back. Taesan knocked away Atlak's weapon with his Shield. With its mind only on attacking, it couldn't deflect as smoothly as before.
It flew far away. Kicking backward, Taesan took out his Bow. Thanks to his increased Agility, he was able to shoot two arrows before the Goblins could charge again.
[6 Damage to Genesi.]
[7 Damage to Atlak.]
“Kak!”
“Ki ik!”
The arrows grazed the Goblins. With that, Deflection was used up. The Goblins hesitated for a moment.
“Kieeek.”
“Kak…”
As the Goblins hesitated to charge, Taesan nonchalantly raised his sword.
“Nothing special. Looks like you can only use the Skill once. That makes it simple.”
[You have activated Deflection. The next attack will be deflected.]
He activated Deflection just as the Goblins had and charged. The first attack was bound to be deflected. The Goblins couldn't attack recklessly and fumbled around.
In the meantime, Taesan arrived in front of Atlak.
Jjeong “Kaak!”
Taesan's sword came crashing down. Atlak blocked in a hurry, but the difference in strength was too great. Belatedly, Genesi tried to attack, but it was too late.
Its attack was deflected by Deflection, and Taesan raised his sword again. Jjeong Atlak's sword broke. He thrust his sword at the Goblin that had lost its means of defense.
[You have activated Consecutive Attack. The next attack will be used twice.]
[Atlak is in a disabled state. It will take more Damage.]
[39 Damage to Atlak.]
[40 Damage to Atlak.]
[You are victorious against Atlak.]
[Your Proof of Struggle has been activated.]
“Kaak!”
Having lost its comrade, Genesi cried out in rage. Instead of looking back, Taesan activated a Skill.
[You have activated Counter. The next opponent's attack will be countered.]
His body moved automatically. He grazed past Genesi's attack and stabbed it in the chest.
[46 Damage to Genesi.]
“Keok, keok.”
He cut the agonized Genesi a few more times.
[18 Damage to Genesi.]
[17 Damage to Genesi.]
[You are victorious against Genesi.]
[Your Proof of Struggle has ended.]
“Easy.”
Taesan cleaned them up neatly. He had said that all Players were allies. But there were always exceptions.
Those who ran wild without knowing their place. Those who tried to control others with their shallow power. Easy Mode Players who believed their narrow well was the whole world and created things like guilds.
Taesan had dealt with them before. He knew all the disadvantages of every Skill and how to exploit them. He was surprised that a Monster used a Skill, but the Skill itself wasn't scary at all.
“So the named ones use Skills?”
There was no way Elite Monsters were only Goblins.
Orcs, Skeletons.
Most named Monsters would probably use Skills.
“It won't be too difficult.”
If the two Elite Goblins had relied on their coordination instead of Skills, it would have taken him quite some time. But the opponents relied on their Skills. For him, who knew all the countermeasures, this was simpler.
Taesan checked the rewards.
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated. Strength permanently increases by 1. Agility permanently increases by 1. Intelligence permanently increases by 1.] [Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated. Strength permanently increases by 1. Agility permanently increases by 1. Intelligence permanently increases by 1.] [You have acquired 458 Gold.]
Because they were superior Monsters overall, the Soul Rank Ascension also increased his Stats overall. Taesan, who was about to glance over the familiar window, paused.
“Huh.”
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated. Proficiency for Deflection increases by 3%.]
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated. Proficiency for Deflection increases by 3%.]
The Skill's Proficiency had increased.
“Since they use Skills, does this mean I take that away too?”
Soul Rank Ascension takes away the power of the dead. Its scope wasn't limited to just Stats. It was only natural that killing an enemy who used a Skill would take away that Skill's Proficiency.
It was surprising, but good. Raising Proficiency was quite difficult, after all. Taesan checked Deflection.
[Special Active Skill: Deflection] [Mana Cost: 5] [Proficiency: 42%] [Deflects an attack to reduce Damage. It seems possible to deflect attacks from all weapons. It seems possible to deflect magic or curses as well.]
Having used it often, it had steadily increased, and thanks to Soul Rank Ascension, the Proficiency surpassed 40%, and the description changed. The added description was about deflecting magic and curses. It was very good.
There was magic that was impossible to evade. You could only deal with it using Equipment or Skills, and Deflection was the perfect Skill for it. Being able to deflect curses to reduce their effect was also satisfying enough.
Unfortunately, there was no Equipment. The armor the Goblins wore looked like it had about 4 Defense Power, which was a shame. It was a matter of probability, so there was nothing he could do about it.
“This is pretty good.”
Consecutive Attack.
A Skill he got from fighting the Servant of Rakiratas. It was his first time using it, and it was quite useful.
[Special Active Skill: Consecutive Attack] [Mana Cost: 3] [Proficiency: 1%] [Use the next attack twice. Not restricted by time or space.]
It was, so to speak, a copy. An afterimage appeared with the attack, and the Damage was dealt twice. Unlike Copy, the Skill's effect isn't copied.
After activating Addition and Multiplication, using Consecutive Attack only dealt his shabby Base Attack Power, so it was a Skill Taesan had discarded. But now, Taesan was an Alone Mode Player. His Base Attack Power would also increase, so he would have many uses for it in the future.
The Mana cost was also relatively low, at around 3. The simple check was over. Taesan arrived at the tomb with a puzzled expression.
“What is this?”
The Goblins had been guarding this place. Seeing that there were two Elites, it must have been a rather important place. Taesan recalled the System Window.
[You have discovered the Tomb of a Hero.]
[First Discovery Bonus] [Intelligence permanently increased by 1. Mana permanently increased by 2.] He hadn't noticed earlier, but he'd even received a First Discovery Bonus.
It meant it was something important, like the Fountain of Life or the Altar of Rakiratas. Taesan placed his hand on the tomb. A white mist rose up.
The mist gathered and clumped together, forming a shape. It was not a human shape.
“A Ghost?”
The image that first came to mind when people on Earth thought of ghosts. A shape like something covered in a white sheet was formed. The ghost spoke.
[Hello! Adventurer!]
The ghost scattered into mist.
[And goodbye!]
Taesan placed his hand on the tomb again. The ghost appeared.
[Hello! Adventurer! Goodbye!]
And it disappeared again. Taesan's face twitched. He placed his hand.
The ghost appeared.
[What are you doing? I told you to go?]
“Give me a Quest.”
[Ahem. This, this. You dare ask this great one for a Quest? Do you know who I am?]
“A dead hero, who else?”
He already knew the ghost's identity from the System Window. The ghost, perhaps at a loss for words, fell silent for a moment before grumbling.
[Things have gotten so convenient. How easy it is now that the system tells you everything, without you having to walk on your own two feet and risk your life to piece together information.]
“The Labyrinth didn't have a system before?”
[No. It did?]
[What a picky fellow■.]
The ghost grumbled. Taesan looked at it with a grim expression.
‘What is this now?’
None of the NPCs he had met were frivolous. Both the Dwarf and Ainzhar had a certain weight to them. But this one was endlessly light.
An NPC.
And a ghost. A dead being. It cannot interfere with the living.
Then there's only one thing.
“Are you not going to give me a Quest?”
There were things similar to ghosts in Easy Mode. There, it wasn't an NPC but a Quest given through something like a diary, but the part about it being something of the dead was similar. A Quest where you read the contents of a diary and fulfill the wish of the dead.
The ghost before him probably wasn't much different. The ghost mumbled as if puzzled.
[What a strange one. Asking for a Quest right off the bat? Isn't the 2nd Floor a section people wouldn't know much about?]