Leveling Up with Skills Chapter 613

Episode 613

613. Easy mode. Simple time stop (1)

“Isn’t this it?”

Taesan mutters. There were countless stab wounds in front of him.

All the knife marks he left behind.

It was a trace of two months of time.

I failed to acquire the skills I invested in for two months. Taesan stretched.

He’s in easy mode now. It was on the 74th floor there.

* * *

“I thought it was vague, but I never thought I’d really get it.”

Taesan grumbled and stuffed the beef jerky into his mouth. When I started, I thought it had potential. The conditions were clear and the difficulty level of acquisition was reasonable. So I thought I could get it if I invested time, but no.

Even though the conditions were perfectly met, the system window was extremely quiet. It meant that there were no skills to obtain under that condition.

Two months of effort went in vain.

However, Taesan was not so despairing or disappointed.

“It worked out cheaply in just two months.”

Although I invested a full year, there were many times when I gained skills that I could not use anywhere else. This was enough.

Still, sad is sad.

I wanted to grab someone and complain. Taesan raised his head and looked into the labyrinth.

This is the 74th floor.

The labyrinth was filled with silence.

“Is there anyone?”

Taesan mutters. An echo without an answer rings out.

Are there any players still left in Easy Mode? I don’t know. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen the player in person.

Taesan opened a community.

And what I saw were writings full of despair.

[Lee Taeyeon [Alone]: Ahhhhh! no! no! no! I don’t like it anymore!!!!]

Taesan didn’t react and just skipped through the despairing words. Now it wasn’t even a new thing.

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: Why is he like that?]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: …What is it? Mr. Taesan? Hasn’t it gone yet?]

A surprised post is posted.

Choi Kang-in. Hardmode player who frequently uses the community. It was a player I was quite familiar with. Taesan answered calmly.

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: I didn’t go out, so I’m here. Why are you asking the obvious?]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: No. Taesan is in easy mode, right? Aren’t they all gone now?]

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: I don’t know. I haven’t seen another player in years. Did he pass by without me knowing, or is it really not there?]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: …Aren’t you lonely?]

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: Not really?]

Tae-san answered earnestly. Choi Kang-in asked curiously.

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Are you still trying to acquire skills or something? Wow. Do you really need to do that? We won, right?]

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: We won.]

They won.

There is no need to acquire any more skills.

Taesan did not answer but changed his mind.

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: So you’re not going out?]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: I want to go out. But I don’t have any talent. It’s blocked.]

Most hard mode players also cleared the 100th floor and went to Earth. Geum Jung-geun was also included there. The only ones left were the so-called stragglers.

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: I’m going down leisurely. What’s left is time, right? I think it would be so unfair if I died while rushing for no reason.]

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: That’s right.]

[Lee Tae-yeon [Alone]: Ahhh! no! I hate it now! Guys! Help!!!]

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: Why is he like that?]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Is he a guide to sin? It seems that we have developed an antagonistic relationship with those who are trying to figure out what to do. They say they are being chased.]

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: Are they the ones who are always making noise?]

Lee Tae-yeon wrote in detail about how difficult it was for her and what the situation was like in the community.

Taesan, who had been staying in the labyrinth for a long time, naturally knew about Taeyeon Lee’s progress in the labyrinth.

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: You’ve been through a lot.]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: That’s right.]

The two had a calm conversation.

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: What floor are you on?]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: The 93rd floor.]

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: How much time is left? It’s going to be lonely.]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Taesan can come out at any time. I’ll ask you this seriously.]

Choi Kang-in asked as if he really couldn’t understand.

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Why aren’t you coming?]

Taesan is in easy mode. Among them, it is special. If I wanted to, I could have cleared it for the first time in easy mode.

But Taishan is still in the labyrinth.

Choi Kang-in couldn’t understand that.

[Strongest [Hard]: We won.]

Return to Earth. In those early days, it was despair itself. Countless people died, and only the calm prediction that humanity would perish like this remained.

However, as they continued to return, they became stronger and the monsters began to be unable to match their strength.

From the moment all mankind joined forces, they continued to win.

And finally they won.

We closed the crack in the damn sky and took back the Earth.

That was already a long time ago.

Enjoying their victory, they quickly cleared the labyrinth and began returning to Earth. The only ones still left were the alone mode players and the hard mode players who had been left behind. Izzy and Normal were almost out.

Just one person. Except for Taishan Bay.

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Of course, I know that Taesan has gained ridiculous skills. But we won. Is there any need to become stronger than that?]

They could now enjoy peace. Of course, the stronger you become, the better, but the question was whether it was worth melting time like Taesan.

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Taesan doesn’t seem like a person crazy about power.]

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: I’m not really interested in strength beyond survival. If you want to come out, you can come out right away.]

[Lee Taeyeon [Alone]: …What is it? Taishan. Are you going out?]

Taeyeon Lee seemed to have some free time and intervened.

[Lee Taeyeon [Alone]: Don’t go. Taishan. I’m lonely. Talk with me. [Please stay in the labyrinth…]

Taesan laughed at the sense of desperation that could be seen even beyond the text.

[Kang Tae-san [Easy]: You don’t have to worry because you won’t have to go out for a while.]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Will you stay? Why? They say you’re not really interested in anything more than surviving.]

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: That’s why.]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: …Huh?]

Choi Kang-in didn’t understand Taesan’s words.

Even Taesan couldn’t make him understand. It’s just his intuition.

[Kang Taesan [Easy]: Anyway, I don’t plan on leaving for the time being. That’s how I know.]

[Choi Kang-in [Hard]: Ah. Yes.]

Choi Kang-in looked puzzled but said nothing more. Taesan listened to Lee Taeyeon’s complaints for a while and then turned off the community.

He looks at the ceiling with sunken eyes.

They won.

They chased away the monsters and took back the Earth. Now all I had to do was return to Earth and enjoy peace.

‘but.’

Taesan felt a very strong sense of reluctance.

It felt as if I had been deceived by the very desirable prey that entered the net and entered the trap on my own.

Of course, this is just his intuition. Earth could truly be at peace. Maybe people can work together to rebuild technology.

But Taesan trusted his intuition.

If the Earth was that simple to begin with, why is there a level of difficulty called Alone Mode?

Why did they make it so difficult that even the strongest Taeyeon Lee could clear it even if she risked her life?

An indescribable feeling of reluctance hovers within my tongue.

Intuition and prediction warn. I can’t return to Earth in this state.

It takes strength.

More powerful.

To do that, what do you need to gain?

“In the end, it turns around and ends up here.”

Taesan clicks his tongue.

You must acquire powerful skills. An Irregular who is not just ordinary powerful, but truly goes beyond the limits.

He is strong now.

Although it is in easy mode, it has power comparable to hard mode.

But that’s it.

Ultimately, it is the power within the category.

Something beyond that is needed.

A powerful force that can distort the world alone, even in alone mode.

‘Is it possible?’

To be honest, I had no idea what I had to do to acquire that skill.

The skills he has now. Plus. Forced duel. Attack nullified. A big leap. Landing. Complete reconnaissance.

They are all powerful, but they alone cannot have a huge impact. In any case, it is only a local effect.

A skill that can turn everything around with just one skill.

The skill to approach the concept itself.

You have to get something like that.

Numerous conditions pass through his mind. Most of them have already been tried and failed. Either he didn’t get the skill or it was a completely different skill than he expected.

Taesan, who had been thinking for a while, frowned.

‘…Maybe I should go there in the end.’

I feel a strong sense of rejection. Because he failed there. Even after investing years of time, I was unable to acquire skills.

But the skills he will gain now are different.

Then there was a possibility.

Taesan got up and went down to the 72nd floor. I went into the empty room there and pressed the brick.

Rumbling!

The walls open with the sound of the labyrinth moving.

There was something called a secret room in the labyrinth.

When you clear certain conditions on a floor, a hidden room is revealed and there is an item in it.

Of course, if there is a reward, there is also a corresponding ordeal. There were a variety of traps in each secret room.

And the trap in the secret room on the 72nd floor was the most unique trap he had ever seen.

Taesan steps into the secret room.

Click.

Thousands of projectiles are seen along with a pressing sound.

Arrow Bead Shuriken Shuriken Semicircle Blade. Even a sphere the size of a human body.

Let’s go, let’s go!

They protrude from all the walls, bounce against each other, collide, and move dizzyingly. A loud metal sound fills the room.

Taesan looked at the scene with a frown.