High Risk, High Return
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
Acquired 19900C.
Acquisition History: Ark Sector C-4 Corpse Breeder Extermination Operation (Combat Participation Reward)
...Huh?
A translucent system message floated before my eyes.
I widened my eyes in surprise.
Far more cash had come in than I'd expected.
Why all of a sudden? What happened?
The cash from the Sector C-3 extermination mission was a measly 1500C.
And even from the fight with the named monster, the 'Crawler Queen', it was just 99900C.
So I'd thought earning cash would be incredibly tough...
Nineteen thousand?
To be precise, it was 19900C.
But I soon realized what was odd. The words combat participation reward stuck out like a sore thumb.
The meaning was clear.
So it's telling me not just to sit back and leech off the ECHOs, huh?
The more I stepped onto the battlefield, gun in hand, risking my life and getting covered in gore and filth, the more outrageous the rewards would be— no doubt about it.
The first battle with Pomen was mostly her doing, so it was just a command participation reward. But this time, I took down a bunch myself...
High risk, high return, huh?
A wry smile crept onto my face.
I had no intention of rebuilding the Ark from the safety of the command room, treating the ECHOs like disposable tools...
But I had even less desire to charge at world-ending monstrosities with just a rifle in hand.
As I wrestled with my survival strategy for the future like that…
"Commander!"
Pomen came running up, still buzzing from the battle's thrill, and leaped onto my back.
"We did it! You saw that, right?! I blew that filthy monster's womb to bits!"
Arva finished it off at the end, though...
Anyway, Pomen rubbed against me with her whole body, reveling in her joy. Then the other two ECHOs approached me as well.
"Pomen, unnecessary physical contact with the Commander only burdens him."
"No way! Our Commander loves this stuff, right? If anything, it’ll only relieve his fatigue, right?"
"......"
"Commander. Are you alright? Any injuries?"
Noah scanned my body with worried eyes.
Then, as if afraid I was marred with dirt and filth, she carefully brushed the dust off my combat suit with gentle touches.
But her hands weren't just aiming for the dust.
"...Noah?"
Noah's fingers grazed the inside of my thigh and my lower abdomen, reverently like a pilgrim polishing a holy relic— yet blatantly intimate.
"Th-That area's fine, I think?"
"No, Commander. You are this Ark's only hope. I must check and clean every spot to ensure no seed of danger can defile your sanctity."
"......"
This just felt like getting toyed with by a pervert, though.
I glanced at Pomen with a look begging for intervention, then quickly turned away.
True to form, she was watching with thrilled eyes, egging the lewd saintess on.
"You did well, Commander. Your exceptional marksmanship let us suppress the enemies far more easily than expected."
Arva sheathed her blade, now cleaned of bloodstains, and spoke in an admiring tone.
"Ahem, you did great too, Arva."
With three beauties showering me with praise, embarrassment flooded in, coloring my cheeks.
Even my mom never praised me like this... Anyway, hiding my fluster, I set Pomen down from my back.
"Oh my, Commander. Are you embarrassed? But you really shot like a pro."
"I just got lucky."
"Luck, my ass... You nailed that hole it hated most, right on target."
"......"
Did she have to roll her tongue like that, winking playfully, while saying that?
Still, my first battle with the Arclight Squad wasn't bad at all.
The results spoke for themselves. We had wiped out the Corpse Breeder nest without a single casualty.
"Anyway, weren't we pretty damn good?"
"...That's what squads are for."
I gave a curt reply to Pomen, but even Arva had a faint smile on her lips.
I agreed with Pomen too.
Pomen's firepower, Arva's scouting and assassination skills, and Noah's solid shield.
These three gears meshed perfectly with me at the very core of it all.
It was exactly the versatile performance you'd expect from a squad used for all sorts of missions in the game.
At that moment, Noah took my hand and smiled in a serene voice.
"Yes, with you, Commander, we can overcome any trial. Your courage in joining us against that horrific Corpse Breeder united us. Every time your rifle spat fire, my heart burned alongside it."
"...Yeah."
Her heart burned, huh...
Was she asking me to cool it down with my touch?
Chatting with these girls any longer would wear out my mind. So, I subtly changed the subject.
"Alright, time to clean up the battlefield."
I looked around.
"Arva, check for any lingering threats, and see if there are parts or data worth salvaging."
"Understood."
"...A full-scale cleanup's impossible, right?"
"Z Virus neutralization comes first, Sir. At this contamination level, it'll take a week before we can start proper restoration."
"Understood."
A week.
With possible other Corpse Breeders loose in the Ark, we could clean other zones in the meantime.
As I scanned the area again, my eyes fell on the ECHOs sprawled in gruesome poses.
"......"
Why was I like this?
They were just machines, consumables in my mind, but staring into their vacant eyes weighed heavily on a corner of my heart.
In the game, I'd have clicked past it without a thought...
But seeing them in reality, so human-like, made it hard to ignore.
So I turned to Noah beside me.
"Noah... help me recover the fallen ECHOs."
"...Pardon? Yes, understood, Commander."
Noah's eyes went wide in shock at my words, then she nodded.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
💬 Arclight Squad Tactical Link Chat
[Arva: Sector C-4, primary capture complete. Residual threat elimination around central power conduit is now 100% complete. How's the Commander?]
[Pomen: Resting now. Been staring at that compass thing.]
[Arva: That artifact?]
[Pomen: Yeah. It's fine over there, right?]
[Arva: No major issues. Checked the other sectors just in case— only regular zombies there.]
[Pomen: Oh? Scouting without orders from the Commander?]
[Arva: Ah, for his safety.]
[Pomen: OK, got it. Hey Arva, what'd you think of the Commander's actions earlier?]
[Arva: ...Unclear intent in the question. His marksmanship in combat? Tactical decisions?]
[Pomen: Not that. The mass-produced ECHOs strewn about. He recovered them himself.]
[Noah: That was more precious than any supplies or support we've ever received.]
[Pomen: ...Huh? What do you mean?]
[Noah: The Commander preserved those poor children's final dignity. Their end that no one would remember. He caressed it with his own hands. The moment his touch reached them, I saw it— their twisted faces in pain relaxed into peaceful slumber.]
[Arva: ...Optical sensor error, I wager. Facial changes in a shutdown ECHO are physically impossible.]
[Pomen: Arva, are you a T?]
[Arva: ??]
[Pomen: Anyway, so the saintess felt that way, huh.]
[Noah: Yes. The Commander gives us not just survival, but a reason to live with dignity.]
[Arva: …….]
[Pomen: Well, the Commander showed me a new kind of joy too.]
[Noah: New joy?]
[Pomen: The joy of becoming a slut...]
[Noah: Slut? What's that?]
[Pomen: The joy of receiving the Commander's holy grace with your whole body.]
[Noah: Th-That—?! I want to feel that grace with my body too!!! Right, Arva? Join us!]
Arva has disconnected.
[Pomen: Ah, she ran away.]
[Noah: ...Why?]
[Pomen: Anyway, I'm out too. What about you, Noah?]
[Noah: I’m going to pray and then rest.]
[Pomen: Hmm, crashing, huh? Gotcha.]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hngh! Yes! Ah, aahhh!!!"
Pomen's moans exploded in my ears.
"Commander’s cock—! Feels so good! Ah—! Aaaah!!!"
Her insides clenched tight, as if refusing to let me go. That hot, sticky sensation snapped my last thread of reason.
"C-Commander! Harder—! More, more—! Ah! Aaaah! Ack! Aaak! Aak!"
After a few fierce thrusts, I poured everything into her.
"Hngh! Ungh! Hngh! Ah! Aaah!!!"
I felt my hot semen filling her up.
Pomen, who moments ago had been moaning like she was dying, trembled in my arms, her arms around my neck, with a blissful expression as it flooded her womb.
I could feel her thrill— not as a mere weapon, but as a slut, my bitch, being loved.
After that hot storm passed,
Pomen caught her ragged breath and nuzzled her cheek against my chest.
Then, with loving caresses all over my body, she asked,
"W-Was it good?"
Her voice quivered thinly.
So different from her confident pre-sex tone— she always checked like this afterward, confirming if her body pleased me.
That gap moe was insanely cute.
"Of course."
"...Ah."
I felt her body twitch at my words.
She burrowed deeper into my embrace.
Her hands roamed subtly, lost but groping as if screaming, “Just one more time”.
But...
I'm beat.
This was the third night in a row we were doing this routine.
She'd been draining me dry nonstop.
In my vigorous twenties, with a cutie like Pomen pouncing, I should have been able to handle this meal-fuck-meal-fuck schedules easy...
Is it a stamina issue, after all?
Sex wasn't as simple as I'd thought.
And once Pomen learned about it, she was like an unchained succubus, assaulting me relentlessly.
There was no satisfying her.
At this rate... I'll really dry up and croak. Death by snu snu!
I'd laughed at webtoon guys turning skeletal from girls sucking them dry. This was no joke.
Was this post-nut clarity that hit me after the end of the intense pleasure?
Holding Pomen close, I racked my brain to keep the dick from getting hard again.
If I did get hard then, it'd be another round.
Perfect timing— I had something on my mind. The Corpse Breeder fight from earlier.
With the Arclight Squad, beating a Corpse Breeder is a given.
But it had been a close call in spots.
Good thing my weird shooting skills let me support at key moments. Without that, the fight would've dragged on.
Something's off...
Corpse Breeders are strong, sure.
But a full-strength Arclight Squad from the game? They should've crushed it without a scratch.
Reality differed a lot, though.
Pomen's firepower couldn't pierce its carapace, and Noah's shield cracked too easily.
What was the problem here?
As I sorted through my thoughts, I asked Pomen on a hunch.
"Pomen."
"Yes, Commander? Do you want to go one more round? Or should I suck it for you?"
Her foxlike seductive gaze made my cock defy me and rise into a rigid pillar.
"Oh, it twitched."
"...Use your mouth."
As I enjoyed her warm, soft tongue, I got to the point.
"Your current weapons... when were they made?"
"Mmph, mmph... Year 3316."
"......???"
What the hell does that mean?
“Slurp, smack.”
Pomen pulled off my cock with a pop, licked the white traces from her lips seductively, and answered.
"Sixteen years ago."
"Huh?"
Sixteen-year-old firearms?
And they used it through numerous battles?
"......"
I now knew exactly what the problem was.