Chapter 7
[Taeyeon[Solo]: Mr. Taesan, how do you deal with the Big Rat?]
[Taesan[Solo]: Watch its muscle movements and predict its actions to strike.]
[Taeyeon[Solo]: Isn’t that just reacting based on observation?]
[Taesan[Solo]: No, I said predict.]
[Taeyeon[Solo]: …How am I supposed to watch a rat’s muscles?]
“Squeak!”
The Big Rat threatens with a screech. Taesan simply observes it.
Reaction alone is not enough.
But the Big Rat breathes, uses muscles to move; a living creature. The movement of its body when it attempts something can be noticed by anyone.
In a moment, the Big Rat’s legs contract. Its chest, moving up and down, swells.
Now.
Taesan thrusts his sword.
Clang!
“Squeak!”
The charging Big Rat reflexively retreats.
It’s all about prediction.
Every creature has a precursor to its attack. With careful observation, preempting it isn’t too difficult.
It’s similar to how professional boxers dodge punches not by watching the fists but by reading the movement of the shoulders.
The principle remains the same, even though the opponent is a rodent, not a human.
From here on out.
Taesan extends his unarmed arm.
The Big Rat hesitates and then charges again.
But once again, Taesan blocks its attack.
“Squeak, squeeeak.”
[The Big Rat is intimidated by you.] [Its decision-making slows down.] Anxiety creeps into its small red eyes. The Big Rat’s mind now rules out the ankle as an attack target forever.
Then, it would aim for the next easiest place to attack.
An arm, invitingly extended.
The decision was quick.
The Big Rat charges. It leaps to bite the forearm.
“Squeak?”
Panic fills the Big Rat’s eyes. The sensation of its bite feels off. Instead of flesh, it feels like it bit something hard.
Too late to flee, the Big Rat is suspended in mid-air. Its swift movements are sealed.
“You’re finished.”
Taesan slams the Big Rat, biting his arm, to the ground.
Boom!
“Squeeeeak!”
Underneath the forearm, the Big Rat screams. It struggles to escape, but the difference in strength is clear.
Taesan does not miss and stabs his sword into its chest. An unpleasant sensation travels up his hand.
[Your attack.] [The Big Rat is in a weakened state. Damage increases.] [4 damage to the Big Rat.] [5 damage to the Big Rat.] …
“Squeeeeak….”
Life fades from its red eyes.
“Phew!”
As the Big Rat’s movements cease, Taesan finally relaxes.
“That was tough.”
A rat that human reflexes couldn’t counter was just the first monster.
But Taesan calmly assessed.
He had won.
Now it was time to receive his rewards.
[You have defeated the Big Rat.] [A large amount of experience is gained.] [Health recovers by 5.] [You’ve obtained 43 gold.] [You’ve acquired Big Rat’s Leather.] [You’ve acquired Big Rat’s Meat.]
Taesan was nonchalant about these basic rewards. He didn’t fuss over them.
[You have achieved a victory against a difficult opponent on your own.] [Agility permanently increases by 1.] “Oh.”
Taesan smiled in satisfaction. In the labyrinth, stats are an unchanging value. An increase is always welcome.
But the system notifications didn’t stop there.
[Your soul skill activation triggers. Agility permanently increases by 1.] [You’ve acquired the basic skill [Swordsmanship].] [You have won the battle based on a wide field of vision. You’ve acquired the special passive skill [Field of Vision].] [You have discerned the enemy’s weakness during battle and seized victory. You’ve acquired the special passive skill [Discernment].] [You faced your first battle without panic. You’ve acquired the special passive skill [Composure].] “Huh?”
Taesan was startled. This was beyond his expectations.
But the system notifications continued.
[You have won against a monster for the first time.] [You’ve obtained 100 gold.] [You’ve acquired the title [Brave One].] “All this for beating a minion?”
In easy mode, even defeating boss monsters didn’t yield half these rewards.
Taesan commented dryly, but considering the nature of the labyrinth, it was quite natural.
The labyrinth doesn’t just consider the result of victory.
It looks more closely at how the battle was fought, how perfectly victory was seized, and what methods were used to achieve the result.
Taesan’s battle was near perfect. Moreover, he was a solo player. The labyrinth was just giving rewards appropriate to his accomplishments.
But unaware Taesan was both pleased and puzzled.
Still, a reward is a reward.
“Skill window.”
[Basic Skill: Swordsmanship] [Proficiency: 1%] [You feel like you can swing a sword.] The most basic skill. And for Taesan, who pushed forward with skills until the end, it was also a skill he never had to use.
Taesan blandly moved on to the next skill.
[Special Passive Skill: Field of Vision] [Proficiency: 5%] [You can achieve a wider field of vision. It’s still within human visual range for now.] Field of Vision. A decent skill. Human vision blurs outside the focus area, but with this skill, one can see many places at once.
This is a significant advantage. Vision narrows during combat, making it hard to respond to unexpected events. This skill greatly reduces such instances.
He had acquired this skill in easy mode only after surpassing the 20th floor.
And the next skill.
[Special Passive Skill: Composure] [Proficiency: 12%] [Your mind does not waver. You won’t panic unless a being beyond cognition appears. You gain a bonus in judgments.] Composure is also very useful for resisting various judgments.
[Special Passive Skill: Discernment] [Proficiency: 5%] [You can discern a lot. It seems you can only spot the weaknesses of living beings for now.] “I’ve already got this?”
Discernment. A very concise description, but it was a skill Taesan used until the end.
As proficiency reaches 100%, the skill evolves. After several stages of evolution, Discernment allows seeing all around. It becomes complete reconnaissance.
Taesan had only acquired Discernment around the 40th floor. Even that was considered fast. Hard mode players barely managed to get it by the 50th floor.
And now, he got them just on the 1st floor.
“Damn societal gaps.”
He knew there would be differences, but not to this extent. Briefly shaking his head, he checked the next skill.
[Soul Skill: Soul Strike] [Proficiency 100%] [Your soul has glimpsed a higher realm. A higher-dimensional soul steals the power of its adversaries with every victory.] “What’s this?”
At least, it wasn’t a skill he acquired in this world. Recollecting, Taesan remembered.
“…When fighting the S-rank.”
When he shaved off 1.25 million in pure form.
At that last moment, a system notification had popped up. Too exhausted, he had dismissively skipped over it.
‘It definitely showed something like this.’
[You have entered a state of thoughtless immersion. Your body and mind unify.] [A miraculous power is engraved in your soul. You have acquired the soul skill [Soul Strike].] [Since you are outside the labyrinth, you cannot acquire the skill. [Soul Strike] is sealed.] Right, it was sealed. Skills can only be acquired within the labyrinth.
Now that he’s entered the labyrinth, it was unlocked.
‘The skill remains even after turning back time?’
A soul skill, engraved directly onto the soul itself, perhaps. Pondering briefly, Taesan shook his head.
“Let’s not think too deeply about it.”
It wasn’t something he could answer right away anyway. He had acquired a good skill. That was enough.
Stealing something with every kill implies infinite growth potential. It was hard to find a better skill than this.
Satisfied, Taesan closed the skill window.
“The title… nothing special.”
[Title: Brave One] [You have proven it’s not recklessness but courage.] [NPCs will feel a fondness for you.] Again, a fondness title. Taesan silently closed the title window.
The shopkeeper had said to come back alive, and he had survived. So, the shop should open now.
There was one thing he wanted to buy. With the leather and meat in hand, Taesan returned to the shopkeeper.
Seeing Taesan return, the dwarf dropped his pipe.
“…You survived?”
“Did you wish for my death?”
“No, it’s not that.”
Quickly picking up his pipe, the dwarf looked at Taesan with a peculiar gaze.
“You didn’t encounter any monsters, did you?”
“I did.”
“Ah… so you ran away. It must have been hard even to flee from a rat.”
Big Rats relentlessly chase down to the safe zone. However, with their low damage, quick escape could lead to survival.
The dwarf assumed Taesan had made that choice. Observing his face, the dwarf’s eyebrows twitched.
“No fear?”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
In a desperate situation, Taesan didn’t falter. He was barely qualified to be the dwarf’s trading partner.
Taesan opened his inventory and said,
“I caught it.”
The dwarf dropped his pipe again.
“…You caught it?”
Taesan pulled out the Big Rat’s leather and meat from the inventory.
“Since it’s a shop, you buy things, right? How much will you pay for these?”
“…”
“Sir?”
The stunned dwarf finally spoke.
“Did you really catch it?”
“Why, would it be fake?”
“…How?”
The dwarf visibly shook. Taesan was bemused by his reaction.
“I caught it, so I caught it. Why are you so surprised?”
“You…”
The dwarf was at a loss for words. He finally composed himself and reached out hesitantly.
“Let, let me see.”
Taesan calmly handed over the leather and meat.
[Big Rat’s Meat] [Quality: 96%] [It’s Big Rat’s meat. It’s edible if you want to eat it.] [Big Rat’s Leather] [Quality: 95%] [It’s Big Rat’s leather. It seems reasonably warm.] The dwarf’s pupils dilated.
It was real, and of the highest quality. Not messy and perfectly caught.
“How…”
Big Rats are strong. Even his proud soldiers struggled to catch them due to their speed. It wasn’t a monster someone entering the labyrinth for the first time could catch.
But items don’t lie. The dwarf looked at Taesan with disbelief, then belatedly collected himself.
“…Alright. Since you’ve met my condition, I’ll open the shop.”
His role is to be the shopkeeper. If the other party has passed the condition, it’s time to fulfill his role.
“What do you need?”
“What do you sell?”
“I sell everything, just tell me.”
Then, there’s only one thing he needed.
“A tower shield. Do you have it?”
“Tower shield? The big one?”
“Yes. Big enough to hold with both hands.”
“Why do you want to buy that?”
“To smash it down. Completely.”
“…Correct answer.”
The dwarf exhaled in admiration. After a moment of awe-struck gaze at Taesan, he reached into the void.
“Golden Gate.”
Zzzz.
Rummaging through the split space, the dwarf pulled out a tower shield. Big enough to cover a person, it seemed quite sturdy.
“How about this?”
Taesan took the shield for inspection.
[Heavy Tower Shield] [Attack +1] [Defense +5] [Seems sturdy enough to block many attacks.] Taesan was surprised. It wasn’t just okay; this level of equipment would only be available on the 7th floor in easy mode.
“How much?”
“500 gold.”
A fair price. Taesan sneakily checked his gold. 243 gold. He was halfway short.
‘I’ll have to come back later.’
With the increase in stats, catching Big Rats would be much easier. About seven more should do it.
As Taesan was about to leave with the shield, the dwarf stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t have enough gold.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll give it to you for free.”
Taesan hesitated.
“For free?”
“Yes.”
As if it wasn’t a bluff, the dwarf tossed the shield.
[You have acquired a Heavy Tower Shield.] ‘Giving it for free?’
Such behavior was uncharacteristic of a shopkeeper. The dwarf didn’t stop there.
“You have about 250 gold, right? There should be something you can buy with that. Wait here.”
The dwarf continued to pull things out of the space. Taesan was bewildered.
‘What’s going on?’
Taeyeon said the dwarf was always grumpy and never laid out his wares. He was very reluctant to give anything, as if it was against his nature.
But now, the dwarf was generously offering things to Taesan like a pushover.
Chapter 7 : First Floor (2)
[Itaeyeon[Solo]: Mr. Taesan, how do you deal with the Big Rat?] [Kang Taesan[Alone]: Watch its muscle movements and predict its actions to strike.] [Itaeyeon[Solo]: Isn’t that just reacting based on observation?] [Kang Taesan[Solo]: No, I said predict.] [Itaeyeon[Solo]: …How am I supposed to watch a rat’s muscles?]
“Squeak!”
The Big Rat threatens with a screech. Taesan simply observes it.
Reaction alone is not enough.
But the Big Rat breathes, uses muscles to move; a living creature. The movement of its body when it attempts something can be noticed by anyone.
In a moment, the Big Rat’s legs contract. Its chest, moving up and down, swells.
Now.
Taesan thrusts his sword.
Clang!
“Squeak!”
The charging Big Rat reflexively retreats.
It’s all about prediction.
Every creature has a precursor to its attack. With careful observation, preempting it isn’t too difficult.
It’s similar to how professional boxers dodge punches not by watching the fists but by reading the movement of the shoulders.
The principle remains the same, even though the opponent is a rodent, not a human.
From here on out.
Taesan extends his unarmed arm.
The Big Rat hesitates and then charges again.
But once again, Taesan blocks its attack.
“Squeak, squeeeak.”
[The Big Rat is intimidated by you.] [Its decision-making slows down.] Anxiety creeps into its small red eyes. The Big Rat’s mind now rules out the ankle as an attack target forever.
Then, it would aim for the next easiest place to attack.
An arm, invitingly extended.
The decision was quick.
The Big Rat charges. It leaps to bite the forearm.
“Squeak?”
Panic fills the Big Rat’s eyes. The sensation of its bite feels off. Instead of flesh, it feels like it bit something hard.
Too late to flee, the Big Rat is suspended in mid-air. Its swift movements are sealed.
“You’re finished.”
Taesan slams the Big Rat, biting his arm, to the ground.
Boom!
“Squeeeeak!”
Underneath the forearm, the Big Rat screams. It struggles to escape, but the difference in strength is clear.
Taesan does not miss and stabs his sword into its chest. An unpleasant sensation travels up his hand.
[Your attack.] [The Big Rat is in a weakened state. Damage increases.] [4 damage to the Big Rat.] [5 damage to the Big Rat.] …
“Squeeeeak….”
Life fades from its red eyes.
“Phew!”
As the Big Rat’s movements cease, Taesan finally relaxes.
“That was tough.”
A rat that human reflexes couldn’t counter was just the first monster.
But Taesan calmly assessed.
He had won.
Now it was time to receive his rewards.
[You have defeated the Big Rat.] [A large amount of experience is gained.] [Health recovers by 5.] [You’ve obtained 43 gold.] [You’ve acquired Big Rat’s Leather.] [You’ve acquired Big Rat’s Meat.] Taesan was nonchalant about these basic rewards. He didn’t fuss over them.
[You have achieved a victory against a difficult opponent on your own.] [Agility permanently increases by 1.] “Oh.”
Taesan smiled in satisfaction. In the labyrinth, stats are an unchanging value. An increase is always welcome.
But the system notifications didn’t stop there.
[Your soul skill activation triggers. Agility permanently increases by 1.] [You’ve acquired the basic skill [Swordsmanship].] [You have won the battle based on a wide field of vision. You’ve acquired the special passive skill [Field of Vision].] [You have discerned the enemy’s weakness during battle and seized victory. You’ve acquired the special passive skill [Discernment].] [You faced your first battle without panic. You’ve acquired the special passive skill [Composure].] “Huh?”
Taesan was startled. This was beyond his expectations.
But the system notifications continued.
[You have won against a monster for the first time.] [You’ve obtained 100 gold.] [You’ve acquired the title [Brave One].] “All this for beating a minion?”
In easy mode, even defeating boss monsters didn’t yield half these rewards.
Taesan commented dryly, but considering the nature of the labyrinth, it was quite natural.
The labyrinth doesn’t just consider the result of victory.
It looks more closely at how the battle was fought, how perfectly victory was seized, and what methods were used to achieve the result.
Taesan’s battle was near perfect. Moreover, he was a solo player. The labyrinth was just giving rewards appropriate to his accomplishments.
But unaware Taesan was both pleased and puzzled.
Still, a reward is a reward.
“Skill window.”
[Basic Skill: Swordsmanship] [Proficiency: 1%] [You feel like you can swing a sword.] The most basic skill. And for Taesan, who pushed forward with skills until the end, it was also a skill he never had to use.
Taesan blandly moved on to the next skill.
[Special Passive Skill: Field of Vision] [Proficiency: 5%] [You can achieve a wider field of vision. It’s still within human visual range for now.] Field of Vision. A decent skill. Human vision blurs outside the focus area, but with this skill, one can see many places at once.
This is a significant advantage. Vision narrows during combat, making it hard to respond to unexpected events. This skill greatly reduces such instances.
He had acquired this skill in easy mode only after surpassing the 20th floor.
And the next skill.
[Special Passive Skill: Composure] [Proficiency: 12%] [Your mind does not waver. You won’t panic unless a being beyond cognition appears. You gain a bonus in judgments.] Composure is also very useful for resisting various judgments.
[Special Passive Skill: Discernment] [Proficiency: 5%] [You can discern a lot. It seems you can only spot the weaknesses of living beings for now.] “I’ve already got this?”
Discernment. A very concise description, but it was a skill Taesan used until the end.
As proficiency reaches 100%, the skill evolves. After several stages of evolution, Discernment allows seeing all around. It becomes complete reconnaissance.
Taesan had only acquired Discernment around the 40th floor. Even that was considered fast. Hard mode players barely managed to get it by the 50th floor.
And now, he got them just on the 1st floor.
“Damn societal gaps.”
He knew there would be differences, but not to this extent. Briefly shaking his head, he checked the next skill.
[Soul Skill: Soul Strike] [Proficiency 100%] [Your soul has glimpsed a higher realm. A higher-dimensional soul steals the power of its adversaries with every victory.] “What’s this?”
At least, it wasn’t a skill he acquired in this world. Recollecting, Taesan remembered.
“…When fighting the S-rank.”
When he shaved off 1.25 million in pure form.
At that last moment, a system notification had popped up. Too exhausted, he had dismissively skipped over it.
‘It definitely showed something like this.’
[You have entered a state of thoughtless immersion. Your body and mind unify.] [A miraculous power is engraved in your soul. You have acquired the soul skill [Soul Strike].] [Since you are outside the labyrinth, you cannot acquire the skill. [Soul Strike] is sealed.] Right, it was sealed. Skills can only be acquired within the labyrinth.
Now that he’s entered the labyrinth, it was unlocked.
‘The skill remains even after turning back time?’
A soul skill, engraved directly onto the soul itself, perhaps. Pondering briefly, Taesan shook his head.
“Let’s not think too deeply about it.”
It wasn’t something he could answer right away anyway. He had acquired a good skill. That was enough.
Stealing something with every kill implies infinite growth potential. It was hard to find a better skill than this.
Satisfied, Taesan closed the skill window.
“The title… nothing special.”
[Title: Brave One] [You have proven it’s not recklessness but courage.] [NPCs will feel a fondness for you.] Again, a fondness title. Taesan silently closed the title window.
The shopkeeper had said to come back alive, and he had survived. So, the shop should open now.
There was one thing he wanted to buy. With the leather and meat in hand, Taesan returned to the shopkeeper.
Seeing Taesan return, the dwarf dropped his pipe.
“…You survived?”
“Did you wish for my death?”
“No, it’s not that.”
Quickly picking up his pipe, the dwarf looked at Taesan with a peculiar gaze.
“You didn’t encounter any monsters, did you?”
“I did.”
“Ah… so you ran away. It must have been hard even to flee from a rat.”
Big Rats relentlessly chase down to the safe zone. However, with their low damage, quick escape could lead to survival.
The dwarf assumed Taesan had made that choice. Observing his face, the dwarf’s eyebrows twitched.
“No fear?”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
In a desperate situation, Taesan didn’t falter. He was barely qualified to be the dwarf’s trading partner.
Taesan opened his inventory and said,
“I caught it.”
The dwarf dropped his pipe again.
“…You caught it?”
Taesan pulled out the Big Rat’s leather and meat from the inventory.
“Since it’s a shop, you buy things, right? How much will you pay for these?”
“…”
“Sir?”
The stunned dwarf finally spoke.
“Did you really catch it?”
“Why, would it be fake?”
“…How?”
The dwarf visibly shook. Taesan was bemused by his reaction.
“I caught it, so I caught it. Why are you so surprised?”
“You…”
The dwarf was at a loss for words. He finally composed himself and reached out hesitantly.
“Let, let me see.”
Taesan calmly handed over the leather and meat.
[Big Rat’s Meat] [Quality: 96%] [It’s Big Rat’s meat. It’s edible if you want to eat it.] [Big Rat’s Leather] [Quality: 95%] [It’s Big Rat’s leather. It seems reasonably warm.] The dwarf’s pupils dilated.
It was real, and of the highest quality. Not messy and perfectly caught.
“How…”
Big Rats are strong. Even his proud soldiers struggled to catch them due to their speed. It wasn’t a monster someone entering the labyrinth for the first time could catch.
But items don’t lie. The dwarf looked at Taesan with disbelief, then belatedly collected himself.
“…Alright. Since you’ve met my condition, I’ll open the shop.”
His role is to be the shopkeeper. If the other party has passed the condition, it’s time to fulfill his role.
“What do you need?”
“What do you sell?”
“I sell everything, just tell me.”
Then, there’s only one thing he needed.
“A tower shield. Do you have it?”
“Tower shield? The big one?”
“Yes. Big enough to hold with both hands.”
“Why do you want to buy that?”
“To smash it down. Completely.”
“…Correct answer.”
The dwarf exhaled in admiration. After a moment of awe-struck gaze at Taesan, he reached into the void.
“Golden Gate.”
Zzzz.
Rummaging through the split space, the dwarf pulled out a tower shield. Big enough to cover a person, it seemed quite sturdy.
“How about this?”
Taesan took the shield for inspection.
[Heavy Tower Shield] [Attack +1] [Defense +5] [Seems sturdy enough to block many attacks.] Taesan was surprised. It wasn’t just okay; this level of equipment would only be available on the 7th floor in easy mode.
“How much?”
“500 gold.”
A fair price. Taesan sneakily checked his gold. 243 gold. He was halfway short.
‘I’ll have to come back later.’
With the increase in stats, catching Big Rats would be much easier. About seven more should do it.
As Taesan was about to leave with the shield, the dwarf stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t have enough gold.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll give it to you for free.”
Taesan hesitated.
“For free?”
“Yes.”
As if it wasn’t a bluff, the dwarf tossed the shield.
[You have acquired a Heavy Tower Shield.] ‘Giving it for free?’
Such behavior was uncharacteristic of a shopkeeper. The dwarf didn’t stop there.
“You have about 250 gold, right? There should be something you can buy with that. Wait here.”
The dwarf continued to pull things out of the space. Taesan was bewildered.
‘What’s going on?’
Itaeyeon said the dwarf was always grumpy and never laid out his wares. He was very reluctant to give anything, as if it was against his nature.
But now, the dwarf was generously offering things to Taesan like a pushover.
