The Lone Sniper: I Was Just Minding My Own Business Sniping Players, and I Ended Up Becoming a Raid Boss

Chapter 20

After deletion, I was transferred into a capsule bed.

(I lost...)

Uuuuuuugh, so frustrating!!

I stayed too long on the rooftop at the start. That was the cause. Urgh, I'm so mad at myself!

(Here...)

When I exit the capsule bed, I appear in what looks like a command room.

There are five large LCD screens, and on two of them I can see Sheena-san and Niko-san. And—standing in front of the LCD screens is a Space Girl typing on an electronic keyboard.

"Yo-ho! First time meeting face-to-face, isn't it?"

She turns around while ruffling her messy brown hair.

"You're..."

"I'm Chacha-san, the mechanic in charge~. Nice to meetcha!"

Chacha-san flashes a peace sign with her fingers and presses it to her forehead.

"By the way, this is the operator room. When a Space Girl loses in a Rank Match, she gets transferred to her team's operator room. No death penalty or anything, so relax, 'kay?"

A lollipop stick in her mouth, she's wearing baggy work clothes and thick gloves. Her bright, round eyes give her a cat-like charm—adorable.

"Ah, um... nice to meet you... Chacha-san..."

I drop my shoulders in shame.

"Whaa? Why the long face?"

"B-because I got knocked out right away..."

Chacha-san turns back to the LCD.

"Well, that can't be helped~. If Crimson Wings' two members jump you right at the start, even Sheena-cchi or Niko-cchi would've been in the same boat."

No, the problem came before that. The real issue was creating a 1v2 situation in the first place.

'Just like Chacha-san says, please don't worry about it.'

Sheena-san's voice echoes through the operator room.

'Shiki-san held out that long against them; the responsibility lies with us for arriving late.'

'If we'd grouped up first, the results would've flipped. It's not your fault. Seriously.'

"Yup, yup. Chacha-san actually wants to praise Shiki-ccho for that. Managing close-quarters against an attacker with a level gap? That blew me away~"

K-kindness hurts... Making her hand out compliments like that!

I have to at least cheer them on...

"......What's the situation like now...?"

"They changed the rally point and are heading to regroup. Probably no fighting for a while."

'Chacha-san, until combat starts, please explain things to Shiki-san.'

"Roger that~"

Chacha-san spins her chair to face me.

"Got anything you wanna ask?"

"U-um, well..."

Talking face-to-face is hard...

B-but I can't ignore her kindness. Come on, me...

"Cha-Cha, Cha-Cha...!"

"Toy?"

"Not 'cha-cha-cha'!"

Calm down...! It's one-on-one. I managed to talk just fine with Tsukigami-san. Deep breath!!

"Ch-Chacha-san, please tell me what you think my mistakes and the cause of my defeat were."

"I don't really think Shiki-ccho lost, though."

"E-even so, I don't believe I played perfectly."

"Well, if you insist, let me answer from my point of view. First major cause: staying on the rooftop too long. You already know that, right?"

"Y-yes."

I stayed on the rooftop thinking about self-destructing, which led to the worst possible outcome.

"But the biggest mistake was not equipping the stealth-boosting cloak before the battle started."

"Ah! ...I totally forgot."

"Kurenai-n probably jumped you first because you showed up on her radar. As an attacker, her radar performance is low. If you'd worn the cloak properly, you wouldn't have been detected."

Right. If I'd worn that cloak before the fight began, my stealth would've increased 1.5× and I might've avoided detection.

"But y'know~, this is Shiki-ccho's first Rank Match, so not knowing the standard tactics is natural. Even though we were short on time, I didn't tell you to put on the cloak, so that's on me. Sorry."

"N-no! That's not true!"

Whatever the case, the fact remains that I was spacing out at the start. If I'd focused, I would've remembered the cloak.

"Those are the two main causes. Honestly, once you were stuck on the rooftop in a 1v1, you were doomed. But everything after they closed in? Your tactics were flawless! Way beyond what I imagined~"

"Thank you..."

I didn't think it was perfect, but now I see how important radar-related stats are. Just being at a radar disadvantage lets the enemy turn it into a many-on-one situation so easily.

"U-um, if you don't mind, could you tell me about those wings Kurenai-san was wearing?"

"You mean the Wings. They're gear that boosts thrusters—roughly doubles both thruster output and capacity."

"Eh!? That's totally broken!"

"But it's got some big downsides. First, each wing takes up one weapon slot, left and right. Second, EN consumption is harsh, so you have to put points into EN capacity. Third, while the Wings are active, stealth drops to zero—everyone's radar will spot you plain as day. Fourth, the Wings don't auto-repair, so once they're broken they stay broken for the match. Lose even one wing and performance tanks."

Having two weapon slots taken is rough. After this fight, I know Shield Pieces are essential, but using both Wings and Shields would lock up four slots. And if stealth vanishes, they're a poor fit for a sniper.

"Looks super strong at first glance, but it's actually pretty niche. Same-class attacker Niko-cchi doesn't use them. Ah, looks like combat's starting."

A blip appears on Niko-san's radar. But there are probably others not showing up—footsteps can be heard.

"Uh-oh. Looks like some team caught her before regrouping."

'Niko-san, I'll be there soon. Don't push yourself—'

"Hmph. These small fry are nothing for me alone!"

Niko-san pulls out two saber terminals and equips them, one in each hand—in reverse grip.

"R-rare stance."

"Reverse grip, huh? Not the most efficient, but Niko-cchi's actually stronger this way than holding them normally."

Reverse grip... so cool.

'Now! Time to rampage!'

――――――Afterword――――――

Mobility-focused builds are the natural enemy of ranged-weapon users like snipers, so Wing-type attackers are popular. Shiki felt Wings and snipers don't mesh, but some players are strong as Wing-type snipers. You can keep your distance and win on mobility against standard attackers. In fact, high-stat types like Shiki who aren't purely snipers might actually synergize well with Wings—though whether to use them or not, even I don't know.