C-Rank Ranked Match — Fun Shopping (Part 2)

I’ve already decided what I’m buying at the shop this time.

Shield Pieces.

They’re essential-tier armaments, no question about it. Once my Shield Pieces are squared away, if I’ve got chips to spare, I figure I’ll grab some firearms too.

I head over to the sales floor where the Piece-type armaments are lined up.

There’s a good range of Shield Pieces, too. Past the standard PT-8 (a set of 50), there’s the PT-9, which drops the piece count from 50 → 30 but bumps up each piece’s Armor value, and the PT-3, whose pieces are double-sized, so the count falls to 25.

There were other interesting Piece-type armaments, as well. Take the PBE-1 (Bullet Piece): apparently, get this, it’s a Piece that can actually shoot. There are only six of them, but you steer them by brainwave and they fire off lasers. I-I want it…

“The price… one hundred thousand chips…”

There’s no way I can afford that. It’s a classic RPG thing, though, isn’t it? That one item sitting in an early-game town, priced so high there’s no touching it yet, and ridiculously good on top of everything. I love stuff like that. Something to look forward to later on.

“Someday… someday I’ll come back and buy you…!”

The Shield Pieces, by contrast, are cheap. The PT-8 runs just 6,000 chips, and none of the ones that were starting-equipment options seem to break 8,000. I buy two sets of Shield Pieces, which leaves me a little over 9,000.

Now for a sniper rifle.

Hmm-hmm-hmm♪ Picking out a rifle is fun~

Do I prioritize Power, or Range, or maybe Muzzle Velocity?

Thinking about fighting Machine Beasts, though, maybe a sniper rifle should wait?

An assault rifle is probably the more time-efficient pick against Machine Beasts. I’ll go with that.

An assault rifle… there it is.

An assault rifle, huh~. In just about any game it’s dependably strong and easy to run without much skill. The ‘easy power-weapon’ type.

It’s basically full-auto, firing something like ten rounds a second. In exchange, most games tone down the power of each individual shot. The real-world headaches with assault rifles are recoil, muzzle noise, and jamming: they buck like mad, they’re stupidly loud, and they’re absurdly finicky. In real life the recoil and the noise throw you into a panic, and from the fourth shot on your rounds go sailing off who knows where. In a game, though, those downsides are usually kept in check, so the drawbacks all but vanish. And the range runs about 300 to 500 meters, too.

They’ve got burst-fire types, as well.

Burst fire is a system that looses two or three rounds at once per trigger pull. A gun that fires three at a time gets called a three-round burst, or something along those lines. The way I remember it, with an assault rifle the fourth round onward tends to go to waste, so the thinking ran, let’s cut it off at three with a three-round-burst system… and that’s how three-round burst came about. For me, though, it’s a pointless luxury. Once you’re a veteran on my level, you can pull off a three-round cutoff (trigger control) on plain old full-auto!

Full-auto, and since it’s for mid-range, mid Range is fine. Don’t need Report or Tracking. I want one with points sunk into Muzzle Velocity and Power. Hm? The slot that was Ammo Count on live-round guns has changed to EN Reserve.

EN Reserve… Laser-type armaments each carry their own EN, and once you spend it (or deliberately switch the power off), the weapon drops into Reload Time, drawing on the Space Girl’s own EN to top itself back up. A reload is a fatal opening, after all. An assault rifle probably burns through a lot of EN, too, so it’s better to keep the reserve on the high side.

“This one’s good. The ARR-2.”

Its effective range is 300 m, a touch underwhelming, but otherwise it’s exactly what I asked for. The Power and Muzzle Velocity especially run high. The price is 8,000, too. Just right. And… purchased.

Shopping is fun~! Hunting for the best I can get on a limited budget is the greatest thing there is~!

If it weren’t for all the other people, it’d be the perfect game. …Kidding, kidding.

Rounding out my armaments as I go, I move on to the Ship Dock. I board my spaceship and rack my brain over where to head.

First off, money… I need money. Is there somewhere it’s easy to earn?

The manual doesn’t say a word about making money, either. Well, of course it doesn’t.

I try opening my friends list. Currently logged in is… Shiina, huh. ChaCha’s the easiest for me to talk to, but Shiina’s kind too, and… over a call, at least, I shouldn’t get too nervous.

I’ll ring Shiina and ask how to make money. I pick her out of the friends list and place the call…

“Yes. This is Shiina. What is the matter?”

“Uh, umm… h-hello… so, um, do you have a moment right now?”

“Yes. It is no trouble.”

Even as she says so, a tremendous din of gunfire and things being smashed to pieces carries through from her end of the line.

“Um, there’s kind of an intense noise on your end…”

“It is fine. It has already been reduced to scrap.”

Scrap?! What did she turn into scrap?!

“? Is something wrong?”

“N-no! Um… actually, the thing is, I want money. Are there any ways for a beginner to earn some?”

“Let me see… For straightforward earnings, going to the Gold Planet would be best. Machine Beasts on planets with ‘gold’ in the name drop a great many chips.”

“I-I see.”

“The recommended level is 25 — there is a gap between that and yours, Shiki, but you should manage fine. Only…”

“Only…?”

“How much ought I to say… You dislike spoilers, do you not, Shiki?”

“Y-yes.”

“…Understood. Then I will advise you while respecting that way of playing. First: the Gold Planet can, depending on the circumstances, run harder than its listed rating. Never let your guard down, and do not neglect to keep track of the situation.”

Hmm? Maybe there’s some mechanic where the Machine Beasts power up at night, that kind of thing.

“Also: do not rely on your Radar.”

Rely on my Radar…?

In other words, there must be Machine Beasts out there that fight using Stealth, I bet.

“Oh, and one more thing: your spaceship can be turned into data and stored in your pouch, so I recommend stowing it as soon as you land on the planet.”

Huh?! You could DO that?! I-if I’d known that… I could have avoided that whole tragedy!

Low-key, that’s some seriously vital information!

“Ah, thank you so much, Shiina! I’ll head to the Gold Planet right away!”

“Yes. The Gold Planet carries high risk, but the returns are correspondingly great. I pray it makes for a good journey.”

The call cuts off. She’s got her scary side, but Shiina really is a good person.

I set my destination to ‘Gold Planet, Difficulty ☆☆☆,’ and off I go.

“…The Gold Planet. What kind of place is it, I wonder. I can’t wait…!!”

My spaceship blasts off into space.