Chapter 6
“Wow.”
A joyful expression spread across Taesan’s face. The reward for clearing the 1st floor was a random stat-boosting potion. In the Easy Mode, this was a reward only given after surpassing the 10th floor.
“As expected, it’s on a different level.”
The system window didn’t stop there.
[You have set foot into the Labyrinth for the first time. Whether it’s courage or recklessness, those who understand the danger of the labyrinth will praise you.]
Another advantage of the Solo Mode: encountering no other Solo Mode players.
In other words, all initial rewards can be claimed by the first person to receive them. Considering the benefits, this was a significant advantage.
[Received the title [Pioneer].] Taesan quickly confirmed the effect.
“Check Title.”
[Title: Pioneer] [NPCs feel favorably towards you.] Taesan’s expression cooled.
Because Itaeyeon had mentioned that the NPCs in the Labyrinth were hostile towards players. Always disliking her, and sometimes even attempting to kill her.
Favor seemed meaningless in her opinion. She had also received the Pioneer title, but she had judged it as just another achievement given out.
All confirmations were done. The rest was to break through the Labyrinth.
He walked down the brick corridor.
While walking through the corridor, Taesan remembered Itaeyeon’s words again.
It’s impossible to clear a place that’s over 100 floors with nothing. Naturally, the Labyrinth provided minimal preparations for such situations.
One of them was the shopkeeper.
[Taesan. Was there a shopkeeper even in Easy Mode?] [Yes. Is there a difficulty level without one?] [What kind of merchant was it?] [Why does it matter? Just a simple merchant.] A shopkeeper who appeared at the entrance of each floor and only sold designated items.
Generally, they didn’t sell anything remarkable. Just potions and such, treated as disposable items.
[But it’s not like Solo Mode. They sold a lot. Look at this.] She showed him one piece of equipment.
“Is this supposed to impress me?” Mubich’s Wrist Guards. One of the strongest items she possessed, reducing all damage received by 50%.
“I bought this at the shop.” […They sell things like that?] [There were many other items, but I couldn’t afford them due to lack of gold. Maybe if I bought all the shop’s items, I could become stronger than you?] She said with confidence, and Taesan rolled his eyes in annoyance. After all, he was a player in Easy Mode.
“But not now.”
He could visit the shop she mentioned.
Finally, the corridor reached its end. Taesan opened the door.
“What? Already here?”
There was a dwarf in the room.
A grumpy face with a long white beard.
At least he didn’t look like a monster.
[You have encountered the Lost King.] Taesan looked at the dwarf silently. He was the shopkeeper of the Solo Mode, as Itaeyeon had said.
“Hello.”
“Hi?”
The dwarf chuckled.
“You’ve got a good mentality.”
The dwarf knew where he came from and how he got here.
The dwarf spoke up.
“What’s your name?”
“Taesan. And who are you?”
“Shopkeeper.”
“But you don’t have any items?”
The room, about the size of a studio apartment, contained only the dwarf. The dwarf snorted.
“Kid, if I had to take out all my items, I’d need to fill up the entire 1st floor.”
The dwarf took out a pipe and lit it.
“And I don’t plan on showing my kids to you.”
“Huh?”
A shopkeeper who doesn’t sell anything. Taesan chuckled.
“So why are you here then?”
“Am I here because I want to be? I abandoned my kingdom because of those crazy things and I’m here suffering.”
The dwarf puffed his pipe irritably.
“Anyway, I don’t want to show my kids to clueless people.”
“I see.”
He didn’t panic as Itaeyeon said he wouldn’t.
[But that crazy shopkeeper had a really dirty personality, right? I almost died because he didn’t sell anything at first, remember? And after that, always twitching and ignoring me. Ugh, annoying.] According to her, that dwarf said he would only open the shop under certain conditions.
“But if you show what kind of person you are, the story might change.”
The dwarf took out his pipe. At the end of it, there was another corridor.
“Go and come back alive. Then I’ll show you my kids.”
Survival.
That was the dwarf’s condition. And it was also a straightforward statement of the difficulty of the Labyrinth. Taesan asked calmly.
“Is that all?”
The dwarf was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude.
“Is that it?”
“So what do I need to do? Clear the Labyrinth and you’ll show me?”
“…No, no.”
The dwarf chuckled in disbelief.
“This guy is weird.”
“Can I go now?”
“Yeah, do whatever you want.”
Taesan headed towards the corridor. The dwarf looked at his retreating back with a puzzled expression.
“What? Is there such a thing?”
He seemed not to feel any fear at all. The dwarf puffed his pipe again.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t come back.”
The difficulty of the Labyrinth wasn’t set with Solo Play in mind.
Even if he did come back, he would probably return in a terrified state. With a face tainted by fear.
Such a person had no value. Just throw some useless items at him.
Whatever the case, it was convenient for the dwarf. He lit his pipe again with a sour expression.
Taesan arrived at another room through the corridor.
‘The corridor and the room. The structure of the 1st floor is the same as Easy Mode.’
Understanding the structure, he surveyed the room. The labyrinth made of mossy bricks looked safe and harmless on the surface.
‘But that’s unlikely.’
Taesan gripped his sword. A whimper could be heard.
This was the Solo Mode. Even the monsters appearing at the beginning were bosses from other modes.
“Agh, agh.”
Soon, a giant rat appeared.
[Big Rat has appeared.] “Big Rat?”
Taesan chuckled. He knew that monster.
Though its defense was nothing special, it moved at a speed difficult to track with the eyes. This monster, which had frustrated countless players, played the role of the 5th floor boss in Easy Mode.
Yet here, it was just a mob on the 1st floor. The gap between the two difficulties was once again deeply ingrained.
‘What should I do?’
First, analysis. His memories of dealing with it decades ago were fuzzy. Taesan observed the Big Rat.
“It’s really big.”
About the size of a cat. The world’s largest rodent living in tropical regions. It resembled a capybara.
But it didn’t look as cute as a capybara.
Black, scruffy fur. And its grotesquely protruding incisors were impressive.
“Agh!”
The Big Rat charged at Taesan while he was momentarily distracted.
The Big Rat was fast. In the blink of an eye, it was at his ankles.
But Taesan was ready.
He had been in countless battles over the years.
He aimed his sword at the Big Rat’s head.
The Big Rat dodged it effortlessly. But Taesan was also prepared for this.
The real battle began now.
“Here we go.”
Chapter 6 : First Floor (1)
“Wow.”
A joyful expression spread across Taesan’s face. The reward for clearing the 1st floor was a random stat-boosting potion. In the Easy Mode, this was a reward only given after surpassing the 10th floor.
“As expected, it’s on a different level.”
The system window didn’t stop there.
[You have set foot into the Labyrinth for the first time. Whether it’s courage or recklessness, those who understand the danger of the labyrinth will praise you.]
Another advantage of the Solo Mode: encountering no other Solo Mode players.
In other words, all initial rewards can be claimed by the first person to receive them. Considering the benefits, this was a significant advantage.
[Received the title [Pioneer].] Taesan quickly confirmed the effect.
“Check Title.”
[Title: Pioneer] [NPCs feel favorably towards you.] Taesan’s expression cooled.
Because Itaeyeon had mentioned that the NPCs in the Labyrinth were hostile towards players. Always disliking her, and sometimes even attempting to kill her.
Favor seemed meaningless in her opinion. She had also received the Pioneer title, but she had judged it as just another achievement given out.
All confirmations were done. The rest was to break through the Labyrinth.
He walked down the brick corridor.
While walking through the corridor, Taesan remembered Itaeyeon’s words again.
It’s impossible to clear a place that’s over 100 floors with nothing. Naturally, the Labyrinth provided minimal preparations for such situations.
One of them was the shopkeeper.
[Taesan. Was there a shopkeeper even in Easy Mode?] [Yes. Is there a difficulty level without one?] [What kind of merchant was it?] [Why does it matter? Just a simple merchant.] A shopkeeper who appeared at the entrance of each floor and only sold designated items.
Generally, they didn’t sell anything remarkable. Just potions and such, treated as disposable items.
[But it’s not like Solo Mode. They sold a lot. Look at this.] She showed him one piece of equipment.
“Is this supposed to impress me?” Mubich’s Wrist Guards. One of the strongest items she possessed, reducing all damage received by 50%.
“I bought this at the shop.” […They sell things like that?] [There were many other items, but I couldn’t afford them due to lack of gold. Maybe if I bought all the shop’s items, I could become stronger than you?] She said with confidence, and Taesan rolled his eyes in annoyance. After all, he was a player in Easy Mode.
“But not now.”
He could visit the shop she mentioned.
Finally, the corridor reached its end. Taesan opened the door.
“What? Already here?”
There was a dwarf in the room.
A grumpy face with a long white beard.
At least he didn’t look like a monster.
[You have encountered the Lost King.] Taesan looked at the dwarf silently. He was the shopkeeper of the Solo Mode, as Itaeyeon had said.
“Hello.”
“Hi?”
The dwarf chuckled.
“You’ve got a good mentality.”
The dwarf knew where he came from and how he got here.
The dwarf spoke up.
“What’s your name?”
“Taesan. And who are you?”
“Shopkeeper.”
“But you don’t have any items?”
The room, about the size of a studio apartment, contained only the dwarf. The dwarf snorted.
“Kid, if I had to take out all my items, I’d need to fill up the entire 1st floor.”
The dwarf took out a pipe and lit it.
“And I don’t plan on showing my kids to you.”
“Huh?”
A shopkeeper who doesn’t sell anything. Taesan chuckled.
“So why are you here then?”
“Am I here because I want to be? I abandoned my kingdom because of those crazy things and I’m here suffering.”
The dwarf puffed his pipe irritably.
“Anyway, I don’t want to show my kids to clueless people.”
“I see.”
He didn’t panic as Itaeyeon said he wouldn’t.
[But that crazy shopkeeper had a really dirty personality, right? I almost died because he didn’t sell anything at first, remember? And after that, always twitching and ignoring me. Ugh, annoying.] According to her, that dwarf said he would only open the shop under certain conditions.
“But if you show what kind of person you are, the story might change.”
The dwarf took out his pipe. At the end of it, there was another corridor.
“Go and come back alive. Then I’ll show you my kids.”
Survival.
That was the dwarf’s condition. And it was also a straightforward statement of the difficulty of the Labyrinth. Taesan asked calmly.
“Is that all?”
The dwarf was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude.
“Is that it?”
“So what do I need to do? Clear the Labyrinth and you’ll show me?”
“…No, no.”
The dwarf chuckled in disbelief.
“This guy is weird.”
“Can I go now?”
“Yeah, do whatever you want.”
Taesan headed towards the corridor. The dwarf looked at his retreating back with a puzzled expression.
“What? Is there such a thing?”
He seemed not to feel any fear at all. The dwarf puffed his pipe again.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t come back.”
The difficulty of the Labyrinth wasn’t set with Solo Play in mind.
Even if he did come back, he would probably return in a terrified state. With a face tainted by fear.
Such a person had no value. Just throw some useless items at him.
Whatever the case, it was convenient for the dwarf. He lit his pipe again with a sour expression.
Taesan arrived at another room through the corridor.
‘The corridor and the room. The structure of the 1st floor is the same as Easy Mode.’
Understanding the structure, he surveyed the room. The labyrinth made of mossy bricks looked safe and harmless on the surface.
‘But that’s unlikely.’
Taesan gripped his sword. A whimper could be heard.
This was the Solo Mode. Even the monsters appearing at the beginning were bosses from other modes.
“Agh, agh.”
Soon, a giant rat appeared.
[Big Rat has appeared.] “Big Rat?”
Taesan chuckled. He knew that monster.
Though its defense was nothing special, it moved at a speed difficult to track with the eyes. This monster, which had frustrated countless players, played the role of the 5th floor boss in Easy Mode.
Yet here, it was just a mob on the 1st floor. The gap between the two difficulties was once again deeply ingrained.
‘What should I do?’
First, analysis. His memories of dealing with it decades ago were fuzzy. Taesan observed the Big Rat.
“It’s really big.”
About the size of a cat. The world’s largest rodent living in tropical regions. It resembled a capybara.
But it didn’t look as cute as a capybara.
Black, scruffy fur. And its grotesquely protruding incisors were impressive.
“Agh!”
The Big Rat charged at Taesan while he was momentarily distracted.
The Big Rat was fast. In the blink of an eye, it was at his ankles.
But Taesan was ready.
He had been in countless battles over the years.
He aimed his sword at the Big Rat’s head.
The Big Rat dodged it effortlessly. But Taesan was also prepared for this.
The real battle began now.
“Here we go.”
