Claimed the Rewards Immediately

Whoosh!

My vision flickered and blinked, and in an instant, my surroundings changed. From a cramped corner of my rundown room to the middle of a vast corridor stretching across an infinite universe... It was the same place I'd briefly visited when I first awakened.

The Constellation Corridor. A mystical place lined with statues of all 99 classes I'd ever raised.

"Still looks badass."

'Let's take a look.'

Pop.

The moment I thought about it, it popped up right in front of me—nice and user-friendly.

'Probably stuff related to classes I haven't unlocked yet, right?'

I swiped down like on a touchpad.

"Oh."

Unlocked entries appeared.

"Kya. Number zero, huh."

But there was something off. Lost Honor had exactly 99 classes. If achievements were per class, there should be 99 slots.

Yet when I counted them all...

There were 100 slots now. And the very last one was labeled...

'Oh ho!'

There was only one answer for something like this.

"It's a hidden one."

Heh heh. They even hid stuff all the way out here? They know exactly what gets me hooked.

"Well played."

'So beyond the 99 classes, there's a zeroth or hundredth one even I don't know about?'

That was intriguing. Extremely so. I'd thought there was nothing in this game I didn't know.

'...I'll dig into the details later.'

I tapped the glowing golden [Frost Sorcerer] entry.

"Oh ho."

'Achieved' was sparkling too, so I tapped it again.

Han Seol-ah had come in at S-rank and left as EX. Meaning, possessing a transcendent EX-rank hunter had auto-completed all the lower-rank achievements too.

"So what's the reward?"

Achievements always gave juicier rewards for higher difficulties. Brimming with anticipation, I tapped the [EX-Grade Achievement] entry.

"...Huh?"

Just turning on Synchronization right now drained Nebula's mana in 10 minutes flat, forcing it off. That's where my 10-minute limit came from.

But a 90% reduction?

"That's down to a tenth."

Now I could maintain Synchronization for 100 minutes! 'The sync duration was a bigger bottleneck than I thought. I figured there'd be a way to fix it... but I got it way sooner than expected.'

Game devs were all the same. They force you to feel the pain of inconvenience. Then they dangle the solution. Gamers grind like mad to unlock it... and when they finally do, that massive sense of liberation hits. They call it 'insane fun.'

'Jackpot.'

Like right now! How many headaches had Synchronization's limits caused? In a game, I could just say 'screw it.' But this was reality. 'Screw it' meant 'then die' in this brutal world.

This massive relief from that pain...

I felt an enormous wave of liberation.

'With this...'

Now my future moves had way more flexibility.

"Heh, heh heh."

A grin crept onto my face. Curious, I checked the lower-grade rewards too.

"......"

The gaps were huge. Insanely huge. EX at 90%, but the next tier down, S-grade, only 50%? A 40% difference on paper, but in actual uptime? Night and day.

"EX gives 100 minutes, S-grade only 20."

A full 5x difference. Not just 'a bit worse'—totally different league.

"Settle for S-grade? No way in hell."

I wasn't grinding that hard for a measly 20 minutes. The answer was clear.

"EX or bust."

Like with Han Seol-ah, find promising sprouts, possess them. Then slather on Nebula's rare elixirs and items to force them into EX-grade.

"I can do it. Me. And Nebula!"

Time to show what a decade of rotten gamer skills could really do.

'Finding those promising sprouts is the issue, though.'

I'd use Min Ji-hee or the Black Market for that.

'...Think on that later.'

Something told me scouting those sprouts would be a massive hurdle.

The achievement rewards didn't end there.

"Whoa."

This was huge too. Even with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠natural drain stretched to 100 minutes, a few spells would still kill it—super frustrating. But halving spell costs?

Way more spell spam. And...

"That's not even the best ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠part."

The real kicker was doubling my 'lifeline.'

Overuse spells during sync, and the backlash hits hard post-sync. Could even kill you in bad cases.

My limit to avoid death? 50,000 MP. Easy example: Pre-reward, one Eternal Winter from Han Seol-ah would've retired me.

Now? Two shots. And Frost Sorcerer spells cost way less MP than hers.

"How much stronger am I gonna get... me!"

But wait, there's more!

Overload! Rare for Lost Honor—it even had a description.

Simple. Post-reward, Eternal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Winter at 25,000 MP. Hit it with 2x Overload? Costs 50,000 MP but double power.

"This'll be great strategically."

Gut feeling: Not for boss fights, but PvP. 'Mixing feints and kills.'

That wrapped the first reward: Constellation Corridor - 'Achievements' Unlocked.

Next... [Possession Ticket] safely pocketed.

Last: The hidden reward.

"Alright, what's this?"

Pop!

"Oh?"

Familiar names. Codex power compiles info on hunters I've encountered?

"......"

Her name caught my eye first. So many questions.

Min Ji-hee's awakening ability was top-secret—even Black Market intel couldn't crack it. Public knowledge? Her eyes glow and she gets smarter. That's it.

'Clicking this will tell me?'

Tap.

'...Muoan? B-grade?'

Unexpected. Muoan was cat eyes. Two perks: boosted dynamic vision, sees in the dark. That's it. No smarts or eloquence.

'...Then what was that ability she showed?'

'Stats look... average?'

Mana sticks out a bit on a tiny pentagon.

'...Oh.'

The traits were fascinating. No detailed explanations, but the combo screamed what they meant.

'She’s just stupidly smart, huh?'

Everyone was fooled. They thought her genius came from her awakening—eyes glowing every time she shone.

But her actual awakening? Plain B-grade Muoan.

Her brilliance was just Min Ji-hee herself.

'More precisely, her busted unique trait.'

Yet she'd spread the fake intel that her awakening was the source.

'No idea why.'

...Just one tap on the codex, and I saw through her deception of everyone.

Next, [Han Seol-ah].

'Nine Yin Severed Meridians? Isn't that from old wuxia novels?'

The traits hanging under it... Her genius stemmed from this Nine Yin Severed Meridians.

'Penalties too.'

[Heaven's Curse: Dim Light] (Overcome). Mana affinity so high it froze her body—a curse. I fixed it by blasting open her mana veins.

'Without me, she'd have died young.'

Our connection felt even more fateful now. And every trait being EX? So very Han Seol-ah.

No detailed explanations, but the keywords fit her perfectly as a hunter.

'...Which means...'

I could figure out unknown hunters from their traits.

"This codex is genius."

Seeing Han Seol-ah's confirmed it. OP ability.

Hunter Association only had basics like profiles and awakenings. No way to get this detailed.

And... the real shocker.

This. The alpha and omega of the codex.

Seeing a hunter's potential power!

Why's that huge? New achievements demand EX possessions to max out. But who can guarantee 'this one's definitely EX'?

Dump elixirs on someone who caps at S? Wasted resources and time. Ruin.

But with the codex? Zero-failure investments. Pick only EX-potentials.

"Insane..."

Some might worry: High potential but trash current power? When to raise them?

Say I find one like that. Normal guilds ignore it. "Too long to raise."

But...

"Doesn't matter at all."

A-rank, F-rank, even unawakened civilians—all the same to me.

Why? Nebula's resources can rocket anyone to EX.

"Just have talent. Talent only."

I'll raise 'em myself!