Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 8

TL: handCream

First floor (1) 

“Oh” 

A pleasant light appeared in Tae-san’s face. The reward on the first floor was a random stat rising potion. In Easy Mode, it was a reward that was only given after reaching the 10th floor.

“As expected, this is at another level.” 

The system window did not stop. 

[You, the one who took the first step into the labyrinth. I don’t know if it’s courage or recklessness, but those who know the danger of this abyss will praise you] 

Another advantage of Solo mode is that it is a single play. No other player crosses paths with each other. 

In other words, the initial reward is all the player’s to take. Considering that the benefits were huge, this is a pretty good point. 

[Received the title “Pioneer”] 

Tae-san quickly confirmed the effect. 

“Title confirmation” 

[Title: Pioneer]

[NPCs like you] 

Tae-san’s face turned cold. 

This is because Lee Tae-yeon said that the mysterious NPCs were hostile to the player. Many hated her to the point where they wanted to kill her.

She thought getting on their good side was meaningless. She was also given the title of a pioneer, but she judged it to be an achievement with no meaning.

 All confirmations were complete. The rest was just to break through the labyrinth. 

He walked down the brick passage.

* * * 

As Tae-san walked down the aisle, he remembered what Tae-yeon said.

It is impossible to break through the 100th floor in a situation where the player has nothing. Naturally, the labyrinth also made minimal preparations accordingly.

One of them was the store owner. 

[Tae-san, was there a store owner in the Easy Mode?]

[Yes. Is there a level of difficulty that doesn’t have them?」 

[Are they any good?] 

[What? Not really, he’s just a merchant] 

A store owner appears at the entrance of each floor and sells only certain items. 

They don’t sell anything great. The owner sold potions that were rather a useless buy and better to throw them.

[But not in this mode. They sell lots of good stuff. Look at this.] 

She showed him a piece of equipment. 

It was a wrist gear, one she was proud of. It was one of her strongest items that reduces all damage by 50%. 

“I bought this at the store”. 

“…Do they sell things like that?” 

[There were a lot more than this, but I couldn’t buy it because I didn’t have enough gold. I am sure if you can buy all the items from the store, you’ll turn out to be stronger than me.]

She was confident, but Tae-san let go with an annoyed face because he was an Easy Mode player anyway.

 “But not now.” 

She said that there was a store at the end of the aisle. Tae-san opened the door.

“What? You’re already here?” 

There was a dwarf in the room.． 

His face was covered with a long white beard and bore an annoyed look.

 At least it didn’t look like a monster. 

[You have encountered the king of dwarves]

Tae-san glanced at the dwarf. That was the store owner of the Solo Mode that Lee Tae-yeon talked about.

 “Hello?”

“Yes?”

The dwarf burst into laughter.

 ‘His intellect is pretty good.’

The dwarf knew what kind of world Tae-san came from and what the process was like. 

The dwarf opened his mouth.

“What’s your name?” 

“I’m Kang Tae-san. Who are you?” 

“I am the store owner” 

“But you don’t seem to have any items?” 

There was only one dwarf in a room about the size of a studio. The dwarf snorted.

 “Kid, it’s not enough to fill the entire first floor to get all of my stuff out.”

The dwarf took out his pipe and lit it. 

“And I have no intention of showing you any of my children.”

“Huh?” 

A store owner who doesn’t sell anything. Tae-san laughed. 

“Then why are you here?”

“Are you here because you want to be? What do you think I am doing here? In this crazy place, abandoning my kingdom. If not for those crazy creatures?” 

The dwarf nervously smoked his pipe. 

“Anyway, I don’t want to show my children to people who don’t even know the subject, now do I?”

“I see.” 

It’s just as Taeyeon said, so Tae-san didn’t get flustered.

[But that crazy store owner had a dirty personality. At first, I almost died in anger because he didn’t want to sell me anything. After that, I was triggered that he kept on ignoring me. I was so angry.] 

She was so annoyed that she was trembling. According to her, that dwarf had certain conditions for players to clear before he opened the store.

 “But if you show me who you are, it’ll be a different story.” 

The dwarf picked up his pipe and showed another passage at the end. 

 “Go and come back alive. Then I’ll show you, my children.” 

Survival. That was the dwarf’s condition. That simple word was enough to show the difficulty of the labyrinth. Tae-san calmly asked. 

“Would that be enough?” 

On the contrary, the dwarf was surprised at how calm he was.

“Will you do that?” 

“Then what should I do? Will you show me the items after I clear the labyrinth?” 

“No, no…” 

The dwarf tilted his head wondering. 

‘This guy is a strange one.’

“Can I go now?” 

“Yeah, do whatever you want.” 

Tae-san strode into the passage. When he looked back, he saw the dwarf was still looking at him.

“Is there something you want to say?” 

It seemed as if he didn’t feel the fear at all. The dwarf thought about putting the pipe back into his mouth.

 “It doesn’t matter because you won’t be able to make it alive anyway.” 

The difficulty level of the labyrinth was not set considering the solo play. 

Even if he returns, he will return in a frightened state.  His face would be stained with terror. 

Such a guy isn’t worth anything. Just a few useless items would be enough for him.

Whatever happens, it was going to be fun for the dwarf. He burned his pipe with a smirk. 

* * * 

Tae-san passed through the passage and arrived at another room.

 “Both the aisle and room’s structure is the same as Easy Mode.” 

Having figured out the structure, he looked around the room. The labyrinth made of mossy bricks looked safe on the outside without any threat. 

“That can’t be true.” 

Tae-san pulled out his sword. 

From a distance, he heard a cry. This is the Solo Mode. The monsters that appeared from the beginning were also bosses in other modes. 

“Squeak! Squeak!” 

Immediately, a giant rodent emerged. 

[Big rat has appeared] 

“Big rat?” 

Tae-san smirked. I know that monster. 

Its defence is insignificant, but it moves at a speed that is hard to keep up with the naked eye. This monster, which was the cause of anger among many players, was the fifth-floor boss in Easy Mode. 

And that boss was just another monster here. The difference between the other modes and the Solo Mode was glaring at every player. 

“What should I do?”