I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-258

Ch-258 **The Holy Star**

—

By not abandoning myself, I gained myself.

I came to know who I truly was, and to understand the life of *Park Hyunmyung*.

Should what has happened now be seen as a kind of reward for that?

Or should it be called a curse?

A second awakening.

An awakening impossible for ordinary players—one that I alone had achieved.

Starting over from the beginning, yet with conditions so overwhelmingly favorable that I would never bow my head to anyone in the world.

And so, I hesitated.

*My path.*

The road I tread.

This, too, is uncharted territory.

It would be wise to take each step carefully.

But when I thought about it differently, the thought *“Do I really need to?”* also crossed my mind.

Perhaps there was no need to be cautious at all.

*If I reveal myself—what do I gain from it?*

First, my ties to Randolph would vanish.

No one would ever think of me as Randolph, or Phantom.

On this *Island of the Gods*, only non-awakened individuals—not players—could awaken.

I could draw a clear line and claim my freedom.

After all, Randolph had always been shrouded in mystery.

I had acted that way subconsciously, seeking freedom from every relationship—players, the White King, the Empire, and the rest.

But I—Park Hyunmyung—only needed to concern myself with Earth.

There was no need to care about other connections.

Which meant—

*Act as I please. Not bad.*

I could act however my heart desired.

No need to watch others’ reactions, no pressure to endure, no reason to cling to anything—if I wanted, even insisting on a particular gender—no, that’s not it.

Anyway.

A truly perfect sub-character.

*…Me, a sub-character.*

Without intending to, I had become one.

But I didn’t mind.

No—I loved it.

*It’s not unheard of for a sub-character to surpass the main.*

If the main quest and the Hall of Fame were shared and linked, the day would surely come when the three characters *Park Hyunmyung* were engraved above Randolph’s name.

First and second place, both filled with my records.

Just imagining it made my blood race.

For a hardcore gamer like me, obsessed with records, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I break my own record.

It wouldn’t be easy—but hadn’t I already walked this road once?

I could think of it as a kind of *speedrun*.

*I’ll overwrite everything.*

I made up my mind.

The path I would walk was set.

And the moment I decided, I began monopolizing everything the *Survival* scenario had to offer.

Taming the Hybrid Albatross had simply been born of curiosity—

*Can I fly to the island’s center?*

Of course, I failed.

A shame.

I’d thought it might be a hidden piece.

But—

“Since it’s fate that we met again here, let’s get along from now on.”

It seemed that life really did have hidden pieces.

After all, I’d run into someone I knew through an absurdly low probability.

*Department Head Kim.*

And not just anyone—Kim, whom I had met only a few days ago.

A man competent enough to be promoted from manager to department head in times like these.

Of course, there was no way he was truly competent.

What seated him in that position was a mixture of extreme bootlicking and office politics, pride and self-worth thrown to the dogs, a willingness to give his liver and gallbladder for the company, and a ruthless disregard for subordinates as human beings.

*Looks like sudden power went to his head.*

Or perhaps the trials of the past two days had driven him into reckless abandon.

One thing was certain—he wasn’t in his right mind.

I casually glanced above Kim’s head.

【Lv.5】

Level 5.

That was remarkably high for only the third day.

*He must’ve leveled up by stealing all the last hits.*

Back in the day, *Hudson* had hired mercenaries to secure last hits to raise his level—and it had caused problems.

His level rose, but his stats remained low, making solo hunting impossible.

At higher levels, you must hunt alone to gain experience.

This tendency became even more pronounced at level 9.

There was no way Kim had reached level 5 by solo hunting.

He had undoubtedly sacrificed others, stealing last hits to grow.

A shameless man like Kim would absolutely do such a thing.

*Krrrnnch!*

Suddenly exerting strength, Kim stared at me with an arrogant gaze.

*…How ridiculous.*

I sighed inwardly.

Honestly, when I first met him, I hadn’t cared much about his contempt.

To put it bluntly, he was beneath notice.

Maybe right after I’d quit the company it would’ve mattered—but after everything I’d experienced and achieved since then, Kim was less than a worm writhing on the ground.

And no one gets angry at a worm for wriggling, do they?

Being mocked by something even worse was simply laughable.

But now, that worm had climbed onto my foot.

And it was puffing out its chest.

Boasting that it was superior.

Trying to intimidate me, just like he used to do to employees back at the company.

At this point, I felt grateful to Kim.

*I’ve grown. Internally and externally.*

He’d made me realize just how much I’d changed.

He’d become a benchmark proving I was no longer the old Park Hyunmyung.

I smiled faintly.

*Crunch!*

“…?!”

*Crack! Crunch!*

Bones shattered, and broken fragments pierced through flesh.

The pain was so severe that Kim couldn’t even scream.

Without treatment, his right arm would be unusable forever—but I didn’t care.

Whether he became monster fodder or was killed by people who bore grudges against him—that was something Kim would have to bear from now on.

“Aaaagh! My hand! My haaand—!!!”

With his hand crushed, Kim screamed and rolled on the ground.

*Fwoosh!*

At the same time, a golden wave poured down from above Kim’s shoulder and lingered briefly around me.

《The ‘Ruthless Constellation,’ disappointed and departing, instead makes you an offer.》
《If you contract with it, it will grant you a ‘Secret Class’ along with its blessing.》

The Ruthless Constellation.

A name I’d never heard before.

Among the constellations of the Pantheon(People’s Hall) I knew, there was no such title.

I knew the titles of most of the hundred constellations in the Pantheon(People’s Hall).

But I had never once seen a name like *Ruthless Constellation*.

*The ones watching us here aren’t the Pantheon’s constellations I know.*

That made it clear.

…Another Pantheon had appeared.

There wasn’t just one Pantheon.

Whether they simply governed different domains or had newly emerged, one thing was certain—they, too, would be of great help to me.

So I raised my middle finger.

“Get lost.”

I said it—

To Kim, and to that *Ruthless Constellation*.

The audacity of trying to take advantage of me with such paltry rewards was utterly vile.

《The ‘Ruthless Constellation’ rubs its eyes.》
《The ‘Ruthless Constellation’s face turns red.》
《The ‘Ruthless Constellation’ becomes enraged.》

No matter how angry it got, it couldn’t do anything to me.

I knew that all too well.

What constellations ultimately desired were stories.

More overwhelming, more perfectly crafted scenarios.

Once they watched what I wrote unfold, they would come running back in a panic.

《Several constellations clutch their stomachs and burst into laughter.》

…This Pantheon seemed to be on good terms.

I shrugged and looked toward the fairies.

Right then, two fairies were flying through the air together, shouting excitedly.

—Everyone! This is your golden chance to level up!
—Illegal intruders have appeared on the *Island of the Gods*!
—That *follower* is one of them!
—A follower of the *Heavenly Demon Divine Sect*!
—Survive against that follower!

*Riiip!*

Tearing through a warp, a figure appeared.

“Human…?”

“What? It’s not a monster?”

Anyone could see—it was a human.

I frowned as I looked above his head.

【Lv.8】

Level 8!

Far too powerful for awakeners who were only on their second day.

The two groups had been merged solely to deal with this one *Follower of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect*.

It wasn’t just his level—his abilities were undoubtedly exceptional as well.

*…Heavenly Demon Divine Sect?*

And an illegal intruder, at that.

Was he a scouting party sent by the Heavenly Demon, suspicious of the memory loss?

*Fwoosh!*

A demonic flame enveloped the follower’s entire body.

Judging by the preparation time, it was an area-of-effect skill.

*Hoo—*

I inhaled deeply.

*BOOM!*

I stomped the ground, jolting everyone’s senses awake.

At the same time, the flames the follower had been preparing trembled violently—and were nullified.

Seeing this, the follower cried out in shock.

“Th-the Heavenly Demon Dominion Step…?!”

*

*

Those who infiltrated the Island of the Gods were *Yakshas*.

By order of the master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, they had been assigned the critical mission of entering the island to uncover its secrets.

“…Why can’t we enter?”

The leader of the Yaksha Corps and vice-leader of the Blood Cult—the *Blood Moon Divine Maiden*—spoke while staring at the warp shimmering before her eyes.

“It seems those possessing power beyond a certain threshold are barred from entry, Corps Leader.”

Hearing the man beside her, the Blood Moon Divine Maiden frowned.

“So only children who haven’t even reached first-rate were able to enter.”

“What shall we do?”

“Rakshasa Corps… I meant to enter faster than that damned Ice Moon Divine Maiden, but this makes it impossible…”

She sighed.

She wasn’t the only one who had received the Heavenly Demon’s order.

There were rivals.

The younger generation of prestigious clans.

Among them was the Ice Moon Divine Maiden—her emerging nemesis.

But if those above first-rate couldn’t enter, all she could do was wait.

Yet no matter how long she waited, there was no news.

*Why is no one coming out?*

She bit her lip.

And then—after nearly three days—

*Whoosh!*

Someone emerged from the warp.

A figure wearing a black hood emblazoned with a Yaksha emblem.

But the sight was horrific.

Mangled, crushed—barely alive, as if surviving were a miracle.

“What happened? What occurred inside?”

“L-long live… long live… loooong li—!”

With terror etched across his face, the man shouted the chant reserved only for the Heavenly Demon—and then died.

The Blood Moon Divine Maiden’s brow furrowed even deeper.

What could he have experienced for a Yaksha Corps member—hardened by brutal training—to die in fear and reverence like that?

*Drip.*

That was when—

The Gu Sorcerer holding a jar beside her shook his head.

“Corps Leader. It seems all Yakshas who entered the island have been annihilated.”

Inside the jar, the insects lay dead, bellies up.

All the Gu were dead—which meant all the Yakshas who entered were dead as well.

“…Annihilated?”

“Yes. But… something is strange.”

“What’s strange?”

“The way some of the Gu died… it’s as if they committed suicide.”

“Are you saying the Gu killed themselves?”

What nonsense was this?

An insect killing itself?

And Gu never did that.

The very word *Gu* referred to the last insect to survive after devouring all the others.

Such a thing had never been heard of.

When the Blood Moon Divine Maiden snapped irritably, the Gu Sorcerer shook his head.

“More precisely… perhaps the Yakshas who harbored the Gu took their own lives…”

“Why would they?”

“I-I don’t know.”

She turned her gaze back to the dead Yaksha.

*Long live, long live, long live…*

The way he died, shouting as if he had faced the Heavenly Demon himself.

*Whom did he meet inside?*

…Could it be that he encountered the Heavenly Demon?

Did the Heavenly Demon urge him to take his own life?

No—that couldn’t be it.

He must have seen an overwhelmingly powerful hallucination.

*This is unsettling.*

Yet the unease—impossible to put into words—continued to fill the Blood Moon Divine Maiden’s mind.

*

*

Exactly seven days after entering the Island of the Gods.

As morning dawned, a change occurred.

《‘Survival’ has been completed!》
《The top 10 performers earn the opportunity to face the ‘Angel’.》
《You will be guided to the ‘Holy Star’ located at the island’s center.》

At last, the path to the center of the Island of the Gods had opened.

 

 

 

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