The Buried Ring
Every now and then, while playing various games, you come across certain types. An adult game where the combat is so fun that the illustrations barely register. A healing game where the farming is so addictive that you start obsessing over materials. Whether the developers intended it or not, these elements often become the reason players stick around for so long. Hidden items with tricky acquisition conditions. Unlisted secret options. Special interactions between certain items and characters. Some players dig up every last detail before they even launch the game. They read guides, watch videos explaining exact conditions and timings for hidden items, and even after the algorithm floods their recommendations with “(Game Name) Easter Eggs” and they’ve rewatched the same clips three times. Even after sitting through full review videos that include story spoilers. Gamers who can’t feel satisfied unless they experience it with their own hands… I was one of them. You might wonder what’s fun about playing a game when you already know everything, but for me, the process of reaching that point myself was what mattered.
Oath of Eternity. Pronounced “Oath of Eternity.” “Eternal Oath,” or something like that… Anyway, the name wasn’t important. It was a simple otome RPG with dating sim elements that had poured serious effort into hidden content, growth systems, and collection mechanics. Knowing exactly which conditions unlocked which secrets, which equipment gave bonus stats to which characters—that was how I started. Like opening an encyclopedia before the game even began. I skipped the long story text that took twenty minutes to read through and jumped straight in… Later, I would deeply regret that decision. Not during the gameplay itself, but the moment I realized I had been thrown into that nostalgic game I had once left behind with nothing but fond memories.
A sudden flash of old memories. Or rather, memories from before I was even born. Staring up at the familiar yet unfamiliar triangular ceiling, I let out a deep sigh.
“Haa…”
The deeper the sigh, the deeper the thoughts that followed. So what if I was reborn in a game I’d already played? I’d skipped the entire story, so I had no idea what was going on. This was supposed to be the kind of tale where the protagonist steamrolls everything, but I’d already messed up the first button. Ah, crap… I’m screwed.
“Hey, Shen! How long are you gonna lie around?”
While I was blankly staring at the ceiling, a gravelly, heavy voice slammed into my ears. My body jolted, and I scrambled upright at the brain-rattling sound. It was the kind of roar that could wake a hibernating bear—my father’s scolding.
“Y-yeah, I’m coming… My ears are gonna fall off.”
For a moment, I nearly merged with my old memories, but right now, I was Shen. The son of farmers in the remote agricultural village of Pardin, far from the royal capital. A thirteen-year-old boy who had every reason to be weak in the morning.
Stepping outside, I saw my parents already in the middle of the field, picking something. This was the peak season for Yellow Wrinkle Fruit. Sweet like dried persimmons and easy to store for long periods, it was autumn’s bounty. Naturally, I joined them, dropping the fruits one by one into a basket shaped like a baby carrier.
In this world, the phrase “illegal child labor” didn’t exist. It was a harsh place where children were simply expected to obey their parents. Once you had some muscle, helping in the fields was common sense. Whenever I got hungry while picking, I’d pop one straight into my mouth. That rich, sweet flavor, just like dried persimmons, lingered with its chewy texture.
“Hey—! Shen! What do you think you’re doing, eating them right after picking?!”
The thunderous scolding pierced my ears like an arrow the moment I started chewing. My father had a habit of inflating the number whenever his son tried to sneak just one because he was hungry. Squatting down, I snapped back while covering my ringing ears in frustration.
“C’mon, I only ate one!”
“Oh, really? Sorry!”
My father lowered his voice with an awkward grin, eyebrows twitching mischievously. If I’d eaten two, he probably would’ve killed me.
“Hehe.”
With my mother’s soft laughter watching our exchange, the fieldwork finally ended… and with it came the simple freedom of a rural village with nothing left to do. Until yesterday, I would’ve spent this time giggling with the other kids my age. But today was different.
I didn’t know the overall story, but the locations of items I could vividly remember were still clear in my mind. Our village, Pardin, was a remote farming area far from the capital. And the farther a place was from the main regions, the better it was for hiding rare and powerful items.
“If I picture the village like a top-down map…”
I walked slowly from the village entrance, taking in the scenery. Unlike the overhead view from the game, this was strictly first-person. There was no concept of moving one tile at a time while exploring—digging required using my own hands. Comparing the game’s landscape to reality, I estimated the entrance width as one tile, then fourteen tiles straight ahead and seven to the right.
Standing at the exact spot, my heart began pounding wildly. Was something really buried here? What kind of stats did it have? That nervous excitement of opening a treasure chest whose contents I’d completely forgotten. A thrill I could only feel because I no longer remembered the exact details or value.
“It’s here!”
Brushing aside the dirt, I uncovered Pardin Village’s hidden item—a golden ring set with a red gemstone.
“Ah, I remember now!”
Holding the dirt-covered ring in my hand, the memories came flooding back. I couldn’t recall the name, but the effect was crystal clear: it greatly reduced damage taken when not standing on water. An overpowered accessory that, when given to a tank teammate, could let them survive even the final boss’s wide-area attacks alone. As for why such a valuable ring was buried in some random corner of a rural village with no distinguishing features… best not to question it. That’s just how hidden items worked.
Carefully tucking it into my pocket, I slipped away with an uncontrollable smile, pretending nothing had happened. My first harvest was excellent.
But that joyful farming session ended right there. To find anything else, I’d have to travel to other regions or villages… and right now, I was just a thirteen-year-old boy who’d barely outgrown being a child. Unless I ran away from home, escaping my parents’ watch to head to another village or city was practically impossible. Even if I did leave, I didn’t have the basic weapon—the rusty dagger… let alone the “crappy wooden sword” with its damage stat set to zero. I was completely unarmed.
So after that day, all I could do was chat about trivial things with the village kids after fieldwork, just like always.
“Rein! Are you going to the capital too?”
“Huh? No… I’m not going.”
“Why not? You planning to stay here forever?”
In a tiny rural village, there weren’t many kids to begin with, so as long as the age gap wasn’t too big, everyone was friends. Lyla, seven-year-old girl. Rein, fifteen-year-old girl. Mir, twelve-year-old boy. Except for little Lyla, we didn’t bother with “big sister” or “little brother” titles. We just called each other by name, or “hey, you.”
While watching the three of them talk, the question arrow swung toward me.
“Hey, what about you? You gonna keep doing farm work forever?”
“Nah? I’m gonna be a traveler.”
At Mir’s question, I casually shook my head. To find all those hidden items scattered everywhere, I needed freedom first. Mir let out a short, impressed sigh.
“Ooh~”
“What? What are you gonna do if your dad finds out?!”
Rein, on the other hand, looked horrified. In this cramped village where every house knew each other’s parents, if word got out that I—the one everyone assumed would inherit the fields—had said something like that, my father would beat me senseless with those rock-hard arms forged by years of farming. …Wait, that actually sounded terrifying.
“I’ll just get beaten and kicked out. Ah… this is a secret, right?”
Feeling an ominous premonition, I quickly tried to swear everyone to secrecy. But I’d forgotten one crucial detail: there was a seven-year-old girl in the group who was terrible at hiding lies.
Sure enough, before even a day had passed, the secret reached my father’s ears… and before I could even reach the final boss, I found myself in the absurd situation of being beaten to death by my own family.
“You little brat, what did you just say? A traaaaveleeeer?”
If I hadn’t slipped the ring onto my finger inside my glove, my life would’ve ended right there and then. That arm was far too large to belong to an ordinary human.