Conquering the Labyrinth with a Trash-Tier Trait - Chapter 3

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 3
When I opened my eyes, dawn light was streaming through the small window.
“Mm…….”
My entire body ached.
Yet strangely, my mood felt refreshed.
A faint energy I’d never possessed before was flowing through my body.
‘Status window.’
[Name: Go Cheol-woo]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 1]
[Stats]
Strength: 5
Endurance: 6
Agility: 5
Mana: 1
[Mana Skills]
Piercing (Lv.1)
[Ability Slot]
0/1
[Traits]
-Check additional information.
“So it’s real.”
Mana.
The power used by all warriors, mages, and adventurers in this world.
I’d created it in six months—a power that those without talent couldn’t obtain even after years of training.
‘Baguni failed, but this alone is a significant achievement.’
I forced a bitter smile and pushed myself upright.
That’s when the goblin Baguni, collapsed in the corner of the room, caught my eye.
“Ugh…….”
Half my entire fortune came to mind.
I was about to clear away Baguni to let go of the disappointment.
“Hm?”
A red glow visible between the bamboo fibers.
Something was different from yesterday.
I rubbed my eyes and checked again.
I’d definitely placed two inside.
But inside Baguni’s body……
only a single red Ability Stone remained.
Wondering if it might be an optical illusion, I rubbed my eyes and looked again—but there was definitely only one.
‘Could it be…….’
My heart began racing again.
But.
‘……Could someone have stolen one?’
My rational mind found a realistic explanation before I could cling to false hope and disappointment.
Calm down. Calm down.
“Huff.”
As I took a deep breath to compose myself, a faint energy swirled through my body, settling my mind into tranquility.
‘I’m certain now. This is mana.’
Clap.
‘This alone is enough of an achievement. So…… don’t get your hopes up.’
I tapped my cheeks and braced myself against disappointment.
Carefully, I opened Baguni and grasped the Ability Stone in my hand.
[Multiple Spirit Subjugation]
[Strength +9, Endurance +9, Agility +4, Mana +10, Physical Resistance +3, Magic Resistance +4]
‘Yes!’
I barely suppressed my trembling hands and fought the urge to cry out.
‘This is working? It’s really working?’
My heart suddenly raced three times faster, and I felt heat flood my face.
So to calm myself, I started analyzing the numbers.
‘Are the stats just the higher values from both Ability Stones? And the name is fairly normal too.’
Still, there’s no certainty yet.
‘Additional information confirmed.’
Hum.
[The Magic Tower’s promising eccentric, Klinsman’s experiment—two corrupted Ability Stones fused together, merging their powers while reducing penalties.]
[Four lowest-grade Spirits became subjugatable, and with consciousness embedded in each, perfect control became possible.]
“Excellent!!!!”
He couldn’t hold back the cry of triumph any longer.
“Done. It’s done! Pahahaha!”
His desperate hope had materialized at one hundred percent—a feeling like a weight had lifted from his chest.
Bright light suddenly spilled down from above onto a world that had been nothing but darkness, illuminating his path.
Bang bang.
“Char. What’s wrong!?”
If not for Jeoreek’s voice, he would’ve rolled around the room savoring the rush for some time yet.
“Ahem. No, nothing at all!”
He called out quickly, then examined the Ability Stone with renewed care.
‘So. The Stats are fixed at the higher of the two, and the Abilities merge while the penalties disappear one by one?’
He was beginning to grasp the synthesis effect.
It would’ve been even better if the penalties vanished entirely and he could raise the Spirit’s grade, but hoping for that was pure greed.
‘This one’s worth taking.’
It seemed far more versatile than the Steel Body he’d originally been saving up for.
Especially since the Stats had attached at nearly top-tier among the lowest-grade red Ability Stones.
The moment he decided, the system spoke.
[Will you absorb the Ability Stone?]
‘Yes.’
Hum.
[You have absorbed the lowest-grade Ability Stone: Multiple Spirit Subjugation.]
‘Done.’
Before the smile could fully form—
Crack.
‘Ugh!?’
A tingling pain shot through his entire body.
Crack-crack.
Snap.
‘Mm.’
It hurt, but once he endured that sharp ache, a refreshing thrill followed in its wake.
Even that sensation didn’t linger long.
And then—
“Wow…….”
He clenched his fist once and felt power overflowing from it.
Everything around him became clear and vivid; the Mana he’d only dimly sensed before seemed to surge tenfold at once.
Suddenly it felt like he could do anything, but he forced himself to stay grounded.
‘No. Stay sharp. At best, I’m still a novice adventurer without a Class.’
He soothed the creeping sense of unreality—knowledge gleaned from rolling through this savage world for over a year.
Still.
[Name: Go Cheol-woo]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 1]
[Stats]
Strength: 14
Constitution: 15
Agility: 9
Mana: 11
Physical Resistance: 3
Magical Resistance: 4
[Mana Skills]
Piercing (Lv.1)
[Ability Slot (Full)]
Multiple Spirit Subjugation.
[Traits]
—Additional information confirmed.
It was a far cry from the numbers from just a day before.
Six months of grueling training, and I’d managed to scrape together just one point each in Stamina and Agility.
But with a single Ability Stone, my stats had jumped several times over.
Now I could truly feel the gap between an adventurer and an ordinary person.
That’s when it happened.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Char!”
Jeoreek’s voice came from outside the door.
“What was that noise just now?”
I quickly threw a cloth over Baguni and shoved it under the bed.
“It was nothing!”
“Nothing doesn’t shout like that.”
“I was having a good dream!”
“You shouted while waking up, didn’t you?”
“The lingering feeling from the dream made me cry out!”
A brief silence fell.
“…You’re late for work.”
“Sir?”
I glanced at the window—it wasn’t the pale light of dawn but full morning sun pouring in.
“Damn!”
I frantically threw on my clothes.
When I opened the door, Jeoreek was standing there with his arms crossed.
“Oversleeping on your first day after gaining Mana?”
“I apologize. I was so exhausted yesterday…”
Jeoreek’s eyes narrowed as I spoke.
His gaze traced slowly down from my face to my shoulders, arms, and legs.
“You.”
I flinched.
“What’s different about you?”
“Different, sir?”
“You’ve become a different person overnight.”
The eye of a former adventurer wasn’t easy to fool.
But I couldn’t tell him about Baguni.
I pulled out the excuse I’d prepared in advance.
Though excuse was the wrong word for it.
“I absorbed an Ability Stone I’d purchased.”
“An Ability Stone?”
“Yes.”
“What ability?”
After a moment’s hesitation, I told him part of the truth.
“An Ability for Subjugating four lowest-tier Spirits.”
“Four?”
Jeoreek’s eyes widened.
“You had money for an Ability Stone like that?”
“It was a discounted item because of side effects.”
“What kind of side effects?”
“From what I’ve verified, there were none.”
Jeoreek, who knew my nature, soon nodded in acceptance.
“If you’ve verified it with your own eyes, then I can trust it.”
He gave my shoulder a single pat.
Tap.
It was a light touch, but unlike before, my body didn’t sway.
A faint smile crossed Jeoreek’s lips.
“Still, work is work.”
“I understand.”
“Tonight, show me the Spirits… ah, do you need a Spirit Stone?”
A special stone formed in the Deep Layer of the Labyrinth, where Mana runs rich, its attribute condensed—a Spirit Stone.
Multiple Spirit Subjugation.
Rather than raising affinity and contracting with Spirits that already exist.
So then.
“Yes. I’ll need a low-grade Spirit Stone.”
“Right. Low-grade Spirit Stones roll around the Deep Layer anyway. I’ll dig some up for you.”
“…Thank you.”
“And since it’s getting late, run.”
“Pardon?”
“Sprint to the General Store at full speed.”
“Then I’ll have to work drenched in sweat.”
“An adventurer can’t even handle that much?”
There was no arguing with him.
I ran toward the General Store.
But my body felt far lighter than expected.
With each step, the ground seemed to fall away behind me.
The distance that normally left me breathless passed in moments.
‘So this is what eating an Ability Stone does.’
Now I understood why even someone trained for years couldn’t stand up to an adventurer who’d acquired a single Ability.
But at the same time, I steadied myself.
‘It’s still just low-grade, though.’
I’d only just qualified to stand at the entrance of the Labyrinth.
Countless beginner adventurers had entered the Labyrinth drunk on excitement—and died for it.
What I needed now wasn’t to revel in newfound power, but to learn how to wield it properly.
That was my resolution.
Yet that day, work at the General Store wasn’t tedious in the slightest.
That evening.
“Here. Got them. Spirit Stones.”
When Jeoreek laid out four stones of different colors before me, I immediately bowed my head.
“Thank you, sir. Here, the payment—”
“Forget it. We can do this much for each other. It’s not that difficult, anyway.”
He wasn’t wrong. Low-grade Spirit Stones were worthless junk that came out of the Deep Layer.
But they were nowhere to be found in District 9’s General Store.
“How did you acquire them?”
“A junior of mine wanted some information. I got it for him in exchange.”
“A junior? Information, you said?”
“Never mind that. Go ahead and try that Spirit Subjugation. I’ve never seen it done before, so I’m curious.”
There was no reason to press him on what he’d chosen not to explain.
I could simply show him what he wanted to see and be grateful.
“…Very well, then.”
My Ability Stone’s Multiple Spirit Subjugation power worked by controlling spirits that already existed—putting them to work, essentially.
Unlike the rare spirit mediums who contract with nature spirits, this was an Ability—a Monster Skill—that forcibly compels spirits to obey.
And according to the additional information I had, it seemed to be more than just simple subjugation.
Even as I attempted it for the first time, I couldn’t help but feel a tremor of tension.
“You know the method, yes?”
“Yes.”
As I answered, I carefully moved my hand toward the four colored stones and let my Mana flow into them naturally.
A deep hum.
The moment my neutral Mana seeped in, light burst from the four stones as cracking sounds began to fill the air.
Crack-crack-snap.
As brilliant shards erupted from the fractured stones and coalesced in four colors.
‘Come to me. Obey.’
I stretched out my hand and drew upon the power of my Ability.
In an instant, the low-grade spirits that had barely begun to take form were pulled into my body.
Then, overlaid with my Mana and will, they transformed and streamed back out.
And immediately, my vision swam.
-What?
-Oh!
-So this is how it works.
-This is fun.
The spirits, now clad in fire, water, earth, and wind, took the form of tiny two-headed versions of me, hovering in the empty air.
“Mm…”
“Ho? These are all copies of you?”
“…More or less.”
There’s no other way to explain it.
The form is undeniably cute, but it’s strange to call my own face adorable.
Setting aside that peculiar sentiment.
“Mm…….”
As the sensations and vision of those spirits flowed into me in their entirety, I felt a faint dizziness wash over me.
Still, this much is bearable.
‘The Mana consumption is lighter than I expected, too.’
There would be several tactical applications in combat, but more than that.
“So? Do you think reconnaissance will be possible, as you’d imagined?”
“Yes. It seems even better than what I’d thought. Since I’m seeing and sensing things directly.”
“Excellent. That puts my mind at ease.”
It seemed far more efficient to use this for reconnaissance, as Jeoreek and I had discussed beforehand.
“Let’s run some drills. We’ll test it in combat too.”
“Understood.”
A short time later.
After running through several exercises with Jeoreek using the spirit, I was satisfied with the results.
“The maximum range is around fifty meters?”
“Yes. Exactly as expected. But since I can see through my own eyes even at that distance, reconnaissance is actually possible well beyond it.”
“I’d originally thought we’d be lucky just to use it for exploring passages in the Labyrinth…….”
“It seems far more versatile than that.”
I was satisfied.
While the lowest-tier spirit wasn’t much help in direct combat, the fact that my consciousness could project through it and observe my own fights from an entirely different angle was invaluable.
‘Multiple perspectives. This is incredible.’
An excellent ability that could greatly compensate for my lacking martial skill.
An advantage I’d never anticipated.
“That’s true. That’s definitely a powerful asset. But don’t let it go to your head.”
“Pardon?”
Jeoreek’s expression hardened as he addressed my elation.
“For a beginner, your Stats have become respectable, and you’ve gained a decent ability too. But you’re still a beginner. Overconfidence is poison.”
A reminder that the Labyrinth is far more dangerous than one might think.
“Now that you have Mana, learn at least one more Mana Skill before you enter the Labyrinth. Kirk will be coming of age soon, so if you two go together, you’ll have a fellow to rely on.”
Kirk is the one who could be called Jeoreek’s successor—he’s inherited all of his secret techniques.
He even resembles Jeoreek in appearance, and if not for his blond hair, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear he was his son.
“Kirk…… really?”
“Yes. Your first venture into the Labyrinth should be as safe as possible.”
There wasn’t a word of it he was wrong about.
Whereas I’d vaguely thought I needed to become an adventurer before, now the reality stood right in front of me.
“Wait three months. The day Kirk comes of age. Train hard in the meantime.”
“Yes.”
I felt no resistance to this.
Three months wouldn’t feel long at all—not when I’d be spending it listening to Jeoreek about various dangers, preparing, and training.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————