Ch-8. **Gaining the Star**
—
The ancient king, Dramut.
He was the Guardian of the Star, a mountain keeper, and a giant possessing an enormous body. His origin lay in being a spiritual creature whose body grew large and whose wisdom blossomed due to the Star’s spiritual energy.
His name—his True Name—was likewise something inherited from the Star.
Naturally, no one except the Star itself should know it.
Only one who owned the Star and became its master could know his True Name.
Wilhelm. Only I—the one who had played the strongest character—knew it.
**「Wh–where did you hear my True Name? Did Wilhelm tell you?」**
Shaking his head once and rising to his feet, Dramut asked in bewilderment.
“Idiot. Did you forget the terms of the contract?”
But the True Name was bound by the contract.
It was impossible to reveal it to another person.
Of course, *I* was no longer bound by that contract, so I could freely speak of it.
*‘So it’s true.’*
Dramut’s scales trembled with a sharp rustle.
A mountain keeper could distinguish truth from lies.
If what I said were false, he could simply break the contract, roam freely, and devour this human on the spot.
But it was true. Not a shred of falsehood.
Even the part about his master having returned.
*‘This human I’ve never seen knows my True Name, even the contents of the contract. He even mentioned Wilhelm’s name.’*
The unbreakable rule of contracts: the moment one even slightly mentioned anything about it to a third party, the subject died and the contract shattered.
Besides, Wilhelm was a 5-star Transcendent. A main character of overwhelming dignity—one who would never break a contract just to divulge a secret to someone.
If the contract had been broken in such a way, Dramut would have known immediately.
*‘But Wilhelm is dead. The stars fell.’*
When the subject of a contract dies, the contract naturally collapses.
Wilhelm died. All five stars fell. That meant a perfect, absolute death—and that all shackles tied to him had vanished.
Naturally, no contract existed now between Dramut and this human. Even if the human knew his True Name, it was only surprising—nothing more.
“Lead the way. The Star will prove me.”
A frail human so weak that Dramut could swallow him whole without leaving a trace—yet so absurdly confident.
And what now? The Star will prove him?
**「You? A Star? You’ll burn the moment you get near it.」**
Dramut scoffed.
Pathetic. The human fell far short of the qualification to consume a Star.
As the Star’s Guardian, Dramut instinctively understood the level required to be compatible with it. But this human wasn’t merely unqualified—he didn’t even meet the bare minimum foundation.
He didn’t understand how the human was unaffected by his divine domain—but clearly he was being supported by some special equipment or artifact.
**「Or have you mistaken that female human beside you as the challenger?」**
That female beside him would at least be better—though still insufficient. One who consumed a Star had to be equal to or surpass Dramut himself.
Otherwise, they would burn before even approaching it.
The Star was endlessly gentle to those who met its standard, but to those who didn’t, it offered not even an inch of mercy.
“I’m the one challenging it.”
Challenging? Cha–lleee–nging?
**「Kwahahahaha!」**
Dramut’s massive body twisted as he laughed hysterically. He couldn’t stop laughing.
After rolling around for quite some time, he finally gathered himself.
He hadn’t laughed like this in centuries.
*‘It’s better for him to burn in the Star than for me to deal with him.’*
Better this way. A bizarre fellow who knew his True Name and even Wilhelm. It was unsettling. The Star would take care of him on its own.
No matter how special or how many unique artifacts he possessed, before the Star they were meaningless. The Star assessed only the challenger’s own abilities.
**「Fine. Follow me, brat.」**
Ssssk—
Dramut willingly began leading the way toward the Star.
—
—
**The Star.**
It was the *Keystone of the Boundary*, required when one surpassed the limits of their species and transcended cognition.
More precisely… it was a corpse.
The shattered remains of the dead twin goddess, Leah—these were what we called “Stars.”
There were a total of 32 Stars scattered across the continent of Pangaenia.
Their body parts were as follows:
Ten fingers, two sections from hand-back to shoulder, one torso, one head, two eyeballs, one nose, one mouth-and-jaw, two ears, one neck, one lower body, ten toes.
The thirty-two body parts of the goddess Leah.
One obtained her Star and, after passing its trial, could finally transcend.
Naturally, each body part granted subtly different transcendence attributes.
And the one here, in this “Nameless Mountain That Holds a Star,” was…
“Th-that… that’s the Star?”
Isabella recoiled. Her eyes were about to pop out as she stared at the “Star” placed upon the altar.
Of course she would.
She had heard of Stars before, but this was her first time seeing one—not to mention that no one had ever told her that “Star-bearer,” “Stars,” and such stories referred to *corpses*.
“T-that skull…?”
A skull with the lower jaw severed.
“Say hello. That is the face of the goddess Leah.”
“A—”
Her knees buckled. Partly due to shock, but also because strange phenomena always occurred before a Star.
“Don’t approach any further. It’s dangerous.”
Even Dramut watched from afar. He seemed quite eager to see how I would die.
I stopped Isabella and walked forward alone.
From here, it was half and half.
This hidden sky-island—this sanctuary—granted skills and classes from all domains.
If so, this mountain and this Star would be the same.
Previously, I already had a class, so I merely obtained a Star and transcended.
Now—
《……》
Words surfaced.
A voice seemed to echo.
But it was filled with noise. It wasn’t true communication.
But I knew who was sending this message.
The dead twin goddess, Leah. Scattered across the continent as Stars.
《Void.》
Taking another step, the voice became clearer.
With each movement, more words added themselves.
《Dexterity, All-Master, Weapon Master, Giant’s Anti-Magic Constitution, Druid’s Nature Affinity, Iron-Blood Monarch’s Heart, Beast Lord, Heavenly, Golden Grace, Mutant, Glutton, Great Sage.》
My thirteen hidden traits.
The goddess read them aloud.
And then—
《You who have opposed ‘Destruction.’》
I slowly lifted the goddess’s skull—the Star—with both hands.
FWOOOOOSH!
A brilliant torrent of light poured into my body from the Star.
**<You have acquired the class ‘Successor of the Star.’>**
**<Your ‘Mana’ is converted into ‘Starforce.’>**
**<Main Skill ‘Star Claw (Lv1)’ and Sub Skill ‘Star’s Blessing (Lv1)’ have been added.>**
**<Star Possession Effect (All Stats +5) has been added.>**
**<An Successor grows stronger depending on the number and type of Stars possessed. Star effects do not disappear even after transcending.>**
……
Text continued to rise endlessly.
Too much to take in at a glance.
**<‘Main Quest 2: Obtain a Class’ has been completed.>**
**<Calculating results…>**
**<Unprecedented! A result that all will tremble before.>**
**<Total Score: 230. Your result has been uploaded to the ‘Hall of Fame.’>**
**<Beginner’s Luck! The ‘Constellation of Fortune’ smiles brighter. Reward quality has been upgraded.>**
**<The ‘Constellation of Adventure’ applauds your recklessness. Reward quality has been upgraded.>**
**<Several constellations of the Civil Domain have begun to take interest in your footsteps.>**
Constellations of the Civil Domain?
I was baffled to hear they were paying attention already.
Those lofty nobles never paid attention to a beginner who had just learned to walk.
Even when playing as Wilhelm, they had only begun to show interest after I’d consumed three Stars.
*‘Is it because of the Successor of the Star?’*
It was a class even I had never seen before.
Not that their attention was a bad thing.
They upgraded the rewards, after all.
I focused on the list of coming rewards.
**<You have obtained ‘Fragment of the Broken Golden Scale.’>**
**<Roll two tiers above your level. Choose two rewards from the ten below.>**
**<Michela’s Armor>, <Michela’s Helm>, <Talisman of Protection>, <Anvil of the Challenger>, <Gills of the Sea>, <Banner of the Red Knight>, <Red Hare>, <Palam’s Armor>, <Tears of the Fairy Queen>, <Shadow Cloak>**
After reading all of it, I couldn’t help but let out a single remark.
“……Holy shit.”
Нормально так-то просто купается в ништяках