I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-137

Ch-137

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“What are they even talking about all of a sudden?”

Every player was simultaneously thrown into confusion.

A flood of messages had appeared out of nowhere.

And even the contents of the announcement were unfamiliar to all of them.

“Truth-Seeking, Dimensional Insight, Mad-Blood… just how many new talents were created?”

“Has anything like this ever happened before?”

Without a doubt—never.

Towers had risen, and the Lands of the Abyss had surfaced before, but *new talents blossoming for every single player*—this was the first time.

What’s more, even the talents that appeared were difficult to comprehend at a glance.

“So this has something to do with the Tower of Rift?”

“Looks like they’re telling us to climb the Tower and spend SP to unlock these talents?”

“And they’re saying we can obtain a large quantity of Golden Scale fragments? Those are already hard enough to get!”

“But what’s this about level restrictions being lifted?”

“Does that mean proficiency level is unlocked—or that we can raise levels past 10?”

Even after reading the announcement, it was unclear.

No one would know for certain until they actually invested talent points and climbed the Tower themselves.

But more curious than any of those details was one question:

“Why did all this suddenly appear?”

“The announcement says it right there. Someone destroyed a ‘Dimensional Gate’, and that’s why the Tower of Rift emerged.”

“What the hell is a Dimensional Gate? And who broke it?”

“How should I know? But it’s definitely not a player.”

It had to be some large power like an Empire, or another supreme being acting beyond their knowledge.

But in truth, it didn’t matter who did it.

With erosion rate at 20% and increasing, this opportunity was more precious than gold.

It was then—

《The Hall of Fame rankings for ‘Main Quest 8’ are updating.》

Yet another message appearing at such a fateful moment.

Hall of Fame. Someone had clearly finished the quest with an absurd score.

But why now?

Even with some time lag, the timing was far too suspicious.

The moment new talents bloomed and the Tower of Fracture rose… the ranking had changed.

“Don’t tell me…”

“They cleared the Dimensional Gate *while* eliminating the contamination sources?”

“Who did?”

“Well… if it’s Main Quest 8, there’s only one person.”

And if it was Main Quest 8—

There was only one person who could overwhelm that section.

The latecomer who was crushing all the early starters.

The one who had never once missed first place, always achieving overwhelming scores.

**Phantom.**

But when the name and ranking appeared, every player froze in disbelief.

“…What the hell!!”

“What is this…?”

“No way. Seriously?”

“There’s no way—this has to be rigged!”

*

*

The Constellation of the Radiant Hero.

He trembled as if struck by lightning.

“…Magnificent.”

The story he had just witnessed was simply too beautiful.

Not once did he regret paying the price.

Randolph’s heroic saga rekindled the sense of heroism he had long forgotten.

“Radiant Hero Constellation… don’t tell me you watched it?”

“Hmm… even for you, that’s too much to bear alone.”

Every constellation turned to him.

All of them had avoided Randolph’s story.

They could not bear the ‘cost’. They had forced themselves to look away.

But the Radiant Hero was different.

He alone had witnessed Randolph’s tale.

The problem was the cost in starlight—for Randolph’s feats were far too immense to be sustained by his own.

If the remaining starlight ran dry, the constellation’s fate was to vanish.

Yet—

“…I am satisfied.”

Even as all his starlight evaporated, the Radiant Hero smiled.

Just as all the others who had previously vanished once did.

Randolph’s stories always filled their emptiness.

And this time, the satisfaction eclipsed anything before it.

*Even after realizing that Isabella had regained her memories, he still threw himself into disaster.*

Nothing but ruin awaited that relationship.

A destruction already predestined.

This time, they thought he wouldn’t be able to overcome it—but that was a grave mistake.

Randolph still chose self-sacrifice.

More human—more heroic—than anyone had imagined.

And then—

*The Blood-Marrow King. He actually consumed that cosmic being.*

Unbelievable.

What kind of man would do such a thing?

None but Randolph.

Only Randolph would commit something so insane.

“Hahaha!”

The more he pondered it, the more absurd it became.

How could anyone think of something like that?

To use his own body as collateral to force the Blood Marrow King into assimilation.

Normally, one thinks only of *removing* contamination sources—never of becoming contaminated oneself.

His booming laughter made the other constellations tilt their heads.

“Why are you laughing?”

“What kind of story did you witness?”

“Even you—who rarely laughs…”

“Can’t you tell us?”

Their reaction was natural.

They didn’t know. They hadn’t seen it.

They only saw the result.

That short sentence declaring Main Quest 8 had finally been cleared.

He alone held the full, brilliant story they didn’t know.

But he would not share it—and had no intention to.

The Radiant Hero was fully satisfied.

*“Unresolved, consecutive myths completed. And starlight imbued with a constellation’s existence. You have fulfilled every condition for Unique-rank emergence.”*

A myth for slaying Baal, and even consuming the Blood Marrow King.

Nothing could be more flawless.

And so, the Radiant Hero willingly offered all of his starlight.

Starlight that represented his very existence—enough to fulfill the final requirement.

This was not starlight taken from him, but starlight he offered willingly.

Its quantity and quality were incomparable.

Even so, he never lost his smile.

…Because he was satisfied.

Because he was fulfilled.

Because he no longer felt emptiness.

“Thank you, Randolph.”

Sssssss…

His presence began to fade.

*

*

 

Like a shell being shed, darkness peeled away.

A human form appeared, and Aria’s jaw dropped.

“Th-that form…!!!”

She remembered him.

The one she had seen atop the Trainee’s Mountain.

Her memory was hazy since he’d been unconscious, but once she combined that with the sword intent she had witnessed, she became certain.

*The Fifth Main Pillar is human?*

But he was a *Main Pillar*.

Cramdel was a place humans could not approach, and the position of a Pillar was granted only to those who passed strict selection.

So did this mean he deceived all the residents of Cramdel, the Four Pillars, and even the White King—becoming a Main Pillar while human?

How was that possible?

Or perhaps he was some other creature merely shaped like a human.

But that appearance, and the distinct smell—there was no mistaking it.

He was undeniably human.

Aria was convinced.

*He deceived all of us!*

He had tricked everyone.

A human pretending not to be human, deceiving them all.

If it became known that a Main Pillar was human—

The other Pillars and the White King would become laughingstocks.

The very foundation of Cramdel might be shaken.

Before the war against the Black King, morale could crumble.

*I must eliminate him… here and now.*

Aria bit her lip.

They despised humans.

Instinctively so.

Aria was no different.

For Cramdel’s future, this human had to die here by her hand.

There would never be another chance—he had lost all strength, and was unconscious.

But…

“You must die.”

Swish!

In that instant, her body was bound.

Aria couldn’t move an inch.

She turned her head—and saw the woman who had fought Randolph earlier… Isabella.

*Her eyes…!*

Aria shivered at the sight of Isabella’s gaze.

Those eyes were the eyes of someone utterly resolved to kill.

Deep and dark like the abyss.

She meant to eliminate Aria for seeing Randolph’s true nature.

Aria inhaled sharply.

This binding had held even Randolph in place.

There was no chance she could break free.

“…I won’t tell anyone about the Main Pillar.”

“No.”

Isabella shook her head.

The corrupted barbarians had all lost consciousness, yet this half-beast creature had clearly witnessed Randolph’s true form.

She was not human—only shaped like one.

If she wasn’t human and called Randolph a Main Pillar, then she had to be from Cramdel.

Isabella spoke.

“Even if you stay silent… the White King will figure it out eventually.”

As long as Aria remained in Cramdel, the White King would sense that something was off.

His senses transcended everything.

He must not learn that the Main Pillar was human.

And in the end, all this had happened because of Isabella herself.

So she decided to kill Aria here.

Swish—!

Two stacks.

But she didn’t need to reach five.

She only needed to sever the neck.

Isabella picked up a fallen barbarian’s sword.

‘…Nothing I say will change anything.’

Aria half gave up.

Anyone with eyes like that would never listen to reason.

Sssrrk.

Isabella approached, sword raised.

Just as she was about to strike—

“Stop.”

Isabella froze.

She turned toward the voice.

“Ah!”

Randolph.

He had awakened.

And Isabella snapped back to her senses.

“A-are you all right?!”

She threw the sword aside and sprinted toward him.

*

*

 

*

…I barely managed to regain consciousness.

I had almost fallen asleep forever.

That was how exhausting it was to digest the Blood Marrow King.

But it was fine.

In the end, I succeeded in digesting him, and the Blood Marrow King had become a hidden trait.

*“So this is my fifteenth hidden trait.”*

What had started as thirteen hidden traits had now become fifteen.

Eternal Randolph and King of the Blood Demons had been added.

Honestly, I was half out of my mind.

I had never imagined that the digested Blood Marrow King would turn into a hidden trait.

*“What kind of function does it have?”*

That too, I couldn’t know right away.

All hidden traits only revealed their functions when personally experienced and pushed against.

But one thing was certain—since it bore the name *hidden trait*, it would undoubtedly prove immensely useful.

There wasn’t a single hidden trait that was useless.

“Are you unharmed? Can you move? Were you injured anywhere?”

Isabella came so close it felt suffocating as she worried over me.

But my attention wasn’t on her.

I was looking past her, at the newly appearing lines of text.

《It will be added to the previous calculation.》

《Settlement is complete.》

A message that the main quest’s settlement had just concluded.

I naturally expected the score to be high—but I didn’t know exactly how high.

Would it really be combined with the previous settlement—meaning, added to the elimination of Baal?

《O you who have achieved an unprecedented myth!》

《Your mythic renown shall echo across the entire continent.》

《Total Score: 1,500 points》

《You have obtained 1 ‘Complete Golden Scale’ and ‘Fragmented Golden Scale Fragment (1,500h)’.》

《The ‘Constellation of the Radiant Hero’ has completed its final contribution.》

《You may now complete a new Unique-rank item.》

《Choose one from the list below.》

《Primordial Light》, 《Mjölnir》, 《Bow That Aims at Gods》, 《Twilight》, 《Horizon’s Defiance》, 《Lament》, 《Valhalla Armor》, 《Boots of the One Who Shattered the Heavens》, 《Dragon God’s Helm》, 《Radiant Bulwark》…

“······!!!”

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