episode_0001

“Huah~ Game cleared! What round is this clear?”

Druruk-

Pushing the chair back and stretching, I gaze at the monitor in front of me.

The game I was just playing -Become a Hero!- may look like a mass-produced game, but it’s actually a game that is hugely popular worldwide.

-Become a Hero!- is an open-world game with difficulty levels categorized as easy, normal, hard, and hardcore, allowing players to choose one to start with.

While easy and normal difficulties can be selected initially, hard and hardcore difficulties are locked until you clear the easy or normal difficulty at least once.

Depending on the difficulty, the playable characters available decrease. Characters not chosen by the player become reliable allies in the game, assisting the player.

However, as the difficulty increases, the available characters decrease, and crucial characters that impact the story do not appear, making the game significantly more challenging.

Moreover, as the difficulty rises, enemies’ abilities and AI strengthen, excluded characters gradually increase, leading to entirely different story progressions even if players are familiar with strategies from playing on easy difficulty, causing mental distress easily visible with just one scroll down on community boards.

Given its difficulty, why do people play this game? It’s simply because of its overwhelming gameplay quality, ranking it No.1.

Featuring exceptional graphics, gameplay, and the unlocking of multiplayer content due to the first user who cleared the easy or normal difficulty.

The multiplayer content involves large raids where players follow the commander’s orders, interact with unhelpful NPCs, and ultimately engage in a boss battle, marking a significant and final challenge in -Become a Hero!-.

With the unlocking of multiplayer content, these large raids have propelled -Become a Hero!- to maintain its top spot in popularity.

Participants act as commanders giving orders and users following those commands, engaging in large and small-scale cooperative content, igniting excitement among players.

But it doesn’t end there.

By connecting to the server owner and assisting users in their room, all users’ game progress rises together, allowing struggling players to join forces and overcome difficulties collectively.

As users help each other clear the game, about six months after the game’s release…

“Hey guys, something big is here!!!”

Hello, everyone. I’m the leader of the Hero team, one of the selection league teams.

During our attempt to clear the difficult level, we found an item

(Stone fragment.jpg)

(Writing on the stone fragment.jpg)

Upon reading it, it seems like the stone fragment is divided into several pieces, and the inscription on our fragment reads ‘wish.’

It’s quite challenging to obtain and given the difficulty level, even with strategies, it’s not easy.

Nevertheless, since the stone isn’t shattered into tiny pieces, gathering around 6-7 fragments should allow for restoration.

After discussing, we decided to share this information.

If any team or individual has obtained this, please contact us. There might be an event when all pieces are collected.

Help!!!

-How far have these crazy selection teams progressed?

h-ero: Our team has reached up to the 96th floor of the difficulty level. But we’re probably among the lower ranks of the selection teams, right?

ㄴ These crazy folks, haha. I’m still on the 58th floor of normal difficulty.

ㄴ I’m only on the 21st floor of normal difficulty, damn…

– So, has anyone obtained this? I’ve never seen anything like that before.

– I usually farm on the 13th floor. I haven’t even tried out any weapons. I keep losing money by constantly requesting weapon commissions.

– Huh~ A loser who can’t even get attention from low-grade weapons~ Hurry up and open a server, you pathetic newbie♡

– Is this provocation or an offer of help?

first: Oh, we have five pieces of that in our team. Get in touch. Since you know the server, come in when you have time.

– ? Why is that?

– h-ero: ??? What’s going on? How far has your team progressed?

– first: Cleared the hardcore difficulty. I started getting pieces from the 70th floor of the hard difficulty, was short of one piece, thought it was missing, but it was there.

– Is this the average of the top teams in the selection round??????

– If you’ve made it that far, post some tips on the bulletin board. We’re dying here!!!

– Hey, wasn’t the overseas demon team at hardcore 31st floor or something??? Who are you guys to have cleared it already?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– Their team was always quiet, thought they had lost their minds, but turns out they were just busy playing the game??

– first: We roughly concluded that this isn’t on an individual or server level but seems to be the only item in the game. So, I couldn’t see one piece and was exhausted, but it turned out well.

– h-ero: Crazy people; Anyway, okay, I’ll join soon.

– Something big is coming!!!!! Waiting for news!!!

The First team, overwhelmingly advancing through the selection round.

As news spreads that they possess all five pieces of the monument, users in the community are ablaze with the fact that something big is coming.

The moment The First team’s monument fragments and the leader of the hero team’s fragments are restored.

– Become a hero! – appears in the center of the screens of all users playing the game.

{Extra difficulty unlocked. This difficulty is separate and even players who haven’t cleared the easy difficulty can choose it.}

It’s not just something big; it’s something huge.

The speed of post creation in the community has reached explosive levels, and everyone starts playing the newly unlocked difficulty.

In the newly unlocked difficulty, players could select playable characters created by the operators so far, but in this difficulty, full customization was supported.

Even 100% freedom in delicate customization!

Users were ecstatic about being able to customize their characters, yet they began to despair.

[What the hell is this]

(Extra difficulty custom player existing stats.jpg)

(Tower 1st floor difficulty and enemies’ stats.jpg)

I’m a solo player at difficulty 21, and this difficulty is insane damn it.

The provided playable characters are decent, but the custom player stats are messed up, what is this lol

Playable characters start around 15-20 on average, why do custom players start at 5???

Is it because they’re fundamentally commoner characters…?

Even from Tower 1st floor, the difficulty is damn crazy artificial intelligence.

It’s so much fun. The story has completely changed, and with the school-academy system, you can even feel like you’ve returned to being a student!

-The last sentence in this post seems most important.

-Wow, the stats are crazy for custom characters, should I give up on them?

– Yeah, no matter what we do, ordinary players like us can’t make it. Let’s give up early.

-I love you, first!!!! Going for a purple-skinned paper fairy custom!!!

– Please hold your breath for just one day… please..

– Do we have to enter the academy to increase our stats on this difficulty?

– Yeah, the starting point is near the entrance of the academy, and there’s even a school uniform for the avatar.

– From the moment the difficulty was unlocked, I’ve been playing in the academy, and it seems like they’ve made it clear that you should grow in the academy.

– Hey, can this be multiplayer? Even in the academy, I lost to a student in a duel, damn it

The First team launched a massive ball that was slowly moving in the game, and then began rolling it at an incredible speed.

Even as the difficulty increased, the overarching storyline remained intact, containing a story of immense scale that could be considered an entirely new game.

Although players had to play solo, they could progress gradually with growth in the academy, storylines, advice from non-playable characters, and assistance.

However, it was not easy. The completely transformed story introduced new enemies, patterns, and former allies who, in this difficulty level, could turn into foes, potentially antagonizing the player.

Players faced despair due to this difficulty, with some giving up on tower conquests and focusing solely on academy life.

Thus, the Extra difficulty emerged, and two years later, in an environment where only half of those who attempted to clear the Extra difficulty, including skilled streamers and elite gamers, had made any progress towards the goal.

Amidst a community filled with empty promises,

[Cleared Extra Difficulty]

Long time no see. You might not remember, but I’m the hardcore leader of The First team.

Moving on to the main point,

(100th Floor of Tower.jpg)

(Large monument in the center of the 100th floor.jpg)

{Cutscene in progress (Spoiler – View).gif}

Having conquered everything from Easy to Hardcore, the entirely different Extra difficulty led to changes in cutscenes and dialogues based on player choices, accumulating precedents for good or evil deeds, leading to new options.

As this is the first ending, many NPCs died, quests failed, making it quite explosive, but somehow managed to reach the ending; it was incredibly challenging.

Hence, starting from this ending, I am planning to map out the optimal route and aim to see all possible endings.

I can’t bear to see my child in distress; there are people inside here!!!

– Wow, damn.

– Wow, damn.

– Wow, damn.

– h-ero: Wow, damn.

– Each exclamation is like “Damn,” haha.

– This game probably has no hacks at all, but no matter how many times I say it, this guy is truly insane, haha.

– Updates on other First team members have been coming since before, but the team leader disappeared somewhere and was actually buried in the game, living there, haha.

– Surprisingly, among these First team members, the highest floor reached was the 69th floor, haha.

– By the way, Kuma is so pretty. Is it handmade? Please share…

– Among the Kumas I’ve seen so far, she’s the prettiest. I admit it.

Turning the tables, what would you do? The leader of The First team is me.

When I first encountered this game during high school, it struck a chord deep enough to occupy half of my life.

Whether I had a talent for gameplay or not, I rose to a position widely recognized, actively participating in the front lines and overwhelmingly holding the unofficial top ranking.

With the unlocking of the Extra difficulty came the customization feature.

Having created a female character tailored to my tastes, I challenged the Extra difficulty for two years, eventually reaching an ending that was more like a bad ending than a normal one.

As I controlled the character and approached the monument, a message box appeared in my mind.

A concise message asking if I would proceed to the next chapter.

The left choice implied a future chapter where all memories and items were inherited, and events from the current chapter would be faithfully reproduced.

On the right, there are choices where there might be a slight increase in abilities and allies could turn into foes, with events unfolding in an uncertain future where even the player may overlook.

My dilemma didn’t last long.

I was always thrilled by the sensation of triumphing in seemingly impossible battles, which led me to victory. The thrill I gained from such victories seeped into me from past experiences of reaching an ending.

Unlike the first playthrough that took two years to reach an ending, influenced by the experience of my first ending, I gradually shortened the time it took to reach subsequent endings by continuously choosing the options on the right.

Using only the custom character I created, I found myself captivated by the waves of stories that continued to emerge, barely managing to witness 30 endings by my sixth year since the game’s release.

By the eighth year, as the achievement “Hero, Revealed” uncovered one of the two hidden achievements known to no one, the community once again erupted in excitement over the unique ability granted by the achievement.

Conquering all endings by the ninth year, I began challenging the ultimate content of the game, known as the speedrun, after nine years.

Embarking on the speedrun in my tenth year, I swiftly ascended many levels within a year, to the point where counting chapters became tiresome. Armed only with fixed abilities obtained through achievements, I eschewed attending the academy and instead directly challenged the tower with basic equipment and an old sword, clearing 100 floors in a blaze of glory.

“Phew~ Cha~! It’s been a decade since I started this game. Time really flies.”

“Even after ten years, I’m still holding onto the top spot in the game’s occupancy rate every year…”

“I’ve figured out all the routes, branching points for playable characters, randomly occurring events, and hidden scenario triggers…”

However—

“What on earth is this last ??? achievement stuck at 99%!!!”

Despite exploring countless branches by combining all choices in every route, I still couldn’t unlock the remaining ??? achievement.

“Well… Maybe there’s a hidden piece I haven’t found yet. I’ve done enough speedrunning… Let’s revisit the story near the academy once more.”

As I stood before the monument contemplating chapter succession…

“Ugh… Maybe playing the game for two hours a day and sleeping wasn’t a good idea… Feeling a bit tired…”

Just a moment… I need to rest my eyes…

Slowly crawling onto the bed behind, I lay down and quickly succumbed to the overwhelming drowsiness.

In the meantime, as the scene of chapter succession shone brightly on the monitor, a radiant light began to spread throughout the young man’s room engulfed in slumber.

The room dimmed, revealing only the bed, pillow, and blanket where the young man should have been lying in deep sleep.

Ring!

And then, the alarm blared from the computer.

[??? Achievement Unlocked!]

[A reward will be granted to the player.]

“….Huh.”