Chapter 13
If he does not reveal the goddess’s location, Ainshar will continue to live in despair. He will disappear without ever finding what he seeks.
If he does tell him, Ainshar will learn the location of Levinenof. He will feel a great debt to Taesan and will want to do anything for him.
However, what happens afterward is uncertain.
There’s a possibility that Ainshar, having found the goddess, could become hostile towards him. There’s also a chance the goddess might not favor him.
Given his fanaticism, it’s clear whom Ainshar would prioritize between the goddess and Taesan. He might even suspect and attack Taesan as the one responsible for the goddess’s death. All possibilities are open.
Ainshar, stronger than Ireon, posed a challenge even for Taesan’s previous self.
If they become adversaries, navigating the labyrinth becomes significantly more challenging.
After a moment of contemplation, Taesan spoke up.
Ainshar had given him much: the Iyrak Weapons Technique, a ring of attack power. These were excessively generous gifts for a stranger.
He owed him a response.
“Do you wish to know the location of Levinenof, the goddess you love?”
“Yes. Finding her is my greatest wish.”
“I know where she is.”
“What?”
Ainshar’s expression wavered.
“I know where Levinenof is located.”
“…Your joke is too much.”
Ainshar’s face twisted in displeasure. Naturally, he didn’t believe Taesan’s claim.
“I’ve traversed the entire labyrinth without finding a trace. How could you, freshly arrived on the 1st floor, know her whereabouts?”
The trust that had been there moments ago evaporated, leaving only displeasure on Ainshar’s face. It was a predictable reaction. To Ainshar, Taesan was just a newcomer. It seemed unbelievable that he would know something Ainshar hadn’t discovered over long years.
Taesan had anticipated this.
“In my world, there exists an item related to the labyrinth.”
“Nonsense. The labyrinth has no such thing as a map.”
“You know well that while there may not be a map of the entire labyrinth, there are maps for specific beings.”
Ainshar fell silent, his steady gaze on Taesan, who continued confidently.
“…The Flute that Calls the Gods? Your world has it?”
“Yes.”
Though not entirely true, Taesan nodded.
“An item that reveals the locations of gods, obtainable within the labyrinth.”
“How could you possibly…”
“My family held information about it. We had already identified the locations of the gods mentioned.”
Of course, this was a lie.
There was no information about the labyrinth in his world.
He was referring to the information Ireon had shared with him.
The Flute that Calls the Gods, an item she obtained on the 89th floor, could pinpoint the gods’ locations. However, she never utilized it effectively since most gods were more interested in mocking her than offering help.
Thus, the Flute became just another item in her inventory, forgotten.
Knowing the gods were disdainful, Taesan also knew of the Flute’s existence. He hadn’t expected to use this seemingly useless information like this.
“The 78th floor, the Library of Everything, in its 24th secret room.”
Ainshar’s eyes flickered.
“That’s where the Library of Everything is. I haven’t checked there yet…”
Mentioning the floor and its specifics seemed to convince Ainshar of Taesan’s claim. Excitement danced in his eyes.
“Yes! That’s the place!”
“It seems I’ve repaid my debt.”
“Ha! More than enough! Overflowing, even!”
Ainshar, bursting into laughter, clapped Taesan on the shoulder.
“I’m truly grateful! I’ve never felt such gratitude towards anyone! You are my benefactor!”
Madness glinted in his eyes. Taesan, brushing off the fanatical emotion, said, “My shoulder hurts.”
“Oh, sorry. I got carried away.”
Ainshar, still smiling broadly, stepped back.
“Are you planning to go there now?”
“Um… That might be difficult. The 78th floor is deep in the labyrinth. Even I need to prepare thoroughly.”
Yet, Ainshar appeared spirited, now having a goal. The mere thought of it was exciting.
“Once again, I’m sincerely grateful. No, words alone can’t express it. I wish I could repay you somehow…”
Ainshar pondered deeply. Giving something too valuable might lead to complacency and endanger Taesan’s life. Yet, giving something trivial seemed inadequate, considering how much he had received from Taesan. After much deliberation, Ainshar made his decision.
“You, with your abilities, should be fine. Take this.”
There was no reason to refuse. Taesan accepted another worn ring.
[A Tarnished Ring] [Health +20] [Seems to have been distributed among priests of a certain order, now extinct except for one.] “Wow.”
Taesan marveled internally. The ring boosted health by 20—a significant increase, typically found around the 30th floor in easy mode.
“I wouldn’t normally give such an item to a 1st-floor adventurer, but I believe you won’t become complacent. I hope my judgment isn’t wrong.”
“It will be fine.”
Taesan had already seen the end.
There was no time for complacency.
Ainshar smiled.
“That’s good to hear. Thank you, truly.”
“Are you leaving now?”
“I need to prepare. I can’t stay on the 1st floor any longer.”
Ainshar rushed towards the door, eager to move on. Before leaving, he turned and waved.
“Thank you! We’ll meet again!”
“Farewell.”
“Ha ha ha ha! Goddess! I am coming! I, the only one who remembers you, am coming towards you!”
With a mad laugh, Ainshar departed.
Would he find the goddess? And if he did, would she be alive or dead?
Regardless, Ainshar’s journey had begun. It would be a long time before he met Taesan again.
Taesan picked up his shield.
Having rested sufficiently, Taesan resumed his exploration of the labyrinth, wandering the 1st floor again.
The Big Rats attacked him, but they were no longer a problem. The challenge had stemmed from a lack of agility to track their movements. Now, with an agility of 22, Taesan could easily react.
He absorbed agility from the Big Rats, increasing it by about three more points, when a system notification appeared.
[Your Spirit Ascension has activated. The soul gap between you and your opponent is too vast. You gain nothing from the opponent.] “Hmm?”
Taesan paused to review the message and realized,
“The increase stops when the gap is too wide.”
From now on, killing Big Rats wouldn’t increase his agility. Although disappointing, this was somewhat expected. If it were possible to endlessly increase stats without any gap, one could theoretically grind to absurd levels of agility just on the 1st floor. The labyrinth’s creator would have surely prevented such a possibility.
Even with such restrictions, the skill remained incredibly potent. It allowed for stat increases with each monster killed, arguably better than any skill Taesan had acquired before.
With this skill, other Alone mode players, no matter how hard they tried, couldn’t catch up to him.
But now, his growth on the 1st floor had stalled. Even the experience points had plateaued.
It was time to head to the 2nd floor.
Instead of seeking a way down, Taesan began to traverse the 1st floor again, meticulously inspecting each room and corridor.
The labyrinth contained secret rooms.
Typically hidden on each floor, these rooms offered significant rewards to those who discovered them: magic wands, rings of levitation, potions for permanent stat increases—items that greatly aided in navigating the labyrinth.
Since only one person could enter, competition was fierce.
Taesan had missed many secret rooms in his time.
Dependent on luck and experience rather than skill, it was unavoidable.
“I only entered about twenty.”
But this was Alone mode.
No other player existed here but him.
In this mode, he could claim every secret room.
“Is it the same here?”
While the maps differed according to difficulty, the basic structure remained the same. There were characteristics of rooms hiding secret rooms.
“Here it is.”
Taesan arrived at a room.
The room was unique, with no other entrances. Just the one door he came through and an empty interior.
Rooms with no apparent purpose. Everyone ignored them.
Such places hid secret rooms.
Taesan examined the walls.
They looked no different from those in other rooms, covered in moss.
Neither the floor nor the ceiling seemed out of the ordinary.
In such cases, it’s likely a room where you interact with the bricks to find the secret.
“Grind work.”
Without changing expression, Taesan began checking the bricks nearby.
Pressing, twisting, pulling out.
And if nothing changes, he moves on to the next brick.
At least ten seconds per brick.
The room contained hundreds of bricks. He had to check each one like this.
A daunting task, but Taesan found joy in it.
“This is quite mild.”
The labyrinth always had outcomes based on actions. Even grind work wasn’t much different. He recalled rooms where he had to wait a week with nothing happening as part of the discovery process. Compared to that, this was paradise.
The same action repeated endlessly. Taesan methodically checked each brick without any change in expression.
And about halfway through,
“I’ve found it.”
[Your Observation proficiency has increased by 5%.] Rrrrr.
The brick sunk deeper into the wall. Nearby bricks followed suit, hiding themselves.
What appeared was a small passage.
This was the secret room.
[You have discovered a secret room.] [You have received the title [Adventurer].] [You are the first to discover this secret room. Your Intelligence has permanently increased by 3.] The Adventurer title alone, which increased Intelligence by 1, along with the first discovery bonus, amounted to a total increase of 4. This alone made the grind worthwhile.
And the main dish was yet to come. Taesan entered the secret room, where a short passage awaited. At its end lay a single chest.
That was the reward.
The passage seemed empty, suggesting he could simply run up and claim his prize.
“That’s unlikely.”
Ireon hadn’t discovered the 1st floor’s secret room, so no one knew about this place. He had to find it himself, and Taesan was quite skilled at such tasks.
Taesan exited the room. Wandering the labyrinth, he soon found a Big Rat.
“Squeak, squeak!”
He stomped on the approaching Big Rat, subduing it. With his agility now at 25, dealing with Big Rats was trivial.
Taesan took the subdued Big Rat back to the secret room. He then threw it into the seemingly empty passage.
Click.
The sound of activation was followed by arrows slicing through the air.
“Squeak!”
The Big Rat screamed and fell. After a brief struggle, it lay still.
“An arrow trap, then.”
A classic trap for the 1st floor. Activated by stepping on a specific spot, it wasn’t too difficult to deal with, considering only one arrow was fired.
Taesan stepped on the spot where the Big Rat had died.
Click.
An arrow flew towards Taesan’s chest. He quickly moved his hand.
Thwack.
The arrow was caught in Taesan’s hand.
Catching one arrow was manageable.
He walked forward again.
Swoosh!
He caught two arrows aimed at his head and chest, dodging another with a tilt of his head.
“Gets tougher as you go.”
The distance to the chest was about ten steps.
At the end, ten arrows flew simultaneously. The proximity made dodging harder.
But that’s for the average player.
Taesan’s agility was at 25. Ordinary arrows were within his grasp to catch. Even ten at once, with skill use and focused evasion, wasn’t impossible.
So he prepared before that.
