Chapter 578
After reading the system window’s explanation, Taesan tapped the ground with his finger.
He could perfectly control and manage the Labyrinths of Easy Mode, Normal Mode, and Hard Mode.
Taesan closed his eyes. His consciousness and vision left Earth and headed elsewhere.
And Taesan began to observe.
The three Labyrinths copied by the Usurper.
All the Labyrinth’s Players were currently on Earth. There were no humans left inside the Labyrinths.
‘This is my first time seeing Normal Mode and Hard Mode.’
Their basic appearance was not much different from Easy Mode. Compared to Solo mode, they were simple and utterly ordinary.
He could see the monsters stationed on each floor.
Naturally, the monsters in Easy Mode were the weakest, and they grew stronger as the difficulty rose toward Hard Mode.
After observing for a moment, Taesan manifested his power.
Crackle.
Taesan’s power affected the three Labyrinths.
And all the monsters inside the Labyrinths were crushed and pulverized.
It took less than a second. Every monster in the three Labyrinths vanished.
Other than the NPCs, nothing remained in the Labyrinths now.
In their current state, even an ordinary person with no power could reach the 100th floor as if taking a walk.
Taesan activated his power again.
Then the vanished Labyrinth monsters began to reappear.
Taesan could control the Labyrinths perfectly.
If he wished, he could create a Labyrinth filled only with S-rank monsters. Though he had no intention of doing so.
And the line saying he could interfere with subordinate lifeforms under specific conditions.
It probably referred to the people of Earth.
“So there were conditions after all.”
The Usurper was the master of Easy Mode, Normal Mode, and Hard Mode. It was entirely possible for him to take Earth’s Players hostage and threaten Taesan, and Taesan had indeed considered that possibility.
But the Usurper could not do that.
It could barely interfere with the Labyrinths, and forcing a return to Earth was about the limit of its intervention.
The Usurper had only been imitating the concept of the universe, after all. It seemed there had been clear limits to that much.
But Taesan was different.
Whether because his rank was higher or because he was a being of the universe, once he resolved one very minor restriction, he could influence Earth’s Players.
Simply put, in his current state, he could forcibly make the Players clear the Labyrinths.
‘Should I discuss this part?’
The basic confirmation was finished.
Taesan continued checking the remaining Divine Powers.
[Transcendence [Lord of Control]]
[Proficiency: 99%]
[You can control and command everything within a certain range centered around yourself.]
A simple explanation.
It was not hard to understand. It simply meant controlling the surroundings based on himself.
The Usurper had probably used this Divine Power to control and fuse the Divine Powers it had devoured.
A simple, yet powerful Divine Power.
And finally, the last one.
This Divine Power did not belong to an Old God.
It was a Divine Power of the universe.
[Transcendence [Descent]]
[Proficiency: 99%]
[The embodiment of the universe’s concept of Descent.]
The Usurper had devoured the God of Fall.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say the God of Fall had offered itself up.
Taesan already understood the essence of how to handle the concept of Descent from his battle with the God of Fall.
“This is giving me a headache.”
He had obtained too many Divine Powers all at once. The number of things Taesan could do by combining Divine Powers had increased enormously.
He could think about it slowly.
For now, Taesan organized his thoughts that way.
Then Taesan stood up.
He had been ignoring it while checking control over his power, but he could feel several gazes directed at him.
Taesan lifted his head.
There, the leaders of various countries and the Solo mode Players were looking at him.
“Were you waiting?”
“It felt a little awkward to speak first.”
The leader of the America Labyrinth, Oliver Khan, spoke.
In the eyes of the people looking at Taesan, there was joy.
And there was also uncertainty.
“Let me ask you one thing, Taesan. Have we… really won?”
A system window had clearly appeared saying they had won.
But they could not feel at ease until they heard confirmation from Taesan himself.
Because they had been betrayed too many times before.
Taesan nodded.
“We won. At least for now.”
“Ah.”
“Aah.”
Only then, as though the tension had finally melted away, people slumped down. Daniel let out a sigh of relief.
“We really… won.”
“But what do you mean, ‘for now’? That sounds unsettling.”
“There are still things to confirm.”
Where had the Old Gods gone?
What were they planning next?
Until the Transcenders confirmed that, some uncertainty still remained.
“But… Earth is safe for now. You don’t need to worry about that anymore.”
The Rift in the sky had closed, and even if the Old Gods tried to intervene with Earth, Taesan alone could sufficiently stop them.
After hearing that confirmation, genuine joy finally spread across people’s faces.
“We… won.”
“Can we live on Earth now?”
They spoke happily among themselves. But Ichijo Eika suddenly muttered as if remembering something.
“But… how are we supposed to live?”
At that question, everyone fell silent.
Earth was devastated.
There were no surviving animals. The same was true of insects. At least within their range of perception, not even a single cockroach had survived.
And Taesan could confirm it as well.
That no life had survived on Earth, including plants and insects.
Even while the Players had not been on Earth, the monsters had remained. They had roamed across the entire planet, killing every living thing.
Not just life on the surface, but fish in the deep sea as well, even in the abyss.
With Makeshift Cultivation, food was not a problem. They could somehow grow plants too.
But the amount of vegetation that could be grown that way was too small.
They could survive, but it did not seem possible to live the same way as before.
“I’ve already thought about that part, so you don’t need to worry.”
“You’ve thought about it?”
“I can’t even imagine it.”
How could a completely dead Earth be revived?
At least within their common sense, it was incomprehensible.
But Taesan had always shown them things that surpassed their common sense. So they trusted him.
“And there is also something I need to tell you.”
“To us?”
“This doesn’t seem like something I can decide on my own.”
Taesan spoke.
About the control over the Labyrinths he had obtained.
And silence fell.
“Is that… really true?”
“Do you think I’d lie after coming this far?”
“Well, damn.”
Oliver wiped his face.
“The Labyrinth we risked our lives to conquer… has become yours.”
“I can make it so you can clear the Labyrinth.”
No need to risk their lives. Literally, they could clear the 100th floor and return to Earth as if taking a stroll.
“If you want, I’ll clear it for you.”
“Ngh…”
…
The Labyrinth was dangerous.
You had to stake your life to descend it, and indeed, there had been no small number of sacrifices.
But they could not answer immediately.
The Labyrinth was clearly dangerous. You had to overcome life-threatening peril just to barely descend.
That was precisely why they did not want to clear it by leaving it to Taesan.
Compared to Taesan, they were shabby, but they too had descended it by risking themselves. They had pride in that. They did not want to break it now through what felt like a cheat.
“I figured you’d say that.”
They too had pride in their own strength and effort.
They would not rely on Taesan.
“Still… it would be significant.”
“Because there are also people who gave up on the climb.”
Not all Players had attempted to clear the Labyrinth.
Some had given up from the beginning, and quite a few had stopped midway through the Labyrinth. Originally, all of them would have died, but thanks to Taesan, a considerable number had survived.
For them, this was incredibly good news. That they could clear the Labyrinth without risking their lives.
Lee Taeyeon suddenly remembered something and asked,
“Then did you gain control over Solo mode too?”
“No.”
Taesan shook his head.
“Not Solo mode.”
Solo mode belonged to the Magician. Lee Taeyeon muttered regretfully,
“That’s a shame. That’s the one we need the most.”
The Solo mode Players were steadily climbing the Labyrinth. The number of Players who had reached the 20th and 30th floors was not small.
But the problem was that the chance of clearing Solo mode was almost nonexistent.
Even the strong individuals from countless worlds had failed to clear the Labyrinth and had become Gatekeepers of the Guide of Sin.
Honestly, even the current ratio was strange.
Amelia, Lee Taeyeon, Kang Jun-hyuk, Kang Taesan. And even the Indian Player.
Quite a few Players were racing toward clearing Solo mode.
Considering Solo mode’s difficulty, it was an abnormally high ratio.
“I’m thinking about that too.”
Taesan answered calmly. He too was considering various plans.
“Not everything is over yet. So.”
Discussions about matters like that were postponed.
That was Taesan’s decision.
After that, they exchanged various trivial conversations.
Most of them were simple stories about life.
What they would do after everything was truly over.
How they would live from now on.
Lee Taeyeon said to Taesan,
“Taesan. Did you know? Before the world became like this, I was a teacher.”
“This is the first time I’m hearing that.”
What had mattered to them until now was how to survive and how to conquer the Labyrinth. They had never talked about what they originally did or how they had lived.
“Teaching someone. It had been a completely useless ability. But… not anymore.”
She could teach someone history, life, morality.
Joy spread across Lee Taeyeon’s face.
And after some time had passed.
The Magician appeared again.
“Sorry. Confirming things took a little longer. Before I explain, let me handle the reward distribution first.”
[99th Floor Cleared.]
[The Magician determines the reward.]
“Now then, what should I give you?”
The Magician shook his head.
“Let’s keep it simple.”
[You gained 10000 Attack Power.]
An increase in Attack Power.
Having expected it, Taesan calmly accepted it. At this point, any other reward would have been meaningless.
“And… what to do about the 100th floor.”
The 100th floor.
The end of the Labyrinth.
Taesan had now reached that end.
The Magician looked at Taesan with an ambiguous expression.
A quest as an ordeal.
Giving Taesan an ordeal.
It was a ridiculous statement. The weak giving an ordeal to the strong. What sort of ordeal could he possibly give to the current Taesan?
It was impossible for the Magician to give him a satisfactory quest.
And Taesan knew that as well.
“It seems you haven’t decided yet.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Then I have a suggestion I’d like to make.”
Taesan spoke calmly.