I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-27

Ch-27 **The Golden Scale Shop**

—

The reason Serengeti held her tongue.

She must have kept in mind the possibility that I was the Demon King… or at least some fragment of him given form.

It was only natural for her to stay guarded, considering the shadow had tried to seize control of my body.

*So… does this mean that in the game’s mechanics, the Demon King was set up to be undefeatable?*

After hearing everything, the outline began to take shape.

Only a special kind of being—someone who possessed the “player’s privilege”—could kill the Demon King’s true essence.

But the Knight King Wilhelm had not been a player.

He had merely been a simple in-game character I moved with my mouse.

*If all of this was the goddess’s plan, then the fact that I killed the Demon King purely through gameplay must have been outside her script.*

The game had been structured so that no one could reach him.

Only a player could kill the Demon King.

In that case, it was necessary to examine the conditions for becoming a player in the first place.

*If you die in-game, you get summoned as a player.
But Wilhelm’s death wasn’t my first in-game death.*

In my case, after Wilhelm died and I created a new character, I received a message saying I had achieved a “Hidden Piece”—and that was when I was summoned.

But if the criterion was the death of a character, something didn’t add up.

I had raised *hundreds* of characters.

Naturally, a large number had died along the way.

But only when Wilhelm died did I find myself becoming a player.

Was it because I owned a Unique-grade item?

No. Too many other players existed for that to be the reason.

If not a special item, then what standard was used?

*When the strongest character you’ve ever raised dies, you become a player.*

That was the only remotely reasonable explanation.

Originally, I liked hardcore games, so my style had always been to drop any character that didn’t seem promising and simply raise a new one.

Perhaps in that process the power gap had become too large, and the deaths of my other characters simply didn’t meet the requirement.

Afterward, I gathered everything Wilhelm needed by raising other characters, and then I spent years grinding relentlessly to push Wilhelm’s growth to its absolute limits.

He might have been less gifted than Randolph, but the completeness of his physical body could not even be compared.

It was the body of one who had reached the extremes of martial arts—truly a physique honed to annihilation.

One that had ultimately brushed against the realm of a demigod.

That meant the conditions for me to be summoned as a player were fulfilled only when Wilhelm—the strongest character I ever raised—finally died.

…And so, I achieved the feat of cutting off the Demon King’s head.

*Then the blue screen appeared. Most likely due to the Demon King’s authority.*

The limit of the game.

No matter how strong Wilhelm was, without player privileges, he could not beat the Demon King.

That limitation carried over into reality as well.

The blue screen had appeared, preventing me from doing anything.

During that time, the Demon King attempted to switch bodies.

*Before the Demon King could steal the Star, the goddess took Wilhelm’s life.*

**Game Over.**

In the end, I had no choice but to start over.

Thanks to that, an unprecedented character was born—maxed talent, with thirteen Hidden Traits.

*Some questions have been answered… but more have emerged.*

Not all threads had been untangled.

First mystery.

*Who sent Serengeti out of the Demon Realm?*

Not only that—she returned to the territory tied to a horse.

I had vaguely assumed that if she survived, she might somehow make her way back.

Later, in the Golden City of Arcana, Hudson confirmed that she had indeed returned to her domain.

But I still could not imagine *how* she returned.

Serengeti herself said she had no memory after a certain point.

That meant someone intervened to help her escape without the Demon King noticing.
Or perhaps, through some superhuman survival instinct, she crawled back across the very floor of the Demon Realm.

Though the latter seemed extremely unlikely.

*Then my body… Wilhelm’s body—did it become the new Demon King?*

The goddess had taken Wilhelm’s Star and life, but the body itself remained in the Demon Realm.

The Demon King might very well have used that body for resurrection.

There were plenty of demons who used death and corpses as tools.

*Either way, the Demon Realm was blown apart. The Demon King detonated half the Demon Realm trying to activate the magic circle that was meant to kill me. In that sense, half of the Grand Expedition succeeded.*

One could say it was not a complete failure.

The Grand Expedition had achieved a partial victory.

Which was why the Demon Realm had not been able to stir since.

It too had suffered at least half—if not more—of its forces wiped out.

But—

*The traitor. And the Eight Heroes besides me—they must have been involved.*

If there had been no traitor, perhaps the expedition could have succeeded perfectly.

I **would** find out who had colluded with the Demon Realm.

*Every last one of them involved—I’ll crush them all.*

I would no longer overlook anything on the assumption that they were mere NPCs.

To all who had interfered with me, obstructed me, or opposed me—I would deliver a fitting end.

For that, rapid growth was essential.

“Damn it! How many warps just exploded?!”

“My sword! Where’s my sword?!”

“Move! Move!”

…the outside was unusually noisy.

A Monster Wave.

The city was under attack.

Which meant—

*The warps hadn’t been maintained for too long.
They had connected to the Darkspace.*

The continents of Pangaenia were not joined.

After the war between Light and Darkness, when the goddess Leah died, the continents had sunk into darkness.

That was why, at the edge of any city, all you could see was the “Darkspace.”

Thus the only thing connecting regions were the warps.

But if warps were left unattended for too long, Monster Waves erupted through them.

The problem was that maintaining warps required astronomical amounts of gold.

*So the Marquis Weiser neglected warp maintenance because he had no money.*

Tch. I clicked my tongue.

“…I’ll be back shortly.”

—

—

 

The Darkspace.

Also known as the Rift.

If you descended far enough into that abyss, the rulers of the Depths would emerge.

If warps remained ruptured for too long, those beings could surface.

*That would mean destruction.*

The moment a ruler of the Depths emerged, the city’s fate was sealed.

Not even a mediocre transcendent could face them.

And with all the strong knights dead in the “Garden of Knights,” they would never be able to stop a ruler of the Depths.

If such creatures appeared, I would flee as well.

If I didn’t escape before the remaining warps were swallowed by the Depths, I would be trapped in the Rift forever. In that case, death was the only exit.

Darkspace severed all “connections,” making even teleportation books useless.

“Fight! Defend the city!”

Marquis Weiser slowly hauled his heavy body upright on the wall, raising his sword.

…Some knights were blocking the still-operational warps.

In front of them, terrified townspeople were gathered en masse.

“Marquis Weiser! When a Monster Wave occurs, it is the duty of nobles to ensure the townspeople’s safe evacuation! What are you doing?!”

From within the crowd, Priest Andrew raised his voice.

Why block a perfectly functional warp?

At the very least, powerless civilians should be evacuated first—such was his argument.

Marquis Weiser nodded.

“Priest Andrew! If you would assist us, then so be it.”

“Understood.”

“Open the warp!”

When the knights stepped aside, some citizens used the warp to escape.

But because Priest Andrew chose to stay behind, most citizens refused to go.

“You must leave quickly! Let us all survive and meet again!”

“How can we flee while the priest remains here?!”

“If we wait, the other warps will be affected! Go!”

“No! Let’s fight together! Let us defend our city!”

…It was a moment that showed how absolute the townspeople’s trust in Priest Andrew was.

Besides, losing the city would turn them into wanderers.

Marquis Weiser knew this as well—and thus used Priest Andrew as leverage.

“Gah!”

“Don’t let them breach!”

“Argh! My leg!”

Nearby, monsters and knights were engaged in bloody combat.

Some warps were located deeper within the city.

That meant battles were already happening inside the walls.

For now, only minor creatures like Dark Goblins were appearing—but as time passed, stronger beings would burst through the broken warps.

There were only two ways to stop a Monster Wave.

One: Have an alchemist repair the broken warp.

The other:

*Destroy the damaged warp.*

This was the easiest and most certain method.

But the path ahead was a hundred thousand li long.

The amount of monsters that poured through a broken warp was comparable to a small army.

The troops stationed in the city were far too few to clear a path.

Nor could I simply ignore this and go on my way.

A notification appeared before my eyes.

—

**<< Sub Quest: Defend the City >>**
**Reward: Honor +30, Massive EXP**
**Penalty for refusal: Honor –30**

—

…A sub-quest had arrived right in front of me.

Massive EXP. Who could just walk away from that?

And it wasn’t alone.

—

**<< Main Quest 4: Seal the Rift of Darkspace >>**

**Warp malfunction detected. Before entities of the Depths emerge, disable all overheated warps.**

**Time Limit: 30 minutes**

**Reward: Scales with clear time**

**Additional Reward: Entry into the Hall of Fame grants access to the privilege ‘Golden Scale Shop.’**

**If over 10 minutes: Entity of the Depths – ‘Black-Skinned Hybrid’ will appear.**

**If over 20 minutes: Entity of the Depths – ‘Dragon-Skinned Hybrid’ will appear.**

**If over 30 minutes: Ruler of the Depths – ‘God-Skinned Hybrid’ will appear.**

—

…I never imagined it would start here.

Main Quest 4 had begun at the worst possible timing.

*Terrible.*

There was no way to clear a main quest without preparation or a plan.

And even if I somehow cleared it, failing to make the rankings meant it was a loss.

Running away and attempting it later would be the smartest choice.
If I didn’t attempt it at all, it wouldn’t count.

Most importantly—
the Golden Scale Shop.

*A shop that uses fragments of the Broken Scale?*

It was a privilege I desperately needed.

That meant I *had* to make it into the Hall of Fame rankings.

Normally, I would have turned around and left without hesitation.

*Priest Andrew. Serengeti.*

But those two weighed on my mind.

If this city fell, so would they.

The most honorable priest, and the closest knight who had risked her life for me.

*Even lasting ten minutes means clearing is impossible.*

The problem was the time limit itself.

Every ten minutes, a hybrid would appear.

Creatures labeled as hybrids were all monstrously strong.

The Black-Skinned Hybrid alone was a level 10 monster.

There was no need to even mention the ones after.

*I need to break through quickly.*

I had to clear it within ten minutes.

But Isabella and Hudson alone were not enough.
Even with Hydragon added in, it wouldn’t work.

Destroying every warp in ten minutes was simply impossible.

But that didn’t mean **all** options were gone.

Zeeeeeng!

I used my Teleport Book.

A warp materialized before me, showing a view of the *Rustle Forest*.

“Oh! Our friend! Have you returned to the forest? Then today again, we must hold a celebration!”

The High Dryad!

The lord of the forest—and Chief of the dryads—waved cheerfully from the other side.

I smiled faintly and said:

“I’m going to need your help, my friend.”

What else are friends for?

What are friends for, if not moments like this?

—

“…….”

“……What… is that…?”

“What the hell is going on…?”

 

 

 

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