Shota, Awakened? (2)
Sassis immediately opened the green door and stepped inside. I tagged along like the shameless extra I was.
Whooooosh—!! The moment the door opened, my vision went black for a second.
"Welcome. To the Chamber of Fate."
A mysterious beauty with green hair greeted us.
"Heh heh. A mortal gracing us here? It's been ages."
An old man with a flowing green beard chuckled to himself.
The Chamber of Fate. This was a place only the player could normally access. There, they'd power up their Psychorobo and fuse them to create new ones.
"This is..."
Sassis still seemed to be piecing it together.
"Rest easy. Time flows differently here from the outside. Take your time."
The old man said that, then introduced himself.
"I'm Bluebeard. And this young lady is Violet, my servant. You who bear a grand destiny—I shall aid you in my own way."
That was his line. That's when Violet's gaze locked onto me.
"Two of you? This one..."
She seemed surprised that an outsider like me had shown up.
"Hmm... I see. Originally destined to exit the stage of fate early—a mere extra... Yet you've overcome that fate to become a lead role. This is unprecedented."
Bluebeard said with a smile. This guy... had he seen right through my original extra status?
"But this one hasn't awakened to the power of Psychorobo. Such a pity."
Violet said in a disinterested tone.
No. This bitch?
"Well, Sassis. I can empower your Psychorobo and create new ones for you. Consider this my gift."
Soon, Violet handed Sassis a new Psychorobo.
Flash—!!
A moth-man with wings approached Sassis. It was the basic starter Psychorobo, Tinkerbell, with the gale attribute.
At this point, it was the only gale-attribute Psychorobo you could get, so plenty of players just used it as-is. Those who wanted the strongest possible without caring about matchups would fuse Gladiator and Tinkerbell to make the ice-attribute Bigfoot.
"Fusion, huh. Might as well try."
Sassis muttered.
But as a hardcore vet, I couldn't resist chiming in.
"Just using it straight-up isn't bad. It's gale attribute, and none of us have that yet. Keep it for a while, fuse after we clear this dungeon."
That was honestly the best play. Players racked up fusion fodder Psychorobo later anyway. Fusing too early meant tougher fights. Early game, you wanted a bunch dangling off you to poke weaknesses.
"Hmm... Fair enough."
Sassis gave up on fusing right away. Phew... Glad he listened.
"You... know a lot about Psychorobo."
Violet eyed me like I was some freak.
"Then we await your next visit."
As Sassis wrapped up, Violet bowed to him. She was straight-up ignoring me. Making me feel left out, huh.
But I wasn't backing down.
"Hey. Gimme a Psychorobo too."
I wasn't budging an inch without one.
"Hey... you."
Sassis looked flustered by my sudden move.
"That's a power not granted to the unchosen. We can't give it to one who doesn't grasp the weight of fate."
Violet said in a haughty tone.
"Weight of fate? Don't know it?"
"Yes. You don't. It's forbidden to the ignorant."
"How can I guess if I don't know? Try guessing my grandpa's name. Bet you can't."
I went straight into full throttle haggling mode.
"What does your grandfather's name have to do with—"
Violet faltered for a sec.
Thud—!
I flopped right onto the floor.
"Gimme a Psychorobo. I ain't moving a step till you do."
I shot Violet a side-eye from the ground. Oh. Low angle—panties almost visible.
"Throwing a tantrum won't—"
"Dunno! Dunno! DUNNOOOOO!!!!"
I let out a primal scream.
"Don't care!! Gimme a Psychorobo! Got it? Not budging till you do!"
I went full brat mode.
"Shota... C'mon, let's go. Please?"
Sassis looked at me like he was dying of secondhand shame.
"We'll drag you out by force."
Violet threatened.
"Yeah. Try it."
I scratched my belly and said.
"Worthless mortal... You wanna die here?"
Violet moved to exercise her authority.
"Kill me. Fine by me. Hell awaits. But!! This is prime publicity."
I made it clear death didn't scare me.
"What kind of human..."
Violet stared like I was an alien.
"Anyway!! We can't give it to the unqualified!! Get out!!"
"Nope."
"No means no!"
"Hi there!!!!! Name's Arikiri Shota, moving in today!!! So thrilled!!!!!"
No choice then. Guess I'd live here forever.
"Let's be roommates and get along great!!!!"
I boomed my greeting. I was dead serious about squatting here.
"Crazy bastard..."
Violet's jaw dropped as she muttered.
"Shota... Please stop... Heh heh heh."
Sassis was desperately holding back laughs while trying to rein me in.
"Even if an unchosen one awakens to Psychorobo power..."
"Dunno."
"It could strain your body..."
"DUNNOOOOO!!! GIMME!!! GIMME IT!!! JUST DO IT!!!!"
I thrashed my limbs on the floor.
"........."
Finally, Violet gave up on reasoning with me and glanced at Bluebeard.
"Hah. Just give him one. It's fate, after all."
Bluebeard said coolly.
"Understood."
Violet muttered, looking pissed. Probably stung losing to a troublesome customer.
Flaaash—!!
Violet reached out toward me. In that instant, light burst from my body.
"This feeling... UOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!"
I roared.
Nonhuman power... was surging inside me.
"Shut up already."
Violet snapped at me.
"Yes'm."
I clammed up instantly. Once I got what I wanted, I was meeker than anyone—that's me.
Soon, the light faded.
"There. Done."
Violet sighed.
"Ooh... Psychorobo!!"
I whipped mine out right away. Honestly, I was hyped. What would it be?
Flash—!!
Finally, my Psychorobo appeared.
"Hello? Master."
A super pathetic-looking wooden puppet spoke to me. Long nose, that sleazy kid vibe... Yeah, I knew this one. Pinocchio.
The liar whose nose grew. It boasted the absolute worst stats across the board. Full-attribute resistance meant no weaknesses, but it was so trash it made you wanna puke. It could learn every element's basic skills, but nothing advanced.
Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Basically treated like Um Baek-ho in Romance of the Three Kingdoms games. There were even clear guides using only this guy.
Of course, it had value. At level 99, all stats maxed out. But who'd grind to 99? Level 60s cleared the final boss easy.
In short, the perfect gag Psychorobo.
"Satisfied? Now scram."
Violet said that and shoved Sassis and me out.
"Wait!! Refund!!! REFUND!!!"
I invoked my consumer rights.
"Master!! Don't toss me away!!"
Pinocchio begged from the side.
Shut up!! You punk!
Slam—!!
But the door shut mercilessly.
Click—!
It locked. Clear message: No troublemakers.
Well... at least I got a Psychorobo. Think positive.
I sighed and told myself that.
Anyway, despite the minor fiasco, no time had passed outside. Umi and Taiga hadn't noticed a thing.
"Let's go."
Taiga pointed at the citadel's first-floor door.
"Hold up. First..."
I said to the group.
"What now? Gonna pull some shit again?"
Umi sighed at me. Rude much?
"I... 'awakened'. To the power of Psychorobo."
I grinned.
"You call that an awakening...?"
Sassis snarked from behind, but I ignored him.
"Come forth!! Psycho... PSYCHO!!"
I summoned Pinocchio right away.
Flaaash—!!!
He popped up in front of me.
"........."
"........."
Umi and Taiga went silent.
"Uhahahahahahaha!!!!! It's so friggin' lame!!!"
Taiga burst out laughing.
"Ehehehehehe!!!!! It's cute!!! Like, pathetically cute!!!"
Umi couldn't hold it in either.
"Ahh... Judging books by covers is premature. This guy's strong."
I said, stroking his head.
"Bet my arm it's weak. Whatcha betting?"
Taiga came on strong. Well... no way she'd lose an arm. Safe bet.
Anyway, I'd "awakened" to Psychorobo power. I was starting to fear my own strength.
"Master! Do your best!"
Pinocchio yapped from the side. Quiet. You're breaking my immersion.
Prepped and ready, we charged into the citadel's first floor. Our first dungeon raid was on.