Ascension Through Skills

[First Discovery Bonus] [Intelligence has permanently increased by 1. Mana has permanently increased by 2.]

Both were good stats. Increased intelligence decreased the basic consumption rate of mana, allowing for more use of skills. The increase in mana was self-explanatory.

[This is a shelter in the labyrinth. Your enemies cannot enter here of their own volition.] [The peace of this place makes you sluggish.]

Monsters appeared in most places inside the labyrinth. The only exceptions were the shop and the fountain. It was a type of safe zone.

Taesan scooped up the spring water with his hand. The cool liquid smoothly went down his throat.

[You have returned to your best state.]

The lingering fatigue completely disappeared. It felt as if he had had a good sleep.

Taesan sat next to the spring. He wanted to lie down as the floor was not a hard stone floor but a warm sandy one.

Although the spring could restore him to his best state, it couldn’t alleviate the mental fatigue that built up over time. A little rest was also a necessary thing.

‘Has a day passed already?’

That seemed about right when he checked his hunger state. It was about time for something to be posted in the Community.

“Community.”

[Kang Junhyeok[Solo]: Guys, is it okay to enter the labyrinth?] [Na Jaeyeon[Solo]: Seeing that there's no answer from those who entered, it seems not. This is driving me crazy.] [Yoo Youngseok[Easy]: Anyone want to break through the First Level together?] [Kang Dongjun[Solo]: Looking for information. Does anyone know what kind of monster the first one is?] [Lee Sang[Solo]: Going crazy. Seriously.]

Of course, most of the posts were from Solo players.

Players in other modes could meet each other, so they solved things through direct conversations rather than through the Community. However, Solo players weren’t able to meet directly. That meant that their only means of conversation was the Community.

As Taesan scrolled through the Community, he chuckled.

[Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: Guys, how the heck do I do this? TT]

The strongest player who survived and broke through the labyrinth, Lee Taeyeon. For someone who always seemed so confident, her present self was utterly confused.

‘Maybe that’s not it.’

Her final status showed that she was scared. Perhaps she simply hid her true self, she might have been a coward until the end.

Taesan took a moment to look at the Community.

The labyrinth had only been open for a day. Naturally, many Solo players were still alive. You couldn’t die of hunger here. As far as Taesan knew, the real entry attempts started a month from now.

Solo Mode gave rewards proportional to the difficulty. Lee Taeyeon said she missed out on countless number of them. In particular, she claimed that she hadn’t received what should have been hers because she cleared the boss using an exploit.

But she was still called the strongest player.

So proper development through Solo Mode could potentially be of great help.

“Hmm.”

In the labyrinth, every victory was precious.

Even if he went outside, things would not change much.

“That’s not too bad.”

Taesan started writing on the Community.

He began with simple advice. He started by telling them not to be aggressive to the gatekeeper and then told them what kind of things the shopkeeper sold.

Taesan had defeated the Big Rat, but others could not. He advised them to immediately run away and return to the shop. He then also instructed them to run with all haste once they heard the fountain’s location.

Survival was nearly impossible if they didn’t follow this basic route. He also wrote about what to do after that.

[Kang Taesan [Solo]: Basic Strategy for the first floor of Solo Mode.]

He didn’t know if the others would believe him.

Trusting an anonymous post and entering the labyrinth would be very difficult. Even if they did believe him, how much it would be accepted was unknown. After all, only Lee Taeyeon survived out of tens of thousands.

He simply threw the hint out with no great expectations and closed the Community.

“Time to give it a try.”

Taesan stood up and stretched.

Unlimited use of the fountain was possible as long as he didn’t leave the first floor. The reason Lee Taeyeon was able to survive was because she had wandered around here for a week before finally catching the Big Rat.

In Solo Mode, the normal flow was to return to the shop after encountering the Big Rat, hear about the location of the Fountain Life, and then rush here to enter the Safe Zone.

‘What kind of arrangement is this?’

He had felt that something was strange about this ever since he heard about it from Lee Taeyeon. It would have been better to place the Fountain of Life at the start. Without it, survival would have been impossible anyway.

But the creator of the labyrinth chose to place it far away, causing most to die on their way there.

It was hard to understand whether this was mercy or cruelty.

Regardless, this part was the most important.

There was no limit to healing here.

He could prepare a lot before leaving the first floor.

He only survived with his low stats due to his skills. Taesan thus concluded that skills were more valuable than stats.

At that moment, his stomach grumbled. Thinking about it, he hadn’t eaten anything for the whole day. Although he wouldn’t die of hunger, his overall stats would be reduced, and he would suffer significant pain. It was better to resolve this quickly.

Taesan intended to resolve this properly as well.

Using a slightly different method to what others might think.

Taesan opened his inventory and took out some meat.

[Big Rat Meat] [Quality: 86%］ [It's Big Rat meat. It can be eaten if desired.］

Although it was a rodent, the meat was quite plentiful, given its size. Taesan took out his rusty sword.

With a swift motion, he sliced off a piece of meat that was of a good enough size to eat. After examining the meat for a moment, Taesan mumbled anxiously.

“Is it really edible?”

The easy mode provided plenty of food, so he had never eaten Big Rat meat before. The meat was closer to black than red, and the muscles were grotesquely bulgy, not the kind that would whet one’s appetite.

“Considering the goal, maybe this is better.”

Taesan placed the meat inside his mouth.

His face crinkled at the completely tasteless and dry meat. However, he didn’t spit it out and swallowed it with difficulty.

[You ate raw, uncooked meat.] [Diagnosing abnormal status……] […] [Diagnosis failed!] [You are suffering from food poisoning!]

Abnormal status - food poisoning. For two days, his stamina would decrease. The speed that it decreased was extremely fast. Without drinking a disease-curing potion or a stamina potion, one could die within moments.

It was a nightmare-like status effect for beginners. Those who had experienced it once would always cook their food afterward.

However, Taesan was eating raw meat on purpose, aiming for something.

Taesan drank some water from the fountain.

[You have returned to your best state.]

And then he ate more of the raw meat.

[You ate raw, uncooked meat.] [Diagnosing abnormal status……] […] [Diagnosis success!] [Nothing happened.]

Another one.

[You ate raw, uncooked meat.] [Diagnosing abnormal status……] […] [Diagnosis failed!] [You are suffering from food poisoning!]

He drank more fountain water.

[You have returned to your best state.]

He ate more meat.

[You ate raw, uncooked meat.] [Diagnosing abnormal status……]

He would eat another piece of meat if he didn’t get food poisoning. If he got food poisoning, he would drink the fountain water and then eat another piece of meat.

He continuously repeated these two actions. As his stomach started to get full, a different system message appeared.

[You have suffered from numerous diseases and developed resistance. You have acquired the special always-active skill [Disease Resistance]］

Taesan grinned broadly.

“Bingo.”

The labyrinth doesn’t provide food.

Emergency rations were sold in shops but were very expensive and scarce in Hard and Solo Modes. It wouldn’t be enough for exploring the labyrinth.

Inevitably, creatures within the labyrinth had to be grilled or boiled to be eaten. Still, given the limited space, there were occasions when food had to be eaten raw.

In such a situation, getting food poisoning was a real disaster. Even Lee Taeyeon had come close to dying.

However, if one had Disease Resistance, the story would be different.

[Special Always-Active Skill: Disease Resistance］ [Proficiency: 1%］ [A resistance to various diseases. At the current proficiency, one is less likely to contract diseases from eating.]

The chance of a successful diagnosis of food poisoning was reduced to below 10%, providing a significant bonus during times of crisis. As proficiency increased, it was fair to say that one would become virtually immune to food poisoning.

Originally, the skill could only be obtained after suffering from various diseases. Still, for Taesan, who had information, it could be acquired quite easily.

Next was the other skill.

Taesan headed towards the fountain.

It was just deep enough to submerge him up to his waist.

“I really hate this.”

With a grimace on his face, Taesan plunged his head into the water.

Blub blub.

His breathing was naturally cut off underwater. Instead of surfacing, Taesan closed his eyes and held his breath.

Blub blub.

The air bubbles gradually decreased.

Finally, the air he had been holding in was completely depleted.

His body, devoid of air, longed to breathe. The discomfort gradually spread.

But he endured.

[You are in a state where breathing is not possible.]

It was painful.

Someone once said that drowning was the most torturous way to die. Whether that was true or not, it meant that it was exceedingly agonizing. His body, yearning to breathe, ordered him to quickly get out of the water.

But he didn’t leave.

With an unwavering face, he endured underwater.

He forcibly closed his windpipe, which was opening, to drink the water and waited.

His consciousness was beginning to blur. He felt his strength wane. His consciousness was disappearing, and his vision was flickering.

Death was right in front of him.

That’s when the system window appeared.

[You have refrained from breathing until the brink of death. You've acquired the special activation skill [Breathlessness].] [You have perceived death. You've acquired the special always-active skill [Death's Line].]

It was done.

Taesan lifted himself up. A large amount of water splashed out.

“Hah, hah.”

While calming his wildly beating heart, he smoothed out his ragged breathing. It took a few minutes for him to barely settle down.

“This is really some unpleasant stuff.”

He complained while flipping his wet hair. It was essentially self-water torture. Even for Taesan, who was accustomed to pain, it was a thoroughly miserable experience.

But he had no other choice. Breathlessness could only be obtained while underwater.

[Special activation skill: Breathlessness] [Mana Consumption: 1] [Proficiency: 1%] [You can hold your breath for a long time. Right now, it's only about twice as long as an average human.]

Breathlessness was an activation skill that increased the duration of holding in one’s breath.

It wasn’t a widely known skill.

It could only be obtained underwater and only just before dying.

Most who acquired it ended up as fish food, so it wasn’t until Taesan obtained the skill that information about it became known.

And even after it was known, no one tried to acquire it.

You had to stay underwater until just before death. The number of people who could endure the pain of not breathing and the fear of possible death was exceedingly small. Most of those who survived in the labyrinth were close to being cowards, and weren’t willing to learn the skill in such a manner.

For this reason, apart from Taesan, the only one who had acquired it was Junggeun.

In Easy or Normal mode, it wasn’t a particularly useful skill. Still, in the Hard and Solo modes, the story was different.

Intermittently, floors where the air itself was poisoned, would appear. Breathlessness would be of great benefit there.

At the same time, Death’s Line was not a bad skill either.

It was a skill that informed you when you were at risk of dying due to the location or an attack.

He had been able to escape quite a few crises because of it.

[Special Always-On Skill: Death's Line] [Proficiency: 54%] [You can sense when you're nearing death. Activates in most crises.]

Seeing the proficiency, Taesan was surprised.

“Why is it already at 54%?”

Raising the proficiency by just 1% was usually quite challenging. There wasn’t a player who exceeded 50% for advanced skills until they were better in the labyrinth.

But it was already 54%. This was the same proficiency as he had in the future.

“Does something like this carry over?”

It seemed like power engraved in the mind, rather than the body, had a certain degree of continuity.

However, it was hard to fully accept this theory because the basic proficiency of Cold Judgment and Penetration were different.

“I don’t know.”

Taesan tidied up his thoughts neatly.

In the labyrinth, things that couldn’t be understood happened frequently.

He wouldn’t be able to endure if he tried to assign meaning to all of them.

It was a good thing for him, so he should be satisfied with that.

Taesan checked the number of skills he now had.

Swordsmanship. Shield Technique. Sight Enhancement. Penetration. Cold Judgment. Soul Ascension. Death’s Line. Breathlessness. Disease Resistance.

Nine in total. From the 1st floor, he had obtained the number of skills that an Easy Mode player usually obtained by clearing the labyrinth.

In the past, Taesan didn’t reach this number until he arrived at the 20th floor. Considering that most of them were useless skills, their value was even higher.

But Taesan had no intention of stopping here.

There were still more skills to be obtained.