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***

Calmly.

I calmly surveyed my surroundings and assessed the situation.

First, I looked at the levels of the slave traders who had attacked.

【Lv3.】

Most of them converged around level 3. The level of regular soldiers. If they weren't desert warriors, there was a chance of survival.

"Gasp!"

"There are too many Hydragons!"

The problem was those things. Three monsters of level 5, classified as raid boss monsters.

"My level is 1."

On the other hand, I was level 1. They were all higher than me.

No matter how I thought about it, it was a conscienceless quest. To survive at level 1 in the middle of such a battlefield?

Furthermore, boss monsters had additional effects beyond their level.

"Hydragons have poor eyesight. They can't move their bodies and heads simultaneously."

However, in this world, if you knew the strategy, even a level 1 could kill a level 5 boss monster.

From the start, Hydragons were designed to be defeated by 12 players of level 1.

You truly felt the difference in levels, the gap in power, starting from level 7.

Therefore, up to that point, it was somehow possible to overcome.

"I can do it."

It was too early to despair even at level 1.

The most important thing was that I was the ultimate veteran of this game.

I just had to perform as 12 people, no matter how difficult.

Clang!

My sword and the scimitar collided.

A soldier, who had approached and was exuding killing intent right in front of me.

"This is a real situation."

It wasn't a game.

Everything, from swinging the sword to moving my body, wasn't resolved with a single click.

This was a battlefield where flesh met flesh, where it was cut, pierced, and torn. You could only survive by moving your own body.

Although it seemed hopeless, there was hope.

"I can see the sword path."

Was it the influence of 【Weapon Master】?

I could see the sword path. I accurately read the places where I should swing.

Furthermore, as soon as I gripped the weapon, I became familiar with it. It felt as if I had swung it tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times.

The actions I needed to take were drawn in my mind.

And before they were drawn in my mind, my body reacted first.

Crack!

I deflected the sword diagonally and punched, shattering the soldier's jaw.

I severed the neck of the soldier who lost his balance and staggered.

There was no hesitation. There was no fear.

The sword path, and indeed all combat paths, were already projected in my eyes!

✺✺✺

The Snake Princess gazed at the center of the battlefield with a peculiar look.

Her mission was to erase this place. An absolute command from the Desert Queen.

It wasn't a particularly difficult task.

She was the second strongest after the Queen. Moreover, their numbers were far greater.

However, one of the slaves suddenly acted out and began slaughtering her soldiers.

What was even more surprising was that he had also killed one of the Hydragons.

He was rampaging through the battlefield alone.

"......What is that person?"

✺✺✺

"Huff! Huff! Haaak!"

My heart felt like it would burst.

Every time I exhaled hot breath, it felt like my throat was being scraped with a knife.

I couldn't even distinguish whether the drops falling from above were blood or sweat.

But what was clear was that I was still alive.

Ching!

The blade of the sword, which had clashed hundreds of times, broke.

Then, the net that had been closing in on me began to tighten even more.

Among them, the spearmen were particularly troublesome.

"The sword is broken! Kill him!"

"Now's our chance!"

Fortunately, these were not regular soldiers. They didn't move as one in a structured military formation.

Just then, a spearman, intoxicated by the desire for victory, approached with his formation scattered.

"Ugh!"

I rolled my body close to the spearman and swept the ground. The tripped spearman fell, dropping his spear.

Before the spear hit the ground, I grabbed it and used the momentum to parry the swords that were being swung by the soldiers who took advantage of that momentary opening. Then, the soldier's upper body lost its balance.

"Crack!"

I pierced the soldier's neck with the spearhead. Instant death. With a swish, I pulled out the spear and spun it to block the approaching movements. The acrobatics, like those of a master of spear combat who had trained their entire life, mesmerized the surrounding soldiers.

Thanks to 【Heart of the Iron-Blooded Lord】, I could calmly survey my surroundings and not tire easily. Another hidden trait, 【Weapon Master】, allowed me to handle all weapons like a seasoned expert without prior proficiency.

It even synergized with 【Dexterity】.

The hidden trait 【Dexterity】 is related to skill proficiency. While Weapon Master allows you to handle all weapons, Dexterity helps you "easily" advance to higher proficiency levels.

Skill proficiency also has a cap of level 10. A proficiency level of 6 meant the skill of a renowned knight honed over a lifetime.

This was achieved the moment I gripped the weapon.

There are also interconnections and synergies between hidden traits like these. Of course, only a very few knew this. Hidden traits were not widely known even among players.

I used swords, spears, sabers, bows, scimitars, maces. I didn't discriminate against any weapon.

"You monstrous bastard!"

"That monstrous guy is tired too!"

"Kill him!"

Amidst all sorts of praise, the net continued to close in.

The attackers numbered 500. Even though I had killed one Hydragon, it was overwhelming for me alone.

If a level 1 character like me had killed thirty soldiers and a Hydragon, I had done more than enough. It was thanks to minimizing my movements to conserve stamina and utilizing all weapons.

If another player had seen this, they would have been horrified. Even veterans would have shaken their heads, wondering if that was even possible.

Still, I was reaching my limit.

But even at my limit.

A smile spread across my lips.

This was what I had been waiting for.

"Round 2 begins."

I stretched my shoulders. My rapid breathing regained a sense of stability. The movements of the approaching soldiers felt slow. It felt like what awakening would be like.

"Stop."

Whoosh-

It was at that moment.

A woman's voice, striking my eardrums as it rode the battlefield.

At that voice, the soldiers froze stiffly.

"She's finally here."

The soldiers parted like the Red Sea.

The woman, who was leisurely observing the front lines while riding atop a Hydragon.

Unlike the warriors of this desert, she had tanned skin, but her complexion was exceptionally fair. As she approached with an elegant gait like a cat, I let out a suppressed sound.

I had anticipated her appearance.

"There's no need for Your Highness to step forward..."

The captain of the hundred men bravely spoke to the Snake Princess, but she scoffed.

"That person is not tired. They were only pretending to be tired."

"......That's impossible. Their breathing and sweat..."

"Look closely. Does their breathing seem strained?"

"......"

At that moment, the captain's eyes turned to me.

Seeing me, who had now regained my breath, he frowned. His expression and gaze seemed to say, "What kind of monster is this?"

"You mean they were pretending to be tired... and luring us into a false sense of security?"

"Yes."

Though it wasn't intentional, the fact that my stamina had recovered due to leveling up seemed to have been interpreted that way by the Snake Princess.

I met the Snake Princess's gaze with an unchanged expression.

"As expected. Few people remain unfazed when facing me."

Although I sensed a momentary surge of killing intent, I neither surprised nor flinched due to 【Heart of the Iron-Blooded Lord】.

She was a being who could size up an opponent with mere aura. I looked above her head.

【Lv 8】

Level 8. A possessor of a level that could be called 'the strongest' anywhere!

The standard for distinguishing the strong in Pangenia is level 7. From level 7 onwards, a significant difference begins to appear, and it becomes difficult to overcome the gap in levels.

And level 8 was a level attainable only by the leaders of famous organizations. It was a level that might be found one or two times in a major city of a million people.

"Was there such a strong individual in Paisalmer?"

There was one. The Queen of Paisalmer. However, to my knowledge, there were no named NPCs who had reached level 8 besides her.

This was the starting city. It was merely a starting point.

Yet, for some reason, the woman before me looked strangely familiar.

Whether it was that she looked familiar or felt familiar, I had a feeling of having had a rather deep connection with her in the past.

Finally, she approached and said.

"What is your name?"

My name?

"I fell here without even choosing a nickname."

Come to think of it, I hadn't even chosen a nickname yet. Could this be a branching point for naming nicknames?

"Besides, the quest isn't over."

There was no indication that the main quest had ended. Survival. The task for survival was still ongoing.

It was probably because of the Snake Princess. Even combining everyone gathered here, they were no match for the Snake Princess alone. With a threat that could surely kill me right before my eyes, the survival quest could not possibly end.

"In that case..."

This "name" was also important.

"Randolph."

"......Great Wolf? Are you from the desert?"

Randolph is the name for 'Great Wolf.' The Snake Princess's eyes widened in surprise as I uttered a word that only someone from the desert region would know.

But that was all.

"If you're from the desert, why are you with these remnants of the Central Continent's expeditionary force?"

Blatant disgust.

The people of the desert describe the humans of the Central Continent as demons.

If captured, they are all used as slaves and then killed.

I would be killed too once she lost interest.

But I had a question.

"They knew we were an expedition. Yet they annihilated us."

It was uncommon to annihilate them like this before even using them as slaves.

They even killed their own kin from the same desert tribes.

"Destroying evidence. They're trying to conceal the fact that the expedition reached the desert."

The 8 Heroes and the Expeditionary Force... it was likely referring to the grand expedition to the Demon Realm that I had led with eight unique-grade equipment.

However, my expedition had failed. Despite all the preparations, I couldn't cross the threshold of the Demon King. There were various reasons for this, besides the Demon King being too powerful.

"They fear the Central Continent."

I reached a conclusion.

The Desert Queen feared any connection between the expedition and the desert.

She knew that if it became linked to the discussion of the expedition's failure, a bloodbath would ensue. While soldiers were drafted from almost all major cities on the continent, the desert city of Paisalmer was an exception.

This was the easiest place to be accused of witchcraft.

Therefore, she was eliminating anything that could be connected, even by 0.1%.

After roughly grasping the situation, I opened my mouth.

"I was monitoring the movements of the Central Continent."

"......A spy from the Central Continent? Who sent you?"

"I went of my own accord."

"Of your own accord? Speak sense. Above all, I've never seen a warrior like you in this desert before. Your skin color is different, and you bear no tribal markings. If you're trying to deceive me with something you overheard..."

"A Star-Awakened. I am not bound to any tribe. I never said I was from the desert myself, so I don't know why you're mistaken."

"......!!!"

Star-Awakened. One who reads the stars and is guided by them.

They were seers and truly rare wanderers in the world. Those who moved, prayed, for the stars, following them, chasing them.

And it was a name that the Snake Princess desperately needed.

"Snake Princess Isabella. Isabella von Dersian."

"How do you know... my full name?"

"Star-Awakened can hear the voice of the stars."

Meaning, the stars told me.

Of course, that was impossible.

Star-Awakened was a class that players could not obtain. It was a class only for chosen NPCs, and players had to seek them out once they surpassed level 10 and obtained the stars.

And Isabella von Dersian was in a similar situation.

She wanted to leave this desert more than anyone else.

She was bound by the Queen's curse. She was also not from a desert tribe. But to escape, she needed the stars, the blessing of the stars.

How did I know all this?

"Why on earth did the character I created become the Snake Princess?"

I had a hunch, but a hunch can be deadly.

The worst starting point.

I didn't know why the character I had created casually to try it out was now standing before me.

Its limitations were clear, and there was no way to grow further in this desert, so I had given up.

More accurately, due to the Queen's curse, there was no way to progress without the "blessing of the stars." But finding a Star-Awakened in the desert was impossible, so I had given up.

How could I not be taken aback when the character I had abandoned had now become the Snake Princess standing before me?

It was at that moment.

<'Main Quest 1: Survival' has been completed.>

......A notification of survival.

Despite killing dozens of soldiers and even slaying a Hydragon, the quest that hadn't been completed was finally announced as finished.

That wasn't all.

<Exceptional! A miraculous result beyond perfection.>

<Beginner's Luck! The 'Constellation of Fortune' smiled. Reward content has been significantly upgraded.>

......

After checking the details, I couldn't help but be astonished.

"......Crazy."

It was a reward that naturally elicited the exclamation of "crazy."

Chapter 3: Miraculous Results