40. About the Time I Built a Shield...

Richard collapsed backward into his chair, tossing the Poké Ball in his hand, wondering what to do next when a manual materialized on the chair beside him.

"Oh, Long Live Friends? What kind of a ridiculous name is that?"

The moment he opened the book, a moderate stream of information flooded into his mind. He didn't even need to process or summarize it, because the contents were truly sparse...

To put it simply, players could now add each other as friends.

This friend feature had a multitude of uses:

1. Scenario Quests: If you encounter a large-scale scenario, such as an open-world one, you can contact your friends to join you.
You will know your friends' arrival locations and receive a small reward bonus. However, there is a downside: scenarios undertaken in a party with friends will have a slightly higher difficulty level.

Higher difficulty naturally means better rewards. Risk comes with a return, much like the scenario Richard just participated in.
If he had simply chosen to follow the main quest conventionally from the beginning without triggering hidden worldview-specific special tasks, he would have ended up with standard-issue rewards and some basic gold coins.
In reality, that would be no different from being an ordinary corporate drone.

But because he triggered the hidden worldview special task, the difficulty escalated, and the rewards became ridiculously overpowered—equivalent to a middle school student forging a resume and successfully interviewing for a director position at a Fortune 500 company, with the most infuriating part being that he actually passed the interview.

2. Permanent Team Formation:
This refers to formal teams, which require a minimum threshold of five members. Once formed, the team cannot be easily disbanded. The advantage is that members share a single login space, get a lottery draw opportunity at the beginning of each month, and have their end-of-month gold coin submission reduced by 500.
Furthermore, players can share their gold coins with other teammates at any time.
To put it bluntly, it is basically a pig-farming operation.

3. Special Friends:
A feature that can only be unlocked by fulfilling certain special conditions during scenario quests.
For example, a profound fusion of lives, and it must be the kind of fusion that does not involve financial interests.
Special friends can mutually transfer non-special "skills."

This is quite subtle. What constitutes a non-special skill? Richard's interpretation is any skill that anyone can learn.
Such as boxing, driving, or running in high heels.
Special skills, on the other hand, should refer to things that transcend the worldview of the players. For instance, making Nobita learn the Evil King Flame Killing Fist is unrealistic, and making the tadpole looking for its mother learn string figures is just too cruel.
Social equality is the defining line for whether a skill is special or not.

The most crucial point is that gold coins and experience points are shared between special friends. You can think of it as working together to pay off a mortgage.
During certain special missions, such as real-world scenario tasks, you can also summon your special friends to come over and help, though there will be certain limitations depending on the contents of the scenario.

4. Trainer:
The most unique relationship-binding method with NPCs is the [Poké Ball].
That is, a "teammate relationship" extracted from a master-servant dynamic.
Simply put, it is the relationship between a Pokémon and a Trainer, or perhaps the relationship between a leather whip, a ball gag, and high heels.

Once an NPC is captured, they can be designated as either a "Teammate" or a "Pokémon."
Teammates unlock the "Special Friend" feature, facilitating growth and cooperation.
Pokémon, however, have their thinking modules suppressed, retain their original abilities, and have limited growth potential. Using them requires throwing a Poké Ball to summon them first, but they will obey commands like a puppet—much like a rich second-generation heir visiting a club for a free-of-charge experience.

...

After reading through all of this, Richard felt somewhat disappointed.
His original idea was to put the Poké Ball containing 2B into the reward pool of the [Probability System], and after completing another task, come back and see if the reward pool would transform the 2B inside the Poké Ball into a Zaku.

"Well, so much for romance."
"On second thought, though, I've captured a Pokémon, and that Pokémon will become my friend..."

Richard stroked his chin, his eyes darting around. This plot was surprisingly orthodox.

"2B..."
"Go back and walk the path prescribed by fate, or come to a new world and witness the outside world with your own eyes... If you had to choose, what would you pick?"

***

"Since you can't make the choice yourself right now, I'll reluctantly choose for you in a paternal role. Life is a game, so how about becoming a player for once?"

He raised his head, looked at the panel, and said, "Player."

[Retrieving memory fragments]
[Player ID: 5950]
[YoRHa No. 2 Type B]
[Reshaping physical body]
[Due to the influence of the "Random Stats MOD Poké Ball", her stats will be recast]
[Encountered an issue]
[Player 5950 has a mechanical construction body with no growth potential]
[Would you like her to enter your world?]

"What do you mean?"

[You originate from the "Kairosoft Game World". If Player 5950 (YoRHa No. 2 Type B) is treated as a person from your world, part of her physical body will be recast]
[However, her stats will be affected: a flesh-and-blood body has limited initial stats but possesses growth potential, whereas a mechanical body has high initial stats but no growth potential]
[How will you choose?]

A new wave of instructions flooded Richard's mind:
"A cyborg has high initial stats, but no growth potential. As a friend early on, she would make a competent bodyguard."
"A flesh-and-blood body has limited initial stats, but infinite growth potential, allowing her to be the kind of friend you grew up with, pulling down your pants to pee and making mud pies together since childhood."

If he cared more about life and death next month, Richard would choose to let 2B remain an android.
But he wanted to cast his gaze further into the future.

"Cultivating a partner who doesn't need to take a dump sounds pretty good, right?"

Richard spoke to the panel: "Please come to the 'Kairosoft Game World', even though I have no idea what Kairosoft is."

[Calculating data for YoRHa No. 2 Type B]
[YoRHa No. 2 Type B]
[Level: Lv38]
[Strength: 47]
[Reaction: 65]
[Spiritual Power: 38]
[Constitution: 65]
[Insight: 95]
[Medical: 90]
[Total Attributes: 400]
[Clearing data...]
[Recasting data...]
[The maximum level of your current world (planet) cannot exceed Level 25]
[Rolling dice]
[Level capped at Level 19]
[Total Attributes -60]

"...Only a minus 60?"
"Wait... Level 19 with a total attribute of 340, wouldn't that make her ridiculously overpowered? When she gets back to Level 38, won't her total attributes exceed her original ones by over 100 points?"

Richard's eyes widened further. This was a pseudo-legendary Pokémon on the level of Tyranitar and Dragonite!

***

No... perhaps she was the Zacian who had just found her sword!

At that moment, a megaphone dropped from the ceiling, and Margrave's voice echoed from within: "I keep getting system prompts that a player is hesitating, unable to claim rewards and reach the end of the train line. Is that you?"

Richard was stunned. "This megaphone?"

Margrave: "The system notified me that I could consult other players, and then this megaphone appeared. Answer my question first."

"Ah," Richard acknowledged. "I'm building a woman."

Margrave said, "Hmph... I understand, I get it. I also frequently have a quick tug after a big battle..."

Richard: "Shut your trap... Just give me a second."

[Due to the influence of the "Random Stats MOD Poké Ball", all stats are being randomly redistributed]
[Redistribution complete]
[YoRHa No. 2 Type B]
[Level: Lv19]
[Strength: 25]
[Reaction: 30]
[Spiritual Power: 25]
[Constitution: 170]
[Insight: 20]
[Medical: 70]
[Total Attributes: 340]
[Allocating new housing space, please wait...]

Richard: "Did I just build a living shield?"

At that moment, another megaphone dropped down, and Chen Shou's voice came through: "Umm... Richard, Brother Ma, do you guys want to add me as a friend?"

Chen Shou wanting to add them wasn't simply a matter of hugging their thighs, though compared to other players, guys like Richard and Margrave who could still laugh and joke in moments of crisis certainly fit the description of powerful pillars of support.

Chen Shou was a corporate drone. Judging by his layers of fat, he clearly belonged to the category of people who suffered severe skinny-fat syndrome from chronic overtime. Years of navigating office palace-intrigue dramas had conditioned him to believe that trusting others unconditionally was exceedingly difficult.

Yet in the much crueler "Endless Corridor," big bosses Richard and Margrave could hand over good gear to him without a moment's hesitation. From this single point alone, two conclusions could be drawn: first, these two guys' brains were wired a bit differently from ordinary people, and second, these two were definitely worth befriending.

Richard: "Sure, friendship fee is 500 gold coins."

A few seconds later.
Richard: "Skinny bro, you aren't actually calculating your gold coin balance right now, are you?"

Chen Shou: "Ah..."

Richard: "Just kidding. I'll add you when we get back."

After the three of them exchanged their IDs, the allocation panel for 2B in front of Richard finished loading as well.

[Housing is tight. Player 5950 (YoRHa No. 2 Type B) cannot be allocated valid login space temporarily; has been sent to the login space of her "Special Friend"]

Special Friend?
Isn't that me?

Richard was taken aback.

At that very moment, the notification chime for the scenario completion settlement rang out.

After listening to it, Richard felt a bit dazed...
The voice was too fast, and the reward details were too long... He hadn't caught all of it.

He opened the panel to check the settlement details, but the semi-transparent settlement panel was rather long, and he had to literally "pull" the panel up from beneath the floor to see its full picture...