I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-84

Ch-84

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All players witnessed the message at the same time, and the forums didn’t just go wild— they outright exploded.

**–The ruler of the Labyrinth City, wtf**

**–So which is better, the Ruins City or the Labyrinth City?**

**–Labyrinth City is old Empire land**

**–Huh? For real?**

**–Yeah, relics from the Old Empire drop in the underground labyrinth**

**–What the hell;; relics from the Old Empire are all insanely expensive**

**–Said there was nothing good there, guess they were secretly milking it? ffs**

**–Of course. The people who knew were silently farming the underground labyrinth already**

**–But it looks like they all got forcibly expelled now**

**–So I’m asking again, which is better, Ruins City or Labyrinth City?**

Cities that rise from the Abyss each possess unique value.

Because the land that sank in ancient times holds relics and environments for growth that vary dramatically.

Among the player-ruled cities, the Ruins City that the Master ruled literally held a staggering amount of ancient ruins.

It was known as the true golden land.

**–Why even ask? Old Empire land is way better**

**–Arhon Empire is stupid strong because they annexed all the Old Empire land**

With the appearance of the Labyrinth City, the rankings were bound to shift.

The current Arhon Empire essentially monopolizes the Old Empire’s territory.

The very reason the Empire dominates the continent is because it inherited the legacy of the Old Empire intact.

**–Then isn’t this dangerous? I doubt the Empire will stay quiet**

**–We’ll see after the protection period ends… powerful players will drool over it too**

**–Just lock the warp nodes**

**–If you keep them locked after the protection period, the city sinks back into the Abyss**

**–Yeah, the cities float in the sky because the warp gates link them. If a link disappears, it’s basically like the ground collapsing**

**–Heard you need at least three cities linked to keep it afloat**

**–WHO DARES TOUCH THE PHANTOM GOD!!!**

**–But since it’s a labyrinth, wouldn’t it be crazy hard to invade lol**

**–If you challenge him even after seeing him clear the labyrinth, you’re not human, you’re a goldfish**

If the Labyrinth City truly had ties to the Old Empire, then doubtlessly many factions would covet it.

Which made players even more curious how Randolph would respond.

**–God, that was satisfying. Pure catharsis**

**–For real, it was like watching a whole movie**

**–I’m dying to know what Gracia’s face looks like right now lmfao**

**–100% like he swallowed shit**

**–Probably can’t even process what happened lol**

**–He probably didn’t believe it was Randolph when he saw the name**

**–When Mint-choco challenged him, he was DEFINITELY thinking ‘You? Clear what even I couldn’t?’**

**–But seriously, when Mint-choco kept going for 24 hours, he must’ve been sweating**

**–If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to show my face for weeks**

**–Gracia maybe, but the Master is shameless enough to pretend nothing happened**

**–But wait, does that mean Randolph is already stronger than Gracia? Is that even possible?**

**–Randolph is invincible. Phantom is God!**

**–The Phantom God is omnipotent!**

**–PHANTOM GOD!**
**–PHANTOM GOD!**
**–PHANTOM GOD!**

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《Several Constellations of the People’s Hall are panicking.》

《The combined score from clearing the labyrinth, completing the false myth, and especially the survival time has far exceeded their expectations.》

The soul of Riley, summoned to the Throne of Brilliant Light.

During the time his soul was summoned, more than 1,400 hours’ worth of fragments of the Golden Scale were consumed.

Even the Constellations of the People’s Hall were startled; they hadn’t expected it to be used *that* much.

‘A survival reward… so time survived inside the labyrinth gets added to the total reward.’

It seemed that the score for clearing the labyrinth and the score for survival time were separate.

Clearing the Abyssal Labyrinth alone, and with an overwhelmingly long survival time at that— it must have thrown off the calculation for upgrading the reward tier.

‘A Constellation must bleed to raise the grade of a reward list.’

Which meant Constellations couldn’t casually upgrade the reward list.

They had to give up something of their own.

Without that “bleed,” they could not upgrade the rewards— hence why they only presented upgrades to those who exceeded the threshold.

And the greater the reward’s grade, the greater the cost— so they hesitated.

‘When I completed the Mystery, the Tower had no reward list, so the Constellations presented alternatives instead.’

The Treasure of a Constellation.

From the unnamed Constellation’s hair, he obtained *Golden Band*.

Because of that, he was able to successfully seal Ahram right before the first invasion.

So wouldn’t they just hand out a Constellation’s treasure this time too?

But then he remembered the situation back then.

‘…Back then, they didn’t upgrade the reward list— they replaced it entirely.’

The Tower had no reward list for Mysteries, so they merely gave points and substituted the reward.

But not this time.

They said they would *upgrade* the list— and then, right after, the score appeared, shocking them.

They had *never imagined* he would use the Golden Scale for over 1,400 hours.

The water had already been spilled.

《Upgrading reward list by 100 stages.》

《The presences of seventeen Constellations have faded.》

《Seventeen new Constellations rise to take their place.》

Truly, water that once spilled could not be scooped back.

A first-ever situation.

It seemed that maintaining a Constellation’s presence required something during a reward upgrade.

And that “something” was forcefully spent— resulting in seventeen Constellations being replaced.

Could there be some system of Constellation candidates?

Like a Hall of Fame where only the top hundred beings can enter the People’s Hall?

‘I hope none of the familiar ones are among the seventeen.’

The Constellation of Luck, or Adventure, or any of the others who always showed up.

He sincerely hoped they weren’t among the casualties.

But such thoughts quickly vanished.

Because new messages appeared— and all his attention shifted to the rewards.

《You have obtained ‘Complete Golden Scale (1)’.》

《You possess the Lucky Dice.》

《The total reward list grade increases by 101 levels.》

《You may select two of the eight rewards below.》

《Avatar of Absolute Annihilation》, 《Brand of Ouroboros》, 《Helm of Baal》,
《Blueprint of the Pureblooded One》, 《Armor of the Avatar Zyggreth》, 《Aspect of Dorian》,
《Soul of the Magma Giant》, 《Eye of Ram》

Whistle—!

A whistle escaped him.

Every single reward was myth-grade at minimum.

Even among myth-grade items, they were half a tier higher than *Satyrus’ Terror*.

‘The Complete Golden Rule, huh.’

And for the first time, it wasn’t a fragment but the scale itself.

He examined the rewards carefully.

‘Blueprint of the Pureblooded One. That’s a unique-grade blueprint.’

A unique-grade blueprint— one even he had never seen before.

It would list the required materials and qualifications.

It naturally drew his interest.

But every other item was incredible as well.

‘…The Brand of Ouroboros. Don’t tell me it reveals the location of that star?’

Among the stars never yet revealed, one was Ouroboros.

Like Isabelle’s Jörmungandr Mystery— another serpent-type star.

Even if it wasn’t that, anything bearing the name Ouroboros was extraordinary.

‘And a piece of the mythic Baal set.’

The Helm of Baal.

One of three mythic set pieces.

Rumor said that if all pieces were collected, the power would rival unique-grade.

Though no one had ever completed it.

This too was tempting.

What about the Soul of the Magma Giant?

A giant’s soul— another first.

The Avatar Zyggreth was one of the Hexagram Heroes. His armor was famous enough to appear in great epics.

Dorian’s Aspect, Ram’s Eye— none of them were inferior.

‘Insane.’

There was nothing here he *didn’t* want.

He had to choose two.

After long deliberation, he made his selections.

《Rewards selected.》

《Experience greatly increases from new enlightenment.》

《Level up!》

Ah…

‘…Finally!’

He clenched his fists tightly.

A level that hadn’t budged when he fought the Supreme Dragon or dueled Sword Saint Riley—

A level that didn’t move even after clearing the labyrinth—

Finally rose to Level 7.

A wave of emotion surged.

Because Level 7 unlocked something important.

《You have reached Level 7 and may enter the Mountain of the Practitioner.》

《‘Main Quest 7: Achieve Skill Mastery Level 15 at the Mountain of the Practitioner’ has begun.》

Main Quest 7 only begins after reaching Level 7.

He had feared that if his level never rose again, he might never start it at all— but thankfully, he could.

But first, there was something he had to do.

He slowly opened the door of the Golden Rule and returned to the labyrinth where his allies waited.

There he saw Greed, Isaac, Isabella, and the still-unconscious Saint Seia.

‘Saint Seia.’

His gaze fixed on her.

It was time to wake her.

The one who was the Abyss itself had left something behind.

What he had seen through the star’s memory matched almost perfectly with Saint Seia’s appearance.

Even if there were slight differences, it wasn’t enough to call her a different person.

Snow-white hair, long eyelashes, flawless skin.

But that was impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

‘Her body should have rotted away from demonic curses.’

During the Grand Expedition, Saint Seia played an immeasurable role.

She alone protected him and the knights from countless curses.

Every priest— over a hundred— and nearly as many holy knights accompanying them had died, yet she steadfastly continued on.

But because she alone absorbed so many curses, her entire body had rotted away.

Pus flowed from her flesh, her skin and organs swollen and deformed until she no longer resembled a human being.

—G-go. Please go forward. I will bless you with my life!

Until the end, the saint was dignified and beautiful.

Her voice still echoed in his ears as though it were yesterday.

Her death had been certain.

There was no surviving that.

But now… she lived.

He should have been glad, yet he couldn’t fully rejoice.

There was only one possibility.

‘The Demon King revived her…’

The Demon King.

He was undoubtedly involved.

But why?

He had removed the curse-poison saturating her and regenerated her skin and organs— for what purpose?

【Lv. 12】

Level 12.

An impossible number.

Humans who surpass Level 10 must transcend by consuming a star.

But Seia was not human.

She wore the shell of a human, yet she was one who received and embodied a goddess.

Thus, she could raise her level beyond 10.

But she could not transcend by consuming a star.

Such beings existed— human, yet not treated as human.

‘I feel no curse.’

Examining her closely, there was no trace of curse.

Her skin felt unmistakably like hers.

He then slowly lifted her eyelids to check her pupils.

*‘…Red eyes.’*

Something had changed.

Both of Saint Seia’s eyes were dyed crimson.

The radiant, brilliant gold that once shone from them was nowhere to be found.

Then… were they someone else’s eyes?

He quietly shook his head.

*‘No—these are indeed Saint Seia’s eyes. The color of her pupils changed because of the curse she endured in the Demon Realm.’*

The more curses accumulated in her body, the redder her pupils became.

She had lost her glorious golden eyes due to an excessive blessing.

It seemed even the Demon King had been unable to restore her eyes.

However—

*‘He engraved something inside her eye.’*

He found a small curse etched beneath the eye.

So tiny and insignificant that it was nearly impossible to notice.

No—

*‘A Mystery in the form of a curse.’*

Of course.

There was no way the most insidious being in the world—the Demon King—would release the saint into the outside world without any safeguard.

*‘A Mystery that makes her feel hostility toward humans.’*

A Mystery containing only that single function.

That was why it had not been detectable on the surface.

He was lucky.

Had the Holy Knights of the Goddess Church found and sheltered her first, there was a very real chance a massacre would have unfolded within the labyrinth.

Holy Knights were on an entirely different level from ordinary knights—both in strength and fanaticism.

Nothing was more terrifying than their corruption.

It was heaven’s blessing that Isaac and Isabella had captured the saint before she made contact with the Goddess Church.

<“Eternal Randolph is activated.”>

<“The Mystery ‘Hostility’ engraved in the opponent’s eye has been removed.”>

If it was a Mystery, removing it was simple.

Eternal Randolph possessed the power to destroy *any* one Mystery— a power virtually indistinguishable from authority.

In fact, the real difficulty lay in locating it in the first place.

“How did you even manage to capture Saint Seia?”

When I asked, Isaac answered,

“She… she was unconscious. The area was full of signs that she’d been fighting someone.”

A battle, huh.

Even if the saint had a high level, her actual combat power was low.

Her innate blessing and regeneration were absurdly strong, but—

Whoever had subdued her, luck had clearly played a large role.

No matter how low her combat ability was, the two of them—Isaac and Isabella—could never have captured her alone.

*‘I don’t know who did it, but… thanks for leaving her only unconscious.’*

He silently expressed gratitude to the unknown person who had struck her down. Had they not, things would have become far more troublesome.

Then Isaac looked up at my head, his voice nearing shock.

“B-but, Star-bearer… that appearance— no, that thing on your head…?”

Ah. That.

I shrugged my shoulders and answered.

 

 

 

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