I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-390

**390. Phantom Itself**

—

The mission of a Dragon God is simple.

To love the world, and to protect the world.

Perhaps that was why Basara—who had ruled in terror as one of the Seven Lords of the Demon Realm—had, without realizing it, begun helping humans.

Because the Demon King does not love the world.

And to save a world the Demon King would bring to ruin, there was no choice but to stand on humanity’s side.

The fact that she entered the *Black Dome* and stood as a self-proclaimed guardian of humanity’s strongest followed the same logic.

Even the death of her younger sibling, the Second Lord Issera, had stirred no emotion in her.

After all, Issera had died while invading Earth.

From the perspective of a Dragon God, that was an absolute violation of an unbreakable law.

Yes.

*I want to become a Dragon God.*

From the very beginning, she had wanted to become one.

All the boredom and emotional numbness she had felt were nothing more than despair born from her inability to become a Dragon God.

“What is your name?”

She asked for Park Hyun-myung’s name.

Placing her hand on his shoulder, she prayed that he might once again enjoy the world.

Only Park Hyun-myung—who truly loved Pangaenia—could save the world.

Only Park Hyun-myung—who genuinely enjoyed it—could release her curse, and free everyone from their shackles.

……But it does not reach him.

It is not enough.

Those present here alone are insufficient to restore Park Hyun-myung’s will.

Right now, what Park Hyun-myung needs are not great beings.

They were never the source of what allowed him to enjoy Pangaenia in the first place.

What was it?

What made his eyes shine so brightly, what allowed him to smile so innocently and focus so completely?

*He must be reminded that he is Phantom.*

The memories of *Phantom*—the time when he shone the brightest.

Phantom does not care about rankings.

He plays alone, purely to conquer the game.

Hidden pieces, Easter eggs, secret quests—

He is someone who always becomes obsessed with uncovering the hidden elements of a game.

There is only one way to remind him of that pure time.

*…The people who survived because of him.*

One of Pangaenia’s most difficult elements is the *Survival* quest.

It is the first element gamers face, and the one where skill matters most.

Naturally, it was also Phantom’s favorite.

No gamer had experienced as many “survivals” as he had.

To revive Park Hyun-myung, those who survived because of Phantom are needed.

Only they can restore Park Hyun-myung’s purity.

But how?

Because of the contract, they have all lost their memories.

Fwoo—!

That was when it happened.

The *Feather of an Outer God* within Park Hyun-myung floated up and drifted toward her.

Having merged with the Golden Spirit, she immediately recognized what it was.

*This is… the Blue Bird’s feather.*

The Blue Bird.

The administrator who oversaw contracts with Pangaenia’s humans.

This feather had another purpose beyond merely protecting its user.

One that neither the two goddesses, nor Park Hyun-myung, nor Randolph, nor even Wilhelm knew.

Something even the Primal Heavenly Demon had never imagined.

…An undocumented, hidden option.

*The power to release contracts.*

Ah.

So this was the feather’s true purpose.

To restore the memories of those who had already survived.

Until now, only those who transcended on their own could regain fragments of their memories.

But with this feather, things were different.

Even without transcending, memories erased by the contract could be recalled.

……Why had the Blue Bird given this feather to Park Hyun-myung?

And she understood how it should be used.

*The authority of a Dragon God is required.*

To scatter the feather’s power across the entire world, the authority of a Dragon God—one that encompasses the world itself—was indispensable.

But……

*Am I a Dragon God?*

She was still wavering.

She wanted to become a Dragon God, but she could not yet call herself one.

The Dragon Gods would never acknowledge her as one of their own.

Had she not been expelled from the Dragon God Council from the moment she was born?

—*You are a Dragon God, Basara. My beloved daughter.*

The voice of a mother whose face she could no longer remember echoed in her mind.

No one had ever told her who that mother was.

The Golden Spirit did not know either.

But she understood now.

That the qualification of a Dragon God is not decided by Dragon Gods.

Had not Park Hyun-myung constantly proven himself?

Starting anew, facing countless failures—yet in the end, he always succeeded.

If that was so—

“……I will decide my own qualification.”

I will be a Dragon God.

*

*

**Pangaenia’s service has ended!**

What did those words truly mean?

That the game was over, and everything would turn into reality?

“The World Tree community, the Hall of Honor, the Golden Scale shop—even the auction house—none of them work.”

“No posts at all. Even the constellations are quiet.”

“Does service termination mean all the game systems are disappearing?”

“That’s ridiculous! Why now?!”

“What’s the problem? Why would the service suddenly end?!”

“There’s not even an announcement. Something is seriously wrong!”

One thing was certain: the systems they had conveniently relied on no longer functioned.

The Awakened fell into panic.

They had no idea what the cause was.

“…Isabella.”

But there were those who vaguely grasped the reason.

The Knights of the Round Table.

Most of those who had been fighting the Radiant Supremes had now realized Park Hyun-myung’s death.

During a brief recess, Hudson approached Isabella.

“……”

But Isabella did not respond.

Her eyes were dead.

To the point where it was hard to believe she was still alive.

Park Hyun-myung’s death had been too great a shock for her.

She simply could not accept reality.

Of course, that was true for everyone gathered there.

“We… have to accept reality.”

Hudson forced the words out.

If even he collapsed now, everything would truly be over.

The Round Table would vanish, and everything connected to it would disappear.

“We have to do what we must.”

“……”

“It’s not over yet. We have to carry on his will!”

Hudson said, looking around.

The duel had been halted by this unprecedented situation, and they were gathered in a narrow corridor.

Yet no one spoke.

Vice-Commander Abelof, Serengeti, Isaac—none of them.

Veins bulged in Hudson’s neck.

“Damn it! Everyone, lift your heads!!”

Bang!

Hudson slammed his head against the wall.

“I can’t believe it either… damn it.”

Hudson.

To him, Park Hyun-myung was light and salt.

It felt like only yesterday that they had met at the auction house.

Because of him, Hudson met Serengeti again—and gained the courage to live in the real world.

Park Hyun-myung was Hudson’s only friend.

A friend, and a lord he would follow forever.

That was why—

He had to carry on his will.

A sudden thought flashed through Hudson’s mind, and he raised his head again.

“…We need to find out why his death led to the service termination.”

Here, Hudson was the only player.

But everyone gathered here understood *Pangaenia* as a game.

And they understood what was happening.

Hudson continued muttering.

“Phantom was the last gamer. When ‘Wilhelm,’ the character Phantom was playing, died, the world changed. The invasion began, and all the gears started turning. Phantom started over from the beginning—as ‘Randolph.’”

Something about that bothered him.

“All this time, we thought the rule was that a gamer possessed a Pangaenian when the strongest character they raised died. But… what if that’s not it?”

“…Hudson. What are you talking about?”

Serengeti asked.

Hudson’s eyes lit up.

“I always thought the summoning criteria were strange. There were exceptions. Sometimes two people were summoned together.”

There was a backstory Park Hyun-myung had told him, recently confirmed by a dungeon.

The *Corpse Raven Dungeon* in the Necropolis.

The two children there were summoned after raising a single character together.

That completely contradicted the rule players had believed in.

Two people summoned at once?

That shattered the one-character-one-player formula.

Perhaps the formula itself had been wrong all along.

Hudson finally spoke the thought he had long held.

“…What if it’s not the strongest character—but the death of the character that *symbolizes* the gamer—that calls them to Pangaenia?”

“Phantom’s symbol is Wilhelm…”

“No. Wilhelm isn’t Phantom’s symbol.”

“Then who could symbolize him?”

“*Phantom itself!*”

Phantom—Park Hyun-myung.

That was it.

He himself was his own symbol.

The only being in Pangaenia granted the unique nickname that should not exist—*Phantom*.

He himself was the character, and the symbol.

“The sudden service termination must be because of an error like this. There wasn’t even an announcement. It wasn’t Wilhelm’s death—it was Phantom’s death that was actually the death of the final ‘character.’”

“If that’s true…”

“Then it’s a catastrophic error that overturns everything from the foundation.”

The beginning itself was wrong.

It was an error so severe that terminating the service outright would almost be justified.

Hudson clenched his fist.

“Errors have to be fixed. This isn’t a complete service shutdown—it’s an emergency termination for maintenance!”

Everything had been stopped without warning.

Yes. It was only stopped.

The World Tree community, the Hall of Honor, the shops—all of them still existed.

If the service had truly ended, all of that would have vanished completely.

They shouldn’t even be visible.

There must have been a reason it had to be stopped immediately.

“…He might not be completely dead yet.”

……Specifically, to postpone Park Hyun-myung’s death.

Because that was the only way to correct the error.

If the error was that Phantom’s death—not Wilhelm’s—was the beginning, then Phantom himself had to be kept alive.

If Park Hyun-myung truly died, it could never be fixed.

So it was halted at the brink of death.

Terminated before it could proceed any further.

“…If that’s true…”

At that moment—

Isabella slowly raised her head.

“What should I do?”

If it meant saving Park Hyun-myung, she was prepared to do anything.

“First, we win this battle.”

“And then?”

“And then… huh?”

Suddenly—

“Waaah!”

“What is it?!”

“A D-Dragon God…!”

The outside grew noisy.

Sensing something, Hudson immediately rushed out.

Following everyone’s gaze, they looked up at the sky.

“Dragon God Einhassar…?”

Einhassar—the Dragon God encountered upon completing Main Quest 10—was there.

Flapping his wings.

Scattering his presence across all of Pangaenia.

—*The Dragon God Council won’t stay silent, but just this once, I’ll help you… mutant.*

He immediately invoked the authority of a Dragon God.

Soon, the energy of the Blue Bird’s feather spread throughout Pangaenia.

At the same time—

“Huh?”

“My head suddenly…!”

Countless Pangaenian residents who had been dormant began regaining their memories.

Thousands—tens of thousands—perhaps even more, all at once.

And—

“……”

“……”

“……”

The same thing was happening within the Empire’s Reaper Cult.

Perhaps, matters far more serious than expected were unfolding.