Ascension Through Skills
chapter-29

Taesan was also surprised. The Perception skill had a very low probability of revealing critical information. Despite the chances being really low, it had been activated on every floor.

“It’s not too bad.”

This had nothing to do with skill, experience, or instinct - it was pure luck. The correct response was to accept it happily.

Taesan entered the secret room.

The trap inside was exactly the same as the second floor. Although he knew how to bypass it, he didn’t go in, instead taking out a dagger from his inventory.

A Despicable Thief’s Tool, the reward for verifying the secret of the second floor. Its effect was to attempt to disarm traps.

Taesan placed the dagger onto the first arrow trap.

[Disarming trap judgment in progress…….] [Judgment failed! The trap is activated.]

Ping!

An arrow flew out. Taesan simply moved his hand and caught it.

He had expected it to fail. Unless it’s an item from Gorebel, the probability of a judgment failing was quite high. Taesan moved on to the next trap, where the floor would collapse.

[Disarming trap judgment in progress…….] [Judgment successful! The trap has been disarmed.]

Then, onto the next trap. He attempted to disarm it in the same way.

The judgment failed again. The wall was pressing down, but he punched it and smashed it.

He also tried it with the next trap.

After nearly ten attempts, he was able to gain a skill.

[You attempted to disarm the trap. You gained the special triggered skill [Trap Disarm].]

“It’s done.”

[Special Trigger Skill: Trap Disarm] [Mana Consumption: 1] [Proficiency: 1%] [Attempts to disarm traps. It seems barely worth ignoring for now.]

It was a pitiful description. Given the proficiency was only at 1%, it made sense.

Taesan started to use the skill to disarm the traps after putting the dagger away. Most attempts were failures, but the main goal was not to disarm the traps.

[Proficiency in Trap Disarm has increased by 1%.]

As skills were used, their proficiency increased. It was crucial to raise proficiency in these seemingly useless situations to ensure smooth usage when it was really needed. The ghost couldn’t understand this.

[Is all that really necessary? Whether you have Trap Disarm or not doesn't really matter. You can just physically bypass them, can't you?]

“That’s a possibility.”

The ghost wasn’t wrong.

The type of traps didn’t change significantly between the floors.

Even with his frail stats, he could handle them without a problem now. He would be able to bulldoze his way through even if he went beyond the 10th floor.

But Taesan had no intention of stopping.

“I don’t know much about this place.”

What he had cleared was Easy Mode. This was Solo Mode. Lee Taeyeon’s information had a lot of gaps. It was as if she had speedrun the game.

“The more cards I have, the better. I don’t know how they will be used. I’ll gather everything I can. That’s my principle.”

That’s how Taesan had overcome crises. The ghost’s form wavered for a moment.

[...Yeah. You're right. I couldn't stick to that, and I died.]

As that bitter voice echoed, the last trap was disarmed.

[Judgment successful! The trap has been disarmed.] [Proficiency in Trap Disarm has increased by 1%.]

His proficiency had increased by a total of 7%. He intended to do this each time he found a secret room from now on. Taesan opened the chest.

[Squeezed Ring] [Strength + 3] [A ring compressed by someone with great strength. Despite its squashed and distorted shape, it seems to contain strength.]

A ring that gave Strength +3. Similarly, this wasn’t an accessory that could be obtained on the second floor. Taesan had already received so many rewards that this one seemed a bit less significant, but it was still a good piece of equipment.

Now, the secret room was also finished.

Only the boss remained.

Taesan stood up.

He didn’t wander around since he had already scouted the labyrinth beforehand. It didn’t take long for Taesan to arrive at the red door.

[This is the Goblin floor. You can guess what's going to show up, right?]

“I know.”

Lee Taeyeon had also told him. Taesan opened the door.

“Creak.”

Inside, there was a single goblin.

It was roughly the size of the bellies of other goblins. It was also adorned with grand ornaments as if it was a shaman from ancient times.

A staff was in its hand. The goblin straightened its back and pointed its staff at Taesan.

“Caw!”

[A Goblin Chieftain has appeared.]

A goblin that ruled over other goblins. It was a higher-level monster that only appeared deep into Easy Mode.

“Creak.”

The Chieftain directed a gaze filled with rage at Taesan. It couldn’t be known whether it was due to the killing of its kin or just the monster’s instinct, but at least a profound rage was apparent.

“Caw!”

The staff wavered, and Taesan charged. Unlike the other monsters, there was no reason to hold back against the Chieftain.

[The Goblin Chieftain has invoked a curse.]

A curse. A kind of magic that slowed physical speed or decayed parts of the body.

Unlike mental magic, it attacked the physical body itself and could not be repelled with mental resistance.

Taesan exerted force on his foot and activated a skill.

[You have invoked Flow. The next attack is manipulated.]

The curse veered slightly off-target. Checking his status window, all his stats and health had decreased by 10%. They would have been reduced by 30% if it weren’t for Flow.

Upon reaching close range, Taesan slashed his sword.

“Caw!”

The Chieftain swung his staff to block it. A dull impact was felt through the sword.

The Chieftain’s strength did not fall significantly short compared to Taesan’s. The Chieftain pushed Taesan back and raised his staff again.

[The Goblin Chieftain has invoked Wave.]

Wave. A magic that created a shockwave to blow the opponent away.

Seeing the system window, Taesan immediately drew out his staff of random mental spells.

[You have invoked Confusion.] [Judgment in progress...]

“Cough, Caw?”

The Chieftain was momentarily confused. With the collapse of his mental state, the magic power contained at the end of the staff also disappeared. The Chieftain then shook his head violently.

[Judgment Failed!]

Though the judgment for Confusion failed, the execution of Wave was canceled. Taesan then stabbed his sword and cut off the Chieftain’s arm.

“Caw!”

[21 damage to the Goblin Chieftain.]

The Chieftain’s health, as he remembered it, was 200.

He only had to attack ten more times.

Taesan pressed on, and the damage window kept appearing.

“Caw, Caw!”

The Chieftain swung his staff wildly, trying to put distance between them, but Taesan clung to him by forcing his way with skills such as Flow and Counter. In the end, the Chieftain, unable to hold on, began to use magic.

[The Goblin Chieftain has invoked Explosion.]

The system window appeared.

Taesan immediately grabbed the Chieftain’s arm and broke it.

The magic that was being completed disappeared.

The Chieftain used magic through his staff, but magic wasn’t instant. It required a certain amount of preparation.

If that process were to be disturbed and destroyed, it would become practically impossible to use magic.

Normally, it would have pushed a player using its superior stats and utilized magic. Once the distance was created, keeping up with the continuous curses and magic would be hard.

Though quite tricky, it wasn’t too hard for Taesan, who knew the strategy.

“Caaaaw!”

The Chieftain swung its staff with a lot of strength but was repelled with a shield. Taesan thrust his sword.

[22 damage to the Goblin Chieftain.] [You have defeated the Goblin Chieftain.]

“Caaah……”

The Chieftain disappeared. The ghost’s response was, as expected, somewhat dreary.

[You wouldn't have had a problem with a chieftain now. Normally, it would've been a tough opponent.]

Taesan checked the system window that was blocking his view.

[Your level has increased.] [As a reward for leveling up, your health increases by 20.] [As a reward for leveling up, your agility permanently increases by 2. Your strength permanently increases by 3. Your mana permanently increases by 3.] [You have defeated a difficult opponent alone. Your intelligence permanently increases by 2. Your mana permanently increases by 4.] [Your Soul Ascension has been activated. Your agility permanently increases by 1. Your intelligence permanently increases by 3. Your mana permanently increases by 3.] [You have defeated the boss of the 3rd floor. You have received the basic reward: a Beginner's Health Increase Potion.] [You have acquired an Old Hardwood Staff.]

The system window was still long. More than anything, the increase in mana was noticeable.

It increased by a full 10 points, and now his mana exceeded 50. With this kind of increase, reaching his previous stats wasn’t too far off.

Taesan used the Beginner’s Health Increase Potion and increased his health.

Now his health was 295. He was just on the cusp of reaching 300.

Taesan checked the staff.

[Old Hardwood Staff] [Magic + 3] [A faint magical power is contained within. If you're talented, you might be able to use it.]

“What’s this?”

The stat bonus was magic, not mana or intelligence. It was a value Taesan was seeing for the first time. He couldn’t find any similar equipment in Easy Mode. The ghost expressed admiration.

[A magic staff? You're really lucky. How did you get that?]

“Do you know about it?”

[It's literally a staff that you can use magic with. Like the staff of random mind spells you have but with more versatility? You can use it to enhance the power of the magic you've learned.]

“…Learn magic?”

[Considering that there are monsters that can use magic, is that really surprising?]

The ghost replied in a dreary voice. For him, who had lived in a world with monsters and magic, it was not surprising at all.

But Taesan was a modern human. Being able to use magic with his own power, not borrowed from a staff, was amazing.

‘I didn’t have this information.’

Another reason for his surprise was that the use of magic was a story he was hearing for the first time.

In Easy, Normal, or Hard Mode, magic could only be used by borrowing the power of the staff. Lee Taeyeon also had never used magic with her own power, so he believed that magic couldn’t be learned under the concept of skills.

But suddenly hearing that he could learn magic, he couldn’t help but be momentarily confused. Taesan sorted out his complicated thoughts.

“How do I learn it then?”

[Either you understand and realize the concept of magic yourself or learn it from someone. One of the two.]

The former was impossible. So, the latter was it.

‘An NPC, I guess.’

In the deep and profound labyrinth, there were certainly NPCs who used magic.

Since he couldn’t use it right away, he placed it in his inventory.

[Now it's the 4th floor. You're going down quickly.]

“Before that, I have to visit Lakiratas.”

He had defeated all the monsters on the 2nd and 3rd floors. He had cleared his quest, so he had to go back to the 2nd floor. Taesan, who was about to leave the room, then paused.

[What's up?]

“Wait a minute.”

Taesan pulled up the system window to check. Level-up reward. Boss reward. Heroic action reward. 3rd floor clear reward.

There was no reward for understanding the secrets.

“Is there more hidden here?”

He was missing the reward for understanding all the hidden elements of a floor.

Generally, the secret room was the end, so he thought he had found everything on this floor, but it wasn’t cleared yet. The ghost also seemed to realize it belatedly and shook its head.

[Huh. That's strange? Why isn't it there? Is there something more?]

“How was it for you?”

[I couldn't find the secret room, so I gave up. Could there be two secret rooms?]

Usually, there was only one per floor. But this place was Solo Mode, so there was a possibility.

“Do I have to search everything again?”

This time it would truly be an impossible task. He had only managed to find the secret room by luck. He would have to check the whole floor to find the other secret, but going down would allow him to become stronger much faster.

Taesan was about to give up.

The boss room had various decorations. Given that the boss’s name was Goblin Chieftain, he thought it was obvious and ignored it.

But now that he looked at it, the decorations seemed to form a pattern.

As if it was a path.

Taesan moved and went to the wall where all of the decorations were pointed to and touched it.

Creek.

[What?]

The sound of a mechanism being activated echoed through the boss room as the wall slid smoothly to the side.

It was a moving wall trap.

It had been camouflaged as a normal wall.

[...What? There was a place like this?]

Even the ghost seemed quite surprised, as if he was seeing this place for the first time. Of course, Lee Taeyeon hadn’t found it either.

Taesan entered.

Numerous decorations.

Much more extravagant and neat than the boss room. It showed vividly what the goblins thought of the individual here.

A huge jade throne was visible.

On it, a single goblin was sitting like a king.

[...A Lord?]

With a voice full of surprise, the goblin opened its eyes. It looked at Taesan in wonder. Its mouth opened.

“Human.”

A small murmur.

And then it extended its hand.

Clang.

A greatsword appeared in its hand.

[You've encountered the former Goblin Lord, Hage-Ha.]