Level Up with Skills - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The Secret Room (2)

 

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

 

In his first life, Tae-san had missed many secret rooms.

 

It was inevitable because finding these rooms was a factor that relied mostly on luck and experience rather than skills.

 

‘I couldn’t get into this place.’

 

But this was [Solo Mode].

 

No player existed here except for him. So he could fulfil his wish and go through all the secret rooms alone.

 

‘Will the room still be in the same place as before?’

 

The map of the labyrinth is naturally different depending on the mode every player chooses, but the basic structure still remains the same. There was a characteristic in the room where the secret room was hidden.

 

“It’s here.”

 

Tae-san, who was walking around, arrived in the room. The rooms were not particularly connected. There was only one door that connected this room to the first floor. But particularly it was an empty room with nothing inside.

 

A room with no reason to exist. A room that everyone ignores.

 

In such an ordinary place existed a secret room.

 

* * *

 

Tae-san looked at the wall.

 

The mossy bricks on the wall were no different from other rooms.

 

The floor and ceiling were also not much different either. Nothing really stood out.

 

In such cases, there was a high probability that the player would start pressing the bricks to find the room.

 

‘Here goes nothing.’

 

Tae-san began to check the nearby bricks without changing his expression.

 

Press. Solid wall. Change to the next brick.

 

He kept on going with this pace.

 

For 10 seconds at least.

 

There were hundreds of bricks in this room. If he he kept going like this, he would have to check each and every one of them.

 

It was boring enough to make someone’s mind wander, but for Tae-san it was pretty fun.

 

“This is good enough.”

 

In a labyrinth, your every effort was rewarded. Labor was not much different. For one of the secret rooms he had found in his first life, he had to look for it over a week but all his work went in vain. When he recalled that time, his current situation was like he was heaven.

 

The same action was repeated countless times. Tae-san checked the bricks one by one without changing his expression.

 

And about halfway there.

 

“Yes, I found it!”

 

[The skill Detection has increased by 5%.]

 

Thuk-thu-thuk!

 

The brick went inwards. And as if in response the following bricks began to change little by little.  And at one point the whole design had changed.

 

What followed was a passage.

 

This must be the way to the secret room.

 

[You have discovered a secret room]

 

[You received the title [Adventurer]]

 

[You are the first one to discover the secret room. Intelligence has permanently increased by 3.]

 

From the Adventurer Title to the first discovery bonus that boosted his Intelligence by 1. His Intelligence was increased by 4. This was the fruit of his Labor.

 

And it was now time for the main course. When Tae-san entered the secret room, he saw a passage of a reasonable length. And at the end of it was a box

 

That was his reward.

 

There didn’t seem to be any traps in the passage, so it looked like he could just run and get it.

 

‘That can’t be true.’

 

It couldn’t be this easy. No one knew any information about this place because even Lee Tae-yeon couldn’t find the secret room on the first floor. So, he had no choice but to figure it out on his own. But it was nothing to worry about, Tae-san was very good at that.

 

Tae-san came out of the passage. And as he walked around the labyrinth, soon enough he found a Big Rat.

 

“Squeak! Squeak!”

 

“Could it be an arrow trap?”

 

As it was the first floor, such traps were pretty standard. It was a trap that mostly activated when someone stepped on the floor. Seeing that only one arrow flew in, it didn’t seem to like a very difficult trap.

 

Tae-san walked towards the place where Big Rat had died.

 

Click. Whoosh.

 

An arrow flew towards Tae-san’s chest. Tae-san quickly moved his hand.

 

Thwack.

 

The arrow was in Tae-san’s hand.

 

He at least caught one of them.

 

He then started to walk again.

 

Whoosh.

 

Two arrows flew at the same time, one pointing towards his chest while the other was aiming for his head. He had no problem with those two either.

 

He collected both the arrows into his inventory ascontinued walking. This time three arrows flew towards him.

 

He grabbed the two but tilted his head a little to avoid the third one.

 

‘This is getting harder and harder.’

 

The distance between him and the box was approximately getting smaller. But, by then, ten arrows flew towards him. As the distance narrowed it became harder for Tae-san to dodge.

 

But, still, that was the standard for a normal player.

 

Now, Tae-san’s Agility had risen to 25. He would be able to catch a normal fireball. It wasn’t impossible if he used ten skills just to dodge this attack.

 

But before that, he had to do something else.

 

***

 

Tae-san returned back to the entrance and took a step forward.

 

Whoosh.

 

An arrow flew in. Tae-san, who caught it easily, came to a conclusion.

 

Arrows were constantly refilled.

 

“Good.”

 

Tae-san took another step forward without any hesitation. Two arrows aimed at him. He grabbed them and put them in his inventory.

 

Then took a step back, caught the flying arrows from the same point and continued to put them in his inventory.

 

One step forward, again two arrows flew in. He caught them and put them back in his inventory.

 

The number of arrows he had collected was seven. It was a very small number. But it was too expensive to buy arrows. If he bought 50 arrows for 10 pieces of gold each, 500 golds would fly out of his pocket, very easily.

 

So, he thought, getting them for free here would be better.

 

‘A hundred of these would be enough.’

 

He murmured as he continued to catch the flying arrow. As he continued catching the arrows, he noticed a different arrow that he believed to be a rare one.

 

[Poison Arrow]

 

[Attack power +21]

 

[Determined to attempt to poison the target. It may fail depending on the target’s level and stats]

 

[Paralyzing arrow]

 

[Attack +2]

 

[It makes the target paralyzed. It may fail depending on the target’s level and stats.]

 

Various arrows were flying around.

 

He just continued to put them in his inventory. Every new type of arrow thrown at him were collected. They were new ones because he couldn’t find them previously. About 30 minutes later, Tae-san was able to collect exactly a hundred arrows.

 

Tae-san organized his inventory. Eighty ordinary arrows, ten poisonous arrows and ten paralyzing arrows.

 

The same item can be stacked up to 20, and the inventory had about 20 spaces in total. Till now he had used up to 6 spaces. It was a satisfactory achievement. He was thinking how he could utilize the arrows on the next floor.

 

Tae-san was being diligent.

 

Or should he say it was some kind of a trick.

 

In order to prevent this, the labyrinth set the shot arrow in a speed where no player would be able to catch up with and if they collided onto something hard they would break.

 

It was reasonable, as no player on the first floor would be ready enough to dodge or catch the arrows. So they wouldn’t set their foot onto this passage and waste their time here beyond the first floor.

 

However, Tae-san’s Agility was 25. It was a stat that could not be achieved on the first floor even in Solo Mode very easily. He was already close to the ¼ of his previous stats. In no time, he would be able to catch up. And thanks to his agility that he was able to collect a lot of arrows.

 

“So, then…”

 

Tae-san took a small breath. It was now time to break through the arrow trap.

 

Breaking through this trap was very simple. Tae-san pulled out his Tower Shield. All he needed to do now was carry it and charge forward the passage without a single break.

 

However, his goal wasn’t to simply get the rewards. He had to make use of this opportunity to its fullest.

 

Thuk.

 

Tae-san kicks his foot. He had no intention of going slowly. In an instant, he stepped on the floor in the middle of the aisle.

 

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

 

The sound of arrows flying in. There were five of them that were aimed at him. He tilted his head for the one that was aiming for his head while kicking the arrow that was aiming for his leg.

 

He snatched the arrows with his both hands one by one. And the remaining arrow was aiming at Tae-san’s stomach. He struck the arrow with the hand that held the other arrows.

 

The arrow in response hit the wall with a snapping sound.

 

He leapt again. As soon as he landed, nine arrows flew in at the same time. He took a deep breath in and listened to the path of the incoming arrows.

 

[You have activated [Slowed Breathing Attack]. For the next 10 seconds you don’t have to take a breath without any consequence.]

 

His motion would not be affected by breathing.  His movement was maximized.

 

[Skill [Securing Visibility] has increased by 2%]

 

He checked every nook and corner he could see. During the battle his field of view widened compared to normal.

 

Three from the front, two from the left, three from the right, while the last one was aiming for his foot. It would be hard to avoid all of them.

 

[Skill [Detection] has increased by 2%]

 

[[Coolheaded] has increased by 1%]

 

But Tae-san didn’t waver.

 

[You are alert in a situation of crisis. You have obtained a passive skill [Sense Enhancement]]

 

His senses became sharper. Even without looking, he could see the trajectory of the arrows. He could sense that the arrows were not aiming at him all at once.

 

There was a slight delay. So, first he would avoid the nearest. The arrow brushed past his hair.

 

Eight, arrows remained.

 

He kicked the arrow flying towards his foot while grabbing the two arrows flying towards him with both of his hands.

 

The remaining arrows were 5. One on the left, three on the front while the last one was aiming for the right.

 

All of the arrows were aimed at his chest. It was physically impossible to completely block them as they were all flying from different directions.

 

So, he would have to dodge whichever way he could. The fastest one was the one coming from the right.

 

[You have activated [Block]. The next attack will be blocked.]

 

The arrow flying from the right was twisted right in front of his shield.