[Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: Uh, um, Mr. Taesan. As you said, I experienced the trial.] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: Really? How was it?] [Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: The trial itself was fine... uh. It's a bit confusing. What was that? Is that what a god is?] [Kang Taesan [Solo]: What are you talking about?] [Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: ……I couldn't breathe. Madness and confusion came at the same time.]
Before going down to the next floor, he met with Lilis. He explained to her how to acquire the Frost Arrow.
“It’s the same as the Blazing Orb… is it some kind of law?”
As she wrapped her head around the theory, Taesan took out his excess equipment from his inventory.
“With these, I can learn at least one, right? This time, let’s learn Basic Detection.”
He learned a spell. A new power had come to Taesan.
[Basic Magic: Basic Detection] [Mana Consumption: 2] [Proficiency: 1%] [[Understand the surroundings. Can only detect things like the location of objects.]
It was a perfect downgrade version of Reconnaissance. But there must be a way to use it, as magic and skill had different judgments. Lilis peeked her head inquisitively.
“When will you learn a new spell?”
If Taesan learned a new spell, she could also learn something she hadn’t learned. But Taesan shook his head.
“First, I will learn all the spells you have.”
Two things were needed to learn a new spell: the price that Lilis received and the permission he received.
There was no reason to risk an uncertain option when he could learn magic with the least price.
Lilis changed her face to a sulky look.
“Alright. I got it.”
His business was done.
Taesan left Lillis. In the end, she also waved at him with a beaming smile.
“See you downstairs!”
Taesan headed to the 8th floor. As always, he greeted the waiting dwarf and descended.
[The 8th-floor quest starts.] [Defeat the boss of the 8th floor and pass through.] [Reward: Marnius's Rune.] [Secret Reward: ???]
At the same time, a quest window popped up.
[Special Quest Starts] [Return to Earth.]
“It’s about time.”
[Huh? What is?]
“This issue.”
Taesan checked the quest.
[Special Quest Starts] [Return to Earth.] [In a week from now. You will return to the land you abandoned. Survive there and come back. The reward will be determined according to your achievements.] [This quest cannot be refused.]
It was a short quest window. But the sentence contained in it was anything but light.
They would return to Earth in a week, to the place where the monsters were poised to trample the world.
He confirmed it without any sense of excitement, as it had happened several times in the past.
They, the players, occasionally had to return to Earth even before clearing the labyrinth. All of those began under the name of a special quest.
Those quests made the players experience various emotions and experiences.
Opening the Community, it was noisy, as expected.
[Kim Taejin[Solo]: What is this? It's not just me, right?] [Lee Taeyeon[Solo]: Yes, I also got it... How should we accept this?]
First, confusion and flustered reactions were visible. Then, sporadic expectations began to show.
[Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: Isn't it literal? We're returning to Earth after a week?] [Kim Taejin[Solo]: But so suddenly? Isn't it strange?] [Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: What's not strange here? At least it's a quest. I don't think they'd lie.] [Na Jaeyeon[Solo]: ...Can we really go back?] [Lee Sang[Solo]: Wait a minute. Really?] [Moon Jaesung[Solo]: Wow. Amazing.]
They could get out of this place where they had to fight for their lives. Everyone was delighted at that fact. Just as the people were almost overwhelmed with happiness, Kang Junhyuk dampened the mood.
[Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: Uh... Is this a good thing?] [Kim Taejin[Solo]: What are you talking about! We're going back! Why isn't this good?] [Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: But, the reason we entered here was because of the monsters.] [Kim Taejin[Solo]: ...Ah.]
The belated realization of what they had forgotten swept over them.
Before the quest window appeared for them, the sky had split. A giant monster appeared from there and looked down at them.
Everyone who entered the labyrinth had been startled by the monster and fled in haste.
[Lee Sang[Solo]: Uh... ] [Moon Jaesung[Solo]: So what. We've become stronger than before. It could just be a big brute.] [Na Jaeyeon[Solo]: Right. It will work out somehow.]
Still, hope was more prevalent than despair. Everyone didn’t say much, but a considerable amount of stress was built up from their extreme situations. They were happy just by the fact that they could get out of this place where they had to risk their lives.
Above all, if they returned to Earth, there would definitely be material benefits.
[Lee Sang[Solo]: We'll be able to eat, right?] [Moon Jaesung[Solo]: Probably, right? Can we finally stop eating this damn Big Rat meat?]
Emergency food rations were too expensive for newcomers to buy, so all they could eat was monster meat. For them, who were accustomed to modern food, it was torture.
[Lee Sang[Solo]: There should be canned food left. Maybe we could even eat rice.] [Lee Taeyeon[Solo]: Canned corn! I used to love that.] [Na Jaeyeon[Solo]: It's delicious. But I found peanuts tastier.] [Kim Taejin[Solo]: I prefer pineapple!]
They were in high spirits for the first time in a long while.
In Solo Mode, they couldn’t meet anyone except NPCs. Everyone struggled from the isolation. The anticipation of meeting people also excited them.
An alert appeared to Taesan, who had been staring at the Community.
[Kang Junhyuk has invited Kang Taesan.]
Taesan accepted it.
[Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: Oh, was this what you were talking about, brother?] [Kang Taesan[Solo]: Yeah.] [Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: ...How did you know about this?]
Kang Junhyuk asked nervously as Taesan replied with a gruff voice.
[Kang Taesan[Solo]: You know about the Altars of God, right?] [Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: Oh, they told you about it?] [Kang Taesan[Solo]: Not completely, but they gave a rough guide. I inferred from there.] [Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: There's such a method. If you're called a god, you'd know that much.]
Kang Junhyuk quickly agreed. Although it wasn’t the case, he had no choice but to accept it because he didn’t know anything about the gods.
[Kang Taesan[Solo]: Try to break through the second floor while you're at it. It would be better if you could penetrate a bit of the third floor too.] [Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: ……It seems to be quite difficult.] [Kang Taesan[Solo]: It won't be easy.]
Everyone in the Community was overjoyed to be able to leave this place. However, half of the surviving players died when they returned to Earth for the first time.
Given that, there was no reason for Taesan to celebrate.
[Kang Taesan[Solo]: Don't dampen the mood by bringing it up; just tell them to try their best to break through. Morale is important here.] [Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: Got it. I'll do my best.]
The conversation with Kang Junhyuk ended. Taesan, who had been looking at the Community, chuckled to himself.
He could not see Choi Junghyuk, who was always loud and talkative.
‘He must be suffering from a headache.’
He looked forward to the day they would return to Earth.
Taesan had no plans to just sit still. He planned to go as far as he could.
He moved toward the 8th floor.
“Kkiruk!”
Monster of the 8th floor, the Marukanda.
It was a bird the size of a human with a sharp beak, the first non-humanoid monster after the Big Rat. It was a tricky opponent to face as it fluttered its wings and rushed forward unpredictably.
Of course, this didn’t matter to Taesan.
He slashed his sword down.
“Kkik!”
[You have defeated Marukanda.]
This kind of monster was more comfortable than fighting humanoids. Since it only moved instinctively without higher-dimensional techniques like swordsmanship, Taesan could respond more easily.
“Can I use swordsmanship against beasts?”
[Uh…… My swordsmanship, which is based on fighting humans, won't work. That would be the domain of mercenaries or barbarian's swordsmanship.]
There seemed to be some limitations to swordsmanship. Unlike skills, its effect greatly varied depending on the opponent.
It was not a big problem, so he moved on while keeping it in mind. His goal was to break through quickly, so his movements were unhesitant.
[Your Soul Ascension has been activated.]
Even while doing so, his stats continued to rise steadily. About halfway through, he was able to find an altar.
[You have discovered the Altar of Oman.] [First Discovery Bonus] [Mana + 2] [Intelligence + 2]
It was another god’s altar.
This was the third altar, following Lakiratas and Balthasar.
[Altar of Oman] [An altar built by those who serve Oman. It is a passage connected to the god. Oman can exert influence through this place.]
The spirit spoke.
[Oman. The god of trials. He likes to test adventurers and allow them to gauge their own strength. He's just the god you need right now.]
Power could be felt from beyond the altar. The same transcendental power as before.
But it wasn’t as strong. It was moderate enough to be received calmly.
[Sub Quest Started] [Oman wants to test you, who visited his altar. If you accept, trials will come your way. If you overcome them, you will be rewarded.] [Reward: Determined by Oman based on your achievement.]
There was no reason to refuse. Taesan accepted the quest.
[Sub Quest Started] [Oman is preparing for your choice.]
Kooong!
The door closed as the room transformed into an isolated space.
[Oman's Trial: Prove your strength.]
A black liquid began to seep out and gather on the floor. It started to take a form.
A shadow in the shape of a human wielding a sword.
Chulkuk.
The sword was aimed at Taesan, and Taesan took his stance.
There was no information at all about what level the opponent was. The shadow, who had been quietly watching him, kicks off.
Taat.
Seeing the shadow rushing towards him, Taesan was taken aback.
‘Why is it so slow?’
It was the speed of an ordinary human. Considering that even a small increase in stats transcended the realm of humans, it was too slow.
‘Is there something else?’
Cautious of any skills or special abilities, Taesan swung his sword.
The shadow couldn’t react and was sliced. The liquid scattered.
[You have passed the first trial. Your Agility increases by 1 as a reward.]
With that system message, the scattered liquid regathered.
Chulkuk.
Again, a human form appeared.
Tat.
The shadow kicked off again. This time it was faster than before. Its movement was at the limits of human capabilities.
To compare precisely, all the stats would be slightly superior to an Olympic gold medalist.
But to Taesan, it was extremely slow.
Just like before, it disappeared with one sword strike.
[You have passed the second trial. Your Strength increases by 1 as a reward.]
Ggulreong.
Once again, the liquid gathered.
The shadow took the form of a human again. Taesan realized what the trial was.
“It’s step by step.”
[Correct.]
The first shadow was an adventurer on the first floor who hadn’t leveled up much and had stats not much different from a human. The second shadow was at the level of an adventurer who had entered the second floor and was gradually challenging the limits.
The third would be an adventurer who had entered the third floor, showing movements beyond human capabilities.
Taat.
As Taesan expected, it was faster than the previous shadow. A simple movement of the sword knocked it down, and yet another shadow appeared.
[You have passed the third trial. Your Intelligence increases by 1 as a reward.]
“Testing with the average strength of the Solo Mode?”
The god of trials. His intention was simple.
He would test whether you really had the strength fitting for the floor.
If he took down this shadow, a shadow with the strength of the fourth floor would probably appear.
Perfect timing. Taesan grabbed his sword.
It was a situation he didn’t know about himself. The only player in Solo Mode was Lee Taeyeon. She had dodged all sorts of things and descended, so she was far from average. She could not be a reference point.
On top of that, only monsters he had seen in Easy Mode were appearing. It was hard to compare.
Comparing stats also didn’t have much meaning.
[Lee Taeyeon] [Level: 258] [HP: 45810/45810] [Mana: 7020/7020] [Strength: 10152] [Intelligence: 9899] [Agility: 13254] [Attack + 5421] [Defense + 8456]
These were the stats of Lee Taeyeon, who cleared the labyrinth.
The numbers were so high that the comparison was meaningless. The more you descended, the more the growth increased, making it difficult to gauge what level it was.
In other words, Taesan knew he was strong, but he didn’t know what floor level he was in Solo Mode. He could only make a rough guess.
Understanding this was necessary.
Taesan swung his sword towards the shadow rushing at him.
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