Kidnapped by a Crappy Game (2)
By the time the chaos in my head finally settled, I managed to piece together — vaguely, at least — where this place I'd thought I was seeing for the first time actually was.
You've got to be kidding me. This is the in-game command center from Astral Lagrange, isn't it?
Of course, I hadn't figured that out on my own.
A translucent status window like that had been glittering above my head, announcing its own existence with shameless confidence. Between that sparkling display and everything else in my field of view, I finally realized I'd fallen victim to the game possession scenario I'd only ever heard about in stories.
…Is this a dream?
The whole situation felt so unreal that I reached up to pinch my own cheek — only for someone to snatch my hand mid-motion before I could.
?!
The touch was smaller than my own hand, delicate and soft, and I turned in startled confusion to find the living proof that I really had been dropped into the game.
"Welcome back, Commander!"
"…"
There she was — Jessica, the character I'd set as my adjutant — clutching both of my hands tightly, beaming at me with a radiant smile.
"I never even imagined you'd actually come back, Commander!"
"Uh… right."
Jessica, whose settings included being a rabbit-eared beastkin, seemed so overjoyed to see me that she was bouncing up and down right in front of me. I nodded at her energetic display, then decided to deal with the notification messages still flickering stubbornly across my vision and blocking my view.
> A Message for the Returning Commander
> During Commander Icarus's absence, the fleet's situation has deteriorated steadily.
> Quests, missions, and events have piled up in overwhelming numbers.
> We recommend beginning with the returnee-exclusive quests to reacquaint yourself with the game.
Begin Resource Mining!
After long years of neglect, the fleet and base have ceased even basic resource mining operations.
Nothing matters more in this game than abundant resources.
Use the resource mining vessels remaining in the fleet to resume full-scale extraction!
Reward: Bonus allotment of all resources
So the bottom line is just "do what you're told," huh.
It had gone on at length, but stripped down to the essentials it amounted to: You just came back and forgot everything, right? Just follow the instructions we give you.
Sure, the quests had piled up — but three years ago, when I'd quit, I hadn't even liquidated my account. The fleet, the characters — no, the superhumans — locked away in that account should still be there. Looking at the messages, I immediately reached for the familiar command system inside the command center, intending to clear the resource mining quest and the dozens of others stacked on top of it all at once.
The moment I picked up the command console with that plan in mind, though—
???
The command console was so empty it might as well have been a barren wasteland. My mind went pure white in an instant.
No. The miracle comeback chance is still on the table…!
Somehow managing to hold onto my sanity by a thread, I turned to the only person who could explain the situation unfolding before my eyes — my adjutant, Jessica — and put the incomprehensible mess to her directly.
"Jessica. There's something I've been wondering about."
"Yes! Ask me anything!"
"Where the hell did everyone go? And my fleet — what happened to it?"
I meant the countless ships and characters that should still have been sitting in my account from three years ago, when I'd quit the game. Sure, some people might argue that a guy who abandoned the game wouldn't have anything left — but at the time, my affection for this game had evaporated in a very particular way. I hadn't even done the classic "sell everything off" that quitting players usually did. Unless the developers had wiped the data of long-inactive accounts, there was no reason my characters and ships should have vanished.
Even as I asked, my face must have been a portrait of pure incomprehension. Jessica hesitated for a moment, watching me.
"Um, Commander? Please try not to panic when you hear this…"
And then she delivered a report so shocking it nearly knocked me flat. The moment she finished, a concise situation summary appeared in front of me as well.
Alongside that message, what I had left amounted to the free starter vessels — a basic resource mining ship, a repair ship, a patrol ship, a transport — and the base Jessica and I were currently standing in. Nothing but the bare essentials. I shoved my fist into my mouth and barely held back a wail of pure grief.
My goddamn fleet!
Not just the fleet — every single character had evaporated too?
My… my millions in cash shop spending!
Looking at this absolute disaster of a situation, part of me genuinely wanted to rage-quit on the spot.
Haa… Logout.
In the newly updated game, logout is not available.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Apparently kidnapping people wasn't enough for this godforsaken piece of trash — it had locked me inside the game entirely, going for the grand slam of crimes. My head throbbed under the weight of this sudden disaster, and I pressed a hand to my forehead. Jessica, who had been fretting over my reaction, suddenly spoke up in a rush.
"Commander! There's still hope!"
"…There is?"
Her urgent words put some life back into a body that had been about to give up the ghost.
"Right. They do say even if the sky falls, there's always a way out."
Hope really did exist everywhere. Surely they wouldn't expect me to start from scratch after losing a setup that — by three-years-ago standards, at least — had been close to endgame-complete. Holding onto that thought, I looked at Jessica with eyes full of expectation.
"So, Jessica — is there still a fleet or any superhumans on standby somewhere?"
At my reaction, Jessica's face twisted into the expression of someone agonizing over how to break bad news. Then, carefully, she held out the tablet she'd been carrying.
"W-we do have the blueprints…"
"…"
I had no way of knowing exactly what my face looked like after hearing that, but judging by the pure pity written all over Jessica's expression as she looked at me… it must have been catastrophic.
And so, reduced in an instant to a man whose entire fleet had been wiped out save for some blueprints, I collapsed into the command seat in utter despair.
— Ding! Ding! Ding!
"…Huh?"
A cheerful string of alarm tones reached my ears. I lifted my bowed head, intending to look around — and right at that moment: