list-5, Sql Server

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CREATE TABLE X_LARGE_TABLE_2 (unique_key int identity primary key, ID VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL);

WITH x AS
  (SELECT * FROM (VALUES (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10)) AS x(n) )
INSERT INTO X_LARGE_TABLE_2  WITH (TABLOCK) (id)
SELECT CASE CAST(RAND(CHECKSUM(NEWID())) * 5 as INT)  % 5 
           WHEN 0 THEN 'A' 
           WHEN 1 THEN 'B'
           WHEN 2 THEN 'C' 
           WHEN 3 THEN 'D' 
            ELSE 'E'
        END
FROM x, x As y ;

WITH ct AS
      ( SELECT TOP (1) unique_key, id, found = 1, list = CAST(CONCAT('/',id, '/') AS VARCHAR(100))
        FROM x_large_table_2
      UNION ALL
        SELECT y.unique_key, y.ID, ct.found + 1, CAST(CONCAT(ct.list, y.id, '/') AS VARCHAR(100))
        FROM ct
          CROSS APPLY 
          ( SELECT x.unique_key, x.id, 
                   rn = ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT NULL))
            FROM x_large_table_2 AS x
            WHERE x.unique_key > ct.unique_key
              AND ct.list NOT LIKE '%/' + id + '/%'
          ) AS y
        WHERE ct.found < 5       -- the TOP (n) parameter here
          AND y.rn = 1
      )
    SELECT * FROM ct ;

View schema
Execution time: 0,02 sec, rows selected: 5, rows affected: 100, absolute service time: 0,16 sec