Taesan went down to the 20th floor, and the blacksmith was still at his place, just as he was when Taesan had left.
Upon seeing Taesan, Hafran raised his eyebrows.
“I thought you might have died since you’ve been gone for a while.”
“I had someplace to go.”
Taesan calmly responded, and Hafran gave him a curious look.
“You’ve changed. I’ve seen countless adventurers, but I’ve never seen someone become strong as quickly as you. What’s your secret?”
“Just did this and that.”
After exchanging some casual conversation, Hafran got to the main point.
“So, what’s the matter?”
“You came from a ruined world to this place, right?”
“That’s right.”
Hafran spoke with a calm expression. His face showed no emotion despite his world having been ruined.
“You said the will of the world brought about its own destruction. Can you tell me about that process?”
“I could tell you, but… it doesn’t seem like something you should be curious about. Why?”
“I have my reasons.”
Taesan couldn’t talk about Soul Ascension. Thinking about the reactions of the NPCs he had encountered while descending the labyrinth, he couldn’t predict how Hafran would change once he learned about Soul Ascension.
Hafran frowned slightly and then began to speak.
“I guess it doesn’t matter. A rough explanation will do, right?”
Taesan nodded.
“Our world itself was trying to kill us. I don’t know why. Even as our world was being destroyed, there were those who tried to find a solution, but they all turned to dust. Looking back, there were signs from before.”
Hafran began to explain.
“At some point, birds began to die suddenly, huge springs dried up, and mountains with fire in them exploded. We thought it was strange at that time, but we didn’t worry too much about it.”
Springs could dry up, birds could get infected with a disease, and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions could happen.
All were natural disasters, but they were understandable to some extent. Therefore, the inhabitants of the world focused on dealing with the aftermath rather than finding out the reasons.
“But it got worse over time. Mountains spewed fire daily, and huge rivers dried up in an instant. That’s when we realized something was wrong.”
There was a presence threatening their survival.
People started to move to find out why. But they couldn’t find anything.
“Some believed it was the threat of the Demon King, while others thought it was a prank by the Transcendents. But we couldn’t find the answer with such ideas.”
Ultimately, they couldn’t find anything and slowly faced destruction.
“One-tenth of our world turned from a forest to a desert. The sea dried up. Buildings turned to sand and collapsed, and all living beings were dying. By then, we realized the stars were killing us, but it was too late. Even if we had known, there was nothing we could do.”
What could they do when the stars wanted to kill them? The only thing they could do was leave the star.
“And then our world was destroyed. Only I survived and found a place in this labyrinth.”
Hafran ended his story calmly.
“Are your questions answered?”
“Roughly.”
Taesan stroked his chin.
It became clear after hearing Hafran’s story.
The will of the star itself destroyed the world he lived in.
In other words, the ??? skill Taesan acquired was likely related to that.
There was a way to confirm that.
“Can you go once again?”
“Hmm?”
Hafran hesitated. After briefly inspecting Taesan, he sighed.
“…… This is really funny. I thought you would at least have to go beyond the 40th floor, but already?”
“So, can I go?”
“Yes.”
Hafran nodded.
“I need it as well, so there’s no reason to refuse. Just wait a moment.”
Hafran, who brought out a black gem, spoke.
“This time will be much harder than the last. At that time, the world didn’t recognize your existence yet, so it only used a fraction of its power, but now it certainly recognizes you.”
[Sub Quest Start] [Hafran has a request for you. Enter his destroyed world, and bring back the crimson jade from the ruins of the dead king. If you succeed, a reward will follow.]
“The world will definitely try to kill you with a clear intent to do so. If I could advise you, it would be best to finish as quickly as possible.”
With that, Taesan’s body was transported.
When his sight returned, he was in the gray, destroyed world.
“Sigh.”
He exhaled and activated Breathless.
His skill had improved since the last time, so moving was easier.
‘This time, it’s definitely different.’
A clear intent to kill Taesan could be felt from the gray sky.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the sky shook. Taesan stepped into the twinkling light.
Roar!
The lightning that struck the ground incinerated it. The sand turned into glass and sparkled. The strong heat hitting his face made Taesan whistle.
‘You’re trying to kill me, huh.’
Of course, Taesan also intended to finish it quickly and decisively. He put strength into his feet.
Boom!
The ground cracked, and his body sprinted. The destination of this quest wasn’t too far away. If he moved quickly, he would arrive within an hour.
But, of course, arriving there wouldn’t be easy.
Rumble!
A mountain in the direction he was heading writhed. The ground undulated like waves.
A gigantic baobab tree stood up from its roots, and rocks broke free from the influence of gravity and flew.
The mountain transformed into a human figure and swung a fist at Taesan.
Taesan stamped the ground. The fist struck where he was, and the sand exploded, creating a giant crater.
Taesan drew his sword and stabbed it into the dirt-formed arm.
But, just like before, no damage numbers appeared.
This was an undying entity. In that case, the sword, which had a narrow area of attack, was unnecessary. Taesan put the sword away.
Rumble!
The giant made of the mountain raised its arm. Taesan, who was on the arm, naturally rose into the air.
And the rocks and trees embedded in the giant’s body flew like bullets.
Taesan threw a punch.
Boom!
The air exploded as the meteor-like rocks collided with his fist. The rocks shattered and scattered in all directions.
Rumble!
The giant tried to press Taesan down with its other arm. Taesan escaped from the arm and dropped to the ground.
‘What should I do?’
Taesan thought this as he fell. In order to achieve his goal, he needed to knock down this giant. While pondering, all sorts of things flew towards Taesan, who was falling.
[You have activated the Wind Path of the Deer.]
The wind wrapped around Taesan’s body.
His body moved in the sky. Taesan rushed towards the giant’s torso.
There were things flying towards him, but he dodged and swung his arm. Everything wrapped around Taesan’s arm was smashed as he roughly moved.
[You have activated Strong Strike.]
He clenched his fist and pulled back his waist to strike.
Koowooong!
The pile of rocks shattered, and the giant staggered.
It could not withstand the inflicted power and fell to the ground.
The giant made of mountains crumbled by a human’s fist.
Taesan landed on top of the fallen giant.
‘Where could it be.’
Taesan continued to throw punches.
The giant waved its arms in resistance but was trampled and burst into disregard.
When he came here before, everything that attacked him had an ashy aura.
That was what he was looking for. It took a long time because it was big, but after swinging for a while, he was able to find it.
‘It’s on the sole of the foot.’
Taesan gathered the ashy aura. The struggling giant stopped moving and eventually crumbled.
[Your Soul Ascension has been activated. ??? 's proficiency has increased by 3%.]
As expected, the proficiency increased. Upon checking, the content had changed.
[Concept Skill: ???] [Proficiency: 15%] [The power of will, ??? descends.]
The word ‘power’ had been added.
‘As expected.’
Something filled with will. It seemed that by knocking its attacks down, Soul Ascension was stealing its strength.
He tried to use points as a test, but it did not apply. It meant that this was a skill that could only increase proficiency in this way.
‘What happens when it hits 20%?’
He was curious, but he didn’t have the leisure to keep thinking about it.
Kwarreung!
The ashy sky shook, and lightning continued to strike down. Taesan quickly moved his feet to dodge.
On the other side, a giant hurricane was blowing through the air with a loud noise, and the ground was starting to split, revealing the land beneath.
Natural disasters were simultaneously hitting.
‘This is where the real deal starts, huh?’
Taesan stomped the ground.
Kagagagak!
The storm engulfed Taesan. Its strength, incomparable to the sandstorm he experienced before, restricted his movements.
[You have used shoes made of golem's ore and forged by spirits. It releases you from all constraints.]
In an instant, the wind disappeared.
Taesan used this opportunity to activate acceleration. He surpassed the speed of sound and escaped from the storm.
What welcomed him was the land crumbling like puzzle pieces.
Kugugugung!
The ground was breaking into pieces. Taesan hastily found places, barely enough to step on, and moved forward.
Kureung!
In the meantime, the lightning struck down, avoiding a direct hit, but the end of his arm was slightly burnt.
[You have taken 215 damage.]
The air did not stop thickening. Now, it had developed a viscosity that restricted movement.
[You have activated Repulsion.]
The air pushed away, restoring freedom to act. Taking advantage of the gap, he stepped on an unstable foothold and dashed straight ahead.
The distance was not far. Now, it was right in front of his nose.
However, in front of him was a massive cliff that seemed to have no end, stretching across his path.
Taesan was approaching this cliff at a fast speed.
Taesan hesitated as he tried to step back.
Ku-gu-gung!
Another cliff of the same size was rushing towards him from behind at a fast pace.
[Oh my?]
“Well then.”
Taesan let out a hollow laugh, the world’s will to kill him evident in his eyes.
The cliff was approaching at a considerable speed. Slow compared to Taesan, but because the length of the cliff was quite long, it was impossible to move out of its path.
But this was also a good opportunity.
With power in his legs, Taesan ran towards the cliff. When the cliff was within reach, he kicked off the ground.
Kwajik.
He planted his foot on the cliff and began to ascend. The cliff was incredibly tall, reaching the sky, but he began to climb up at a fast pace.
Halfway up, the speed of the moving cliff suddenly increased.
[You have activated "Freedom of Choice."]
He invested his intelligence into agility to climb even faster.
When the opposite cliff was within reach, Taesan leaped over the edge.
Koo-woo-woong!
The cliffs collided and shattered to pieces. The power would have caused significant damage if he had been caught between them.
Whistling, Taesan looked down below.
“Now, then:”
Taesan stepped on the cliff and ascended to the sky, and then the cliff crumbled away.
From the high sky, Taesan began to fall, the sharp wind scratching his cheeks.
He had used all his skills, like “Nullify Attack” and “Air Jump,” and he had no intention of using any others.
While falling, there was only one skill to use, “Solidify.” He wrapped his body in preparation for the impact.
Koo-woo-woong!
And then he hit the ground. The strong impact made Taesan grit his teeth.
[You have taken 1243 damage.]
Even with “Solidify” activated, which halved the damage, this was the amount of damage received. It was natural, given he had fallen from a place higher than the clouds.
If he had activated “Path of the Wind Deer,” he could have reduced the damage, but Taesan did not use the skill.
The reason was precisely because of this skill.
[You have landed from an extremely high place to the ground. You have acquired the special activated skill "Leap." You have acquired the special activated skill "Landing."] [Did you know it would happen?]
“Of course.”
“Leap” was a unique skill that was difficult to acquire due to its conditions. He had planned to get it later, but the opportunity presented itself, and he acquired it swiftly.
And in front of Taesan was the entrance to the underground ruins.
