Chapter 18

Chapter 18
Chapter: 18

## Chapter Title: Masterpiece

“I consumed it.”

I confessed the truth to him.

I wasn’t about to lie and claim otherwise when the deed was done.

Upon hearing this, Hudson’s pupils began to shake like leaves caught in a gale.

“Ah…”

A heavy, mournful breath left Hudson’s lips.

His aspirations had just been demolished.

It was understandable—talismans were the lifeblood for anyone attempting to bridge the gap to level 10.

Particularly an item like the Fairy Queen’s Tear, which drastically reduced equipment requirements. It was a holy grail of treasures, the kind of thing you couldn’t find even with all the luck in the world.

That grand vision of ‘gear carrying’ him had just evaporated into nothingness.

Yet, he couldn’t exactly snap at me and demand to know why I’d used it.

Legally and logically, the Fairy Queen’s Tear had always belonged to the Star Awakener.

He had promised to guide the way, but he had never promised to hand over the Fairy Queen’s Tear.

“Talismans aren’t a requirement to follow the Star Successor’s path to level 10. I warned you before not to cling to empty fantasies.”

Naturally, I wouldn’t admit, even on pain of death, that I’d needed it specifically for the Chid Mamba raid.

Besides, what I said wasn’t technically a lie.

Bypassing the restriction on a single piece of equipment using the Fairy Queen’s Tear wouldn’t have fixed Hudson’s deep-seated problems. There were far too many complications stacked against him for a single item to save him.

I fixed a sharp gaze on Hudson’s face.

More specifically, I looked at the translucent parchment hovering before him.

=======================

·Class: [Merchant]

·Level: [9]

·Strength: [61]

·Vitality: [71]

·Agility: [54]

·Intelligence: [71]

·Mana: [55]

【Intelligence】【Sensation】【Meticulousness】【Boldness】

【Leadership】【Golden Touch】【Business Acumen】【Water】

【Art】【Scholarship】【Observation】【Cooking】

·Observer’s Hand (8Lv)

·Cash Hammer (5Lv)

·Mercenary Tactics (8Lv)

·Water Guardian (6Lv)

·Hermit’s Shop Summon (6Lv)

=======================

…Hudson’s full status window was visible to me.

From the moment he had recounted his entire life history, his status details had manifested clearly in my vision.

I could see his real-world name, Oliver, along with his sex, age, and moral leaning.

“…Dreadful.”

I clicked my tongue in my mind.

Hudson’s actual state was so pathetic it made me wonder how he’d even managed to reach level 9.

His statistics, in particular, were straight-up garbage.

Looking at the talents he had unlocked, he must have poured at least 10,000 SP into his development.

“Intelligence ought to be at 80 at the very least.”

To be blunt, I could have built a better character using my feet.

Intelligence was the primary driver for skill evolution. It was the specific attribute that allowed one to grasp and perfect skills at a faster rate.

Furthermore, there were numerous observation-type skills that required high intelligence to function properly.

For a Merchant class with his specific talent spread, his intelligence should have hit 80 long ago. If it had, every one of his skill levels would likely be a rank higher than they were now.

“He clearly never bothered to fight for himself.”

His Mercenary Tactics was at a staggering level 8.

While the Merchant class usually included that by default, this level of investment was excessive.

His solitary combat-oriented skill was Cash Hammer (5Lv).

If he was going to lean that heavily into others fighting for him, why didn’t he just become a Commander or a Priest?

It was obvious why his low combat stats prevented him from hunting.

He was likely in the same boat as Jeong Jinwoo.

Unlike playing a video game, being pulled into this reality to fight for your life must have been paralyzing for him.

“…The power to inspect another person’s status window wasn’t a feature in the original game.”

Still, it was an intriguing development.

There were certain observation skills that could give you a rough estimate or a glimpse of info, but nothing this comprehensive—nothing that allowed for a full audit of a person’s soul.

Was it because Hudson had bared his heart to me?

That didn’t feel like the whole story.

There was a deeper mechanism making this knowledge tangible.

“Is it one of my hidden attributes… a power of the Great Sage?”

The ability to see levels, detect hidden truths, and dissect the status windows of others could only be explained by a hidden trait.

If it was a knowledge-based power, it had to be linked to the ‘Great Sage’ title.

The moment I gained a profound understanding of Hudson, this phenomenon was triggered by the Great Sage trait.

But a question remained.

“Then why am I unable to see Isabella’s status window?”

Wasn’t Isabella the person I was most familiar with?

She was the character I had personally crafted and developed.

Logic suggested her window should be wide open to me, but it remained hidden.

That implied there were different criteria for viewing a status.

“Personal history, deeper memories, specific details… Thinking back, I don’t actually know that much about Isabella’s inner life.”

I knew who Isabella was, but I didn’t truly *know* her.

I didn’t even understand why she had suddenly been branded the Snake Princess.

It occurred to me then that I knew almost nothing about her past, other than her desire to see the world beyond the dunes and her quest to find her heritage.

In contrast, Hudson had vomited his entire life story at me, including the parts I didn’t ask for.

“…Star Awakener. Are you saying there truly is another way for me?”

“There is.”

I spoke with total conviction.

The routes to reaching level 10 were numerous.

Even if someone couldn’t rely on talismans because of poor stats, there were alternative methods to bridge the gap.

I was likely the person in all of Pangeniar who had hit level 10 the most times across different builds, so he was right to trust me. I just couldn’t tell him why I knew so much.

Hudson lowered his head, his expression becoming even more desperate.

“Please, guide me.”

“First, start by shutting down the casino.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

His look of desperation was instantly replaced by pure bewilderment.

Close down a highly profitable casino?

Had I lost my mind?

“To tread the path of the Star Successor, you need absolute, unwavering concentration—and even then, it will be difficult. Managing a venture like this will only serve as a massive distraction, so I am telling you to end it.”

“Th-that is simply a matter of hiring a manager to run it.”

“If the owner isn’t present, do you honestly believe the city council will leave this gold mine alone?”

“…”

Hudson went silent, his jaw tightening.

The three major casinos of Arcana were legendary. There were countless vultures waiting for an opening. If Hudson vanished, the council would seize the opportunity immediately.

They were greedy bastards consumed by wealth.

But how did the Star Awakener realize this?

These were political realities that even Hudson, who had been doing business in Arcana for over a year, had only recently figured out.

‘Does the star really reveal everything to him?’

Listening to the Star Awakener gave him goosebumps.

The man truly seemed omniscient. When he had brought up the confidential engagement with Serengeti, it felt like being struck by a mallet.

This was his first encounter with the Star Awakener, and while the various rumors had left him uncertain, the man’s knowledge was undeniable.

If a person who knew everything claimed there was a path, the only thing left was for Hudson to have faith.

‘Fine. The casino is secondary.’

Hudson bit his lip hard.

He had built the casino solely to gain entry into the council.

Becoming a council member so he could propose to the Marquess’s daughter—that was his ultimate goal.

But the council gave no respect to Hudson as long as he remained below level 10.

They merely looked down on him, used him, and looked for ways to ruin him.

“…Even if I move as fast as possible, it will take three days to close everything out.”

“I’ll grant you two. We depart after that.”

“To where?”

“Masterpiece.”

“Master… piece?”

A thin smile played on my lips.

The launch point for Main Quest 3, and the location that would settle every current issue: Masterpiece.

And to reach it, I required Hudson’s assistance.

‘Hudson is essentially a mobile shop and potion supply.’

Water Guardian and Hermit’s Shop Summon!

His personal fighting prowess was negligible, but Hudson was the premier support unit, filling the roles of both merchant and healer.

I wasn’t about to let that kind of utility slip through my fingers.

I stated our goal clearly.

“We are heading to the Spirit Tower.”

“… ? The Spirit Tower—does such a place actually exist?”

Hudson tilted his head in confusion.

There were plenty of myths about the Spirit Tower, but no one had ever actually found the entrance.

But it was very real.

‘I’ve stood within its walls.’

I had explored it before.

Spirits. The most enigmatic entities in this world.

However, only the “chosen” were permitted to enter the Spirit Tower.

Only those who had been hand-picked by the spirits themselves.

It was an incredibly rare occurrence.

One needed specific talents, an endless string of completed quests, and a massive amount of luck to even get a chance.

Among all the players, you could count the number of people who had entered on one hand.

They were the lucky few who had beaten “miracle” odds.

And once inside, you had to beat those odds all over again.

But I wasn’t concerned.

I didn’t need to wait for the spirits to choose me.

‘Druid’s Nature Affinity.’

With the hidden attribute of a druid who commands spirits, I would be the one doing the choosing—not the spirits.

There was no time to waste on idle play.

Establishing travel waypoints in advance whenever the opportunity arose was the most logical move.

However, trying to scout every inch of Arcana would be insanity.

“You’re asking me to open the gates to the sewers?”

Hudson asked, looking horrified.

The absolute gutter of Arcana. The idea of entering a dungeon located in the sewers did not sit well with him at all.

“The population of mutant rats down there is no joke. Even for someone like you, Star Awakener, entering without preparation…”

“I am well aware.”

“The city council completely abandoned the sewer dungeon. Are you certain about this?”

Even the high-ranking members of the council had given up on cleaning out the sewers.

A standard mutant rat was level 5, but their sheer volume was suffocating, and the underground tunnels were such a labyrinth that a total purge was considered impossible.

Moreover, the boss of the sewer dungeon was level 8.

It was a raid boss that typically required a team of at least six level 8 players to defeat.

“It will be fine.”

“…Then I will accompany you.”

Hudson spoke with a look of deep concern.

He had the authority to open the dungeon access, but if the Star Awakener were to be killed, his hard-earned dreams and hopes would die with him.

“Suit yourself.”

I gave a casual shrug.

Why would I ever say no to a free healer?

Thud!

A massive, bloated sewer mutant rat slammed into the stone floor.

The creature that had been terrorizing the citizens of Arcana, scurrying through the tunnels with impunity, had finally been brought down.

Now I possessed waypoints for both the desert city of Paysalmer and the golden city of Arcana.

The specific location of this one was a bit unpleasant, though.

“Y-you killed the mutant rat… all by yourself…?”

Hudson was staring at Isabella—not me—with eyes wide with shock.

Isabella calmly wiped her blade and returned to my side as if the fight hadn’t even been a challenge.

The mutant rats were fast and hard to pin down, but they were the perfect prey for Isabella’s assassin class.

‘There is no comparison.’

Even if I had experimented with her build as a “challenge” character, Isabella was still a unit I had poured genuine effort into optimizing.

I had only stopped because I couldn’t find a way to lift the Queen’s Curse.

She was on an entirely different level than Hudson, who had only reached his level by being “carried” by others.

Hudson whispered in a daze.

“Incredible. It wasn’t just the combat… blocking the escape routes ahead of time was a stroke of genius. Precisely timing the water flow…”

Just as Hudson noted, we had sealed off every potential exit for the mutant rat before the fight even started.

Of course, trying to block every single branch of the complex sewer system was logically impossible.

However, the timing of the water inflow varied from tunnel to tunnel. By calculating those timings with absolute precision, we were able to trap the rat in a corner and slaughter it easily.

“Even the most dangerous beasts are easy to kill if you use your brain.”

“This is far beyond just using your brain…”

He did all those calculations in his head?

Hudson couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Arcana’s sewers were a web of hundreds, thousands of pipes. The water flow schedules were different for every single channel—how could anyone keep track of it all?

If the math on the water path was off by even a second, the mutant rat would have escaped.

Even a top-tier computer would have struggled with that variable-heavy math.

Gulp!

‘They are monsters.’

The woman who had soloed the boss rat was a freak of nature, but the true monster was the Star Awakener.

There were plenty of skilled fighters in the world. Plenty of high-level players.

But Hudson was willing to bet that no one fought with the cold precision of the Star Awakener.

As a Merchant, Hudson had interacted with countless individuals and developed a keen instinct for judging character.

And he knew one thing for certain: the Star Awakener was someone you never wanted to have as an enemy.

‘Oh ho.’

Ignoring Hudson’s intense stare, I focused on the notifications floating in the air.

The Lucky Die. The unique item I’d obtained from slaying the Chid Mamba.

It was something I had never encountered during my years of playing Pangeniar.

I had assumed it was a single-use consumable, but it actually had a passive “possession” effect?

On top of that, the Constellation of Adventure had been impressed. My rewards had been boosted by two full tiers.

I carefully scanned the list of rewards and gave a satisfied nod.

‘Very lucky.’