Combat Simulator

“There’s no way I can fight monsters like that.”

Sario laughed when he heard that.

“We won’t be fighting them barehanded, yesh. We’ll be using powered suits called Mobile Armor.”

However, the Mobile Armor manufactured by the goblins was apparently of the lowest grade.

“Is this Mobile Armor easy to learn how to use?”

“No, it requires rigorous training, yesh. That’s the training we’re about to begin.”

Sario brought over an actual suit of Mobile Armor. Its appearance resembled the white-armored soldiers from a space-war movie I had seen on television. Apparently, someone wearing this Mobile Armor could exert approximately three times their normal physical strength. For example, even someone like me, at fifty-five years old, would be able to jump more than 120 centimeters vertically. Of course, that was under conditions identical to those on Earth.

However, the Mobile Armor I had been given was apparently a modified version of equipment the goblins had originally manufactured for training purposes. Proper Mobile Armor supposedly enhanced the wearer’s strength by at least eight times.

A thruster pack for maneuvering in zero gravity was attached to its back. It was about the size of a small backpack and could continuously release gas for approximately twenty minutes.

“All right, let’s try putting it on.”

First, I put on a spacesuit called a Bio-Suit. It resembled a full-body compression suit that fit tightly against the skin, preventing the body from expanding in an environment with zero atmospheric pressure.

Then, with Sario guiding me, I put on the Mobile Armor. Its dimensions could apparently be adjusted slightly, so there were no problems with the fit. I activated it using a switch near the waist. Text appeared on the transparent armored visor in front of my eyes. Apparently, the suit was performing its startup checks.

Finally, the words “Check Complete. No Abnormalities Detected” appeared. I informed Sario.

“Then let’s practice moving around somewhere with gravity, yesh.”

My new training began. This Mobile Armor detected the wearer’s movements and amplified their strength threefold. Because of that, I fell over repeatedly. The fact that the armor itself weighed approximately thirty kilograms was another contributing factor.

“Huff, huff… Whoa!”

After running approximately fifteen kilometers while wearing the Mobile Armor, I collapsed and couldn’t get back up.

“Zen, you’re using too much strength, yesh. The Mobile Armor supports your movements, so you don’t need to exert that much force.”

Until recently, Sario had called me Banatsu, but after we became friends, he had started using my original name.

“Huff, huff… I’m not used to it yet. What do you expect?”

“We don’t have much time, yesh. At this rate, you’ll even lose to a Space Jellyfish.”

“But even if I get stronger, I can’t possibly defeat a Space Jellyfish that’s ten meters long. What weapons will we be using?”

“Space Machine Guns, yesh.”

In Gapan, the term literally meant a machine gun capable of firing in zero atmospheric pressure, but the Language-Element Nanomachines in my head had apparently translated it as “Space Machine Gun.”

“You mean machine guns that use gunpowder to fire bullets?”

“That’s right, yesh.”

Although they were called machine guns, they apparently weren’t quite like the ones found on Earth. They had been modified for use in outer space.

“But bullets are so small. Can something like that really kill a Space Jellyfish?”

“Space Machine Guns use explosive rounds, yesh. They explode on impact, so you can defeat a Space Jellyfish by aiming at its core.”

“I see. Still, machine guns, huh? I thought we’d be using something more advanced.”

“We have weapons like that too, but they’re expensive, so the goblins won’t let subordinate soldiers like us use them.”

I asked how advanced goblin technology actually was.

Sario explained the different levels of civilization. In this region of space, civilizations were classified using characters from Gapan, the official language. When converted into the Latin alphabet, the classifications were as follows.

Earth was classified as Level F. Apparently, the Celestial Gods had established a rule prohibiting interference with civilizations at Level F or below, designating them as intelligent life forms requiring protection. Under normal circumstances, the goblins would be punished for using an Earthling like me as a lower-class citizen, but they apparently believed that the universe was so vast that nobody would ever find out.

“So the goblins are Level D? That’s pretty impressive, considering how they look.”

Sario shook his head in denial. That gesture was exactly the same as one a human would make.

“No, no. The goblins are Level E, yesh. They can’t build spaceships capable of interstellar travel on their own.”

“Then how do they travel faster than light?”

Apparently, the goblins either purchased equipment from races possessing faster-than-light technology or used services provided by others that offered faster-than-light transportation.

I continued training until I could move freely while wearing the Mobile Armor in a gravitational environment. Afterward, I began practicing movement in zero gravity. Once I mastered that, I moved on to combat training against the orc-shaped robot while wearing my Mobile Armor.

That training continued for several days before I was finally allowed to practice using weapons. However, I wasn’t issued a gun loaded with live ammunition. Instead, I trained with a gun firing blanks. I also underwent training using a simulator.

Thanks to all that training, I became reasonably agile for someone who was fifty-five years old.

“Still, why would they want to turn someone my age into a soldier?”

I asked Sario.

“For humans like you, Zen, living to three hundred years old is normal, so someone in their fifties is still very young, yesh.”

Apparently, people in their fifties were considered young here. However, I was certain that the dark syndicate that sold me to the goblins had deceived them. They should have been able to tell that my body had already undergone considerable aging if they had examined me properly.

In the simulator, I had reached the point where I could defeat Space Jellyfish and pill bug-like monsters called Savage Fang Balls about half the time. A Savage Fang Ball was a monster resembling an enormous pill bug, approximately four meters long, that approached its prey and attacked by biting.

“Today, we’re doing combat simulations again, yesh.”

“Are we still doing those?”

“Commander’s orders, yesh.”

“Haaah… Fine.”

Wearing only my Bio-Suit, I entered the simulator. Its interior was shaped like a dome approximately five meters in diameter, and realistic three-dimensional images were projected throughout the chamber.

Suddenly, my surroundings transformed into outer space. I was floating through space wearing Mobile Armor. Holding a Space Machine Gun, I was approaching an asteroid. Without warning, a Space Jellyfish burst out from behind the asteroid.

I raised my Space Machine Gun and searched for the Space Jellyfish’s core. A red sphere floated inside its enormous, gelatinous body, which measured approximately six meters across. That was the Space Jellyfish’s core. I aimed at it and pulled the trigger.

Although I couldn’t hear anything, I could feel the Space Machine Gun vibrating. Apparently, the simulator created that illusion by sending weak electrical currents through my body.

The instant I shattered the Space Jellyfish’s core, I felt relieved and relaxed my guard. That was apparently a mistake. A Savage Fang Ball suddenly emerged from behind the Space Jellyfish and lunged at me with its jaws wide open.

“Whoa!”

Its enormous mouth snapped shut around my head. At that instant, everything went completely dark, and an alarm blared. The lights came back on, and I heard Sario’s voice.

“You’re dead, yesh. You mustn’t let your guard down.”

I sighed and turned toward the camera Sario was watching through.

My simulator training continued, and by the time I could reliably defeat Space Sea Angels, Space Jellyfish, and Savage Fang Balls, the supply ship Brava had finally arrived at its destination, the Gorgona star system.

Apparently, the Brava had traveled between stars at faster-than-light speeds several times during the journey. However, we had been put to sleep inside sleeping capsules, so we had no idea what had happened during those periods.

The orcs had taken control of the third planet in the Gorgona star system, while the goblins controlled the fifth. The Brava approached the fifth planet and docked at a space station under goblin control.

Sario and I had infiltrated the Brava’s information network to secretly observe what was happening outside the ship. We were using the simulator as our tool for doing so.

Lower-class citizens weren’t allowed to possess portable terminals, so we had used the simulator’s communication functions to gain access to the ship’s information network. Sario apparently knew quite a lot about network technology. Incidentally, my smartphone was still missing. It had probably been thrown away.

The three-dimensional display showed a brown planet and a 600-meter-class space gunship against a sea of stars glittering in the pitch-black darkness. Apparently, that gunship was the flagship of the goblin fleet.

“So this is the Gorgona star system. We’re really going to be fighting somewhere like this.”

“That’s right, yesh. There should be monsters on the planets too.”