I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-302

Ch-302. **Salvation**

—

Chaeng—!

They collide.

Sword against sword.
Man against man.

A dialogue of blades, shared for the first—and last—time.

*Heavy.*

Wilhelm’s sword is heavy.

Endlessly weighty.

It carries a heft on a completely different level from any swordsman I’ve faced before.

Yet there is no fixed sword form.

The Sword of Heaven and Earth Genesis has no predetermined framework.

With no framework, it should be light.

And yet—what a contradiction.

How can something so empty feel this unbearably heavy?

*Heaven and Earth Genesis is the swordsmanship of the human himself.*

It is heavy because Wilhelm is heavy.

His existence.
His life.
His joys and sorrows.

Only then was I able to grasp the true profundity of Heaven and Earth Genesis.

It is a swordsmanship that expresses the self.

*Heaven.*

The **Heaven (天)** of Heaven and Earth Genesis.

A sword art that dominates a domain and restrains the opponent.

I had thought that was all there was to it.

But it isn’t.

It is the ability to read the opponent—and in doing so, to become the opponent.

……To read Wilhelm, and to become Wilhelm.

The movement of his joints, the minute tremors of his muscles, even the faintest resonance squeezed from his internal organs—I miss none of it.

Beyond that, I read Wilhelm’s thoughts and emotions as well.

And only then do I truly become Wilhelm.

Chae-eeng—!

The sword grows even heavier.

At that moment, a slight change appeared on Wilhelm’s face.

Under normal circumstances I would never have noticed, but now—having spread the domain of Heaven—I could tell for certain.

*He’s flustered.*

The moment I properly unfolded the Heaven of Heaven and Earth Genesis, Wilhelm grew unsettled.

To read one’s opponent—

is to understand them.

Which meant—

that I, a “damned” god, was understanding Wilhelm.

I, who should never have reached him, who should never have been able to comprehend him.

And just as I read Wilhelm—

*You’re reading me too, aren’t you?*

……Only now has Wilhelm truly come to know me as well.

What kind of thoughts this existence called “me” harbors.

It was a genuine dialogue of swords.

Within the Heaven domain we unfolded together, we moved as though we were one.

Following the resonance of the blade, following its whispers, we exchanged strikes as naturally as flowing water.

Then Wilhelm raised the stage.

*Earth.*

The **Earth (地)** of Heaven and Earth Genesis.

A sword art that nullifies all attacks.

Yet even this was not merely about negating blows.

One becomes the opponent and resonates with everything they are.

Resonance is empathy.

It goes beyond simple understanding, to treating another’s experience as one’s own.

Only Wilhelm—who, trapped in the swamp of his own psyche, had ceaselessly tried to understand and empathize with me—could fully unfold this sword art.

*You think I won’t be able to follow?*

……It seemed Wilhelm assumed I wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Understanding and empathy differ by only a hair, yet perfect empathy is impossible for another.

Unless one is in a special situation like Wilhelm’s—forced to observe me endlessly over infinite time.

Wilhelm, who wielded his sword in unity with my will and thoughts, having fully synchronized with the character I controlled.

To abandon oneself and resonate with another is never easy.

But—

*You are me, and I am you.*

Wilhelm is not an “other.”

He is like my alter ego.

Another me.

I understand his pain and sorrow.

Though he cursed me as a “damned” god, he also admired me.

Before he knew it, he had been influenced by my spirit that never knew surrender.

And the same goes for me.

Right now, I admire the indomitable will Wilhelm has shown.

I crave the ultimate state he reached through tireless effort.

We are beings who desire each other.

And because we are so alike, he felt like my own reflection in a mirror—one that I couldn’t help but resent.

Clang! Clang! Chaeng!

Before we knew it, we were tracing identical stances and identical sword paths.

Words were no longer necessary.

The process itself had lost all meaning.

Because my thoughts were Wilhelm’s thoughts, and my will was Wilhelm’s will.

I naturally knew what would come next.

*Open.*

The **Open (開)** of Heaven and Earth Genesis.

A sword that opens the world.

It is an authority that transcends the opponent’s space and everything else, ultimately making oneself the center of the world.

From this stage onward, one can communicate with all things.

Quite literally—one becomes a god.

But from here on, I no longer followed Wilhelm.

*…To merge into one. To add to what exists and create something new.*

Instead, I looked deeper into myself.

Communication with all things is not meant for surveying the surroundings.

It is meant to read, open, and understand the manifestations of the “chaotic” things within me.

Having understood the other, it was now time to properly understand myself.

First of all… this body—Randolph.

*There’s definitely too much mixed together.*

The Star of the Goddess, and the Fragment of Destruction.

Two opposing powers coexist within me.

Though barely held together by the hidden trait **[Void]**, Randolph’s disposition is undeniably closer to **[Evil]**.

The powers of darkness and dreadful calamity.

Even the **Supreme Sword** itself is an ability founded upon death.

Baal’s curse is the same.

Thanks to them, I could grow stronger rapidly, but unless I properly separate and recombine them, I could never reach an ultimate state like Wilhelm’s.

*That’s why Randolph’s body cannot receive the Archangel’s blessing.*

Then what about Park Hyunmyung’s body?

What about my own body?

Though it has received the Archangel’s blessing, it continues to grow more chaotic.

At this rate, before long, my body too would become like Randolph’s.

A state where countless things coexist in confusion—perhaps giving rise to “another Park Hyunmyung.”

If it had not been chaotic from the start, there would have been no room for such an existence to emerge.

Even if not that, incidents like this could still occur.

Just as the Lord Gods of Omen and Ash exploited the flaw in Randolph summoned to the Tower of the War God.

*Light and darkness cannot coexist.*

I had to acknowledge and accept it now.

Coexistence is greed.

Light and darkness are truths designed to be separate from the very beginning.

That is balance.

And right now, I had lost that balance.

*I alone cannot achieve every balance…*

There were limits.

But there was still a way.

I looked at Wilhelm.

Wilhelm nodded.

《Remaining descent time under the ‘Perfect Golden Scale’: 2 minutes》

Even with Wilhelm’s help, the process would not be easy.

It was far too abstruse and complex.

Two minutes was nowhere near enough.

…Could I do it?

No—I had to.

I had to succeed.

Because if not now, then never.

I had the necessary knowledge.

*The knowledge that flowed out of the Gate of Truth still remains.*

The knowledge left behind by another Randolph had not yet dissipated.

It was only a matter of time, but for now, there was no choice but to try.

The most important thing was the mindset of *doing it no matter what, regardless of the circumstances*.

If the two of us combined our strength, it should be possible.

But one question still lingered.

*…Wilhelm. Do you not resent me?*

Even if it was not my intention—

I controlled Wilhelm’s body.

I acted as I pleased, ignoring his will and consciousness.

It may have allowed him to survive, but it could still have left resentment buried deep within his heart.

Human emotions are exceedingly complex, after all.

I wondered whether it was truly possible for him to help me while setting aside his own feelings, acting purely from sincerity.

I looked at Wilhelm.

At the same time—

Grin.

……Wilhelm smiled.

But that smile—

*It’s really awkward.*

So awkward that I couldn’t help but smile too.

Come to think of it, in all my memories, Wilhelm had never smiled in front of anyone.

Whenever I logged out of the game, even though Wilhelm regained brief freedom, he walked only the path I desired.

He thoroughly played the role of the Knight King and never once expressed his own emotions.

Rather than smiling, he was always stiff and unyielding.

……This was the first time Wilhelm had ever smiled before someone.

That smile was forgiveness.

And—

my salvation.

I don’t know.

I just felt… saved.

Seeing Wilhelm’s smile put my heart at ease.

And so, I felt regret.

I felt sorry.

Was it really okay to use this remaining time for me?

Shouldn’t it be used for you instead—for your salvation?

Wilhelm shook his head.

As if to say it was fine.

Then—

“……I.”

He spoke.

Even in our synchronized state, I couldn’t tell what he was about to say.

Instead, Wilhelm looked at me with a gentle expression, as though he understood.

“I have already been saved.”

……Already saved?

From what?

…How?

His salvation was freedom.

To break free from bondage and gain liberty.

Yet in the Grand Expedition, he died.

Death is not freedom, nor liberation.

He could not have wished for such a death.

And yet he said he was saved.

That he had no more regrets.

“Focus, you ‘damned’ god.”

His voice wiped away my stray thoughts.

Telling me it was fine.
Not to worry.

Speaking indifferently, he imparted his teachings to me.

His final lesson.

His final gift.

Huu—

I took a deep breath.

Casting aside all distractions, I began to complete myself in rhythm with Wilhelm’s breathing.

And then—

*Genesis.*

The **Genesis (闢)** of Heaven and Earth Genesis.

Once more, the world is created.

Me.
Us.

Remade anew.

《‘Sword Mastery’ level has increased.》
《Sword Mastery has reached Lv.34.》

《‘Sword Mastery’ level has increased.》
《Sword Mastery has reached Lv.35.》

《You have completed the hidden quest ‘Surpassing Mastery Level,’ generated by the ‘Lord of the Mountain of the Trainee’!》
《No further quests exist.》

《You have obtained the title ‘Out-of-Standard Practitioner.’》
《Hidden Trait ‘War God (武神) Wilhelm’ has been added.》

《You have obtained the out-of-standard mystery ‘War God (武神).》

《According to ‘Great Status,’ you gain double Honor (10,000).》
《‘Honor’ has surpassed 50,000.》
《You can obtain the ‘First Qualification’ at the Sanctuary of Honor.》

《Main Quest 5, ‘Obtain Mystery,’ has been cleared.》
《Level up.》

……
………

《The champion of the ‘Tower of the War God’ has changed from ‘Randolph’ to ‘Wilhelm.’》
《All curses of the ‘Tower of the War God’ have been purified.》

《The Lord Gods of ‘Omen and Ash’ acknowledge you for presenting a new path.》
《Understanding one another—and thus creating anew.》
《A supreme realm that can never be attained through curses and resentment alone.》

《As a sign of convergence (合致), and as a reward for overcoming all trials, the two Lord Gods present you with the ‘Gloves of the Omen God (Primordial)’ and the ‘Gloves of the Ash God (Primordial).》
《The two gloves form a complete pair, each containing the rank of a different Lord God.》

《Achievement unlocked: ‘The First to Be Acknowledged by Two Chief Gods.’》

《According to ‘Great Aspect,’ you gain double Honor (10,000).》
《‘Honor’ has surpassed 60,000.》
《You can obtain the ‘First Qualification (2)’ at the Sanctuary of Honor.》

……
……

《Emptying, filling, and building anew.》
《The second ‘Shedding (脫殼)’ begins.》

……

《The ‘Perfect Golden Scale’ has been completely consumed.》
《The descent of ‘Wilhelm’ has ended.》