#24: C-Rank Ranked Match — Fun Shopping (Part 1) — Sniper Is a Loner ~On How I Was Quietly Enjoying Some Solo Player-Sniping and Wound Up a Raid Boss~

July 31.

Yesterday was busy. I cleared a Special Mission and got into the Ranked Match. Today it’s just me, taking it easy with leveling as the main event.

“I’m really getting used to this capsule bed~”

The moment I log in, I check the ‘homework’ Shiina has prepared for me.

‘~ Homework ~’

‘Level 30 or above’

‘Radar 130 or above · Armor 30 or above’

‘Expansion Part “Enhanced Radar” equipped (it is available for purchase at the shop)’

That’s the homework that came in by message.

Radar at 130 or higher will apparently pick up just about anything except the high-Stealth Roles (Scouter and the like). I’ve got nine status points to spend, so I sink six into Radar and push it to 130.

Next up, Armor. At Armor 20, two rounds from a handgun on full auto knock a body part’s durability to zero, but at 30 you can apparently just weather them. Armor 30 also lets you barely survive a handful of other attacks. For now, I drop the remaining three points into Armor.

[PN: Shiki]

[LV: 11]

[ROLE: Sniper]

[TIP: 21390]

[Armor: 20 × 1.15 (23)]

[Thruster Output: 40]

[Thruster Capacity: 80 × 1.5 (120)]

[Precision: 80 × 1.55 (124)]

[Radar: 100 × 1.3 (130)]

[Stealth: 60]

[EN Capacity: 60]

[Armaments]

[Slot 1: Army Knife (Knife)]

[Slot 2: M1911 G-AGE (Handgun)]

[Slot 3: Dust Mirage (Special Cloak)]

[Slot 4: SCH-100+ (Saber)]

[Slot 5: null]

[Slot 6: null]

[Slot 7: null]

[Slot 8: null]

[Expansion Parts]

[Slot 1: null]

[Slot 2: null]

[Slot 3: null]

I can clear the stats and level just by hunting Machine Beasts into the ground. The problem is this Expansion Parts business. According to the manual:

‘Expansion Parts can be obtained from the shop, as mission-clear rewards, as drops, and so on. Equipping one expands the abilities of your Space Girl.’

That tells me nothing useful. Might as well head to the shop and look at the real thing.

Back in Infinity-Space for my second shop visit, I head for the Expansion Parts sales corner.

Same as the armaments, the Expansion Parts float in cases of preservative fluid. Every one of them looks like a jewel.

“There it is.”

[Expansion Part: Enhanced Radar… Sniper & Scouter only. Extends the Radar's detection range from 250 m to 500 m. Uses 2 equipment slots.]

Whoa, that’s strong…!

Double the detection range is no joke. For a Sniper, whose Radar is high to begin with, it’s an essential-tier item. No wonder it made the homework list. The price is steep, though: 50,000 chips.

I take a look at the other Expansion Parts while I’m at it.

[Weapon Plus… Increases your armament slots by 2.]

[Guardian Deity… Guardner only. Adds 10% of your own Armor value to the Armor value of your Shield Pieces and Shields. Uses 2 equipment slots.]

[Weight Minus… Bomber only. Reduces the Weight of your armaments by 70%.]

[Spacewalk Armor… Cancels the negative stat correction applied under zero gravity.]

[Heat-Resistant Armor… Reduces heat damage. Also cuts damage from laser-type armaments by 20%. Essential for atmospheric entry. For you who would rather taste the atmosphere on your skin than from a spaceship.]

[Jamming Armor… You do not appear on the radar of any Unit more than 200 m away. Uses 2 equipment slots.]

[Back Eye… Mounts a camera, too small for the eye to catch, on the back of your head. Essential if a mere mortal wants a taste of shooting behind her back.]

[<Stat> Enhancement Core… Raises the designated stat by 30.]

[<Stat> Enhancement Core Mark 2… Raises the designated stat by 80. Uses 2 equipment slots.]

[Note: duplicate Expansion Parts cannot be equipped.]

Whoa. They’re all strong, and it’s not as if the Enhanced Radar is the best of the lot. It even has a clear counter in the Jamming Armor. You can’t run both at once, which is an exquisite bit of balancing. The way ‘Guardian Deity’ just comes right out and says what it does is outrageous. And Weapon Plus… slot expansion is nothing to sneeze at either.

And to think this is the kind of performance you get from Expansion Parts you can buy in the very first town…

Ah, I see. So the reason Shiina had nine armaments is that she’d added slots with Weapon Plus.

Which means Shiina is carrying one more armament than that.

Guess I’ll hold off on it for now.

If I bought the Enhanced Radar plus one more on top, I’d be looking at somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000. I’ll come back once I’ve earned it.

Next, I head over to the armaments section.