Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 23

The Second Floor (1)

TL: handCream

PR:Kasaix

Tae-san took the Big Rat’s meat out of his inventory. 

“I’ll sell the meat.”

Meat rots over time. Poison Resistance could not do anything if the food itself had gone bad. So it was better to sell it right away. Until the 10th floor, most of the enemies were creatures, so there was no reason to save their meat. The Dwarf, who checked the quality of the meat, put a price on it.

 “This is about 500 gold. Do you want to sell the skin? And since you have caught the Giant Rat, I can suggest you to sell me its teeth. But that might be a bit expensive, right?”

“I won’t sell it.” 

Monster’s skin and teeth are pretty useful. The Dwarf grinned as he realized what Tae-san was aiming for.

“Are you going to look for the Blacksmith?” 

“Yes.” 

“If you go down a little further, you’ll find them. I might die, if I go with you. But I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.”

It must have been because he cleared the first floor but Tae-san thought the trust between him and the Dwarf was a bit stronger now. 

Now the Dwarf didn’t get confused and recognized him. 

Tae-san remembered the time, when he met the Dwarf. A system window popped up.

 [You have encountered The Lost King] 

The Lost King of the Dwarves. After losing his kingdom, this king must have been dragged into the labyrinth. 

That’s all Tae-san knew about the Dwarf’s identity.

“Then what are you going to buy? Should I show you the items?”

“I’d appreciate it if you did.” 

He earned a lot of money. Roughly about 1200 gold, combining all the items he sold. 

He wasn’t here to collect money. His motive was to buy an item that would make his way down the labyrinth easier. Even a single item might save his life down the line.  

The Dwarf raised his finger as if he knew what Tae-san was thinking.

 “Let me tell you one thing. I’ll only sell what I decide to sell. I will never sell you something that you should only buy on the 4th or the 5th floor. Just because you have a lot of money, don’t think you can have the easy way out. If you have any expectations, you better forget about it now.”

“Okay.” 

The Dwarf was just like Einzhar. They will extend their help to a certain level, but never too much that Tae-san would have the benefit of having more power than he could handle and become lazy as a result. 

And that’s what Tae-san liked about them.

“Okay, this is it. Tell me if you need anything else.”

The Dwarf lined up the items and Tae-san checked them one by one.

He didn’t bother looking over at the potions. Though he couldn’t use the Fountain of Life outside the first floor, he had no reason to use potions just yet. For him it was advantageous to buy other items with his money rather than buying potions. 

Tae-san checked the section of arrows. There were tons of ordinary arrows, but what Tae-san needed was another set of arrows. Tae-san checked the arrow.  

[Paralyzing Arrow]

[Attack +2] 

[You can make your target paralyzed. But depending on the target’s level and stats, the attack may fail] 

30 of them should be enough.

The Dwarf, who was watching silently, asked. 

“Are you going to buy that?” 

“I’ll buy 30 of them.”

 “Sure, you are going to buy a lot?”

“Because I need them.”

If the information on the second floor that he had heard from Lee Tae-yeon was true, he would definitely need those. The Dwarf gave Tae-san his purchase with a satisfied smile. 

“There you go. Still, you have 300 gold left. What are you going to do with it? I can personally recommend some equipment. It would be a bit hard to enter the second floor without this equipment.”

Tae-san didn’t have an armor with him and his Additional Attack Power was only 2. Until he levelled up, he would have to rely on his heavy shield. So, Tae-san thought he would be recommended some kind of weapon or some defense item. 

And just in time, several windows appeared. Shields, Spears and Armors were among the items the Dwarf wanted to recommend Tae-san. Most of all, each item were below 300 gold.  

‘It’s such a shame.’

However, Tae-san thought, monsters drop their most precious items after they are killed. The Big Rat dropped its skin and meat, while monsters welding weapons dropped their equipments. 

And the enemies on the second floor falls into that category. They were those enemies who could weld weapons and wore armors.  So, buying these in advance would be a great loss for Tae-san. 

But still he was looking at the items and one particular item caught his eyes. It was a glove.  

[Warrior’s Gloves]

[Attack Power + 1]

[You can protect your hands a little better. You can inflict a little pain to your enemies] 

This one must be around 300.

Warrior’s gloves. If it had been before, he wouldn’t have paid mind to it. This was because gloves could only deal damage when one struck with a fist.

But now it was different. Tae-san picked up the gloves.

“I’ll take these.” 

“A fighter’s gloves? Why are you buying it? Are you going to use your fists? How so?”

“Because I can…”

The Dwarf looked at Tae-san, as if he knew what must have happened.

 “Oh, some old guy must have given you the Ahirak Weapons Technique. Right, now that I think about it. I think you and that maniac would make a great duo. Anyways, I am shocked that he gave you that skill.” 

“Do you know him?” 

“Of course, I do. How could I not? We’re rotting together here. And I don’t really like him.” 

“Why don’t you like him?”

“Who likes a God -seeking fanatic?”

The Dwarf frowned, his face was filled with disgust.

Tae-san always thought, living in the labyrinth together and acknowledging each other. The NPCs would live in harmony. But he was wrong. Rather, they were quite hostile towards one another. 

Seeing that the Dwarf didn’t show much hostility towards him who had learned a skill from the person he didn’t like. So, there shouldn’t be any bad blood between those two. But Tae-san would still have to be careful from now on. 

Unlike Einzhar and the Dwarf, there could be many NPCs who were hostile enough to kill one another.

“Do you need anything else?””

“I don’t think I have more money, so this is it.” 

“Then why wait here? Hurry up and go down. You don’t want to lose your touch now, do you?”

“I was about to go, you don’t have to say twice.” 

Tae-san passed through the store and headed to the second floor. The Dwarf waved his hand to see him off.

“See you on the next floor.”

 Thud. 

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

[This is the entrance of the labyrinth. There is no way out.]  

[This is a place where creatures that can be stabbed to death lurk around. The level of this place is not that high] 

[2nd floor quest begins]

[Conquer the 2nd floor by killing the boss and pass to the next floor] 

[Reward: Beginners Mana Increasing Potion] 

[Secret reward: ???]

‘Mana Increasing Potion?’

Just like its name, this potion can raise mana, and it was a very rare potion. So rare that it was not sold in any stores. They were just hidden within the labyrinth.  

Even back in his first life, Tae-san didn’t see a lot of them. So he had no choice but to save it.

If he were to be just a beginner, the potion would have increased his mana by 10 or so. But now that his Mana was about 15, this potion was of great value. And he would have enough mana to use the skills that consumed a lot of Mana.   

It was time for Tae-san to head down to the second floor.  

Ting. 

His notification rang. It meant someone must have texted him. Tae-san opened the community. 

[Kang Tae-san [Solo]]: What is it?] 

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: Oh, you were here?] 

As soon as Kang Tae-san texted back, many messages flowed in. 

[Ilsang[Solo]]: Sir Tae-san, you are alive!] 

[Kim Tae-jin[Solo]]: Thanks to you, we were able to arrive at the Fountain of Life, safely. Thank you so much!]

[Kim Ju-ahn[Solo]] : Um… Tae-san, I have a question] 

[Kim Soo-hyun[Solo]]: Sir Tae-san…wow, just wow.]

In an instant, words about him filled his view. Tae-san, who became overwhelmed at being suddenly put in the spotlight, roughly answered the questions.  

[Kang Jun-hyuk sent a private message to Kang Tae-san] 

Tae-san accepted it. 

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: Wow. This is no joke. I am speechless.]

[Kang Tae-san [Solo]]: What happened?] 

[Kang Jun-hyuk [Sooo]]: Oh, nothing special. Just checking if you’re alive] 

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Why don’t you worry about yourself?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk][Solo]]: Just wanted to say thank you. Really! When I was stuck there it was really creepy. It still gives me goosebumps! Again, thank you so much.] 

[Kang Tae-san [Solo]]: I just gave the path, you were the one who trusted me and followed it.] 

* * * 

Tae-san had left a few more pointers on the attacks to survive the first floor on the community. 

Back then, he just wrote the most optimized path to the Fountain of Life, and if there was anyone who followed it, they would be able to survive. 

But he didn’t expect this much.

Any person who was trapped in an unknown space and were pushed to their limit, would not believe this. A simple person with no knowledge of this place, he himself wouldn’t have believed this post. But still after reading the will to survive from the others, he challenged himself and wrote the post. He thought it was impossible, he thought they wouldn’t trust him.

However, contrary to Tae-san’s expectations, most of the players from the Solo Mode followed his instructions.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: I don’t mean to ask but seriously did you just trusted the post and gave it a shot?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: Well, it can’t be helped, with all the limitations. I just wanted to grab my chance at least.]

Listening to Kang Jun-hyuk, Tae-san understood. It was as simple as he said. 

If he didn’t enter the labyrinth, he wouldn’t get any food. And not being able to eat anything would drain his strength and eventually he would di. So, entering the place would only consume his mana and stats, so in the end he was able to endure through it. And ultimately he made it. 

But hunger was another matter.

Trapped in the disaster and starving to the limit, there were even cases where people cut off their limbs and ate them. It meant that the pain of hunger was greater than the fear of cutting themselves.