Ascension Through Skills

Secret Room, The Boss of the 2nd Floor (1) 

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

[Lee Tae-yeon [Solo]: It is pretty easy]

[Moon Jae-sung [Solo]: …I think I will die if I try it.]

[Lee Tae-yeon [Solo]: As long as you get the timing right, it might be relatively easy]

[Kang Jun-hyuk [Solo]: As soon as you enter the room, shoot three paralyze arrows at the goblins. The effect will last for 30 seconds. Then shoot another 3 paralyze arrows. I had to do this about 10 times without any mistakes. But yes, it will get easier if you know how to be patient.] 

***

[Forced duel? I’ve never seen a skill like this before. How do you even know about it?]

“Well, it was due to hard work.”

[You are telling me, a newbie on the second floor worked hard to find and obtain this skill? Funny.] 

The ghost was sceptical about Tae-san’s words and felt like he was deceived.

[I can guarantee you that no one in this labyrinth knows about this skill. Where did you get your information?]

The ghost seemed to think that Tae-san had most likely heard about the Forced Duel from someone. He didn’t even entertain the idea that Tae-san himself might have discovered it.

Tae-san left the ghost to his own devices.

It would be hard to answer if he kept asking, so he was grateful that the ghost misunderstood it on his own.

[But let me give you some advice. Skills are not everything. I understand you worked hard for the skill but don’t get too arrogant.]

“Just answer what you are asked.” 

[…You brat!] 

The ghost trembled in anger. 

***

The ghost continued to grumble, and Tae-san wandered through the labyrinth listening with one ear. 

[Forced Duel sounds like a good skill, but there are a lot of skills in the labyrinth. Do you know Leap?]

“I know.”

[…You know?!]

“But why are you talking about Leap? Didn’t you learn Big Leap Forward?”

[What’s Big Leap Forward?]

“Ah! I guess you didn’t learn it.”

Tae-san replied softly. The ghost continued to groan. 

[Okay, I’ll admit it. You know your skills well. But that’s not everything in the labyrinth. Have you lived here to discover what’s important? So, what are you doing now?]

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Tae-san examined the empty brick room. The ghost was late to realize why.

[Secret Room? This will be hard.]

Searching for this kind of secret room was a pure torture. He had no choice but to check all of the brick individually. 

He had to either increase his number of skills or have a special skill one that could search for secret rooms. Aside from the aforementioned options there was only a single way.

[You need to have a strong intuition.] 

One of the bricks caught Tae-san’s eyes. He walked while looking at the edge of the water. Then he grabbed the brick and pulled it. 

Rumble.

As the bricks went in, the secret room was revealed.

[Huh?!] 

“As expected, I knew it would be here.”

Since his proficiency in Detection had exceeded 20%. Very occasionally, it informed him about important pieces of information around his surroundings.

Instead of a clear indication, it rather appeared in the form of a hunch, and at that moment, all the problems that were wrapped in his head would get solved.

This effect would make it possible to skip the trial-error sections of the labyrinth, which was essential to clearing it.

The ghost muttered in a bewildered voice, perhaps noticing that the Detection had activated.

[…Did you just have a glimpse? Is your proficiency more than 20%?]

Tae-san entered the secret room. Inside, there was a passage covered with numerous traps.

“Is this a goblin trap?” 

[It’s a trap they use when they store something precious. The setup is too random, it’s going to be hard to clear this. Give up, going back may be a good choice right about now.]

Tae-san looked around the traps.

The first setup was the arrow trap.

The second trap would trigger once a player set foot on the moving floor.

The third and fourth trap was inside the wall that was moving.

It was the same as back in Easy Mode. Tae-san walked to the trap.

“Hello?”

Whoosh!

The flying arrows were activated.

He set his foot to avoid the part of the floor where the trap was installed.

With his step, the wall moved to try to crush Tae-san.

Tae-san clenched his fist instead of trying to get out of the fast-approaching wall. He slammed his fist on the wall.

Bam!

The wall crushed and the bricks turned to sand. Tae-san shook his fist with a heartless face.

“It’s all the same.” 

Doesn’t matter if it was a moving wall, a trap was just a trap. If he were to rush forward to escape, dozens of other traps would simultaneously be activated.

The problem wasn’t that he wouldn’t be able to pass through, rather he would have a hard time. 

The easiest way to clear the trap was to break the wall in its entirety.

These moving walls on the labyrinth were made by the goblins. 

Its durability obviously was not that high, so it could easily be crushed with just a punch.

Tae-san calmly overcame the traps one by one and walked through the passage.

[…]

The ghost silently followed him. At the end of the passage, a small box appeared. Tae-san pulled the lever to confirm that all the traps had been destroyed. 

[Ring of the Fountain]

[Mana +5]

[Engraved with subtle and pure scent, the ring contains a hidden fountain inside it.] 

“Mana ring?”

Tae-san’s face mixed with pleasant confusion. Well, an increase in Mana was always a good thing.

In addition, it’s a ring, not any other accessory. Unlike necklaces or earrings, he could wear them in any of his fingers.

“This is great.”

Tae-san wore the ring and happily left the secret room. The ghost finally opened his mouth. 

[What the hell are you?]

“Do you know anything about a second chance?”

[Second chance?]

There wasn’t a sign of understanding. As a significant reaction, Tae-san actually confirmed one thing.

***

‘It seems that the stones that Ouroboros vomited could only be obtained after reaching the 8th floor.’

Lee Tae-yeon didn’t say much about it, but she knew how to obtain it. With another chance, she was sure to obtain it again.

Anyway, this story was something for later.

Tae-san walked through the labyrinth and arrived at the red door.

Tae-san walked in. The ghost was surprised by the enthusiastic attitude and asked.

[Why aren’t you asking me anything?]

Once a contract was formed, the ghosts had to obey it and answer any question regarding anything truthfully. As the ghost was an NPC that had gone to the deeper parts of the labyrinth, they must already know who the boss on the second floor was and how to kill it. 

“I don’t need it.”

Tae-san already knew who the boss was on the second floor. He made a bet with the ghost to ask about something else. 

“…!?”

There were two goblins in the Boss’ room. 

One was an ordinary goblin, but the other one was a little different. Unlike the ordinary one, it was wearing high-quality clothes. 

 He wore a long garment and held a black wooden staff in his hand.

 [The goblin with a staff has appeared] 

 [The escort goblin has appeared]

“Keek!”

The goblin swung his staff. After that, magical forces began to gather around him. The goblin, who appeared to be an escort, guarded him. The boss was the goblin holding the staff.

He could use magic.

This was Tae-san’s first time in Solo Mode, seeing a goblin that could use magic. In Easy Mode, it wasn’t until the 4th floor that such a monster would come out. 

“Keek!”

While the magic was being implemented, the escorting goblin rushed towards Tae-san. Tae-san pulled out his sword as he took his stance.

Crash!

“Ke-kakk!”

The goblin was pushed to the ground. Tae-san stabbed him in the back. After stabbing about three times, the guard died and disappeared.

[You have won against the escorting goblin.]

In the meantime, the magic was completed. Tae-san watched it calmly.

Originally, the way he attacked this room could be considered as something wrong.

Low-level players had no way to stop magic.

The correct way to attack this boss was to ignore the guards or shoot paralyze arrows to deal with the wizard immediately. Lee Tae-yeon didn’t know that and suffered a lot.

But Tae-san deliberately left the wizard alone. The ghost groaned in frustration.

[Damn it! This isn’t how you should do it. It seems that even if you have the skills, you don’t know how to use it.] 

In his eyes, it seemed that Tae-san was making all the wrong decisions he could have made.

But Tae-san knew his ways.

“KEEK!”

The staff shone.

[The goblin with a staff has activated his magic.]

[Starting judgement.]

[Mental Judgement…]

Tae-san felt it in his head. Something outside trying to invade his brain. All kinds of images formed and disappeared repeatedly inside his head.

[…]

Mental magic was very annoying. If there was even a slight mistake or fluctuation in his thoughts, he would fail the status judgements which was same as losing himself and going crazy.

‘I need to get rid of this.’

Tae-san shook his head. The rushing chaos ended.

[Judgement Success!]

[You have conquered it with your indomitable spirit!]

[Your spirit has increased a lot.]

“Keek!”

The goblin used his magic again. Tae-san was still waiting.

[The goblin with the staff activated madness.]

[Starting judgement.]

[In the process of judging madness…]

‘I need to finish it up fast.’

[Judgement Success!]

[You have conquered it with your indomitable spirit!]

[Your action speed increased.]

At this point, the ghost also noticed.

[Are you just enduring?]

[The goblin with the staff has activated a curse.]

[No judgement required! You have conquered it with your indomitable spirit.]

He looked at the whimpering goblin. Never did he fail to make a judgement since his previous life. The ghost started muttering in fright.

[It’s the first time that I’ve seen a person who can withstand mental magic without any skills or items. I didn’t know such a thing was possible.]

[No judgement required! You have conquered it with your indomitable spirit.]

[You have endured mental magic again and again. You have acquired the special passive skill [Mental Resistance]]

A skill that could help in resisting all kinds of attacks on the mind. And right now, it was also a very useless skill for Tae-san.

Tae-san shook off the leftover magic and checked his skills. 

[Special Passive Skill: Mental Resistance] 

[Proficiency: 100%]

[There is a very high probability that all judgments regarding the mind would succeed]

‘It was a failure.’

[Huh?!]

Confused, the ghost laughed.

[That’s absurd!]

Still, after acquiring the Mental Resistance Tae-san stayed still without attacking the goblin. Instead, he laid down on the floor as if he was unbothered.

[Damn it! I was going to teach this guy some of my moves. But he turned out to be a crazy fellow.] 

“Cough, cough.”

Goblin sweated profusely and performed magic once again. The ghost who was looking at him slowly opened his mouth.

[Magicians. It’s amazing to see them here.]

“Didn’t you have them in your world?”

[Magicians were rare in my world, got it? I don’t know what that person did, you know, the one who made the labyrinth. But everything has become stronger here overall. A goblin’s average strength is on par with the orcs of my world. And an orc is stronger than the lizardmen.]

As expected, the monsters inside the labyrinth were stronger than other places.

[How about Goblins in your world?]

The ghost asked as if he was curious about Tae-san. He seemed to be trying to solve his own curiosity about what kind of person Tae-san was through such questions.

“There wasn’t any”.

[There’s no goblins?! Then what about orcs or ogres?]

Tae-san laughed at the names of the very popular monsters of the labyrinth.

“Why would there be such a thing?” 

[Then, what was there?]

“Nothing. At best, we had beasts.”

[Well, that sounds like a very comfortable world to live in.]

The ghost muttered, finding it strange.

[Why is a guy from such a world doing so well?]

Once again, the magic triggered. This time he was sure to get the skill he wanted to acquire, Magic Resistance. It was a skill that could reduce damage and resistance to all magic.

[You have been enchanted many times. You have obtained the special passive skill [Magic Resistance].]

It was a skill that would help him a lot in conquering the labyrinth.

Tae-san was hit a little more, increasing his Magic Resistance little by little.

Only after reaching its limit, Tae-san swung his sword.

The goblin, who was wheezing after using magic continuously, died.

[You have won against the goblin with a staff]

[Acquired a lot of experience]

[Health has been restored by 10.]

[You have acquired 453 gold.]

[You have acquired the Staff of Random Mind.]

“Oh, the staff?!” 

Though the probability of this dropping was very low, he still got it anyway. He was pretty lucky today.

[You have won alone against an enemy that is difficult to defeat. Intelligence is permanently increased by 2. Mana is permanently increased by 2.]

He got this when he cleared the labyrinth. Magic doesn’t come from the staff. Tae-san won because he was virtually immune to mental tricks, otherwise, it would have been difficult while suffering all kinds of curses and confusion.

In fact, Lee Tae-yeon went here just before her death.

[Your Soul Raiser has been activated. Agility has been increased by 1. Intelligence rises permanently by 2.] 

[You have defeated the boss of the second floor. You have acquired a basic reward [Beginner’s Mana Increasing Potion]] 

[You have identified the hidden element of the second floor. You have received [???]]