I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-107

Ch-107

—

Still, there was a slight sense of regret that—perhaps because it was a replica—my own value still could not be confirmed.

“Remarkable. Spending four hundred million gold on the very first day!”

“Aren’t you the top bidder?”

“This is our first time meeting… from which city did you come?”

People gathered around Hudson.

All of them were participants of the auction.

Spending four hundred million gold alone on the first day—it would be strange **not** to cause an uproar.

Hudson stood at the center of the cluster of outsiders seated on the right.

And among the imperial nobles sat Lord Darkhan and Lady Dersian.

But even they kept sneaking glances at Hudson.

“Four hundred million gold on the first day…”

“Where on earth did he get that kind of money?”

“Surely that wasn’t reckless overspending?”

Though their words mocked him, the interest behind them was obvious.

Imperial nobles never spared even a glance for someone they were not curious about.

Naturally, they wanted to know if he could keep up this momentum.

Above all, they wanted to know **which city** had sent him.

This banquet was a social gathering meant for people to get to know one another **after** the auction. Naturally, it revolved around the people who had stood out the most in the auction.

‘What the hell is that guy?’

Lady Dersian wore a polite smile, but inside her expression was twisted to its limit.

No matter how wealthy one was, it should be impossible to spend such an amount so casually.

Where had he dragged up that kind of money?

And from all places—**a man from the City of Monsters, the Labyrinth**.

*She* was supposed to be the center of attention, yet somehow, all eyes had turned to him.

‘I don’t see Number 1.’

Ignoring all the attention, I scanned the surroundings, searching for Number 1.

The person who had held a number ahead of Lord Darkhan and Lady Dersian.

I was more curious about Number 1 than anyone else.

But they were nowhere to be found.

“Oh, I’m truly curious what tomorrow’s auction will bring.”

“At this rate, I’ll have to register an item myself if I want to participate even a little.”

“Surely Number 55 has registered something as well?”

“Ooh, I’m very eager to see what you submitted.”

Hudson skillfully drew attention and guided the flow of the conversation.

Just as the atmosphere reached its peak—

**《City “Delphia” has fallen.》**

**《“Ba’al of the Four Calamities” sinks “Delphia” into the Abyss.》**

…A message suddenly appeared before my eyes.

“Mm!”

At that moment, a man let out a suppressed grunt.

It wasn’t a big reaction—but the instant he saw the news of Delphia’s fall, he made a sound.

**Number 68.**

Such perfect timing.

If it wasn’t a coincidence, Number 68 was a player.

Thankfully, Hudson didn’t react at all.

Aside from me, almost no one noticed Number 68’s response.

…More importantly:

‘Delphia has fallen.’

Ba’al had brought Delphia down.

Just yesterday, rumors had spread that three thousand warriors had gathered in Delphia.

And yet destroyed in just **one** day?

*Bang!*

The hall doors burst open as several knights rushed in.

They whispered faintly into the nobles’ ears.

They were surely delivering the news of Delphia’s fall.

“W-What? Is that truly accurate?”

“Yes, my lady.”

At once, Lady Dersian’s expression subtly shifted.

Half barely suppressed delight, half bewilderment.

The other nobles’ reactions weren’t much different.

Though they were mostly confused, Delphia wasn’t a city of the empire, so their concern was shallow at best.

“Hahahaha!”

The banquet soon regained its former atmosphere.

—

—

## The Next Day

The second special-class auction began.

But something had changed.

The numbers.

**Number 2.**

My number had jumped from 55 to 2.

I had been moved to the section where the imperial nobles sat on the left.

‘So the seating is rearranged based on how much money you spent the previous day.’

A kind of privilege, I suppose.

Lady Dersian now sat in seat Number 3.

‘Yesterday’s Number 68… isn’t here.’

All the participants had gathered, except for Number 68—the one who reacted.

Did they eliminate him after noticing he was a player?

Or did something happen?

“…Black Goat.”

It was then.

The man in Seat Number 1 spoke slowly while looking directly at me—not at Hudson, at **me**.

He had not participated in the auction even once the previous day.

Despite me spending the most money, he still retained Seat Number 1.

His entire body was covered in a tuxedo and a white mask.

And then, into my mind—he spoke.

**—Number 68 was a player. You knew as well, didn’t you?**

A wide-area taunt.

A voice spreading inside my head.

It wasn’t a whisper, nor a sound transmitted by a typical telepathic skill. If it were, I would have noticed immediately.

‘The Line of the Golden Scale.’

A thin golden thread connecting him and me.

A conversation transmitted through the “Golden Scale,” audible only to those linked by the thread.

So you could even use the Golden Scale fragments **for this**?

A step beyond the “auto-translation” function Hudson told me about.

Then again, Hudson had been holed up in a castle—of course he didn’t know there was a hidden communication feature.

‘So you can send thoughts along the thread.’

But it didn’t transmit my thoughts automatically.

The words I formed in my mind appeared before me like text, and I could choose what to send along the thread.

Like communicating with a string phone.

‘…He knows about players.’

If I heard him correctly, he had clearly mentioned players.

Not only that—

He likely knew **why** Number 68 had disappeared.

And he was asking *me* if I knew.

Why me?

‘One thing’s certain—this guy outranks Lord Darkan.’

Lord Darkan, who hosted this auction and whose territory this was, naturally held priority.

Yet this man sat ahead of him without any noble objecting.

Yesterday I learned that imperial nobles could not tolerate anyone beneath them sitting ahead.

Which left four possibilities:

A top noble, a member of the imperial family, someone from the Reaper Cult… or a special player.

‘Players aren’t the only ones who use the Golden Scale. Abyssal beings and Pangaenian natives do too. But the possibility is there.’

Even monsters used Golden Scale fragments.

Using the Golden Scale didn’t prove he was a player—but didn’t rule it out either.

**—Who was Number 68?**

So I answered with feigned nonchalance.

Number 1 continued watching the auction, pretending not to be speaking to me at all.

**—Do you truly not know? Or do you mean it’s something you have no need to know?**

His tone implied I was ignorant of something obvious.

I pondered briefly.

Then concluded:

Number 68 was dead.

Not gone, not escaped—dead.

**—There’s no need to speak for someone who isn’t here.**

Someone who isn’t present doesn’t need defending.

Then his voice echoed in my head again.

**—I am a player.**

I wrinkled my brows inwardly.

…What the hell is he talking about?

Suddenly claiming he’s a player?

Was he trying to gauge my reaction?

He probed me earlier by asking if I knew Number 68 was a player, and now he simply declares *he* is one.

Did he really think I’d react to such a clumsy attempt?

But his next words nearly made me flinch for real.

**—Ah. You’ll understand if I put it this way. I’m “MintChocoIsDelicious.” Pleasure to meet you.**

—

—

## *Delphia Has Fallen!*

Everyone who heard the news was struck speechless.

Over three thousand participants.

Several transcendents.

Yet the city fell in **one day**.

**Player Talk exploded:**

> —No official statement from DarkStar?

> —Silent.

> —DarkStar couldn’t run?

> —If Runckstar couldn’t run, did they get wiped?

> —How does a city disappear in a single day?

> —Wasn’t Delphia a stable neutral city?

> —One of the top three blacksmith cities—of course it was stable. And they prepared ridiculous siege weapons for the hunt.

Players had been boasting about joining the Ba’al subjugation **just yesterday**.

Judging from their numbers and lineup, losing should’ve been impossible.

And this was Delphia.

One of the three most renowned cities of blacksmiths!

They’d even transformed the whole place into a “siege city” prepared to hunt a Calamity—so the shock was unimaginable.

> —What happened? Are the participants all dead? Someone say something. My friend joined and went dark.

> —Talk.

> —You bastard, you think this is funny? Want to die?

> —Sure, kill me.

> —Where do you live?

People even started to pick fights.

Chaos.

> —It *is* weird. Normally someone should’ve reported in by now.

> —Looks like everyone sank into the Abyss.

> —Someone go confirm.

> —How the hell are they supposed to confirm something that sank into the Abyss?

> —What is going on?
> —Uh…
> —Hold on… did I read that wrong?

Then.

Multiple posts appeared at once in panic.

> —Is the notification real?

> —If the five cities linked to the Mountain of the Trainee all sink into the Abyss, the Calamity becomes “the Abyss Itself”?

> —What does “Abyss Itself” mean?

> —That’s not all the notice said
.
> —Who the hell pranked the notice?

> —This can’t be real.

> —It says… it says Ba’al is coming to Earth.

> —…Ba’al of the Four Calamities is crossing over to Earth?

> —Where on Earth?

> —Not specified.

> —Three thousand including multiple transcendents couldn’t stop him. If he comes to Earth, can anyone?

> —We should nuke him the moment he arrives
.
> —You idiot, monsters that warp are only hurt by dimension warrior’s attacks. Nukes won’t work.

A sudden system notice sent panic skyrocketing.

Ba’al might be coming to Earth.

If a monster Pangaenia couldn’t stop crossed over, the outcome was obvious.

And no one knew **where** he would attack.

> —This is bad. Really bad.

> —Isn’t Earth’s corruption rate already near 20%?

> —First invader was King of the Dead Ahram. The second will be stronger.

> —Ahram was stopped by Randolph, but that won’t happen every time.

> —If a Calamity overlaps with a Demon Realm invasion, Earth might actually be done.

> —What are Gracia and the Master doing? Any heroes?

> —Both silent.

> —If Runckstar ran this time, fine, but someone say something please.

> —No word from Pangaenia either? Didn’t cities support Delphia?

> —All in chaos. As far as I know, no survivors.

> —Before more cities fall, players need to gather.

> —Who leads?

—*Gracia showed up!!*

—*What? Where?*

—*YouTube Live! He just went live!*

At the news that Gracia had started a livestream on his channel, everyone rushed in to check for themselves.

But those who saw Gracia couldn’t help but tilt their heads in confusion.

—*Uh… he doesn’t look too good.*

—*Seriously… why did his hair suddenly turn white?*

—*What’s he saying?*

—*He says if someone brings him the “Soul of the Hydragon,” he’ll take care of the subjugation himself?*

*

*

“…MintChocoIsDelicious?”

A nickname only players would know.

A name no Pangaenian native could ever recognize—yet Number 1 had spoken it.

And he went so far as to introduce *himself* as that person.

*MintChocoIsDelicious is affiliated with the Empire?*

The Empire openly despises players.

So what—did he infiltrate them in secret?

Or perhaps this was bait.

Either way, I showed no reaction.

Thanks to my hidden trait, *Heart of the Eternal Monarch*, my mind remained unshakably still.

It was then—

**《A new “Notice” has been registered.》**

Just like yesterday, a message surfaced before my eyes again.

Good timing.

If he truly was a player, he would comment on this notice as well.

—*…So the Calamity Ba’al might cross over to Earth. How in the world are we supposed to stop that.*

To my surprise, Number 1 even mentioned the new notice directly.

There was no way he could have known about it beforehand.

Which meant… was he truly a player? Was this bastard really MintChoco?

But I couldn’t evade answering forever.

 

 

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