The 6th Floor, a Lowly One Who Desires Magic (1) [Kang Taesan [Alone]: The 6th floor is nothing special. It's just an easy floor, so you can just pass through.]
[Lee Tae-yeon [Alone]: ... I don't think that's good news for us.]
[Kang Jun-hyeok [Alone]: Doesn't that just mean there's a risk of dying, like always?]
[Rune of Strength] [Increases Strength.]
A simple explanation. It was just as it said. Using it immediately increased his Strength.
Since there were no conditions or restrictions on raising a Stat, it was a meaningful Item even on the Upper Floors. Its significance was slightly diminished in the early stages, but it was still far better than some trivial piece of Equipment.
[You have used the Rune of Strength.]
[Strength + 10] His Strength increased by 10. It was a high number.
It was more than enough, overflowing even, for a Boss Reward. And, for the first time in a while, he also obtained a Title.
[Title: The Acknowledged One] [The Gods have acknowledged your Fighting Spirit and strength.]
[The Gods hold you in favor.]
[Mana + 2] A little bit of Mana was attached to it as well.
Considering that the Gods showed clear favor to those they held in high regard, it was a rather meaningful Title. And one more thing.
[Title: One Who Adapts] [You have made significant achievements in the Labyrinth.]
[Strength + 2] [Agility + 2] [Intelligence + 2] It was the Title obtained upon clearing the 5th Floor.
The effect was All Stats + 2. It was a basic Title everyone received, but its value wasn't small. A simple calculation meant a total increase of 6. And the secret Clear Reward.
[You have used ???.]
[You have obtained the Robe of Shadowy Maneuvers.]
"Huh?"
Shadowy maneuvers.
He remembered that word. Taesan checked the information with a puzzled look.
[Robe of Shadowy Maneuvers] [Equipment possessed by a lowly thief. It helps him preserve his insignificant life.]
[Become stealthed for 1 second.]
[Can only be used once per hour.]
"It's a real stealth robe."
Stealth for 1 second. Unless they had a detection Skill or could read his presence with their own senses, they wouldn't be able to track his location.
"Nice."
The 1-second restriction and the one-hour cooldown didn't diminish its value. In the first place, a stealth robe wasn't something you could easily obtain, even past the Middle Floors. The state of being stealthed.
The value that word held was immense. Taesan whistled as he equipped the black robe.
"Is that about everything?"
There were so many Rewards that it was getting confusing. It seemed he had checked everything he needed to check. And now, he was thinking of changing his weapons.
He switched to the brilliantly decorated ornamental sword and shield. His Defense Power would drop by 5, but his Attack Power would rise by 4. Without a shield, his defense would suffer a little, but with his current Stats, a Defense Power of 5 was unnecessary anyway.
He judged that it was better to increase his Attack Power and finish things quickly. The Ghost also seemed to welcome it.
[Dual swords? Not bad. My Swordsmanship is of that style, too.]
"Then why don't you teach me quickly?"
[I told you I can't right now. With your stats, you'd die using it.]
"... Is that really Swordsmanship?"
A Swordsmanship that could kill you even with a Strength Stat nearing 150. It wasn't easy to understand. The Ghost scoffed.
[It's a Swordsmanship created by the Empire and refined by me. It'll rank high even in the Labyrinth, so don't you worry about that.]
Since it spoke with such confidence, there was likely no problem in that regard. Taesan opened his Status Window.
[Kang Taesan] [Level: 16] [Shield: 32/32] [Health: 655/655] [Mana: 87/87] [Strength: 146] [Intelligence: 77] [Agility: 105] [Attack Power + 25] [Defense Power + 17] [The target is in Optimal Condition.]
Good. Taesan nodded.
He was definitively stronger than before. With his growth accelerated by numerous Skills, catching up to Lee Tae-yeon wouldn't be a distant goal. Taesan descended to the 6th Floor.
[The 6th Floor Quest begins.]
[Defeat the Boss of the 6th floor and pass through.]
[Reward: Scroll of Engraving.]
[Secret Reward: ???]
"So the basic reward for the 6th Floor is a Scroll of Engraving."
He muttered as he opened the door. The Dwarf who was waiting for him greeted him.
"You're here early."
"There wasn't much to it."
The path became a straight line, and the enemies got stronger. That was all. There was nothing to search for or analyze.
At Taesan's answer, the Dwarf let out a dry laugh.
"You're probably the only one who'd say there wasn't much to it. Clearing the 5th Floor. It's a time when I should be congratulating you on adapting, but I guess there's no need to say such things to you. Keep working hard and go down."
Taesan stared at the Dwarf blankly. He opened his mouth.
"Do you give out Quests and things like that too?"
"What do you think?"
The Dwarf grinned mischievously. 'I guess an answer isn't even necessary.' The Dwarf had said it wasn't a favor, but an investment.
Seeing Taesan's expression, the Dwarf clicked his tongue.
"You already know the answer. Such a smart guy. It's still a long way off, anyway."
The Dwarf pointed at the quiet Ghost.
"Something will only happen if you go down further than that guy. Until then, don't worry about it needlessly."
The Ghost had descended to the 80th Floor. The Dwarf was saying that for his investment to pay off, Taesan had to go even further down.
"Is there anything you want to buy?"
"I'm not sure."
Taesan looked over the items, but there was nothing that caught his eye. He had already acquired most of the basic Equipment. Buying more here would only make a difference of about 1 Attack Power or 2 Strength.
He would obtain such Equipment naturally as he progressed through the Labyrinth, so he didn't feel the need to spend Gold on it.
"Do you have any Powder of Blessing?"
"Not right now. I just bought them for cheap thinking they were useless in the first place."
Then there was really nothing to buy. Taesan, stroking his chin, asked.
"When does the good Equipment start showing up?"
The things the Dwarf was showing him now were good enough. According to Jung-geun, in Hard Mode, they wouldn't be sold in the Shop until past the 10th Floor. But the kind of Equipment Lee Tae-yeon had talked about, on a different level, the kind that cut incoming Damage in half, didn't exist here.
The Dwarf pointed down toward the Labyrinth with his finger.
"First, you have to get past the 10th Floor, right?"
"Then I'll come back then."
Such Equipment would be quite expensive. Since there was nowhere else to spend his Gold, he planned to just save it. The Dwarf, sensing Taesan's thoughts, waved his hand.
"I told you he was a smart one. Take care."
Taesan arrived at the true start of the floor. Beneath his feet was a sticky swamp. 'Just like the stories.'
The 6th Floor. The floor where Lizardmen appeared. Their individual strength wasn't much different from Orcs.
But the entire floor was covered in small swamps that hindered movement. Lee Tae-yeon had said that since the Lizardmen's movements weren't restricted by the swamp, they were quite tricky. Of course, that was irrelevant to Taesan.
He took out his Magic Staff.
[You have activated Fireball.]
The flame collided with the swamp.
[Kkiiieeee!]
The swamp cried out. It moved wildly as if it were alive, then eventually grew calm.
[You have won against the swamp.]
[Proficiency for Insight has increased by 4%.]
The swamps covering the Labyrinth floor like this were treated as living beings. They were immune to physical damage but took heavy damage from fire. With a single Staff of Flame, he could easily erase them.
[You really know all sorts of things. How did you find this out?]
The Ghost muttered in a puzzled voice. Taesan moved to the next room. Before long, he was able to spot a Lizardman.
"Kaak!"
If you made a lizard look like a human, it would look just like that. The green Monster thrusted its trident.
Lizardman.
A Monster on par with an Orc. In Easy Mode, it was a Monster you could barely face only after going much further down. Taesan nonchalantly reached out his hand.
Snatch.
The swiftly thrust spear was caught lightly. The Lizardman's pupils widened.
"Kak, kaak!"
It whimpered and tried to pull the spear out, but it didn't budge, as if it were stuck in a wall. Taesan kicked it as it was.
[20 Damage dealt to the Lizardman.]
"Kaaak!"
The Lizardman collapsed with a scream. He lightly stepped on it. With a few movements of his feet, the Lizardman vanished.
"Kaaaa..."
[You have won against the Lizardman.]
[As expected, it's easy.]
"It wouldn't be right to struggle against a normal Monster with nothing special."
He had been through numerous gods' Trials and Secret Rooms. His current Stats were high enough to run nonstop until the 10th Floor. Struggling against a single Lizardman was out of the question.
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has been activated. Agility permanently increases by 1.] Soul Rank Ascension.
Always a nice little increase. And there was one more thing to check. Taesan checked his Mana increase.
[Mana: 88/88] Proof of Victory.
A designated Stat increases every time he kills an enemy. His Mana had gone up by 1. "1 per creature?
Not bad."
Usually, there were about ten to twenty Monsters per floor. This meant his Mana would automatically increase by 20 every time he cleared a floor.
[You just brush that off as 'not bad'. From my perspective, it's a truly insane Skill.]
A designated Stat increases by ten or twenty every time he passes a floor. It was a Skill that no one else had. But Taesan had quite a few similar Skills.
Soul Rank Ascension, Craving for Victory, Proof of Struggle, and so on. Their value was bound to be relatively diminished. Taesan continued to run through the Labyrinth. ♦ [Your Level has increased.]
About halfway through the Labyrinth, he leveled up. He was also able to obtain a Skill.
[Special Passive Skill: Forced Action] [Proficiency: 1%] [Allows you to slightly ignore situations that hinder your actions and move.]
In truth, it didn't matter to Taesan whether he cleared the swamp or not. So, he acted without clearing it to gain an additional Skill.
Forced Action.
Once its proficiency reached 100%, it was a good Skill that would allow him to move without any restrictions even underwater. Along with Soul Rank Ascension, the Stat increase was quite high. The Ghost spoke as if drowsy.
[This is boring.]
"It is easy."
There hadn't been a single moment of crisis. There were times when three Lizardmen appeared at once, but he dealt with them smoothly. god's Trial and the Secret Rooms. And the Named Monsters.
The difference was immense. He was beginning to understand it clearly.
"What would have happened if I hadn't received the god's Trial?"
[You would have been much weaker. You wouldn't have been able to pass through this easily.]
That was the point. Gods exist in Alone Mode. They give Trials, and to those who pass, they give fitting Rewards.
Those Rewards were not just significant; they created such a large gap that those who cleared the Trials and those who didn't could not close it. The Ghost was the same. NPCs and named Monsters.
Lee Tae-yeon said she had never seen them, which meant if one pursued only safety, they might not even know of their existence. Gods and NPCs. And Named Monsters.
Three realizations.
The gap between them could be greater than the difference between Hard and Alone Mode.
"This is difficult."
The problem was that this was a matter that couldn't be helped even if he told others about it. The Gods were whimsical beings; they didn't give Trials by considering the strength of the one who came to their Altar.
In the end, the others had no choice but to proceed while ignoring the Gods and Named Monsters as much as possible. But was that really the right way? Although Lee Tae-yeon had cleared it, she herself wasn't sure if she could clear it again.
It was almost a necessity for a safe clear. He planned to look into it as he descended. What kind of beings were the Gods?
Did kind NPCs really exist? Taesan roamed the Labyrinth. He met Lizardmen, killed them, and roamed again.
His current Defense Power was 35. There was a Skill he could obtain. But there was something he had to find before the Skill. Before long, he was able to find a Secret Room.
"It's right out in the open."
Secret Rooms were usually perfectly hidden, but in front of Taesan now was a brick sticking out halfway by itself. When Taesan pressed the brick, a rumbling sound was heard, and a passage appeared.
[Monsters can't find things like that. Since you've lived a long time, you know these things well.]
Taesan entered the passage. Inside was a small room. A table and numerous magical tools were scattered on the floor.
"Oh. You're here already?"
He could see tangled blue hair. Lilith smiled brightly and waved her hand.
"Yahoo! Hello!"