I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-76

Ch-76

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The Player Talk board was exploding in real time.

— Wow, already Phase 3?

— Wasn’t it Phase 2 just ten minutes ago?

— But how many phases are there?

— No matter how many, isn’t Phase 3 usually the last?

— …As we speak, it just entered Phase 4!

— Holy crap;;

— Isn’t Sword Saint Riley just weak?

— Bullshit. He’s the hero who single-handedly took the head off an Earth Dragon.

— Didn’t he go toe-to-toe with the Demon King too?

— Legends tend to be exaggerated. Honestly, he just seems weak.

It happened right then.

Barely a moment after the message saying Phase 4 had begun appeared—

— Huh?

— …?

— What, retreat?

— It says he exited the labyrinth?

News spread that Gracia had logged out and left the labyrinth.

A message had popped up saying, “The challenger Sword Saint has retreated.”

Gracia, who had sped all the way to Phase 4, had retreated the moment he reached it.

As though he had caught sight of something he absolutely should not have seen.

— Eh? Another challenger showed up right after.

— Imperial Three Swords? Who’s that?

— Empire… Arhon Empire?

— Wow. So even the Empire had its eyes on this.

— What Gracia couldn’t clear, the Empire might?

— If it’s the Empire, maybe. The strong ones there are *really* strong, right?

Barely thirty seconds after entering—

— Ah, never mind. The Empire retreated immediately too.

— What’s in Phase 4?

— What did they see to exit that fast?

— But if both Gracia and the Empire couldn’t do it, maybe it’s just impossible?

— There’s still the Four pillars left lol. I’d bet my balls they’ll clear it.

— Wouldn’t it be worse if the White King faction grows stronger though?

— Feels like we’re screwed if that happens.

— I’m hanging a picture of the White King in my house starting today.

— …You lunatic.

—

—

 

I exited the Golden Abyss along with Greed.

Returning to the underground labyrinth where I originally had been, I found the surroundings empty.

‘Where are Isaac and Isabella?’

No one was there.

I had assumed they would be waiting.

But I soon frowned.

‘Bloodstains?’

No people—just blood.

It was definitely human blood.

Then Isaac and Isabella must have been in danger.

I used a “detector” just in case, but nothing showed up.

One thing was certain—there had been a fight.

Not an intense one, but judging from the blood, they’d been ambushed.

‘They were attacked. And they fled.’

Fortunately, the amount of blood was not enough to be fatal.

I didn’t know whose blood it was, but it belonged to one person.

They were attacked and had clearly withdrawn.

‘Who?’

Someone must have entered the labyrinth while I was inside the Golden Abyss.

One of them. But who?

Gracia had challenged the Sword Saint and retreated.

The one known as the Imperial Three Swords was likely the Silver Fox Mask.

Which meant there was someone else besides those two.

‘I’ll need to buy supplies from the labyrinth merchant.’

I had figured out the general direction they fled, but the blood did not continue far.

Blindly searching would be inefficient.

Rather than wandering aimlessly, it was much more practical to buy tracking tools from the labyrinth merchant.

— The labyrinth merchant will appear shortly. Let us go ahead and wait.

“You know where he appears?”

— I have an idea. I’ve been here for a very long time…

Lucky me.

Of course—there were few creatures as familiar with the labyrinth as Golden Goblins.

And Greed, being their leader, even more so.

Greed led the way.

After walking for nearly an hour, we stopped.

《The ‘Underground Labyrinth Merchant’ has appeared at 568.1199!》

…Right in front of us, the merchant—an actual vending machine—appeared.

Astonishing. He had pinpointed the location perfectly.

— Insert the Golden Ticket and the door should open. But I do not know anything beyond that.

Greed sounded apologetic, as if sorry he couldn’t explain further.

He had never personally inserted a Golden Ticket into the merchant, so it was only natural.

There was nothing to apologize for.

I shrugged and slowly inserted the Golden Ticket Greed had given me into the vending machine.

At that moment—

《You have used “Greed’s Golden Ticket.”》

《A Hidden Event has occurred!》

《The “Labyrinth Merchant’s” sales list has changed.》

《The “Golden Rule Gate” leading to Sword Saint Riley has opened.》

The gate opened—and the sales list changed.

The moment I checked that list—

‘…So it *was* real.’

Items nearly impossible to obtain through normal means.

They appeared before my eyes.

**Unique-grade blueprints.**

What the merchant had shown until now had just been a teaser.

No—compared to what lay before me now, even calling it a teaser was generous.

It had been fake. Mere bait concealing the real products.

‘Nobody would think to insert a ticket into a vending machine.’

An event.

Most likely, the “event” referred to putting a ticket into the machine known as the labyrinth merchant.

There was a good chance a similar event would occur if one inserted the “labyrinth tickets” purchased on the surface.

‘The type of ticket determines the grade.’

Naturally, the list would change based on the ticket used.

And the “Greed’s Golden Ticket” I had inserted had come from the Ruler of the Nested Abyss.

It deserved the label “hidden.”

A ticket you could only obtain by finding the underground labyrinth, monopolizing all ten Golden Goblins alone, then defeating Greed himself.

What percentage of players could realistically do that?

So yes—this was the real deal.

「Hydragon’s Soul – 100 points」

「Executioner’s Soul – 200 points」

「Golden Dragonscale Soldier’s Soul – 400 points」

「Bladewolf’s Soul – 400 points」

Four types of souls.

Every one of them was nearly impossible to obtain.

Hydragon’s Soul alone—besides me, there might be one person in all of Pangeania who owned it.

‘I can transcend using matching souls.’

But that wasn’t all.

These kinds of souls were essential materials for Unique-grade items.

Their rarity made their material tier absurdly high.

Every soul here was too precious to pass up.

They were worth far more than their listed cost.

The issue, however, was the points.

With the points I had so far, I could not afford them.

‘A thousand points from defeating Greed in the final battle.’

But there was also the score I extorted from Greed at the very end.

A full 1,000 points.

Combined with my original points, I had around 1,350.

Enough to buy all four souls.

But I couldn’t commit yet.

The list didn’t end there.

「Greed’s Brand – 500 points」

「Brand of Hardship – 500 points」

「Brand of Roar – 500 points」

「Brand of Death – 500 points」

Four brands.

A brand was a tattoo with abilities.

But brands were notoriously hard to acquire.

Not the basic ones—those were everywhere—but brands bearing specific inherited techniques.
Tattooists who could inscribe those were almost nonexistent.

And if you found one, there was a 99.99% chance he was a scammer.

The four brands listed here were all high-grade Special Brands.

Brands of immense value, with exceptional abilities.

I had only heard of them by name—never once had I met a tattooist capable of inscribing any of them.

‘A true tattooist would salivate at these.’

Salivate? More like drool out their entire soul.

‘There’s more.’

And unbelievably, this still wasn’t the end.

「Ring of the Sun – 300 points」

「Hollow Rusted Iron Ring – 500 points」

「Ring of the Ancient Pact – 200 points」

「Ring of Deep Affection – 300 points」

All of them rare rings.

More than twenty other items were listed besides these.

All unique—but only two truly caught my eye:

「Seed of Verdancy – 500 points」

「Unique-grade Blueprint – 1,000 points」

‘…The Seed of Verdancy and a Unique-grade Blueprint?’

Verdancy.

The moment I saw the name, a certain city came to mind.

A metropolis known as the “City of Verdancy.”

A place where forest-related races lived, centered around a massive tree also called Verdancy.

If this Seed of Verdancy was related to that tree, it would be a resource beyond belief.

It might even link to accelerated growth properties.

As for the Unique-grade Blueprint—I didn’t know what specific blueprint it was.

‘Does it mean it can substitute for any Unique blueprint?’

To craft a Unique-grade item, a blueprint was mandatory.

More important than the materials.

Even with all materials gathered, without the blueprint you could not craft.

‘If that’s the case…’

Gulp.

I steadied my breathing and inspected the list once again.

Then checked the materials I owned.

My fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

My palms were sweating.

Of course they were.

‘I can… craft one.’

One Unique-grade equipment item came to mind.

………And I had every material needed to craft it.

Fifteen Unique-grade items had been confirmed to exist in Pangeania so far.

Eight of them had been shoved onto Wilhelm, and they had been destroyed.

But that was due to the Demon King’s special nature—each Unique item was a world-shaking artifact.

No exaggeration—one Unique item was worth a star.

There was a reason people were obsessed with them.

And now, to equip one—
In my current state, where reaching level 10 would take forever?

‘Collecting Unique items is more realistic than hitting level 10 and transcending.’

Thanks to the cursed EXP rate, my level was effectively stuck at 6.

Even winning against Greed hadn’t leveled me up—so reaching level 7 was already proving absurdly difficult.

Level 10 was a distant pipe dream.

Someday I’d get there, but who knew when.

…Damn it.

In any case, equipping a Unique-grade item might be faster.

Once equipped, my limits would widen, allowing me to face stronger enemies.

And defeating stronger enemies meant faster leveling.

Thus, this choice was correct.

‘I need the Golden Dragonscale Soldier’s Soul, Greed’s Brand, Hollow Rusted Iron Ring, and the Unique-grade Blueprint. These four.’

The only issue was that I needed many items.

Exactly 2,400 points.

1,000 more than what I had.

On top of that, I needed 100 points to buy an item to track Isabella and Isaac.

‘Gracia and the Silver Fox Mask both failed, so I should have some time.’

I assessed the situation calmly.

Sword Saint Riley’s seal was still at Stage 4.

At Stage 5 he would become “one who is the abyss itself,” but Gracia and the Silver Fox Mask had already retreated.

They could reattempt after regrouping, but not immediately.

The Desert Queen was a slight concern.

But I judged that she was not stronger than Gracia.

‘First, I need to save those two.’

The golden vending machine triggered by the hidden event had no time limit.

And opening the vending machine revealed the Golden Rule Gate.

I would rescue Isabella and Isaac, earn the remaining points, craft the Unique item, then challenge Riley.

After shorting out my thoughts, I spoke with Greed.

“Carry the merchant.”

— Me? …Of course. This is obviously my task.

—

—

 

A screech tore through the air—
**Kwaaaak!**

Isabella bit down hard on her lip. Beads of blood welled up where she’d bitten.

She and Isaac were in the middle of fleeing.

“*I told you to retreat first!*”

“…*You* go.”

Isaac, carrying the Saintess on his back, kept urging Isabella to retreat.
Anyone inside the labyrinth could return to the continent the moment they chose to “retreat.”

But the two of them were equally stubborn.

And since persuading her with words clearly wasn’t going to work, Isaac furrowed his brow deeply.

“Damn it, what the hell is that *monster*? Why is it chasing *us*?”

“The Desert Queen.”

“What?”

“…The one chasing us is the Desert Queen.”

“The Desert Queen? The Queen of Faisalmer? Your homeland?”

He recalled the conversation they’d had back in the Demigod-Trait Dungeon.

If she said “Desert Queen,” that could only mean the ruler of Faisalmer.
And Isabella had been a native of Faisalmer.

Isabella gave a small nod.

 

 

 

 

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