The Story is Told to the Protagonist.

The atmosphere shifts as Sierra notices and becomes flustered.

“Um… Why are you all acting like this…?”

I belatedly realize I’ve completely failed to manage my expression.

“…”

What would happen if I’m found out?

A suspicious person unaffected by the system’s rules, knowing about the trials in advance. If word spreads that such a person is here.

If that information leaks out through the Ash White Clan.

‘It’s over.’

If the Angel King decides to hunt me down, there’s no way I can resist that.

‘Should I flee from the team now and hide my face? No, do I need to silence them?’

What should I do now…

“Noah.”

“Huh?”

Finally, Ein’s voice breaks through the sound of my pounding heart.

“Are you perhaps someone important from the royal family?”

“What? Me?”

What is she talking about?

Looking around, unlike me, everyone else doesn’t seem surprised by Ein’s words.

“…It seems everyone thinks that way?”

“We can’t help but think so.”

Calm down and think. This isn’t the worst-case scenario.

“I’d like to hear the reasons first.”

Ein is sharp, so that’s understandable, but is everyone thinking this way? I need to know this for future actions.

The answer comes from the team leader.

“It’s because of the trial information. No matter what excuses you make, you know too much.”

I see, that makes sense. But what does that have to do with the royal family?

“It’s impossible for anyone to know the contents of a trial in advance. Even if you try to speak about it, the system shuts your mouth. It’s impossible to leak information through records or any other means.”

Right. Because leaks are impossible, there’s no way to access that information.

Ein continues:

“But if you’re from the royal family, that’s a different story.”

As I explained during the Giant Topaz Bees incident, it’s possible to predict trial contents somewhat through “Lost Memories”—information from destroyed planets.

However, this is a very difficult task, and only the royal family has such capability.

The team members might not have known about Lost Memories, but they knew the royal family could create speculative trial information—this is common knowledge.

“Eindnark. Is there a possibility that Noah himself is a Destruction Scholar?”

A Destruction Scholar is an analyst who creates speculative trial information through Lost Memories.

“No way. How rare do you think Destruction Scholars are?”

Sierra, who had been listening with interest, chimes in:

“How rare are they?”

“Even if a Destruction Scholar has a limited lifespan as a mortal, they’re treated far better than Transcendent by the royal family. They’re nobles that even high-ranking Transcendent can’t treat carelessly.”

“They wouldn’t let someone so precious enter the Tower where people die left and right.”

“There’s even a history of wars between royal families over a single Destruction Scholar. In this universe where the number and strength of Transcendent determine power, that’s how valuable Destruction Scholars are.”

I’ve revealed some trial information so far, but I thought it was fine since I covered it up with excuses.

‘I was mistaken.’

I know all the trials too naturally. That’s why my thought process was fundamentally different from those who absolutely cannot know trial information.

I judged this level of information could be inferred through deduction and observation. That’s how I excused it.

But from their perspective, it seems it was just forced rationalization.

Ein hesitates for a moment before adding:

“And… this might be a stretch, but just hear me out.”

She points to my right hand.

“That… it’s not a Prayer, is it?”

“Huh?”

What’s on my hand?

I open my palm at her words, and there’s a circular tattoo I didn’t know about. It was a circle with an empty center.

‘Huh?’

When did this appear?

Only now do I recall something I saw on the Climber Information window and dismissed:

[Climber Information]
Name: Kang Noah
…
Prayer:

Traits:

‘Oh no.’

The

supposed to mean?

Even the perceptive Ein seemed to think this was far-fetched, as she explained on my behalf:

“Sierra. The Prayer thing was just nonsense.”

“Hmm… really? But maybe we coincidentally met someone with that precious Prayer…”

Why is Sierra oddly excited about this?
She seems to hope this is a Prayer and that I’m from the royal family.

The team leader, sensing this mood, laughed and put his foot down:

“Sierra, it’s absolutely not! There are fewer than 100 beings with Prayers in the entire universe. And that’s not just limited to Climbers, but throughout all of cosmic history. Most, or all of them, would have already become Transcendent!”

“What!? They’re that rare!?”

Hearing this, she stares even more intently at my hand.
I unconsciously clench my fist and hide it behind my back at her blatant gaze.

“Ugh, I’m telling you it’s not.”

While the knowledgeable team leader and Ein readily accepted this, the completely ignorant one reacted like this.

This was also a reaction I, who knows all the common sense of the universe, couldn’t have anticipated.

‘I should wrap this in cloth or something to hide it.’

I don’t know why I have a Prayer either, but it’s extremely unnatural anyway.

‘But… whose Prayer is it?’

It’s probably related to the author’s special privilege, like the mysterious power that destroyed the field. That’s just my guess.

“Even direct royal descendants rarely have Prayers. Just assume you will never see a Prayer in your entire life!”

“Hmm…. Okay….”

With Sierra walking away disappointedly, we resumed moving. We couldn’t keep stopping to chat forever.

This brought a moment of silence. Since I didn’t add anything further, the conversation on this topic implicitly ended.

‘There’s nothing good in mentioning it more.’

I’ve learned from my mistakes so far. I’m not good at lying.

‘Just keeping my mouth shut is the best way.’

Silence is the best response. As long as there are no fatal mistakes, they won’t conclude that I’m ‘defying the rules and knowing trial information.’ It’s common sense that such a thing is impossible.

Still, it was dangerous. I’ve revealed too much information so far.
It was my mistake. I need to be more careful from now on.

After organizing my thoughts, I glanced at the team members for no reason.

‘Huh?’

But Jilduk’s expression was oddly sour.

‘What’s wrong with him now?’

At this point, it’s almost routine. I just ignored it.

***

“We’ll rest here!”

Noah’s team started to settle down one by one to relieve their fatigue.

Ein, who had caught her breath momentarily, soon stood up.

“I’m going to look for some moles.”

“Don’t you need to rest?”

“I’ll just take a quick look around.”

“Oh, Ein. I’ll go with you.”

Noah also got up and left with Ein.

After watching them disappear for a moment, Sierra approached the team leader.

“Team Leader. Is Noah some kind of important person?”

“Yeah. There’s no other explanation. But he wants to hide it, so don’t make it obvious.”

Interested in the topic, the team leader told Sierra more.

“You know, it’s my first time seeing a cosmic royal in person too! No wonder he looked so delicate!”

At that moment, Jilduk, sitting a little apart with his back turned, muttered.

“Hm…. He came in knowing the trials by heart.”

“I was surprised too! I heard the speculative information was mostly inaccurate, but this is practically cheating!”

“We’re so lucky to have him on our team!”

“…While some are dying with the resolve to save their planets, the high and mighty just breeze through these terrible trials-”

“That’s the power of the royal family! Hahaha!”

The team leader’s hearty laughter cut off Jilduk’s muttering.

“But why is he hiding his identity? Should we ask?”

“Well, there must be reasons we can’t even imagine! Don’t try to find out! Getting involved in the affairs of the high and mighty leads to a short life, Sierra!”

“Wow….”

So that’s the kind of person he is. But he was so kind.

“Should I be more polite then? Since he’s an important person…”

“It’s up to Sierra, but there’s no need to be scared! You won’t be harmed by the royal family just because Noah holds a grudge. At least not while he’s entered as a Climber!”

“What do you mean?”

“All Climbers who climb the Tower with their own strength are equal! Climbers training to fight against destruction are not to be touched. It’s the minimal courtesy that applies throughout the universe and a firm order maintained by the system!”

“It seems a bit different from what I was thinking.”

“That’s because we’re fellow Climbers! If we weren’t, I’d be groveling without mercy too!”

“I’ll still be a bit more careful without realizing it.”

At that moment, Jilduk, who had been listening with an uncomfortable expression, abruptly cut in between the two.

“No? There’s absolutely no need for that, Miss Sierra!”

“Huh? Oh, Mr. Jildok…”

As Sierra got his name wrong, his brow twitched for a moment. But soon, he smiled thinly as if nothing had happened.

“The royal family is just a social construct, not worthy of respect. You don’t need to grovel.”

“Oh, okay… But what I meant was-”

“Hahaha! Sierra, don’t take that to heart! It’s dangerous thinking!”

“Huh?”

As Jilduk made a displeased expression, the team leader wrapped him in a friendly headlock with a good-natured smile.

“Ack!”

“You see these types sometimes! People with strong resentment or inferiority towards the royal family!”

At the word ‘inferiority,’ Jilduk’s expression crumpled.

“Cough, cough. Team Leader! This is something Miss Sierra needs to know too! All cosmic planetary citizens have the legitimate right to- Gack!”

“As a commoner, I understand to some extent, but don’t go around saying things like that.”

“Cough… let go, argh!”

“Hmm…. But Noah is a bit of a special case! Indeed, you don’t need to grovel! The royal family varies by individual, and Noah is a good guy!”

“That’s right! He’s a really nice person!”

“Hmm! Still, don’t try to get involved with other royal family members! There’s a reason Jilduk is acting like this!”

“I see…”

The culture of the universe was still perplexing, but she could roughly understand the context.

“Cough, cough! Team Leader! Let go!”

***

During the break, the team leader called everyone together with a serious face.

“The difficulty of the trials seems to be increasing gradually.”

“You think so, too, right?”

Sierra and Ein agreed.

“The charge speed and timing of the Bees are getting faster as well.”

“From now on, we’ll avoid the wild dog packs as much as possible. Any objections?”

Various opinions were exchanged.
This is manageable because it’s our team, but other teams must be in dire straits.

Amid many precautionary measures, Jilduk’s story naturally came up.

“Those fruits from earlier, it seems cooperation between mana users is indeed a condition. We should start collecting them now.”

I chimed in as well.

“Jilduk, wouldn’t it be good to try coordinating at least once?”

“What are you talking about? If we run out of mana at a crucial moment, will you take responsibility? Know what you’re saying.”

His sudden outburst made the team members pause. The already heavy atmosphere sank further.

Wow, how prickly. Why is he suddenly acting up?

“Um, sorry. I’ve never used mana, so I didn’t know.”

“As long as you understand…”

“But you’re being a real asshole.”

Jilduk seemed flustered and reacted a beat late.

“…What?”

“We’re a team. Let’s all watch our mouths.”