Ch.64April, and the Dungeon (2)

Another World. It was the second dungeon players would encounter in the game.

It served as a wake-up call for players who had grown complacent after the easy first dungeon.

‘For a turn-based JRPG, they really went all out on the map design.’

It reminded me of Sen’s Fortress from the famous game Umk Souls 1. It felt like the developers were engaged in high-level psychological warfare with the gamers.

Traps were everywhere, and there were numerous tricks involving treasure chests.

It was filled with traps designed to catch gamers who instinctively opened every treasure chest they saw.

Many gamers took heavy damage from these traps and resorted to the save-and-load technique.

One might ask, “Why not just ignore the treasure chests?” But the rewards were too good to pass up. There were many excellent equipment pieces that could be used until the middle of the game.

‘Well… as a veteran player, I’ve memorized all the tricks.’

This was one of those moments when my possession advantage finally came in handy. I hadn’t had many opportunities to use my advantages as a possessor lately. Mainly because I was such a weakling.

My days consisted of throwing Pinocchio, swinging my sword wildly to draw aggro, and then being smothered by my girlfriends after hunting. It sounds like a lie, but it was true. My life was surprisingly mundane. I tried to live intensely, but somehow my daily life just flowed that way. Anyway, that’s how it was.

After avoiding the death event in the first week of March, I had been living like a regular inhabitant of this world. I guess I was a case of someone who had adapted too well to be called a possessor anymore.

Anyway.

“There are people’s lost souls in that dungeon. Like before, we need to defeat the dungeon boss and free those souls,” Sasith said.

“Ooh… so we’re playing the role of justice warriors? This sounds exciting,” Taiga grinned.

“That’s such a Taiga-like thought, being a fan of magical girl shows.”

She was the type who secretly had a thing for justice warriors.

WHACK-!!

Taiga immediately delivered a straight punch to my side. Hey, this is domestic violence.

“S-Shut up!!”

Taiga shouted, her face bright red. The punch hurt, but seeing her embarrassed face like that made it somewhat worth it.

“Ahem!!”

I immediately cleared my throat and addressed the party.

“Ah. Shota’s about to act up again,” Umi said.

This girl… she has such a harsh opinion of me. Anyone listening would think I’m always causing trouble.

“Hehehe. Let him be. Let’s see what he has to say.”

Taiga was actually looking at me with anticipation in her eyes.

“Hey!! I’m being serious here!!”

I immediately turned to Sasith.

“Go ahead.”

Sasith nodded, signaling me to speak. Though his tone was calm, the corners of his mouth were twitching. He was clearly enjoying his role as the leader who listens to his teammates’ opinions.

“I think I know the structure of this dungeon. Would you follow my orders?”

That’s what I said.

“What? How do you know the dungeon’s structure?”

Taiga looked at me with suspicious eyes.

I guess it would seem suspicious.

“But I trust Shota. We’ve been following his orders for targeting monster weaknesses, and it’s been working,” Umi chimed in. She seemed to have found it suspicious that I knew all the monsters’ weaknesses too.

Until now, I’d managed to get by with the flow, but now I needed a proper excuse.

‘Being a possessor isn’t always convenient…’

If I couldn’t earn my companions’ trust properly, I’d just be treated as a suspicious character. I’ve read novels where characters get kicked out of parties for less.

However, as a current web novel writer, making up excuses was no big deal. I had plenty of experience connecting plot points to make them work somehow.

“Ah… I wasn’t planning to reveal this yet.”

I immediately assumed the Psychorobo summoning stance.

“Come forth! Pinocchio!!”

I raised one hand in a dramatic gesture. There was no real need for such a pose, but what’s a summoning scene without some flair?

FWOOOSH-!!!

“Master!”

Pinocchio popped out immediately.

“This Pinocchio, who seems to have no abilities except being solid!!! Actually has a hidden power!!!!”

I declared, pointing at Pinocchio.

“Not buying it. Nope.”

Taiga waved her hand dismissively, as if dealing with a street vendor.

“Hehehe. Even if it had 1,000 hidden abilities, I wouldn’t take it.”

Umi chuckled as she spoke.

Pinocchio… you’re as underappreciated as your master. Well, I wouldn’t take you either.

To sell me such a defective product. Just wait, Violet. I’ll cause trouble again when I get the chance.

Anyway, I continued.

“This guy doesn’t have much combat ability, but he has search capabilities. Somehow… I can see things. Monster weaknesses and dungeon structures.”

That’s what I said.

“Ooh… that’s actually useful?”

Simple-minded Umi took the bait immediately.

“I guess that makes sense. He doesn’t look useful in combat, so he must have advantages elsewhere.”

Taiga also convinced herself.

That’s right. I was repackaging a useless Stand as a non-combat type Stand.

It actually had zero functions, but because it was so useless, I was exploiting readers’ instinct to think, “Maybe it has other functions?” Like how people misinterpreted that famous useless Stand when it first appeared in Part 7.

“True… there’s no useless Psychorobo. What matters is how you use them. There’s no strong or weak among Psychorobos. That’s what I’ve been realizing lately.”

Sasith also convinced himself with a statement reminiscent of a Part 3 boss.

No… there definitely are useless ones. Even that Part 3 boss who said those words used an overpowered Stand. He had no right to say such things.

The distinction between top-tier Psychorobos and unused ones is clear. But I chose not to point that out.

“I see. Then let’s leave the dungeon exploration orders to Shota.”

Sasith finally concluded.

Great. It went smoothly. I cheered internally.

“Master… this is the first time I’m hearing about this.”

Pinocchio whispered to me.

“Just keep your mouth shut.”

I immediately snapped at Pinocchio.

———-

We headed straight for the dungeon entrance.

Clunk-! Clack-!

The dungeon itself looked like a structure made of huge blocks. It felt like entering a toy castle. That’s how it was.

It reminded me of LudiXrium from Maple Story, an online game I played a lot as a kid.

At the entrance of the dungeon, there was, of course, a Soul Room.

“Sasith. Let’s go. We need to create a useful Psychorobo here.”

I immediately pulled Sasith along.

“Just tell me the combination formula. If you go in… Violet probably won’t like it.”

Sasith said with a sour expression.

“What! Aren’t we close friends?!”

I said in a fake dialect, dragging Sasith along.

I was bored and thought I might as well mess with Violet a bit. Honestly, the thought had crossed my mind.

Clunk-!!

Sasith and I entered the Soul Room.

——–

Inside the Soul Room, Violet and Bluebeard were there.

“Ugh….”

Violet immediately made a disgusted face upon seeing me.

“OHHH!!! VIOLET!!! I’M SOOOOO HAPPY TO SEE YOUUUU!!!!!!!”

Overcome with “joy” at seeing Violet, I immediately let out a monstrous yell. Today I was feeling particularly mischievous. I’ll move everyone with my song.

“SHUT UP!!! SERIOUSLY!!”

Violet shouted loudly.

“GET OUT!! RIGHT NOW!!”

Then, Violet got angry.

“Hehehe. The more you say that… the less I want to leave?”

I laughed and sprawled out on the floor of the Soul Room.

“You contrary brat… THEN STAY FOREVER!!! HAPPY?!”

Violet said harshly.

“Yes!! Let’s live well together!!!”

Not a chance. I immediately went from being contrary to being antagonistic.

“ARGGGHHHH!!!!”

Violet grabbed the back of her neck and groaned.

“Well, just leave him be, Violet. I have business with this friend.”

At that moment, Bluebeard stopped Violet with a smile.

“I see… you’ve faced another formidable opponent. The soul of a strong one dwells within your soul.”

Bluebeard said with a smile.

“Huh? Is that so?”

Was that the case? I only fought small fry.

“One of the mortals like you… Saito Kana, was it? It seems you’ve gained something from your duel with her.”

When Bluebeard spoke, it finally clicked.

‘Ah… she was indeed strong.’

And at that time, I had awakened something of the Flash technique. I had performed the feat of cutting wood with paper.

I couldn’t say I had completely mastered Flash yet, but something had definitely taken root.

“You can convert that experience into stat points, just like before. About… 5 points to Strength, I’d say.”

As Bluebeard waved his hand, a status window appeared in the corner of my vision.

A message appeared saying I could add 5 points to my Strength stat. I wanted to increase other stats too, but only Strength was available.

Well, given how rarely I level up, this was a blessing. I immediately added 5 points to my Strength stat. Gradually increasing my Strength stat was actually noticeable. Enemies that used to take three hits to kill now died in two.

By the way… it seems I don’t necessarily have to defeat monsters to be considered facing a strong opponent. Humans count too. Learning that was a significant discovery.

“If you feel you’ve gained experience from facing strong opponents in the future, come see me. I’ll convert it into strength for you.”

Bluebeard smiled.

Wait… if humans count, then couldn’t I earn a ton of stat points by facing strong opponents in the Fighting God Cup? I immediately realized this.

‘This makes the Fighting God Cup even more exciting?’

It was a gamer’s instinct. The Fighting God Cup was essentially an experience-burning event.

Anyway, I gained useful information today.

Now, let’s help Sasith synthesize an overpowered Psychorobo. Using my veteran player advantage, of course.