Part 24

There's some treasure. Take it?

Due to the SMT scripting system, we have to run through this every single step we take.
There is, by the way, a way to avoid picking up anything: make sure your inventory is full so that you can't pick up anything. There's a little bonus, too: you'll find out what the item is in the process of attempting to take it, so you can then decide whether or not it's worth it. Sneaky sneaky.
By doing this, I quickly determine that the majority of the items can be obtained from shops or through demons, and there's only a few items I want here.


Tammy got a Chakra Pot.

Chakra Pot heals a lot of MP, and MP healing items are rare as hell in this game.


Tammy got a Soma.

Soma is basically Elixir + bad status recovery. Somehow, it's more common than any of the Chakra MP healing items.


Tammy got a Soul Incense.

Best revival item in the game. Heals dead party members back to full HP.


Tammy got the Renki-no-ken.

And you can use this to make the best swords in the game.
_{I messed up the screenshotting here.}

Alright, let's see what kind of Chefei this haul ends us up with.


Chefei: It's no good... You're didn't take enough treasure!
That's SO lame!


Youjuu Chefei appeared!

This is only the second form of Chefei. I guess we're in the clear!
It's a good thing this form is relatively weak, too, because there is a slight hitch.
Each form of Chefei has different resistances. For example, the strongest form I showed you earlier is immune to sword and gun attacks, resists most other physical attacks, and out of all the elemental attacks, only fire can do regular damage to it.
This Chefei isn't so bad, though. It's immune to sword and some physical attacks, but is easily dealt with using gun attacks, fire (Agi) and force (Zan) attacks. Did I mention that the Djinn I just made has the strongest Zan spell, Zandyne? Because he does.

Three turns of gunfire from Tammy and Reiko, Firebreath from Kerberos and Zandyne from Djinn, and...


Chefei: ...It's no good!...
I lost... This sucks...


The ring Chefei was holding appears, and suddenly...


Otsuki: Tammy, my bitter enemy!
I've taken the Ring of Kindness!
If you want it, come to my laboratory! I'll show you my Plasma Power!!

---

And now for a brief aside.

The Many Faces of Chefei

I hate to admit it, but I have no idea what Chefei is supposed to be aside from some kind of fox spirit. The name sounds vaguely Chinese, but I've searched quite a bit and all I've found is Japanese messageboards where people have only managed to figure out the same conclusions.
Chefei has 8 different forms:


[Image source]

As mentioned before, the form you fight depends on the amount of treasure you get. Also, rather than simply increasing in strength, each form is different in terms of personality, strengths and weaknesses. Some Chefeis are physical attackers, some use magic. Their immunities tend to shift around between forms, but they're almost always weak or non-resistant to fire.

How can you predict which Chefei you're going to fight? Just before the battle, there's the corridor of 15 golden chests that I talked about a couple of times. The tiering system is organised as follows:
Up to 3 chests opened: Chefei 1
4 to 6 chests opened: Chefei 2
7 to 8 chests opened: Chefei 3
9 to 11 chests opened: Chefei 4
12 chests opened: Chefei 5
13 chests opened: Chefei 6
14 chests opened: Chefei 7
15 chests opened: Chefei 8

In a realistic game, Chefei 5 or 6 would probably be the upper limit for the average party, and it would be a long, gruelling battle. At level 70 and with around 6500 HP, Chefei 8 would be twice as strong as the average party at this point in the game and would probably be unbeatable at that level, and is probably best left for challenge gamers and yarikomi nutters.