novelraw Chapter 97
Chapter 97
Chapter 97
The day after the festival.
I was doing my homework like a proper student, reflecting on yesterday's events.
(Strangely, I'm not shaken anymore. Maybe because I already took one surprise kiss.)
Tsukinami-san... Tsukinami-san and I aren't really friends, are we? It's something more—or maybe less.
Her back after the kiss looked a little lonely. She must have kissed me and felt even less than she expected. That was disappointment on her face.
The feelings Tsukinami-san has for me aren't "love." It's strong "curiosity." That makes sense. I'm not yet someone worthy of her love.
To turn that curiosity into friendship or love, I have no choice but to defeat her—White Meteor. First, I'll crush that fake.
"Homework done..."
I put on my headgear terminal and lie down on the bed.
"Goodbye, reality. And—"
—hello, other world.
My consciousness fades, then reawakens.
I wake up in a battleship hammock. After checking my surroundings, I climb the stairs to the deck.
I open the iron door leading to the deck.
"Nice weather again to—huh?"
Stepping onto the deck and looking outside the battleship, I froze.
"Huh? Wha—!?"
"So you're finally up, you bastard!!"
"We've been waiting!"
A swarm of Space Gulls is flying around the battleship on disc-shaped aircraft (wyverns).
"Wh-what is... this!?"
"Target confirmed, Shiki! You've spotted us! Alright! Die already!!"
Every muzzle swings toward me.
"Uwaaaahhh!?"
I can't fight back properly with all these eyes on me.
I turn back down the path I just came, re-enter the battleship, and slam the door to the deck shut.
"Wh-wh-what is going on!? Who are those people!?"
Countless gunshots ring out.
Bullets rain against the door, but it holds without a scratch.
"As expected of a battleship designed by Chacha-san..."
"Enemy attack confirmed."
A sudden announcement echoes through the ship. It's Chacha-san's voice—her rare serious tone.
"Auto-defense program activated. Deploying Flare Field."
"Flare Field?"
I peek through the door's window.
"Whoa!?"
A thin orange barrier surrounds the battleship.
The barrier incinerates laser rounds and missiles, reducing charging Space Gulls to dust.
"I never heard about anything like this..."
Saved, but still... wow.
"Proceeding to interception program proposal. Requesting orders from player holding Master authority."
A window floats before my eyes.
"Activate interception program?"
→YES.
"Activate external cameras?"
→YES.
"Set interception level from 1 to 10."
→10.
"Understood. Annihilating all craft within 220 m of battleship All The Way."
The feed from the external camera appears in my window.
"Dual turret Arrow Rain released."
A turret pops up on the battleship's upper deck.
"Heat-seeking rapid-fire cannon Heat Hound, all ports released."
The battleship's outer armor slides open; gunports appear everywhere.
"Mobile tracking missile cannon Move Hound, all ports released."
Even more gunports appear.
"AI-directed anti-ship batteries, all ports released."
And still more open.
"Firing all at once."
Holes open in the barrier; through them, laser rounds streak out.
The lasers track heat signatures, homing in on the wyverns and Space Gulls.
A massive laser beam fires skyward from the turret, climbing tens of meters before splitting into countless smaller beams that arc downward. A rain of lasers pours indiscriminately.
"Wh-whoa..."
Missiles follow.
They chase moving targets; even if you mask your heat signature, the next wave of missiles will finish you.
"Uwa, waa..."
AI-guided visual sniping. The AI locks on with the battleship's cameras and snipes on its own, cleaning up anyone missed by the first three attacks.
A woman's scream pierces my ears—no cute shriek, but a scream from the gut, from the soul, one that could pierce iron walls. Still, the attack doesn't stop.
"Multiple enemy battleships detected 120 m ahead. Launching 28 Mach-2 torpedoes."
Torpedoes launch; distant battleships explode instantly.
"Firing omnidirectional fragmentation shell Annihilation."
Shells fire in every direction.
Mid-flight they split, scattering countless micro-missiles that turn even the Space Gulls who barely survived the earlier barrage into dust.
Arrow Rain's indiscriminate attack from above → heat-seeking rounds → moving-object missiles → AI visual sniping → indiscriminate bombing. After this evil combo, every surrounding Space Gull is out of action—dead or dying. No screams remain. Yet the battleship still won't stop; it won't leave a speck of dust or a drop of oil...!
"Unlocking main cannon Perfect Destroy—"
"It's okay now! That's enough! Overkill! The enemy's will to fight is gone!"
At my shout, the battleship finally lowers its weapons.
Nearly a hundred Space Gulls, five battleships, and thirty fighters are annihilated in moments.
Wh-what did she build!? And why didn't she tell me anything, Chacha-san (that person)!? I'm saved, but it's complicated!
"Any survivors...?"
From atop the turret I look down at the sea.
Wreckage & wreckage & wreckage. Despite this carnage, chips only went up slightly—they must have come without chips on them, anticipating loss. Which means they were wary of me... someone who knows me.
"Ah."
One person remains alive, limbs torn off. I use thrusters to retrieve them from the sea and bring them aboard.
"Th-thank goodness. Are you okay?"
"...Wh-who are you!? What is this battleship!? Trauma confirmed!"
The Space Gull sobs through tears.
"I... I'm not sure about this battleship either..."
"It's YOUR battleship! How could you not know!?"
Fair point.
"Sorry. I want to ask—why did you come here? I don't know your objective."
"......"
"If you tell me, I won't hand you over to the MPs. I've got every attacker's face and player name on camera. If I send that data to the MPs, your entire class will be changed and you'll be forced to leave Oceanus."
"You..."
"But if you cooperate, I swear I'll delete your image data. Please—tell me what's going on."
A plea bargain, basically.
The Space Gull hesitated for a few seconds, then—
"I've no duty of confidentiality, so I'll tell you. There's a bounty on your head. The amount—three hundred million."
"Th-three hundred million!?"
A bounty!? Why!? I haven't done anything wrong!
"The requests are circulating on all kinds of bulletin boards. That's all the information I know!"
"Thank you very much. So......what should we do? Should I repair that body? Or would killing you make this quicker?"
"......Yeah. Kill me."
"Understood. Then—"
I blow off her head with the G-AGE. The Space Gull left a "Gyaa!?" behind and was deleted.