In the RPG game NTRPG, which could be considered the background of the novel I read, there were several hidden elements. Elements that the protagonist of the novel called ‘hidden pieces’.
Ruins of ancient times erased from history. Dungeons with sealed or hidden entrances that haven’t been discovered.
The legacies of past heroes buried along with them, or the hideouts of monsters believed to be already dead.
Besides these, there were said to be many other minor hidden pieces… but I don’t know about those.
The only hidden pieces I could know about were the elements that the protagonist in the novel directly obtained or at least mentioned in his monologues.
That guy, if it wasn’t a hidden piece that would help increase his strength, he didn’t care about it at all.
The protagonist in the novel was a high school student who had the talent to buy bread faster than anyone else, but after being possessed, he completely lost his mind and became a total ruffian.
No, come to think of it, maybe he was already half-crazy even before the possession.
He had attempted to blackmail a couple by filming them embracing and rolling around in an empty classroom when he witnessed the girl he had a one-sided crush on with the man she had given bread to.
He didn’t even get to try the blackmail and died soon after, hit by a car.
Anyway, perhaps he didn’t want to deliver bread in this world too, as he obsessively focused on building his strength from the moment of possession, frantically searching for ways to strengthen himself.
Well… it wasn’t a bad judgment.
They say you can honestly become stronger just by entering dungeons and hunting monsters, but how easy would that be for an ordinary high school student?
If you throw a modern person who has never killed even a dog in front of a goblin, seven or eight out of ten would freeze up saying ‘uh’ and become a meal without even trying anything.
So, the possessed person’s judgment to try to become stronger through tricks instead of hunting was somewhat correct. It was actually remarkably effective too.
By utilizing knowledge about hidden pieces, he was able to obtain top-tier engraved traits from the start without a single proper battle.
* * *
According to the possessed person’s monologue, the basic traits that ‘Friet’ in the game possessed were three in total:
<Hero’s Qualities>
<Battle Instinct>
<Eisenbalt Swordsmanship>
‘Hero’s Qualities’ was a late-blooming trait that, like the ‘Indomitable’ trait, nullified the unique intimidation effect of strong enemies, and provided additional corrections to physical abilities as the level increased.
‘Battle Instinct’ was an intuitive trait that allowed one to instinctively grasp and respond to critical crises or enemy weaknesses during battle.
Whether those two traits remain in the current Friede… honestly, I’m not sure. Since her body has completely changed.
The skill trait acquired later, ‘Eisenbalt Swordsmanship’, was a trait that had no particular meaning whether it existed or not.
Befitting the setting that Brunhilde had only taught the basics, it would become useless once past the early to mid-stages, though it might be useful in the very beginning.
It’s a swordsmanship that doesn’t really suit greatswords in the first place, mainly focused on charging and thrusting.
Anyway, among these three traits, only two could be used by the possessed protagonist: Hero’s Qualities and Battle Instinct.
Even those were significantly degraded, with ‘Hero’s Qualities’ having weakened correction values and the indomitable effect gone, while ‘Battle Instinct’ wouldn’t activate at all unless in extremely dire situations.
The secret to how the possessed person, who took over Friet’s body that had been so weakened, became strong enough to overwhelm other heroes was precisely these hidden pieces.
New traits, new equipment, new weapons.
The possessed person in the novel gathered all of these and used overwhelming stats and equipment advantages to crush down enemies whose skills were far ahead of his own.
Enemies he could never defeat, enemies so powerful he couldn’t even dare to fight, until the ‘author’ stopped him with the weapon of discontinuing the series.
Ah, it still pisses me off just thinking about it.
The timing of the discontinuation was truly a work of art.
Right after Brunhilde died, just as the protagonist had finished preparing to catch the Demon Kings and was about to attack them, that’s when the series was stopped.
Really, if you’re going to discontinue the series like that, it might have been better to suddenly have a ninja Demon King appear and annihilate the protagonist’s group as an ending.
Of course, if that had really happened, I would have gifted the author a comment summarizing in thousands of characters the reason why they’re an orphan without any relatives.
…Anyway, the core of this long-winded story is simple.
If we can get our hands on those hidden pieces, we can become as strong as the possessed person in the novel – no, even stronger.
Most hidden pieces are guarded by strong enemies befitting their performance, so carelessly sticking our heads in might result in them being cut off…
‘It’s not like we have any other options anyway.’
Continuing to run away like this isn’t much different from living with a perforated line drawn around our necks, if you think about it.
So there was nothing to hesitate about anymore.
Even in the worst case, what more could happen than death?
If this world progresses according to the original game, if Friede and I both die, the world would end up being destroyed anyway. Because Friede wouldn’t be there.
So what the hell, we might as well think of it as gambling with the whole world as our companion.
* * *
Among the hidden pieces I knew about, there were three hidden pieces sleeping within the Kingdom of Hervor.
Ice Castle, Winter Garden, Ice Sea.
Unfortunately, all three were places we couldn’t even set foot in as we are now.
We couldn’t meet the entry conditions for the ‘Ice Castle’, and the other two had bosses lurking that could kill us with a single finger.
Stepping into such places wouldn’t be a gamble with our lives, it would just be suicide.
If we’re going to bet our lives, shouldn’t we bet on a place where there’s at least a sliver of a chance to win? Those three places were out of the question.
Therefore, the choice left to me was―
“Friede, can you trust me completely?”
I asked, grabbing Friede’s shoulders with both hands and looking straight into her eyes. Asking if she could trust and follow me whatever choice I make from now on.
“Huh…? What’s this all of a sudden… Ah, yes, of course I trust you!”
Friede, who was a bit bewildered by such an unexpected question, soon nodded her head firmly and exclaimed.
“Thank you.”
I lightly patted Friede’s shoulders to express my gratitude, then continued with the detailed story right away.
“Alright, listen. I just had a good idea.”
“…A good idea?”
Friede’s eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed she trusted me completely, but couldn’t quite trust my thoughts or judgment.
…I can’t argue since there’s a prior record.
But this time it’s real.
It’s not my judgment but trying to collect something that appeared in the original work, so you could say it’s the original protagonist’s judgment, right?
So it should be safe. Probably.
“Yes, honestly it’s a bit dangerous, but… if things go well, we won’t have to worry about the pursuer problem, at least.”
I continued speaking while slightly avoiding Friede’s gaze.
“Hmm, well… um… I’ll listen for now. What’s the idea?”
“So… this is like a secret passed down in my family…”
A family secret. I started with such a lie. Because there was no other way to explain the source of the information I knew.
* * *
Friede, who listened attentively to my explanation, reacted as if it made no sense, but eventually nodded her head with a sigh after I persuaded her that we had no other options.
It must have seemed to Friede too that there was no future if we continued like this.
Rather than trusting my story, it was closer to a reaction of ‘we have nothing to lose, so let’s give it a try’… but that’s enough, what more could I ask for?
That was sufficient. At least for me.
* * *
After that day, we started heading straight south, leaving the undeveloped lands of Hervor.
We would run all night from the moment the sun set until it rose again, and when morning came, we would find a place to hide and sleep.
Perhaps thanks to choosing a completely different course of action from our previous movements of searching for uninhabited ruins?
Even the pursuers who had been attacking us every day seemed to have lost our trail, as we didn’t encounter any for a while.
It was just a week of peace at best, and after that, pursuers started appearing one by one again… but a week was enough.
According to my plan, our destination was about a fortnight’s journey away.
A week after that.
“Haa… haa…. Finally…”
We, who had become ragged beggars covered in wounds and haggard with fatigue, were finally able to reach our destination.
“This place… it feels like I’m seeing it again after a long time.”
Friede muttered quietly.
In front of the dim riverside where not even the moon had risen, she stared blankly at the waves undulating majestically like a huge black snake writhing.
The Rhine River.
The long, deep, and massive river that could be called the foundation of the Kingdom of Rhine, connecting the northern and central parts of the continent.
This was our first destination.
Or rather, should I say it was the gateway to our destination?
Not a hidden piece to strengthen Friede, but a place where a hidden piece to strengthen ‘Brunhilde’ was sleeping.
『 The ruins under the river. 』
In front of the entrance to the hidden dungeon that we had finally reached, I swallowed dry saliva and suppressed the tension that was trying to rise little by little.
Thinking about the beings that would be waiting for us under those river waters.