Ascension Through Skills

Taesan subdued the resisting anomaly entirely, intending to dissect it further with his boundary and claim its power for himself.

Crack-crack-crack!

But he couldn’t.

As if this step was forbidden, an immense rule imposed itself upon him, shackling his actions.

At that moment, the world stirred.

Where it had only growled and loomed like a threatening beast before, the world now lunged at him, unable to contain its wrath. Its hostility was no longer abstract—it was the will of the world itself, an unstoppable force of rejection.

CRUNCH.

Taesan’s body was forcibly expelled. He attempted to resist with the boundary, but it was futile. The enormous force was unrelenting, pushing him out.

“Hold on.”

Yet, he endured.

“I’m not done yet.”

This was a twisted, broken place—a remnant of a timeline that no longer existed. Nothing done here would ripple back to the original world.

That left one more thing to confirm.

[You have activated Chaos Summon.]

The boundary’s domain enveloped Taesan, shielding him from the will of the world.

CRACK.

Taesan tore through space.

Tap.

He stepped onto Earth.

What he saw was a planet overrun by monsters and a sky fractured with cracks.

The creatures roared upon seeing Taesan, tools executing preordained commands with no trace of intelligence. They charged to kill him.

Taesan didn’t even glance at them.

He merely swung his gray energy.

The boundary rippled across the Earth, and the monsters disintegrated like dust.

Gathering his energy again, Taesan aimed at the crack in the sky and unleashed his power.

Though restricted by the world’s oppression, the boundary’s might—capable of dismantling all and shaking the very limits of existence—reached the crack.

For a moment.

The crack opened.

Something within grasped at the boundary.

A silent collision ensued.

No sound, no explosion, yet the world trembled.

Rumble...

It turned its gaze upon Taesan.

In that instant, Earth itself seemed ready to collapse. Objects disintegrated, and concepts twisted under the mere presence of its gaze.

“Not the Usurper,” Taesan muttered calmly.

The entity beyond the crack looked at him quietly. @@novelbin@@

Before Taesan could discern the emotions behind that gaze, the world swallowed him whole.

Unable to endure any longer, the world devoured the boundary and banished Taesan.

He returned to the original labyrinth.

“So, that’s that.”

[Oh.]

[Welcome back.]

Bardray resumed his sword form, and Akasha returned to being a ring. The oppressive will of the world was gone, no longer seeking to expel him.

He was back in Alone Mode, the original timeline.

Taesan lifted his hand. In it was the fragment of Ouroboros.

The overwhelming power and concept that had once resided within it had completely faded. It would take an extremely long time before it could be used again.

But that didn’t matter. His purpose had been achieved.

[Special Activation Skill: Multiplication]

[Mana Cost: 30]

[Effect: Squares your damage. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

Multiplication. The skill remained in his skill window.

Taesan smiled. And it wasn’t the only one.

[Special Activation Skill: Forced Reach]

[Mana Cost: 50]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[Effect: Forces you to achieve a desired goal. The goal must be realistic, and all penalties and risks incurred will be borne by you.]

Forced Reach, too, was his. He had returned with two new skills.

“This is satisfying.”

He had gained what he desired. Sitting down, Taesan began organizing his thoughts.

‘The god never appeared until the end.’

As expected. If a god had been present, it would have immediately come to suppress him. No gods existed in Easy Mode.

Still, the distorted and ruined space intrigued him.

“Who created that place?”

A god? Or the Usurper?

The Usurper seemed the more likely answer, though he couldn’t be certain yet.

‘And the god that appeared at the end...’

The one who emerged through the crack in the sky—who was that?

His musings were interrupted as the space around him split, and a magician appeared.

“Hello there.”

The magician landed lightly.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Been a bit busy.”

“How long was I gone?”

“Not too long. About a month, at most.”

A month. It seemed the flow of time wasn’t significantly different here.

The magician snapped his fingers.

“Well, did you achieve what you wanted?”

A ripple swept over Taesan, scanning him. The magician, using his authority as the creator of the labyrinth, was examining Taesan’s skills.

“...Hah.”

Seeing Multiplication, the magician couldn’t suppress his admiration.

“Taesan, do you know why I designed skills to be created instead of pre-existing?”

Skills weren’t pre-made. Instead, they were created when specific conditions were met and deemed appropriate.

It was a complicated, hard-to-control system, but the magician had insisted on this design when building the labyrinth.

“The reason is simple. I wanted mortals to strive, to dedicate themselves, and to create something unique.”

The magician had hoped adventurers would master the system, not merely depend on it.

But most adventurers didn’t. They pursued pre-discovered skills and rarely tried to create their own.

This had always been a disappointment to the magician.

Now, Taesan had exceeded his expectations.

“Addition, Forced Duel, Nullify Attack... and now Multiplication.”

Even the magician, the labyrinth’s creator, hadn’t anticipated Multiplication. The result was beyond his imagination.

“Then there’s Forced Reach. Quite the peculiar skill.”

The magician understood roughly how it had been obtained and couldn’t help but laugh.

A system-defying skill—under normal circumstances, it should’ve been impossible to acquire.

“Though tricky to use, it could disrupt the balance if applied correctly.”

The magician paused.

“...Wait.”

He frowned, his expression shifting to one of surprise.

“What’s that?”

Snapping his fingers, he brought up a system window.

[Special Passive Skill: Physical Damage Conversion]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[Effect: Converts a portion of your damage into raw physical force, proportional to the damage dealt. Currently, the effect is minimal.]

“I didn’t grant this skill. And it doesn’t seem like something you could create yourself.”

A system-related skill, impossible to obtain through individual effort.

The magician’s mind flashed to one figure.

“...Balbabamba.”

“I got it as a reward for clearing the 92nd floor. They said it wasn’t worth much and handed it over.”

“Well, damn.”

The magician clicked his tongue.

Balbabamba wasn’t wrong. Converting damage into physical force had negligible utility for most adventurers.

But with Taesan, it was a different story.

“This... could be a problem.”

What Taesan might achieve with this skill was unsettling, even to imagine.

“I can’t take it back, but Balbabamba’s going to get an earful.”

The magician muttered, and Taesan silently apologized to Balbabamba in his mind.

“So, aside from the skills, you didn’t just go there for that, did you?”

“I learned enough.”

The gods who created Easy, Normal, and Hard Mode were likely connected to the Usurper.

And Taesan felt a strange familiarity with Easy Mode.

“As before, I can’t tell you anything.”

The magician spoke firmly.

“That’s for you to figure out. Though if you need guidance, you might want to seek Essentiel, the God of Essence.”

Essentiel had once offered to help Taesan uncover his true nature.

“For now, that’s all I can do for you.”

The magician waved his hand, and the system responded.

[94th Floor Cleared.]

[Your level has increased.]

[You have obtained the Magician’s Ring.]

[You have obtained ???.]

Taesan examined the ring.

[Magician’s Ring]

[The labyrinth creator’s gift to a favored adventurer. It grants a desired stat bonus.]

The ability was clear. Taesan focused, and the ring emitted a glow as the description changed.

[Magician’s Ring: Attack Power]

[Attack Power +3000]

A grin spread across Taesan’s face.

The hidden reward, labeled “???,” turned out to be a skill.

[Magician’s Spell: Multicolored Radiant Sprint]

[Mana Cost: ???]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[A spell once wielded by the Magician, no longer usable by him. The higher the mana spent, the greater its power and the number of lights produced.]

The magician chuckled.

“Even I can’t handle that spell anymore. Originally, I intended for it to vanish, but it felt wasteful. It should serve you well.”

Satisfied with his rewards, Taesan prepared to move forward.

“Next is the 95th floor. What’s the quest?”

“Ah, not yet. There’s something else to handle first.”

The magician clapped, and a long system window filled Taesan’s vision.

[Special Quest Initiated: Return to Earth.]

[In two days, you will return to the forsaken land. Survive there and return. Rewards will vary based on your performance.]