Chapter 510
‘Multiplication?’
Bardray thought about the meaning of the word multiplication. He didn’t know the exact dictionary definition, but he understood what the word implied.
‘Addition was… doubling.’
It doubled attack power. That was the effect of [Addition].
Then multiplication meant—
‘Wait.’
A possibility flashed through his mind, and Bardray shuddered.
‘…Is it what I think it is?’
“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but you’re probably right.”
‘Wow.’
Bardray couldn’t help but exclaim.
‘That’s… one hell of a line. If you multiply, how much does it multiply?’
“Square.”
‘If it’s squaring… you’re multiplying your current attack power?’
“That’s right.”
‘Hah.’
Bardray eventually let out a hollow laugh.
‘That’s completely insane.’
Bardray had watched Taesan use countless skills by his side.
[Addition], [Absolute Judgement], [First Attack Nullification], [Forced Duel], and more.
Any one of them was enough to overturn a battle. They were irregular skills. Every time Taesan obtained one, Bardray had no choice but to be impressed.
But multiplication was clearly above all of those skills.
Squaring attack power? That meant defense and HP were meaningless. As long as it hit, any opponent would be killed in a single blow.
‘Your current attack power is about thirty thousand… so if you square that…’
“It’s not just the base attack power. You can multiply the attack power increased through skills and equipment effects.”
In simple terms, he could raise his attack with [Addition], then square the doubled attack.
Bardray was speechless.
‘Wait.’
Thirty thousand with [Addition] became sixty thousand.
Sixty thousand with Blade of Resolve became one hundred eighty thousand.
Then all the miscellaneous boosts.
And then squaring all of that—
‘I can’t even calculate it.’
He gave up. There was no point calculating such numbers.
‘Then what’s the Designated Skill Reset?’
“A skill that resets other skills.”
‘Ah, a reset? That I can at least understand.’
Taesan already had several pieces of gear that reset skill cooldowns. Bardray assumed it was simply the same thing but as a skill—but Taesan shook his head.
“Designated Skill Reset works differently.”
‘Differently?’
“You can reset skills that are currently active.”
Normally, cooldown-resetting effects could only be used after the skill’s effect ended.
You couldn’t activate Blade of Resolve and then reset it immediately to use it twice in one attack. That was impossible.
But Designated Skill Reset made it possible. You could activate multiplication on an attack—then multiply again on that same attack.
‘That’s… beyond absurd.’
Even Bardray couldn’t laugh this time.
That meant Taesan could apply multiplication twice on a single strike.
But Bardray still had one concern.
‘This is still a discarded timeline, right? If you get the skills here, can you even take them back?’
“I already talked about that with the Magician.”
The Magician had said: if Taesan had the rightful qualifications and earned it through his own effort, he could take it back.
Meaning skills he personally met the conditions for would remain even after returning to the real timeline.
‘So you calculated everything.’
Bardray chuckled. At the same time, something else occurred to him.
‘Then the skill you asked Balbabamba for…’
“That’s for this.”
Multiplication merely multiplied damage. No matter how high the damage was, if it didn’t hit the target, it meant nothing.
But the skill he received from Balbabamba could change that premise.
He was very curious to see what kind of result would be born.
But first, he had to acquire the skills.
Crunch!
Taesan cut down the monster blocking his path and continued descending. Before long, he had reached the late 90s.
‘…I get it now. I understand what you want, and why you’re acting like this.’
Yet one question remained unanswered.
‘But why did you have to come here? Are the requirements really so hard that you can’t fulfill them in the original world?’
“The problem is that I’ve gotten too strong.”
Skill acquisition scales with the adventurer’s ability. That’s why, when Taesan had nothing, he was able to obtain [Endurance] and [Forced Duel] easily. But if he tried again now, they would be many times harder.
His basic attack power was thirty thousand.
With that stat, there was no way he could obtain multiplication.
“I considered sealing my own power, but the level of ‘true power’ I’ve reached can’t be suppressed that easily. In the end, I can’t get new skills by normal means anymore.”
That was why Taesan hadn’t obtained any new skills recently.
He stabbed the next monster cleanly.
“And aside from that, I doubt I could meet the conditions anyway.”
‘You know the conditions will be insane… but is it even possible to meet them here?’
The stronger the skill, the harsher the conditions.
For multiplication’s level, it was practically impossible.
Could such a skill really be obtained in Easy Mode? That was Bardray’s question.
“It’s not impossible.”
Taesan answered.
“But it’s not possible either.”
‘What does that even mean?’
“To be honest, even I’m not fully sure.”
He couldn’t guarantee obtaining Designated Skill Reset. Many skills he wanted required more luck than ability.
It would require absurd amounts of time, and he didn’t know if he had that much.
“But multiplication is different. It’s not a skill obtained normally.”
‘Not normal?’
Taesan didn’t answer. He simply reached the end of the stairs.
The door opened, and harsh wind greeted him.
Whooooosh!
Rough wind whipped his hair.
He was standing at the edge of a sharp cliff.
“We’re here.”
This was the 98th floor.
The place where Taesan first acquired multiplication.
—
‘A cliff, huh.’
Taesan stood at the very edge. The ground far below was visible.
The clear condition for the 98th floor was simple.
You just had to descend from the cliff to the ground below. Simple—but extremely difficult.
‘It was a real struggle.’
The cliff was incredibly tall. If you simply jumped, it took over ten minutes to reach the ground. Easy Mode players had reached superhuman levels, but falling from this height was still lethal.
You could climb down by holding the wall—but monsters interfered.
Eventually, after much discussion, the players had used numbers. They tied themselves together with ropes and descended slowly, fighting monsters along the way.
It was the first floor in Easy Mode that required falling. It was also where Taesan learned [Great Leap] and [Landing].
He opened his skill window.
[Addition]
[Great Leap]
[Ultra Acceleration]
[Landing]
[Absolute Judgement]
[Replication]
[Forced Duel]
[First Attack Nullification]
A list of powerful skills.
But multiplication and Designated Skill Reset were not there.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Taesan stepped off into empty air. He plummeted toward the ground.
Looking down, he saw dozens of small dots.
Those dots slowly grew larger.
[Kagak!]
Beastlike screeches. Hostility and killing intent washed over him.
Taesan gripped his sword.
Crack!
[Kieek!]
[You dealt 66 damage to Spoor.]
The bat-like monster burst apart.
These were Spoors—monsters that blocked descending adventurers.
[Kagagak!]
[Kieeeek!]
Dozens of Spoors rushed him at once. Taesan swung.
Crunch.
He pierced a skull. Then he twisted his body, letting two collide into each other.
He moved his feet and wrists fluidly. He stomped them mid-fall using the force of his descent.
They were tricky monsters, but Taesan had cleared this floor once—and repeated it millions of times. Killing them was effortless.
Screeeech!
But more came from below.
Without any change in expression, Taesan killed them all.
Crack-crack-crack!
He had cleared this before. Many times. There was no difficulty.
After over ten minutes of falling, the ground approached. Taesan corrected his posture.
[You have activated Landing.]
He landed lightly.
At ground level, dozens of cannons appeared before him.
The 98th floor’s ground area had cannons installed that launched Spoors upward at falling adventurers.
Once you reached the ground, they stopped firing. They only interfered during descent.
“This is the feeling?”
Not bad.
But nowhere near enough.
His suddenly weakened body couldn’t keep up with his mind. To obtain multiplication, he needed something far cleaner and more perfect.
He had to adjust his body and mind first.
[You have activated Great Leap.]
His body soared upward. The cliff rushed past in an instant. Taesan stepped on the cliff wall once more.
[You have activated Great Leap.]
Tap.
He reached the top.
It was instantaneous. The cannons had no chance to launch Spoors again.
‘Whoa.’
Bardray gasped. A height that took over ten minutes to fall from—reached in just two leaps.
‘Great Leap was this strong?’
“It was one of my core skills.”
Its greatness had been overshadowed by other skills, but [Great Leap] was incredible. With his pitiful Easy Mode stats, flying like this was impossible under normal circumstances.
“Then—”
He stepped off again.
And began falling once more.
[Kaaaak!]
[Kiiiik!]
Spoors soared up at him. Taesan gripped his sword.
Crunch.
He crushed skulls, sliced bodies, twisted his form.
His movements were noticeably cleaner than before—almost like a different person. Bardray was impressed.
His strength and level had been reduced from reality-cleaving transcendence to mere superhuman levels. Normally, adjusting would take ages.
But Taesan was flawless.
For someone at his current stats, Spoors should have been difficult. But he dispatched them cleanly, landing again without a single injury. At least from Bardray’s perspective, there was nothing left to improve.
Yet Taesan frowned.
“Still not enough.”
[You have activated Great Leap.]
He shot upward again.
Then fell again.
His movements improved slightly more.
Then he climbed again.
Slowly but surely, he raised his proficiency. Watching him, Bardray couldn’t help but wonder:
‘Can you really obtain multiplication with just this?’
It all seemed too ordinary.
Having to descend from a high place was rare in Solo Mode, but not unheard of. Taesan had cleared similar quests before.
It didn’t feel like a condition worthy of multiplication.
Taesan answered.
“This alone isn’t enough. But in this place, I can get it.”
‘I really don’t get it.’
“It’s simple.”
Taesan reached the cliff top again with another great leap. He looked down.
“There are quite a few bugs in Easy Mode.”