I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-138

Ch-138

—

Even seeing it with my own eyes, I still couldn’t believe it.

To think I would obtain *unique-grade* equipment like this.

But even more shocking was the list of names.

Most of them were unique-grade armaments that had never appeared before.

Things that had yet to be revealed—things whose existence even *I* hadn’t known of.

*

 

Master sat in his office all day, his expression twisted into a deep scowl.

Staring down at the continental map spread across his desk.

Tap. Tap.

Master drummed his fingers on the southern region of the map, then drew in a deep breath.

*‘No matter how I think about it, the only breakthrough left to me is the Black King.’*

The conqueror of the southern continent.

The Black King was rapidly expanding his influence toward the central regions.

A sign that not even the Empire of the central continent frightened him.

Thus, Master was agonizing.

Whether he should ride that rising momentum—or stay where he was.

*‘Soon the entire continent will be swept up in bloodshed. Everyone will have to choose which umbrella to stand beneath.’*

And it wasn’t just the Black King.

Ever since the Great Expedition ended, the political climate of the continent had been shifting dramatically.

The Empire in the center.

The Black King in the south.

The White King in the north.

Even the elves of the western lands.

And that wasn’t all.

*‘If the rumors of the Demon King’s recovery are true…’*

Wilhelm’s Great Expedition had failed.

Wilhelm died in the end, but it seemed he *had* dealt the Demon King some degree of damage.

For the demon realm’s movements weakened noticeably after that.

However, recently, rumors had begun circulating that the Demon King had completely revived.

…So, if one wished to survive in this raging storm, they had no choice but to pick a side.

And if he were to mount the Black King’s chariot, he might crush all those who had ignored him until now.

He could once again carve his name into the minds of the Empire that mocked him and the countless players who laughed at him.

*‘I cannot afford any more failures.’*

Naturally, there was a reason Master had grown so desperate.

Everything he had planned recently had ended in failure, one after another.

While everyone else sprinted forward, he alone was stumbling backward.

*‘…If I stay still like this, I’m doomed anyway.’*

He had to do *something*. Anything.

The auction fiasco had left Rundella’s finances at rock bottom, and his reputation on Earth was in the gutter.

He had to choose—before things became truly irreversible.

*‘The Black King is far stronger than the public knows. His power, his influence—nothing about him is lacking.’*

And according to Master’s personal investigations, the Black King was quite a reliable rope to cling to.

The more he dug, the more the Black King’s hidden side had shocked him.

There was a reason he feared neither the Empire nor the White King.

If the Black King were to act in earnest… who would be able to stop him?

But Master still couldn’t decide lightly.

His pride wouldn’t allow him to bow his head to some monster.

Just as he wrestled with this dilemma—

**《A ‘new talent’ blossoms.》**

**《The ‘Tower of Rift’ rises.》**

Suddenly, glowing text appeared.

Master tilted his head.

*‘New talent? Tower of Rift?’*

He quickly opened the posted notice, leaned back, and stroked his chin.

Then, after scanning through the details—

He gasped in admiration.

“…This is… incredible.”

What is talent?

Potential for growth. The future of a character.

But talent had an even more important role.

*Hidden Traits.*

Depending on combinations of talents, hidden traits could be unlocked.

And now, multiple categories of new talents had blossomed.

*‘Which means… new hidden traits have appeared.’*

…In other words, newly introduced hidden traits now existed.

He didn’t yet know *how* to unlock them through talent synergy, but it was certain that hidden traits branching from these new talents existed.

And those traits would be markedly different from all those that had existed previously.

Naturally so—after all, *new talents* appearing at all was unprecedented.

*‘This is worth researching.’*

Cornered at the cliff’s edge, and suddenly a new rope had dropped down to him.

Perhaps this opportunity would let him spread his wings.

Why else would a tower that granted SP and a new talent appear simultaneously?

*‘Whoever obtains the new hidden traits first becomes king.’*

The first to acquire one of those hidden traits… becomes king.

No other player would realize this yet.

Only he would know—he who had run countless experiments involving hidden traits.

Master trembled uncontrollably with exhilaration as he let out a small laugh.

His last chance to monopolize the tower and claim the lead.

At that moment—

**《The leaderboard for ‘Main Quest 8’ has changed.》**

Without a second of hesitation—

Every trace of a smile vanished from Master’s lips.

Instead, his face stiffened, twisting into a severe scowl.

*‘No way…’*

He denied it inwardly.

No.

Impossible.

Main Quest 8 involved purifying the contaminated city.

Master had been at the top of that leaderboard.

With overwhelming points after cleansing Rundella, he had been holding firm at first place.

No matter who the opponent was, there was no way they could surpass that score—he was certain.

“What… what is this…?”

He checked the ranking and score—and choked.

Then rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had misread it.

But nothing changed.

**《1st place — 1,500 points: Randolph》**

**《2nd place — 430 points: Master》**

…What kind of madman was this?

1,500 points?

He had never seen such a score.

He hadn’t even known it was *possible* for a score above one thousand to exist.

No—that wasn’t right.

He had never even seen a score *near* one thousand before.

*‘What kind of bug did he exploit?’*

Randolph’s scores in every main quest had always been overwhelming, true—but never *this* absurd.

If you gave a hundred steps of concession, it might barely be understandable.

But this score was beyond understanding even if you gave a thousand… ten thousand concessions.

*‘Unless he purified an entire continent…!’*

Cleansing all of Rundella had only given *430* points.

What kind of feat granted *1,500*?

*‘The most important part of Main Quest 8 is the Rights Shop…’*

A newly opened shop.

Its displayed items changed according to one’s rank.

And as 1st place, Master had profited greatly from this Rights Shop.

Crack!

*‘What on earth do you get for 1,500 points?’*

Rewards also differed based on point totals.

With that score, even several Constellations would have contributed to raising the reward tier.

Then Master shook his head.

*‘…No. No matter how high the score, Main Quest rewards cap at Myth-grade.’*

The reward ceiling existed.

From what he knew, Myth-grade was the upper limit.

Beyond that was Unique-grade—but he had never once heard of anyone obtaining a Unique-grade item from a main quest.

*‘He’ll probably get to pick two or three Myth-grade weapons.’*

The *number* of rewards might increase, sure.

And even that would be enormous.

But compared to 1,500 points, it still felt lacking.

However—

Master’s prediction missed by a wide margin.

**《A new ‘Unique-grade equipment’ has been crafted!》**

…Because it appeared.

A notification that a new Unique-grade equipment had been crafted—*at that exact moment*.

There was no way someone else had crafted it.

Which meant—

*‘…Randolph obtained a Unique-grade item.’*

Randolph!

He had seized it.

It must have been granted as a reward for reaching 1,500 points in the main quest.

It seemed that surpassing one thousand points converted the reward tier directly into Unique-grade.

But how?

Even if that bastard was a Phantom and knew more about Pangaenia than anyone else, how could he keep pulling off bug-like plays one after another?

Crack-crack-crunch!

Master ground his teeth again.

So hard it felt like they would shatter.

Everyone but him was sprinting ahead.

And Randolph alone was soaring through the sky in a jet plane.

*‘I have to rise higher too.’*

He was going insane.

Master loathed—*absolutely loathed*—the feeling of falling behind alone.

And then—

**《A ‘?? Unique-grade Item’ has been born!》**

…What?

It wasn’t even over?

And what was “born” supposed to mean, not “crafted”?

He barely suppressed the urge to vomit.

This was no time for pride.

And so Master finally chose.

He grabbed the rope of the Black King.

*

*

 

What should I choose?

A huge list floated before me, but I could pick only one reward.

But that didn’t matter.

There was something even more valuable than the reward itself.

*‘This is information. Priceless information no one else knows.’*

Every name on that list was a Unique-grade item.

The names of all Unique-grade items that existed—or could exist—on this continent.

Information that couldn’t be bought even with money—a treasure in itself.

*‘With their names, I can guess their origins.’*

For example, *Light of the Origin* indicated a specific city.

Likely the elven city known as the *Primordial Forest*.

*Horizon’s Defiance* might refer to the place called the *End of the World*.

By analyzing these name-related hints, I could deduce the locations of other Unique items as well.

*‘…This is hard to choose.’*

This was the happiest dilemma I’d ever had.

Completely different from the rewards I’d seen while clearing main quests until now.

Naturally, I should choose the one most suited to me.

*‘The Constellation of the Radiant Hero. When he met his end, his reward rose to Unique-grade. Which means the Unique item related to him must be among these.’*

What weighed on my mind was the Radiant Hero.

He alone had shown interest in me.

Then faded away, achieving his final moment.

There might be something connected to him among the reward list.

But I had to choose based solely on the *names*.

This was why information was power in Pangaenia.

*‘Among these, I recognize two names—Bow That Aims at the Gods, and Helm of the Dragon God.’*

Both were equipment I had once planned to craft.

I’d abandoned them due to missing materials, but I roughly knew how destructive they could be.

Especially the *Bow That Aims at the Gods*—a ridiculous weapon that could target an enemy from any distance without limitation.

If I chose something I already knew, at least I wouldn’t fail.

*‘A name made of a single word means all of its abilities are concentrated into one unique function. Especially “Twilight” and “Lamentation.” Those two fit that rule.’*

They were also the two hardest ones to choose.

I had no way of knowing what they truly meant, and with names made of only two syllables, there was a real chance they would end up having functions completely useless to me.

Ordinarily, choosing something I was familiar with would be the correct answer.

But there was one thing worth noting.

*‘Every name comes with a special effect.’*

Flames roaring.

Lightning crackling.

Light seeping out.

Every name that appeared in the reward list had some special visual effect attached to it.

One might think that, being Unique-grade, the names were simply extravagant.

But—

*‘Starlight is… lingering there.’*

On one of the names, *starlight* lingered.

I knew instinctively.

That starlight was something the *Constellation of the Radiant Hero* had left behind.

Having made up my mind, I slowly reached out my hand.

And then—

**《A new Unique-grade equipment has been crafted!》**

**《In the beginning, he who became the origin of all heroes—the Radiant Hero King》**

**《The ‘Twilight’ he left behind in his final moments settles upon you.》**

**《The Hero King and Twilight acknowledge you.》**

**《‘The Final Twilight’ has been completed.》**

The Final Twilight.

This was what the Constellation of the Radiant Hero had left to me.

However, the Final Twilight was not equipment.

It was neither a weapon nor armor.

This was… a *rune*.

A script carved by a special existence.

Normally, such “runes” were engraved upon a *soul*.

For example, something like the *Soul of the Hydragon*.

A process in which the essence of an existence is inscribed.

*‘Where to engrave this rune…’*

I reached out my hand.

And the Northern Heaven Ice Sword appeared in my grasp.

Without even the slightest hesitation, I engraved the *Final Twilight* onto the Northern Heaven Ice Sword.

Then starlight poured down.

**《Over all contracts of ‘Northern Heaven Ice Sword,’ a new contract is inscribed.》**

**《‘Northern Heaven Ice Sword’ regains its original form.》**

**《‘Winter’ becomes completely bound to you.》**

**《‘The Final Twilight’ further elevates the sword’s class.》**

—

 

 

 

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