I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-371

Ch-371. **Let the Hunt Begin**

—

“Te—ten thousand hours…?”

“Didn’t you mean a thousand?”

“…Was that even a possible number?”

At the same time, the crowd erupted into murmurs.

It was simply unbelievable.

“What…?”

Choi Kang-nam doubted his own ears.

Not a hundred hours. Not a thousand.

Ten thousand hours?

Compared to his own forty hours, the difference was a staggering two hundred and fifty times.

Converted into days, it easily exceeded four hundred.

…No, setting everything else aside, was it even possible to possess that many Fragments of the Golden Scale?

True, ever since the emergence of the *World Tree Community*, strategy guides had been uploaded, and more people had begun accumulating fragments—but even so, there had to be a limit.

Even Gracia, already famous as a “named strategy writer,” possessed only around three thousand hours.

‘Unless he’s Phantom…’

If the man were Phantom, then it would be possible.

If it were Phantom, even possessing several times ten thousand hours of Golden Scale Fragments wouldn’t be strange.

But that couldn’t be.

Phantom was a first-generation Awakened, while Park Hyun-myung was second-generation.

There was yet another reason he could never be Phantom.

Only after completing Main Quest 10, *Trial of the Dragon God Einhassar*, could one finally shed the “beginner” label.

Meanwhile, Park Hyun-myung had only just cleared Main Quest 6—a complete newbie.

Regaining his composure, Choi Kang-nam sneered inwardly.

‘He’s bluffing.’

Yes. It had to be a lie.

A bluff to draw attention.

‘But bluffing only earns you momentary attention. What good does that do?’

Unless one truly had an abundance of fragments, such bravado offered no real benefit.

It might draw eyes, but it lacked substance.

Then, in that instant—

‘…Wait.’

A sudden thought flashed through Choi Kang-nam’s mind, and he frowned.

‘Is he trying to catch Vice Leader Arin’s attention?’

…If that was his aim?

Then he’d succeeded halfway.

Indeed, upon hearing Park Hyun-myung’s words, Arin’s expression had stiffened.

Compared to everyone else she’d assessed so far, the unit itself was on a completely different scale.

“……”

Arin gazed steadily into Park Hyun-myung’s eyes.

…A truly peculiar man.

From his expression and gaze alone, she couldn’t tell whether he was speaking the truth or boasting falsely.

Of course, she could roughly infer the reason.

‘Park Hyun-myung possesses the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch.’

A hidden trait—the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch.

Those who possessed it did not tire easily, and gained a chilling composure that allowed them to accept urgent situations without emotional upheaval.

That was why, upon entering the *Bottom of the Abyss*, while everyone else panicked, he had calmly surveyed his surroundings.

The problem lay in the statement he’d just made.

‘Is it true?’

If he truly possessed ten thousand hours’ worth, then Park Hyun-myung’s identity became even more obscure.

Among newly rising second-generation Awakened, not a single person even had a thousand hours.

Ten thousand?

If that were true, it was impossible for him alone.

It meant someone stood behind him.

For example—

…Phantom.

‘Phantom…’

If Wilhelm’s manipulator—suspected to have once acted as Randolph—was directly supporting Park Hyun-myung from the shadows, then everything made sense.

Secretly rewriting the Hall of Fame with astonishing scores no one knew about, and possessing ten thousand hours’ worth—

All of it.

But it could also be false.

Her thoughts stopped there.

“Targets spotted—!”

“New prey has entered!”

“They belong to our Blood Moon Sect!”

“We’ll offer them as sacrifices to the Heavenly God!”

Without any warning, martial artists clad in blood-red robes stormed in.

Though they numbered only around a hundred, their murderous aura was overwhelming.

Every single one wore a red goblin mask, their swords wrapped in crimson energy as they swung them with practiced ease.

Sssss—

In the next moment, red sword qi poured down like rain from all directions.

“…Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. So these are the ones who wiped out the previous exploration teams.”

Arin muttered quietly.

She had instantly identified them.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

A demonic sect of Mount Heaven ruled by the Heavenly Demon.

One of the nightmares that had risen within Pangaenia, infamous even among the worst.

It seemed these bastards had already slaughtered every exploration team sent before.

Krrrrng!

Arin stomped the ground.

In an instant, the trajectories of the falling red sword qi blurred.

—*Heavenly Punishment.*

That was when it happened.

The sword qi, rapidly losing momentum, was completely suppressed by countless swords that materialized in midair.

Gracia.

From his floating position, blue lightning-like radiance poured from his eyes.

—*Full Bloom.*

Shuaaaaak!

Simultaneously, tens of thousands of swords manifested behind him and rained down.

“D–Dodge—!”

“Aaaargh!”

The red-robed martial artists couldn’t even comprehend what was happening.

Each sword was tangible, each imbued with the force of sword intent.

After his decisive battle against Raiga—hailed as the Empire’s strongest—at the Tower of the War God, Gracia had grown once more.

His arms had been severed by Raiga, injuries that had seemed impossible to heal.

Yet Gracia refused to give up.

Through relentless effort, he underwent *Shedding*.

His body was reconstructed, and his severed arms fully restored.

“…Incredible.”

“So that’s… Gracia.”

The spectators were left speechless.

Though many top-tier individuals were present, Gracia was overwhelmingly dominant among them.

Though he had suffered countless setbacks, it felt as though he had finally reclaimed the title of *Earth’s Strongest*.

When *Full Bloom* ended, only one of the hundred red-robed yaksha remained alive.

*Shing.*

“If you want to live, you’ll answer my questions.”

Gracia said calmly, pressing his blade to the man’s neck.

Then—

“…Heh heh. Looks like some interesting ones showed up this time!”

The surviving martial artist sneered.

As though his comrades’ deaths amused him.

“…What are you doing here?”

“We are waiting—for the completion of Chaos!”

“You’re waiting for the Chaos Spirit King to be completed? Why?”

“When the time comes, you’ll know naturally. You can’t stop it. Heh—”

“Sounds like you want to die.”

“We do not fear death. We merely return to the Heavenly God’s embrace. I’ll go on ahead and wait!”

“……”

Heavenly Demon Long live! Long live! Long, long live!

Crunch!

The martial artist bit down hard, as if crushing his own tongue.

In the next instant, his eyes rolled back—

Thud.

He collapsed.

“…Instant death.”

Gracia remarked curtly.

It seemed he’d hidden poison in his mouth.

He died without the slightest fear.

Smiling, even.

“Those lunatics…”

“What kind of people are they?”

The others were no different.

The red-robed martial artists, foreseeing death, had all been smiling.

But they were merely a scouting unit.

The elite forces would be somewhere near the four mountains.

Mulling over the man’s words, Gracia spoke again.

“…This won’t be an easy journey.”

*

*

There were two priestesses on Mount Heaven.

The Blood Moon Priestess.

And the Ice Moon Priestess.

Both were the beings closest to the Heavenly Demon, like his very hands and feet.

As such, they were constant rivals.

Even here, in the *Bottom of the Abyss*, it was the same.

“…The yaksha sent on reconnaissance were all killed?”

“Yes, Blood Moon Priestess.”

“Who wiped them out? Another sector’s forces?”

Another sector—meaning other Abyssal Lords and their followers.

But the masked man shook his head.

“No. They appear to be humans.”

The Blood Moon Priestess narrowed her brows slightly.

“Humans?”

“Humans from another dimension, likely entering as an organized force.”

“Haven’t there been many such cases before?”

“Yes. But this time, they seem prepared.”

“Hm… Then they must have gathered some fairly capable ones.”

The Blood Moon Priestess had hunted invading humans many times.

She killed them and stole their Fragments of the Golden Scale.

To remain in the *Bottom of the Abyss*, even they needed a certain amount of fragments.

The stronger the being, the more they required.

Thus, most of the stolen fragments were offered as sacrifices to the two priestesses and the Heavenly Demon.

‘The Heavenly Demon has awakened the full power of the Heavenly Demon Blade. If he also acquires the Chaos Spirit King, then even other Abyssal Lords wouldn’t dare oppose Heavenly Demon.’

Recently, the Heavenly Demon had attained enlightenment.

He had awakened the Heavenly Demon Blade and reached true realization.

He had become incomparably stronger than those who arrogantly called themselves Abyss Kings.

And if he gained the Chaos Spirit King’s power on top of that…

Such strength defied imagination.

Yet every Abyssal King gathered here sought the Chaos Spirit King.

With it, they could freely conquer both other dimensions and Pangaenia.

They were Abyssal beings—unable to survive without Abyssal poison.

Just as humans needed air.

That was why, even after ascending to Pangaenia, they remained trapped in their territories, unable to invade freely.

But the Chaos Spirit King would break all those constraints.

For it would endlessly exude Abyssal poison.

“We must capture them before the Ice Moon Priestess does. Prepare the yaksha.”

“By your command.”

The masked man vanished instantly.

The Blood Moon Priestess smiled faintly.

‘Fortune has rolled in.’

They would make excellent sacrifices for the Heavenly Demon.

If they had wiped out a scouting unit, then they must be stronger—and the stronger they were, the more Golden Scale Fragments they would possess.

By now, the Ice Moon Priestess would have heard the news as well, but her rakshasa were inferior to yaksha in tracking.

This contest would end in her victory.

“Let the hunt begin.”

Only the Blood Moon Priestess would monopolize the Heavenly Demon’s affection.

*

*

 

Ten hours had already passed since entering the Black Dome, the *Bottom of the Abyss*.

“Huff… huff!”

“There’s no end to this…!”

“Why are there so many?!”

They had clashed six times already.

Almost every two hours, they encountered armed units, and battle inevitably followed.

People were growing exhausted.

In such a tense situation, with constant unexpected encounters, exhaustion was unavoidable—even for the strongest minds.

Worse still, their *Golden Scale Fragments* were dangerously low.

“The consumption rate is insane…!”

“It speeds up every time we use our strength.”

At minimum, fragments were being consumed at twice the normal rate—sometimes five times faster.

At this rate, more would die from fragment depletion than from combat.

“Those with surplus fragments, help those without—”

…Though Arin said so, who would readily step forward?

No one knew when this situation would end.

Consumption might accelerate even further.

Handing over fragments rashly could easily put oneself in danger instead.

“G–Gracia-nim. Could you lend me just ten hours?”

“I beg you as well.”

Those who had hit their limit flocked to Gracia.

But Gracia shook his head.

“Indiscriminate distribution isn’t a good idea.”

He analyzed the situation calmly.

Strong individuals sharing fragments randomly was a poor strategy.

To overcome this trial, fragments needed to be allocated around the *strong* and those with *multiple hidden traits*.

Hand them out carelessly, and everyone would die together.

“A–At this rate, we’ll be poisoned by Abyssal toxin!”

“Please…!!”

Ten people cried out.

There were ten now—but the number would only increase with time.

Naturally, no one stepped forward.

Even Arin, who led the party, couldn’t force it.

She couldn’t compel them.

As no one acted, shadows fell over the faces of those lacking fragments.

Then—

“I’ll lend them.”

A man spoke.

…It was him.

The man who claimed to have ten thousand hours’ worth of fragments—whom no one had believed.

At first, they’d thought he was just a laborer.

Could it be… that his words were true?

As all eyes turned to Park Hyun-myung, he continued.

“But there’s a condition.”

…A condition?

“What condition?”

Naturally, someone asked.

I shrugged and stated it plainly.

“When I ask, you must accept a contract without refusal. One contract per ten hours.”

The moment I entered, I knew.

This place wasn’t designed to be cleared by me alone.

Overwhelming force wasn’t enough—I needed helpers.

For example, to ascend the mountains, one had to form contracts with rampaging spirits.

Would anyone in their right mind volunteer for that?

To fully complete this trial, such procedures were unavoidable.

And ten hours meant little to me.

I’d said I had ten thousand hours—but even that was a massive understatement.

Thanks to uploading several additional strategy guides, the Golden Scale Fragments I possessed were far beyond ten thousand hours.

And if not now, I’d never again have a chance to impose conditions like this.

From here on out, the situation would grow far more dire.

The divide between those who had and those who didn’t would become unmistakably clear.

Even Arin and Gracia wouldn’t be exempt.

Of course—

I alone was the exception.

Smiling leisurely, I checked my fragments once more.

《You currently possess ‘54,498h’ worth of Broken Golden Scale Fragments.》

《You currently possess 6 ‘Complete Golden Scales’.》

 

 

 

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