I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-49

Ch-49

—

‘It’s only the first invasion. Can’t be anything big.’

‘We need to handle this in the coolest way possible.’

‘A “King of Dimensional Rifts” is probably no more than a low-grade Abyssal ruler.’

Everyone was optimistic.

They weren’t even thinking about how to strategize, much less how to defeat the invading monsters.
They were busy thinking about **how to make themselves look cooler on camera** while dealing with them.

Only ten percent.

If monsters from that low of a tier barged in, they were bound to be nothing special.

But the heroes’ overconfident attitudes changed in a single instant.

“Wait, what…?”

“Strategy… who…?”

They all began to panic at the same time.

And with good reason.

**《Strategy for ‘King of Dimensional Rifts’ is currently in progress.》**

**《‘King of Dimensional Rifts’ has been killed.》**

It died instantly.

It wasn’t even a fight—more like a slaughter.

Yet in none of the dimensional rifts had a single monster been sighted.

Then who?

Who was supposedly doing the raid?

And more than that—how was it already dead?

**《‘King of the Dead, Ahram’ is reviving.》**

**《Entering Phase 2.》**

“Ahram…!”

Several heroes recoiled in shock at the name of the revived king.

No one imagined that the “King of Dimensional Rifts” would turn out to be **Ahram, King of the hell**!

The gatekeeper who governed the first hell of the Demon Realm, ‘Swamp of the Dead.’

Anyone who had participated in the Grand Expedition knew that horror down to their bones.

Nearly half of the entire expedition force died to that thing.

‘If it’s Ahram, there’s no way to secretly raid him…’

The undead and hybrids he controlled ranged from several meters to tens of meters in size.

And Ahram himself was a top-tier undead death knight—his presence alone could reshape terrain.
Someone that strong appearing without any sign, and being raided secretly, made no sense.

**《‘King of the Dead, Ahram’ has died.》**

…Every player stared blankly at the pop-up floating before their eyes.

‘It took less than three minutes to beat Ahram?’

‘Is that even possible?’

‘Unless it’s someone like Gracia or the Master!’

Not even three minutes had passed since Ahram revived.

But Gracia and the Master were both known not to be participating in a raid.

A third party.

Someone other than the Eight Heroes was clearing the raid at a speed beyond comprehension.

But where, and how, it was happening—nobody could tell.

And that wasn’t even the end.

**《‘Hybrid Fusion Ahram’ is reviving.》**

Hybrid Fusion!

Ahram continued to revive endlessly.

Each time, he grew stronger—and the strategy time grew longer.

A hybrid fusion…
Just hearing the name inspired terror.

After more than five minutes—longer than previous clears—players secretly rejoiced.

‘Finally failed, did they?’

‘Trying to clear it alone must have pushed them past their limits.’

‘Whoever it is, it’s our turn now.’

They couldn’t just stand here and let it end.

If whoever tried it died from their greed, the rank wouldn’t count anyway.

It just meant they’d helped the others by removing a competitor.

But their expectations shattered instantly.

**《‘Hybrid Fusion Ahram’ has died.》**

**《‘Black Star Ahram’ is reviving.》**

“…”

**《‘Black Star Ahram’ has died.》**

**《Main Quest ???: Eliminate the King of Dimensional Rifts — completed.》**

“What the hell is it saying?”

“What kind of fucked-up situation is this?”

The players couldn’t help blurting out their frustrations.

That’s just how absurd it was.

There was no raid.
There wasn’t even an invasion.

Not a monster—hell, not even an ant—had appeared.

And yet what?

Raid complete?

Main quest finished?

Soon afterward, *Pangaenia*—floating in the sky—slowly began to fade away.

Only then did people finally begin to realize something was strange.

–Why aren’t monsters showing up?

–Hey, it’s disappearing?

–The sky’s returning to normal!

–Don’t tell me this is it?

The world returned to its original state.

The supposed invading monsters never appeared.

It was as if they merely made a threat and backed off.

But the players had no leisure to explain any of that to the confused public.

Instead, they stared blankly, their eyes trembling, refusing to accept reality.

Because they saw it—

**《Determining contribution for ‘Main Quest ???: Eliminate the King of Dimensional Rifts.’》**

**《Rewards will be distributed according to contribution ranking.》**

**《1st Place – Randolph》**

**《Added to Hall of Fame.》**

“…!”

“…!!!”

First place.

The only name on the ranking list—

—**Randolph**.

*

*

The Giant of ruin, Dramut, and all the Star Guardians—

They still couldn’t believe what they had witnessed.

A *Corpse Crow* being acknowledged as a Star Guardian was completely unprecedented.

But the Star Guardians could clearly sense it.

The star in Randolph—the Corpse Crow’s—hands had acknowledged him as its guardian.

“To be precise, he is slightly different from us.”

At that moment, the Giant of ruin added a remark.

One of the star guardians asked, puzzled,

“What do you mean, different?”

“We serve the Earth Goddess, Leah.
But that Corpse Crow is the sole guardian of the Sky Goddess, Pina.”

The 32 stars belonged to the Earth Goddess Leah.

But the 33rd star—that one was unmistakably one of Sky Goddess Pina’s eyes.

Still, they couldn’t be called wholly different.

Leah and Pina were twins.

Without the two, the world itself could not exist.

Strictly speaking, they were the same root.

The Giant of ruin corrected himself.

“Even so, since he has been acknowledged as a Star Guardian, he clearly possesses a rank equal to ours.
I hereby formally recognize the Corpse Crow’s promotion to Star Guardian.”

“Indeed. He even destroyed a Unique-grade Mystery.”

“And sealed Ahram.”

“If he is a Transcendent species, he certainly qualifies.”

One by one, the Star Guardians nodded.

This Corpse Crow wasn’t just some crow.

He had shattered a Unique-grade Mystery and sealed Ahram—a Transcendent species.

Appearance aside, his weight as a guardian was more than sufficient.

“Wait. He is not a Star Guardian.”

Then—

The Giant of ruin frowned at the voice that suddenly spoke up.

“…White King. Do not interfere in our affairs.”

“What do you mean ‘our’? He is already an Pillar.
Not a Star Guardian.”

“What are you talking about?”

The White King shrugged.

“Before coming here, I granted him the qualification of fifth Lord.
The other Lords agreed.”

Technically it was half-and-half, but that didn’t matter now.

Star Guardians and Lords existed in completely separate domains.

They could never overlap.

One could only be one or the other.

And the White King had already given him the title of fifth Lord.

It was now impossible for the Star Guardians to take that away.

But the Giant of Ruin shook his head.

“The moment the star acknowledged him, he became a Star Guardian.
A qualification given by the Goddess cannot be overridden by the likes of you.”

“All things follow causality. Not even gods escape it.
I gave him qualification first. So politely back off.”

“So you intend to draw blood, is that it?”

“I allowed you all into Cramdel as courtesy to the Goddess, but my patience ends here.”

“You jest, White King. Do you think I fear you?”

Their eyes clashed violently in midair.

Neither willing to concede an inch.

“Why are you deciding my future as you please, caw?”

Listening to them fight was ridiculous.

Two monsters arguing over **my** career path?

The Giant of ruin turned to me.

“We are not deciding it. It has already been decided—”

“No. Randolph is right. One chooses one’s own path.”

The White King interrupted.

And then all the Star Guardians, the White King, and the pillars fixed their gazes on me—

—as if daring me to choose.

But none of their expectations mattered.

I slowly alternated my gaze between the Giant and the White King and said,

“Prove which of you provides *greater benefit* to me, caw.”

From the start, their premise was wrong.

If you want to recruit someone,
**the salary offer comes first**.

*

*

 

A dramatic agreement wasn’t reached, but both sides clearly understood my intention.

They decided to take time and negotiate properly later.

To evaluate my worth and strike a proper deal.

Meanwhile, I organized the things I had acquired from the Dimensional rift King’s end.

‘Level 6.’

My level had already reached 6.

My decisive role in killing Ahram must have translated into enormous experience.

Now, level 6.

A normal character would probably have reached 9 by now, but since the EXP requirement increased, the trade-off wasn’t bad.

More importantly—

‘Status window.’

—

<Status Window>

Name: Randolph
Class: Successor of the Stars

<Stats>

Level: 6
Strength: 82 (72+10)
Stamina: 82 (72+10)
Agility: 82 (72+10)
Intelligence: 82 (72+10)
Mana: 82 (72+10)

<Active Hidden Traits>

【Void】
【Dexterity】
【All-Master】
【Weapon Master】
【Giant’s Resistance】
【Druid’s Affinity With Nature】
【Iron-Blooded Monarch’s Heart】
【Beast Lord】
【Golden Grace】
【Celestial】
【Mutant】
【Glutton】
【Great Sage】
【Eternal Randolph】

A smile naturally curled on my lips.

These stats were unbelievably sweet.

My level was only 6, yet my stats were around the average level-10 range.

I had claimed two stars, and thanks to the Successor of the Stars class, all stats increased by 10.

Seeing even my 14th hidden trait in place filled me with an indescribable sense of grandeur.

Leveling was slow, but my stat growth far surpassed normal limits.

‘Anyone who saw this would think it’s a bugged character.’

Even **I** had trouble believing it—others would’ve fainted.

Level up, and stars.

But that still wasn’t everything.

‘Main Quest Rank 1. Obvious, since I contributed alone.’

The one and only participant.

Naturally, first place belonged to me.

‘Anyway…’

I placed the reward I had received into my palm.

A square object radiating a brilliant platinum glow.

‘A Platinum Box, huh.’

I had never seen such a reward before.

I couldn’t even guess what was inside.

Unlike normal main quests, invasion quests granted rewards by rank, and first place received this Platinum Box.

–Kraaaagh!

A scream rang out at that moment. I turned my head and saw Ahram struggling violently.

Ahram writhed in pain—Golden band tightly fastened around his head.

And his appearance had changed drastically.

‘He’s gotten much smaller.’

Once Golden band sealed him, Ahram had shrunk to the size of a child.

‘To think it could seal Ahram so easily.’

The unnamed constellation’s hair was none other than Golden band, a sealing artifact of immense power.

He clearly transformed his hair into Golden band for this purpose.

I was confused at first, but after seeing Ahram sealed, I realized it was the right decision.

‘Golden band doesn’t just seal monsters—it steals one of the sealed monster’s abilities.’

If it only sealed, it would’ve been a bit disappointing.

But the true ability of Golden band was to steal one ability of the target it sealed.

Similar to the Glutton hidden trait, but different.

‘And it steals the ability *at full power*.’

One of Ahram’s abilities came to me intact.

Glutton required transforming into the species eaten and leveling the skill from scratch.
But Golden band let you use the target’s unique skill immediately, exactly as it was.

Of course, using Golden band didn’t guarantee a seal.

If the Giant of ruin hadn’t restrained him, the seal would’ve failed.

‘You need to restrain the target for 10 seconds, but thanks to the Giant, I managed to put Golden band on him.’

And it also alerts the target.

But as long as the target is held for ten seconds, Golden band will seal **anything**.

Even if that target is a Demon King—or a god.

—

 

 

 

 

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