Chapter 8
[Kang Jun-hyuk [Solo]: Isn’t the store owner too stubborn? Why do you keep adding a comment when you sell something?]
[Taeyeon Lee [Solo]: Are you like that too? If you’re a store owner, you should sell things like an owner. Why are you doing that? I really want to stab him with a knife, but I can’t because I’ll get hit. ah. I’m pissed.
“Wow, why are you doing this for me?”
Taesan had to ask. Given Taeyeon had no reason to lie to him, the dwarf must have indeed treated her harshly. However, the dwarf’s current behavior was hard to reconcile with those stories.
“I can’t even be nice now? What’s the big deal?”
The dwarf casually sorted through the items, one by one.
“Think of it as a simple investment.”
“Investment?”
“Stop asking and just choose. These are things you can afford right now.”
He laid out nearly ten items on the ground. Taesan glanced at the dwarf dubiously, but seeing he wasn’t inclined to explain further, he began to inspect the items.
Most of them were potions. Taesan picked up a red potion.
[Health Recovery Potion] [Recovers 50% of your health.] [200G] Health recovery potions were hard to come by outside of shops and typically had purchase limits, making them essential to buy.
However, Taesan set the potion back down.
“I won’t need it early on anyway.”
There were many other potions:
A Rage Potion that temporarily increases attack power.
A Swiftness Potion that temporarily increases all speeds.
A Teleportation Potion that allows movement to a thrown location.
All invaluable for clearing the labyrinth but not immediately necessary.
Using these potions early in the Alone Mode, where they are scarce, would be a crisis in itself. There was no need to buy them now.
It was a sort of trap.
What he needed now was something more crucial. Taesan picked up a small bow.
[Crude Bow] [Accuracy + 20%] [Seems quite difficult to use.] [200G] [Crude Arrow] [Attack Power + 1] [The shape of the arrow is adequate.] [10G] A ranged weapon was essential. With a bow, many headaches could be avoided. With his current funds, he could afford one bow and four arrows.
“How much for the leather?”
“For this quality, about 70 gold.”
“Then I’ll sell it.”
With seventy gold, he buys seven more arrows. The dwarf watched with a satisfied look, which puzzled Taesan.
“What’s this about?”
“And you know the labyrinth doesn’t allow health recovery, right?”
“I’m aware.”
Recovery within the labyrinth was incredibly slow, with maybe 10 health points regaining over a whole day. Mana recovery was somewhat better but still slow.
There were three solutions: drink a healing potion, kill monsters to absorb health, or visit a Life Spring within the labyrinth.
“There’s a Life Spring on the first floor. As long as you don’t leave the first floor, you can use it unlimitedly. I’ll show you where it is. There’s a crazy old man there, but you should be fine.”
Different, indeed.
The dwarf had guided Itaeyeon to the Life Spring as well.
However, she had faced nothing but scorn. She was told to die of starvation there, but now, he was being quite kind.
“I’ll map it for you.”
Now he even marks it on the map.
“Do you know how to read maps?”
“I do.”
Taesan checked the map. His path was marked, and a bright light lay amidst the darkness, indicating the Life Spring’s location. Taesan looked at the dwarf quietly.
“Need anything else?”
“No, I’m good.”
Taesan bid farewell.
“I’ll be going then.”
“Alright. See you around.”
Itaeyeon had no reason to lie to him. The dwarf must have been quite unpleasant to her.
But to him, it wasn’t the case.
“Is it because of the approach?”
Itaeyeon ran from the Big Rat. He came back after defeating it.
Maybe that difference changed the dwarf’s attitude.
He couldn’t be sure right now, so he headed towards the Life Spring. He stored the rusty sword in his inventory and gripped the tower shield with both hands.
As he walked through the labyrinth, he encountered Big Rats.
[Big Rat has appeared.] Taesan calmly raised his shield.
With a 2-point increase in agility, even a slight difference in early stats was significant.
Especially now, he could respond to the Big Rat’s movements. Not perfectly, but better than before, not just blocking based on muscle movement but being able to predict and deal damage.
Taesan deliberately exposed his ankle as if setting a trap.
The Big Rat, lacking the intelligence to discern a trap, charged.
[You take 4 damage.] As the damage notification appeared, Taesan slammed down his shield.
The Big Rat tried to escape too late as the shield pinned it down. A high-pitched scream followed.
“You’re done for.”
[Your attack.] [The Big Rat is incapacitated. Damage is increased.] [The Big Rat takes 4 damage.] [The Big Rat takes 5 damage.] [You have defeated the Big Rat.] He looked at the system notifications with a sense of satisfaction.
“The shield’s the way to go.”
The sword’s narrow surface made it hard to hit, often missing the target.
But with the tower shield, just slamming it down was enough. Since the Big Rat always retreated straight back after attacking, there was no chance of failure.
With the minimum stats and enough gold to buy the tower shield, it was the perfect strategy.
Especially for beginners who feared taking damage, the tower shield offered a significant defensive advantage. After he shared this strategy online, beginners began to carry tower shields.
Reminiscing about that time, Taesan checked the system notifications.
[Your level has increased.] [You are in optimal condition.] [As a reward for leveling up, your health increases by 10.] [As a reward for leveling up, your agility permanently increases by 2.] [Your Soul Strike activates. Agility permanently increases by 1.] [You have acquired the basic skill [Shield Mastery].] [Proficiency in [Penetration] has increased by 1%.] “Status window.”
[Name: Kang Taesan] [Level: 2] [Health: 110/110] [Mana: 10/10] [Strength: 10] [Intelligence: 10] [Agility: 15] [Attack Power + 1] [Defense + 7] [The subject is in a state of hunger.] Satisfied with his stats, Taesan smiled.
He hadn’t even cleared the first floor yet, and his agility was already at 15. Comparing to when he reached the 10th floor last time, the stats were similar.
The difference between 10 and 15 might seem minor, but here, even a small stat difference was significant. A fight between someone with 10 strength and another with 15 could end with the latter winning by a wide margin.
This was why Hard Mode players could survive in a crazy world. With thousands of stats, they had the power to carve mountains.
And now, Taesan could have that power too. He was delighted and sprinted through the labyrinth.
After that, he encountered more Big Rats but handled them with no issues.
The difference in stats was too great. After effortlessly dealing with them and reaching near the Life Spring without taking any damage, he opened the map. A bright light indicated the Life Spring’s location was just ahead, through one more passage.
“It’s longer than I thought.”
The other side of the passage was far away, requiring about five minutes to reach. Thinking it unnecessarily long, Taesan walked on.
Midway, a system notification appeared.
[Big Rat has appeared.] Calmly, Taesan raised his shield, a common occurrence in passages. But the following notifications made him raise an eyebrow.
[Big Rat has appeared.] [Big Rat has appeared.] “Squeak, squeak.”
“Squeak.”
The overlapping cries indicated three Big Rats approaching Taesan.
One in front of him, two behind.
[You are in a difficult situation.] [Confusion check…] [Fear check…] Trapped in a narrow passage with three Big Rats, even Taesan might find it challenging, but his expression remained unchanged.
[. . .] Unfazed. He had seen too many die from panic, even when they had a chance to win. Taesan refused to be one of them.
[All checks passed!] [Your exceptional mental fortitude prevails!] [All stats have increased.] [You have gained an unshakable spirit.] [Proficiency in [Calmness] has increased by 1%.] With his condition at its peak post-level up and the passage wide enough for maneuvering, his chances were good.
[Proficiency in [Sight Enhancement] has increased by 3%.] The successful checks boosted all stats by one. With his current stats, he could even outpace the Big Rat’s speed.
He had a surplus of chances.
[Proficiency in [Insight] has increased by 1%.] Raising his shield, he no longer exposed his ankle, silently focusing on the Big Rat in front of him.
“Squeak. Squeak.”
“Squeak.”
The Big Rats gleefully cried, surrounding a large human. Even with their limited intelligence, they knew they had the upper hand, leading to complacency.
Thud!
Taesan was the first to move, charging at the Big Rat in front.
“Squeak!”
The startled Big Rat fled. Startled by the sudden charge, it ran far away, creating a distance that would take time to close again.
“Squeak, squeak!”
The previously quiet Big Rats behind him panicked and charged. That’s when Taesan, as if waiting for this, swiftly turned around.
“Squeak!”
Surprised by the shield now facing them, the Big Rat halted too late. Accelerated by its charge, it couldn’t stop in time, and Taesan’s shield crushed it.
“Squeak!”
[You have defeated the Big Rat.] [Your level has increased.] He quickly handled the Big Rats. It was practically a rout. Taesan cleared the notifications and faced the last Big Rat.
“Come at me.”
“Squeak, squeak.”
[The Big Rat is intimidated by you.] [The Big Rat’s thinking slows.] The Big Rat, enraged, charges. With its fast speed now predictable, Taesan timed his shield slam perfectly.
Crunch.
“Squeak!”
[Your attack.] [The Big Rat is incapacitated. Damage is increased.] [The Big Rat takes 8 damage.] [The Big Rat takes 9 damage.] [You have defeated the Big Rat.] “Nice.”
Taesan smiled brightly. He had faced Big Rats many times before. He knew they would run far away if he charged, come biting at his heels if he turned his back, and primarily, they never attacked from the front unless desperate.
In this place, information was invaluable. Taesan reopened the notification window he had dismissed earlier.
[Your level has increased.] [You are in peak condition.] [As a reward for leveling up, your health increases by 10.] [As a reward for leveling up, your agility permanently increases by 3.] [Your Soul Strike activates. Agility permanently increases by 3.] [In a desperate situation, your calm victory increases intelligence by 1.] [Proficiency in [Calmness] has increased by 5%.] [Proficiency in [Sight Enhancement] has increased by 3%.] [Proficiency in [Insight] has increased by 2%.] “Shooting up fast.”
Agility had already surpassed 20. The proficiency rate was incredibly fast, considering how hard it was to increase even by 1%.
Additionally, there was a significant amount of gold, leather, and meat. Selling these at the shop would yield a considerable amount.
Pleased, Taesan continued down the passage, which no longer presented any monsters.
A square room with a small spring at its center, devoid of fish, awaited him.
[You have discovered the Life Spring for the first time.]
