I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-126

Ch-126

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“The black barrier has disappeared! It’s been 38 whole days!”

“What could have happened? What on earth went on in there? How did they survive for 38 days?”

“The scene that the Dimension Warriors unanimously described as an invasion by the Four Calamities’ ‘Baal’!

Yet nowhere on Jeju Island can we find any traces of an attack.”

By plane, by helicopter, by ship—journalists from all around the world were rushing in.

Jeju Island, the lonely island that everyone had given up on after the Master had declared it beyond salvation.

The place everyone unanimously shook their heads at, saying there was no hope—had reappeared after 38 days.

“Park Tae-woo! Thanks to his sleepless vigil guarding the perimeter around Jeju Island, a rapid rescue was possible!”

“In this rescue operation, the Hero Alliance’s performance was decisive, and the Korean government…”

Naturally, Park Tae-woo and the Hero Alliance—who had performed outstandingly in the rescue—were also spotlighted.

Had Park Tae-woo not been stationed near Jeju Island, tens of thousands would surely have drowned in the sea.

He became an overnight hero—but the truly important story was something else entirely.

It was Gracia and the survivors.

But Gracia officially refused all interviews.

The Korean government was also blocking public interviews to protect the survivors’ human rights and privacy.

Even so, it was impossible to silence the mouths of all 600,000 people.

“…Could you tell us what you experienced inside?”

And one interview video released by an American journalist shocked the entire world.

It was just one man recounting what he had experienced exactly as it happened.

“The first thing we saw in that place—the place we call ‘the Abyss’—was two enormous monsters fighting. A monster called ‘Baal’ and another ominous crow-shaped monster.”

“Are you saying Baal wasn’t the only one?”

“Yes. There were two of them. Ah, and there were monsters that looked like demons as well. But all of those disappeared within a few days.”

“What happened?”

“Baal swallowed the head of the ill omen, and the two collapsed together and stopped moving. After about fifteen days, Baal’s body melted, and from inside its abdomen came a ‘black egg.’”

“A black egg? What came out of it?”

“Yes. The ‘Messenger of God’ appeared and saved us.”

“…The Messenger of God?”

The man being interviewed took out a sheet of paper from his chest.

It was a yellow talisman-like paper, carefully preserved like a charm, and on it was a printed image of a scythe-bearing ‘reaper.’

Three wings, and a face resembling that of a goat.

“What is this picture? A grim reaper?”

“Do not speak blasphemy. We call this one the ‘Guardian of the Black Egg.’ Everyone who was there at the time, myself included, carries this picture.”

“…My apologies. So, the Guardian of the Black Egg. Is it because it rescued you that it’s called a guardian?”

“Of course not. The Guardian was formed from the smoke that leaked out of the ‘black egg.’ Inside the black egg resides the ‘God’ who will save humanity.”

“Ah, so it protects the black egg—hence its name. But wait—God? Are you saying that over 600,000 people witnessed a ‘God’?”

The man shook his head.

“God saved us, but did not reveal His form. Because we are not yet ready. That is why the world—humanity—must humbly prepare to welcome Him.”

*

*

Crunch!

The Master clenched his teeth, his body trembling.

“How? How could they possibly return alive from the Abyss?”

Thirty-eight days. In that amount of time, everyone including Gracia should have died.

But they came back alive.

Completely unharmed.

“These damn bastards…!”

The internet was overflowing with posts mocking the Master’s statements.

One of them was ‘Player Talk,’ a platform exclusively for Players—it was no different.

* lolol the Master is such an opportunist

* hated that guy the moment he started acting big

* serves him riiight

* he overplayed his hand and exposed his own incompetence

* if he had just stayed quiet he could’ve at least maintained a neutral image

* what? give up Jeju and follow *him*? lmaooo

* follow someone worth following, not the Master lol

* I’d rather follow Gracia

* didn’t he refuse Jeju deployment in the first place?

* trash that isn’t even worth recycling kekeke

* yeah. no matter what, the Master isn’t on Gracia’s level. Gracia fought Baal in Cartel without even using Hydragon’s Core
* fr
* frfr

To Earthlings and Players alike, the Master had become an object of ridicule.

Naturally so.

He didn’t head to Cartel for the subjugation, he refused the Jeju deployment, and on top of that he had the gall to declare, “Give up Jeju.”

Meanwhile, what about Gracia?

* did you all see the reports of how Gracia led people for 38 days?

* that leadership is legit. dude is leagues above the Master

* every Jeju survivor says the same—without Gracia, everyone would’ve lost their human dignity

* but what’s Gracia doing now? dude could finally receive proper hero treatment

* he says he’s not someone who deserves such treatment

* holy crap that’s insane. that’s real hero class

* badass

* if it were the Master he’d be bragging to literally every living creature lol

* “I saved everyone!” he’d go around saying that even to toddlers

* true

* lmaooooooooooo

The Master’s reputation had fallen to a point where it could not fall any further.

And these reactions weren’t limited to Player Talk.

It meant Players no longer feared the Master.

[The Master. His irresponsible statements.]

[‘Abandon 600,000 lives’? Is he truly a hero?]

[Had it not been for Park Tae-woo and the Hero Alliance’s stubborn insistence, tens of thousands would have died in Jeju due to the Master’s reckless words.]

[Is he a hero, or a fraud wearing the shell of one?]

Everywhere, slander and mockery of the Master overflowed.

Bang!

The Master slammed and shattered the seat he was sitting on.

“Uaaaargh! Damn it all…!!!”

He was being sucked into a bottomless pit.

*

*

The rulers of the Abyss.

Their eyes vanished one by one.

Rumble—!

And the ‘Abyss of the Resurrected’ began to rise.

Along with all the lands that had sunk with Pangaenia.

The Mountain of the Trainee, and the five neutral cities.

And the countless people who had sunk along with them.

All of them were returning to where they belonged.

I was no different.

‘Now it begins.’

But this wasn’t the end.

Once I returned, there was much to prepare.

The next Main Quest, and a way to deal with the “bug.”

Even when I killed the Demon King, even when I drove Baal to the brink—there was a “bug” that ignored the laws and killed me.

‘There’s no guarantee another bug won’t show up.’

And I only had one chance to revive as Eternal Randolph.

I’d been lucky this time, but if I die to another bug, that’s truly the end.

So I had to find a way not to fall victim to such bugs again.

‘Now then…’

I searched my chest.

One ‘seal’ was trembling violently.

It was the seal I’d received from the White King when he became fifth pillar.

‘…The White King is calling again.’

What could it be?

He wouldn’t call unless it were something urgent.

I shook my head and looked at the warp gate opening before me.

A warp opened directly by Hel.

“Let’s go.”

—Kyakyakyakyak!

Hel and I slowly stepped through the warp.

At that moment—

《Hidden Quest ‘Eliminate the Calamity Baal’ has been completed!》

《Calculating results.》

《1,250,000 points! An out-of-standard contribution score!》

《You have achieved a contribution level beyond expected rewards.》

《The People’s Hall who have been watching you increase your reward tier.》

《You possess the Lucky Dice.》

《The reward tier for Level 101 rewards rises.》

《Seventeen newly emergent Constellations and ten existing Constellations—a total of twenty-seven—lose their light.》

《The remaining Constellations begin to panic at this unprecedented catastrophe.》

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