>   1.
> 都立校とは思えない充実した設備を誇るうえ、数年前に創立されたばかりのため内外装も損傷がほとんどない。もちろん旧被災地の高校らしく、地下シェルターも最新のものが設えられている。
>

>
> そのためか入試倍率は低くなく、「家が近いから」だけの理由で受験を決めた士道は、少々苦労をす **ることになった** のだが。(Date a live,
> novel1)
>
>   2.
> 「さて、二人とも。今日来てもらったのは他でもない。ーー宇宙空間を漂っていた先の精霊が<ラタトスク>の手に落ちたことで、彼らの元には累計一〇体もの精霊が集まっ
> **たことになった** 」(Date a live, novel16)
>

The context for 1 is that the text is introducing the background of the school
and the protagonist, 士道, who is a high school student. The sentence in
question is a flashback of how he worked hard and passed the school entrance
examination.

I think I understand the overall meanings of the two quoted texts. But I’m
wondering, since “苦労” and “集まる” are both past events, why don’t we use
苦労したことになった in the first sentence (but we do use 集まったことになった)? Generally, what
would be the difference between 〜たことになる and 〜ることになる when both are describing a
past result?
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question
grammar
Difference between 〜たことになる and 〜ることになる when both are describing a past result
The ~ることになった can mean a past result, but it references the future in relation
to the preceding phrase. If you use ～ることになった in 2, e.g., since the speaker is
speaking about the present, it would seem as if 精霊 will 集まる in the future (but
it has already been decided). In the first, the reference time is 受験を決めた (in
describing 士道), so while the overall sentence is in the past, 苦労をする is a
future action relative to 受験を決めた士道.
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It seems to me that, in Japanese, the position of the speaker plays an
important role of deciding which form to take. Where is the speaker standing
on time-scale or in time perspective?

In the first example, the speaker is standing at the time of Shido's entrance
examination, because he is introducing the background of the school. From this
point of time, he is looking at Shido's 苦労, which can be said to be the future
event. This leads the speaker to use 苦労をする, but not 苦労をした. Yes, you said 'The
sentence in question is a flashback of how he worked hard and passed the
school entrance examination.' In order to create the desired effects of this
flashback, the writer is supposed to vary the (time) position of the speaker.

In the second example, the speaker is standing at the time of 二人がきた今日. From
this point in time perspective, he is looking at 精霊の集まり, which can be said to
be the past event. This leads the speaker to use the past form of 集まった. But
the expression of 集まったことになった sounds to me rather redundant. By using this
redundant form, the writer is sure to put much emphasis on the great number of
100.
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2021-03-29T00:55:06.607
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answer
`[V dictionary form]-ことになる` expresses that something is decided upon. In your
example, the moment he decided to take the exam, his destiny was set so he
**would** have a hard time. Since this happened in the past, the final verb なる
is used in the past tense. However, 苦労する remains unchanged. The reason for the
present tense here is, as explained in other answers, this event hadn’t
happened by the time he decided to take the exam.

`[V た-form]-ことになる` is harder to explain. It is used when something stated
earlier makes it true that something has already completed. In your case, a
particular spirit fell into the enemy’s hands, and **that means** that they
have collected ten spirits in total. The reason 集まった is used in the past tense
is, again as explained in other answers, this event has already happened. The
reference point of time could either be the present or a little earlier when
the last spirit fell into the enemy’s hands.

As for the tense of the final verb なる in the second sentence, he could have
said 集まったことになる, as well. It even sounds more natural to me. But that’s off the
topic.
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answer