Chapter 9
With a whooshing sound that sliced through the air, it happened.
Thud!
“Keuk?”
A massive axe buried itself in Cheon Minguk’s head.
Given the two-meter-long mass of iron… there was no need for confirmation.
It was instant death.
‘So it finally begins.’
Jinhyuk readied himself.
“It’s a monster! A high-level one!”
“Damn it. Of all times!”
The others reacted a beat too late.
Some pulled out crudely made weapons, the cheap items they’d bought from the shop with their initial 100 coins.
Of course,
Such things wouldn’t even scratch it.
Only a few special relics among the holy artifacts could pierce through its skin.
Thump! Thump!
His heart pounded rapidly.
Every nerve in his body stood on end.
And then,
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Something approached from the end of the dark corridor.
It was coming.
And fast.
“Krooooh!”
Moments later, a two-meter-tall monster revealed itself.
A being with the head of a bull and the body of a man.
The Minotaur.
This creature roamed the labyrinth alone.
“Uwaaaah!”
“What is that?!”
“What kind of messed-up labyrinth is this, on the first floor no less!”
As chaos erupted instantly,
Whoosh!
The Minotaur swung its massive axe.
Crash!
A single blow left a huge gash in the rock.
Walls crumbled, and a cloud of dust billowed.
Even a graze would turn the fragile human flesh into rags.
But just then,
Zip!
Jinhyuk charged forward.
Directly towards the Minotaur.
“Krooooh!”
Perhaps annoyed by the human daring to confront it bare-handed, the Minotaur grasped its axe with both hands.
Raising it high, it aimed a blow straight at the crown of Jinhyuk’s head…
Jinhyuk nimbly dodged the attack.
Crash!
The ground where he had stood moments before was now in ruins.
And at that moment,
[You’ve evaded the attack.]
[The stat ‘Gap’ has increased by 0.05.]
Two lines of status updates appeared in front of Jinhyuk.
‘Yes!’
Jinhyuk internally cheered.
- Evading the Minotaur’s attacks would grant the hidden stat ‘Gap’. However, this reward is limited to those who choose the labyrinth as their first hunting ground after entering the tower.
‘Gap’.
A stat that narrows the gap in a fight against a much stronger opponent, and further widens the gap against weaker ones.
Ding!
[Detailed Description]
For every 3 points against a stronger enemy, it narrows the level gap by one.
For every 2 points against a weaker enemy, it widens the level gap by one.
The path to leveling up at level one.
The only method discovered after countless trials and errors.
It started with just 0.05, but…
‘There’s no need to rush.’
This was just the beginning.
Jinhyuk continued to dodge the axe.
Whoosh!
Crash!
With terrifying speed, the axe carved through walls, sending shards flying in all directions.
A single mistake could lead to death, but Jinhyuk didn’t blink.
He wouldn’t make a mistake.
‘I am a veteran.’
‘I’ve survived much more dangerous situations than this.’
And he enjoyed every moment of it.
Bang! Crash! Craaash!
He evaded the storm of blows by a hair’s breadth.
“A monster.”
“Incredible…”
“Were we really trying to take on that thing?”
To those seeing it for the first time, Jinhyuk’s movements seemed unimaginable, more than mere reflexes.
The result of merciless repetition, ingrained down to the bone.
It was more like precognition than prediction.
‘I was truly insane.’
Park Hana swallowed hard.
The thought of killing this veteran player and stealing his rewards seemed as foolish as dousing oneself in oil and jumping into fire.
“Krooooh!”
The Minotaur, enraged, became even more violent.
Crash!
Crash!
The axe barely missed Jinhyuk’s neck.
[You’ve narrowly evaded a lethal attack!] [The stat ‘Gap’ has increased by 1.]
Dodging dangerous attacks yielded more stats.
High risk, high return.
Jinhyuk wiped a drop of blood from his neck with his finger.
‘As expected, I have to push it to the limit to gain the maximum stats.’
He timed it deliberately, barely escaping death.
Exchanging a layer of skin for a stat point wasn’t a bad trade, though too much of it could lead to excessive bleeding.
Minutes passed.
“Huff. Huff. Huff.”
Jinhyuk’s breathing became labored, and his stamina started to wane.
Muscle fatigue began to accumulate.
‘It’s about time to wrap up this first encounter.’
There was plenty of time to gain stats.
He planned to squeeze out at least 100 stats by the time he escaped the labyrinth in a month.
Jinhyuk glanced back.
As he was busy with the Minotaur, he saw his companions sneakily attempting to flee.
‘Look at that? The supporting cast trying to make an unscheduled exit?’
That was not something he could allow.
Their fate—when and where they might live or die—was his to decide.
‘Besides, where do they think they’re running off to without knowing the exit?’
Jinhyuk subtly increased the distance between himself and the Minotaur, making his way towards the group.
“If you want to gain stats, you should try dodging with me.”
“…What?”
Park Hana’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Dodging its attacks grants hidden stats. It’s actually really easy. Give it a try.”
Normally, sharing good fortune wasn’t his style, but this time was an exception.
Out of a rare, generous spirit, he’d make this one exception.
“…”
Park Hana’s face contorted in disbelief, as if to say, ‘Are you insane? How is that easy?’
“Come on, don’t back out now. Just try it once. If you don’t like it, I won’t force you again.”
Jinhyuk smiled encouragingly, pushing Do Gwangwoo forward.
“Uh… uhuh?”
Do Gwangwoo took a few steps forward unwittingly.
Just a few steps.
Yet those few steps marked the thin line between life and death.
“Aaaaah!”
There was no time to dodge.
No time to beg for life.
Slish!
Do Gwangwoo was split in half, from top to bottom.
The Minotaur, now fully enraged, showed no mercy in its swing.
“Oops!”
Jinhyuk covered his mouth with his palm.
“Why would you stand still? You should duck or create distance.”
Really, it felt like swallowing a million sweet potatoes.
Standing there dumbfounded, what were they expecting?
Do something, anything.
He wanted to tell them to try harder next time, but,
Ah.
There was no next time.
The labyrinth changed again.
Rumble! Rumble!
Walls and floors moved chaotically, ensuring they weren’t crushed.
But it also allowed them to escape from the Minotaur’s pursuit.
“Haah. Haah. Haah.”
“Thank goodness…”
“Almost… died…”
Everyone gasped for air.
Two companions were lost, yet no one seemed sad, relief at their own survival overriding any grief.
Self-preservation was indeed paramount.
“Are we safe now? It won’t follow us anymore, right?”
Park Hana trembled as she peeked beyond the wall, as if the Minotaur might burst through at any moment.
“It will keep following us.”
Jinhyuk fiddled with a small dagger in his hand, the weapon previously owned by Do Gwangwoo, now a memento.
“How can it keep following us? The path has changed!”
“Because of this.”
Jinhyuk showed his palm stained with the blue luminescence of glow moth powder, ensuring the Minotaur would continue its pursuit until they escaped the labyrinth.
“That’s… impossible. Why would you do that? Why?”
Why?
“To increase my stats. I’ll rest a bit when the labyrinth changes, replenishing my stamina. The rest of the time, I need to entertain our little calf.”
“For how long…?”
“Until we escape the labyrinth.”
“So, how long will that take?”
“About a month?”
In truth, it could be a month if they were quick. If they kept causing trouble, it could stretch to two.
Either way, he planned to milk them dry, though the process might become more painful if they complained too much.
“…”
Park Hana collapsed to the ground.
A month.
She doubted her ability to survive even the day, let alone a month.
“We’ll go our separate ways. If we don’t accompany you, we won’t be pursued by that monster, right?”
This time, Lee Hyemin spoke up tentatively.
“That’s true.”
Jinhyuk nodded.
‘Indeed, I’d be the primary target since I’m covered in the powder.’
But,
“Which way will you go?”
You don’t know the way out.
Wandering aimlessly and hoping for an exit seems like a poor choice.
“Do you know the way out?”
“As I said, I know this labyrinth better than anyone. Of course, I know the exit.”
“Alright. Then we’ll go with you… Sigh. It seems we have no other choice.”
“Well, I don’t mind you coming along.”
Jinhyuk trailed off, prompting Lee Hyemin to ask, “But…?”
Why do elders act this way?
“You can’t come empty-handed.”
“What?”
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You’ll need to cough up all the coins you have at the very least.”
To put it simply,
If you want a ride to max level, empty your pockets.
[Coins held: 500]
After pooling the initial coins and collecting from the four individuals, the total came to 500 coins.
Far from enough to buy any worthwhile weapons or armor.
But that didn’t matter.
With this amount, he could purchase what he needed.
“Stop standing around like statues. Get to work. Gather moss for bedding, find wood for fire. There’s plenty to do.”
“Understood.”
“We’re going, we’re going.”
A collective sigh was heard.
Dreaming of a jackpot, they came here only to lose everything and now faced an uncertain fate.
But did they realize?
That no matter what, their destiny wouldn’t change.
Once everyone had left, Jinhyuk activated the trading post.
[Welcome to the Coin Trading Post.]
A vast status window appeared alongside the short message.
A place where tens of thousands of items could be bought and sold.
A land of opportunity filled with hidden gems and fool’s gold.
This was the ‘Coin Trading Post’.
Jinhyuk quickly browsed through the list.
[‘Ancient Degoisian’s Tooth (SS)’ – 395,250,700 coins]
[‘Phoenix Feather (S)’ – 188,187,000 coins]
[‘Holy Relic Dangun’s Sacred Sword (S)’ – 159,155,300 coins]
From eye-wateringly exquisite items,
[‘Worn Small Pebble (F)’ – 1 coin]
to practically worthless items.
An array of items was available.
But,
‘Looking at these is a waste of time.’
He couldn’t afford them now, and window shopping was just a waste of time.
Without hesitation, Jinhyuk scrolled to the very bottom of the category.
Down.
Further down.
What he wanted was gathered at the bottom.
‘This, this, and this.’
He swiftly purchased the items he wanted.
[‘Cursed Tarot Cards (F)’ – 70 coins]
[‘Worn Bronze Key Fragment (F)’ – 80 coins]
[‘Wooden Wheel Fragment (E)’ – 300 coins]
[‘Lottery Enhancement Scrolls (F)’ x10 – 1 coin each]
Four types in total.
All practically junk, but Jinhyuk smiled, seemingly satisfied.
The individual items weren’t important.
What mattered was how he used them.
“I’ll combine these three items.”
[If the combination is incorrect, all items will be destroyed.] “Proceed.”
Jinhyuk nodded.
Then,
[Combining the 3 items.] [The combination was successful!]
A congratulatory burst of bright mist appeared, as if to celebrate the success.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart raced with excitement.
‘It’s a success.’
Looking at the item that appeared before him, Jinhyuk was certain.
All the time spent playing [The Tower of Trials] was not wasted.