Chapter 9
[First Discovery Bonus] [Your intelligence has permanently increased by 1. Your mana has permanently increased by 2.] Both are beneficial stats. An increase in intelligence reduces the mana consumption rate, allowing for more frequent skill usage. Needless to say, an increase in mana quantity is also advantageous.
[This place is a haven within the labyrinth. Your enemies cannot enter here by their own will. The tranquility here makes you complacent.] Most places in the labyrinth spawn monsters. The exceptions are shops and springs, essentially acting as safe zones.
Taesan scooped up some spring water with his hands. The cool liquid refreshingly slid down his throat.
[You are in optimal condition.] Any remaining fatigue vanished instantly. It felt as though he had gotten a full night’s rest.
Taesan sat next to the spring. The ground here wasn’t the hard stone floor but rather a warm sandy floor, tempting him to lie down right there.
While the spring restores you to the best condition, it doesn’t address the mental fatigue that accumulates over time. A bit of rest is necessary.
‘It’s been about a day, hasn’t it?’
Checking his state of hunger, it seemed about time. Now was when things would start popping up on the community board.
“Community.”
[Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: Guys, is it really okay to enter the labyrinth?] [Na Jaeyeon[Solo]: Seeing no response from those who entered, seems not. This is driving me crazy.] [Yu Youngseok[Easy]: Anyone wants to team up for the first floor?] [Kang Dongjun[Normal]: Looking for information. Does anyone know what the first monster is?] [Lee Sang[Solo]: This is insane. Really.] As expected, most of the posts were from Solo players.
Players of other modes can meet each other, so they tend to solve things through direct conversation rather than using the community. However, Solo mode players can’t meet each other. For them, the community is their only means of communication.
While scrolling through the community, Taesan chuckled.
[Lee Taeyeon[Solo]: Guys ㅠㅠㅠ How do we do this ㅠㅠㅠ] The strongest player who survived and conquered the labyrinth, Lee Taeyeon. Always confident, she seemed utterly confused now, unlike her future self.
‘Maybe not.’
Her last status mentioned she was terrified. Perhaps she had always hidden her true nature, remaining a coward to the very end.
Taesan briefly observed the community.
It had only been a day since the labyrinth opened. Naturally, many Solo players were still alive. You don’t die of hunger here. According to Taesan’s knowledge, the real influx of players started a month later.
The Solo mode’s difficulty correlates with its rewards. Taeyeon had mentioned missing out on countless rewards because she bypassed bosses through loopholes, missing out on the rewards she was supposed to receive.
Yet, she was still called the strongest player.
Meaning, nurturing in Solo mode had the potential to be beneficial.
“Hmm.”
Every piece in the labyrinth is precious.
It wouldn’t be much different outside.
“Not bad.”
Taesan started posting on the community.
He began with simple advice. From not antagonizing the gatekeeper to listing the types of items sold by the shopkeeper.
Taesan managed to defeat the Big Rat, but it would be impossible for others. He advised to flee immediately upon encounter and return to the shop, then rush to the spring upon learning its location without delay.
Not following this basic route would make survival nearly impossible. He continued to write what to do next.
[Kang Taesan[Solo]: Basic guide to Solo mode first floor.] Whether others would believe it was another matter.
Trusting an unknown post and entering the labyrinth was a tough call. Even if they did believe, how effective it would be remained uncertain. Out of ten thousand, only Lee Taeyeon survived.
Without much expectation, he tossed out the bait and closed the community.
“Time to get moving.”
Taesan stood up and stretched.
As long as he didn’t leave the first floor, he could use this place indefinitely. Taeyeon survived by moving in and out of here, taking a week just to kill the Big Rat.
In essence, the normal flow for Solo mode was encountering the Big Rat, returning to the shop to learn about the spring’s location, and then rushing here to secure a safety zone.
‘What a setup.’
He felt it was strange from the moment he heard from Taeyeon. If it was going to be like this, placing the spring of life from the start would have been better. Without this place, survival was practically impossible anyway.
But the creator of the labyrinth deliberately placed it far away, causing most to die on their way here.
Whether it was kindness or cruelty was hard to understand.
The important thing was this:
There’s no limit to recovery here. Before leaving the first floor, much could be prepared.
The reason he survived with such meager stats was one thing: skills. Taesan believed that skills held more value than stats here.
Gurgle.
Just then, his stomach growled. Thinking about it, he hadn’t eaten anything all day. While you don’t die of hunger, all stats decrease, and it causes significant discomfort, so it’s best to solve it quickly.
And Taesan was going to solve it.
But in a slightly different way than others might think.
Taesan opened his inventory and took out some meat.
[Big Rat Meat] [Quality: 86%] [It’s the meat of a Big Rat. It’s edible if you want to eat it.] Despite being a rodent, its large size meant there was quite a bit of meat. Taesan pulled out a rusty sword.
Swoosh.
He cut a piece of meat into a manageable size. After examining the meat for a moment, Taesan muttered with a grimace.
“Is this really edible?”
In Easy mode, food was plentiful. He had never eaten Big Rat meat before. The meat was closer to black than red. The muscles were grotesquely bulging, making it far from appetizing.
“Considering the goal, this might be better.”
Taesan put the meat in his mouth.
“…”
The utterly flavorless, tough meat made him grimace, but he didn’t spit it out and chewed it down.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] The status effect of food poisoning. For two days, health decreases at a very fast rate. If you don’t drink a disease cure potion or gulp down health potions, you’ll die.
It’s a nightmare for beginners, and those who have experienced it once make sure to cook their food afterward.
But Taesan was intentionally eating raw meat to aim for this.
Taesan drank from the spring.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more raw meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination succeeded!] [Nothing happened.] Another one.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] He drank from the spring again.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] If he doesn’t get food poisoning, he eats another piece. If he gets food poisoning, he drinks from the spring and eats again.
He repeated these two actions continuously. As he was starting to feel full, a different system window popped up.
[After contracting numerous diseases, you have developed resistance. You have acquired the special passive skill [Disease Resistance].] Taesan grinned.
“Bingo.”
The labyrinth doesn’t provide food.
Although the shop sells emergency rations, they are extremely expensive, and in Hard and Solo modes, the quantity is limited. It’s not enough to get through the labyrinth.
Eventually, you have to cook or steam the creatures inside the labyrinth to eat them. In a limited space, situations arise where you must eat raw.
In such cases, getting food poisoning can be disastrous. Taeyeon herself nearly died from it once.
But with Disease Resistance, the story changes.
[Special Passive Skill: Disease Resistance] [Proficiency: 1%] [It’s resistance to various diseases. At this point, diseases from eating are less likely to affect you.] Reducing the food poisoning judgment by 10%, it provides significant help in critical situations. Raising proficiency practically grants immunity to food poisoning.
Normally, you would only acquire this skill after contracting various diseases, but with knowledge, Taesan could obtain it quite easily.
Now for the next skill.
Taesan approached the spring.
The depth was just right, reaching up to his waist.
“I don’t like this.”
With a grim expression, Taesan submerged his head in the water.
Bubbling.
Naturally, breathing was blocked underwater. Instead of emerging, Taesan closed his eyes and held his breath.
Bubbles.
The air bubbles gradually diminished.
Eventually, all the air he was holding was gone.
‘…’
The body craving for breath becomes increasingly tormented.
But he endures.
[You are in a state where breathing is impossible.] It’s agonizing.
Someone said drowning is the most painful way to die. Whether it’s true or not, it means it’s extremely painful. The body desperately commands to get out of the water and breathe.
But he doesn’t emerge.
With an unwavering face, he endures underwater.
Preferably, he would drink the water to open his throat forcibly closed, waiting instead.
His mind starts to blur. Strength fades. Consciousness disappears, and life flashes before his eyes.
Death is imminent.
That’s when a system window appears.
[You have not breathed until the brink of death. You have acquired the special activation skill [Breathless].] [You have recognized death. You have acquired the special passive skill [Threshold of Death].] That’s it.
Taesan gets up. Water splashes wildly.
“Ha, ha.”
He calms his wildly beating heart and stabilizes his breathing. It takes a few minutes before he finally calms down.
“This really isn’t something to do.”
Complaining, he runs his fingers through his wet hair. It was practically self-waterboarding. Even for Taesan, accustomed to pain, it was a sufficiently agonizing experience.
But it was necessary. Breathless could only be acquired underwater.
[Special Activation Skill: Breathless] [Mana Consumption: 1] [Proficiency: 1%] [You can hold your breath for a much longer time. Currently, it’s about twice as long as usual.] Breathless, a skill that extends the duration of holding one’s breath, is not well-known.
It can only be acquired underwater, and only just before death.
Most who obtained it ended up as fish food, so it was only after Taesan acquired it that information about the skill was disseminated.
And even after it became known, no one else acquired it.
You have to be underwater until just before death. Enduring the agony of not breathing and the fear of possible death is something very few humans can withstand. Since most who survive the labyrinth are close to cowards, they wouldn’t go to such lengths just to learn it.
For that reason, aside from Taesan, only one person, Junggeun, had acquired it.
In Easy or Normal modes, it’s not particularly useful, but from Hard and Solo modes onwards, the story changes.
With floors where the air itself is toxic appearing frequently, Breathless became a significant asset.
Simultaneously, acquiring Threshold of Death is not a bad skill either.
It’s a skill that alerts you to the possibility of death from a place or attack.
Thanks to it, he has managed to escape from crises on several occasions.
[Special Passive Skill: Threshold of Death] [Proficiency: 54%] [You can sense when death is near. It activates in most crisis situations.] “Huh?”
Taesan was surprised to see the proficiency.
“Why is it already 54%?”
It’s quite difficult to even raise the proficiency by 1%. For advanced skills, there were no players who surpassed 50% proficiency by the time they left the labyrinth.
But it’s already at 54%. It matched the proficiency he had in the future.
“Does this mean it’s inherited?”
It seemed that powers imprinted on the mind, unlike the body, carry over to some extent. However, considering skills like Calmness or Insight were at basic proficiency, it wasn’t entirely clear.
“I’m not sure.”
Taesan neatly sorted out his thoughts.
In the labyrinth, incomprehensible events occur frequently.
Trying to find meaning in all of them is unsustainable.
Since it’s beneficial for him, being satisfied with that is enough.
Taesan checked the number of skills he currently possessed.
Swordsmanship. Shield Skill. Sight Enhancement. Insight. Calmness. Soul Strike Enhancement. Threshold of Death. Breathless. Disease Resistance.
Nine in total. He had acquired the number of skills an Easy player typically gains by the time they clear the dungeon, right from the first floor.
Taesan himself had only reached this number around the 20th floor in the past. Considering most of those were useless skills, the value of his current skills was even higher.
But Taesan didn’t plan to stop here.
There were still more skills to acquire.
- First Floor (4)
[First Discovery Bonus] [Your intelligence has permanently increased by 1. Your mana has permanently increased by 2.] Both are beneficial stats. An increase in intelligence reduces the mana consumption rate, allowing for more frequent skill usage. Needless to say, an increase in mana quantity is also advantageous.
[This place is a haven within the labyrinth. Your enemies cannot enter here by their own will. The tranquility here makes you complacent.] Most places in the labyrinth spawn monsters. The exceptions are shops and springs, essentially acting as safe zones.
Taesan scooped up some spring water with his hands. The cool liquid refreshingly slid down his throat.
[You are in optimal condition.] Any remaining fatigue vanished instantly. It felt as though he had gotten a full night’s rest.
Taesan sat next to the spring. The ground here wasn’t the hard stone floor but rather a warm sandy floor, tempting him to lie down right there.
While the spring restores you to the best condition, it doesn’t address the mental fatigue that accumulates over time. A bit of rest is necessary.
‘It’s been about a day, hasn’t it?’
Checking his state of hunger, it seemed about time. Now was when things would start popping up on the community board.
“Community.”
[Kang Junhyuk[Solo]: Guys, is it really okay to enter the labyrinth?] [Na Jaeyeon[Solo]: Seeing no response from those who entered, seems not. This is driving me crazy.] [Yu Youngseok[Easy]: Anyone wants to team up for the first floor?] [Kang Dongjun[Normal]: Looking for information. Does anyone know what the first monster is?] [Lee Sang[Solo]: This is insane. Really.] As expected, most of the posts were from Solo players.
Players of other modes can meet each other, so they tend to solve things through direct conversation rather than using the community. However, Solo mode players can’t meet each other. For them, the community is their only means of communication.
While scrolling through the community, Taesan chuckled.
[Lee Taeyeon[Solo]: Guys ㅠㅠㅠ How do we do this ㅠㅠㅠ] The strongest player who survived and conquered the labyrinth, Lee Taeyeon. Always confident, she seemed utterly confused now, unlike her future self.
‘Maybe not.’
Her last status mentioned she was terrified. Perhaps she had always hidden her true nature, remaining a coward to the very end.
Taesan briefly observed the community.
It had only been a day since the labyrinth opened. Naturally, many Solo players were still alive. You don’t die of hunger here. According to Taesan’s knowledge, the real influx of players started a month later.
The Solo mode’s difficulty correlates with its rewards. Taeyeon had mentioned missing out on countless rewards because she bypassed bosses through loopholes, missing out on the rewards she was supposed to receive.
Yet, she was still called the strongest player.
Meaning, nurturing in Solo mode had the potential to be beneficial.
“Hmm.”
Every piece in the labyrinth is precious.
It wouldn’t be much different outside.
“Not bad.”
Taesan started posting on the community.
He began with simple advice. From not antagonizing the gatekeeper to listing the types of items sold by the shopkeeper.
Taesan managed to defeat the Big Rat, but it would be impossible for others. He advised to flee immediately upon encounter and return to the shop, then rush to the spring upon learning its location without delay.
Not following this basic route would make survival nearly impossible. He continued to write what to do next.
[Kang Taesan[Solo]: Basic guide to Solo mode first floor.] Whether others would believe it was another matter.
Trusting an unknown post and entering the labyrinth was a tough call. Even if they did believe, how effective it would be remained uncertain. Out of ten thousand, only Lee Taeyeon survived.
Without much expectation, he tossed out the bait and closed the community.
“Time to get moving.”
Taesan stood up and stretched.
As long as he didn’t leave the first floor, he could use this place indefinitely. Taeyeon survived by moving in and out of here, taking a week just to kill the Big Rat.
In essence, the normal flow for Solo mode was encountering the Big Rat, returning to the shop to learn about the spring’s location, and then rushing here to secure a safety zone.
‘What a setup.’
He felt it was strange from the moment he heard from Taeyeon. If it was going to be like this, placing the spring of life from the start would have been better. Without this place, survival was practically impossible anyway.
But the creator of the labyrinth deliberately placed it far away, causing most to die on their way here.
Whether it was kindness or cruelty was hard to understand.
The important thing was this:
There’s no limit to recovery here. Before leaving the first floor, much could be prepared.
The reason he survived with such meager stats was one thing: skills. Taesan believed that skills held more value than stats here.
Gurgle.
Just then, his stomach growled. Thinking about it, he hadn’t eaten anything all day. While you don’t die of hunger, all stats decrease, and it causes significant discomfort, so it’s best to solve it quickly.
And Taesan was going to solve it.
But in a slightly different way than others might think.
Taesan opened his inventory and took out some meat.
[Big Rat Meat] [Quality: 86%] [It’s the meat of a Big Rat. It’s edible if you want to eat it.] Despite being a rodent, its large size meant there was quite a bit of meat. Taesan pulled out a rusty sword.
Swoosh.
He cut a piece of meat into a manageable size. After examining the meat for a moment, Taesan muttered with a grimace.
“Is this really edible?”
In Easy mode, food was plentiful. He had never eaten Big Rat meat before. The meat was closer to black than red. The muscles were grotesquely bulging, making it far from appetizing.
“Considering the goal, this might be better.”
Taesan put the meat in his mouth.
“…”
The utterly flavorless, tough meat made him grimace, but he didn’t spit it out and chewed it down.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] The status effect of food poisoning. For two days, health decreases at a very fast rate. If you don’t drink a disease cure potion or gulp down health potions, you’ll die.
It’s a nightmare for beginners, and those who have experienced it once make sure to cook their food afterward.
But Taesan was intentionally eating raw meat to aim for this.
Taesan drank from the spring.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more raw meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination succeeded!] [Nothing happened.] Another one.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] He drank from the spring again.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] If he doesn’t get food poisoning, he eats another piece. If he gets food poisoning, he drinks from the spring and eats again.
He repeated these two actions continuously. As he was starting to feel full, a different system window popped up.
[After contracting numerous diseases, you have developed resistance. You have acquired the special passive skill [Disease Resistance].] Taesan grinned.
“Bingo.”
The labyrinth doesn’t provide food.
Although the shop sells emergency rations, they are extremely expensive, and in Hard and Solo modes, the quantity is limited. It’s not enough to get through the labyrinth.
Eventually, you have to cook or steam the creatures inside the labyrinth to eat them. In a limited space, situations arise where you must eat raw.
In such cases, getting food poisoning can be disastrous. Taeyeon herself nearly died from it once.
But with Disease Resistance, the story changes.
[Special Passive Skill: Disease Resistance] [Proficiency: 1%] [It’s resistance to various diseases. At this point, diseases from eating are less likely to affect you.] Reducing the food poisoning judgment by 10%, it provides significant help in critical situations. Raising proficiency practically grants immunity to food poisoning.
Normally, you would only acquire this skill after contracting various diseases, but with knowledge, Taesan could obtain it quite easily.
Now for the next skill.
Taesan approached the spring.
The depth was just right, reaching up to his waist.
“I don’t like this.”
With a grim expression, Taesan submerged his head in the water.
Bubbling.
Naturally, breathing was blocked underwater. Instead of emerging, Taesan closed his eyes and held his breath.
Bubbles.
The air bubbles gradually diminished.
Eventually, all the air he was holding was gone.
‘…’
The body craving for breath becomes increasingly tormented.
But he endures.
[You are in a state where breathing is impossible.] It’s agonizing.
Someone said drowning is the most painful way to die. Whether it’s true or not, it means it’s extremely painful. The body desperately commands to get out of the water and breathe.
But he doesn’t emerge.
With an unwavering face, he endures underwater.
Preferably, he would drink the water to open his throat forcibly closed, waiting instead.
His mind starts to blur. Strength fades. Consciousness disappears, and life flashes before his eyes.
Death is imminent.
That’s when a system window appears.
[You have not breathed until the brink of death. You have acquired the special activation skill [Breathless].] [You have recognized death. You have acquired the special passive skill [Threshold of Death].] That’s it.
Taesan gets up. Water splashes wildly.
“Ha, ha.”
He calms his wildly beating heart and stabilizes his breathing. It takes a few minutes before he finally calms down.
“This really isn’t something to do.”
Complaining, he runs his fingers through his wet hair. It was practically self-waterboarding. Even for Taesan, accustomed to pain, it was a sufficiently agonizing experience.
But it was necessary. Breathless could only be acquired underwater.
[Special Activation Skill: Breathless] [Mana Consumption: 1] [Proficiency: 1%] [You can hold your breath for a much longer time. Currently, it’s about twice as long as usual.] Breathless, a skill that extends the duration of holding one’s breath, is not well-known.
It can only be acquired underwater, and only just before death.
Most who obtained it ended up as fish food, so it was only after Taesan acquired it that information about the skill was disseminated.
And even after it became known, no one else acquired it.
You have to be underwater until just before death. Enduring the agony of not breathing and the fear of possible death is something very few humans can withstand. Since most who survive the labyrinth are close to cowards, they wouldn’t go to such lengths just to learn it.
For that reason, aside from Taesan, only one person, Junggeun, had acquired it.
In Easy or Normal modes, it’s not particularly useful, but from Hard and Solo modes onwards, the story changes.
With floors where the air itself is toxic appearing frequently, Breathless became a significant asset.
Simultaneously, acquiring Threshold of Death is not a bad skill either.
It’s a skill that alerts you to the possibility of death from a place or attack.
Thanks to it, he has managed to escape from crises on several occasions.
[Special Passive Skill: Threshold of Death] [Proficiency: 54%] [You can sense when death is near. It activates in most crisis situations.] “Huh?”
Taesan was surprised to see the proficiency.
“Why is it already 54%?”
It’s quite difficult to even raise the proficiency by 1%. For advanced skills, there were no players who surpassed 50% proficiency by the time they left the labyrinth.
But it’s already at 54%. It matched the proficiency he had in the future.
“Does this mean it’s inherited?”
It seemed that powers imprinteda on the mind, unlike the body, carry over to some extent. However, considering skills like Calmness or Insight were at basic proficiency, it wasn’t entirely clear.
“I’m not sure.”
Taesan neatly sorted out his thoughts.
In the labyrinth, incomprehensible events occur frequently.
Trying to find meaning in all of them is unsustainable.
Since it’s beneficial for him, being satisfied with that is enough.
Taesan checked the number of skills he currently possessed.
Swordsmanship. Shield Skill. Sight Enhancement. Insight. Calmness. Soul Strike Enhancement. Threshold of Death. Breathless. Disease Resistance.
Nine in total. He had acquired the number of skills an Easy player typically gains by the time they clear the dungeon, right from the first floor.
Taesan himself had only reached this number around the 20th floor in the past. Considering most of those were useless skills, the value of his current skills was even higher.
But Taesan didn’t plan to stop here.
There were still more skills to acquire.
Chapter 9 : First Floor (4)
[First Discovery Bonus] [Your intelligence has permanently increased by 1. Your mana has permanently increased by 2.] Both are beneficial stats. An increase in intelligence reduces the mana consumption rate, allowing for more frequent skill usage. Needless to say, an increase in mana quantity is also advantageous.
[This place is a haven within the labyrinth. Your enemies cannot enter here by their own will. The tranquility here makes you complacent.] Most places in the labyrinth spawn monsters. The exceptions are shops and springs, essentially acting as safe zones.
Taesan scooped up some spring water with his hands. The cool liquid refreshingly slid down his throat.
[You are in optimal condition.] Any remaining fatigue vanished instantly. It felt as though he had gotten a full night’s rest.
Taesan sat next to the spring. The ground here wasn’t the hard stone floor but rather a warm sandy floor, tempting him to lie down right there.
While the spring restores you to the best condition, it doesn’t address the mental fatigue that accumulates over time. A bit of rest is necessary.
‘It’s been about a day, hasn’t it?’
Checking his state of hunger, it seemed about time. Now was when things would start popping up on the community board.
“Community.”
[Kang Junhyuk[Alone]: Guys, is it really okay to enter the labyrinth?] [Na Jaeyeon[Alone]: Seeing no response from those who entered, seems not. This is driving me crazy.] [Yu Youngseok[Easy]: Anyone wants to team up for the first floor?] [Kang Dongjun[Normal]: Looking for information. Does anyone know what the first monster is?] [Lee Sang[Alone]: This is insane. Really.] As expected, most of the posts were from Alone players.
Players of other modes can meet each other, so they tend to solve things through direct conversation rather than using the community. However, Alone mode players can’t meet each other. For them, the community is their only means of communication.
While scrolling through the community, Taesan chuckled.
[Lee Taeyeon[Alone]: Guys ㅠㅠㅠ How do we do this ㅠㅠㅠ] The strongest player who survived and conquered the labyrinth, Lee Taeyeon. Always confident, she seemed utterly confused now, unlike her future self.
‘Maybe not.’
Her last status mentioned she was terrified. Perhaps she had always hidden her true nature, remaining a coward to the very end.
Taesan briefly observed the community.
It had only been a day since the labyrinth opened. Naturally, many Alone players were still alive. You don’t die of hunger here. According to Taesan’s knowledge, the real influx of players started a month later.
The Alone mode’s difficulty correlates with its rewards. Taeyeon had mentioned missing out on countless rewards because she bypassed bosses through loopholes, missing out on the rewards she was supposed to receive.
Yet, she was still called the strongest player.
Meaning, nurturing in Alone mode had the potential to be beneficial.
“Hmm.”
Every piece in the labyrinth is precious.
It wouldn’t be much different outside.
“Not bad.”
Taesan started posting on the community.
He began with simple advice. From not antagonizing the gatekeeper to listing the types of items sold by the shopkeeper.
Taesan managed to defeat the Big Rat, but it would be impossible for others. He advised to flee immediately upon encounter and return to the shop, then rush to the spring upon learning its location without delay.
Not following this basic route would make survival nearly impossible. He continued to write what to do next.
[Kang Taesan[Alone]: Basic guide to Alone mode first floor.] Whether others would believe it was another matter.
Trusting an unknown post and entering the labyrinth was a tough call. Even if they did believe, how effective it would be remained uncertain. Out of ten thousand, only Lee Taeyeon survived.
Without much expectation, he tossed out the bait and closed the community.
“Time to get moving.”
Taesan stood up and stretched.
As long as he didn’t leave the first floor, he could use this place indefinitely. Taeyeon survived by moving in and out of here, taking a week just to kill the Big Rat.
In essence, the normal flow for Alone mode was encountering the Big Rat, returning to the shop to learn about the spring’s location, and then rushing here to secure a safety zone.
‘What a setup.’
He felt it was strange from the moment he heard from Taeyeon. If it was going to be like this, placing the spring of life from the start would have been better. Without this place, survival was practically impossible anyway.
But the creator of the labyrinth deliberately placed it far away, causing most to die on their way here.
Whether it was kindness or cruelty was hard to understand.
The important thing was this:
There’s no limit to recovery here. Before leaving the first floor, much could be prepared.
The reason he survived with such meager stats was one thing: skills. Taesan believed that skills held more value than stats here.
Gurgle.
Just then, his stomach growled. Thinking about it, he hadn’t eaten anything all day. While you don’t die of hunger, all stats decrease, and it causes significant discomfort, so it’s best to solve it quickly.
And Taesan was going to solve it.
But in a slightly different way than others might think.
Taesan opened his inventory and took out some meat.
[Big Rat Meat] [Quality: 86%] [It’s the meat of a Big Rat. It’s edible if you want to eat it.] Despite being a rodent, its large size meant there was quite a bit of meat. Taesan pulled out a rusty sword.
Swoosh.
He cut a piece of meat into a manageable size. After examining the meat for a moment, Taesan muttered with a grimace.
“Is this really edible?”
In Easy mode, food was plentiful. He had never eaten Big Rat meat before. The meat was closer to black than red. The muscles were grotesquely bulging, making it far from appetizing.
“Considering the goal, this might be better.”
Taesan put the meat in his mouth.
“…”
The utterly flavorless, tough meat made him grimace, but he didn’t spit it out and chewed it down.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] The status effect of food poisoning. For two days, health decreases at a very fast rate. If you don’t drink a disease cure potion or gulp down health potions, you’ll die.
It’s a nightmare for beginners, and those who have experienced it once make sure to cook their food afterward.
But Taesan was intentionally eating raw meat to aim for this.
Taesan drank from the spring.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more raw meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination succeeded!] [Nothing happened.] Another one.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] He drank from the spring again.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] If he doesn’t get food poisoning, he eats another piece. If he gets food poisoning, he drinks from the spring and eats again.
He repeated these two actions continuously. As he was starting to feel full, a different system window popped up.
[After contracting numerous diseases, you have developed resistance. You have acquired the special passive skill [Disease Resistance].] Taesan grinned.
“Bingo.”
The labyrinth doesn’t provide food.
Although the shop sells emergency rations, they are extremely expensive, and in Hard and Alone modes, the quantity is limited. It’s not enough to get through the labyrinth.
Eventually, you have to cook or steam the creatures inside the labyrinth to eat them. In a limited space, situations arise where you must eat raw.
In such cases, getting food poisoning can be disastrous. Taeyeon herself nearly died from it once.
But with Disease Resistance, the story changes.
[Special Passive Skill: Disease Resistance] [Proficiency: 1%] [It’s resistance to various diseases. At this point, diseases from eating are less likely to affect you.] Reducing the food poisoning judgment by 10%, it provides significant help in critical situations. Raising proficiency practically grants immunity to food poisoning.
Normally, you would only acquire this skill after contracting various diseases, but with knowledge, Taesan could obtain it quite easily.
Now for the next skill.
Taesan approached the spring.
The depth was just right, reaching up to his waist.
“I don’t like this.”
With a grim expression, Taesan submerged his head in the water.
Bubbling.
Naturally, breathing was blocked underwater. Instead of emerging, Taesan closed his eyes and held his breath.
Bubbles.
The air bubbles gradually diminished.
Eventually, all the air he was holding was gone.
‘…’
The body craving for breath becomes increasingly tormented.
But he endures.
[You are in a state where breathing is impossible.] It’s agonizing.
Someone said drowning is the most painful way to die. Whether it’s true or not, it means it’s extremely painful. The body desperately commands to get out of the water and breathe.
But he doesn’t emerge.
With an unwavering face, he endures underwater.
Preferably, he would drink the water to open his throat forcibly closed, waiting instead.
His mind starts to blur. Strength fades. Consciousness disappears, and life flashes before his eyes.
Death is imminent.
That’s when a system window appears.
[You have not breathed until the brink of death. You have acquired the special activation skill [Breathless].] [You have recognized death. You have acquired the special passive skill [Threshold of Death].] That’s it.
Taesan gets up. Water splashes wildly.
“Ha, ha.”
He calms his wildly beating heart and stabilizes his breathing. It takes a few minutes before he finally calms down.
“This really isn’t something to do.”
Complaining, he runs his fingers through his wet hair. It was practically self-waterboarding. Even for Taesan, accustomed to pain, it was a sufficiently agonizing experience.
But it was necessary. Breathless could only be acquired underwater.
[Special Activation Skill: Breathless] [Mana Consumption: 1] [Proficiency: 1%] [You can hold your breath for a much longer time. Currently, it’s about twice as long as usual.] Breathless, a skill that extends the duration of holding one’s breath, is not well-known.
It can only be acquired underwater, and only just before death.
Most who obtained it ended up as fish food, so it was only after Taesan acquired it that information about the skill was disseminated.
And even after it became known, no one else acquired it.
You have to be underwater until just before death. Enduring the agony of not breathing and the fear of possible death is something very few humans can withstand. Since most who survive the labyrinth are close to cowards, they wouldn’t go to such lengths just to learn it.
For that reason, aside from Taesan, only one person, Junggeun, had acquired it.
In Easy or Normal modes, it’s not particularly useful, but from Hard and Alone modes onwards, the story changes.
With floors where the air itself is toxic appearing frequently, Breathless became a significant asset.
Simultaneously, acquiring Threshold of Death is not a bad skill either.
It’s a skill that alerts you to the possibility of death from a place or attack.
Thanks to it, he has managed to escape from crises on several occasions.
[Special Passive Skill: Threshold of Death] [Proficiency: 54%] [You can sense when death is near. It activates in most crisis situations.] “Huh?”
Taesan was surprised to see the proficiency.
“Why is it already 54%?”
It’s quite difficult to even raise the proficiency by 1%. For advanced skills, there were no players who surpassed 50% proficiency by the time they left the labyrinth.
But it’s already at 54%. It matched the proficiency he had in the future.
“Does this mean it’s inherited?”
It seemed that powers imprinted on the mind, unlike the body, carry over to some extent. However, considering skills like Calmness or Insight were at basic proficiency, it wasn’t entirely clear.
“I’m not sure.”
Taesan neatly sorted out his thoughts.
In the labyrinth, incomprehensible events occur frequently.
Trying to find meaning in all of them is unsustainable.
Since it’s beneficial for him, being satisfied with that is enough.
Taesan checked the number of skills he currently possessed.
Swordsmanship. Shield Skill. Sight Enhancement. Insight. Calmness. Soul Strike Enhancement. Threshold of Death. Breathless. Disease Resistance.
Nine in total. He had acquired the number of skills an Easy player typically gains by the time they clear the dungeon, right from the first floor.
Taesan himself had only reached this number around the 20th floor in the past. Considering most of those were useless skills, the value of his current skills was even higher.
But Taesan didn’t plan to stop here.
There were still more skills to acquire.
- First Floor (4)
[First Discovery Bonus] [Your intelligence has permanently increased by 1. Your mana has permanently increased by 2.] Both are beneficial stats. An increase in intelligence reduces the mana consumption rate, allowing for more frequent skill usage. Needless to say, an increase in mana quantity is also advantageous.
[This place is a haven within the labyrinth. Your enemies cannot enter here by their own will. The tranquility here makes you complacent.] Most places in the labyrinth spawn monsters. The exceptions are shops and springs, essentially acting as safe zones.
Taesan scooped up some spring water with his hands. The cool liquid refreshingly slid down his throat.
[You are in optimal condition.] Any remaining fatigue vanished instantly. It felt as though he had gotten a full night’s rest.
Taesan sat next to the spring. The ground here wasn’t the hard stone floor but rather a warm sandy floor, tempting him to lie down right there.
While the spring restores you to the best condition, it doesn’t address the mental fatigue that accumulates over time. A bit of rest is necessary.
‘It’s been about a day, hasn’t it?’
Checking his state of hunger, it seemed about time. Now was when things would start popping up on the community board.
“Community.”
[Kang Junhyuk[Alone]: Guys, is it really okay to enter the labyrinth?] [Na Jaeyeon[Alone]: Seeing no response from those who entered, seems not. This is driving me crazy.] [Yu Youngseok[Easy]: Anyone wants to team up for the first floor?] [Kang Dongjun[Normal]: Looking for information. Does anyone know what the first monster is?] [Lee Sang[Alone]: This is insane. Really.] As expected, most of the posts were from Alone players.
Players of other modes can meet each other, so they tend to solve things through direct conversation rather than using the community. However, Alone mode players can’t meet each other. For them, the community is their only means of communication.
While scrolling through the community, Taesan chuckled.
[Lee Taeyeon[Alone]: Guys ㅠㅠㅠ How do we do this ㅠㅠㅠ] The strongest player who survived and conquered the labyrinth, Lee Taeyeon. Always confident, she seemed utterly confused now, unlike her future self.
‘Maybe not.’
Her last status mentioned she was terrified. Perhaps she had always hidden her true nature, remaining a coward to the very end.
Taesan briefly observed the community.
It had only been a day since the labyrinth opened. Naturally, many Alone players were still alive. You don’t die of hunger here. According to Taesan’s knowledge, the real influx of players started a month later.
The Alone mode’s difficulty correlates with its rewards. Taeyeon had mentioned missing out on countless rewards because she bypassed bosses through loopholes, missing out on the rewards she was supposed to receive.
Yet, she was still called the strongest player.
Meaning, nurturing in Alone mode had the potential to be beneficial.
“Hmm.”
Every piece in the labyrinth is precious.
It wouldn’t be much different outside.
“Not bad.”
Taesan started posting on the community.
He began with simple advice. From not antagonizing the gatekeeper to listing the types of items sold by the shopkeeper.
Taesan managed to defeat the Big Rat, but it would be impossible for others. He advised to flee immediately upon encounter and return to the shop, then rush to the spring upon learning its location without delay.
Not following this basic route would make survival nearly impossible. He continued to write what to do next.
[Kang Taesan[Alone]: Basic guide to Alone mode first floor.] Whether others would believe it was another matter.
Trusting an unknown post and entering the labyrinth was a tough call. Even if they did believe, how effective it would be remained uncertain. Out of ten thousand, only Lee Taeyeon survived.
Without much expectation, he tossed out the bait and closed the community.
“Time to get moving.”
Taesan stood up and stretched.
As long as he didn’t leave the first floor, he could use this place indefinitely. Taeyeon survived by moving in and out of here, taking a week just to kill the Big Rat.
In essence, the normal flow for Alone mode was encountering the Big Rat, returning to the shop to learn about the spring’s location, and then rushing here to secure a safety zone.
‘What a setup.’
He felt it was strange from the moment he heard from Taeyeon. If it was going to be like this, placing the spring of life from the start would have been better. Without this place, survival was practically impossible anyway.
But the creator of the labyrinth deliberately placed it far away, causing most to die on their way here.
Whether it was kindness or cruelty was hard to understand.
The important thing was this:
There’s no limit to recovery here. Before leaving the first floor, much could be prepared.
The reason he survived with such meager stats was one thing: skills. Taesan believed that skills held more value than stats here.
Gurgle.
Just then, his stomach growled. Thinking about it, he hadn’t eaten anything all day. While you don’t die of hunger, all stats decrease, and it causes significant discomfort, so it’s best to solve it quickly.
And Taesan was going to solve it.
But in a slightly different way than others might think.
Taesan opened his inventory and took out some meat.
[Big Rat Meat] [Quality: 86%] [It’s the meat of a Big Rat. It’s edible if you want to eat it.] Despite being a rodent, its large size meant there was quite a bit of meat. Taesan pulled out a rusty sword.
Swoosh.
He cut a piece of meat into a manageable size. After examining the meat for a moment, Taesan muttered with a grimace.
“Is this really edible?”
In Easy mode, food was plentiful. He had never eaten Big Rat meat before. The meat was closer to black than red. The muscles were grotesquely bulging, making it far from appetizing.
“Considering the goal, this might be better.”
Taesan put the meat in his mouth.
“…”
The utterly flavorless, tough meat made him grimace, but he didn’t spit it out and chewed it down.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] The status effect of food poisoning. For two days, health decreases at a very fast rate. If you don’t drink a disease cure potion or gulp down health potions, you’ll die.
It’s a nightmare for beginners, and those who have experienced it once make sure to cook their food afterward.
But Taesan was intentionally eating raw meat to aim for this.
Taesan drank from the spring.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more raw meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination succeeded!] [Nothing happened.] Another one.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] […] [Determination failed!] [You have contracted food poisoning!] He drank from the spring again.
[You are in optimal condition.] And ate more meat.
[You have eaten raw meat.] [Determining status effect……] If he doesn’t get food poisoning, he eats another piece. If he gets food poisoning, he drinks from the spring and eats again.
He repeated these two actions continuously. As he was starting to feel full, a different system window popped up.
[After contracting numerous diseases, you have developed resistance. You have acquired the special passive skill [Disease Resistance].] Taesan grinned.
“Bingo.”
The labyrinth doesn’t provide food.
Although the shop sells emergency rations, they are extremely expensive, and in Hard and Alone modes, the quantity is limited. It’s not enough to get through the labyrinth.
Eventually, you have to cook or steam the creatures inside the labyrinth to eat them. In a limited space, situations arise where you must eat raw.
In such cases, getting food poisoning can be disastrous. Taeyeon herself nearly died from it once.
But with Disease Resistance, the story changes.
[Special Passive Skill: Disease Resistance] [Proficiency: 1%] [It’s resistance to various diseases. At this point, diseases from eating are less likely to affect you.] Reducing the food poisoning judgment by 10%, it provides significant help in critical situations. Raising proficiency practically grants immunity to food poisoning.
Normally, you would only acquire this skill after contracting various diseases, but with knowledge, Taesan could obtain it quite easily.
Now for the next skill.
Taesan approached the spring.
The depth was just right, reaching up to his waist.
“I don’t like this.”
With a grim expression, Taesan submerged his head in the water.
Bubbling.
Naturally, breathing was blocked underwater. Instead of emerging, Taesan closed his eyes and held his breath.
Bubbles.
The air bubbles gradually diminished.
Eventually, all the air he was holding was gone.
‘…’
The body craving for breath becomes increasingly tormented.
But he endures.
[You are in a state where breathing is impossible.] It’s agonizing.
Someone said drowning is the most painful way to die. Whether it’s true or not, it means it’s extremely painful. The body desperately commands to get out of the water and breathe.
But he doesn’t emerge.
With an unwavering face, he endures underwater.
Preferably, he would drink the water to open his throat forcibly closed, waiting instead.
His mind starts to blur. Strength fades. Consciousness disappears, and life flashes before his eyes.
Death is imminent.
That’s when a system window appears.
[You have not breathed until the brink of death. You have acquired the special activation skill [Breathless].] [You have recognized death. You have acquired the special passive skill [Threshold of Death].] That’s it.
Taesan gets up. Water splashes wildly.
“Ha, ha.”
He calms his wildly beating heart and stabilizes his breathing. It takes a few minutes before he finally calms down.
“This really isn’t something to do.”
Complaining, he runs his fingers through his wet hair. It was practically self-waterboarding. Even for Taesan, accustomed to pain, it was a sufficiently agonizing experience.
But it was necessary. Breathless could only be acquired underwater.
[Special Activation Skill: Breathless] [Mana Consumption: 1] [Proficiency: 1%] [You can hold your breath for a much longer time. Currently, it’s about twice as long as usual.] Breathless, a skill that extends the duration of holding one’s breath, is not well-known.
It can only be acquired underwater, and only just before death.
Most who obtained it ended up as fish food, so it was only after Taesan acquired it that information about the skill was disseminated.
And even after it became known, no one else acquired it.
You have to be underwater until just before death. Enduring the agony of not breathing and the fear of possible death is something very few humans can withstand. Since most who survive the labyrinth are close to cowards, they wouldn’t go to such lengths just to learn it.
For that reason, aside from Taesan, only one person, Junggeun, had acquired it.
In Easy or Normal modes, it’s not particularly useful, but from Hard and Alone modes onwards, the story changes.
With floors where the air itself is toxic appearing frequently, Breathless became a significant asset.
Simultaneously, acquiring Threshold of Death is not a bad skill either.
It’s a skill that alerts you to the possibility of death from a place or attack.
Thanks to it, he has managed to escape from crises on several occasions.
[Special Passive Skill: Threshold of Death] [Proficiency: 54%] [You can sense when death is near. It activates in most crisis situations.] “Huh?”
Taesan was surprised to see the proficiency.
“Why is it already 54%?”
It’s quite difficult to even raise the proficiency by 1%. For advanced skills, there were no players who surpassed 50% proficiency by the time they left the labyrinth.
But it’s already at 54%. It matched the proficiency he had in the future.
“Does this mean it’s inherited?”
It seemed that powers imprinted on the mind, unlike the body, carry over to some extent. However, considering skills like Calmness or Insight were at basic proficiency, it wasn’t entirely clear.
“I’m not sure.”
Taesan neatly sorted out his thoughts.
In the labyrinth, incomprehensible events occur frequently.
Trying to find meaning in all of them is unsustainable.
Since it’s beneficial for him, being satisfied with that is enough.
Taesan checked the number of skills he currently possessed.
Swordsmanship. Shield Skill. Sight Enhancement. Insight. Calmness. Soul Strike Enhancement. Threshold of Death. Breathless. Disease Resistance.
Nine in total. He had acquired the number of skills an Easy player typically gains by the time they clear the dungeon, right from the first floor.
Taesan himself had only reached this number around the 20th floor in the past. Considering most of those were useless skills, the value of his current skills was even higher.
But Taesan didn’t plan to stop here.
There were still more skills to acquire.
