1st Place — Randolph

It's only the first invasion. Nothing special.

I need to handle this as stylishly as possible.

Even if they call him the King of the Dimensional Rift, he's still just a mid-tier Abyss overlord at best.

Everyone was optimistic. They weren't even thinking about how to clear the invasion — they were busy figuring out how to look the coolest on camera while dealing with whatever monsters came through. A mere ten percent. At that level, the creatures pouring out couldn't possibly be anything serious.

But the heroes' confident attitudes flipped in an instant.

"Wait — what…?"

"Clearing it… who…?"

All of them began panicking at once. They had every reason to.

It had died in an instant. Absolute annihilation. And yet no monster had been observed emerging from any dimensional rift. So who? Who was clearing it? Who had even managed to kill it?

"Ahram…!"

Several heroes recoiled the moment they saw the resurrected king's name. So the King of the Dimensional Rift had been Ahram, King of the Dead all along — the gatekeeper who ruled the first hell of the Demon Realm, the Swamp of the Dead. Anyone who had taken part in the Great Expedition knew that terror down to their bones. Fully half the expedition force had died to that creature.

A monster on Ahram's level couldn't possibly be cleared in secret…

The Dead and hybrids under his command ranged from several meters to dozens of meters in size. Ahram himself was a top-tier undead Death Knight. A powerhouse capable of reshaping the terrain single-handedly had appeared — a stealth clear was absurd.

Every Player found themselves unable to tear their eyes from the floating window.

They cleared Ahram in under three minutes?

Is that even possible?

It would take someone on Gracia or Master's level!

Not even three minutes had passed since Ahram's resurrection. Yet neither Gracia nor Master was engaged in any clear. A third party. Someone other than the Eight Heroes was conquering the raid at a speed beyond imagination. But where, and how, remained completely unknown.

And that wasn't the end of it.

A Hybrid Fusion Entity. Ahram was resurrecting endlessly — growing stronger with each revival, the clear time stretching longer and longer. Just the name alone was pure terror.

Unlike the previous clears, once five minutes passed, the Players privately cheered.

Looks like they finally failed.

Tried a stealth clear and started running out of steam?

Whoever you are, it's our turn now.

They couldn't just stand around and let it end like this. If the mystery clearer had gotten greedy and died, it wouldn't even count toward the rankings — they'd just look like fools who'd done free work for everyone else.

But those hopes were shattered in an instant.

"…"

"What the hell did it just say?"

"…What kind of bullshit is this?"

The Players let their raw frustration spill out without restraint. It was that absurd. Forget a clear — there hadn't even been an invasion. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Not a single monster. Not so much as an ant. And yet — clear complete? The main quest was over?

Before long, the image of Pangenia hanging in the sky began to fade away. One by one, ordinary people started sensing something was off.

The world returned to normal. The invading monsters never appeared at all — nothing more than a hollow threat that simply withdrew. But the Players had no bandwidth to answer the public's questions. Their pupils were trembling as they denied the reality before them. Because they had seen it.

"…!"

"…!!!"

Contribution rank one. A single name on the ranking list. The name of Randolph.

The Giant of Annihilation, Dramut, and every other Star Guardian still couldn't believe it. A Corpse Crow being recognized as a Star Guardian was utterly unprecedented. And yet the Star Guardians could feel it clearly — the star currently held by the Corpse Crow, Randolph, had acknowledged him as its guardian.

"Strictly speaking, he is somewhat different from us."

The Giant of Annihilation added a further remark. One of the Star Guardians asked, puzzled,

"Different how?"

"We are guardians who follow the Goddess of Earth, Rhea. That Corpse Crow is the sole guardian of the Goddess of the Sky, Fina."

Thirty-two stars belonged to the Goddess of Earth, Rhea. But the thirty-third star — that one was unmistakably one of the eyes of the Goddess of the Sky, Fina. Even so, it couldn't be called entirely different. Goddesses Rhea and Fina were twins. Without both of them existing together, the world itself could not exist. Strictly speaking, they were ultimately the same.

The Giant of Annihilation corrected himself.

"Even so, as a fellow Star Guardian, he clearly possesses equal standing with us. I formally recognize the Corpse Crow's elevation to Star Guardian."

"Mmm. Indeed — he even destroyed a Unique-grade Mystery."

"And he sealed Ahram."

"As a Transcendent being, his qualifications are more than sufficient."

The Star Guardians began nodding one by one. The Corpse Crow was no mere Corpse Crow. He was a Transcendent who had destroyed a Unique-grade Mystery and sealed even Ahram. The difference was only in appearance — his rank itself was more than enough to become a Star Guardian. It overflowed.

"Hold on. He is not a Star Guardian."

At that moment, the Giant of Annihilation's brow furrowed at the voice that suddenly spoke from beside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him.

"…White King. Do not interfere in our affairs."

"'Our' affairs? He is already the Fifth Lord. Not some Star Guardian."

"What are you talking about?"

The White King shrugged.

"Before coming here, I granted him the rank of Fifth Lord. The other Lords agreed as well."

Technically it had been a split decision, but that hardly mattered now. Star Guardians and Lords occupied completely separate domains. The two could never overlap. One could only be one or the other. Moreover, the White King had already claimed the Lord's seat and staked his mark on it — making it clear that the Star Guardians could not take it from him.

But the Giant of Annihilation shook his head.

"The moment the star acknowledged him, he became a Star Guardian. A qualification bestowed by the Goddess cannot be overridden by the likes of you."

"Everything has its cause and effect. Even gods are not free from the law of causality. I granted the rank first — so kindly step aside."

"So you mean to spill blood over this?"

"Out of respect for the Goddess, I allowed you into Kramdel. But my patience ends here."

"Amusing, White King. Do you think I fear you?"

Their gazes collided violently in the empty air. The will to yield not even an inch radiated from both of them.

"Why are you lot deciding my fate as you please, caw?"

Listening to all this, I found it ridiculous. Two monsters were fighting over my future.

The Giant of Annihilation looked at me and said,

"We are not deciding it. It has already been decided…"

"No. Randolph is right. One decides one's own path."

The White King backed me up. At once, the gazes of every Star Guardian, the White King, and the Four Lords fixed on me — as if telling me to make a choice.

But even that wasn't a satisfactory answer. I slowly looked back and forth between the Giant of Annihilation and the White King.

"Prove which side offers me the greater benefit, caw."

From the start, both of them had the premise wrong. If you want to recruit someone, don't you start by naming a salary?

*

No dramatic settlement was reached, but both factions clearly understood my intent and decided to take time to deliberate. They would assess my value properly and then negotiate in earnest.

In the meantime, I was sorting through everything I'd gained inside the Death King's castle.

Level 6.

I'd already reached level six. The decisive role I'd played in killing Ahram seemed to have returned as an even greater experience reward. That made six. An ordinary character would have hit nine long ago, but the increased experience required for each level-up had its own advantages, so I had no complaints.

More importantly—

Status window.

A smile came unbidden. The stats were delicious. Level six, yet the stats were on par with an average level ten. Claiming two stars, combined with the class trait of Star's Successor raising every stat by ten, had done that. Confirming that a fourteenth Hidden Trait ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was now locked in filled me with an indescribable sense of grandeur. Leveling was slow — but the growth of my actual power far exceeded that of any normal path.

Anyone who saw this would call it a bug character.

Even I could barely believe what I was looking at. Someone else would have had a heart attack. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Level-ups, and the stars. But that still wasn't everything.

Main Quest rank one. I contributed alone, so of course.

The sole participant. Naturally, first place was mine.

That said…

I set the reward I'd just received on my palm. A rectangular object radiating a brilliant platinum light.

A Platinum Box.

A reward I'd never seen before in my life. I had no idea what was inside. Unlike other main quests, invasion events had fixed rewards by ranking, and first place received this Platinum Box.

"KRAAAAAAGH!"

A scream snapped my head around. Ahram thrashing in agony entered my field of view. The Gingoa clamped around his head was tormenting him, and his appearance had changed dramatically from before.

He's gotten a lot smaller.

Once the Gingoa sealed him, Ahram had shrunk to roughly the size of a child.

Powerful enough to seal Ahram that easily…

The hair of the Nameless Constellation was an extraordinarily potent sealing tool — the Gingoa. It had clearly been transformed from hair for the occasion. I'd been uncertain at first, but watching it seal Ahram made me quietly glad of the choice.

The Gingoa doesn't just seal a monster — it steals one of the sealed creature's abilities.

If it only sealed, it would have been somewhat disappointing. But the Gingoa's true power lay in taking an ability from its sealed target. Similar to the Glutton Hidden Trait, yet different.

And it takes the ability intact.

One of Ahram's abilities had been grafted onto me whole. Glutton required transforming into the consumed species and leveling skills from scratch, but the Gingoa let you use the target's unique skill exactly as it was.

Of course, using the Gingoa didn't guarantee a seal. Without the Giant of Annihilation holding him down, the sealing would have failed.

There's a constraint — the target must be immobilized for ten seconds. Thanks to the Giant of Annihilation, I got the Gingoa on him.

The target also receives a warning. But if you can hold them for just ten seconds, the Gingoa will seal anything. Even if that target is a Demon King — or a god.