Chapter 28

When I started writing about the DLC, the content for that part alone ended up being about three times what I had expected...

The development of Rad and the others had progressed with the new equipment, but there was another crucial element that emerged in considering their development.

It was a brand new house I discovered while walking at the edge of town.

(This is... the highlight of the fourth DLC! The <Special Safe House>!)

*BreBre* is a buy-to-own game, and as expected, once you pay, you can enjoy all the content. However, additional content is a different story.

Sometimes, games release additional content called DLC, or Downloadable Content, and the company that developed *BreBre* was short on funds. What happens then?

It's simple.

They started releasing broken-performance DLC to generate immediate cash flow.

The first DLC was an equipment pack.

Each piece of equipment had high performance relative to its restrictions and difficulty of obtaining in-game. Among them, some were so overpowered that they are still etched in my memory.

The <Maid Outfit> set, which, despite looking like it would offer no defense, boasted absurd defense values thanks to some mysterious power.

The <Cat Ears & Cat Tail> head and torso equipment, which, despite looking like it shouldn't, had an unusually elaborate idle animation.

The <Mech Suit>, a power armor that made a "Buppi-gan!" sound with every movement and looked familiar.

The <Pico Hammer>, a hammer that, despite its design and material suggesting it wouldn't hurt if you hit something, had overwhelming power.

The <Moonlight Saber>, a sword with a magic blade that made a "Bwon-bwon" sound when swung and was overpowered in every sense.

The <Pole>, an artifact-level blunt weapon that, despite being wrong in every way, boasted tremendous power and attack range.

These overpowered, top-tier pieces of equipment, which were off the charts in various ways, each cost 600 yen including tax. You could buy the full set, but the price was only reduced to 580 yen per item, making it a terrible deal.

However, this was still manageable.

For the strongest DLC equipment, the game designers had at least made sure they were not obtainable until the later stages, placing them in the depths of the ruined city of Earth or in a museum.

But as the second and third DLCs progressed, the developers lost their restraint, and by the time the fourth DLC, the <Special Safe House>, was released, it had become a massive balance breaker.

This <Special Safe House> was essentially a house that could serve as a base, but its features were insane.

It had a recovery device that instantly restored HP and MP, a teleportation device for summoning and sending back party members, a warp device to specific spots around the world, a device to reacquire unique items that were lost or unobtainable for a fee, and a device to transfer enchantments from one piece of equipment to another. It was like a collection of officially sanctioned cheat tools, all of which were broken.

All of these features were convenient, but especially the ability to reacquire valuable items that I had to give up on due to branching storylines and the ability to transfer godly enchantments like "Strength +34" from junk equipment to other gear were things I desperately wanted.

However, when I checked the details on the DLC page, I was filled with despair.

—This DLC cost 4,250 yen!

Just for adding a single house.

The 250 yen change made the price seem even more serious, giving me a sense of the game company's desperation.

Well, in the end, the promised fifth DLCs, such as "The Protagonist's Origin" and "New Schools of Combat," never materialized, and the company itself went bankrupt, so it was a lost opportunity.

(But if I could get this house, it would make things much easier!)

I eagerly ran towards the house.

Moreover, if the game mechanics held true, this house would instantly become the "Protagonist's" property the moment the DLC was purchased, regardless of any logic. The sudden appearance of a house on an empty lot and the mysterious ownership were just part of the game's quirks, but it showed how desperate the developers were.

In any case, there was a possibility that the owner of this house was the "Protagonist."

If that were the case, I might be able to find clues about the "Protagonist" from here...

"Huh?"

But then, I noticed a sign I had never seen in the game.

The sign read, "Sell 100 billion wen."

* * *

(Well, that makes sense.)

In the game, it was one thing, but in reality, it was impossible to suddenly own a house.

The price of 100 billion wen, while high, wasn't unreasonable considering the house's features.

It was impossible to gather 100 billion immediately.

However, this discovery had more significance than just setting a new goal.

(The existence of this house means...)

There was a high possibility that the content of the free DLC, which was announced alongside the first DLC, was also implemented in this world.

This would have significant implications for character builds in the future.

—The free DLC added "Hidden Dungeons" and "Further Growth for Maxed-Out Characters."

The latter was particularly important. In the game before the DLC, once a character reached level 99, there was no further "growth," and characters that were not useful would hit a wall.

However, with this DLC, after level 99, the next level would be "99+" and, while there were no new level values or skills, you could achieve one level's worth of "growth" multiple times by accumulating the necessary experience points.

...Well, when I once reset all events and focused solely on leveling up to test it, the experience point requirements were absurdly high, and I ended up throwing my controller after being asked to accumulate ten times the experience needed to go from level 98 to 99. But that's beside the point.

—There was now hope for Rex.

If there was no limit to "growth," there was a chance that Rex could catch up.

If that were the case, I needed to focus even more on successfully developing Rad and the others.

With renewed determination, I left the house.

* * *

Thanks to the DLC, the training of Rad and the others became even more intense.

Nuke and Mana ran around the training ground wearing iron geta that looked incredibly difficult to balance, Rad swung his sword while wearing a suit of armor covered in springs and wristbands filled with weights, and Prana meditated wearing an incredibly ugly spiral glasses that ruined her beauty.

The harshness was indescribable, and when I went to check on them, I couldn't help but laugh, which earned me a barrage of arrows from Prana.

The scrutiny from the townspeople became even more intense, and the criticism towards us seemed to grow. However, Rad and the others never slacked off and, if anything, they seemed to feel a sense of progress in their growth.

And... that feeling was correct.

The iron geta, weighted wristbands, and spiral glasses were hidden-effect equipment that "lowered current stats in exchange for increasing potential stats."

Thanks to these effects, they were growing at a rate that exceeded my expectations.

(I wish I could stack more equipment, though.)

There were things that could be done in this world that couldn't be done in the game.

For example, I thought about putting rings on all my fingers, which was impossible in the game where you could only wear three rings... but it didn't work out.

As mentioned in the game's flavor text, "If you equip two items on the same body part, the magic will repel each other, and both effects will be nullified." So, the equipment worked the same way as in the original game.

In the game, you could equip nine items:

- Weapons: Right hand, Left hand

- Armor: Head, Torso, Arms, Legs

- Accessories: Up to three types

Generally, only "Armor" category items could change potential stats.

By equipping potential stat-boosting gear all over the body, you could add up to four points to your potential stats.

(With this, there are no issues with training... but)

If we continued like this, we would end up with adventurers with high potential stats but low current stats, which would lead to a dead end in their adventures.

The experience points required for ability and level growth were based on the character's own stats, so there was no benefit to lowering a character's stats with equipment.

Potential stat-boosting equipment was one wing of my development plan.

On its own, it was incomplete.

To balance it out, I needed "strong equipment" that could compensate for the weaknesses of the potential stat-boosting gear.

And for that equipment, I had to obtain it myself.

Fortunately, the biggest hurdle in obtaining the "strong equipment" I had in mind was already cleared.

All I needed now was to gather the items that would improve the efficiency of the process...

* * *

Time passed, and just as I was starting to consider giving up and collecting equipment without item bonuses, the long-awaited news arrived.

"Brother, the guild lady just informed me that the <Black Cat's Blessing Coin> has been delivered..."

"Great!"

At Recilia's report in the training ground, I couldn't help but break character and make a fist pump in front of everyone.

—The <Black Cat's Blessing Coin>.

This item, which temporarily increased the quality of items obtained, was something that couldn't be substituted.

I had bet a third of the reward, a whopping 100 million wen, on this single coin, but it hadn't been delivered even after almost all the items had been collected.

Well, it was no surprise.

The <Black Cat's Blessing Coin> had a 0.01% drop rate, making it an ultra-rare item that you might not even see once in a full playthrough of the game.

Gathering it in such a short time was a matter of luck, but with more people involved, the chances increased.

I had won the bet, albeit by a narrow margin.

Time was running out.

I had to act quickly.

I immediately made a decision and called out to Rad, who was in the middle of training.

"Sorry, Rad. I need to go out for a bit."

"What! Go out, all of a sudden..."

"I'm just going to a nearby dungeon to gather some equipment. I'll be back soon."

But my response didn't sit well with Rad.

He immediately snapped back.

"Back soon? A dungeon where such treasures can be found isn't nearby..."

"The <Ancient Dungeon of True Darkness>."

The moment I said that, I could tell Rad was speechless.

But, of course.

Because the <Ancient Dungeon of True Darkness> was one of the main objectives of the game, the <Twelve Dark Ruins>, and the closest to the town, it was also the most powerful ruin guarded by the strongest monsters.

—A dungeon so difficult that even I couldn't clear it in the game.

Sure enough, the dungeon will be the focus of the next chapter!

In this work, I'm consciously keeping the foreshadowing to a minimum, but because of that, it might be easier to predict what's coming. I hope you can hold back a bit in the comments to avoid spoiling things!

Some works have dedicated sections for in-depth analysis and speculation, but unfortunately, this isn't one of them!