I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-306

Ch-306. **Hall of Honor**

—

The Tower of the War God.

The moment the trials of that place—which had delivered despair to all—came to an end,

people, especially the players, could not help but be utterly bewildered.

“Th-the Hall of Honor…!”

“How many things were updated at once, anyway?”

“My eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, right?”

The Hall of Honor—a place where scores are assigned and rankings determined based on how one clears the main quests.

That hall had undergone massive upheaval.

And not just one or two changes.

Multiple main quests were cleared simultaneously, and with them, the lists of several halls changed at the same time.

An unprecedented event.

Never before had several lists been “updated” all at once.

And what shocked them even more were the names that had appeared there.

“Why is Wilhelm in the Hall?!”

…Because Wilhelm’s name was engraved in the Hall of Honor.

《The rankings for ‘Main Quest 1 – Survival’ have been updated.》

<1st, 500 points: Wilhelm>
<2nd, 300 points: Park Hyunmyung>
<3rd, 220 points: Randolph>
<4th, 210 points: Isabella>
<5th, 205 points: Choi Kangnam>

…….

Five hundred points.

An overwhelming gap, impossible to even compare.

A score so absurd it was hard to believe even while looking at it.

But it didn’t end there.

Wilhelm’s name continued to appear again and again.

《The rankings for ‘Main Quest 2 – Obtain a Class’ have been updated.》

<1st, 300 points: Wilhelm>
<1st, 300 points: Park Hyunmyung>
<3rd, 230 points: Randolph>
<4th, 198 points: Gracia>
<5th, 195 points: Askandal>
<6th, 190 points: Gillette>

…….

《The rankings for ‘Main Quest 3 – Climb the Tower’ have been updated.》

<1st, 300 points: Wilhelm>
<2nd, 280 points: Park Hyunmyung>
<3rd, 240 points: Randolph>
<4th, 219 points: Gracia>
<5th, 191 points: MintChocoIsDelicious>
<6th, 190 points: Askandal>

…….

From Main Quest 1, *Survival*—

his name appeared in every existing Hall of Honor.

As if all the achievements Wilhelm had gone through were being scored and permanently recorded.

“Does this even make sense?”

“Then does that mean Wilhelm is a player?”

Everyone was bound to be confused.

Originally, the Hall of Honor was a privilege reserved exclusively for players.

Only players could be registered there, competing against one another.

Naturally, no non-player had ever had their name listed.

So did that mean Wilhelm was a player?

But if he were, his name should have appeared in the hall long ago.

There had to be a clear reason his name was suddenly added as if through an update.

Only then did people begin to understand the truth.

“Look closely. It’s not just Wilhelm.”

“……You’re right. There are a lot of unfamiliar names besides Wilhelm.”

“What the hell is going on?”

Wilhelm’s name stood out so strongly that it misled them at first.

But he wasn’t the only one added to the Hall of Honor.

There were names they had never seen before—or names that felt strangely familiar, yet distant.

After scrutinizing the hall for a long time, a few players finally realized the identity of those names.

“…No way. Are you kidding me? That’s my alt!”

“Alts got added to the Hall?”

They were alt characters.

The names of characters they had raised before becoming players.

Those alt characters had also cleared the same main quests in the game, so in itself, their names being added wasn’t entirely strange.

The real problem was this:

the Hall of Honor was no longer exclusive to players.

The humans of Pangaenia whom they had once raised—who had since broken free of their control and regained their autonomy.

Characters who had suffered from *Divine Possession* were now competing alongside them.

“Then can alts use the system too?”

“Things like the Golden Scale Shop or the Achievement Shop?”

“…If that’s true, isn’t that a huge problem?”

In Pangaenia, players are considered *sinners*.

It was already known to some extent that alt characters raised by players suffered from *Divine Possession*, losing their memories during the time they were controlled.

And that wasn’t all.

Those who had suffered Divine Possession hated the players who controlled them.

But unless they transcended, they couldn’t even find them—and even if they did transcend, they could only learn fragments of information, making revenge nearly impossible.

Besides, since they were “just alt characters,” it was rare for them to become strong enough to pose a real threat to players.

But now—

that was no longer the case.

If alt characters truly joined the system’s ranks—

even if not completely, but just enough to reap advantages through the Hall of Honor and the like—

…then they would grow far stronger, far faster.

Even now, they could likely claim all the rewards that had been piled up until this point in one go.

People panicked.

There wasn’t a single thing about the situation that wasn’t bewildering.

And then—

“Park Hyunmyung… just what the hell is this guy?”

“……Right? His scores are on par with Wilhelm’s.”

“What has he even been doing?”

“He definitely climbed the Tower of the War God, right?”

“Did he really clear everything up to Main Quest 5 in one shot?”

Wilhelm’s appearance had been so shocking that it pushed everything else aside for a moment.

But Park Hyunmyung’s name, too, was appearing throughout the Hall of Honor—either on the same level as Wilhelm or right on his heels.

“Wilhelm has appeared, and Randolph is still alive…”

“They must both be alive. The Hall only shows the living.”

“Still, those two are already beyond our reach.”

The Hall of Honor only reflects *living* players.

Both Randolph’s and Wilhelm’s names remained listed.

Proof that they were both alive.

But those two had already stepped beyond the domain of players, becoming godlike beings.

That left only one person—

the one existence still within reach.

“Find Park Hyunmyung!”

“Find Park Hyunmyung right now!”

…Only Park Hyunmyung.

People began to move frantically.

By now, he was surely somewhere on Earth.

—

—

 

“From now on, I’ll teach you the basics of polearm techniques.”

The Empire’s vast training grounds.

Raiga stood tall, a spear in his hand, and spoke.

He still looked gravely ill, but even so, his state was far beyond that of an ordinary man.

Whoosh!

The spear shaft pierced the air.

So fast that there was barely any sense of air resistance.

“The king of all weapons—people say it’s the sword, but that’s wrong. The spear is the easiest to wield, and the most powerful.”

“Then why do you wield a sword?”

“Because in the end, the sword lies at the very end of that path. But that realm is far beyond you for now—so you’ll polish your spear technique first.”

Raiga glanced toward the weapons lined up at the far end of the training ground.

A silent signal to take one myself.

His eyes held little expectation.

We hadn’t even formally established a master–disciple relationship.

Rather, he intended to further test my talent.

The tournament hadn’t been able to proceed properly, so he had no choice but to designate me as the winner—but he still wasn’t convinced.

Moreover, Raiga currently held no light within him.

He was merely waiting for death, day by day.

I shrugged and took a spear from the rack.

*I need the title of Raiga’s disciple, so it can’t be helped.*

To go to Adrium—the holy land of the Church of the Goddess—to secure Sonora’s Divine Possession and obtain the remaining fragments of the Spear of Longinus, I needed a more solid status.

I couldn’t enter Adrium while transformed as Randolph.

*Randolph has become completely aligned with evil. If I enter as him, the barrier will detect me immediately.*

I would be exposed by the goddess’s wards.

That was why I needed the status of Raiga’s disciple.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I stayed.

*The power of the Eight Houses… Could the opening of the Five Gates also be related to natural regeneration?*

…I was curious.

The secret art of the Eight Houses—the foundation of the power Raiga once used to overwhelm even primordial beings.

About the Opening of the Five Gates.

If opening the Five Gates didn’t cause instant death, then couldn’t one prolong life through *natural regeneration*?

If regeneration surpassed the rate at which life was lost, couldn’t one survive even after opening the Five Gates?

I desperately wanted to learn Raiga’s sword—

but in truth, what intrigued me most was the secret art of the Eight Houses.

That was why I stayed.

There was no reason not to.

And there were other reasons as well.

For instance—

*…Wilhelm’s status was that of a prince.*

A prince of this very Empire.

But he was branded a fake and driven out.

Somewhere in this Empire, there must be someone wearing Wilhelm’s face.

And that person was likely—

*One of the Reaper Cult’s executives is impersonating Wilhelm.*

I needed to dig deeper into this Empire.

The expelled prince, and the fake who took his place.

The birth of that impostor, and the ultimate conspiracy behind it.

There is deep darkness within the Empire.

I intended to delve into that darkness—still unknown to me—and learn more about Wilhelm.

And for that as well, the title of Raiga’s disciple was essential.

“You will learn not only the spear, but all weapon techniques. It won’t be easy—if you want to give up, then do so.”

“I won’t give up.”

“Hm. Confidence isn’t bad. Then imitate me.”

Whoosh!

Slowly, Raiga thrust the spear forward.

A movement so simple it bordered on plain—but Raiga’s spear read the grain of air and wind with perfect precision as it pierced through.

That was the principle he wanted me to follow.

A timing so perfect that even a spear master would struggle with it—something a beginner had no business copying.

Huu—

I swallowed my breath and set my stance.

And—

Whoosh!

—

—

 

Raiga was troubled.

About ending the Eight Houses with his own generation.

*If it can’t be properly passed on, wouldn’t it be better to end it?*

The fate of the Eight Houses was to serve the Emperor.

They exist solely for the Emperor.

But the Emperor had slept for a long time, and the role of the Eight Houses had grown ambiguous.

With the Emperor asleep, the true forces of the Eight Houses did not step forward.

Only Raiga continued to act on the front lines.

Raiga—the former slave.

Raiga—the one who had never been properly acknowledged.

He harbored deep doubts.

Of course, it hadn’t always been that way.

*When I was chosen as the successor, a bloodbath followed.*

The previous head of the Eight Houses.

The man who had been his master.

To make Raiga the successor, he had sealed the Eight Houses.

Unable to wage war against the successor, the Eight Houses’ forces retreated deeper and deeper, until they no longer even showed themselves.

*Can I make that kind of decision for this man?*

Raiga shook his head inwardly.

He didn’t think he could make the same resolute choice as his master—

the will to make someone a successor even at the cost of bloodshed.

He felt no such drive or desire.

And to formally accept a disciple required the approval of the Eight Houses.

That was the rule.

So if he were to bring this man to the sealed Eight Houses for approval, he himself needed certainty.

And in truth, he hesitated.

After all, he was dying.

*…What a sloppy stance.*

Raiga sighed inwardly.

The way the man held the spear truly looked like someone touching a spear for the first time.

It seemed he was thinking of nothing but swinging it crudely.

With no expectations, Raiga watched him.

And—

Whoosh!

The spear was swung.

As haphazard as the stance itself.

“……”

Yet Raiga couldn’t say a word.

…Because it was precise.

The strike—reading the grain of the wind—
the spacing of the spear extending smoothly without resistance—

However, every weapon has its own applications.

Just because one has mastered the sword doesn’t mean one can perfectly grasp spear timing.

And yet, this wasn’t merely that.

The principle contained in the spear just swung—

“…Have you ever learned the spear from someone?”

“No.”

“…Next is the *dao*.”

Raiga took not a sword, but a dao from the rack.

A dao.

A weapon sharpened on only one side of the blade.

Unlike a sword, which cuts on both sides.

Similar in appearance, but designed to maximize cutting power.

Swoosh!

A heavy downward slash.

Unlike the light movements of the spear, it cut through the wind with weight.

The grain of the wind changed.

A far more advanced technique.

Likewise, wielding a spear well does not mean one can wield a dao well.

Adrium’s Hyun—

the man who took a dao from the rack—

Swoosh!

He swung it, cutting the wind.

And once again, it was the same.

“……”

…He didn’t just cut the wind.

Raiga’s pupils shook violently.

Just now, this man—

*…Cut me.*

In an instant, he cut Raiga.

He found the grain of wind Raiga had carved and split it precisely in two.

That was a technique several dimensions more difficult than merely cutting the wind.

And he did it instinctively, by feel.

Raiga couldn’t understand it.

He watched my movement just once, grasped it—and then took a step further?

If that were the case, then—

*…How absurd.*

…It meant this man’s talent surpassed his own.