I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-260

Ch-260. **The True Nature of the Angel**

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**Main Quest 1: Survival.**

A quest whose objective is to keep a character alive at all costs amid a desperate situation and an utterly brutal survival environment.

The level is fixed at 1, and the equipment and tools provided are so poor they make you sigh.

Naturally, no matter how well one endures, there is an upper limit to the score that can be achieved.

For a long time, the first place in the Hall of Fame had been held by **Gracia** with **195 points**, which alone showed just how difficult it was to earn a high score.

*Even the stronghold of Gracia, which everyone believed would never be broken, collapsed beneath the name of Randolph.*

Randolph.

Before his appearance—

Park Taewoo, the head of the Hero Alliance, closed his eyes.

The shudder he had felt when the three characters “Randolph” appeared in the Hall of Fame.

Back then, opinions were divided over who he really was.

**220 points.**

It was the first time all players realized that such a score was even possible in Main Quest 1.

Of course, even more absurd scores were achieved afterward, but the score in *Survival* is closely tied to one’s overall **pure skill**.

After all, Randolph himself had been the first to break into the 200-point range, announcing the dawn of a legend.

*Cool-headed judgment, quick reflexes, weapon-handling technique… Main Quest 1 is a stage where only pure skill—an amalgamation of all those things—can be demonstrated.*

That was why one could tell just how extraordinary someone was simply by looking at their Main Quest 1 score.

Because *Survival* was a quest judged solely on pure skill.

In fact, when looking at actual rankers, a clear trend emerged: their overall rankings largely aligned with their *Survival* scores.

Which meant—

It wouldn’t be wrong to consider one’s *Survival* score and ranking as a measure of that person’s **potential**.

*To reach max level and transcend, one must be someone capable of overcoming trials alone. Pure skill naturally becomes both the growth ceiling and the measure of potential.*

No matter how good the equipment, no matter how special the class or skills, those without real skill would eventually hit a wall.

From the very beginning, **Pangaenia** was designed with a single-player orientation.

Once past level 9, gaining experience required either *overwhelming experiences* or *clearing hunts and trials alone*.

And yet—

*The Hall of Fame rankings have shifted drastically. Three more people have surpassed the 200-point mark.*

Randolph had been the first to exceed 200 points.

Now, all at once, **three more** had crossed that threshold.

If Main Quest 1’s score directly reflected potential, that meant three more individuals had appeared with growth potential surpassing even Gracia’s.

More importantly—

One of them had scored **higher than Randolph**.

Flare!

Blaze!

Park Taewoo gazed at the light radiating from the returnees.

Tens of thousands of people returning across the world, accompanied by light.

*Among them… there are monsters who surpass Gracia—who surpass Randolph.*

Those perceptive enough would already have realized what this meant.

That light heralded **change**.

Like Prometheus bringing fire to humanity for the first time.

At least to players, that light was the equivalent of the first fire.

Park Taewoo examined the Hall of Fame rankings again.

He focused exclusively on those with scores above 200, reading them over and over.

<5th, 195 points. Gracia>
<4th, 200 points. Kueku>
<3rd, 205 points. Choi Kang-nam>
<2nd, 220 points. Randolph>

Kueku, and Choi Kang-nam.

Just from their names, their nationalities were obvious.

If the tutorial on the Island of the Gods resembled the *Survival* they experienced, then these people, too, had achieved such scores through pure skill alone.

Even if the circumstances of first-generation and second-generation awakeners differed somewhat, **scores were absolute**.

*Choi Kang-nam… a name that couldn’t possibly belong to anyone but a Korean.*

He had to be found.

And brought into the Hero Alliance faster than anyone else.

That nascent monster with potential surpassing Gracia.

**Choi Kang-nam!**

Even the name itself radiated intensity.

If he fell into the hands of regional powers, something terrible would happen.

Seoul itself might be reduced to ashes.

He could never be handed over to those lawless factions.

At the same time, another question arose.

The rewards players obtained from their Main Quest 1 rankings weren’t limited to equipment alone.

*The first logout.*

The top ten performers were granted the privilege of logging out.

Although most players eventually gained the ability to log out, being able to return to reality immediately after clearing Main Quest 1 carried far more advantages than expected.

It meant acquiring information far more quickly—and in greater quantities.

*Second-generation awakeners do not possess Pangaenia characters.*

Presumably, second-generation awakeners would only be able to operate on Earth.

That was why it was puzzling.

What kind of **privilege** had the top-ranking second-generation awakeners received?

And also—

He was curious.

The one person who surpassed Randolph.

What reward had the monster who reached **first place** received?

*…Two Koreans.*

Choi Kang-nam wasn’t the only Korean whose name appeared in the Hall of Fame.

**First place.**

Park Taewoo’s gaze lingered on that shining name for a long time.

<1st, 300 points. Park Hyunmyung>

…A score so absurd it defied belief.

—

—

《Calculating results.》
《Overwhelming and astonishing. This is a realm no beginner could ever reach!》
《Total score: 300 points. Updated in the Main Quest – Hall of Fame.》
《The Constellations of the Pantheon show immense interest.》
《The “Cruel Constellation” strokes its chin. The reward is further upgraded.》
《The “Ominous Constellation” licks its lips. The reward is further upgraded.》
《The “Coldhearted Constellation” gleams with interest. The reward is further upgraded.》
《The “Merciless Constellation,” pretending not to care, subtly shows interest. The reward is further upgraded.》

……

《The reward transcends limits.》
《You obtain 1,000 SP.》
《You have obtained the “Broken Spear of Longinus.”》

Countless lines of text flooded my vision.

I had crushed everything, taken everything, and claimed an utterly unique score.

But the rewards could be checked later.

What truly held my attention now was the **Holy Star** before me.

「Great warrior, master of the great island.」

…As expected.

The fairies hadn’t recognized me, but the Angel of Blessing had known who I was from the very beginning.

“So you’ve finally decided to talk.”

I clicked my tongue softly.

After all, it was this very “angel” who had forcibly ejected me earlier.

…Yes. An angel.

The problem was that it looked nothing like the angels I knew.

Not a being with pure white wings and a human body.

The angel before me was—no matter how I looked at it—far removed from what one would normally call an angel.

*This is an angel?*

To be honest, at first I couldn’t understand it at all.

An angel that had never once appeared in Pangaenia.

At least, I thought I’d never seen one before.

*I have seen it.*

…I thought I hadn’t, but I clearly had.

At the **Reaper Cult** of the Empire.

A gigantic yellow orb.

At least a hundred times larger than a dragon’s typical *wish orb*.

At the time, the Reaper Cult used that orb to know things like how many players were connected to Pangaenia.

The reason the Reaper Cult knew everything about players—

Was because of that orb.

And now—

That yellow orb was an angel?

*This is insane.*

Only now did it make sense.

Why, despite the abundance of demons, demonfolk, and monsters in Pangaenia, there were no angels.

*Even if angels existed, you’d say they didn’t.*

Who would ever think that *this* was an angel?

Even if the orb itself claimed to be an angel, no one would believe it.

「You aren’t very surprised, even after seeing my form.」

At the unexpected remark, I shook my head.

“I am surprised. It’s just that I’ve seen something similar once before, at the Reaper Cult.”

It felt like a shattered illusion.

If this wasn’t the ultimate destruction of childhood fantasies, nothing was.

Then Gabriel spoke again.

「Angels do not reveal themselves willingly. If you saw one appear before someone not chosen… then you must have seen an angel that had lost its ‘Blessing.’」

“What’s the difference?”

「Angels are beings who bestow ‘Blessings’ that alter phenomena. Just as my power, combined with the island’s peculiarity, awakened people.」

In short, angels were beings of miracles.

Bringers of miracles.

That was what an angel was.

An angel that had lost its Blessing could no longer perform miracles.

I asked what I had long been curious about.

“Do angels descend from the heavens?”

「Yes.」

An immediate answer.

They were directly connected to the heavens.

“What kind of place is the heavens?”

「A sort of ‘ideal world for the arrogant and prideful.’」

An ambiguous response.

But it didn’t sound like heaven.

And it also made clear that they had little interest in human affairs.

If even angels described them as arrogant and prideful.

“…Was I allowed to enter in this body instead of Randolph because I’m the master of the island?”

「No. This is an exceptional case caused by the ‘singularity’ between Randolph and Park Hyunmyung. The island’s Blessing does not reach those who are already awakened.」

Even Gabriel, the Angel of Blessing, hadn’t intended this.

In other words, cases of double awakening like mine would be extremely rare going forward.

「Master of the great island, I shall grant you a ‘Legend’ and my ‘Blessing.’ May you endure forever.」

“Wait. Don’t tell me—?”

I frowned.

For some reason, I could already imagine what was coming.

Then Gabriel left behind an odd statement.

「If we converse further, a ‘record’ will be left behind.」

「This is the limit of how much I can prevent myself from being ‘recorded.’」

「We shall meet again.」

「Together with the matured Fairy Dragons.」

「……Please, guide us toward salvation.」

With those words—

《The “Blessing of the Archangel” has been granted.》
《A Hidden Class ‘Legend’ has arrived.》
《The “Angel of Blessing, Gabriel,” expels you.》

—

—

 

As if pressed for time, Gabriel hurriedly expelled me.

What had it meant—*that a record would be left behind*?

I recalled the first time I had seen an “angel” at the Reaper Cult.

Back then, I’d thought of angels as something like an information aggregation entity.

Just as every game player leaves behind logs.

If that were the case, then to avoid leaving behind a *log* of the conversation between Gabriel and myself, it had no choice but to eject me.

*To hide me.*

The intent was obvious.

It didn’t want my existence to be revealed.

There was no need for others to know that I was the master of the Island of the Gods—or that I was Randolph.

But even that revelation paled in comparison to the shock I was feeling now.

*This place is…*

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in the underground sewer where I had entered the Island of the Gods.

There was no musty stench unique to sewers, and it wasn’t dark.

I wondered if I had been transported somewhere, but at the very least, I was certain this wasn’t **Earth**.

“Move! Move if you don’t want to be trampled to death!”

“Charge!”

A procession galloped past.

Countless knights clad in silver armor thundered through the center of the city.

On their shoulders was the emblem of the **Goddess Church**.

I looked around.

And became certain.

*The Holy Capital of the Goddess Church—Adrium.*

This was the very heart of the Goddess Church.

And—

I had entered **Pangaenia**, in the body of **Park Hyunmyung**.

 

 

 

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