I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-101

Ch-101

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By an overwhelming margin at that.

Gracia had long reigned in first place with a score of 420.

But out of nowhere, an absurd score of 600 appeared and stole the top spot. It was only natural that chaos erupted.

* Didn’t Gracia come down the mountain after hitting Sword Mastery Level 24?

* Yeahㅇㅇ That’s why it’s 420 points

* Then what level do you need to hit to get 600??

* Was 600 even a possible score??

* ;;; Isn’t this a bug?

* This is insane… How long has it been since they cleared Main Quest 6 Party Dungeon

* Was it the Demigod Trait Dungeon… that, too

* Does this make sense? I heard Gracia needed like three months just to hit Level 24

* If 24 is 420 and 23 is 410 and 22 is 400, then a 180-point difference means they hit Level 42??

* ???????

* How the hell did they get 600

* Didn’t someone say no matter how good Phantom is, they’d never get first place in Main Quest 7 lol

* Honestly, everyone believed that

* … No but seriously, is this even possible?

A score and speed that defied all common sense.

It was an utterly unimaginable result, and every player could only respond with a giant question mark.

* Even if you say the Abyss Labyrinth’s “Randolph” just has the same myth-rank title, this pretty much proves Randolph himself is now an unscalable wall

* Gracia relegated to bottom-tier trashㅋㅋㅋㅋ

* All the rankers should reflect on themselves—how come everything they’ve accumulated is inferior to one Phantom?

* It was all inflated numbers anywayㅋㅋㅋ

* Yeah, massive inflation confirmed

* Hey, I think Phantom has something to do with that Calamity Baal

* Is Baal some monster connected to mastery levels?

* There are records of the Old Empire’s Hexagon Heroes suddenly getting way stronger after subjugating Baal

* So there *is* something

* Are you saying Phantom actually summoned one of the Four Calamity?

* ;; That’s terrifying. Doesn’t that mean Phantom knows how to break the seals on the remaining three too?

* If all the Four Calamities are unsealed, Pangaenia’s basically doomed

* Earth goes down with itㅋ

* At this point the Master needs to stop slandering Phantom and kneel

* Not just the Masterㅋㅋㅋ There’s a whole crowd here who should kneel

* Honestly, after the Great Expedition failed, wasn’t there a whole truckload of people who cursed Wilhelm? Said he poked the hornet’s nest for nothing?

* People complained he monopolized Stars and Unique-grade loot too

* As if only Phantom “stole” what *they* weren’t good enough to earn

* Wasn’t this the place running the “Sabotage Phantom Campaign” in broad daylight? Now those same people put on masks and chant “Phantom God Phantom God” and it’s disgustingㅋㅋㅋㅋ

* What happens if Phantom starts purging people?

* … Yeah I think we’re actually screwed

* Blood will form rivers and corpses will pile into mountains

* Why would Phantom unseal the Four Calamities;;; Try saying something that makes sense

* Do not insult the honorable Phantom God!

* Phantom God!
* Phantom God!

—

—

When I used a Teleport Book and returned to the Labyrinth City, the scenery had changed greatly.

‘Warp engineers.’

More than ten warp engineers were erecting warp gates.

Several already-completed gates radiated overwhelming presence across the entrances.

‘At least we won’t have every warp collapse and sink again.’

I could see at least five gates at a glance.

Considering that installing a single warp costs roughly five million gold, it meant they had poured in tens of millions.

“Welcome back, my lord.”

And there stood Hudson among them.

I had entrusted him with the city’s general management, so it seemed he was directing the warp construction as well.

Spotting me, Hudson broke into a full smile.

“I saw the changes in the Hall. As expected of you, my lord!”

My lord, huh.

Not incorrect, but it still felt awkward.

I shrugged and surveyed the construction site.

“Aren’t there a bit too many warp gates?”

“The number of warps in a city is equal to its competitiveness. It’s essentially a seal of safety against the Abyss.”

Indeed.

If one wants to build a city, proving “safety” is crucial.

The number of warp gates visible at first glance was, without doubt, an indicator of a city’s strength—Hudson wasn’t wrong.

Hudson asked cautiously:

“… Should we reduce them?”

“Hm. No. Your reasoning makes sense.”

“By the way, where is Saint Seia?”

“She’s in the mercenary city of Cartel.”

“Ah, she must have some business there?”

I nodded.

In Cartel, Seia was treating Aria, the White King’s daughter.

Meanwhile Joaquin and the other mercenaries had rushed to Cartel’s lord to report everything they witnessed.

“My lord. The treasures of the Old Empire you entrusted to me have all been successfully sold. The details are in this report.”

Hudson handed me a thick stack of documents.

It appeared they were not merely about selling the Old Empire’s treasure.

I slowly skimmed the report, then tilted my head.

“The amount is higher than expected.”

We had earned 1.5 billion gold from selling those treasures.

It exceeded my expectations, so I asked again—and Hudson nodded.

“Yes. Our dealings with Arcana’s City Council went extremely well.”

“So 1.5 billion wasn’t all, was it?”

“Arcana desires full-scale trade with this Labyrinth City. Using that as leverage, I secured a few additional rights.”

There was no way to hide so many Old Empire relics while selling them.

Splitting the sale was also impossible.

Naturally, they’d notice the items were connected to the Abyss Labyrinth—so Hudson chose to openly admit it, and extract concessions instead.

Casino rights, banking rights…

Well, after all, this place didn’t only hold the Empire’s treasures.

It was a city directly blessed by the White King.

A city they would want relations with.

Hudson then pulled a letter from his coat.

“But one of the city councilors was an Imperial. He contacted me in secret.”

“… An Imperial?”

It was surprising enough that an Imperial served as a councilor in Arcana, the Golden City—but that he sought Hudson out covertly was even stranger.

“Yes. He seemed extremely interested in me. Asked if I wanted to participate in a ‘Special-Grade Auction’ held in the Empire.”

“And this letter is?”

“He told me to open it if I intended to participate. I haven’t opened it yet…”

Meaning he waited for me.

I accepted the letter.

Riiip—

I removed the seal and opened it. Inside was a sheet of elegant stationery.

After reading it, I nodded.

‘… The items up for sale are extraordinary.’

The letter listed the auction’s location and several of the featured items.

When I read the representative items, I couldn’t help being impressed.

‘If I’m lucky, the Baal Armor might appear.’

At this level, it wouldn’t be strange.

Even if it didn’t appear, this was a golden chance to infiltrate the Empire.

There were no normal routes to approach it.

Of course, I still had the Emperor’s seal from the Silver Fox Mask—but showing it would instantly trigger massive attention and expose my identity.

So I absolutely could not miss this opportunity.

**Empire, Darkan Territory**

“… Hm?”

“Is something wrong?”

Hudson asked upon noticing my puzzled reaction.

I handed the letter back.

“Read it. Doesn’t something seem odd?”

“M-may I?”

“It’s addressed to you anyway.”

It was his invitation, after all.

Hudson, with trembling hands, read through the letter.

“… It lists the main items to be auctioned. ‘Ashmut’s Cleaving Blade,’ ‘Diaros’ Helm,’ ‘Berserker Set’… Hngh! These are all legendary-grade treasures!”

“You can’t obtain them through normal means.”

They were items one could only find with extraordinary luck.

But the auction house was putting them up for sale, purchasable with gold.

“As expected of the Empire. Even the scale is imperial.”

“Keep reading.”

“… Let’s see… The Special-Grade Auction is jointly hosted by the Darkan family and the Dersian family. Other than that, nothing strange… Ah, participants may also list items for auction, but unless the items are comparable in grade to the examples above, they shouldn’t even dream of it.”

“Darkan, Dersian. Doesn’t that sound familiar?”

Hudson stroked his chin.

“Darkan is one of the Empire’s famous swordsmanship families. They’ve produced countless knights. As for Dersian… Dersian… This is the first I’ve heard of them…”

He tilted his head—Darkan was famous, but Dersian was unfamiliar.

Understandable, since Hudson might not know.

‘Isabella’s surname.’

Isabella von Dersian.

Her roots lay in the Dersian family.

Kidnapped into the desert and called the Snake Princess, yet she was originally of Dersian blood.

Currently, Isabella had left for the desert city of Faisalmer, taking advantage of the desert queen’s death—declaring she would return once she succeeded the desert.

‘How coincidental.’

That the auction was hosted by the Dersian family.

I knew the name existed within the Empire, but contact came faster than expected.

Should I wait for Isabella?

I shook my head inwardly.

‘I should make contact first.’

Beyond her name, I knew nothing about the Dersian family.

Why a girl born of the Empire opened her eyes in the desert, what circumstances led to that—perhaps I should investigate first.

Hudson asked:

“Are you connected to these two families somehow?”

“It just feels strange that a renowned swordsmanship family is gathering talents to host an ‘auction.’”

“Hmm. True… And given how closed-off the Empire is, the fact they’re inviting promising outsiders suggests this isn’t a simple auction.”

Not merely a marketplace.

But an Imperial-style social gathering.

Gathering promising figures, and privately contacting the ones worth attention.

If a major Imperial house like Darkan was involved, additional motives were almost guaranteed.

They were not the sort to move purely for money.

“Buying items is important, but selling is just as important.”

“I’ll need to show them something they can’t even dream of buying.”

To make contact with Darkan or Dersian, both buying and presenting items were vital.

If I could connect with them, deeper entry into the Empire might become possible.

And with luck, I might even acquire the Baal Armor.

“Do you have something to list?”

“That part is nothing to worry about.”

I did.

I could list the Baal Helm to identify the owner of the Baal Armor—since that person would desperately want to buy it.

The Skull-Crusher I obtained this time would also cause an uproar the moment it appeared.

Or I could simply put the *Throne of Light* on the block and draw the gaze of the entire Empire.

“And besides, even if we don’t list anything at all, there’s more than enough chance the two families will reach out to us first.”

“Because we have a lot of gold?”

“Wouldn’t they consider us to be associated with the White King?”

“Ah. Well… that is true.”

Hudson agreed.

The reason they extended this invitation to him was almost certainly because this labyrinth and the White King were linked.

There was no way they wouldn’t report that. Meaning that even without participating in the auction, the odds were high that the two families would attempt contact.

After all, the White King and the Empire had zero interaction with each other.

But now, an individual named Hudson had suddenly appeared in a newly risen Fifth-Pillar city, selling items from the labyrinth. From the Empire’s perspective, this was perfect bait.

And now that I had taken the bait, the Empire would once again fall into deliberation.

How should they treat us?

They would undoubtedly do everything possible to grasp our—Fifth-Pillar and White King—intentions.

“But, my lord… if it isn’t too presumptuous of me to ask… did you perhaps awaken the Four Calamity’s’ Baal…?”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“······ *Cough!* *Cough!*”

Hudson choked.

He had suspected it, but to hear it confirmed—his fear was justified.

“Don’t worry. It’s not as though I have no way to control it.”

Not that I intended it, but since Baal was awakened, I intended to deal with the situation as best I could.

If I could just obtain the Baal Armor, control was said to be possible; that was my only option.

And even if I didn’t take action personally, the subjugation squad might take Baal down on their own.

Assuming they weren’t idiots, the surrounding cities would pool their strength to form a subjugation force.

After all, among the five neutral cities connected to the Mountain of the Trainee, blocking off even one was enough.

‘They won’t do something stupid like severing warps and cutting ties. They are still city lords, after all.’

If the neutral cities failed to block Baal, no one would know where the Calamity would head next.

And the moment Baal’s list of possible destinations expanded into dozens or hundreds, gathering forces would become difficult.

If the Empire or the Goddess Church had to step in, the cities that first severed connections would bear the blame.

They might even lose their cities outright.

So the wise choice was to gather their strength before things grew out of control.

“But speaking of which… where did Isaac go?”

“Ah… well.”

Hudson scratched his head.

He looked reluctant to speak.

When I stared at him intently, Hudson let out a long sigh.

“… He ran away from home.”

“…………?”

*

*

White King’s Palace.

The White King quietly gazed at the figure standing before him.

“… You returned alive.”

“Were you hoping I wouldn’t return?”

His daughter, Aria.

She had regained consciousness and returned to Cramdel.

The White King shook his head.

“I simply thought it would not be easy. I tried to send the swiftest divine energy after you, but I was already one step too late.”

“You were afraid of the Black King.”

“I am not afraid.”

“I was afraid.”

“What do you mean?”

“Raktusha. He was stronger than our Four-Pillars. The others directly under the Black King are surely the same.”

Originally, they had been comparable.

But now, she was saying that the Black King’s forces had surpassed the White King’s.

Raktusha was not even the strongest among the Black King’s direct subordinates.

Yet he had surpassed the Four-Pillars.

If Aria had judged so, then it was true.

“Do not worry. I do not intend to sit still.”

“You are preparing, then?”

“Yes. All of the Four-Pillars will grow stronger. And we have gained an additional Fifth Pillar as well.”

“… A Fifth Pillar, you say?”

Aria had already heard about this on her way to Cramdel.

 

 

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