I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-9

**Hall of Fame**

Ch-9. **Hall of Fame**

—

The result of rolling a die boosted two tiers higher thanks to the two Constellations.

Out of the ten items listed, *not a single one* was something you’d discard.

*They’re practically throwing a full Raid set at me. Am I supposed to complete the Michela Set right here and now?*

The Michela Set was one of the very best sets you could assemble early on, but it was just as hard to complete.

There were only a handful of people who possessed all three pieces.

Yet they threw it in as a main quest reward. A treasure you normally had to grind for with blood, sweat, and tears.

*…All ten of these are treasures that only drop from specific raid monsters.*

And yet, there was a reason I had to hesitate.

I wasn’t a beginner— I was a *super veteran* user of Pangaenia. I knew very well that the other eight items were no less valuable than the Michela Set. That was why my hand paused.

Up to about Year 1 of playing Pangaenia, you’d obviously complete the Michela Set first.

*The Amulet of Protection. It lets you activate a rest zone so monsters can’t attack you in the field.*

In this game, if you don’t log out in a designated location, you get horrifically murdered.

But the further the game progressed, the fewer “save points” there were. That was where items like the Amulet of Protection came in— tools that created safe zones.

Not only for logging out— even while grinding, safe resting became essential. The amulet had value comparable to the Michela Set.

The only drawback was that it was consumable.

*The problem is that it has limited uses.*

All tools that forcibly created safe zones would disappear after a set number of uses. But they were extremely hard to acquire, making them true treasures that required careful use.

*The Gill of Sea Water is essential for exploring the ocean or rivers.*

Same idea.

There were countless hidden dungeons in rivers and seas. Most were for levels 7 and up, but if you waited until then to start looking for the Gill, you’d cough up blood.

So acquiring it beforehand was a wise choice.

The *Anvil of the Challenger*— strictly speaking, I didn’t need it. My hidden trait, Dexterity, made raising production skills with an anvil fast, but I wasn’t a blacksmith.

The *Banner of the Red Knight* and *Red Hare* weren’t important to me either. Bringing that banner to a certain kingdom would grant a knighthood, but that meant becoming tied down. And Red Hare was a mount, but I already had the Hydragon’s Soul.

*Palam’s Armor*, *Fairy Queen’s Tear*, *Shadow Cloak*… among them, the one that drew me most was unmistakably—

*The Shadow Cloak.*

A cloak that hides the wearer within shadows.

It essentially grants a Stealth skill for free.

As long as the cloak doesn’t break, it’s permanent. A blessing if there ever was one.

Higher-tier detection tools or high-level perception skills could reveal you, but that wasn’t common.

Above all, this cloak would be *incredibly* useful in reality too.

An invisible man— who hasn’t dreamed of that at least once as a child?

<‘Shadow Cloak’ selected.>

I picked the Shadow Cloak without hesitation.

Now, one choice remained.

I rubbed my chin, eyes gleaming.

What should I choose from among these?

What would make people say I chose well?

*

「……」

Space and time were collapsing. Everything was being shattered. At this point, even distinguishing reality from dream felt impossible.

Of course, all of this was unfolding *within Dramut’s world*.

Dramut stared at the man, at a loss for words.

He’d thought the man would be incinerated by the **Star**.

But he walked forward with composure, lifted the **Star** as if it had been his from the beginning, as naturally as breathing.

*This is a dream. Not reality.*

Dramut denied it. A fabricated reality. An illusion someone was showing him. Yes, he must be hallucinating.

Maybe he’d slept too long. Or eaten something wrong. Maybe there were too many hallucination mushrooms around?

Dramut accelerated his metabolism. If he was under the influence of toxins, purging them would bring him back to reality.

He closed his eyes— when he opened them, he would return.

Blink!

He shut his eyes tight and snapped them open—

Fwaaaaaaaaaash!

A cascade of starlight poured down.

*…What in the insane hell…*

It had to be a powerful poisonous mushroom he’d eaten this morning. Otherwise, why would the **Star** choose *that* human?

The owner of the Star was also Dramut’s master.

The previous master, Wilhelm, had been a mighty human. A perfect superhuman worthy of being served.

The moment Dramut faced Wilhelm, he realized the gulf between them. Even an army of thousands of Dramuts wouldn’t match him. So he bowed in humility and guided Wilhelm to the Star.

But look at *him*.

*Serve as my master a human who’s weaker than an outside golem?*

There was not even a speck of transcendence in him.

Did he have qualifications?

Not at all.

He wasn’t even prepared to hold the Star.

Weaker than an outside golem, weaker even than a rabbit in the foothills.

The difference in their levels was astronomical. Heaven and earth? No— different dimensions entirely.

So when the man challenged the Star, Dramut laughed. He was certain the man would burn to ashes.

And yet—

“Dramut, kneel.”

「……」

“Oh, right. Snakes don’t have legs.”

This accursed bastard was repeating the exact demand Wilhelm made right after becoming his master.

Even the part about legs— word for word.

“Your eyes are too high for someone meeting his new master, no?”

Sssssss—

Damn. Damn. Damn it all!

No matter how Dramut resisted, he *couldn’t* resist. His massive body automatically lowered, pressing his face to the ground to match the man’s eye level.

An irrefutable, inescapable shackle.

It aligned perfectly with the truth— this human was now the rightful master of the **Star**, and thus *his* master.

“Well done.”

Tap. Tap.

The man patted Dramut’s snout and smiled.

How dare he—

How dare he treat the ancient king, the guardian of the Star, like some pet!

“I am Randolph. From now on, I look forward to working with you, Ancient King Dramut.”

「……」

“Hm. So moved you can’t speak, I see.”

「……」

“Good. Then as a show of loyalty, let us begin by exploring the Sanctuary.”

This was a dream. A wretched nightmare!

Dramuth rejected reality.

But Dramut’s nightmare had only just begun.

*

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Isabella’s heart pounded wildly.

Because she had seen the Star? Or because that Star-bearer suddenly claimed the Star?

She didn’t know. What was certain was that she was in a state of extreme tension.

“Isabella.”

“…Yes.”

She unconsciously raised her speech.

The moment one held the Star, the Star-bearer was no longer merely a Star-bearer.

They *were* the Star. A god.

She was standing before a god.

Even if she was the second-in-command of the great desert city of Faisalmer, even if she was revered as a princess— none of that mattered before a god.

Before a divine being, she was nothing. A speck of dust that could be blown away with a breath.

That giant was bowing like a servant while the man commanded him. Maintaining her previous attitude toward such an existence would be blasphemy.

“If I lift your curse, what do you want to do?”

“Leave the desert…”

“And after you leave?”

“…I… I wish to find my roots.”

“The Dersian family, you mean?”

“…Yes.”

He knew everything. Every secret.

Isabella von Dersian. She had not been born in the desert. She was a noble, born somewhere on the continent, in House Dersian.

She’d learned this through the Queen. The Queen had revealed her secret while cursing her.

But the Queen had said something else:

*If you want the curse lifted, obey.*

*Climb to the position of princess, and then I shall lift it.*

…The Queen never kept her promise.

He knew a secret she had never told anyone. Even if the Star whispered to the Star-bearer, that much should have been impossible.

But the *master* of the Star— the Star itself— could know such things.

“I shall bestow a blessing upon you. But there is a condition.”

“A condition…?”

“Serve me for one year. After that, I will grant you freedom and help you find your roots.”

“Ah…”

“Do you think I am lying?”

Isabella shook her head.

The Star smiled.

“I am not the Queen. I do not lie.”

Just serve for a year, and he would give her freedom.

Truth be told, even if it was a lie, she didn’t care.

If she could just break the curse. If she could escape this damned desert.

“…I will serve.”

Isabella pledged her loyalty.

*

<<Hall of Fame updated.>>

<<Ranking for ‘Main Quest 2 – Obtain a Class’ has changed.>>

<1st – 230 pts: Randolph>

<2nd – 198 pts: Gracia>

<3rd – 190 pts: MintChocolateIsDelicious>

<4th – 166 pts: BlackObsidian>

<5th – 160 pts: Master>

……

<<You are now outside the ranking for ‘Obtain a Class’.>>

<<The privilege for ‘Main Quest 2’ assigned to ‘Massacre’ has been revoked.>>

<<Access rights to the ‘Secret Auction House’ have been revoked.>>

*Cough!*

A sudden message appeared, and “Massacre” scowled.

“The hell— what’s with this crap?”

Privilege revoked?

It meant his privilege to access the Secret Auction House— granted only to those ranked in Main Quest 2— had been taken away.

Massacre was a ranker, but the only one with a normal class. He’d barely clung to the edge of the ranking for Main Quest 2, only to be abruptly overtaken.

But annoyance turned quickly to shock.

“Randolph… 230 points?”

He rubbed his eyes, thinking he’d misread.

He’d finished Main Quest 1 with 220 points, and now this was even higher.

230 points. What class could even yield such a score?

He knew that Gracia, who placed 2nd, had passed up two secret classes to obtain the super-class “Sword Saint” and reached 198 points.

But 230?

“This bastard— is he really Phantom?”

Randolph. Was he truly Phantom?

Most likely. Only Phantom had the knowledge to grasp all of Pangaenia and obtain a class exceeding even Gracia’s.

He must have had his character deleted during the Great Expedition, and truly been summoned into Pangaenia.

*I’ll kill him. I will kill him.*