Blitzing Through the Trap Layer

Traps lurked everywhere.

A silver chest appeared in front of me again. I reached out to touch it, but...

Sera's worried voice rang out. Well, she wasn't wrong. If even one arrow had hit me wrong, I might not have survived. But that was only if the arrow actually pierced my body.

"I'm not dead, am I?"

Woo Soo-hyun seemed clueless about what had gone down. I had moved pretty fast, after all. She probably thought I'd just charged in swinging my sword wildly.

"Haha."

Sera sounded like she was losing her mind, but I was having a blast. Adrian enhancing my Dragon Eye with his blood had made a huge difference. I could boost my dynamic vision with my own mana anyway, but using dragon mana made the world feel like it had practically stopped. Plus, I'd intercepted a bunch of arrows with magic to thin them out, making it way easier to deflect the rest.

Lee Sera's mana pool could handle it, but since the trait itself was Rare-grade, sustaining it long-term must've been tough.

But don't my traits have no cooldowns or anything?

Come to think of it, even the Blessing of Language I'd dismissed as lame was always active. No cooldown.

...No way were they all SSR-grade, right? They'd made a huge fuss back at the training grounds. But once they realized my traits weren't delivering insane effects, they'd lost interest. They only started paying attention again when they noticed my top rank hadn't budged suspiciously.

"Eh, doesn't matter."

I rubbed my hands together and headed for the treasure chest.

"Alright, what's the haul this time?"

Nothing beat the thrill of cracking these open. The silver chest popped open with a satisfying click as I touched it.

Nice! Not bad at all.

Let's use it...

...Isn't there something new? What's Stamina? Is this from that interference increase earlier? If so, how broken is dragon mana?

"What the heck."

Stamina probably meant endurance... I reflexively went to pick Mana but hesitated. For a mage build, mana was the obvious choice. But...

"Can't just ditch the sword life."

The sword created openings for me to spam magic. Like with the werewolf hunt. Alone, I'd mix magic and sword strikes for max efficiency. Basic attack magic needed a long cast time for full power at low level. Did it shorten when I leveled to beginner spells?

"Kinda hate wasting the reduction I already got."

And that blue glow around the sword during the werewolf fight. Aura.

The sword strikes themselves hit way harder.

Normal attacks outperformed mine in raw power. Practicing that would help a ton. Not that I planned to attend knight school—I'd just steal techniques from others.

"Huh?"

Sera's voice cut off abruptly. Observer mode was on cooldown now. If we hadn't chatted, maybe she could've lasted longer? Anyway, her words tipped the scales.

Going with this.

Why Durability? People sometimes mistake me for a thrill-seeker who loves risk. Huge misunderstanding. I prioritize survival above all. I only try it if it seems doable. Yeah. And higher Durability lets me tackle riskier spots, right?

"Hm."

I pinched my skin. Chewed on it. Still springy and tough. Felt a bit chewier maybe. I punched the floor.

"Ow!"

But the Durability boost kicked in instantly. Pain lingered but faded fast—no redness. The floor was rough like barnacle-covered seaside rocks. Yet no scratches, no blood, not even pink skin.

"Whoa. This is nuts."

Skin felt upgraded too. I pulled my sword from inventory and lightly touched the fingertip.

"Ouch!"

A drop of blood beaded up.

"What the— this blade's insanely sharp?"

Selling dangerous swords to students! Shady uncle. I popped the fingertip in my mouth, tasting the faint metallic tang, all while thinking ungrateful thoughts.

"Alright. This is the way."

Mana had plenty of ways to grow. Raw stats without mana boosts? Limited options. And these Status Enhancement Tickets were tower exclusives.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Now for the other reward. The red potion's description popped up.

"Oh?"

Weapon reinforcement, huh. No blacksmiths in the modern world that I knew of, but...

Maybe that nice uncle?

The good guy who'd sold me five shields and a sword for 6 silver. Rare-grade should nicely upgrade my Tier 2 sword. Would've been great to see tower tiers on gear. No grades shown, sadly.

"Eh, settling for the elixir grade."

I headed straight for the next room.

It was pretty dark inside, but Dragon Eye had night vision. I pierced the gloom easily, but all I saw was a narrower, longer corridor than before.

What? Just walk?

I strolled forward thoughtlessly. Then—

Click.

—Whoosh!

"Hot, hot, hoooot!!!"

I dodged the flames reflexively, but the end of my ponytail caught fire! I patted it out frantically and realized the gimmick: floor pressure plates!

I started running carefully, avoiding the floor. Now that I looked, I could distinguish them—slight raised spots to dodge.

"Man... without Dragon Eye, I'd be screwed."

Nothing lacking for SSR. Most SSR traits couldn't match its versatility.

"A bit slow?"

Tip-toeing cost me 25 seconds. Needed to speed up the next one. Rewards first.

Perfume of Destiny? Sounds fancy!

I checked the description quick.

"........."

I shoved the perfume into my inventory. Sigh. Yeah, it'd been weird getting no duds so far. Heard easy mode downstairs sometimes dropped junk like rusty swords. Better than that, at least.

I eyed the remaining reward. But wait—could I inventory this too? Last time it was a white orb, and I'd used it right away for mana. No need now.

The white orb slotted neatly into inventory.

"It works."

But no reason to save it. Higher floors amp these tickets' effects. No point hoarding Rare-grade later.

Basic stats get bumped once anyway. Wanted to test the new Agility, but...

"Clear first."

Stomach was rumbling.

I realized the second I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entered: forget traps—just run.

—Rumble rumble rumble...

Like a toilet flushing, a house-sized boulder rolled from behind!

"Gyaaaaah!!!"

I bolted. Enhanced Agility made it feel way faster than usual. But no time to appreciate—boulder incoming!!

Arrows flew from ahead. Sword deflected them as I ran! Skeletons clicked, lunging at me.

"What're you!"

My wild swing decapitated one!

"Just ruuuun!!!"

Traps triggered chaotically, but—

—Clang!

Pre-summoned shield from inventory blocked! Shields and boosted Durability saved my ass big time.

"Casting Bullet, Casting Bullet, Casting Bullleeet!!!"

Spamming basic attack magic wrecked most traps. Hellish chaos later...

"Haaah... haa... haa..."

Smoke rose from my body. Hair singed in spots, throat stinging like chemical warfare exposure.

"Fuuu... I'm wrecked..."

Still hit speedrun time somehow. Glanced back pre-clear—boulder was distant. Full sprint after ages left me drenched in sweat. Collapsing in the exit room, I came to.

"Right. Rewards... gotta check rewards..."

I opened them.

"Ooh, generous haul this time!"

Best heal was always financial therapy.

Let's see. SR ticket later—that's like five R-grades. Use R's for Strength and Stamina on Floor 3.

Artifact next.

"Ho ho."

Nice pull. Stashed it. My staff was R-grade artifact—perfect for this.

And... Rare trait?

Message popped as I focused.

"Solid, straightforward win."

Really, just reliably good. Loved the upgradability—boosted value among Rares.

Oh yeah, my sore throat? Gone.

...Poison from that too?

Now. Perfect timing. All rewards claimed—time to bail.

Yes. This was why I'd twisted my body running like mad.

Eyes gleaming, I checked what dropped.