Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 205: 51st Floor, The Forest of Mystical Beings(2)
Light burst forth, and Taesan quickly dodged by kicking off the ground.
The laughter around him grew louder.
[This is fun.]
[So much fun.]
[With this, we don’t need to send him back out of boredom.]
[He won’t die easily.]
[Let’s play with him.]
“These guys are pretty vicious,” Taesan muttered, continuously moving his body. The lights narrowly missed him, grazing past.
‘As expected, I can’t sense them.’
These beings wielded considerable power. Normally, he should be able to feel the remnants or aura of such power, but he couldn’t sense anything, making it impossible to locate them.
Taesan made a decision. Even if it meant consuming some energy, he needed to accurately grasp his enemies’ positions.
[You have activated Marbas’s Pitch-black Wave.]
A surge of black waves erupted from him.
The waves, voraciously consuming everything in their path, advanced, swallowing the trees and bushes around him. The colorful forest began to be engulfed in a deep blackness.
Rumble!
In an instant, a wide area of trees and bushes was erased, clearing Taesan’s view.
He quickly leaped into the air to survey his surroundings.
He finally caught sight of some very small, humanoid figures.
They had a pair of wings and were extremely beautiful, but only about the size of Taesan’s palm.
“Fairies?”
And they were much farther away than Taesan had expected. Even if he ran at full speed, they could still easily escape.
The fairies distanced themselves even further from Taesan.
[A frightening human.]
[Be careful.]
[Let’s play cautiously.]
Taesan landed on the ground. The trees and bushes, which had been trampled and destroyed by the waves, slowly began to regrow and fill the area again.
“Fairies… they certainly fit the theme of mystery.”
[But they’re not exactly the kind of friends you’d find in a fairytale.]
While the two conversed, the surroundings once again filled with dense trees.
“This is tricky.”
He had expended energy to use the Pitch-black Wave, but in the end, everything returned to its original state. He only managed to identify who was attacking him without gaining any further useful information.
Indeed, the difficulty of the 51st floor was on a whole different level.
“What should I do?”
Taesan had received some information from Lee Taeyeon, but even she had only vague knowledge.
Taesan began to organize the information he had.
‘The ones attacking me are fairies.’
And they were at a considerable distance.
Even with a rough estimate, they were several kilometers away, shooting light at him. Now he understood why he couldn’t sense anything. These tiny beings were using their power from such a distance that it was impossible to detect them accurately.
Zing!
As another beam of light flew toward him, Taesan dodged it and looked around.
The forest, which had been damaged by the Pitch-black Wave, had returned to its original state.
After examining the position of the trees and bushes, Taesan realized something.
‘The position of the trees and the shape of the bushes are exactly the same.’
The forest was completely identical to how it was before it had been destroyed by the wave.
Suddenly, Taesan had a thought and moved forward. The forest began to change as he did.
Taesan stopped walking.
The trees and bushes around him returned to the exact positions they had been in before he had moved.
“So that’s how it is. No wonder people get lost.”
[You figured it out? You’re quicker than I expected.]
Taesan reached a conclusion.
“The forest is moving along with me.”
The positions of the trees and bushes changed continuously as he moved. This made it easy to get lost, as the landscape appeared unchanged even though the positions had shifted.
This was information that Lee Taeyeon hadn’t known. She had just said that after wandering around for a few days, she suddenly found her way out.
Taesan would probably find his way out as well if he spent a few days here.
But he had no intention of wasting that much time.
The forest adjusted itself to follow him.
In other words, if he could prevent the forest from following him, he could escape.
Taesan braced himself. He invested his remaining stats into agility and sprinted.
Boom!
The wind flattened the bushes and struck the trees, scattering leaves. As Taesan sprinted, the forest began to move as well.
[He’s escaping.]
[He’s running away.]
The fairies followed, shooting beams of light at him. Taesan blocked them as he ran.
He pushed his legs harder.
Accelerating his body, he kept running at full speed, not stopping until he reached his limit.
Then, the scenery that had always been the same began to change.
The forest that followed him couldn’t keep up with Taesan’s speed.
Boom!
He stomped on the ground. The earth crumbled, and the trees around him trembled.
He continued accelerating. The scenery began to change rapidly.
As the forest transformed, Taesan focused his mind.
He spread his senses in all directions, examining everything he passed. As a result, Taesan detected a foreign energy in the distance.
The energy emanating from the forest was dreamlike and full of mystery. But that place felt ominous and unnervingly real.
That was the place he needed to reach.
Taesan changed direction. The sound of the fairies’ giggles, which had been following him, gradually faded away.
Rumble.
Branches lifted and trees moved, merging into a massive structure.
A tree, now as large as a small hill, blocked Taesan’s path.
Taesan threw a punch.
Boom!
A huge hole was punched through the tree. It crumbled, and the branches scattered to the ground.
Taesan left the tree behind and moved forward.
As he got closer to the ominous energy, the forest’s colors began to change. The previously colorful, dreamlike trees turned brown, and the leaves shifted to a deep green.
A very realistic forest appeared.
“This is the place.”
This was his first destination. The ghost beside him let out a low whistle.
[You got here pretty fast. I thought it would take at least three days. But then again, with those ridiculous stats, this kind of thing is possible.]
The 51st floor. The forest that follows adventurers.
There was only one solution. Time. As time passed, the forest that followed would eventually start to twist, and at a certain point, a new path would appear.
You just had to wait until then, but Taesan had forced his way through with speed.
This was something that would be impossible on a normal 51st floor.
[It’s the domain of that ugly creature.]
[It’s not fun there.]
[Let’s go back.]
The fairies giggled as they departed. No more beams of light came toward him, suggesting they had truly left.
Taesan observed the transformed forest for a moment before heading inside.
[As you descend further, you’ll encounter unique floors, ones that can’t be dealt with in a conventional manner. And on such floors, there’s usually a guide. You’ll see this more often as you progress.]
The ghost spoke. As he said, deeper inside the forest was a small house made of wood.
Taesan rang the bell hanging beside the house. A chiming sound echoed, and he heard someone inside approaching.
“Damn those fairy bastards! You’re dead if I catch you!”
With a rough shout, the door burst open.
The figure that emerged looked up at Taesan and frowned.
“Who are you?”
“An adventurer.”
Taesan responded.
[You have encountered the hideous Gremlin of the Mystical Forest.]
“Sorry about that. Those fairy bastards keep breaking my bell, so I thought it was them again.”
The creature that brought Taesan inside rummaged through some shelves. It pulled out a few tea leaves, tossed them haphazardly into boiling water, and served it.
“It might not look like much, but it’s good stuff. It’s healthy too. Give it a try.”
Taesan hesitated as he stared at the tea the creature offered, but eventually, he brought it to his lips.
[You have drunk tea brewed from the leaves of Mandragora. All your Health and Mana are fully restored, and your physical abilities are at their peak. Your mind is also strengthened.]
“How is it? Tasty, right?”
“…The taste is terrible.”
Taesan couldn’t even lie and say it was good. The creature’s face fell, disappointed.
“Figures. The last guy said the same thing. I wonder when I’ll ever gain a talent for this.”
“But the effects are ridiculous. What’s in this?”
It fully restored both Health and Mana, enhanced physical abilities, and even strengthened the mind.
It was almost equivalent to leveling up. And he was just given this casually, not even as a quest reward.
“You adventurers might not be able to get your hands on it, but this place is full of stuff like that. It’s not that big a deal.”
The creature sat down on a chair made of leaves.
“I’ll give you a few more once this is all over.”
A non-hostile NPC existing on the 51st floor.
There was only one reason such a being would exist. The creature spoke.
“You’re an adventurer. I’m a being tied to this labyrinth because I desire something. You know what I’m going to propose, right?”
Taesan nodded. The creature smiled.
“Good. The last guy wasn’t bad, but he couldn’t give me what I wanted. The ghost behind you is the same. I wonder how you’ll fare?”
The creature leaned back in its chair and asked,
“Be honest. What do I look like?”
Taesan looked at the creature’s face.
It was stubby. Its height only reached about half of Taesan’s. But it wasn’t just short; its proportions were so off that it looked grotesque.
And its face was horribly distorted. It had a mix of reptilian and human features, with both blending in a way that made it incredibly strange.
Its ears were flat like a lizard’s, and its eyes were unnecessarily large. Its arms and legs had long, ghastly claws.
“Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“You’re ugly.”
Taesan replied, and the creature nodded, as if it had expected that answer.
“I’m hideous, aren’t I? It can’t be helped, being a gremlin and all. But aside from me, everyone else here is beautiful and lovely.”
You could tell just by looking at the fairies. They were small and extremely cruel, but they were as beautiful as any being in a fairy tale.
“Unicorns, sea serpents, La Palas… They all have such mesmerizing appearances. Yeah, that’s why they’re in fairy tales and idolized by humans. But what about me?”
Its face twisted in anger.
“I may have been allowed to stay on the 51st floor because of my mystical nature, but I’m the only one who looks like this. I’m the only one who’s hideous. The fairies always mock me for being ugly, and the sea serpent subtly looks down on me. It’s infuriating.”
Crunch.
The leaves of the chair crumpled in its fist.
“Do they think I wanted to be born looking like this? Even when I isolate myself in my own domain, those fairy bastards come all the way here just to pick a fight. Just because I’m ugly, just because I look like trash!”
Unable to contain its anger, the gremlin stood up.
“I’m a mystical being just like them! I should be someone humans fear and admire!”
The gremlin, filled with distorted anger and jealousy, slumped back down.
“…They persecute me because I’m ugly.”
It gave a crooked smile, revealing its jagged teeth.
“Then if I become beautiful and they become ugly, I’ll be able to persecute them instead, right? Yeah, that’s how it’ll be.”
As the gremlin mumbled to itself, a quest appeared.
[Sub Quest Initiated]
[The gremlin is a mystical being. Though he resides on the 51st floor, the residents here oppress and scorn him because of his appearance. Enraged by this, the gremlin desires to become beautiful.]
[Condition: Fulfill the gremlin’s request.]
[Reward: A method to clear the 51st floor, and as many treasures of the Mystical Forest as he deems satisfactory.]