The Tutorial Ends

"Ah, damn. Close, but no."

Disappointed as I was to learn I wasn't living in some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kind of cheat mode, I decided to dig a little deeper into my remaining questions.

"Hmm. I see."

Figuring I'd seen enough, I closed the chat window still spamming notifications and called over Jessica, who had been studying the pirate ship beside me.

"Jessica. Any chance we can scrap that pirate ship for resources?"

"Pardon? You want to just dismantle it?"

I waggled a finger at her in a clear no.

"Not right this second. But I figure we ought to know whether we can dismantle it ourselves later on."

"Understood, Commander."

Jessica went quiet for a moment, sorting through the idea in her head. Then:

"No issues at all. If you want it done, we could start dismantling operations this very moment."

"That so."

I nodded, accepting her firm answer at face value. The moment that exchange ended, Jessica clapped a hand to her forehead as if she'd just remembered something and launched into an additional report.

"Oh! Commander? Shouldn't we start on the base repairs and upgrades soon?"

"Hmm."

"Once you finish upgrading the base, one of the Superhumans inside will wake from a long hibernation to assist you!"

The instant the words left her mouth, a quest window bloomed in front of my eyes.

Ugh.

I studied the quest details carefully, then worked the console in front of me to check our stockpile.

"Hmm… Jessica."

"What is it, Commander?"

"How much does it cost to produce one patrol ship again? A hundred minerals?"

"Yes. It'll change with future upgrades, but for now, one hundred is correct."

The moment I got her confirmation—

"Ah! A new patrol ship just finished construction! The base's defenses should be a bit more secure now!"

Hearing that the patrol ship I'd queued three days ago was finally done, I issued orders on the spot.

"Jessica."

"Yes, sir! Commander!"

"Produce one more patrol ship starting now, and put the remaining resources into base repairs and the upgrade simultaneously."

"…Yes, sir!"

And roughly one week later—

"Yeah. That's the stuff."

I looked over the finished product — the result of dumping every mineral I'd been hoarding instead of building more patrol ships into a single lump-sum investment — and felt a deep, private satisfaction.

The tutorial was over.

It had been one hell of a long week.

"Hyah-ha!"

"There's a base ripe for plundering right here!"

"As of today, every resource in this place is ours!"

I never once expected pirate scum would hit us for resources twice in a single week.

Of course, the only real cost of those surprises was a bit of flustered scrambling on my end.

"Alright, let's gently carve open this reactor core."

"N-no, stop!"

"Yes!"

Unlike the first raid, when we'd had only a single patrol ship, the second attack found us with four ships of our own. The pirates who'd brought a mere five never managed a clean decision the way the first group had — and the price of that hesitation was becoming the sacrificial lambs in Ignis's sudden slaughter-ending entrance.

And the third time…

Apparently pirates don't get power creep, because the third batch showed up with even fewer numbers than the second. What they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lacked in ship count, though, they made up for with a boarding assault unit packed with C-grade through B-grade fighters, plus a captain who was a full A-grade Superhuman.

If I'd been a typical newbie who'd just mass-produced ships and nothing else, one of two things would have happened. Either the boarders would get intercepted mid-assault — an extremely low-probability roll by early-game standards — and I'd scrape by on pure luck… or that deranged assault corps would shred half my defensive fleet. Roughly a 1-to-99 ratio of getting screwed over, leaving me to seethe in impotent rage.

But then, at that moment, Ignis appeared.

"Aieeeee!! Why an SS?! Why an SS-gradeee?!"

Unfortunately for those ABC chocolate bars, every last one of them got decapitated by Ignis's best-in-game close-combat performance as a Double-S Superhuman.

"The captain's down!"

"Attack the fleet at least! It's just one Superhuman—"

"Hello, motherfucker?"

"…Ah."

The remaining pirate ships ran straight into the crossfire net of five defensive vessels — including the newly built patrol ships — and were reduced to scrap on the spot.

I've seriously been through way too much. I'm exhausted.

On top of the pirates, I'd been managing resource mining operations, fretting over the gacha system that locked itself after the return-bonus reward until a base upgrade was complete, and trying to figure out how to use the various support systems that would open up later. It had felt like a parade of problems taking turns assaulting my already fragile brain.

But as of this moment, all of that was finally over.

"Commander! Base repairs and the upgrade are complete!"

"Yeah, I just saw the notification."

Jessica burst in the instant the message arrived, bouncing up and down with enough energy for both of us while I strained to look composed, and launched into an explanation of the systems the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠upgrade had unlocked.

"First of all, Commander! Including everything newly updated this time, let me walk you through what we can newly establish through the base upgrade!"

"Go ahead. I'm all ears."

At my cue, Jessica straightened her necktie, settled into a more polished stance, then summoned a drone to project a hologram of the base beside her. Her face was lit with pure excitement.

"I'll start with the parts you're already familiar with, Commander!"