I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-154

Ch-154

—

When Raktusha straightened his expression, the dark elf shrugged.

“Hmm. Then does that mean the White King’s side has lost half its fighting power?”

“I never cared about their main forces to begin with. Our goal is solely the White King.”

The main pillars could be killed at any time.

Their greatest concern was, naturally, the White King.

As long as the White King died, it was no different from having seized the entire North.

*There’s no need to speak about the Five Main pillars.*

However… Raktusha did not mention the Five Main pillar.

The Great Earth Dragon had claimed that the Fifth pillar could kill the White King, but no matter how he thought about it, it was an utterly ridiculous notion.

Just how strong could a mere corpse crow be?

A little annoying, yes, but it must have been a fabrication the Great Earth Dragon came up with just to shake him.

“If it’s not the White King’s side, then who?”

“They said the party forming the alliance consisted of a human and a dryad.”

“That’s a terribly unfitting combination.”

While everyone was sharing their thoughts on the identity of the 1st-ranked party—

Raktusha spoke midway.

“The second floor opens in sixty days. We must prepare more perfectly and conquer it.”

“But you need five people. Isn’t one missing?”

“Mm. We can’t challenge it until we recruit one more. And it must be someone whose ‘rank’ matches ours.”

Bringing someone like a Master was out of the question.

This time, they needed a party perfectly matched in rank.

Moreover, every one of them possessed a hidden trait.

Meaning entry itself wouldn’t be difficult.

However, there were two conditions to enter the second floor.

All five members of the party must possess hidden traits.

With the Master dead and only four remaining, even if it opened in sixty days, they couldn’t attempt it immediately.

“By then, ‘the Vessel’ should have stabilized to some extent.”

“Ah, then we can bring him along.”

But this too posed no problem.

There was exactly one existence worth expecting.

*The Vessel of Despair. If we take him, conquering the second floor will be guaranteed.*

Raktusha nodded deeply.

If they brought the Death King who had become the Vessel of Despair, the second floor would be cleared with ease.

*

I quietly stroked my chin.

The insane rewards granted upon clearing.

A massive sum of SP that could raise my talents, five hundred hours’ worth of Golden Scale fragments, even achievement points and honor were now in my hands.

But more eye-catching than any of the earlier rewards was—

*“Maximum level limit +2.”*

My level cap had expanded to level 12.

Humans could only reach level 10. Beyond that, they needed to eat a star to transcend.

But if I could reach level 12 without eating a star, it meant I would essentially possess two-star stats.

*Those who were stuck at their level caps must be thrilled.*

There were countless players stuck at level 10 because they couldn’t obtain a star.

Stars were limited in number, so even if they met the conditions, they couldn’t grow stronger.

Now all of them would instantly reach level 11.

But the problem wasn’t them—it was me.

*…When am I supposed to reach level 12?*

I was only at level 8.

Even reaching this point had required overcoming countless ordeals.

Experience requirements kept rising exponentially, to the point that level 12 felt beyond impossible.

Still, if I could reach it someday… the snowball I was rolling would grow even larger.

Unlike others, I could increase my maximum stats per level by an additional 20%.

*In any case, competition for clearing the second floor will become much fiercer.*

What was certain was that the competition for the second floor of the Tower of Rifts, opening in sixty days, would intensify greatly.

A great upheaval was about to begin, with all sorts of races and powerful beings participating.

I too needed to prepare in advance.

Fwoooosh!

Then, suddenly, a column of light burst out beside me.

When I turned my gaze, Serengeti’s body was glowing.

“…My level has risen.”

Even Serengeti blinked in surprise.

But it wasn’t strange.

*So her accumulated experience overflowed.*

Serengeti had accumulated enough to make such a jump.

She had spent a long time as Wilhelm’s closest aide, absorbing all kinds of experiences.

Even though she had the qualifications, a new star hadn’t appeared simply because no star suited her.

Stars, too, had compatibility.

I slowly looked above Serengeti’s head.

【Lv 12, ★】

…Hm?

Did I see that wrong?

Level 12?

*She gained two levels at once.*

…Her accumulated experience must have been enormous.

Yet this was still a bit strange.

If she had gathered enough experience to reach level 12, a Star-bearer should have appeared long ago.

Star compatibility mattered only around level 1—if there was a two-level gap, she should have forcibly drawn in a compatible star.

Unless she had only recently gained that experience.

*Did she endure the Demon King’s curse and accumulate an unimaginable amount of experience?*

Ah.

Only then did it start to make sense.

The Demon King’s curse—by enduring that curse, she must have gained a colossal amount of experience.

Serengeti’s steep growth made even me feel gratified.

“But, Successor.”

Still excited from her level-up, Serengeti tilted her head as she glanced to the side.

“Why is that massive dragon lying over there?”

“Mm.”

I had been wondering the same.

Even if we were expelled outside the tower, this was still a space where you couldn’t meet others unless part of the same party.

Yet not far away was a bleeding dragon collapsed on the ground.

*Why is the Great Earth Dragon here?*

One of the White King’s elite forces, the Great Earth Dragon—

Was dying in real time not far from us.

*

After opening a portal and heading to the labyrinth city, Saintess Seia healed the Great Earth Dragon.

The unconscious creature showed no signs of waking.

Still, its urgent injuries were treated, and the immediate danger had passed.

Afterward, when I arrived at the castle, Hudson greeted me with a grave face.

“Why the expression, Hudson?”

“It’s terrible news.”

“Terrible news?”

Terrible news out of nowhere.

The city’s appearance was finally taking shape.

Everything was proceeding smoothly.

Unless someone attacked us, there should be no such thing as terrible news.

Gulp.

Hudson swallowed hard.

“Isaac is waiting for you.”

“Isaac has returned?”

“Yes. And… he has eaten a star and transcended.”

…?

Wait.

He didn’t leave home—did he leave to eat a star?

And he actually transcended?

*Don’t tell me…*

Could it be that Isaac, too, regained his memories like Isabella?

But Isaac’s case was entirely different from Isabella’s.

All the countless atrocities I committed using Isaac’s character to check whether the game company was managing the game properly—

If he realized all of those weren’t done of his own will…

Where would that fury be directed?

Judging from Hudson’s stiff face, it likely had something to do with this.

Otherwise, why would Isaac’s return be “terrible news”?

And if he learned that the one controlling him had been *me*, it would indeed be the worst possible situation.

“…You have finally returned, Lord Randolph.”

At that moment, a voice came from nearby.

When I turned my head, a familiar face appeared.

…Isaac.

He was glaring at me, eyes overflowing with rage.

A heavy voice.

A face stiffened to match.

But from his gaze, the fury was unmistakable.

The reason for that fury he immediately hurled at me—

There was no need to search for it.

【Lv 11, ★】

…He had transcended.

It was certain he had regained his memories upon transcending, just like Isabella.

Memories of being used as a game character, moved against his will.

Memories of all the countless atrocities committed in that state.

Isaac looked at me and slowly opened his mouth.

“Why did you do it?”

…Straight to “why did you do it”?

Such a meaningful question…

Did he know more than just the memories of having his body stolen?

Could he have discovered that I was the gamer controlling Isaac?

Perhaps the memories Isaac gained from transcending were far clearer than Isabella’s.

I had no way of knowing how much he remembered.

“What are you referring to?”

Even if he had realized it, I could never admit it myself.

The moment I admitted it, it would become the truth—and if it became the truth, catastrophe would be inevitable.

There was a reason people say ignorance is bliss.

Had I known this wasn’t just a simple game, I wouldn’t have played that way.

As I feigned ignorance, Isaac’s expression grew even more murderous.

“You know perfectly well why I’m like this.”

…No, I really don’t.

I understood it was because of the memories he regained from transcending.

But whether it was because he realized *I* was the gamer, or for some other reason, was unclear.

“Is it because of your transcendence?”

I decided to test the waters.

Isaac nodded.

“I assumed you already knew through Isabella. That she, and I as well, had hidden memories…”

“So it seems.”

“I have always wondered. How Lord Randolph—who had no prior connection to me—managed to find me, someone hiding in Cramdel. And, just like with Isabella, why you went out of your way to hire me.”

It wasn’t as if I *deliberately* went searching for him.

…This runs deep.

He’s come deep—far deeper than expected.

Once a single doubt takes root, everything naturally becomes suspicious.

Perhaps after realizing that his situation and Isabella’s were identical, he began to suspect me.

“From the very first moment we met, Lord Randolph already knew about me. Isabella as well, I presume. You glossed it over by calling yourself a ‘Star-bearer,’ but after meeting a true Star-bearer, it became certain that that too was a lie.”

This too was true.

When I first met Isabella and Isaac, I had described myself as a Star-bearer.

I told them I knew everything about the two of them *because* I was a Star-bearer.

That I could perceive the secrets they kept hidden *because* I was a Star-bearer.

But once they encountered an actual Star-bearer, they realized that was not the case.

The lies I had uttered were fully exposed.

“Come now—wasn’t that proven true in the Demigod Trait Dungeon?”

The Demigod Trait Dungeon.

In its Chamber of Truth, we had once engaged in a battle of truths.

At that time, the question of whether I was truly a Star-bearer had appeared, and I affirmed it.

Immediately afterward, even the Demigod acknowledged it as truth.

“Yes. That is why I also found it strange. But, Lord Randolph… you do not exist in the ‘Star-bearer Registry.’”

The Star-bearer Registry.

There was such a thing?

And how had Isaac seen this registry?

“It’s fine. You might not be a Star-bearer. But Isabella and I suffered the same ‘Divine Sickness.’ Was it truly a coincidence that you hired the both of us?”

Divine Sickness.

The name of the illness I had heard from Lady Dersian, the one who bore the same name as Isabella.

To think I would hear it again from Isaac.

Across the entire continent, there were far more people who didn’t even know of its existence.

Yet I had personally hired the only two who had suffered from it.

He was asking whether that could truly be coincidence.

“It was coincidence.”

“Those afflicted with the ‘Divine Sickness’ lose their memories and have their bodies controlled against their will. I was the same. By the time I came to my senses, I had already committed countless crimes. And without knowing that, I thought I had done them all myself and all this time, just how much I…”

“Isaac. What exactly are you trying to say?”

“…Why did you do it?”

He kept asking the same thing.

Why I did it.

Was he asking why I had lied?

Or whether I was the one who controlled his body to commit crimes?

…His distrustful gaze only grew deeper.

I quietly met his eyes.

And then Isaac continued, voice colored with emotion.

“You already knew everything—so why…?!”

There was no room left for excuses.

Isaac spoke as if convinced that I had known all of it.

If you considered the fact that both he and Isabella had suffered the Divine Sickness, and that I had sought them out and hired them—there was only one answer that fit.

That I had done so *because I was the gamer*.

The sinner. The player who controlled the two of them.

That must be why he was pouring out his fury like this.

Perhaps I should be grateful he hadn’t drawn his sword and pointed it at me yet.

But what Isaac said next was something *completely* different from what I had expected.

“Why did you… make Isabella meet Lady Dersian?”

…What?

*

Lady Dersian.

The woman I had met at the Imperial Auction—when she realized I was an executive of the Reaper Cult, she fell to her knees begging for her life.

So I spared her, in exchange for a few conditions.

She was to investigate anyone within House Dersian who had suffered the ‘Divine Sickness.’