I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-75

Ch-75

—

There were no signs that anyone had opened it before.

The very first challenger.

Though he was the eighth to reach the underground labyrinth, he was the fastest to challenge Sword Saint Riley.

His heart began to beat slightly faster.

*‘I couldn’t obtain the Soul of the Hydragon from the labyrinth merchant, but I will conquer Riley no matter what.’*

Rumors truly weren’t to be trusted.

He had searched every labyrinth merchant that appeared in the underground labyrinth, but the Hydragon’s Soul was nowhere to be found.

However, he was determined—he would be the one to conquer Riley, at least.

Gracia placed his hand on the door.

At that moment—

**《Entering the chamber of ‘Sword Saint Riley’.》**

**《Please enter the challenger’s name.》**

**《The challenger’s name will be displayed to all entrants.》**

A name. A name, huh.

Without hesitation, Gracia chose the name to input.

—

Player Talk became noisy again.

Because of the message that suddenly appeared before the eyes of those who had entered.

**–Sword Saint vs Sword Saint? What is this?**

**–Isn’t Gracia the one challenging right now?**

**–My chest is swelling.**

**–Who’s going to win?**

**–Sword Saint Riley is an old hero, and Gracia is the current hero.**

**–Gracia’s gonna win for sure.**

People predicted Gracia’s victory.

Because Gracia had never failed any challenge he took on.

He was a perfectionist. If he wasn’t certain he could win, he didn’t even attempt it.

So the fact that he *did* challenge meant exactly one thing: he was confident of victory.

**–Ah, so this is how the labyrinth ends up in the hands of the Seven Heroes**

**–Isn’t it fortunate that at least it’s Gracia?**

**–Lmao don’t you know the saying ‘crabs side with crabs’? You’re seeing the world too simply**

**–Even if Gracia has the cleanest image, people are naturally biased toward their own**

**–Judging by how quiet Randolph has been, he’s probably not challenging this time**

**–If he did, someone would’ve found out and posted about it**

**–How many cities does Gracia have now if the labyrinth falls into his hands?**

**–Four officially? If the Seven Heroes combine theirs, they could literally found a kingdom lol**

**–Isn’t this literally the build-up to founding a nation?**

**–Fine, yeah. You guys go ahead and take everything!**

There was still no kingdom in Pangaenia composed entirely of players.

Each controlled a few cities, but to found a kingdom, one needed ten cities—and only one king could exist.

If this Abyss Labyrinth fell to Gracia, he would officially control four cities.

Combined with the other heroes, founding a kingdom truly became feasible.

Even if not immediately, Gracia was steadily preparing to become king.

**–Oh? Already Phase 2?**

**–Holy…**

**–Gracia’s insane**

**–At this pace, there won’t be any unexpected twists**

**–Wow**

—

**<2,000,000>**

Greed rested his hands on his waist and burst into loud laughter.

Two million!

Greed’s value was displayed as an incredible 2,000,000.

Over eight times the 230,000 he had risked through gambling so far.

**–Hahahaha! Don’t be too disheartened. Who knows what might happen?**

He *knew* exactly what might happen.

There would be no surprises.

There had never been, and would never be, a twist that could surpass a value of 2,000,000.

Many had challenged this place, staking their values in the game. Though Greed had never gambled himself, countless others had.

And among them, not a single person had exceeded 100,000.

But surpass two million?

His victory was already guaranteed.

Feeling triumphant, Greed looked at the human.

His own turn was over. Now it was the human’s turn to have his value judged.

*‘100,000? No… maybe 200,000?’*

Even so, since things had escalated this much, the results might differ from previous challengers.

At best, perhaps around 200,000.

**<1,000,000>**

One million!

He was honestly surprised. A human worth a million?

But still, nowhere near his own 2,000,000.

**–What a shame. If you had tried a little harder, you might have been able to—**

Then it happened.

The first digit suddenly changed.

**<2,000,000>**

…The same as his?

No—this was just the evaluation still in progress.

There were too many factors to consider.

His authority couldn’t calculate everything all at once.

Sometimes, this happened.

The number could still fall.

So it wasn’t decided.

Not yet.

**<4,000,000>**

Why was it going up?

**<8,000,000>**

……?

**<16,000,000>**

…Was it broken?

Why was it doubling?

**<32,000,000>**

What was this?

It should stop soon.

But it didn’t.

**<64,000,000>**

……………………… Could it be?

Was it going even higher?

—

Greed dropped flat to the ground.

His entire body trembled violently.

He was terrified. Overwhelmed with fear.

By the “value” he was seeing and experiencing for the first time in his life.

By the overwhelming existence before him.

“Tell me—how do I challenge Sword Saint Riley?”

**–Y-you… you can gather a thousand tickets.**

“Tickets? You mean those dropped by event monsters?”

**–Y-yes. B-but that method is not recommended. You will encounter the worst version of ‘Sword Saint Riley’. With overwhelming ‘pressure’, too.**

“Then? What method do you recommend?”

**–Insert *this* ticket into the labyrinth merchant!”

CLANG!

Greed shattered his crown.

Inside it was a golden ticket.

He told him to insert this golden ticket into the labyrinth merchant—essentially, the vending machine.

Greed’s hands trembled as he barely managed to hand the ticket to the human.

He couldn’t even look him in the eyes.

*‘How could that kind of number…’*

It wasn’t a mistake.

His authority had functioned properly.

And the value it produced—

—was astronomical.

Even gods might not produce such numbers.

Just recalling it made Greed shiver uncontrollably in fear.

—

**Golden Ticket**

**Sword Saint Riley.**

He was an elderly, muscular man with a full head of white hair.

Dragging a half-broken iron sword along the ground, he appeared, bound by four chains on his wrists and ankles.

The moment one faced him, countless system messages appeared.

**《All stats decrease by 5 due to the effect of ‘Sword Saint’s Pressure’.》**

**《Your field of vision narrows due to ‘Sword Saint’s Pressure (2)’.》**

**《You are now unable to receive healing due to ‘Sword Saint’s Pressure (3)’.》**

**《You enter a high-fever state due to ‘Sword Saint’s Pressure (4)’…》**

A ceaseless parade of debuffs.

Gracia smiled.

“Sword Saint Riley. Once called the ‘Great Sword’ of the Old Empire.”

The Great Sword—the title given to Riley in the Old Empire’s history.

But the Great Sword had fallen. Buried alive here in the Abyss, along with the many knights who had followed him.

“As one who inherits the same lineage of Sword Saints, I wished to speak with you. With your sword.”

SWOOSH!

A sword bathed in brilliant light emerged in the air.

It radiated blue brilliance, as though it did not belong to this world.

It was *Azure Radiance*, a unique-grade weapon—and the sword that had once belonged to Sword Saint Riley.

As for why Gracia inherited the title of Sword Saint—Azure Radiance was one major reason.

What kind of reaction would he show?

Upon seeing his beloved sword from long ago… in another’s hands.

Riley froze the moment he saw the sword.

Did he recognize it?

**–You are… no.**

Riley spoke.

No? What wasn’t he?

Something was off. Riley’s entire body trembled as if chilled to the bone.

**–You are NOT…!**

FWOOOOOSH!!

Black flames erupted from Riley’s body.

Like wings.

His eyes turned crimson.

Anyone could see—he was not normal. He was a madman.

“So you’re not in the state for a conversation.”

Tsk. Gracia clicked his tongue quietly and opened the Space of All Swords.

A thousand swords lifted into the air—

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!!

Fired like a machine gun.

Each sword exploded when it struck, producing deafening blasts.

An attack that no one could possibly endure.

When roughly three hundred swords reached Riley, Gracia raised one hand.

Stop!

After the rain of swords ended—

As the mist cleared, Riley’s body appeared unscathed.

CLANG.

Instead, the shackle on his left ankle fell off.

*‘Phase 2.’*

So there were five phases?

It seemed that inflicting enough damage to break a shackle moved the battle to the next phase.

Patterns requiring phase progression no matter how much damage one dealt.

These patterns were more common than one might expect.

“Interesting.”

Now then—how far could he go?

The swords grew stronger toward the end.

Would Riley withstand the assault until all shackles were released?

Gracia stretched out his hand again.

—

**–A-are you thinking of challenging Sword Saint Riley?**

Just as he was about to pick up all the treasure and leave.

Greed asked.

“I’m considering it.”

Honestly, a 1-on-1 against Riley in this situation was absurd.

Even if the golden ticket removed the debuffs and allowed him a better fight, predicting victory in a fair match was difficult.

Of course, adding Greed would make things somewhat easier.

He was level 12, and Greed was a ruler of the Abyss.

And if he attempted the conquest with the rest of the party…

*‘I’d have about a 10% chance of winning.’*

That was why he was hesitant.

What he had gained from Greed already was by no means inferior to what he might gain from conquering Riley.

Just managing the treasure he had obtained would keep him busy.

It might be wiser to step back rather than bet on such low odds.

Then Greed spoke, his expression dead serious.

**–I have burrowed into this Abyss and watched Sword Saint Riley for a very long time. Because he was too powerful, he sealed himself with four seals.**

“He sealed himself? After sinking into the Abyss?”

**–Do you know how the Abyss is structured?**

“I don’t know it well.”

The Abyss was unknown.

Opportunities to enter it were limited, and the rulers within were always hostile, leaving little time for study.

**–There are four types of rulers in the Abyss. Those who were originally born here. Those who sank into it. Those who burrowed into it. And those who *become* the Abyss itself.**

Greed was the third type.

One who had burrowed into the Abyss.

A ruler of the layered and lower Abyss.

**–Sword Saint Riley is one who ‘sank into the Abyss’. The problem is that among those who sink, some eventually ‘become the Abyss itself’.**

“What’s the difference?”

**–If one becomes the Abyss itself, in that instant, one of the cities of the Sky is forcibly devoured.**

“…How horrifying.”

I had witnessed “forced devouring” once.

A perfectly normal city suddenly sank into the Abyss.

At first, I thought it was a warp malfunction.

But later investigations revealed that the warp was still functional—even as the devouring occurred—causing a massive uproar.

It seemed it had been caused by the birth of one who had become the Abyss itself.

**–If all four seals are released, Riley will become the Abyss itself. He knows this too, which is why he sealed himself. Are you *sure* you wish to proceed?**

It was impossible for Greed to concern itself with something as trivial as a human.

But the opponent in question was a human of *astronomical value*—a being so “different in class” that one had to doubt whether he was even human at all.

If he begins his assault on sword Saint Riley, the four sealing spheres would be undone. And once they were released, the other sky cities—human cities—would be forcibly eroded.

Humans in a city subjected to forced erosion would be massacred. Not a single person could survive.

Which was why it asked whether he was truly fine with that.

“Do you know what determines when ‘forced erosion’ occurs?”

—It is one of the cities connected to this ‘Labyrinth.’

“Then that means all of them.”

Every possibility was open.

But then, I abruptly froze.

*Wait. Cities connected to the Labyrinth?*

In Pangaenia, all cities were connected to the Labyrinth via warp.

And on Earth as well, countless warps connected to the Labyrinth existed.

I honestly didn’t understand why the idea of warps linking Earth to the Labyrinth suddenly surfaced in my mind.

After all, only players possessed the “Fragments of the Broken Golden Scale,” and if a player wished to enter the Labyrinth, they merely had to travel through Pangaenia—so there had never been a reason to consider Earth.

But now, the reason Earth was connected to the Labyrinth had finally been revealed.

Forced erosion… if *that* were to happen on Earth—

“Is there no way to stop ‘forced erosion’?”

—There is not.

An immediate answer.

…No way?

If Greed said so, it had to be true.

A sharp pain throbbed in my head.

Then, should I do something to prevent anyone from attacking?

Kyahahahahahak!

Hel was gleefully rummaging through the mountain of treasure piled like a small mountain behind me.

A truly free spirit.