Chapter 71: The Pierce of a Hidden Piece

[Tower of Trials – Nightmare]

Seeing that you have left behind a tremendous feat in your first Tower of Trials, it is certain that the power you lost resides in this fragment. Attack Power increased by 10% Defense increased by 10% Fire Resistance increased by 5% Water Resistance increased by 5% Wood Resistance increased by 5%

The first one was a Hidden Piece granted for clearing the Tower of Trials on Nightmare difficulty. It lacked the “permanent” condition found on some top-tier rewards, but the raw stat increases were substantial. Having realized how massive a 10% movement speed boost felt, I had learned to value any double-digit percentage.

But the second Hidden Piece was even more alluring.

[Steadfast and Silent]

You have cleared the Tower of Trials on Nightmare difficulty for the first time without using a single skill. Seeing that you have achieved a great feat that no one else dared to attempt, it is certain that the power you lost resides in this fragment. Critical Damage increased by 100% Basic Attack Damage increased by 20% Basic Attack Delay decreased by 10% 10% chance for Basic Attacks to have [Piercing] attribute.

It was a Hidden Piece that not only massively boosted critical damage but also fundamentally strengthened basic attacks.

In Zelpia, critical hits were notoriously rare compared to other games. However, if I geared specifically for Crit Rate and started landing them, this would be devastating. It meant every time a crit landed, I’d be hitting twice as hard as anyone else.

The basic attack reinforcement was equally attractive, especially the [Piercing] attribute, which allowed damage to bypass defense. This meant a shift from my previous life—where I dealt a miserable 1 damage to high-level or high-defense enemies—to a life where I had at least a 10% chance of landing a meaningful blow. It might not mean much to others, but for someone like me, who was constantly forced by Sephiroth to keep attacking pointlessly, it was great news. Besides, having your attacks blocked by a defense guard just felt bad. Zelpia was meticulous to a fault; it set different haptic feedback for when an attack was blocked, when it broke a guard, or when it ignored defense through piercing. I wondered if a game really needed to be this detailed.

“…Thinking about it like this, it feels a bit perverted.”

“What does?”

“Gah! You scared me!”

I thought I was standing alone in the field, but a voice suddenly whispered in my ear, making me jump. I spun around to see Sephiroth straightening his back.

“Are you a pervert?”

“Can you just shut up for once?”

“I should’ve known from the moment our Ble-ie liked being called Ble-ie that she had such secretive tastes.”

“Who said I liked being called Ble-ie?!”

“Our Ble-ie is even cute when she’s being prickly.”

Endure it, Un-ha. There’s no reason to lower yourself to the level of someone who isn’t even human…

It was more accurate to say I didn’t have the confidence to fight him because logic didn’t apply. Knowing that getting angry would only leave me feeling frustrated—like I’d eaten a million sweet potatoes without water—I shut my mouth. I turned my back to him and glared at the chat window, but then I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Ble-ie. Are you ignoring me right now?”

“Yeah.”

Why even ask the obvious?

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Anyone up for practice today?

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Shall we hit the Battlegrounds first?

[Guild] BuffNinjaPls: LFG

[Guild] ParkJinSol: BG go

[Guild] PungPungLove: Go go go

[Guild] NasiGoreng: I’m leaving it to Jin-sol today~

[Guild] NasiGoreng: I need to practice ㅡㅡ

[Guild] BuffNinjaPls: All-in Hyper Mode lol

[Guild] NasiGoreng: I’m gonna kill Endless ♡

[Guild] ParkJinSol: Good good

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Un-ha, you’re coming too, right?

[Guild] BlueberryWhiskey: Yes.

[Guild] BuffNinjaPls: The time has come to show the brokenness of the Ninja.

[Guild] ParkJinSol: Either change your name or have some consistency, man.

Conveniently, the chat was busy recruiting for a Battlegrounds run. As usual, the roleplaying Ninja, Jin-sol, Seong-jin, Won-jae, and I were selected as the members. I wondered who would fill the last slot.

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Sephiroth-nim, you too?

[Guild] Sephiroth: y

“You’re going to the Battlegrounds?”

“Of course. I have to finish the quest.”

Ah, right. After what happened yesterday, I thought he might sit it out, but I remembered that the only reason he’d joined our guild was for this Hidden Quest. It was a relief. The quest was “Play the game with Sephiroth,” not “Have a sane conversation with Sephiroth.”

I accepted Won-jae’s party invite and warped to the Battlegrounds. The lobby felt familiar on my second visit. While Won-jae talked to the NPC Serica, I stared at Park Jin-sol’s character. It was a female character with purple hair and purple skin, wearing a navy robe with gold trim. Is she color-coordinated? While I was lost in idle thought, the match notification popped up.

“Opponent found. Moving to the Battlegrounds.”

“Let’s just do what we did yesterday,” Won-jae’s voice overlapped with Serica’s.

What we did yesterday? Right, they said they’d practiced with Sephiroth. I was genuinely curious about what kind of training they’d undergone. We moved into the arena.

Soon, I saw the fruits of their labor.

[BuffNinjaPls has defeated Oreo.]

[BuffNinjaPls has defeated 00100400.]

[ParkJinSol has defeated dkdlelanjgo.]

[ParkJinSol has defeated OdengSoupIsTasty.]

[BuffNinjaPls has defeated answER.]

“…Did everyone suddenly have an awakening?” I asked blankly as we returned to the lobby after the third match.

I didn’t know about Park Jin-sol since it was my first time seeing her play, but Won-jae and the Ninja’s control had improved exponentially. The synergy between Seong-jin and the others was also much tighter. I expected Sephiroth to go wild, but I never expected the Ninja and Jin-sol to tear through the enemy while being perfectly protected by Won-jae and Seong-jin.

Won-jae laughed sheepishly. “We couldn’t just sit back after being looked down on like that.”

“A Ninja does not endure insults.”

“No, but seriously, can skill improve this much in just one day?”

“You can’t fix raw control in a day, but you can coordinate your synergy. It’s always easier to go from zero points to fifty than it is to reach a hundred.”

“These guys were a bit rusty because they hadn’t done PVP in a while, so Sephiroth-nim and I gave them some ‘mental education’ yesterday,” Won-jae said, puffing his chest out proudly. Jin-sol cackled beside him. It seemed their talk of “practice” wasn’t just for show. Everyone was clearly out for blood.

“We’re going to practice every time the Battlegrounds session ends. We can’t lose like that if we run into Endless again.”

“You guys are really putting your lives on the line for this game…”

“You’re supposed to put your life on the line for games,” Jin-sol interjected. I decided not to challenge her statement, sensing a touch of madness behind it.

Sephiroth, who had been watching us, flicked his hand. “Let’s hit the next one.”

This was our twentieth match including yesterday’s. I was holding a cute Core Castle in my arms. The others were practically flying through the battlefield, slaughtering the enemy. Part of it was our low tier—the opponents weren’t exactly elite—but even to my inexperienced eyes, I could see the team’s coordination locking into place in real-time.

At the center of it all were Sephiroth and Park Jin-sol.

[Party] Sephiroth: Tanker pull back, DPS dive now.

[Party] ParkJinSol: Ninja, stop showing off and do what you learned yesterday.

[Party] BuffNinjaPls: Ugh, my ears ㅡㅡ

Their ability to maintain discipline was staggering; even I felt myself snapping to attention. Despite it being a VR game where you can chat and control simultaneously, their multitasking was incredible. For every engagement, there were at least three pieces of nagging feedback, leaving no room for anyone to slack off.

As I was reading the battlefield, a kick flew toward me from the upper right. I dodged the opening-heavy strike. The martial artist looked flustered as he turned, but I drove my twin blades in quickly. I expected that familiar sensation of being deflected, but instead, a feeling of my swords sinking deep vibrated through my fingertips.

Piercing.

A critical hit landed alongside the pierce, and the martial artist’s health plummeted. It wasn’t a one-shot kill, but for me—someone who used to do 1 damage—it was a visible, meaningful change. Sephiroth didn’t miss the opening. He lunged in just as I stepped back, swinging his massive axe to shatter the martial artist’s footing. The panicked enemy didn’t even get a chance to dodge before his life bar hit zero.

[Sephiroth has defeated GilliamModel.]

[All] GilliamModel: wtf was that twin blade damage;;

[All] GilliamModel: their level is low though;;;;;

The martial artist seemed more upset about the damage I’d dealt than the fact that Sephiroth killed him. I suppose it was hard to believe a low-level player could hurt a max-level one. But decked out in Hidden Pieces and reward items, I was far stronger than anyone my level. Plus, I had bonuses on my basic attacks.

You’re getting stronger, Un-ha! How does it feel to finally see those numbers go up?

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