I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-5

Ch-5. **Massacre**

—

There was no mistaking it. I wasn’t so far gone that I’d confuse dreams with reality.

It was real. The monster of Pangaenia had truly appeared in the real world.

**Bang! Bang!**

The police from the station right in front rushed out and fired their pistols, but the bullets didn’t do a thing. They couldn’t leave so much as a scratch on that hardened hide before becoming prey to the Giant Mantis.

“Save m— Aaaagh!”

“Emergency! Emergency!”

The officers shouted into their radios as they tried to hold the line. Most civilians were running, but plenty were unable to do even that.

Some could only stomp in place inside buildings, watching the situation unfold. A few, failing to grasp the severity, took photos or videos.

**BWEEEEEEEEP—!**

The air-raid siren burst into a higher decibel.

Phones followed suit.

Just like during a national disaster, a loud alert blared as a message popped up across people’s screens:

**〔14:32—Unknown attacks detected. Seoul, Busan, Daegu, the entire Gyeonggi region.
*Evacuate to the nearest underground shelter and stay tuned to official broadcasts.*〕**

…Meaning this wasn’t happening only here.
Simultaneous attacks across all of Korea.
By unidentified life-forms.

But I knew exactly what they were.

Field boss monsters you must eventually face when playing Pangaenia.

**Level 4 Giant Mantis.**

The characteristic antenna-based attacks, the vivid red flower blooming from its back—there was no mistaking it.

*‘What do I do?’*

My heart felt like it would burst. In the game, I was a flexible, capable, all-purpose player.
But in reality, I was just an ordinary nobody.

My head pounded. My pulse climbed endlessly.

“Uwaaaaaah! Mom! Mooooom!”

The child’s cry snapped me back to my senses.

I turned my head sharply.

I had brought every reward obtained from Pangaenia into reality.

If the monsters from the game were roaming freely in the real world… then shouldn’t the items I earned also work here?

**‘Hydragon’s Soul!’**

I grabbed the rune-inscribed stone.

Hydragon. A monster beyond comparison to a mere Giant Mantis.

I had only been able to kill it easily because I knew the strategy—normally, it was a trial meant for twelve people.

*Scrape, scrape, scrape!*

“Why isn’t this working?”

I frowned.

In the game, you just double-click. Then the character takes out the stone and pretends to wipe it, completing the summon.

I rubbed it hard, but nothing happened.

I turned my eyes again.

**‘Fragment of the Broken Golden Scale.’**

It was said to synchronize reality with the game.

I grabbed the coin-like fragment tightly.

“On.”

In that moment, a goddess appeared before my eyes.

The twin goddess of Pangaenia—always shown at login—pressed her lips against my cheek.

**<<<<Beginning synchronization with ‘Randolph’.>>>>
<<<<Synchronization complete.>>>>
<<<<Remaining time on the Fragment of the Broken Golden Scale: 24 hours.>>>>**

…The pounding in my chest eased.

My trembling stopped; my chaotic mind cleared completely.

I opened my hand. A thick hand.
I had become **Randolph**.

I lifted **Michela’s Sword**. The hefty two-handed greatsword fit perfectly in my grip.

I grabbed **Hydragon’s Soul** and went to the window.

*Thunk.*

I stepped onto the window ledge and leapt down.

It was an old five-story villa. A fall that would kill any normal person instantly—but it didn’t matter.

Suspended midair, feeling the resistance of the air, I rubbed the Hydragon stone.

**GUOOOOO—!**

Hydragon’s full body manifested on the main street.

I mounted Hydragon’s back and charged at the Mantis.

—

—

 

*‘A scoop!’*

Intern reporter **Kim Hana** immediately thought of a scoop the moment the monster attacked.

A massive praying mantis had invaded the city.

If she captured this moment properly, the year’s Pulitzer would be a done deal.

*Snap! Snap!*

She got as close as she could, lifted her phone, and took photos.

“…Insane.”

It wasn’t movie props or CGI—it was a fully realistic monster.

A scoop.
And the end of her damned intern life.
Just as hope bloomed—

“Uwaaaaaah! Mom! Mooooom!”

A short distance away, a child—maybe five years old—was crying miserably.

A shopping bag. A woman crushed under building debris.

The giant mantis turned its gaze toward them.

A storm of emotions hit her.

Was she really supposed to take photos of that brutal monster destroying an innocent family?
Was that the “true spirit of journalism” her seniors spoke of?

Damn it.

Kim Hana kicked off her heels and sprinted with clenched teeth.

She had been returning home from a blind date a friend begged her to attend.
Of all days, why did this catastrophe have to happen now?
But she had no time to think about any of that.

She practically dove, catching the child in her arms.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Mom… Mom is…”

“A-ah… Miss… please… my child…”

The crushed woman regained consciousness and barely managed to speak.

A mother begging someone to save her child.

The living must survive.

But Kim Hana overlooked something.

The monster’s antennae were far faster than she expected.

She turned her head—only to see the tendril closing in.

She shoved the child aside.

*Ah…*

A sensation of being hurled through the air overtook her.

Then the giant mantis’s enormous face filled her vision.

Her life flashed before her eyes.

So this was how she’d die.
At this blossoming age, without ever having a proper romance.

*—Our hospital’s young director kept begging to meet you. Couldn’t you please go on just one date, Hana?*

*—He’s seriously a great guy! He was the campus heartthrob in college—super handsome, tall, everything. You’ll regret it if you miss this chance!*

Maybe she shouldn’t have gone on that blind date.

He was a decent guy, sure, but she wasn’t thinking about dating in the first place. She was just going to kill time and head home.

*‘So why did it end like this?’*

She squeezed her eyes shut.
She had no courage left to face the mantis’s mouth and its countless tooth-like spikes.

**Slaaash!**

Then, in that split second—

Her body lifted again, warmth enveloping her.

She cracked her eyes open.

“Who—”

“…”

A man radiating wild, primal strength.

He dropped her almost carelessly.

With a small yelp, Kim Hana found herself landing on the back of… some unknown monster.

*What— what is this?*

There wasn’t only one monster?

Was this a dragon? But it had too many heads.
Nine heads—far beyond the mantis.
A monster among monsters.

“Hic!”

“Hold on tight.”

It was Korean.
Kim Hana gripped the creature’s back desperately.

The man with the massive greatsword leapt.

**KAAAAAAAAH!**

The nine-headed dragon began ripping the mantis apart savagely.

The giant mantis screamed in agony.

The scene looked like something straight out of legend or myth.

Kim Hana watched in a daze.

Each time the man swung his sword—like it was a toy—green blood gushed like a waterfall.
With all nine heads clamped down on it, the mantis couldn’t move at all.

Violence.
She had never in her life seen such brutal, merciless violence.
Movie and TV violence felt like children’s play in comparison.

Was this what a hero from myth looked like?

Raw, unfiltered wildness she had never felt before.

Overwhelmed by the sight, Kim Hana—

“…Ah…”

—shuddered. Her body trembled.
Not from fear, but from encountering something indescribable.

**Boom!**

In the end, the mantis collapsed without a single proper retaliation.
Its claws severed, its neck sliced, its eyes unfocused.

Then the corpse dissolved into dust—turning gray before disappearing completely.

The nine-headed dragon did the same.

Kim Hana began to fall.

“P-please—!”

Flailing her arms and legs, she suddenly found herself caught again.

By the man who had slain the monster.

He carried her to the ground and landed safely.

“Th… thank you.”

“…”

Their eyes met.

Without a word, he turned his back.

As he walked away, Kim Hana lifted her phone.

*Snap.*

“…Ah.”

A sudden realization struck her, and she turned her head.

People had gathered and were working together to pull the crushed mother out of the rubble.

Kim Hana rushed over to help lift the debris.

—

—

 

The world had plunged into chaos.

Monsters appearing simultaneously not only in Korea but across the entire globe.

They attacked on sight, slaughtering humans and destroying civilization.

But monsters weren’t the only ones to appear.

Warriors—who cut down monsters that bullets couldn’t pierce—appeared as well.
Clad in medieval armor, wielding swords, spears, and bows, they butchered the creatures mercilessly.

“Don’t panic! I’ll protect your safety!”

“The age of monsters is upon us! We must all unite!”

Some even spoke in their native languages, addressing terrified civilians.

Even more shocking was their **“transformation.”**

These warriors—seemingly summoned—reverted to normal humans after the battle and said such things.

Of course, not all of them did.

“Barely an hour at most… no wonder everyone’s trying to save their time.”

A man muttered as he scrolled through the flood of articles and videos.

The warriors appearing now were all **rankers capable of logging out**.

Those who ranked on major quests gained the ability to log out.

*‘The remaining time on the Fragment of the Broken Golden Scale is too valuable to waste.’*

But the **Fragment of the Broken Golden Scale**, which synchronized reality with a character, was consumable—lasting anywhere from one minute to an hour.

Thus, almost no one used synchronization in reality.

This man was the same.
Currently, Korea had eight known individuals capable of logging out.

Among them, this man was a powerhouse—he possessed the ranker character **“Massacre.”**

He had stepped back to assess the situation first.

If he revealed himself recklessly and his Pangaenia character’s appearance became publicly known, both his in-game and real-world life might be endangered.

After all, Massacre was universally known as an infamous bad-mannered player.

*‘Still…’*

He stroked his chin.

*‘I thought Phantom would appear. But there’s no one who looks like him.’*

**Phantom**, also known as **Ghost**.

Pangaenia’s undisputed number one player.

No one knew his name, so they called him that.

Rumor said he owned hundreds of characters and that the one who recently attempted the “Demonic Expedition” was Phantom.

But thanks to interference from all sides, the expedition failed and Phantom died—his character deleted.

*‘Is Phantom really a GM? If so, that means he was still playing all this time.’*

Massacre was a pure player.

But two years ago, when his character died, he was summoned into Pangaenia.

The same happened to others.

Only Phantom—or the one presumed to be Phantom—kept playing the game.

People hunted relentlessly for him.

Anyone suspected of being Phantom was sabotaged or betrayed, killed so their character would be deleted.

Because when a character died, that player was usually summoned into Pangaenia.

*‘No… he must have been summoned too. When your strongest character dies, that’s the one you get summoned as.’*

A 5-star character armed with eight unique-grade items, treasures, and talents.

Level over 10, with all five stars maxed—it was an insurmountable wall.

That must have been Phantom’s strongest character.

If Phantom wasn’t a GM, he was definitely summoned.

And in Pangaenia, while you reset upon arrival, you kept the talents of your strongest character.

Your appearance changed, you became like an NPC, and you lost all previous connections—but you could grow stronger by progressing through the main quest.

*‘…Randolph. Is that guy Phantom?’*

Since his summoning two years ago, Massacre had made the rankings of countless main quests.

He was level 10.
Like other rankers, he possessed hidden traits.

But suddenly, something changed in rankings that had barely budged for ages.

In the very first main quest: **“Survival.”**

*‘Two hundred twenty points?’*

Was that even possible?

Even if he went back two years and tried again, Massacre doubted he could reach 220 points.

If someone could?
It had to be Phantom.

Every ranker must have noticed.
It was only a matter of time before the target was set.

Competitors eliminate competitors.
And if the target was Phantom, killing him would yield a massive amount of **Broken Golden Scale Fragments**.

Now that it was clear that Pangaenia and reality were **blending into each other**, competition for fragments would only intensify.

Eventually, Pangaenia and the real world might become completely fused.

NPCs appearing in reality…
A real Demon King descending…

Before that happened, one needed to secure a position.
Those with greater strength and more fragments would become the protagonists of this new era.

“…Hydragon? Who is this supposed to be?”

While scrolling, Massacre frowned at a video.

Hydragon.

A monster that had never been officially released—only once, under exceptional circumstances.

And a warrior appeared together with it.

A completely unfamiliar character.

Massacre took in the appearance of the warrior.

He also took in the other warrior-type characters who had appeared in Korea.

They were all competitors.

For in the age of chaos that was about to unfold, the leading role had to be his.

*

*

“Let you enter the Sanctuary? Are you insane?”

…The Snake Princess, Isabella, was aghast.

All because of *my* request.

The Desert Sanctuary. I had asked to be allowed inside.

‘If the first Main Quest is survival…’

Then I absolutely had to go to the Sanctuary.

‘The second Main Quest is to obtain a class.’

A class. Because the way to grow stronger as the Main Quest progresses lies there.

And that wasn’t all.

“There’s a star in that place.”

“What…?”

Isabella’s eyes trembled.

A star. She must have been shocked that there was a way to receive the Blessing of the Star there.

It was something I had once given up on, but learned recently while playing.

There is a star in the Desert Sanctuary—a way to break the Queen’s curse.

However, it had been concealed.

‘A star that lies in the lowest place, yet can shine brighter than any other.’

And the class I desired could also be obtained from that star.

 

 

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