Ascension Through Skills

The God of Struggle and Death (4)

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

The Dwarf’s face hardened. And then he asked in a serious tone.

“Did your ordeal suddenly get changed?”

Tae-san nodded. The Dwarf’s face was distorted.

“That crazy god still hasn’t killed his habit.”

“Was it always like that?”

“He’s been always like that with the people he likes. I don’t know how the players gets wind up in his territory. Even if they are talented players, stronger than their peers. But many have fallen through his tricks. How did you do it?”  

Wondering this, the Dwarf looked at Tae-san.

“I almost died but here I am. I must have been lucky that the pervert likes me.” 

The Dwarf seemed to be familiar with Lakiratas. So, Tae-san asked.

“Can I ask you a question? What is the Apostle’s Contract?”

“…?!”

The Dwarf was shocked.

“Did Lakiratas propose it to you?”

“Yes. However, there was no explanation. So I put it on hold for now.”

“It’s not an easy decision. Especially when it’s his contact… How long has it been?”

The Dwarf, who had been contemplating for a long time, opened his mouth with an agonized face.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t answer.”

“…I see.”

Tae-san looked at the dwarf with a curious face. He wanted to know, why couldn’t he answer the question. It felt like he was just making an excuse. 

“I can’t say anything. What I can do for you is my role as a storekeeper. I can’t do more than that. That’s the terms of my contract.”

“Contract?”

“That’s why I’m tied up here”.

The Dwarf expressed his anger as if he was annoyed. He beckoned with his face that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“You’re going to buy everything, right? Then hurry up and go.”

There was no chance of the dwarf answering even if he had stuck here any longer. So Tae-san asked one more thing before leaving.

“Can you show me the things you showed me last time?”

“But you don’t have any money.”

“I’m going to buy it later.””

“Hmm… wait a minute.”

The Dwarf showed his wares. Numerous items lied in front of his eyes. There were earrings and rings, too.

Among them, there was an item that caught Tae-san’s eyes.

[Iron Cross Necklace]

[Attack Power +1]

[It’s a necklace worn by those who served the God of War. It’s useless, but they believed that this protected them.]

[600G]          

‘This one…’

After the verification was completed, Tae-san turned around.

 “Then I’ll come back next time.”

“I’ll see you on the next floor.”

“I think that would be difficult.”

He was going to stop by the store often.

***

NPC and the Gods.

In Tae-san’s judgement, they were the most important thing in Solo Mode.

Tae-san opened his community.

[Kang Tae-san]: Anyone here?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk]: Ah hyung. Hello, everyone~]

[Lee Tae-yeon]: Ah. It’s Tae-san. Hello.]

[Kang Tae-san]: [All right, did you guys meet the knight?]

The time was slowly approaching for them to meet the knight. He wanted to check the status of their relationship with Einzhar.

[Kang Jun-hyuk]: We did meet him.]

[Kang Tae-san]: All right, so what happened?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk] :…It’s different from what you said.]

[Kang Tae-san]: What are you talking about?]

[Kang Junhyuk]: The knight. He just looked over once and left.]

Tae-san stopped.

[Kang Tae-san]: Okay and you couldn’t stop him?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk]: Can anyone even stop him? Even if I tried to react, my body wouldn’t move. I was just overwhelmed and it ended. Right there and then.]

[Lee Tae-yeon]: I also met the knight, but it was the same for me too. No matter how I tried to move, it didn’t work!]

[Kang Tae-san]: You too?]

Whether or not you could respond even if you knew the attack was heading towards your way was another whole thing. Einzhar’s blow was a blow that was intimidating in itself.

That was the reason why Tae-san had no choice but to stop it.

And so, he thought it would be possible to for Lee Tae-yeon or Kang Jun-hyuk to respond if they knew it in advance, but it seemed to be impossible.

[Kang Tae-san]: So what happened? Did you ask?

[Kang Junhyuk]: I did, but he told me not to think about it. He said it’s not worth it to me.

That’s all he said]

[Lee Tae-yeon]: That’s so different from Tae-san’s.]

Tae-san tapped his chin.

One thing became certain. Einzhar treats only those who can respond to his blows and treat them as worthy, later to reward them.

If he were to think about it, the Dwarf was also similar. Lee Tae-yeon said the Dwarf was very rude and felt sorry when he tried to do something for him. But the Dwarf was very kind to him.

Perhaps Lakiratas was no different.

Maybe he might even be worse than the Dwarf and Einzhar. Since he was a being who gave a definite reward according to the player’s achievements. There was a high possibility that he would despise and ridicule those who did not accept his ordeal.

After thinking for a while, Tae-san posted a message.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Where are you all now?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: I’m hunting Big Rats right now.]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]: Same here. Even if I go further, I want to raise my level and go down.]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: What about the others?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: There are a few people who caught the Big Rat. But it’ll probably take them some more time.]

Players were still in the adaptation stage. It always takes time to get out of the first floor.

‘I’ll tell them later.’

Tae-san arranged the priority order of information. What he was going to teach them, right now was information about the boss.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: All right. There is a Boss monster right before reaching the 2nd floor. It’s Giant Rat, the evolution of Big Rat. My Health was over 200 but still I had problem handling it. It’s a bit dangerous, so be careful.]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]] :… How do you kill that?]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Use your brain. I can’t just tell you, how?]

His intend was to guide the way, not hold their hand.

If he were to tell them everything, they would depend on him and lose their ability to clear the labyrinth. It would be loss for the both sides.

Back then, Lee Tae-yeon had already caught the Giant Rat on her own. So it’s possible for her and Kang Joon-hyuk.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: If you think a little bit, you’ll find a way. Let other players know not to die after entering the red door for no reason.]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: Got it! Thank you.]

[Kang Junhyuk [Solo]]: I’ll do my best]

Tae-san closed the community tab. The two of you should be able to get down to the second floor without any problems.

‘Now I need to raise some money.’

He had Ahirak Weapons Techniques. It was a ridiculous skill that could be applied to any part of the attacking equipment. But he hadn’t put it to good use yet. He could only use it in his Fighter’s Gloves and he was able to raise his attack power to 2. Other accessories type equipments are good too.

So, he was thinking of buying it at the store.

The Dwarf showed him various types of equipments. Among them, there were necklaces, earrings, and rings.

“It’s okay because I’ll buy them all anyway.”

Lakiratas’ quest. He had to hunt down all the monsters on the 2nd floor. There would be a lot of gold. He would use all the gold into the store to buy them. Necklaces, rings, earrings, and numerous other accessories.

If he cleared the floor, he could easily get at least 10 equipment.

And head down to the third floor. That was his plan.

All he would have to do was hunt down the goblins.

There was no need for him to be careful now. By defeating the Servant of Lakiratas, his level increased ridiculously. Tae-san, who passed through the passage and arrived at the door, stomped his foot.

Thud!

The four Goblins were surprised and looked at him.

“Keek!”

[A goblin with a bow appeared.]

[A goblin with a spear appeared.]

[A goblin with a spear appeared.]

[A goblin with a short sword appeared.]

Tae-san calmly drew his bow. He fired a paralyzing arrow at the goblin with a bow.

[12 damage was dealt to the Goblin with a bow]

[The target is paralyzed. The target can’t move for 30 seconds or until they’re hit by an attack.]

“Kekkek!”

As if the goblin had a seizure, he pulled his arm and stiffened. There were three more left. Tae-san took out his sword and shield.

“Oh my god!”

Tae-san pushed the monster with his shield.

[6 damage was dealt to the Goblin with a short sword]

“Keek!”

Although he pushed very hard, the goblin was only pushed three steps back. The two goblins with the spears attack Tae-san.

But he saw every movement.

Agility also increased his field vision.

Tae-san struck the goblin with a spear on the left with his sword.

The goblin couldn’t stand his strength, so his spear flew away.

He then dodged the other goblin’s spear and stabbed him in the neck.

“Keek!”

[12 damage was dealt to the goblin holding a spear]

The goblin whose spear was up in the sky, was now running. The monster hurried to pick up the flying spear.

This was now a one on one situation. The goblin swung his spear desperately.

[You have activated [Counter]. Counter-attacking the opponent’s next attack.]

His body naturally avoided every attack and stabbed his opponent.

[30 damage was dealt to the goblin holding the spear]

[You have won against the goblin with a spear]

“Keek!”

The goblin died in just two attacks. It seems he had become much stronger than when he first entered the 2nd floor. Now goblins were no match for him.