Chapter 185: Level 38 (2)
As Taesan descended the floor, he thought about Haphan.
“Should I check on him soon?”
It had been quite a while since he commissioned him for the equipment. He was curious about the progress, but the ghost dissuaded him.
[It’s better not to go. He’s probably struggling a lot right now. You’ll just be a distraction.]
“Really?”
[He’s never made equipment of that level before. He has to surpass his limits, so he can’t afford to focus on anything else. For your sake, it’s better to visit later.]
Since the ghost was so adamant, Taesan didn’t insist on going. The shopkeeper at the beginning of the 39th floor asked him.
“Isn’t it time to buy something?”
“Not really. The items you’re selling are useful, but they aren’t essential.”
All the items sold by the shopkeeper were top-notch, but none of them were better than what Taesan was currently equipped with.
“I’ll think about it if you get better items.”
“Got it.”
Taesan passed the shopkeeper and moved forward.
Upon reaching the room, he found a knight wielding a greatsword.
“Hah!”
With a stronger force than the knights he had faced before, the knight swung the greatsword at Taesan’s head.
Taesan swung his sword and deflected the greatsword. Then he grabbed the knight’s arm and threw him.
Boom!
The knight was flung into the wall.
As the knight struggled to get up, Taesan stomped on him and delivered the final blow.
Crack.
The knight fell.
Taesan continued to clear the labyrinth calmly.
No one could stop him.
As he severed the arm of a knight, Taesan murmured.
“I’d like to learn a new skill soon.”
[More?]
The ghost asked, slightly taken aback.
[Isn’t this enough?]
In the labyrinth, skills were extremely valuable but also very difficult to obtain. Even after thoroughly clearing an area, there were times when one wouldn’t gain a single skill.
Considering such instances, the number of skills Taesan had acquired was extraordinary, even from the ghost’s perspective, who had ventured deep into the labyrinth.
[Don’t you have about a hundred skills now?]
“I haven’t counted precisely, but it’s around that number.”
[…My goodness.]
The ghost laughed in disbelief.
Currently, Taesan possessed more skills than the ghost had when he reached the deeper parts of the labyrinth.
And yet he still felt lacking.
[Isn’t this a bit greedy? It’s also important to be satisfied.]
“Not for me.”
Taesan was still not satisfied.
“The ones I’ve gotten recently are all rewards from quests.”
Intermediate magic. It was excellent. Dark magic was the same.
But all of them were skills given by the gods after passing their trials.
They were not skills he had newly created while navigating the labyrinth.
The simplified time stop, multiplication, absolute judgment, and other skills he had created himself, boasting absolute value.
He wanted to acquire those.
But the higher the value of a skill, the harder it was to learn. It wasn’t just about difficulty; fulfilling the conditions was challenging.
To learn the multiplication skill, he had to swing his sword without moving in the same posture using perseverance to double the damage.
Moreover, it had to be done while being targeted by numerous monsters, not just ordinary ones.
Other skills were not much different. Even with superior stats and knowledge of the methods, they were not easily learned.
That’s why, despite being much stronger than in his past life, he had not learned most of the skills yet.
Putting aside his regrets, Taesan continued to navigate the labyrinth.
Clearing a secret room with ease, Taesan received his reward.
[Sacrificial Sword of Farum]
[Attack Power +50]
[A sword used to offer sacrifices to the ancient god Farum.]
[Due to the ominous energy on the blade, wounds inflicted with this sword do not heal easily.]
It had the ability to prevent wounds from healing. Since he had never given his opponents time to heal during battles, Taesan didn’t feel a strong need for it and stored the sword in his inventory.
“It’s getting harder to find useful equipment.”
[Considering your current equipment, that’s understandable. Some of it is usable until you reach the deeper levels.]
With such conversations, Taesan continued through the floors.
Eventually, he reached the boss.
[A knight corrupted by the Abyss has appeared.]
The knight exuded a black aura.
Upon spotting Taesan, the knight let out a fierce roar.
As the roar filled the entire room, Taesan muttered.
“Noisy.”
As if understanding Taesan’s words, the knight suddenly stopped roaring and immediately charged.
It was a beast-like charge. And it was significantly faster than the previous knights…
But that was all.
Taesan struck down at the charging knight. The knight couldn’t evade the attack and was slammed into the ground.
Boom!
[2,453 damage to the Abyss-corrupted knight.]
[That’s still insane damage.]
The ghost marveled. Combining numerous skills like powerful strike, critical point targeting, and multiplication, Taesan’s attack power was beyond imagination. Even the sturdy knights on the 30th floor couldn’t withstand a few blows.
The knight stood up immediately despite the fierce attack. Taesan struck again.
The knight was slammed into the ground once more.
But once again, the knight quickly charged at Taesan.
As if it had taken no damage at all.
Taesan tilted his head in confusion.
“This is odd.”
He deflected the knight’s sword and deeply embedded his own sword into the knight’s chest. The damage exceeded three thousand. It was enough to render any normal monster severely injured.
But the knight’s movements didn’t change.
Just like when they first started fighting, the knight kept charging relentlessly.
Taesan kicked the knight away.
“Let’s see.”
Taesan watched the knight curiously. With this much damage, its movements should be affected, but there was no sign of that.
[You activated Essence Perception.]
As soon as he activated the skill, he learned about the knight.
‘Knight Corrupted by the Abyss.’
The knight had been corrupted in a deep, mysterious space whose origin was unknown. When it returned, it had lost its intellect and became a beast-like entity.
The corrupted knight turned into an indomitable being that didn’t stop and couldn’t die from any injury.
But even such a knight had a weakness.
‘A small part of the nape, huh.’
Perhaps something blocked the corruption when it fell into the abyss, leaving a part of its nape untouched. That seemed to be the weakness of the 39th-floor boss.
[So you figured it out. It’s hard to miss, though.]
The nape area was a different color. Anyone could have noticed it with a bit of observation.
Targeting that spot made the 39th floor not particularly challenging. The ghost assumed Taesan would deal with the knight immediately and head down to the 40th floor.
However, Taesan lowered his sword.
Then he began to dodge the knight’s attacks silently.
[What are you doing?]
“There might be something to gain here.”
Taesan meticulously analyzed the knight’s movements. The patterns, types of swordsmanship, speed, and power. He examined it all.
‘It seems feasible.’
Taesan went through the final confirmation process.
[You activated Critical Point Targeting.]
He designated a critical point on the knight’s shoulder and struck there. The knight was thrown back.
The knight charged again, seemingly unaffected.
Even when the critical point was changed, the knight didn’t seem to be damaged except for its nape.
This made it possible.
Taesan gripped his sword and focused his mind.
The ghost realized what Taesan was aiming for.
[Trying to acquire a new skill?]
Since Taesan had used similar methods to acquire skills several times before, the ghost could easily guess. Taesan nodded slightly.
[What is it this time? I’m curious.]
“Sure-hit.”
[Sure-hit?]
As the ghost pondered the meaning, it paused.
[…Is it what I think it is?]
“Probably.”
Boom!
The knight charged.
Taesan quickly read the knight’s movements. He read the trajectory of the swinging sword and activated his skill.
[You activated Critical Point Targeting.]
He designated a critical point on the knight’s shoulder.
Then he dodged the attack and accurately struck the designated critical point.
Clang!
The knight staggered heavily. Although it had taken thousands of damage, it charged again as if unaffected.
Taesan dodged again and designated another critical point.
Clang!
He struck the designated spot.
The knight skidded backward.
“Now eighty-nine times to go.”
Taesan quietly counted.
To acquire the skill Sure-hit, one had to hit the critical point a hundred times consecutively.
But most enemies would die before reaching that count. Critical points themselves inflicted significant damage, and no monster could withstand a hundred strikes.
The only ones who could were monsters like the knight before him, which required fulfilling certain conditions to kill.
Not knowing when such a monster would appear again, Taesan was determined to acquire Sure-hit this time.
Taesan continued to swing his sword.
He designated the critical point and struck there repeatedly. If he blocked the knight’s attack even once, he would have to start over, so he evaded every attack.
He succeeded easily about ten times.
Then the knight’s movements changed.
It moved erratically, trying to dodge Taesan’s attacks or deflect the impact.
“Does it have some intelligence?”
[Whatever it is, it seems to have figured out your intention.]
It wasn’t unusual. Most of the monsters here had some level of intelligence. And Taesan was performing obvious actions of designating and attacking the critical points.
Monsters could definitely respond to
such actions.
Taesan designated the knight’s abdomen as the critical point. The knight lowered its body to the ground. A normal attack couldn’t reach its abdomen.
If he designated another spot, the knight would protect that spot too. It was a clever response that made attacking difficult.
But it didn’t matter.
Taesan’s will flowed out.
The knight sensed Taesan’s intent to target its nape. Instinctively, it twisted its body to protect its nape, exposing its abdomen.
Taesan struck the exposed abdomen.
With a loud noise, the knight was slammed into the wall. Taesan murmured.
“Eighty-nine more times to go.”