I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-108

Ch-108

—

I slowly conveyed the conclusion I had reached.

*—I haven’t understood a single thing you’ve been saying for a while now. If you’re just going to keep spouting nonsense, don’t talk to me.*

Whether it was real or not, I couldn’t allow myself to react.

Right after that, I severed the Golden Scale Line.

If you converse too long with someone who holds more information than you, all they’ll see is the bottom of your hand.

Besides, this was my first time using a Golden Scale Line for conversation.

Here, the right move was to take a step back.

When I cut the Golden Scale Line, No. 1 just shrugged his shoulders.

*A dangerous man.*

I couldn’t read him.

What was certain was that nothing good would come from getting involved with him.

So I put him completely out of my mind.

Right now, I needed to focus on the auction.

“The next auction item is a myth-grade artifact! Offered by our distinguished No. 3 guest — the young lady of House Dersian! Her entry: ‘The Celestial Jade Porcelain’! A piece so beautiful that simply looking upon it could blind you! Bidding starts at 10 billion gold!”

No. 3 — Lady Dersian — had brought something special.

But the price was absurd.

Ten billion gold.

Naturally, there was no one who could possibly bid on it.

And that was exactly what Lady Dersian was aiming for.

A show of prestige.

By setting a price nobody could bid on, she was *showing off*.

Behold—House Dersian possesses such treasures!

“Hoo.”

“So that’s the famous Celestial Jade Porcelain?”

“To think House Dersian held something like that.”

“Its beauty matches its name.”

The nobles of the Empire murmured in pure admiration.

Meanwhile, Lady Dersian’s pride soared beyond the heavens.

Of course, no one placed a bid.

“If there are no bidders, we will move on to the next item. Now, the next item is far more beautiful than this one! You may look forward to it!”

“More than the Celestial Jade Porcelain?”

“Does such a thing even exist?”

The Celestial Jade Porcelain was an artifact that displayed a thousand shifting forms of beauty depending on the angle of light.

Could anything exist that surpassed what was considered the most beautiful porcelain in the world?

The auctioneer then smiled and announced:

“The next auction item is—unbelievably—a **Unique-grade artifact**! Even I could hardly believe my eyes. Please look closely! Submitted by our esteemed No. 2 guest for today—*the ‘Throne of Light’*! Starting bid: 100 billion gold! Ah… it seems there is only one person in this world capable of purchasing such a thing.”

“-?”

“!!!”

Everyone in the auction threw their eyes wide in shock.

Moments later, the throne formed entirely out of radiant light appeared in its full splendor.

“…Unique-grade?”

Naturally, No. 1 was among those staring.

But now was the time to focus on the auction.

You should be focusing too.

*

*

 

The money available for bidding was limited to the amount verified beforehand.

No one here had submitted even ten billion gold, let alone a hundred.

Meaning that *no one* could place a bid, even in theory.

In truth, there was no institution except the Imperial Family itself that possessed that level of wealth.

A treasure purchasable only by the Emperor.

“That is…”

“Unbelievably beautiful.”

Everyone stared in stunned silence at the Throne of Light.

Setting an outrageous starting price was intentional.

To show that I possessed an artifact beyond even the Empire’s reach.

“I—I can’t appraise it.”

“Even with appraisal skills, nothing shows…”

The appraisers all grimaced in frustration.

Unique-grade artifacts could not be fully identified by anyone other than their owner.

“How can we be sure that throne is truly Unique-grade?”

“Esteemed guests, there is nothing to worry about. We managed to verify only the *grade* just moments ago. We will at least guarantee its rank.”

They had confirmed exactly one thing:

The rank.

Upon hearing this, greed flickered in everyone’s eyes.

But that was all.

There was no way any of them could offer 100 billion gold.

Instead, every gaze turned toward me and toward Hudson.

No. 3, Lady Dersian, stared back and forth between us and the artifact with trembling pupils and wide-open eyes.

A few seconds of silence.

“As there are no bidders, we will move on to the next item.”

With no bids, the item returned to its owner.

Whether it would be listed again with a different starting bid was entirely up to the owner.

But with this, I had essentially executed a wide-area provocation.

Not just within the Darkan territory, but across the entire Empire.

*This is the fastest way to locate the Baal Armor.*

There was no better method to find the Baal Armor — which lay somewhere in the Empire.

Now that there was a chance the calamity Baal might cross over to Earth, I had to find it as quickly as possible.

“Wait.”

“…N-No. 1 guest?”

Just as the auctioneer was about to move to the next item—

No. 1 raised his hand, and the auctioneer reacted with a jolt.

Because this was No. 1’s first time expressing any intention to participate.

The reaction of the auctioneer.

The behavior of the nobles.

All of it resembled people addressing a difficult, high-status master.

Averting their eyes, lowering their heads, confirming their place.

But this was the Darkan territory.

Home of the Empire’s greatest swordsmanship lineage, ruler over much of the nobility’s hierarchy.

And for the lord of such a place to willingly put himself as “Rank 2” in a special-ranked auction… Only one group could act freely here.

*The Imperial Family.*

No matter how I thought about it, only the Imperial Family fit.

But if I assumed he was from the Imperial Family, it didn’t make sense.

A player could never belong to the Imperial Family.

Their pathological secrecy.

It was impossible to live within that environment while hiding one’s identity.

No. 1 — the man who casually raised his hand — spoke quietly.

“Auctioneer. Are bids restricted to the amounts verified in advance?”

“Yes, that is the rule of this auction, esteemed No. 1 guest.”

The amount of physical gold verified before the start.

Only that amount could be used for bidding.

No. 1 rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Naturally, there was no way he had pre-registered 100 billion gold.

But there was something unsettling about his calm confidence.

*A man capable of moving 100 billion gold at will.*

Even within the Imperial Family, only a handful could wield that much freely.

The auctioneer was right: unless he was the Emperor himself, it wouldn’t be possible.

If he was Imperial, he could also forcibly change the rules.

Or—worst-case scenario—he might plan to accuse Hudson and me of being “players” and seize the item.

That would mean taking on the risk of opposing the White King, but the Throne of Light was worth that risk.

If he understood the throne’s true value, he might gamble everything.

“If those are the rules, then it can’t be helped. Rules are meant to be respected.”

…I let out an internal sigh of relief.

Even I hadn’t expected someone so insane as to attempt bidding on a 100-billion-gold starting price.

That amount could buy an entire kingdom.

Even an Emperor would struggle to casually offer that sum.

*I was naive.*

I would have to raise my evaluation of the Empire.

I had assumed an Empire that still hadn’t fully reclaimed the lands of the Old Empire wouldn’t easily yield such wealth.

I had been careless. But this kind of mistake won’t happen again.

Most importantly, No. 1 emphasized the word *rules*.

He wasn’t saying it to the auctioneer.

He was saying it to *me*.

He could force the bid through—but he wouldn’t.

…Just what kind of man was this?

A supposed Imperial insider—and yet he called himself “MintChocoIsDelicious.”

Two names that could never coexist.

And there was another reason I couldn’t identify him.

**【Lv. ??】**

His level was hidden.

Until now, there had only been two cases where a level appeared as question marks:

*The Supreme Dragon, Riley.*

*And the Calamity Baal.*

Only those two showed question marks.

Both were gigantic beasts whose levels were ambiguous.

But this one was human.

Or… was he?

I wasn’t even sure anymore.

He was clearly above level 10.

*There must be a criterion for level question marks.*

One that I simply didn’t know yet.

What did the three of them have in common?

The Supreme Dragon Riley, the Calamity Baal, and No. 1.

All overwhelmingly powerful?

I shook my head internally.

*I confirmed the White King’s level. Strength isn’t the criterion.*

Using the Great Sage, I saw him clearly.

Level 15 — even that monster could be identified.

The Calamities aside, the Supreme Dragon wasn’t stronger than the White King.

After the fusion of the Supreme Dragon and Sword Saint Riley, maybe — but as the dragon alone, definitely not.

So not strength.

Another criterion.

A hidden trait that blocked the Great Sage’s observation…

*Only a hidden trait can block another hidden trait.*

Even hidden traits aren’t absolute.

For example, the Giant’s Anti-Magic can be pierced by Magic Penetration.

But no trait can be completely nullified — 100% penetration doesn’t exist.

Likewise, the Great Sage can only be partially obstructed by items or abilities with “Observation Interference” or “Observation Defense.”

But those cannot fully nullify it.

To turn it into complete question marks — only another hidden trait could do that.

*Most likely… the Iron-Blood Monarch’s Heart. Or the Great Sage.*

Both the Supreme Dragon and Baal likely had hidden traits.

Riley was a Sword Saint with countless talents — plus the traits of the Supreme Dragon.

Baal?

A monster who had sealed so much proficiency experience that everything about him was on an entirely different tier. It would be strange if he *didn’t* have hidden traits.

Not as many as my fourteen, but overlaps were possible.

Likely Iron-Blood Monarch or Great Sage.

The Iron-Blood Monarch evolved into the Eternal Monarch, but the Great Sage remained unchanged.

Likewise, No. 1 likely had one of the two. Or both.

For someone calling himself MintChocoIsDelicious, it was certainly possible.

And the Imperial Family definitely knew hidden traits existed.

So I couldn’t dismiss it.

*Who are you, really?*

Even I had never encountered a human who caused this much confusion.

I had intended to avoid him, but at this point, I was curious.

The face beneath that mask.

The man’s true identity.

*

*

“How was today’s auction?”

A spacious room.

In the special suite of the lord’s castle, the Lord of Darkan asked.

The masked No. 1, seated by the window, shrugged lightly.

“It was entertaining.”

Truly entertaining.

It had been a long while since he’d felt anything resembling excitement.

“I presume the Throne of Light caught your eye?”

“Mmm. Indeed. Quite a fine artifact.”

“…My apologies. Despite mobilizing all our observers, we could only identify its Unique rank. We could not determine any of its detailed properties.”

“It’s fine. I couldn’t either.”

No. 1 nodded.

Unique artifacts cannot be fully identified by anyone except their owner.

But with his abilities, he had at least grasped its basic outline.

“Still… it seems to be the throne upon which the ancient god who bore the sun once sat. Naturally, I must claim it.”

Just one line.

He had managed to read only that single line.

But that alone was more than enough.

The Lord Darkan widened his eyes.

“You perceived even that much. As expected…!”

“Shh.”

No. 1 lifted his index finger to his lips.

A gesture telling him to stay silent.

Seeing that, the Lord Darkan trembled.

“A-ah…”

“Speaking of anything regarding me is strictly forbidden. That is the rule of the Empire.”

“M-my apologies, No. 1.”

Flustered, the Lord of Darkan bowed his head deeply.

No. 1 — he was a being so immense that even the Lord of Darkan could do nothing about him.

If he so willed it, the entire territory of Darkan would vanish without leaving even an ant behind.

As he watched the trembling lord, No. 1 smiled faintly.

“Rules exist to be followed. The auction is no exception.”

“Is there any need for an auction? If you negotiate with him directly—”

“No. He came here *for the auction*. Naturally, it must be resolved through the auction, don’t you think?”

“However… if it’s Hudson, I believe you could speak with him. He may have come from the Labyrinth, but he is still human. The Throne of Light must also have come from the Labyrinth.”

Hudson, who had appeared as the Labyrinth’s representative.

He had already sold relics of the Old Empire to the Golden City of Arcana.

All treasures originating from the Labyrinth.

It was highly likely that the Throne of Light had been discovered there as well.

Naturally, the lord believed that if enough gold was offered, a transaction would be possible.

“Hudson? Ah, I wasn’t referring to *him*.”

Not Hudson?

Wasn’t Hudson the one handling the auction on behalf of the Labyrinth?

“Then… do you mean the barbarian standing behind him?”

“Yes. *That* one. The one who left me with a deep, lingering impression — and a great deal of enjoyment.”

His smile grew even deeper.

The Throne of Light was magnificent, yes, but far more magnificent was the man wearing the black goat mask.

Hudson was merely that man’s puppet.

The Lord of Darkan was horrified by his words.

Because for No. 1 to show such interest in another person — and even speak of a “lingering impression and enjoyment” — was an extraordinary event in itself.

He was someone who knew everything.

Thus, anytime he evaluated someone, it was always with a tone of boredom and indifference.

*“I cannot see him. He possesses a hidden trait.”*

That made it entertaining.

A man he could not perceive even with his own hidden trait.

That meant the man surely had a hidden trait similar to his own — one that obstructed observation.

That was why he had assumed the man was a player, and had probed him.

Yet, he had shown *no reaction*.

Even when he mentioned No. 68, even when he spoke a nickname that any player would instantly recognize — there wasn’t even the slightest hint of response.

—

 

 

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