Before proceeding, Taesan checked the reward. The clear reward for the 29th floor was an item named the Ring of Obsession.
[Ring of Obsession] [Defense +5] [A ring created by someone who did not want to be separated from another.] [In a 1:1 situation, it latches onto the target, increasing all action speeds.]
“Oho.”
An increase in action speed was always a good effect. The 1:1 condition was a catch, but for Taesan, who engaged in forced duels, the presence of multiple enemies was no hindrance, so it wasn’t really a downside.
[Used ???] [Obtained Orb of the Abyss.] [Orb of the Abyss] [A bead found deep within the depths. It has a tendency to stick to things nearby.]
“A crafting item?”
He would need to take it to a blacksmith. After a general inspection, Taesan lifted his gaze to the walls.
The walls looked utterly ordinary, making it hard to find anything unusual.
[You activated Reconnaissance.]
Reconnaissance. A skill that provided information about visible things, but nothing appeared.
“Not even with Reconnaissance. If I hadn’t accepted the quest from the crazed spirit, I wouldn’t be able to enter at all.”
[You activated Natural Consonance.]
As soon as the skill was activated, his senses changed. The smell of the grass sprouting between the walls intensified, and they felt oddly familiar. The air moved, whispering sounds.
He also sensed a hidden path in the wall.
Taesan pressed on that spot. The grass grew and began to wrap around him, slowly pulling him in.
What should have been a wall of stone engulfed him like a swamp.
And as the grass thinned, a new scenery emerged.
“Wow.”
Taesan marveled. A gigantic tree and flowers filled his vision harmoniously. Transparent dewdrops fell from the tips of the enormous leaves.
A natural world that one would only see in paintings unfolded before him.
[This is beyond imagination. How did they create such a vast space?]
The ghost couldn’t hide its astonishment either. What surprised it was the size of the hidden realm.
The ceiling was hardly visible. The area was as vast as a sizable city; despite being indoors, soft sunlight was felt.
“Fascinating.”
Taesan composed his emotions.
Indeed, it was an impressive sight, one he could gaze at forever, but his goal was the gigantic tree in this place.
At the center of the space stretched a tree reaching the ceiling.
That tree’s roots must be the target of the spirit mentioned.
Taesan moved forward.
No spirits were visible. However, glares from within the bushes were directed at him.
Hostility, anger, hatred. All these negative emotions were conveyed in those stares.
Taesan ignored these emotions and arrived in front of the gigantic tree.
Smirking at the entity guarding the place, he saw.
[A spirit dwelling in bones appears.]
“A skeleton?”
A human skeleton, reduced to mere bones, awaited him in front of the tree.
Its jawbone clicked.
[Human who killed the beings of nature and destroyed the grace left by the King of Spirits. This is our realm. Go back.]
“Sorry, but I can’t do that. I need the tree behind you to complete the quest I’ve received.”
Taesan pointed his sword at the huge tree.
The skeleton let out a faint groan.
[...The crazed white spirit. That must be its quest, right?]
“You know about it?”
[To move according to such a trivial quest. Foolish.]
“Do you know what kind of being it is?”
[I know.]
The skeleton spoke calmly.
[That's a spirit designed to be that way from the beginning.]
“Could you explain it in a way I can understand?”
[Spirits are entities where nature gains self-awareness. But nature is originally an existence that coexists with the world without self. Those unworthy of self-awareness are inherently unstable from birth. Especially those enveloped in negative emotions and falling into corruption. Therefore, there was a need to handle them.]
“Is that the crazed white spirit?”
[An entity was needed to expel negative emotions.]
The skeleton continued emotionlessly.
[Our king created the white spirit. Anxious and twisted, inherently lacking from the beginning. A terribly ugly existence. We loathed and despised it. By expelling emotions, we could maintain our identity as spirits.]
“That’s…”
Taesan scoffed.
“For a spirit, that’s quite an ugly act, isn’t it?”
[Say what you will. I didn't expect a human like you to understand our choices as spirits.]
“Then why explain it all? I’m not interested.”
[It is to make you aware of the nature of the being you are obeying.]
The skeleton clicked its jaw. The tip of the jaw moved as if mocking.
[A twisted and squashed entity, inherently ugly from the start. That's the identity of the spirit giving you orders. Do you want to follow the words of such a being?]
“I don’t care.”
[...What?]
“Whatever kind of being it is, it’s not important to me. I accepted the quest and have gone through quite a lot of trouble. So I should receive the reward.”
Taesan’s indifferent attitude made the flame in the skeleton’s eye sockets flicker.
[Despicable human following the commands of a lowly spirit. A fitting pair.]
“Let’s stop talking here.”
[......]
The skeleton raised its hand to the sky.
[Human. You are strong. I cannot win against you now. So...]
“Then just die.”
Taesan had no intention of just watching his opponent do something. Using acceleration, he instantly closed the distance and pierced through the ribs.
[534 damage to the spirit dwelling in bones.] [Cough!]
He continued to accelerate, slamming it into the ground. He stepped on the arm and kept stabbing with his sword. Damage numbers scrolled continuously.
[E, eek!]
The skeleton’s eyes blazed with fire.
[The spirit dwelling in bones activates a small spark.]
A small spark appeared in front of Taesan. It was very small and weak, but Taesan quickly sensed danger and moved away.
Boom!
The spark exploded, shooting flames like a breath. The flames reached the ceiling without losing momentum.
[Human!]
“Why are you calling me?”
Taesan taunted and fired a frost arrow. The skeleton waved its hands roughly, melting the frost arrow with its flames.
[An ignorant human, lacking in manners and order. I shall grant you a death befitting of you.]
The skeleton clacked its jawbone.
Whoosh.
A curtain of flames wrapped around the skeleton. Taesan kept his distance, aware that getting too close would result in significant damage.
[This place is a sanctuary given to us by our king. I was born as a spirit to manage this sanctuary.]
Whoosh.
The flames combined to form a giant pillar.
The pillar reached the artificial sun, which shone faintly from the ceiling.
[I will kill you with the power our king has bestowed upon us.]
A blinding flash filled the space. Taesan closed his eyes and covered himself.
After a moment, the light faded. The scenery had changed significantly. The sun that illuminated the space was gone, and instead, the skeleton was ablaze with red flames.
“A burning skeleton?”
Taesan chuckled, but his eyes were serious.
A heat that would blind and melt the flesh of a normal person emanated from the skeleton.
Not just for a normal person, but even for a typical 29th-floor adventurer, it was a level of heat they couldn’t withstand.
[You activated Frost Arrow.]
He tried using Frost Arrow to reduce the heat, but it melted instantly, turning into water and then evaporating.
“This is serious.”
[The opponent is a challenging enemy.]
The system window appeared as usual, and multiple buff skills were activated.
[Die, human.]
The skeleton spoke bluntly and clenched its fist.
From there, several whips of flame appeared and lashed out.
Boom!
Flames that melted and burned everything flailed wildly. Taesan moved swiftly, dodging the flames that passed close to his head and narrowly missed his thigh.
[You're quick.]
The skeleton said calmly and combined the whips into a giant spear of flame.
Swoosh!
Thanks to his quick reaction, he narrowly avoided it. Taesan shook off his hand, heated by the flames.
“Hot.”
[You are strong.]
The skeleton was honestly surprised. At this moment, it had enough power to take down adventurers from the 40th floor without a problem. Yet, a 29th-floor adventurer was avoiding it without injury.
But that was all. The difference in power was clear.
[The sun within me is a grace bestowed by our King of Spirits. The power of the Spirit King dwells within me. You, being merely human, cannot resist.]
The skeleton clenched both fists.
[So die like that.] [The spirit dwelling in bones activated Artificial Sun.]
A small sphere of flames appeared in the skeleton’s hand. It rapidly expanded, engulfing the entire space.
Taesan did not try to escape. He calmly watched the expanding sphere. Seeing this, the skeleton sneered.
[Accepting failure and embracing death? A wise choice.]
“Hardly.”
Still, the skeleton’s words weren’t wrong. The power it possessed was beyond Taesan’s current ability to oppose.
The skeleton claimed the power of the sun it wielded was a blessing from the Spirit King. As Taesan had heard from Lee Taeyeon and the ghost, the Spirit King was a deep-layer entity.
The attacks indeed had corresponding might. He could possibly cling on with attack nullification and endurance, but his chances of winning were quite slim.
However, the opponent wasn’t impossible to beat.
Even without information, it was a difficult enemy he could potentially overcome. All thanks to one skill Taesan possessed.
The solution was simple.
If the opponent used the power of a being from the deep layers, Taesan would use the power of a being managing the labyrinth.
[You activated Apostle Transformation [Lakiratas].]
Something settled into his body.
A presence from a higher, more fundamental level spread through him. His legs, grounded on the earth, became as solid as a rock, and his hand, holding the sword, relaxed. The skeleton, calmly waiting for Taesan’s death, faltered.
[...This power?]
Taesan’s eyes turned red. His muscles activated. Gripping his sword, he swung it fiercely.
Boom!
The sphere split with an explosion.
The sun’s power was erased by the sword strike. The skeleton gasped.
[The power of an Apostle!]
The grand and lofty power bestowed upon adventurers by gods who took an interest in them.
The skeleton knew of this power – its strength and its status.
But it quickly calmed its surprise. It knew Taesan was strong. It was entirely possible he had made a pact with some god or apostle.
[That's as far as you go. But you can't reach me.]
The apostle’s pact was a contract that brought down the power of gods. A mortal gaining power and status they would never normally achieve, surely a power beyond reach. Normally, even the skeleton wouldn’t dare oppose a true apostle.
However, it wasn’t so threatening now.
Because the one receiving the power was still a mortal being.
Adventurers of lower levels with weak minds and bodies couldn’t fully utilize the apostle’s power. They needed a certain level of strength and status to even draw out half of it.
And that level was a story for those who had descended to at least the 70th floor.
An adventurer who had barely reached the 30th floor couldn’t possibly draw even a tenth of the apostle’s status.
So, the skeleton had a chance.
[You are nothing but a dog of gods, fed by divine intellect!]
A low-level adventurer like this would have been overwhelmed by power, losing even their intellect. That wouldn’t be scary at all.
As the skeleton expected, several sentences echoed endlessly in Taesan’s head.
Enemy!
Kill the enemy!
Engage in combat!
Voices pressing down on the brain, crushing the self.
Taesan shook his head.
“Shut up.”
Loud, yes, but he agreed with them.
That was the enemy.
Enemies must be killed.
Slowly raising his sword, Taesan’s action made the skeleton hesitate.
[You're maintaining your intellect?]
“Shut up and die.”
Taesan charged. The skeleton hastily released flames. Dozens of whips of flame wildly flailed, destroying everything around.
Until now, the power of the whip had been evaded. Each whip held the power to turn a vast forest to ashes.
Taesan yanked his hand fiercely.
Boom!
The sword strike exploded. The flames’ whips were torn apart and vanished.
[What is this!]
Taesan dashed through the exploding flames.
