[Hang Tough, Maa-kunchan!]
–I was now walking down the street of Helheim, my city, with a black-haired, brown-skinned girl in a maid outfit after coming back from the ‘Underground Tomb of the Shinigami’.
Her steps were heavy, and her eyes were filled to the brim with tears of humiliation. She, or rather he was…
“T-to think there would come a day where I would be humiliated like this…! Curse you, developers! I will make you pay for this!!!”
…‘Maa-kun’ who screamed as he wiped his eyes.
–Yup. This girl was my partner Living Armor Knight.
Let’s wind back a bit.
When I held out the evolution item in front of Maa-kun, this message popped up.
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・Transformable Deity: ‘Possession Goddess Queen Nitocris’
A shinigami who has returned to the mortal world. A form a Living Armor Knight attains as a result of its ever-lasting loyalty to its lord.
Boasts high Strength and Agility and has regained the special art ‘Evil Sword Summon’ she used to use before her armor body was destroyed (uses the player’s MP). The summoned Living Weapons will disappear one minute after being summoned, but they won’t take up the player’s summon slots.
Retains the ability to possess armor.
With her soul core residing in the armor she has possessed, she can rematerialize even if her physical form is destroyed as long as the armor is intact.
However, the durability of the armor she has possessed will be halved each time her physical form is destroyed, and she uses the player’s MP every second to maintain her physical form.
She can’t enhance the stats of the armor she has possessed while she is in physical form.
※She won’t take up the boss monster summon slot when materialized.
※She can equip weapons, armor, and accessories as players do, but their stat boosts and effects won’t be applied to her.
※She can’t learn arts and skills for players.
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–After reading the explanation, I went “Hmm?” and tilted my head.
I mean, I got the gist of it. Simply put, Maa-kun would be able to go from the ‘possession form’ which boost armor stats to the ‘materialized form’ which let it fight alongside, and back again.
But… ‘she’…? The name’s got ‘queen’ in it too…
No way, would he evolve into a female?!
As I was trying to wrap my head around it—Maa-kun, who couldn’t hold his excitement after seeing Pontaro and the gang’s evolution, jumped up and landed a flying kick on the YES button on the evolution window, all the while screaming “I shall evolve as well!” or at least that was what his growl sounded to me.
As a result, he got the evolution he so dearly wished, but…
“Uuuuu… why did I turn into a woman…!”
And so, Maa-kun became Maa-chan.
By the way, he looked like me, just smaller.
It would have been difficult to tell us apart if not for the difference in our hair and skin color. The appearance of the ‘Possession Goddess Queen Nitocris’ was set to imitate the player’s, it looked like.
By the way, he had been completely naked after evolving, so I’d given her the maid outfit I’d got while hanging out with the baldhead a while ago.
“Grr, to give a knight like me a body like this… unforgivable, I will never forgive you, developers…!”
“Well, you brought it on yoursel—I mean, yeah, those devs are unforgivable!”
The fact would only hurt Maa-chan–I mean Maa-kun, so I decided to just nod along.
Besides, I suffered the same fate. Those devs had turned my avatar into a girl without my consent. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that I was the only one who could understand his feelings in this world…!
“By the way Maa-kun, why are you out and about if you’re so embarrassed by your looks?”
“Well, I would like to get used to this body sooner rather than later, or else it would hinder my combat performance.”
“Ohh, how admirable…!”
Shame was secondary to winning to him, huh. He’d gotten a hella cuter on the outside, but inside he was still the coolest guy in the world.
“Man, I can’t wait to stand on the battlefield alongside you, Maa-kun! Of course, with the reborn Pontaro and gang, too.”
“Likewise. My level has risen a great deal since you took me under your wings. This debt of gratitude shall not go unrepaid.”
I shook hands with Maa-kun, laughing wryly at his pretentious remark.
Maa-kun might be dissatisfied with his body, but it was only thanks to it that we were able to shake hands like this. I guessed I should thank the devs for this.
“Okay, let’s grab some good food to celebrate your evolution!!”
“F-food…! N-no, t-the idea is certainly tempting, but weren’t we here for that ‘Demon Steel’ reforging…?”
Maa-kun and I chatted happily—but just then.
A message window suddenly popped in front of me. It was from Zansword, and the subject was ‘Emergency’…!
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・A message from your friend Zansword.
“Yuri, we have big trouble! The results of our secret investigation just came in. According to it, more than 80% of BSO players have joined the Goddess side led by Pendragon!!
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“W-what the hell?!”
80%… In other words, if the total number of players was 100,000, the enemy would have 80,000 players on their side, while we only had 20,000 on ours…
Facing the surprisingly great difference in numbers, I could only smile wryly “Hehe, you’ve gotta be kidding me…”
