Prologue

I loved the world of swords and magic.

I have only played fantasy games since I was a child. Even such novels are my favorites.

If it was a story in a fantasy world, I was confident that I could stay up all night for several days and still enjoy it.

—- Shiina Ren was such a young man.

Of course, he doesn’t spend his life only playing games.

He usually spends his time as a fourth-year student at a university, and recently he has been busy with his job search. In addition to this, he had a part-time job four days a week to enrich his gaming life.

As an aside, he even had a girlfriend once.

However, he had made up his mind never to have a girlfriend again after an older student at his university slept with her.　

One weekend, Ren had three days free to play a new game that he was looking forward to.

He downloaded the game as soon as the date changed to Friday and spent half a day and a few hours playing it.

In the evening of the same day, he shouted with delight in front of the TV.

‘It’s the ending!’

What he was playing was a role-playing game, and there was no competitive element.

So there was no competition with anyone, but it felt good to post part of the ending screen on SNS with the excitement generated by playing the game without a break until the evening came by.

It’s a gamer’s duty to be careful not to spoil the ending.

I thought to myself, “Could this possibly be the fastest clear in the world?”

As if in answer to his words, the words appeared on the ending screen.

‘System: Congratulations on clearing the game. Would you like to record your clear time on the server?　Yes/No.’

Yes!　OK—- and!”

Shortly after Ren pressed “Yes”, a new system message appeared on the screen.

It was accompanied by a sentence that both proved his prediction and excited him.

‘System: As a reward for the first place in the clear ranking, you have won a special downloadable content. Would you like to download it?　Yes/No.’

‘Special ……, of course I will!’

Ren hurriedly pressed “Yes,” and 1%…… few minutes later, 2%…… and the download progressed in the corner of the screen.

Ren was feeling superior as he watched this.

He didn’t know what the special downloadable content is, but the message stated that it was a reward for first place in the ranking. In other words, he would receive data that others would not.

As a gamer, there was no way he wouldn’t be excited about this.

“…… let’s calm down a little.”

Ren leaned back on the sofa to calm his rapidly beating heart.

He was bored while waiting for the download, so he picked up his phone and opened the official website of the game he had just played.

The Legend of the Seven Heroes II.

As the name “II” indicates, this game is a sequel.

It’s a fantasy RPG that is currently popular all over the world and was declared by the developer to be a trilogy.　

The storyline is fairly royal.

It’s a school story in which the descendants of the seven heroes overcome various hardships and grow up in a world several hundred years after the defeat of the Demon King.

The protagonist is a country-born boy with commoner parents.

However, when he was a child, his hidden power was awakened, and he was sent to the Imperial Academy in the Imperial capital, the best school in the Empire. There, he meets six men and women who are said to have the blood of the Seven Heroes, and the story unfolds as they try to stop those who are plotting the resurrection of the Demon King.

The story is vast, as you can also fall in love with the heroine of your choice.

Incidentally, in the ending of I, it is revealed that the hero is the last of the Seven Heroes, who were thought to have ceased to exist.

Although the content was predictable, Ren thinks that the royal road is still good.

But II was also great…….

In II, which he had just completed, the story’s biggest upheaval yet occurs.

The main character’s friend kills a girl called a saint and even takes the life of the head of the academy, who’s called the strongest magic user.

After that, the friend disappears into thin air.

Since then, various incidents have occurred in the empire.

The friend comes to the scene of the disturbances, says something meaningful, and sometimes fights with the protagonists.

However, the ending of the story is left unclear not only the purpose of the friend, but also the relationship between the friend and those who are plotting to resurrect the Demon King.

In the end, the emperor ordered the friend to be defeated and the story was left to be continued in III.

—- Ren was having fun just remembering it.

In the end, he couldn’t calm down and instead of letting go of his phone, he picked up the controller.

“Hmmm,……, what should I do?”

I had been playing since this morning, but surprisingly I wasn’t tired.

I hadn’t finished downloading the special downloadable content yet, so while downloading it, I returned the game to the title screen to refresh my mind.

I wanted to enjoy the second round of the game, so I decided to play one more round.

The game is actually quite challenging.

What should I do with my next skill?　

The main character’s appearance cannot be changed, but as Ren mentioned, skills can be changed flexibly.

Moreover, from the second round, the number of options increases significantly.

Not only can the name of the skill be changed to any name you like in Japanese, but you can also create your own original skill by multiplying three or even more skills together.

Of course, there is the drawback that the status and effects will be adjusted so as not to upset the game balance, and if you change the name of a skill from “natural magic” to “spirit art,” you will be told that it is no good because it is the same as the descendants of the other seven heroes.

In other words, it’s no good if it’s called a unique skill, a skill that only special people can use.

“The magic swordsman who was popular on social networking sites,…… no, after all it has to be holy knight,……

The initial job of the main character, “I” starts with “Swordsman,” “Advanced Swordsman” is opened in the middle of the game, and “Guardian” can be used from the second round of the game.

In II, you can start with “Guardian” or any other initial or original skill.

The combination of jobs and skills has been researched and the compatibility and effects of these skills have been compiled in great detail.

There are even hidden skills in the game, so there is a lot of work to be done.

I’d like to find the hidden skills anyway.

The hidden skills are those that are filled in by multiplying a specific skill by a specific skill, and the name of the class is filled in on its own.

Ren spent the next several dozen minutes searching for hidden skills.

But he could not find any.

He tried dozens of patterns, tried hundreds of patterns, and still could not find them.

Finally, exhausted, he reached for his smartphone and searched social networking sites to see if anyone else had completed the game.

Oh?”

Then there were a few posts there that caught his attention.

“He is definitely the boss character of III.”

“He’s the mastermind behind this. He is the one who is trying to revive the Demon King (I think).

“He was like Black from Sentai at the end. Honestly, so cool.”

Here and there, it seems, people who saw the ending of II appeared.

Some of them were gamers that I had talked to on social media, and I sent them a message, thinking that I would be okay with them.

I sent them a message, “Did you find any hidden skills?—-.”　

The reply came quickly, in less than a minute.

Unfortunately, no one seemed to have found any, and Ren was a little disappointed. At the same time, however, he was determined to find it.

After putting on some eye drops and regaining his composure, he saw the words “99%” in Lotus’s eyes.

Ah, finally.”

The special download content became 100% at the same time Ren muttered that.

Download complete!　This message appears for a few seconds, then quickly disappears.

‘What was that ……?　Nothing was added to the list, not even …….”

Ren was dejected.

He had been looking forward to it, but he couldn’t see any difference, so he thought it was a bug, and with a deep sigh, he went back to his search for hidden skills.

And then —-.

A few more minutes passed, and he happened to find the hidden skill.

“Summon Magic Sword、、、、!”

The combined skills were swordsman, black magic, and summoner.

The surprised Ren tilted his head and muttered.

It’s funny……… I thought I tried this combination………”

This combination is just a cross of commonly used skills, and there is no way they had not tried it before.

So why did I try the same combination, I simply made a mistake.

When you have tried hundreds of combinations, you inevitably end up entering the same combination by mistake.

That’s all there was to it.

“Could it have something to do with the special downloadable content?”

He didn’t know the answer. But Ren’s cheeks relaxed. He pressed the button to determine the skill, honestly expressing his joy at having found the hidden skill.

But …….

‘System: Summon Magic Sword is a unique skill and cannot be used in normal mode.’

Ren drooped down vigorously and smashed his forehead against the desk with a thud.　He slammed his forehead against the desk with a mighty thud.

Don’t screw with me!　I wanted to complain out loud, but the next moment I looked up and saw the screen.

I wondered if any of the characters were using the “summon magic sword” skill.

No matter how fast I tried to clear the game, there was no way I could have overlooked that skill.

If so, it’s not impossible that it could be a hidden character or a hidden event that could be revealed. ……

The most important thing to remember is that the system message is still on the screen.

“What do you mean …… it can’t be used in normal mode?”

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a message like this before.

When you choose a unique skill, it just says no for that reason.

Curious, Ren tried changing the game’s difficulty level, but no matter which difficulty level he changed, it was no good.

He turned to the description of the summoning of the magic sword, wondering.

“You can summon a magic sword at —-. The ability of the magic sword can be increased by using a magic stone to raise its proficiency level. Also, by achieving special conditions, the types of magic swords will increase.”

Demon stones are stones found inside the bodies of demons that appear in the game.

They are mainly used only for cash when melee skills are selected, but when magic skills are selected, they are items that restore magical power and buffs that increase magical effects. Other beautiful items are used by aristocrats for decoration.

Then again, I don’t remember any character using such a skill.

After a few minutes of furrowing his brow, Ren noticed that a letter had lit up in the corner of the screen.

It read, “Start a special story. Seeing this, Ren pressed “Yes” without hesitation.

What the heck is this —-?”

Then a large system message appeared on the screen.

The message reads, “System: Do you want to start a special story with skills and magic sword summoning?　Yes・No.’

It read, “Start a special story. Seeing this, Ren pressed “Yes” without hesitation.

What the heck is this —-?”

Then a large system message appeared on the screen.

The message reads, “System: Do you want to start a special story with skills and magic sword summoning?　Yes/No.’

Without hesitation, Ren pressed “Yes.

Soon after, his vision began to be enveloped by a bright white light, and his consciousness began to fade.

As soon as he lay down on the sofa, his consciousness completely faded away.