Ascension Through Skills-Chapter 13: First Level - The Secret Room (8)

If Taesan did not disclose the goddess’s location, Ainzhar would continue to live in despair. He would inevitably disappear without finding what he hoped for until the end.

If he told him, Ainzhar would learn the location of Levynenoff. Ainzhar would be immensely grateful to Taesan and would likely do anything for him.

But he didn’t know what would happen afterward.

Ainzhar, upon finding Levynenoff, could become hostile. The goddess could also potentially detest him.

As a fanatical follower, there was no question as to whether he’d prioritize the goddess or Taesan. He might suspect that Taesan was the killer of the goddess and attack him. All possibilities were on the table.

He was stronger than even Lee Taeyeon. An NPC whom even his past self couldn’t guarantee victory against.

If he became hostile to him, it would be a significant problem in breaking through the labyrinth.

After a moment of contemplation, Taesan spoke.

Ainzhar had given him a lot. The Airak Weapon Technique. A ring that increased attack power. These were excessively generous gifts for a stranger.

He must reciprocate that generosity.

“Levynenoff. Do you want to know the location of your beloved goddess?”

“Yes. Finding her is my wish.”

“I know her location.”

“What?”

Ainzhar’s face shook.

“I know where Levynenoff is.”

“…Your joke is excessive.”

Ainzhar grimaced as if he was uncomfortable. Naturally, he didn’t seem to believe Taesan’s words.

“I’ve roamed the entire labyrinth myself and couldn’t find her. How could you, who’s only just started on the first floor, know her location?”

The trust he had a moment ago disappeared, and discomfort appeared on his face. It was a natural reaction. To Ainzhar, Taesan was a novice who had just entered the labyrinth, and it seemed unbelievable that he would know something that Ainzhar himself, who had been in the labyrinth for so long, did not.

Ainzhar wouldn’t believe it if he were told that Taesan had found something he couldn’t locate throughout all these years.

Taesan had anticipated his reaction.

“In my world, there’s an item for the labyrinth.”

“Nonsense. The labyrinth has no map.”

“You would know. There is a map for a specific entity, not for the entire labyrinth.”

At Taesan’s unwavering gaze, Ainzhar closed his mouth. His pupils expanded shortly after.

“… The flute that calls for a god? That is in your world?”

“Yes.”

Although the reality was different, Taesan nodded.

“An item that tells the location of each god. It’s an item that can be obtained in the labyrinth.”

“How did you…”

“My family possessed information about it. We had pre-determined and written about the locations of the gods.”

Of course, it was a lie.

In his world, there was no such information about the labyrinth.

What he was talking about was the information that Lee Taeyeon had told him.

The Flute that Calls for a God. Its effect was to ascertain the location of a god. It was an item that Lee Taeyeon had obtained on the 89th floor.

However, she could not make use of that item. Most gods mocked and laughed at her, unwilling to help.

As a result, The Flute became an item that was stuck in her inventory.

Because she complained that all the gods were disrespectful, Taesan also learned about the existence of the flute. He had thought it was meaningless information and had stowed it away in a corner of his mind, not realizing it would come in handy like this.

“The 78th floor. The Library of All Things. The 24th secret room.”

Ainzhar’s eyes shook.

“Levynenoff is there.”

“…I see. The Library of All Things is there. I haven’t checked there yet…”

When Taesan mentioned the floor and what was there, Ainzhar seemed to gain confidence in his words. His eyes swirled with delight.

“So it was there!”

“I think I have given you a fair return.”

“Ha ha! More than enough! It’s overflowing!”

Ainzhar burst into laughter and grabbed Taesan’s shoulder.

“I really thank you! I’ve never felt so grateful to anyone before! You’re my benefactor!”

His eyes held madness. Taesan, disturbed by this zealous emotion, said.

“My shoulder hurts.”

“Ah, sorry. I couldn’t control my emotions for a moment.”

Ainzhar stepped back, grinning broadly.

“Are you thinking of going right away?”

“Uhm…… that’s a bit difficult. The 78th floor is deep. It’s a dangerous place for me too. I should prepare sufficiently.”

Still, Ainzhar had a lively face. He could now find his goal. That alone would be delightful.

“Once again, I sincerely thank you. No, it’s hard to express it in words. I want to repay you somehow……”

Ainzhar racked his brain. He couldn’t give anything too good. It would increase the chance of Taesan becoming complacent and losing his life due to arrogance.

But to give something insignificant, something of no value to him was too little for what he had received from Taesan. After desperate contemplation, Ainzhar made a decision.

“If you’re as skilled as you, it’ll be okay. Take this.”

There was no reason to refuse a gift. Taesan obediently accepted an old ring.

[Gloomy Ring] [+20 HP] [It appears to be a ring distributed among priests in a certain sect. Now, only one person has it after its destruction.]

‘Oh.’

Taesan marveled inwardly. A single ring increased his health by 20. In Easy Mode, one would have to reach the 30th floor to get such a ring, and even that would require luck.

“I wouldn’t usually give this to a first-floor adventurer… but I believe you are not an adventurer who will become complacent. I hope my judgment is not wrong.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Taesan had already seen the ending of this story.

He didn’t have time to be complacent.

Ainzhar gave him a soft smile.

“That’s good. I’m really thankful.”

“Are you going down now?”

“I have to prepare, too. I can’t stay on the first floor any longer, can I?”

Ainzhar, as if not wanting to delay any longer, dashed towards the door. Before leaving, he turned around and waved.

“Thank you! See you again!”

“Take care.”

“Ha ha ha ha! Goddess! Here I come! I’m the only one who remembers you, and I’m heading toward you!”

With a laugh full of madness, Ainzhar left.

Could he find the goddess? When he did, would she be a dead goddess or a living one?

Whatever it was, Ainzhar’s journey had begun. It would take a considerable amount of time until he met Taesan again.

Taesan raised his shield.

After sufficient rest, he started delving into the labyrinth. Taesan wandered around the first floor again.

Big Rats attacked him, but it was no longer a problem. The issue before was the lack of agility stats, which made it hard to keep up with the movements. Now, Taesan’s agility was 22. He could more than adequately react.

He absorbed agility from the Big Rats he caught. After increasing his agility by another 3 points, a system window appeared.

[Your Soul Ascension has activated. The difference in the soul level between you and the opponent is too great. You gained nothing from the opponent.]

“Huh?”

Taesan paused and checked the message.

And then he understood.

“If the gap is too great, the ascension stops.”

No matter how many Big Rats he caught now, his agility would not increase. It was regrettable, but he had somewhat expected this. If he could gain indefinitely without any conditions, it would mean that infinite grinding was virtually possible.

He could achieve an agility score of a thousand just on the first floor. Surely, the creator of the labyrinth must have set some limits.

But even with such restrictions, it was an unbelievable skill. The fact that a stat increased every time he defeated a monster. Honestly, it was better than any other skill he had acquired.

As long as he had this skill, no matter how hard others in the Solo Mode tried, they could not catch up with him.

However, his growth on the first floor had now stopped. The experience points he received had also seemed to halt at some point.

It was time to head to the second floor.

But instead of finding the way down, Taesan started going around the first floor again. He carefully inspected each room and explored the passageways.

There were secret rooms in the labyrinth.

Typically, at least one was hidden on each floor, and a great reward awaited those who found them.

Magic wands, rings of levitation, permanent stat-increase potions, etc. Items that greatly aided in conquering the labyrinth were there.

Since only one person could enter, the competition was fierce.

Taesan had missed many secret rooms.

It was something that relied more on luck and experience than skill, so that was unavoidable.

‘I’ve only been able to enter twenty.’

But this place was Solo Mode.

There were no other players except him.

Here, he could gain all the secret rooms.

“I wonder if it’s the same here?”

The labyrinth maps were naturally different by difficulty level, but the basic structure was the same. There were distinct characteristics of rooms where secret rooms were hidden.

“Here it is.”

Taesan, who had been wandering around, arrived at a particular room.

The room had no connections. There was only one entrance, and the interior was completely empty.

A room with no apparent purpose. A room that everyone would dismiss and pass by.

Such places were the ones that held the secret rooms.

Taesan examined the walls.

They were bricks covered in moss, no different from any other room.

The floor and ceiling were also not much different.

In such cases, the likelihood of the existence of a brick that could be manipulated to find the secret room was high.

“What a grind.”

Without a change in expression, Taesan began to check the bricks nearby.

He pressed, turned, and pulled out bricks.

And if there was no change, he moved on to the next brick.

He spent at least 10 seconds on each brick.

There were hundreds of bricks in the room. He had to check each one like this.

It was a level of tedium that could make one’s mind as if it had gone far away, but Taesan was enjoying it.

“This is pretty reasonable.”

In the labyrinth, the value of the results was based on actions. Grinds were not much different. Among the secret rooms he had found, there were somewhere he had to persevere for a week without any sign of progress. Thinking back to that time, this attempt now felt like heaven.

The same actions were repeated countless times. Taesan checked the bricks one by one, his expression unchanged.

After about halfway through…

“I found it.”

[Proficiency of Detection has increased by 5%.]

Rumble.

The brick sank deep inside. The nearby bricks followed suit, exposing what lay behind them.

What appeared was a small passage.

This was the secret room.

[You have discovered a secret room.] [You have earned the title of Adventurer.] [You have earned the title of Adventurer.][You are the first to discover this secret room. Intelligence has permanently increased by 3.]

Adding the Adventurer title that increased intelligence by 1 and the first discovery bonus, the total increase was 4. This alone justified the grind.

And the main dish was a separate feast. As Taesan entered the secret room, a passage of appropriate length was visible. At the end of it, there was a box.

That was the reward.

The passage seemed empty as if one just had to run to get to the treasure.

‘But it can’t be that easy.’

Nobody knew about this place because even Lee Taeyeon hadn’t figured out the secret room on the first floor. He had to find it himself, and Taesan was quite adept at such tasks.

Taesan went outside. It wasn’t long before he found a Big Rat wandering around the labyrinth.

“Squeak, squeak!”

He stepped on the rushing Big Rat to subdue it. His current agility was 25. Catching a Big Rat was no longer a challenge for him.

Taesan took the subdued Big Rat back to the secret room and threw it towards the seemingly empty passage.

Click.

Along with a clicking sound, an arrow whizzed through the air.

“Squeeee!”

The Big Rat screamed and collapsed. Its twitching body soon stopped moving.

“An arrow trap, huh.”

Quite a textbook trap for the first floor. It was a trap activated by stepping on the floor, and considering that only one arrow had been shot, it seemed not to be a particularly difficult trap.

Taesan stepped on the spot where the Big Rat had died.

Click.

An arrow shot toward Taesan’s chest. He quickly moved his hand.

Thwack.

He caught the arrow in his hand.

Catching one was manageable.

He walked again.

Swish!

He caught two arrows targeting his head and chest at the same time.

Two were not a big problem either. After putting the arrows in his inventory and taking another step, this time, three arrows flew at him.

He grabbed two and dodged one by tilting his head.

“It’s getting tougher as I go.”

The distance to the box was about ten steps.

At the end, ten arrows flew at once. As the distance was closer, it was harder to avoid.

But that was by the standards of a normal player.

Taesan’s Agility was now at 25. He could catch ordinary arrows that were shot at him. Even if there were ten, it was not impossible if he used his skill and focused solely on dodging.

Therefore, he planned to grab what he could before he reached the end.