I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-127

Ch-127

—

 

‘A catastrophe.’

Countless spears of light rose the moment I defeated the Calamity Baal and escaped the Abyss.

Along with overwhelming contribution points, twenty-seven of the Constellations in the Hall of a Hundred Constellations lost their light.

It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

‘When I cleared the Abyss Labyrinth, seventeen Constellations lost their light.’

And it wasn’t just clearing the Abyss Labyrinth then.

I defeated Riley and completed the false mythology. Especially with the accumulated duration of *Golden Scale*, I earned a score beyond imagination.

Same as then—but more Constellations vanished this time.

‘…The quests related to Baal kept rising in tier.’

When Baal first appeared, the focus was on “subjugation.”

It was set so that countless players could participate.

But after five cities sank and fell into the Abyss, Baal became “the one who is the Abyss itself.”

Once the target evolved, raising the quest’s tier was only natural.

The real problem was what came after.

He became the Abyss itself—then nearly completed the state of “the deeper abyss beyond.”

The endlessly rising quest tier created a situation where even the slightest contribution returned an absurdly high score.

And I defeated Baal *alone*.

A contribution score that exceeded the preset range of rewards.

‘They were forced to raise the reward tier. That’s why the Constellations of the Hall of a Hundred were consumed.’

Meaning only one option remained.

Raise the reward tier even further.

And the only ones who *can* raise reward tiers… are the Constellations.

Thus, every Constellation watching over me in the Hall of a Hundred was mobilized, forcibly raising the reward tier to match my contribution—causing twenty-seven of them to lose their light.

An unprecedented catastrophe.

—

—

 

《The “Constellation Meeting” is beginning.》

《Please wait until the meeting concludes.》

Was this also their first time?

It was the first time I had ever seen them hold a “meeting” instead of immediately presenting a reward list.

Of course, I had my doubts.

Weren’t the rewards already finalized after the tier increase?

Or were even tier 101 rewards insufficient?

‘So there must be more.’

Well, they couldn’t *not* give me anything.

One way or another, they’d have to reach a conclusion.

No need to rush.

The ones who were frantic weren’t me—they were the Constellations.

—

—

*

“……”

Hall of a Hundred Constellations.

The seats of the hundred stars.

Twenty-seven of those lights flickered out.

And then, losing all presence, vanished.

The remaining seventy-three Constellations stayed silent.

Partly stunned—none of them had expected such an enormous “story” to be completed.

“All the new ‘stars’ were extinguished without exception.”

The Constellation of the Radiant Hero—
the one who once made a wager with me in the Demigod-Trait Dungeon—
spoke as he gazed at the empty seats.

“They recklessly scattered their ‘starlight.’ And they never imagined he would be *that* kind of guy.”

The Constellation of Adventure.
Guardian of the constellation “Adventure.”

He boasted triumphantly.
“That kind of guy” meant **Randolph**.

The seventeen newly arrived Constellations had severely underestimated Randolph’s potential.

They had showered their starlight upon humans indiscriminately, and before they could retrieve it, this upheaval exhausted them completely.

“—Even so, this is excessive. Isn’t the ‘value’ of this story being graded *too* highly?”

The “Cursed Constellation” complained.

They were beings closer to “readers” who consume stories—
distant stars watching from afar.

But to read a story, they had to pay its “value.”

Extraordinary stories naturally cost more.
But Randolph’s stories were *always* assessed unusually high.

And this time… it was beyond excessive.

“If you think it’s expensive, you could have simply not watched it.”

Adventure sneered.

If they didn’t want to suffer, they could have just ignored it.

But no matter how hard they tried *not* to watch Randolph’s story, they always ended up watching anyway.

A new myth.
An impossible challenge.
Reversal and romance.
Unorthodox methods.

He had them all.

Few beings could create such stories.

Adventure continued:

“No one forced you to watch. More importantly, he is the only ‘author’ of this caliber. His stories fill our emptiness and elevate our rank. Isn’t that why we watch—risking our starlight?”

“…You really don’t understand what ‘too much’ means.”

“If anything, I say it’s *not enough.* At this point, I doubt we even watched the same story.”

Adventure was excited.

Randolph’s adventures always excited him.

His favorite story was the one about “Riley and the Supreme Dragon,”
but this “Baal Hunt” was no less spectacular.

An impossible gap—
overturned with the “Brightest Constellation.”

He became a terrible omen and cornered Baal, only to die due to a “bug.”

Then the breathtaking resurrection by *Eternal Randolph*!

Not a single scene was wasted.

A masterpiece crushed bug with bug.

Riley’s story had delivered emotion,
but Baal Hunt?
In raw entertainment, nothing came close.

And they called this excessive?

“Enough. What’s done is done. If we don’t ‘offset’ his contribution, greater chaos will break out.”

The Radiant Hero cut in.

Constellation-to-Constellation conflict was undesirable.

Now was the time for countermeasures.

Even though twenty-seven Constellations lost their light raising the reward tier,
his “contribution” still hadn’t been offset.

“Like before, we could offer our treasures—?”

One Constellation suggested.

But the Radiant Hero shook his head.

“Is there anyone left with enough starlight to materialize a treasure?”

No one raised their hand.

Naturally.

This “Baal Hunt” had drained vast amounts of their starlight.

Not just this time—
Randolph’s stories had emptied them repeatedly.

“Furthermore, this contribution cannot be erased unless the reward reaches ‘Unique Grade.’”

“That’s impossible. A Unique-grade reward?”

“Radiant Hero—rewards beyond Mythic grade are outside our authority.”

Correct.

Unique-grade rewards were *beyond* Constellation authority.

The highest they could elevate rewards to was Mythic.

There were exceptions, but…

“…Then only one option remains. We propose a ‘special privilege’ and have him accept the reward.”

The Constellations stirred.

“The Constellations making a deal with the author?”

“Unprecedented.”

“What kind of privilege?”

The Radiant Hero slowly spoke:

“…What if he used the ‘Shop’ we manage?”

—

—

Time passed in the meeting.

《You have acquired: “Large Fragment of the Broken Golden Scale (300h).”》

《You have acquired: “Complete Golden Scale.”》

《You may select *one* of the rewards below.》

**《Doll of Resurrection》, 《Cursed Talisman》, 《Dark Race》, 《Acolyte’s Candleholder》, 《Goi Armor》, 《Twin Omens》, 《Shoes of the Squelching One》**

《Upon choosing a reward, you will receive an *additional perk*: “10% discount at all shops.”》

…What is this?

The reward list was unchanged—
but the *additional perk* was something I had never seen before.

Why did that suddenly appear?

‘All rewards are Mythic-grade, but compared to the Baal Hunt, they’re nowhere near enough.’

Twenty-seven Constellations lost their light.

To match that, they’d need to present something truly Unique.

But since they couldn’t… they negotiated an additional perk.

‘By “shop,” they must mean the Golden Scale Shop.’

I never imagined the Hall of a Hundred Constellations was linked to it.

No—maybe not just that one.

‘…If it says “all,” that means there are more shops I’ve yet to unlock.’

Meaning future main quests would reveal additional shops.

I stroked my chin.

A 10% discount was a massive benefit for future planning—
and immediately useful at the Golden Scale Shop.

But.

“I refuse.”

No matter how you look at it, 10% was too little.

‘Trying to lowball me, are you?’

How much had I poured in to hunt Baal?

40 billion gold worth of the “Most Radiant” Light Throne,
a complete Golden Scale,
and even a resurrection opportunity.

A single Mythic item plus 10% discount wasn’t even close.

《Do you wish to reject the reward?》

《Please state the reason for rejection. It will be delivered to the Hall of a Hundred.》

“Do I look like an idiot?”

《Delivered to the Hall of a Hundred.》

《Constellation Meeting will reconvene.》

…As expected.
It was obvious the Constellations wanted a *deal*.

If I refused entirely, it seemed they would also face consequences—
perhaps losing all their light and dispersing.

‘A reasonable compromise is necessary.’

The Hall wasn’t merely a reward dispenser.
It might provide other forms of support in future progress.

No need to antagonize them.

A deal could be made.
But *I* would determine the terms.

I had no intention of letting myself be lowballed.

I smiled leisurely and stepped through the warp.

Immediately, the monster city Cramdel spread out before me.

The special warp linked to the Labyrinth city.

The last time I crossed through here, the Four Pillars greeted me.

But today, they weren’t here.

“What are you? How did you cross this warp?”

“This warp is set so only ‘Five-Pillars’ beings can pass.”

Red-helmeted rat-monsters—
Administrators of Cramdel, recognized for their strength.

They were assigned to guard this special warp.

This warp connecting to the Labyrinth was one of them.

But they did not recognize me.

Of course.

‘…It disappeared.’

The Glutton trait could maintain only one form.

I lost the form of the Crow King when I became “One Who Cultivates Darkness.”

“But the more I look at him…”

“He looks terribly disgusting. Identify yourself or die.”

Hostile already.

I sighed.

Then took out the “seal” from my pocket.

“…The Five-Pillar’s seal tag?”

“N-no way—”

It bore the crow insignia, hand-forged by the White King himself.

Seeing it, the rat-monsters glared at me even more fiercely.

“Did you kill the Five-Pillar?”

“We must report to the other Pillars—!”

In an instant, the monster corps formed ranks and surrounded me.

It is believed that the monster that killed Fifth Pillar attacked Cramdel.

I shook my head and slowly opened my mouth.

“I am the Fifth Pillar, kaak.”

—