169. Lunatic Difficulty (3)
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the system message that seemed to block my view.
“A challenger with a talent can receive grace from the Dark God.”
I couldn’t figure out why a place like this even existed.
‘What is the purpose?’
It’s God’s grace…
Even that is not a god subordinated to the tower, but receives the power of an external deity.
For an event hosted by TOP, there were so many suspicious corners that it was absurd.
Of course, it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand that God’s grace was bestowed on the challenger.
Because there is a huge difference between a challenger with divinity and a challenger without.
‘Perhaps the tower was trying to give the challenger the qualifications to obtain divinity with the giant tree labyrinth…’
Presumably, this altar exists to give opportunities to challengers who are not on the list.
but….
‘If this is the case, the challenger will have a close relationship with the god outside the tower?’
It was unknown why the method of giving the challenger a chance was related to the deity outside the tower.
The answer will be one of two.
This giant tree labyrinth itself was greatly interfered with by the deities outside the tower…
Otherwise, the tower would have intentionally allowed the gods to set up an altar in the giant tree labyrinth.
‘The latter must be closer to the correct answer than the former.’
However, the tower is a powerful being that even the godhead cannot easily touch.
Being interfered with by the gods was difficult to accept as the correct answer.
therefore.
The latter inference, the Tower, would be correct in intentionally allowing the deities to set up altars.
But I couldn’t figure out why the Tower allowed the godhead to set up an altar.
Did they make some kind of deal with each other?
“…”
It took a while to keep my mouth shut and think hard.
“No matter how you look at it, this looks like a hidden piece…?”
Suddenly, I stopped thinking and opened my mouth at Catherine Bennett’s words.
“I guess so. Even the system message said that it was a hidden god’s altar.”
…It didn’t matter that much about why the Tower had to set up an altar anyway.
It doesn’t matter if you find out later.
‘But the gains from using the altar are important.’
First of all, it was urgent to find out what could be obtained through this altar.
In fact, Oh Chun-seok quickly figured out the conditions of use rather than thinking about why there was such a thing.
“Perhaps this altar can only be used by challengers who meet certain conditions.”
He looked around the altar and continued his words as if muttering.
“I don’t know what his predisposition is, but he probably feels like a favorite of God.”
Hearing that, I was a little amazed.
‘That sounds plausible.’
Perhaps Oh Chun-seok’s idea was not wrong.
Most of the godheads want to receive high-quality faith from believers.
Those with good conditions to offer their faith to the dark god will be able to use this altar.
“It’s fine anyway, so I want to know if I can use this altar first.”
Kim Seung-hoon reacted calmly and soon approached the stone slab in the center of the altar.
“Because the stone slab is in the middle, perhaps you can tell whether or not you will be blessed with it.”
“Ah yes…. Like Seunghun said, the altar will probably work if you touch the stone slab. but….”
“It means there may be a limit on the number of times.”
“That’s right.”
At that, Katherine Bennet opened her mouth cautiously, her eyes twinkling.
“Then would it be okay if I try it first…?”
It seems that he is more interested in grace than anyone else in this room.
It didn’t matter whether Kim Seung-hoon or I received grace or not, and Oh Chun-seok didn’t seem to be very interested in grace itself.
“Hmmmm! Since everyone has no disagreements, I will be the first to receive grace!”
Therefore, she naturally fell in line with Katherine Bennet…
“Challenger ‘Catherine Bennett’ chose to be favored by the God of Darkness.”
As soon as she put her hand on her stone tablet, such a message came to mind and black energy overflowed from her stone tablet.
“Challenger ‘Catherine Bennett’ has been chosen by the God of Darkness, so grace is bestowed on her.”
Katherine Bennet succeeded in winning her favor.
“Wow! It’s okay! I have received the grace!”
“Good for you. Please tell me what kind of grace you have received.”
Catherine Bennett made a fuss over her with her gleeful face and she explained her grace that she had received within her.
“It’s a grace called the Shroud of Concealment… It’s the ability to hide yourself using something called [MP]. uh and…”
“and?”
“…The grace you received from the dark god doesn’t disappear even if you leave the tower? In addition, did you obtain the preliminary apostle qualification? Anyway, it is.”
“…”
Prospective Apostle Qualifications.
Hearing that, I frowned at the next message that came to mind.
“The dark god looks at you and smiles.”
‘What kind of trickery is this again?’
A god who is kind to me, but whose intentions are difficult to understand, suddenly designated a colleague as a reserve apostle.
Of course, it wasn’t precisely that I became a preliminary apostle, but rather that I obtained qualifications…
Still, there was no doubt that the god of darkness had purposed to give Katherine Bennet qualifications as a prospective apostle.
“The god of darkness tells us to wait a bit, as the reunion is not far away.”
It was even more so when I saw this message.
‘The reunion is not far off…’
Before I could think about what that meant, another new message appeared.
“The Altar of the Hidden God has confirmed that there are no more talented people.”
It was as if he was issuing an order to celebrate now that he had finished all his business, but…
“The Altar of the Hidden God is blocked.”
Well, the other side doesn’t want to give grace anymore, but this side can’t say anything.
“It seems like I’ve got everything I need now…”
I quietly burned my will and continued.
“Let’s end the ordeal on the first floor.”
I wanted to get my strength back as quickly as possible.
***
I knew full well that the Dark Gods were not malicious towards me.
Rather, she was a self-defense deity who allowed me to become an apostle and defeated the god of battle.
But will other gods who can qualify as preliminary apostles through the Altar of Hidden Gods do the same?
‘I’m sure not.’
Just like the god of battle that comes to mind right now, there will certainly be a malevolent god to me.
It wasn’t like a doubt, it was more like a certainty.
It seems that there are no other challengers on the first floor [Maze of Beginnings], but…
Will there be no challengers in places like the second and third floors that will appear after that?
no.
Rather, the tower even announced that it could be a competition between different dimensions.
In other words, the lower you go, the more likely you are to be in danger.
to be honest….
‘It’s a little fun.’
There was tension and vitality all over her body.
How strong will you become after overcoming all the crises to come in this labyrinth?
As I went through the maze while chewing on that pleasant curiosity, the acceleration to break through the first floor began to pick up before I knew it.
However, apart from that, monsters that could raise the proficiency of necromancy were not easy to see.
That would be too…
Clap! Wedge! Caang!
This is because numerous traps wriggled as if they were alive in the maze, revealing their presence.
Arrows that are suddenly ejected from the wall of the maze of metal falling from the ceiling, even the blade that is about to swipe my ankle, which feels like the scythe of the grim reaper…
There were many devices that could not pass with this ability.
“I can’t get past this. Passing through this place with the current ability is close to suicide.”
thud.
Seunghoon Kim put his battle hammer down on the ground and grumbled like that.
“What is that? It seems to be composed of a magical device, but perhaps there is a release device somewhere.”
Oh Chun-seok looked around and soon told me an interesting fact.
Oh, of course he didn’t listen very intently.
It’s useless information anyway.
I lightly relaxed with the sword hanging from my waist.
It seemed like I had to be a little prepared for this skill level.
“You’re not thinking about it again, are you?”
Katherine Bennet, who saw that, asked with a slightly stiff face, not knowing why…
“It doesn’t even look like there’s something out there.”
I said that casually and straightened my posture.
“I agree that there must be something, but I need to find the trap disarming device first…”
“I will be back as soon as possible. Oh, and if I find the key, I’ll bring it to you.”
In all probability, there is an important item beyond the trap that has been painstakingly worked.
“What kind of madness did this man do again…! You’re really going to die after that…!?”
Of course, Katherine Bennet must have thought this was too much, and she stopped me, but she didn’t listen.
“Then let’s go.”
After saying that, I immediately activated my authority skill.
「The authority skill ‘Grace of Wind’ is activated.」
「All speeds increase by 100%.」
「Current skill overlap progress – [10]」
and….
‘The divine power disappears very quickly.’
The divinity accumulated in the heart quickly melts away like a burning candle.
However, the effect of the Power skill skill also increased significantly.
Whoa!
Even with the sound of cutting the air hitting my ears, I focused my mind clearly.
Apparently, the ability level was lowered as if it were initialized, so the level of the body’s eyesight also dropped by that much.
It was necessary to raise the lack of basic torso vision to the limit due to the sense of crisis that death was imminent.
actually….
As I ran directly to the pile of traps, the tingling sensation running down my back made me aware of the traps.
‘There are a lot of traps, so I need to move my body as little as possible.’
Whoops!
Bend your knees slightly and move your head to the left to release two arrows flying from the front.
‘There is a gap between the bars rising from the floor, so there’s no need to avoid that spot.’
Pababat!
I evaded the bars by moving them between the cracks, suddenly rising from a hole in the floor.
‘Anyway, there’s no problem if the traps fall from the ceiling accelerate enough that they can’t catch up.’
Cuckoo!
In addition, stones and metals falling from the ceiling move faster than they fall and are ignored.
After repeating the process a few times, a message appeared.
「The labyrinth achievement ‘Make the impossible possible (Unique)’ has been achieved.」
「You will get +15 labyrinth points.」
「The skill ‘Focus on Combat (C+)’ is created.」
Unlike the achievements of the tower, it seems to provide skills that can be used in the labyrinth…
「The skill ‘Focus on Combat’ is activated.」
「The user’s concentration doubles.」
Thanks to that, my lack of body vision was supplemented, and I was able to penetrate the path of the trap quickly…
bang!
As soon as I kicked open the purple stone gate at the end of the trap road, a new scenery unfolded.
“You have entered the boss room of the [Maze of Beginnings] on the 1st floor of the Giant Tree Labyrinth.”
Sitting on a purple throne was a one-eyed goblin wearing a dirty crown.
Quatz Juice!
He was sitting on the throne, eating a chunk of black meat that he couldn’t even recognize.
It was quite bizarre to even chew on his bones without throwing them away.
“This is the corrupted Goblin King who ate the mutated monsters on the first floor.”
“The Corrupted Goblin King hid inside the Giant Tree Labyrinth, but couldn’t go down to the depths.”
“Because of that, I couldn’t absorb the nutrients of the giant tree labyrinth, and I monopolized the power of the World Tree alone.”
The explanation of the stage, which was not so curious, was skimmed over with my eyes.
“Destroy the corrupted Goblin King and obtain the key to go downstairs.”
Because one thing is important anyway.
“Kreur…”
The Goblin King, who threw the meat he was chewing nearby, glared at me with his only remaining eye.
“You’re lucky.”
and….
“I never thought I could handle this on my own.”
I grinned and charged straight at the Goblin King.
***
The battle ended quickly.
The corrupted Goblin King, the system said something…
In the end, he was a monster with nothing special except for his physical abilities.
「You have absorbed the spirit of the corrupted Goblin King.」
「Skill increases by 37.9%.」
「The mastery of the unique attribute ‘Necromancy’ has reached 100%.」
「The grade of the unique attribute ‘Necromancy’ will rise by one level.」
“The boss is so weak that it’s lethargic for a top difficulty level.”
I murmured as I wiped off the blood on my longsword.
「The labyrinth achievement ‘The Art of Battle (Rare)’ has been achieved.」
「You will get labyrinth points +4 points.」
「I have completed the labyrinth achievement ‘Rare’…」
「Acquire labyrinth points +4 points…」
「Receive the Labyrinth Achievement ‘Rare’…」
“Each labyrinth score +4 points…”
As soon as the battle was over, I frowned at the baptism of messages that came to my mind.
“Noisy.”
Immediately after removing the labyrinth achievement message to the corner of my sight, I let out a sigh.
“It’s a labyrinth achievement, so giving useless points to one subject.”
Unlike the previous achievements that gave battle-focused skills, there were many useless achievements this time.
‘I think it would have been better if they gave me a skill as an achievement reward.’
I didn’t feel happy even if they increased the unknown numbers called labyrinth points, so I did what I had to do.
“You have obtained the Maze Escape Key (Common).”
「Automatically used when reaching the end of the maze.」
When he held the black key on the handle of the throne in his hand, the explanation of the system message continued.
‘Now the first floor ordeal is over.’
Somehow, it seems like a layer with more traps than monsters, but after knowing the background of the stage, I understood.
Because the corrupted Goblin King kept eating his own people, there are few goblins left.
Even when I first saw him, he was eating a piece of meat presumed to be a goblin, so it could be seen as faithful to the stage background.
‘Even the goblins that appeared in the beginning must be rare.’
Well, anyway, since Necromancy’s level has risen and it can absorb skills, there was no regret.
「Absorbs the spirit of the corrupted Goblin King to permanently increase stats.」
“Muscle strength has increased by 6.”
「Agility has increased by 5.」
“Your physical strength has increased by 7.”
「Magic power has increased by 5.」
“Durability has increased by 7.”
Although a little less than before, the ability has risen to a considerable extent.
and.
「Absorbs one of the skills possessed by the corrupted Goblin King.」
Soon, even the skill absorption message came to mind, and the rewards increased.
「I learned the skill ‘Focus on Strike (D+)’.」
Looking at the skill performance, it was found that the next blow can be strengthened by consuming mana.
In addition, the fact that the blow after using the skill also increases the perfection of the skill.
‘It’s not a bad skill.’
Well, I don’t feel that the damage is lacking enough to strengthen the attack, but…
In this labyrinth, there was nothing wrong with being there, as you might feel the need someday.
Satisfied with that, I felt a presence at the entrance to the boss room.
“You did it brilliantly.”
All of the traps had been cleared before I knew it, and the team members were gathered.
“Actually, if this is enough, isn’t it that most of the abilities haven’t been initialized…?”
Kim Seung-hoon glanced at me, put on a bewildered expression, and said so.
“Not really. My stats have all been reset.”
It cannot be said that everything has been initialized at the time of maintaining the Power skill, but all stats have been initialized.
Of course, even that was necromancy, but now it has raised its abilities quite a bit.
“…Yes, I was stupid for worrying about you. There is no more useless worry in the world than worrying about you.”
Katherine Bennett’s voice was hollow, as if she didn’t care anymore.
“What did I say? Seong-yoon said he would take care of everything. You should have known when you avoided all the traps.”
Oh Chun-seok responded to Catherine Bennett’s words as if he was happy now, and smiled.
“…”
I felt annoyed to have this attention again, so I immediately changed the topic.
“…Well, it worked out anyway, so it’s okay.”
and….
“I just got this too.”
“Could that be…!?”
“Whatever you think is right.”
“Huh…. At this point, Seongyoon-ssi feels like an all-rounder…”
Listening to Oh Chun-seok’s bewildered voice, I smiled a little.
“I can get out of the first floor.”
Now it’s time to descend the labyrinth.
***
Surprisingly, navigating the maze itself was not that difficult.
Is it because the main event itself on the first floor is to defeat the corrupted Goblin King?
Although it was difficult to find a route to disarm the trap device, it was quick to find the exit to the maze.
Knock-!
“The [Maze Escape Key] is used when you reach the end of the [Maze of Beginnings] on the first floor of the Giant Tree Labyrinth.”
It’s automatically used when you reach the end of the maze…
The black key that he really held in his hand turned into particles of light and disappeared, and the stone gate opened immediately.
“You are eligible to go down the first floor of the Giant Tree Labyrinth [Maze of Beginnings], so you will receive a reward.”
「You can restore one ability by selecting one of [Item, Authority, and Skill].」
“Ability restoration… Ha, I really thought this would be so nice…”
“I can finally get my skills back. A little bit of stuffiness will go away.”
“Seunghun hyung is like that. ugh I won’t be able to use magic properly if I can’t link skills.”
In addition, when they were able to regain their abilities, all the members of the team focused on restoring their abilities.
It was worth it.
‘I won’t be able to pass through without fighting like this on the next floor, so the ability to get it back is important.’
And the fact that he wasn’t helpful as a team member must have made him focus on restoring his abilities.
It doesn’t matter how strong your teammates are anyway, but…
Until the competition between the challengers started, I still hoped that they would have some ability.
It took a while for him to pray for his comrades to become stronger.
‘Now I have to choose a reward too.’
Soon, I pressed one of the options written in the system message…
「You have selected [Authority] among [Items, Powers, Skills].”
「Choose what you want to recover from among the sealed powers.」
Then I went down the selection window and picked the one I wanted and got it back.
「The authority ‘Blood Thousand Deep Gong’ is released from the seal.」
There was nothing special about why I chose this.
‘Because this one has the best value for money.’
It’s important to form a bit of a magic circuit with the blood celestial hole, but…
It was also necessary to substitute something like a seeker of fresh blood or gray blood in connection with the Blood Demon Sacred Art.
‘It’s better to use the minor version of the skill with Bloodthirsty Deep Gong than to retrieve the Seeker of Fresh Blood or the Gray Blood.’
Beyond killing two birds with one stone, it is a power that is cost effective enough to be called three killings with one stone.
Feeling satisfied with that, soon all the members of the team finished their selection…
“Then let’s go downstairs now.”
I immediately went downstairs instead of wasting time in trivial conversation.
In order to reach the deepest part faster than anyone else, he had to move efficiently.
and.
“You have entered the Giant Tree Labyrinth 2nd floor [Evil God’s Whisper].”
“This is a place where challengers of the same dimension who entered the giant tree labyrinth gather.”
“The evil spirit expects to throw a bloody feast on these challengers.”
“Anyone is fine, so kill at least one challenger, go through the ritual, and offer it as a sacrifice.”
「※However, if you deceive the evil spirit by not offering anything, an [Ancient Devil] will appear.」
As soon as I entered the cavity where the bloody mist flowed, my eyes lit up.
It wasn’t because Earth-level challengers were gathering here.
‘An ancient demon appears…?’
He paid attention to the warning that an [ancient demon] would appear if no one offered it as a sacrifice.
ancient devil.
I don’t know what it is, but at first glance it seems like a very strong name.
Undoubtedly, the spirit of an ancient demon will quickly make me stronger.
so….
“Does the ancient devil appear only when he deceives the evil spirit…”
It seemed that he could get more rewards than he could have imagined in this layer.
“There’s nothing I can’t do.”
And with a very good reward.
