Free Ten-Pulls
“So the commanders are trying to found a new alliance… a clan, in other words.”
“It’s not exactly that, but I suppose it wouldn’t be wrong to put it that way.”
I shrugged as I answered Jessica—only for her to go completely silent and simply stare at me.
Wondering if something was wrong, I stared right back.
The sudden staring contest ended in my glorious victory when Jessica flushed red with embarrassment and dropped her head.
I win.
Of course, we weren’t seven-year-old kindergartners, so I didn’t leave it at that. I decided to dig into whatever the problem actually was. Honestly, it seemed wise to at least know why she’d been boring holes through me with her eyes.
But when I asked, Jessica just shook her head as if it were nothing—then, a moment later, she turned the conversation around and asked whether I’d ever considered founding a clan myself.
“Commander, perhaps you should start preparing to found a clan of your own?”
“…A clan, huh.”
It wasn’t a bad idea. In the vast emptiness of space, even a single person willing to help you was enough to bring a real sense of security. That much I understood.
But bringing it up right now felt premature, so I shook my head and told Jessica it wasn’t the time.
“Not a bad thought, but for the time being we need to focus on growing stronger.”
“Mm… yes. I’ll follow your lead, Commander.”
Of course, that only meant I wouldn’t take the initiative myself. If some far more powerful friends ever extended a hand, I was more than willing to grab it—and I made sure to say as much.
The next morning.
“…Familiar ceiling.”
Unlike usual, no event message had popped up the moment morning arrived, which left me vaguely suspicious as I clocked in at the command center. Jessica was already there ahead of me, as always—enough to make me wonder whether she actually lived and slept on the premises. Today, though, she came bounding toward me, rabbit ears bouncing wildly with every hop.
“Commander! You’re awake?”
“Yeah. Did something happen while I was out?”
“If something had happened, you would have been the first to notice, wouldn’t you?”
Jessica beamed as she said it, and I nodded, thinking about adjutant characters like her. Unlike the others, adjutants could perceive the status windows players saw, along with the events and messages the game company pushed out, and they relayed that information. Maybe that was why—even in this state of being kidnapped and trapped here—I found myself relying on Jessica more than I realized.
…What is this sentimental nonsense.
While I was thinking that, Jessica kept talking.
“Still, today’s strange, isn’t it? Weren’t the pirates supposed to have one more day of raids left?”
“That’s what I thought too, but for some reason no separate event message has shown up yet.”
I glanced at the status window at her words, but nothing about the Pirates’ Rampage event had been updated. Whatever was coming, I wanted to be ready—so I ordered Jessica to inspect the base’s defensive posture and prepare for any contingency.
At the same time, I opened the community window, intending to check the gallery for any reactions or news.
And right then, a bright chime rang out as an event message refreshed before my eyes.
> NOTICE
> The currently ongoing event <Pirates' Rampage!> has been concluded one day ahead of schedule, owing to the Commanders' remarkable performance.
> The pirates have suffered far greater losses than anticipated.
> We sincerely apologize that the scheduled event could not proceed as planned, and for the damage inflicted on Commanders by the excessive difficulty.
> As a token of our apology, additional rewards will be added to the event compensation.
> Reward: 1 Destroyer, assorted resources and currency
> Bonus Reward: 3,000 Minerals, 10 Free Uses of the Multi-dimensional Fixed Causality Generator
Reading the contents of that message, I couldn’t hide my shock.
Is this really the same stingy game company?
Never mind the rest—they were actually handing out a free ten-pull, the kind of reward everyone had treated as nothing more than a meme?
The instant I saw the message, I opened the community window to check everyone else’s reactions. Part of me still suspected I might be dreaming.
From this day forward I step beyond mere support
Astral Lagrange and I become one body, one flesh
An attack upon Astral Lagrange shall be regarded as an attack upon me
My love…
My light…
My darkness…
My life…
My joy…
My sorrow…
My rest…
My soul…
For real, the same people spewing every curse in the book until yesterday are now going feral over a little kibble. Peak pig-dog behavior.
None of you ever get to trash the game company again lmaoooooooo
Watching the entire community go up in flames, I found myself shaking my head on pure reflex.
Three days had already passed since I’d learned the event had been cut short out of nowhere.
Whatever the detailed reasons, the fact remained that the damn event was over—so I decided to enjoy the holiday that had arrived alongside those sweet rewards, watching our server return to normal.
That said, separately from all of that—
“Heh heh ha.”
“Commander, that laugh sounds weird.”
Getting a free destroyer meant I could finally rotate even the capital ships on a three-shift schedule when needed, and the thought left me genuinely delighted.
A free ten-pull on the gacha—how generous was that!
Now THIS is free chicken.
And on top of that…
Resource Zone Raiding Party Eliminated
Minerals +350 Acquired!
Reclaiming the resource zones the pirates had hit—and picking up the resources they’d been holding in the process—was a genuinely happy turn of events.
On top of the free ten-pull and all the other rewards, our minerals had ballooned in a sudden surge, giving me a window to spend our resources however I liked. So before anything else, I kicked off the base upgrades we needed most urgently.