Ascension Through Skills

“Starting off with three-digit monsters? I shudder to think what’s coming later,” Lee Tae-yeon grumbled as she moved. A spirit assisted her, and dark magic rained down upon the monsters.

Boom!

The monster’s tentacles lashed out. With such a dense attack, it was impossible to evade entirely. Lee Tae-yeon swung her sword. @@novelbin@@

[You activated **Shed Blood**.]

Boom!

The trajectory of the tentacles twisted. As the monster focused its power on Lee Tae-yeon, Kang Jun-hyuk fell from above.

Crash.

Kang Jun-hyuk’s sword pierced through the monster.

The startled monster shook violently from the surprise attack, stopping its assault on Lee Tae-yeon, who quickly seized the opportunity to dash in and drive her sword into the creature alongside Kang Jun-hyuk.

[You defeated Monster 577.]

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Lee Tae-yeon took a breath. With their combined efforts, they could take down three-digit monsters without much trouble.

As she sliced through an oncoming monster, she glanced around.

“They’re holding up pretty well.”

A significant number of four-digit monsters and a few three-digit ones. The hard mode players were struggling, but they were managing to take down the creatures somehow.

They had faced monsters far stronger than themselves on Earth. Through countless deaths and experiences, they had established the most optimal combat methods and formations for dealing with monsters. They no longer felt overwhelmed.

Lee Tae-yeon leaped into the air, her speed suddenly doubling.

[You activated **Acceleration**.]

Crash.

“Huh?”

Her sword pierced the monster. Kim Hwi-yeon, who had been gritting her teeth and holding her ground, widened her eyes. Lee Tae-yeon tightened her grip on the sword.

[You activated **Tear Apart**.]

Slash!

Her sword danced, shredding the monster to pieces.

“Thanks, Tae-yeon.”

“Looks like the situation is manageable.”

“We are...”

Kim Hwi-yeon glanced away.

From the direction where the Indian players had gathered, a massive scream echoed, loud enough to reach them.

“That doesn’t look good.”

“Where’s Taesan?”

“To Russia. He said he thought they could handle it and left it to them.”

Kim Hwi-yeon complained, but her expression was not dark. In other words, it meant Taesan trusted her.

“Russia, huh.”

Lee Tae-yeon narrowed her eyes. Russia was fighting from quite a distance, but it posed no real problem for her now.

The Russian players were being overwhelmed by the monsters.

And there was Taesan, landing amidst them.

“It’ll be over soon.”

---

* * *

The situation in Russia was far from good.

Victor, blocking the incoming monsters, was horrified.

“What the hell!”

The monsters were far stronger than any he had faced before.

The rare three-digit ones could even take down hard mode players in a single blow.

‘Could that really be true?!’

During their information exchange, Kim Hwi-yeon had warned that the monsters appearing this time would be unlike any before. She said that without proper preparations, many lives could be lost.

Victor had been skeptical of her words. While he had confirmed Taesan’s strength, the monsters he had faced so far had not been that strong.

Nevertheless, he had prepared adequately, knowing there was no smoke without fire. Yet, the strength of these monsters exceeded his expectations.

Boom!

With a loud crash, people were sent flying. Each swing of the club wielded by the giant monster resulted in fatalities.

The players from Russia and Mongolia were caught off guard and struggled to respond effectively.

As a result, they were being pushed back helplessly.

[Roar!]

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The giant charged at Victor with a roar. People realized its intent and threw themselves in front of him to block, but it was of little use. Just as the club swung down, Victor gritted his teeth to endure.

Crash.

The giant’s body was slammed into the ground.

A monster they couldn’t stop had suddenly dropped dead. The one responsible stood atop its corpse.

“...Kang Taesan.”

“Now you get it. You see what kind of situation we’re in.”

“More painfully than I expected.”

Victor grimly nodded.

“That’s all that matters.”

People do not truly realize until they experience it firsthand. The expression on Victor’s face was one of genuine understanding.

Then it was time to clean up.

Taesan gathered magic. The power manifested in the world through the open passage.

[You activated **Jepar's Black Storm**.]

“Wha—!”

“P-please don’t... wait, what?”

The people who had been desperately fighting the monsters suddenly froze.

A small black wind began to form among the monsters.

It was small enough to be ignored, but for some reason, all of them were captivated by the black wind.

The wind began to grow larger. It swirled and eventually took the shape of a massive storm.

Crackle!

The storm descended upon the earth, swallowing the world whole.

The monsters began to be sucked into the storm. As people crouched in fear, the black storm touched none of them, only consuming the monsters.

“What the...?”

Victor stared at the storm in shock.

As the storm gradually settled, no more monsters were visible.

Tens of thousands of monsters had been cleared away in an instant.

Before such overwhelming power, no one could speak.

“...Did he hold back?”

He chuckled hollowly.

Taesan had not shown his full strength when he took down the three thousand hard mode players. Victor realized this fact late.

Two days later, the wave ended.

Russia had managed to prevail due to Taesan’s clearing, and the East Asian trio had also emerged victorious with their previous experiences without much difficulty.

But India was different.

They barely survived on a mountain of corpses.

---

* * *

“Ugh...”

“Ahh...”

Screams and groans echoed from all directions. The faces of the Indian hard mode players were rigid with horror.

So many had died that it was terrifying to confirm the damage.

For them, the return quest had been nothing more than a game. They believed they could defeat monsters anytime, so they hadn’t devised any formations or strategies.

That was why the losses were so great.

Upon confirmation, it turned out that 30% of the players had lost their lives. A significant number of hard mode players were included in that count.

And the quest appeared once more.

[Special Quest Starting]

[The second wave is beginning.]

[Preparation Time: One week.]

[Eliminate all attacking monsters.]

[Rewards will be distributed based on performance when returning to the dungeon.]

“Ah.”

Fear etched itself into the faces of the people.

Harlan desperately tried to persuade the hard mode players.

“Didn’t you see? The monsters appearing from now on will be difficult for us to handle alone. We must join forces with other groups and seek help...”

“Shut up!”

But they ignored Harlan’s words.

“This was just a one-time occurrence. This time... we can stop the second wave with our strength!”

Their confidence, rooted in the belief that they possessed absolute power.

Their belief that the monsters were not their match.

As all of that shattered, they began to deny reality. They shouted wildly, filled with stubbornness and pride.

“...Is that so?”

Harlan’s eyes darkened. He stepped back, a look of resolve on his face.

And then the second wave began.

Nothing had changed. The monsters were still strong, and they were still weaker than the monsters.

Unlike the first wave, they managed to form a makeshift formation, but it was insufficient. In fact, the disarray led to even greater losses.

“We’ve come to help! Follow us behind!”

Fortunately, while many people were dying, players from Korea, who had cleared the wave, arrived to assist.

Thanks to the support, they managed to patch things up without suffering further losses.

However, the atmosphere turned even worse.

It had become clear that they could not fend off the monsters with their own strength.

People began to split apart.

The reason the caste system had been maintained was that hard mode players could survive on their own. They could impose their overwhelming strength upon others. It had all been a matter of power.

But what if they could not secure that strength?

If they couldn’t achieve anything by relying on those they trusted.

Then everything built upon that power would collapse.

The window announcing that the next wave would begin in one week appeared.

And the very next night, the easy mode players of the Chandala caste attempted to sneak away to the formations of Korea.

However, given their numbers, they couldn’t escape the vigilance of the hard mode players. The hard mode players from India stood in their way with twisted expressions.

“What are you doing?! I told you it was forbidden to make contact with other groups!”

“Shut up!”

A man from the Chandala caste shouted roughly.

“You’ve been treating us like slaves, like tools! You said we could survive if we followed your will! But look at this mess! We’re not just surviving; we’re dying!”

His emotions erupted in a deep and intense outburst, causing the hard mode players to hesitate for a moment. The man shouted through gritted teeth.

“If this goes on, we’ll all die! So we’ve decided to join forces with another group!”

“Y-You...”

The faces of the hard mode players flushed red. They wanted to rebut, but they couldn’t. In reality, if things continued this way, most of them would perish.

Yet, even so, they had no intention of agreeing

with the other’s words.

“...Fine. I’ll concede. But it was decided by our rules. Those who attempt to betray us will only meet death.”

The hard mode players drew their weapons. The Chandala caste trembled, crying out in fear.

Seeing their reaction, the hard mode player grinned and pointed his sword at the man.

“If you repent now and take your own life, we’ll forgive the rest by taking only one of your eyes.”

“Get lost.”

The man raised his middle finger.

“I’ll die regardless. Do whatever you want.”

“...So you’re pushing for death, then?”

The hard mode players made up their minds to kill them. Just as they were about to charge forward with their weapons.

“Why all this ruckus?”

“Ah.”

But they could not act.

Right next to them, Taesan was staring blankly at them.

---

* * *

The hard mode players were momentarily thrown into disarray.

They hadn’t sensed Taesan approaching at all. He had appeared right beside them like a ghost.

But they quickly regained their composure.

“Get lost.”

One hard mode player boldly stepped forward and spoke.

“This is our group’s matter. You have no right to interfere.”

Taesan merely looked at him silently instead of answering. The hard mode player felt a chill run down his spine but forced himself to ignore it and stared back defiantly.

“Who are you?”

“Sajid Khan. The great Brahmin of India.”

“Alright, Sajid. I don’t like you.”

“...What?”

“I’m not a saint. I have no intention of saving those who aren’t my people, but if you want to become my people, that’s a different story. They’re trying to abandon you and join my group.”

Taesan turned his gaze to the Chandala.

“You all want to come to our side, don’t you?”

“Y-yes! We’ll follow you. We won’t be with these bastards any longer!”

The Chandala, now filled with hope, shouted desperately. Taesan nodded.

“Then that’s good. Come over here.”

“...Who do you think you are!”

Sajid shouted fiercely.

“These people are ours! You have no right to involve yourself!”

“Do you even have the right to speak?”

“What do you mean?”

“The leader of India isn’t you. It’s Kamal Hasan. And I’ve already finished talking with him.”

If anyone wanted to shift groups, he wouldn’t stop them. They would be free to move without obstruction.

It was what Harlan had told Taesan two days earlier when he had come secretly.

“Even if you lack practical dominance, you’ve acknowledged him as your leader. Then everyone else is just an ordinary player. You have no right to stop me.”

Taesan’s indifferent reply left them unable to retort. It was they who had made Kamal Hasan their leader in order to offload their annoying responsibilities.

“...Don’t make me laugh!”

But Sajid resisted.

“There’s no way I’d allow that!”

“You don’t need my permission.”

“Hmph!”

Sajid snorted, pulling out a blue staff from his inventory.

“No matter what, you’ve betrayed us! Die!”

[Sajid activated **Wind Blade Staff**.]

The wind blades rushed toward the Chandala. The Chandala screamed as they stumbled to the ground.

Taesan waved his hand lightly. The wind scattered under Taesan’s control. Sajid was astonished.

“What... What is happening?”

His power had not been blocked. It had simply vanished.

Taesan gazed at him expressionlessly.

Sajid forced himself to maintain his composure and shouted defiantly.

“They’re slaves! There’s no need for qualifications!”

He was convinced. Taesan could never kill him.

India still had hundreds of thousands of hard mode players remaining. If Taesan attacked Sajid, it would surely lead to a full-blown conflict.

In his mind, there was no way Taesan would take such a risk for the likes of the Chandala.

“Get out of my sight! Outsider!”

Sajid shouted vigorously as he charged toward the Chandala. Other hard mode players were also preparing to move stealthily.

But Sajid was mistaken about one thing.

To Taesan, the hard mode players of India were utterly worthless.

Taesan snapped his fingers expressionlessly. The rushing Sajid’s head jerked back violently, and he flew away.

Sajid lay sprawled on the ground like a bug.

“...Huh?”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

Taesan’s voice resonated quietly through the stunned silence.

“To me, you have no value whatsoever.”

It didn’t matter whether they were easy or normal mode players treated like slaves, or the hard mode players ruling over them.

To Taesan, they were all the same.