Ascension Through Skills

The Final Boss (1)

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

Tae-san struck again.

[8 damage was dealt to Giant Rat] 

‘Good…’

The Giant Rat was knocked over. The heavy body tumbled on the floor making a thumping sound. Then it stopped breathing. 

“Wow!”

It wasn’t that difficult and it didn’t affect his stats too much. Even if he just had a head-to-head fight, Tae-san would easily able be to win the battle because he had already paralyzed his opponent. It was all thanks to the secret room that he could collect those paralyze arrows that increased the chance of his winning from the boss. 

A long system window appeared before his eyes.

[You have won against the Giant Rat.] 

[You have gained a lot of experience] 

[Health has been restored by 10.]

[You have obtained 153 gold.]

[You have acquired the Giant Rat’s skin.]

[You have acquired the Giant Rat’s meat.]

[You have acquired the Giant Rat’s claws]

[You have won alone against an enemy that is difficult to deafet. Agility is permanently increased by 2. Mana is permanently increased by 3.]

[Your Soul Raiser has been activated. Strength is permanently increased by 2. Agility is permanently increased by 3. ]

[Your level has increased] 

[You are in your best condition] 

[Health has increased by 15 as a reward for levelling up.] 

[As a reward for levelling up, Agility is permanently increased by 3. Strength is permanently increased by 1.] 

[You have killed the boss of the first floor. Basic reward [Random Stat Increase Potion] has been obtained.] 

[You have figured out the hidden elements of the first floor. You have received an appropriate reward [???]]

Tae-san couldn’t help but look at his long list of rewards written in the system window. 

Evidence of him becoming stronger was right there and it made him feel good 

He confirmed everything step by step.

The rewards were enough for the difficulty of the level. Agility was increased by 2 and Mana was increased by 3. In the future, he would have more and more skills to use, so the increase in mana was always a good news for him.

Not to mention the reward for levelling up was even better. Agility was increased by 3 and his Strength was also increased by 1. It was good news for him that the Strength that was difficult to increase before has risen.  

“Even though I was expecting it, this is more than what I have expected.” 

The reward was exactly according to the level of what Tae-san did to gain his experience to build his stats. If he had mainly used his Strength stat, then he would have an increase in his strength. And if he had used his Agility stat primarily, then his Agility stats would have had a drastic increase.  

It was natural that he had an overall increase. As the fight between him and the Giant Rat was purely of strength. So even if his rewards were in the single digits, the bonus in the level up was added on top of it. 

He had expected it so far, so he gladly accepted his fate. However, in the case of his Soul Raiser, the case was slightly different. 

“What is this skill exactly?”

Soul Raiser. Because of it, Agility was increased by 3 and Strength was increased by 2. No matter how hard he looked through his memory, it was a ridiculous skill. 

Simply put, this skill was incomparably good at enduring or neutralizing an attack. This skill barely comes into mind in terms of multiplication.

‘This is exactly how I should be compensated…’

Back then in Easy Mode, Tae-san killed two S-class monsters with his fellow players. Compared now, he wasn’t even compensated for what he was worth. 

Tae-san whistled and checked his status window.

[Kang Tae-san] 

[Level: 4] 

[Health: 155/155] 

[Mana: 15/15] 

[Strength: 14] 

[Intelligence: 16] 

[Agility: 30]

[Attack +2] 

[Defense +7] 

[The user is in the best condition.] 

“Ha.” 

It was an admirable attribute window. He broke through the first floor and his Agility was at 30. In Easy Mode, he had to wreck his brain on how to increase his stats. 

Tae-san, who was very happy, checked his rewards. 

[Random Stat Increase Potion]

[Increases one stat randomly.]

The effect was just as the description stated. Normally in the labyrinth, stats were hard to increase. But this item could also be used even if he was at a very high level.

Still, there was no reason for Tae-san to keep it for later. He suddenly drank the potion. 

[Strength is permanently increased by 1.]

“Yes!” 

Tae-san clenched his fist slightly. Now that the most necessary stats have increased appropriately. There was only a single reward left for him to check.

[Hidden reward: [???]] 

[You have received two Specific Stat Increase Potion]

“Oh!”

Tae-san was shocked as he read the explanation. 

[Specified Stat Increase Potion]

[Increases the specified stat by 1]

The potion worked just as it was stated. And this was a very valuable item that was difficult to obtain even after clearing the 50th floor. 

Levelling up was the basic option to increase stats. And all the other methods were either too difficult to follow or the players had to depend on their luck because of many variables. 

The increase in stats was exponential to the level up based on his experience.  

In other words, the higher the level, the easier it was to increase all stats. And the lower the level, the more difficult it was to increase the stats. 

So a player’s level and stats were always in a balance. Meaning, to increase specific stats without levelling up, this potion was the best option. 

It’s a reward that he deserved. Tae-san without much thought drank the potion. 

[You drank a potion that increases a specified stat. You must designate one stat that you wish to increase]

 “Strength.”

He commanded right away. He had no reason to increase other stats. He drank the other one to increase his Strength for a second time. 

In an instant, his strength was increased by 3. Tae-san checked his status window with a satisfied face. If he went up against the Giant Rat again with these attributes, he was sure to win with just his strength alone without using any arrows.

“It seems I learned a new skill, too.” 

Tae-san checked his status window once again. 

[Active Skill: Counter] 

[Mana Cost: 5] 

[Proficiency: 1%] 

[You can counterattack against the enemy. Damage you deal to the enemy will be greater than the damage you will take.] 

‘Counter? I got it faster than I thought.’ 

Now, if the opponent made an avoidable attack, he could activate Parry as well as Counter. The counterattack was quite powerful with two or three times the opponent’s damage on average.

This skill was on the same level as Block, but it was still better to have more options. The only problem in the usage of this skill was the consumed Mana. But Tae-san knew it was worth it.  

“Okay.” 

Tae-san closed his status window and sat down after stretching his sore muscles. 

Level-up and the rewards couldn’t do anything about the mental fatigue that built up during the fight even if he was fine physically. Before entering the second floor, Tae-san wanted to recover his brain a little. Taking his little break, Tae-san thought of the community.

“Let’s see, how is it going?” 

A few days ago, he left a message to the community about how to survive the first floor of Solo Mode. He wrote down the shortest route to the Fountain of Life.

 But the players were not likely to trust him. Imagine being trapped in an unknown space, and someone gave them the easiest route towards safety. Especially, just after a few days of being trapped? Even if the route was extremely detailed, even Tae-san himself would be suspicious of this person. 

Tae-san opened the community without much expectation. 

“Huh?” 

A confused voice jumped out his mouth. There were several messages posted on the community, and most of them were from the players of Solo Mode.  

[Park Chan-wong [Solo]]: Can someone film and post the route towards the ‘Fountain of Life’. I am too nervous to take a step.] 

[Moon Jae-sung[Solo]]: No one can help you and it doesn’t matter even if you are nervous. Each of us has a different location. So I’ll follow whatever the Store Owner suggests.] 

[Lee Tae-yeon [Solo]]: Once you arrive, you’ll be safe. So you’d better clench your teeth and run for it. If you stay here longer, it’ll be hard to move because of hunger.] 

[Kim Tae-jin[Solo]]: A life-threatening race. This is real fun. Hahaha…］ 

[Kang Jun-hyuk [Solo]]: But what is the possibility of this?]  

“Huh?” 

It was so different from the Solo Mode community he remembered. 

In the past, there was only despair in this community.

People disappeared day by day and no one discussed strategies to help one another.

After some time, no one spoke. Now whether the players were all dead or their hearts were broken because of all the deaths was unknown to him. 

Lee Tae-yeon was the only one who talked with courage.

 But now it was so different. 

[Ilsang [Solo]]: I have arrived at the Fountain of Life! Yes! Thank you for your support.] 

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: Congratulations. Be careful from now on, and hopefully you won’t die on the first floor.] 

The community was very lively. There were occasional signs of despair and fear, but they were not completely dead yet.

The hope of surviving was seen in the writings. 

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: But where is our savior. Was his name Kang Tae-san? Where did he go? I haven’t seen it since he posted this.] 

[Ilsang[Solo]]: I’ve been watching the community every day, but I’ve not seen him since then.] 

[Kang Jun-hyuk [Solo]]: Is he dead?] 

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: No way. This person cleared the initial stage towards the Fountain. I’m sure he is on his way towards the second floor.] 

“What is this?”

***

Tae-san went down along the stairs to the second floor where he saw the Dwarf was already waiting. 

“Did you kill it?” 

“Yes, that’s why I’m here.”

The Dwarf looked at Tae-san gleefully.

“You look good. You must be terrific in fights. Do you want to use the store?”

“Of course I do.”

Before entering the second floor, he had things he needed to prepare for. The Dwarf took his pipe out.

“You can buy things or sell things. By now, you should be selling things one by one, right?”  

“You know me well.”

 “I have been seeing you for a long time. So, are you going to sell or not?”

“Yes.”