HBWnovel Chapter 286: Previous Depths, Flesh Of The Giant King (1)
Chapter 286: Previous Depths, Flesh Of The Giant King (1)
Chapter 286: Previous Depths, Flesh Of The Giant King (1)
Taesan frowned.
“Explain in detail.”
Taesan urged the ghost to answer. If it was an ordinary change, Taesan would figure it out himself, but if the ghost’s words were true, it was a different story.
The deep layers.
Commonly referred to as the deep layers of the labyrinth.
Taesan had entered the 63rd floor. He couldn’t move easily without information.
[Hmm... Hold on.]
The ghost hesitated. After organizing his thoughts, he slowly began to explain.
[If my memory serves me right, the 71st floor was the Flesh of Life.]
Taesan had two questions about the ghost’s words.
“What do you mean by it being the foundation of the previous 11th floor?”
[Can I really explain this?]
The ghost spoke uncertainly.
[Unlike the upper levels of the labyrinth, the deep layers have periodically changing clear quests. Although it's only one or two floors changing every few hundred years... it's not fixed.]
“Why is that?”
[I don’t know that much. If I were to guess, it probably holds some significance even to the gods. It changes whenever something is accomplished on a floor.]
“So, this isn’t the current deep layers?”
[At least when I cleared the deep layers, it wasn't like this.]
One question was resolved. Taesan asked again.
“The Flesh of Life? Is it not a labyrinth?”
[It is. Starting from the deep layers, each floor is strangely twisted. It’s recognized as a floor, but the interior is completely different. Sometimes it’s an entirely different world, sometimes it’s just a single room. Think of it as a completely different place.]
Taesan recalled Lee Taeyeon’s words.
She had said something similar. The labyrinth changed from the deep layers. From then on, it was real hell.
“So whose flesh is it?”
[The ancient king who was said to have fought against the gods. It’s the remnants of the Giant King.]
“A labyrinth floor, huh? That’s quite a scale.”
Taesan looked around. All he could see were masses of red slime.
“So, is this a blood vessel?”
[Probably, yes?]
It was Taesan’s first time entering the interior of a living being.
He walked through the undulating slime. The ground moved as if it were alive, making it hard to walk.
“This is uncomfortable.”
It seemed it would interfere with combat.
As he moved forward, he came to a fork in the path.
Taesan looked at the system window that had been visible for a while.
[Quest Conditions]
[In the depths of the heart of the deceased Giant King. Defeat the centipede that has infested the apex.]
The apex.
That seemed to be the objective.
The problem was not knowing where he was.
[I only know from information. I don’t know the details. From what I’ve heard...]
Before the ghost could finish his sentence, his figure distorted.
Like static on a TV, the ghost flickered.
“Hey?”
[Uh, hmm.]
After a while, the ghost returned to normal. He murmured awkwardly.
[They told me not to speak?]
“Who?”
[The god of trials.]
Taesan frowned.
[I'm allowed to convey information, but I was told not to mention anything that directly affects the clear. I won’t be much help.]
“Tsk.”
It was a natural stance from the god’s perspective. They wouldn’t allow an external interference to make clearing the trial easy, consuming their intervention domain.
Taesan clicked his tongue and surveyed his surroundings.
First, he needed to understand where he was.
[You have activated Essence Understanding.]
[The corpse of the deceased Giant King.]
[A place where parasites live.]
The ant resisted a few more times before it died.
Taesan quickly cast Forced Duel on another ant and moved.
The ghost, watching, muttered.
[Now that I think about it, you have that, don't you? Numbers don’t matter to you at all.]
Forced Duel, which designates a target and makes it so no one else can interfere. This eliminated the numerical advantage, providing a huge advantage in the labyrinth.
Therefore, the ants were not a problem.
Taesan was thinking about something else.
The ground was covered in slime, and the slime had very strong elasticity. It felt like fighting on a trampoline. Proper combat was difficult.
‘But.’
It was manageable.
At this level, he could overcome it.
The power Taesan had gained so far from descending the labyrinth was effective even in the deep layers.
Tat.
Taesan stomped his foot.
‘Can this work?’
The ground here was very unstable.
It’s similar to how it’s difficult to maintain balance with just a small force on a trampoline.
But there was a skill that could only be obtained in such situations. Taesan moved his feet while blocking the ant’s attack.
“Kieek!”
He pulled his foot back to avoid the jaws. The moment his foot touched the slime, the strong rebound force was felt through his leg.
For a moment, his body balance was shaken.
But Taesan quickly moved his other foot.
His foot brushed the ground, stabilizing his body balance.
Taesan gripped his sword tightly. As his arms exerted strength, his legs also exerted strength to maintain balance. At the same time, the slime’s rebound force tried to shake his balance.
Taesan adjusted the balance of strength. The force in his arms and legs, and the transmitted rebound force, he understood it. Then, he distributed the strength and swung his sword.
Kwachik.
“Kieek!”
The ant flew backward. And Taesan’s body maintained a stable balance.
Tat.
Taesan stomped his foot again. This time, using the rebound force, he quickly dashed towards the ant.
Swinging his sword, he corrected his unstable balance. He had to do both tasks simultaneously, and both were difficult. It was like dancing on a trampoline as if he were on solid ground.
But it wasn’t too difficult for Taesan.
He had already attempted it thousands, tens of thousands of times. Though the situations and conditions were different, it wasn’t hard to adjust.
As the battle continued, Taesan’s movements became more refined.
By the time he had dealt with about ten ants, he was moving as if he were fighting on solid ground.
Kwachik.
Finally, after defeating the ant, a system window appeared.
[You have perfectly maintained balance in a difficult situation and finished the battle. You have acquired the special passive skill [Balancing].]
Tat.
Taesan cast Forced Duel and leaped again. Unlike before, the footing was now very stable. The strong rebound force was still felt through his feet. However, the balance of strength automatically adjusted, allowing him to continue fighting without any problems.
“Nice.”
Taesan smiled. He raised his hand.
[You have activated Frozen World.]
Crack-crack-crack!
A severe cold swept through. The rushing ants all froze at once.
As the ants tried to resist and struggle, Taesan activated Frozen World once more.
Crack-crack.
All the ants froze.
There were dozens of enemies that required two uses of intermediate magic to be completely neutralized.
[This is still just the beginning. Go a bit further, and you'll easily surpass a hundred.]
“Troublesome.”
[That's why they are monsters of the deep layers. By the way, you finally got Balancing. There hadn’t been a situation to get it before.]
“You got it too, huh?”
[It's necessary. And as you pass through the deep layers, you’ll be forced to acquire it.]
Skills were acquired by fulfilling conditions. Naturally, if the conditions for obtaining a skill were not met, you could not acquire it in the first place.
That’s why Taesan had not acquired many skills he had obtained in his previous life, including Temporary Time Stop.
Balancing was one of them.