Ascension Through Skills

That Buried One, The Warrior Ghost(3)

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

“You are noisy. Aren’t you going to give me a quest? Or are you just for show?”

[Oh, this is a feisty one! You don’t seem to treat people with respect.]

“So what?”

The ghost groaned. Soon, he began to talk as if he no longer wanted to have fun.

[You’re right! I’m dead. Once a human being, now tied up here just to give you a quest.]

The ghost grumbled.

[But I don’t want to give it to someone who is weak.]

“Then why are you here?”

[Do I look like I want to be here? This damned labyrinth. If possible, why didn’t you place me into the deep part of the labyrinth? I should have been placed deeper than this.]

Tae-san looked at the ghost who kept complaining. This ghost was a new type of NPC. The ghost stirred the presumed white part that somehow resembled his hand. It seemed that the ghost wanted Tae-san to go away.

[Anyway, go back. I’ll think about it when you return alive from the 30th floor]

Astounded by his response, Tae-san laughed. Now that he had come this far, the situation felt absurd to him. Without saying anything, Tae-san tried to leave the room. He felt like it would be useless to plead.

[Goodbye! Adventurer… See you?!]

The ghost, who was shouting excitedly, stopped.

[Wait a minute! You, that weapon…]

The ghost’s gaze was directed at the Lakiratas Ritual Sword.

[That’s the infamous weapon of Lakiratas. Why do you have it?!]

“Why can’t I have it?”

[You passed the ordeal?!]

Tae-san annoyingly kept waiting if there was anything else he wanted to say. The ghost bit his lips. The white spirit, who seemed to be struggling for a while came to a conclusion. 

[Ok, great! I’ll give you the quest!]

“All of a sudden?”

[If you’re already recognized by that crazy guy, it would be worth it! Come back! Let me explain to you the quest!]

“I don’t want to listen to it.”

[If you want the quest then, listen!]

‘What is he thinking now?’

The ghost’s attitude and posture made Tae-san question his motives. Tae-san came back with a sour face. And so the ghost began to explain.

[I was once an outstanding and great warrior. Arriving at the deepest end of the labyrinth, I was faster than anyone else. I was sure to conquer the labyrinth soon.]

“Then, why are you buried here?”

[Because that guy aimed atr my weak spot.]

His voice was filled with rage.

[On my journey while I was breaking through the deeper floors, I met a strong enemy. So I returned to take a rest for a while. I was taking my break on the 10th floor.  It was dangerous, but the monsters had nothing on me, so I just slept without any worries.] 

It didn’t make sense for the words of the ghost to be true. 

Breaking through the deeper floors meant having a defence value that was in the thousands. Even if all the monsters on the 10th floor ganged up on him, they would only deal 1 damage at most. One hit was enough, to wake any player up. 

But unfortunately, he died and became a ghost. That meant something went wrong. 

[That boss on the 10th floor. I don’t know, how he got his hands on it. He had a weapon that could make fixed value attacks bypassing my defence. And he killed me when I was on my way to clear the deeper floors!]

The ghost screamed, he still couldn’t let go of his anger. After a while, with a raging voice, he spoke again.

[There is only one quest I will give you. Kill 10 bosses! Then I will reward you.]

[Beginning of the sub-quest.]

[The warrior buried in the labyrinth wants revenge.]

[Condition: Kill the boss of the 10th Floor.]

[Reward: It would be determined by the warrior according to his mood.]

Tae-san laughed sarcastically. Depending on his mood, if his skills didn’t satisfy the ghost, he wouldn’t receive any rewards. 

[So, will you take it?]

Tae-san nodded. Nevertheless, a quest was still a quest. The only prerequisite was to kill bosses, so he had no reason to refuse. 

‘It’s like a chain quest.’

A quest that could only be received after passing through the Ordeal of Lakiratas. That was the conclusion he had reached, after talking to the ghost. 

When Tae-san accepted the quest, the ghost exclaimed.

[Alright! I wish you all the best!]

Suddenly the ghost clung to the side of Tae-san. 

[Let’s go!]

“… Wait, are you going with me?”

[You may or may not complete this task but that doesn’t mean I need to be stuck in the grave?! Honestly, I was getting sick and tired of this place. Even though it’s up to the 10th floor, getting out would be fun.]  

‘I’ll have to continue this journey till the 10th floor with this guy?’ Tae-san felt a headache coming in. 

 ***

[Where do you think he got his weapon from? You know I was careful about it, it wasn’t until later that I put my guard down and the monster pulled out his fixed armament. I mean the 10th Floor Boss. Do you think you know everything? You don’t get it, do you?]

“I don’t know, so stop chattering.”

Tae-san spoke in a watchful manner. The ghost’s mouth was endlessly talking without any rest. He kept talking like a parrot on the streets. And it seemed like he wasn’t going to get a sore throat anytime soon. 

Proudly, the ghost replied.

[When you accept a quest, you need to take responsibility for it!] 

“…I shouldn’t have accepted it!”

It felt like his mental health was deteriorating which he believed was not worth any reward he could have gotten from this quest. Sighing, Tae-san asked.

“Didn’t you say, you were once a warrior? What have you been up to now?” 

Tae-san couldn’t go back anymore since he already accepted the quest. Not to mention, the ghost was chattering non-stop, so he thought it would be better to gain some information by asking some meaningful questions. 

[Humph. Why do I have to tell you?]

“If you don’t want to answer it, just say it.”

Tae-san walked through the labyrinth carelessly.

It wasn’t something he desperately needed to know.

[…Ah! You really want to know. You should’ve told me sooner!]

“No, you really don’t need to.”

[I was once a member of the imperial family of the Carbert Empire.]

Saying that the ghost began to tremble once again.

[I was the eldest son that was going to inherit the empire in the future. But that’s wasn’t all! I was outstanding! Neither a Swordmaster nor any strategist, literally no one in the whole empire was comparable to me. Haa! Every time I attended a ball, all the young girls rushed to see my face! It was a glorious time!]

When Tae-san heard his talk, he understood why the ghost was known as a warrior. He was a man with higher honour than he thought.

[But suddenly my world came to an end, and I came here to save everyone.] 

“And then you died.”

[…You’re annoying. But you’re right.]

The ghost muttered in a weak tone.

[In the end, I failed. I couldn’t save my world. If only I had worked a little harder, I could have conquered the labyrinth. But that one mistake ruined everything. I need to kill the guy who killed me.]

Listening to the wailing ghost, Tae-san walked through the labyrinth. Soon, he arrived in front of a room. 

Considering the number of rooms that he had walk through so far, this was probably the last room. Of course, that was excluding the boss room and the secret room which Tae-san left for last. 

Clearing the 2nd floor was just around the corner. From now on it would get difficult to get results. 

Instead of opening the door, Tae-san opened the forum.

[Park Chan-woong[Solo]]: How do I kill the Big Rat?]

[Moon Jae-sung[Solo]]: You have to work with agility. If you deal with them a hundred times, you would be able to guess their next move. Then just aim for it.] 

[Park Chan-woong[Solo]]: Aaa… Tae-yeon and Jun-hyuk, how did you do it?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: Me? I am nothing compared to the older brother in front of me.]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: Let’s leave that person out of the discussion.]

“It’s been a while.”

[What are you doing?]

“Don’t you know the forum?”

[What’s that?]

“Oh, there’s a thing.”

Tae-san roughly explained to the ghost and continued to scroll through. Reading the texts, it seemed that there were now a few more people who had managed to kill the Big Rat. Tae-san moved his fingers.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo] : 1]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: Oh! It’s Tae-san]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: Hey, long time, no see.]

[Moon Jae-sung[Solo]]: Tae-san! I have a question!]

Texts were instantly coming up. As Tae-san began to answer them, the forum calmed down. 

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: What’s going on? You left so suddenly.]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]: I thought it was time to reply. So, how is everything going?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: It’s manageable.]

Kang Joon-hyuk began to explain slowly.

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: Half of those who safely arrived at the Fountain of Life, killed a Big Rat. I think the rest will catch up soon.]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: As I kept moving, it worked out fine for me.]

Big Rats had a speed that was still in the realm of human perception, so once a person continued to deal with, patterns could easily be seen. The only problem was that it was too time consuming, Tae-san was able to kill it because he already had experienced dealing with them before. 

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]] – What about you guys?]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: I saw the boss, its hit almost made me lose it.]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: Same here. Are you sure you killed it with brute force?]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]: Yes.]

[Lee Tae-yeon] :…How did you do that? I don’t think I can. So I’ll find another way. I think it’ll be different but much safer.]

When Tae-san saw the texts, he could feel their anger and despair behind them. It was then he made up his mind. It was finally time to tell them. 

It was time to let them know something that was essential to break through the labyrinth.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Today, I am here because I had to let all the players know of something.]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: About what?] 

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: It’s about how to acquire skills] 

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: …Oh!]

If it was Lee Tae-yeon, she would have acquired at least two skills by now. Kang Jun-hyuk also posted a slightly questionable post about whether he acquired it.

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: Please don’t mind me, yes, we do need it, but is this the right timing?] 

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: For me, this is the best. Later than this, a major shift would come.]

Skill was just a means to an end, it was not something absolute.

If he had told them what skill were without any prior knowledge of the labyrinth, acquiring skills would have been their only goal. They might not have cared about exploring the labyrinth itself.

A player could spend unnecessary time on getting skills, without thinking about entering the labyrinth. 

From his understanding, a player should have the basic knowledge of the labyrinth to some extent and the will to explore it.

Big Rat was the only monster on the first floor. One wouldn’t die if they were careful. And thanks to the Fountain of Life, infinite recovery was possible, so it didn’t matter if someone took their time. 

That’s what Tae-san wrote.

And Lee Tae-yeon accepted his words.

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: That’s true. If I had heard about the skill suddenly, I would have been distracted and wondered what it meant.]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Now, I’m going to explain it, so listen carefully. And later explain it to others who aren’t online in the forum right now.]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: Wow. Seriously? Isn’t this like really valuable information?]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: Wow…Thank you!]

[Moon Jae-sung[Solo]]:Oh! Tae-san…]

[Park Chan-woong[Solo]]: Thank you! Thank you!]

Numerous texts contained gratitude and were filled with emotion, but Tae-san wore an unbothered face.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Thank me later, first listen.]

Tae-san explained the skills that he learned in the past. But it didn’t mean much to mankind. 

They were, after all, before entering the labyrinth they were only ordinary human who lived in a peaceful world.

Maybe, it would be a little different now as most of the players in the Solo mode had survived. But he still wrote it with very weak expectations.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: How many skills did you get? Except for the basic skills]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]]: Well, I have two. Poison Resistance and Master of Death.]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: Oh, I also have two. Poison Resistance and Sense Enhancement.]

Two. It was a lot considering they were in the Solo Mode. And one after the other started to reply, most of them had either one or none at all.

Kang Jun-hyuk got curious, so he asked. 

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: How many do you have? Five?] 

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]: Come on. No way! You should have a lot more, right?]

There were five of them online at the forum. Everyone talked about how they tried this or that to get skills but in the end came up with nothing. So, they were expecting that Tae-san would be similar to them. 

Tae-san wrote.

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Nineteen or so].

The forum went silent.

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]]: …Really?]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]]: Do you think I’m lying?]

[Lee Tae-yeon[Solo]: Wow, it doesn’t make any sense! What should I do to get that much?]

*changing community to the forum.