Ch-148
—
*âIt hasnât even been a full year since Wilhelm died.â*
A year?
Not even close.
It had barely been a little over half a year.
Even if it *had* been a year, he wouldnât have believed itâand yet this man had caught up in just over half a year, and even surpassed him?
He exceeded 3-Star combat power in such a short period?
Could that even be possible unless he were using cheat codes?
Which meant this man could not be Randolph.
The man before him could *never* be Phantom.
âYou donât believe me.â
âIf you were Phantom⊠you would have made sure to find Wilhelmâs âstar.â No matter what. But you never used the power of that star.â
âI havenât hit level 10 yet.â
ââŠWhat?â
âMy level is 8.â
ââŠâŠâŠâŠWhat?â
The Master choked.
What nonsense was this brat spewing?
Level 8?
He hadnât even reached Level 10 yet, so he couldnât transcend and use star powers?
âEnough with the jokesââ
ââThe Star That Drinks the Nebula.â The one you can only find through a special Star-bearer after reaching Level 10. I havenât reached Level 10, so I havenât been able to find it yet.â
ââŠâŠ!!!â
The Masterâs eyes widened.
The Star That Drinks the Nebula.
Even its *name*âthis man knew it.
The very star the Master had tried to obtain, but which Wilhelm seized in the end.
A star whose name was known to only two people in the worldâand yet the man before him knew it.
âŠSo he really was *Phantom*?
Wilhelmâs former body, the one who raised countless charactersâ
The worldâs only true gamer, who designed countless builds and possessed more information than anyoneâincluding himselfâwas *this* man?
ăThe ability of âMaster â The Dominatorâ is activating.ă
ăâMasterâ requests the target to disclose their information.ă
Fine.
If youâre so confidentâshow me.
There was a reason he was called Master.
He possessed the ability to view an opponentâs status window.
The opponent must grant permission, but if his words were true, he might agree.
*As if heâd ever agree.*
Everything heâd said so far was obviously a lie.
It was absurd nonsenseâbelieving it would be harder than dismissing it.
And he probably didnât even know Master possessed this ability.
Go ahead, refuse.
Heâd laugh in his face.
ăThe target has temporarily granted âinformation disclosureâ to Master.ă
âŠHe agreed?
Information disclosureâ
Normally hidden, but Master could request other players to reveal their information.
Of course, in practice, no one ever did.
Even the fact that both sides were players was usually kept hidden.
And the thing revealed was none other than the *status window*.
The most objective display, revealing every weakness.
Showing it was reserved for extremely limited casesâ
For example, when Master accepted someone into his guild, or when forcing submission.
But now, the man before him had agreed.
And thenâ
**<Status Window>**
**Name:** Randolph
**Class:** Successor of the Stars
**Class:** Supreme Sword Saint
**<Stats>**
Level: 8
Strength: 127 (102+25)
Vitality: 125 (100+25)
Agility: 126 (101+25)
Intelligence: 125 (100+25)
Star Power: 138 (113+25)
**<Additional Stats>**
Natural Regeneration: 315%
Total Penetration: 12.8%
Curse Penetration: 15%
Curse Reflection: 30%
Curse Duration Increase: 30%
**<Special Notes>**
1: Possesses âSuccessor of the Stars â 3 Stars (All Stats +15)â
2: Body fused with the âTranscendent Baal Set,â granting additional stats; equipment can be replaced again.
3: Pure stats enhanced by effect of âEternal Randolph.â
4: Possesses âBaalâs Core (Fragment of Destruction)â within the heart.
5: Strength +2, Agility +1, Divine Power +3 from the skill âKing of the Dead.â
6: User of the Supreme Unique-grade âWinterâ (All Stats +10)
âŠâŠ
âWhat⊠what is thisâŠâ
His voice trembled involuntarily.
The Master doubted his own eyes.
He doubted whether the status window before him could even be real.
The name RandolphâŠ
Two classesâŠ
Level 8âŠ
Stats far beyond the level capâŠ
Already possessing three starsâŠ
Even the phrases mentioning âBaalââŠ
*âBaalâs Core?â*
Everything was strange, but that was the strangest.
Cores could only be obtained by killing the monster.
Why did *Randolph* have such a thing?
In his heart, no less?
*No⊠surely notâŠ*
Impossible.
Or was it?
The Baal that appeared on the Mountain of Traineesâ
That Baal eventually completed itself in the Abyss, then invaded Jeju Island.
It was said to have been eaten by a mysterious âBlack Eggâ afterward.
*The Guardian of the Black Egg.*
âŠAnd most of the survivors of Jeju always carried a picture or drawing of that Guardian close to their hearts.
The Guardian resembled a grim reaper.
And only one organization handled reapersâ
The Empireâs Cult of the Reaper.
*AhâŠ*
At last, every puzzle piece snapped into place.
Randolph⊠he must be an officer of the Reaper Cult.
A Reaper Cult officer could control reapers.
Which meant the âBlack Egg entityâ that killed Baal was none other than Randolph.
The words in the status window proved it.
*What the hell has he been doing all this time?*
But stillâthere were too many things that didnât make sense.
His power defied common sense.
Especially: how could someone with only 8 levels have base stats over 100?
A characterâs single stat increased by at most 10 per level.
Special cases allowed higher growth, but not by *20*.
And two classes at once?
Also impossible.
What kind of method could produce such a result?
A moment later, the reason appeared before him.
ăâRandolphâs Hidden Traitsâ will be temporarily revealed only to Master.ă
Hidden traits.
If anything could create such an anomalyâit would be hidden traits.
Master knew of seven hidden traits in total.
He assumed heâd gain one more by climbing the Tower.
âBut obtaining even one hidden trait is nearly impossible.â
There were eight known to exist, but Master possessed only two.
But if the opponent was Phantom, he might have five.
Yet when the window appearedâ
âWh⊠What⊠is this?!â
Master couldnât contain his shock.
For good reason.
**<Activated Hidden Traits (15)>**
ăVoidă
ăDexterityă
ăAll Masteră
ăWeapon Masteră
ăGiantâs Anti-Magic Bodyă
ăHigh Druidâs Great Natureă
ăHeart of the Eternal Monarchă
ăBeast Lordă
ăGolden Graceă
ăCelestială
ăMutantă
ăGluttonă
ăGreat Sageă
ăEternal Randolphă
ăKing of the Blood Demonsă
âŠAn impossible number.
Randolph possessed **15 hidden traits**.
More than double the number Master knew existed.
Faced with this surreal status window, Master was speechless.
But it couldnât be a lie.
His abilityâ
Information Disclosureâ
Could not show false data.
*MonsterâŠ*
If all his inexplicable abilities came from these hidden traitsâ
Randolph was a monster beyond reason.
An existence no one could measure.
An irregular that defied all laws.
âDo you believe me now?â
ââŠâŠâ
The Master lost all will to fight.
He realized he could never win.
Although the raw stats were lower than expected, this was not a being whose power could be understood through stats alone.
If he killed Baal, then he was surely even stronger than that.
âŠPhantom.
Only Phantom could achieve such miracles.
And the fact that Phantom allowed him to see the status window meantâ
ââŠSpare me.â
âhe intended to kill him.
Phantom never revealed his information to anyone.
He never left traces.
Anyone who saw his status window would never be allowed to live.
The fate of anyone who saw what they shouldnât was always the same.
Phantom would never let him live.
âIâve thought about it many times. But I canât understand it. You must have used the builds I designed and uploaded. So why did you betray me?â
âBetrayâŠ? What are you talking about?â
âWhy did you cause the Grand Expedition to fail? You knew that killing the Demon King was the only way to bring peace to the world. So did every other player.â
Even with all their efforts, it wouldnât have been enoughâ
Yet they wanted the expedition to fail.
The Master and countless other players.
He asked, as if he couldnât wrap his head around it.
The Master swallowed hard.
âWe⊠weâre addicts.â
âAddicts?â
âGame addicts⊠who become nothing once the game is clearedâŠâ
Upon becoming players of Pangaenia, they gained power.
They lived completely different lives, moving between reality and Pangaenia.
If they killed the Demon King and cleared the gameâ
What would happen?
What if they could never return to Pangaenia?
They feared returning to their old lives.
They feared returning to being pigs again.
So they did not join the expedition.
âAll that⊠just for that reason, you fed information to the Demon King?â
âIâI never fed him information⊠I would neverâŠâ
They merely refused to participate.
Giving information to the Demon King?
What information?
*Tch.*
Randolph clicked his tongue.
âSo it wasnât you after all. I suspected from the beginningâyou lack the caliber.â
ââŠâŠâ
âOne last question. Whoâs behind you? Who orchestrated all this?â
Sssssâ
A chill touched his throat.
The icy presence made the Master tremble violently.
Randolph was certain the Master wasnât the mastermind.
Would he die silentlyâor cling to the faintest sliver of hope?
The Master slowly opened his mouth.
âTh-the one⊠wasâŠâ
**Mint chocolate is Delicious**
âTh-the one⊠was⊠PhantomâŠâ
Phantom?
Randolph frowned instinctively at the answer.
What was this nonsense?
He knew people called *him* Phantom.
He had been famous as Phantom during his gaming days.
But the Phantom the Master spoke of clearly wasnât him.
âYouâre telling me someone is impersonating me?â
âIâI donât know. He was a player, yet not a player. I know nothing elseâŠâ
âA lie. You wouldnât act on the words of an unknown nobody.â
Sssk!
*Winter* lightly grazed the Masterâs neck.
At the same time, the skin around his throat began to freeze.
Little by little, *Winter* was eating away at the Master.
The Master was, in his own way, a cautious bastard.
He never moved without a certain degree of conviction.
Setting aside whether that conviction was right or wrong, he was absolutely not the type to act as someoneâs frontman based solely on the words of an unidentified figure.
I slowly looked into his eyes and spoke.
âSay it. Who is it?â
