Ascension Through Skills

Intermediate magic—Lilis and the spirits had said it was dimensionally different from elementary magic, effective even in the depths.

Finally, he had obtained it.

When he thought of intermediate magic, naturally, the hunchback who pursued twisted mysteries came to mind.

He had disliked Taesan learning intermediate magic and had tried to kill him.

As if understanding Taesan’s thoughts, Zelbando spoke softly.

[Poor child. He pursued twisted mysteries. That is a path too, but he became too distorted. Above all, he was jealous despite using shortcuts. How pitiful. And ugly.]

“What do you think of him?”

[Nothing.]

Zelbando shrugged his shoulders.

[I place no value on him. The magic he obtained is charming but not that great. Above all, I have no hobby of observing a twisted and broken child. It's not fun.]

His voice, seemingly genuine, was indifferent. Zelbando smiled and asked.

[Do you have any questions before receiving the quest? I'll answer what I can.]

“There are a few things.”

Since he had offered to answer, there was no reason to refuse. Taesan asked.

“What will happen to the hunchback who pursued the twisted mystery?”

The ghost had told him. As an immortal, it was too much of a blessing. The accumulation of power expended would be enormous.

Above all, the power that had descended before the last knight fell. The total amount and level contained in it were extraordinary. If the timing had been slightly off, it could have been a very dangerous power.

The god of magic, Zelbando, answered.

[He exhausted a lot of power to reach his position with mere strength. He won't be able to do anything for a while. You can rest easy.]

“Is that so?”

Zelbando smiled.

[They will take interest in you, Kang Taesan.]

They must be the immortals.

[Hostility and favor. There will be more hostility among them. They are jealous of the talented. If it's a fair condition, we have no intention of intervening. You'd better be prepared.]

“Understood.”

Taesan nodded, and Zelbando smiled at his calm demeanor.

Immortals, far surpassing mortals in status, harbored hostility towards Taesan.

What Zelbando had just said wasn’t something that one could easily accept.

A weak person would have trembled in fear, and even a strong person wouldn’t have been able to overlook such words lightly.

But Taesan remained unshaken and quietly prepared to wait.

Zelbando’s smile grew deeper.

[Interesting. Anything else you're curious about?]

Taesan nodded and posed his question. There was a curiosity that only a god could satisfy.

“Why are we separated?”

Easy Mode, Normal Mode, and Hard Mode.

Players from the three modes could meet each other, helping and forming parties to break through the labyrinth.

But Solo Mode was different. Each player had to break through their own labyrinth alone.

In his previous life, he hadn’t paid much attention to this. He had been too engrossed in obtaining skills and not very interested in gods, so he simply accepted it as the way things were.

But now that he had entered Solo Mode and gained various pieces of information, he couldn’t help but ponder it.

‘Too many.’

In Korea alone, there were over ten thousand players who had chosen Solo Mode. Globally, the number could even reach a hundred thousand.

And in Solo Mode, there were gods and Guides of Sin.

There were also NPCs like the ghost.

Since Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyeok had met Ainzhar, it was certain that they too existed in their own separate labyrinths.

The Guides of Sin would likely be the same.

Labyrinths divided into hundreds of thousands for the players.

And the NPCs and adventurers who populated all those labyrinths.

Taesan found it hard to comprehend.

Zelbando smiled.

[Are you asking about that?]

“I’m curious. Has it always been this way, or did something happen?”

[I can give you a rough answer now. To your question, it's the latter.]

Zelbando’s voice was gentle.

[The labyrinth was duplicated and separated because something happened.]

“Is such a thing possible?”

Ainzhar. The Guides.

They were all formidable beings, those who had reached the brink of mortal limits.

The thought that such beings had been replicated into hundreds of thousands was unbelievable.

[It's not impossible. Because their power, though finite, never diminishes. It is constant and boundless. Quite an exhausting reality.]

For the first time, a look of irritation crossed Zelbando’s face.

[They ought to concede and vanish, yet they persist in meddling and wreaking havoc. When will I get to wring their necks?]

Beings endowed with constant and boundless power.

Taesan had learned of such beings from the ghost before.

“Are they the High Gods?”

[That’s enough.]

Zelbando, instead of replying, merely waved his finger.

[That’s all the answers you’re allowed to have. If you seek more, delve deeper.]

“Understood.”

Taesan nodded, content that he had gleaned at least some insight.

The division of the labyrinth was not of its original design but stemmed from the High Gods’ meddling as they trespassed into it.

“Then I’ll accept the quest.”

[Subquest accepted.] [Good.]

Zelbando, with a look of satisfaction, clenched his fist, and space began to unfold before them.

[Travel there and seek their king. The sole sage among the presumptuous ones. He shall provide you with the answers.]

Taesan stepped forward into the newly opened space with a nod of acknowledgment.

As he vanished, Zelbando whispered,

[This journey will be of great significance to you.]

With those final words, Taesan entered the realm of the giants.

The domain of the haughty giants, Bahuliya.

Upon his arrival, an unsettling sensation wormed its way into his consciousness.

‘What is this?’

[Spirit possession judgment underway......] [Judgment successful!]

With the appearance of the notification, the disconcerting feeling dissipated.

Taesan raised his head to survey his surroundings.

He found himself in a forest where the undergrowth loomed as tall as he was and the trees spanned a massive area, forming walls around him.

“It certainly lives up to its reputation.”

Realizing he must move swiftly lest he remain trapped in the forest, Taesan summoned strength into his legs and scaled a tree.

Although he climbed quickly, it took him some time to reach the top of the tree.

Perched atop the tree, he spotted a road not far in the distance.

And at the end of that road, there appeared to be a city.

Taesan leapt from the tree toward that destination. It required about five minutes of running to arrive at the road.

“It’s wide.”

Before him lay a road as vast as a plain.

“Movement here will be more challenging.”

In the world of giants, everything was so large, buildings included.

Yet they seemed very small, indicating they were still quite far away.

“This is going to take some time.”

Taesan began to walk.

He ran toward the city he had seen from the tree.

He wasn’t going at full speed. To conserve energy, he maintained a moderate pace.

Of course, ‘moderate’ for him; for an ordinary person, it would be an unfathomably fast speed.

However, he still couldn’t reach the city.

Even after running for more than an hour, he had only gotten slightly closer.

During his run, Taesan came to a realization.

“Everything is gigantic.”

Animals and plants alike appeared to be at least ten times larger. While traversing the road, he had encountered an animal resembling a deer, as large as a villa.

The giants would be at least twice as large.

With these thoughts, Taesan, who had been persistently running, suddenly halted.

He looked up, deep in thought.

“As expected, they’re enormous.”

Three giants sat in the middle of the road, seemingly unaware of Taesan’s presence, engrossed in their conversation.

“Brother, are you sure this is okay? We’re too close to the city.”

“Yanma, if someone comes, we just run away. What’s the problem? Are you scared, Black Looter?”

“Still, you know, right? The lord of that city is a monster. Isn’t it better not to take risks?”

“Really, you guys.”

The giant who appeared to be the leader scowled. Taesan called out to them.

“Hello?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear something?”

“We’re the only ones here, what could we possibly hear?”

Still unaware of Taesan’s presence, they looked puzzled. Annoyed, Taesan waved his hand.

[You have activated Wind Explosion.]

The wind exploded near the giants’ faces, and they reeled back with grunts.

“What’s this?”

“Ma-magic?”

Astonished, Taesan tilted his head in confusion as well.

[Spirit possession judgment underway......] [Judgment successful!]

Every time he used magic, a notification popped up for judgement. It was annoying, though it had no effect.

“What is this?”

Taesan muttered. The giants finally noticed him.

“..Huh?”

The giant tilted his head.

“What are you?”

“A human.”

“Human? What’s that?”

“Brother, brother.”

The previously dumbfounded one hurriedly grabbed the other giant.

“Isn’t that what I think it is? What’s its name? I saw it in a book once. Aren’t there creatures like beans in other worlds, right?”

“A book? You read books?”

“Well, I come from a fairly well-off family. The problem started when I knocked out my sister-in-law and ran away.”

“So, what? A creature from another world?”

“Seems like it…?”

The giant trailed off, unsure. Taesan nodded.

“Right.”

“Ooh…”

They marveled, examining Taesan with curious eyes.

“Really the size of a bean. If I blow on him, will he fly away?”

“Isn’t he smaller than a bug?”

“Quiet, I’m new here and need information. That’s why I wanted to ask you something.”

“Hmm.”

Instead of responding, the giant’s eyes lit up.

“Boys, how much do you think we can get for this?”

“…Wouldn’t it be expensive? Seems perfect for decoration.”

“Right?”

The giant laughed, his yellow teeth striking.

“Alright. Human, get caught.”

The giant reached out his hand, and its shadow covered the sun.

Taesan caught the giant’s finger. The giant, trying to lift Taesan, hesitated.

“Brother?”

“What are you doing?”

The other giants, with puzzled faces, asked. From their perspective, the giant was just holding Taesan, doing nothing.

But the giant holding Taesan was sweating coldly.

‘What?’

Those words of panic were not heard.

It felt like trying to pull a sword firmly planted in the ground.

‘How can this be?’

It meant the human, the size of a bean, possessed greater strength than the giant.

Taesan was equally surprised.

‘Strong.’

From what he had heard, they weren’t that impressive.

At best, they had seemed like bandits or thieves.

Yet they were exerting significant force on Taesan.

‘Does size matter that much?’

Taesan put more strength into his hand holding the giant’s finger. The giant’s face turned pale. Taesan then swung his foot, throwing the giant.

“Woah!”

“Br-, Brother!”

The giant flew through the air.

The remaining giant, startled, swung a club at Taesan. Taesan raised his arm.

Koong!

Feeling the weight on his arm, Taesan grimaced.

It was quite heavy. Not enough to feel pressured, but it was a strength he couldn’t sense from an adventurer of the same level.

Taesan gripped the club, shattering it into fragments with the strength of his grip. He then punched the giant in the abdomen.

“Kuhuk!”

The giant exhaled and fell. After a few twitches, he stopped moving.

“This is interesting.”

Taesan tilted his head. In the labyrinth, at where he had been on the 30th floor, he would be comparable to the strongest in the outside world. Yet such strength was possessed by this seemingly unimpressive giant.

A being with such power should have already entered the labyrinth or been known, but there was no such information.

[Giant tribe... I've heard a lot about them, but they really do have this much strength.]

“Do you know about them too?”

[Not much is known. They’re a reclusive race and don't come out much. But there are known legends.]

The ghost said.

[These beings are said to be capable of facing transcendents.]