NOVEL WEB Ch. 5
Chapter 5
I respawned at the shopping mall.
"Where am I...?"
Tracing the air with my finger, I opened the MAP. Map name "Space Station ch (channel) 2921"—looks like I've finally reached the "first city."
I glanced around. A huge... truly enormous shopping mall. Every outer wall was glass, and through it you could see outer space.
While I was wondering what to do, a humanoid robot with the name tag "Beginner Guidance Autonomous Machine" crossed in front of me.
"Um, excuse me—"
"Yes. What can I help you with?"
A cute, roughly three-head-tall robot—an NPC, I guess. Two pink ribbons that looked like bunny ears stuck out of its head. All right, if it's a robot I can talk without stuttering. I'm great with self-checkouts.
"I'm a beginner—where should I go?"
"If you want weapons, please head to the weapon shop on the second floor. If you'd like to start adventuring right away, go to the ship dock on the eighth floor and pick any colony or planet you like. If you want companions, the gas station on the third floor is a good place. For information, I recommend using the data stream on the second floor or employing a guide-girl like me."
(Weapons or adventure, huh...)
I have four empty weapon slots left. Better to fill them before I head out.
"Any other questions?"
"Ah, umm, what kind of death penalty does Infinite Space have?"
I'd just been killed, so I figured I should ask.
"You'll get 'a one-hour severe stat penalty,' 'item loss,' and 'half of your chips on hand.' Any items you never brought back to a home base are permanently lost."
"By home base, you mean this place?"
"Yes. My house, a mothership, army bases, and so on also count."
So I can't suicide-rush into a danger zone for an ultra-rare item on purpose. That common RPG tactic of "travel far to gather items, then deliberately die to shorten the return trip" won't work either. No matter what great loot I get, I can't relax until I'm back at a home base. Think of it as my inventory being saved only when I enter a home base.
"Wait a second..."
The worst possible scenario flashed through my mind.
"Wha—!? That's insane...!?"
I hoped it wasn't true, but I opened my weapon list anyway.
"Whoa—!?"
Every slot in my weapon list was blank.
"D-did I lose everything...!?"
My legs gave out and I slumped to my knees.
My item pouch was empty too.
Zero items on hand. And I'm under a stat penalty; I can't be sure without knowing my original chip count, but I've definitely lost half my chips—the in-game money.
(I never visited a home base from the moment I logged in until I got a game over. That's why every weapon I had was lost...!)
Probably a bug that dumped me straight onto the battlefield, followed by a total loss... talk about rotten luck!
(I've always been unlucky... gacha always hits pity, I never crit and everyone crits me all the time...)
...Should I start over? No way, rerolling from character creation is a pain, and besides my pride won't let me do anything that feels like rerolling. My gamer creed is to see things through with the talents and destiny I'm given.
(5,000 chips in my pocket... that's everything I've got.)
Without weapons I can't do anything. Shop first, I guess.
After that I squeezed every last drop of info out of the guide-girl about stat explanations and the game world's lore. She even handed me a manual in the end. I gratefully digitized the manual and stashed it in my item pouch.
"Thanks for the info."
I patted the guide-girl on the head and headed for the central elevator.
---
Second floor, Weapon Shop.
Guns, knives, and sabers floated inside cylindrical glass cases like incubators. I inspected them one by one.
"N-no good... I can't buy anything with 5,000 chips."
Even the cheapest sniper rifle was 7,000 chips; sabers and handguns were 5,500. Looking back, choosing the sniper rifle during the initial gear pick had been the better deal—just by a little.
"...Am I completely stuck...?"
Tears in my eyes, I reached the far end of the shop—the sale wagon. The wagon was heaped with weapons of every type, all priced at a flat 2,000 chips.
In a game where laser weapons are mainstream, only real-bullet guns and solid blades ended up on this wagon. I have no choice but to buy here... maybe these can handle early-game trash mobs.
The first thing that caught my eye was a solid knife labeled "Army Knife." Yep, just your standard survival knife. The type with jagged anti-slip teeth on the spine.
Looking at the details: "Power 1, EN storage 0, range 1, expandability 0, weight: light. Description: A completely unremarkable knife. Never loses sharpness and uses no energy, so you can use it forever. Great for skinning or cooking!"—in other words, not meant for combat.
The idea of infinite use without eating any of my limited funds is very tempting. I'll buy it. When I picked up the Army Knife, a purchase confirmation popped up. "Buy this item? YES/NO." I tapped YES with my finger. 2,000 chips were deducted from my funds and the Army Knife was added to my weapon list.
Next, a gun. One real-bullet gun drew my hand toward it.
"M1911... Colt Government."
A trauma gun for me... but I still love it!
An automatic pistol with a simple design yet solid practicality. A legendary sidearm used from 1911 to 1985. Totally outdated now, but the more you research it the more you see how rational its mechanism is. The quintessential American gun. .45 ACP, 7+1 rounds. Heavy and with hefty recoil thanks to the era it was designed in.
Because of its deep history and perfect-yet-expandable design, there's a mountain of custom parts (in reality, that is). It shows up in tons of other games, and I've handled it plenty too. So I know its ballistics, velocity, recoil, and range by heart. Among handguns, it's the one that feels most at home in my hand.
Ammo for .45 is also cheap—let's go with this.
"Purchased."
Next I went to the ammo wagon and bought 98 rounds of .45 ACP. That's a mere 980 chips; real-bullet guns must be seriously weak.
"...What? No way. That kid's buying Umai-bo."
"...Seriously. First time I've seen that—hilarious."
I could hear whispers. The Space Girls speaking were looking right at me.
Umai-bo...? Oh, right. 98 rounds for 980 chips—10 chips per round. So they're calling it Umai-bo...
Let them say whatever. These brats don't know how reliable the M1911 is!
Besides, Umai-bo isn't 10 yen anymore!
(I'd better get out of here fast—their stares hurt!)
And so I hastily left the shop.
--------------------------------
PN: Shiki
LV: 1
ROLE: Sniper
TIP: 20
ARMOR: 20
Thruster Output: 40
Thruster Capacity: 80
Precision: 80
Radar: 100
Stealth: 60
EN Capacity: 60
Weapons
Slot 1: Army Knife (knife)
Slot 2: M1911 (handgun)
Slot 3: null
Slot 4: null
Slot 5: null
Slot 6: null
Slot 7: null
Slot 8: null
Expansion Parts
Slot 1: null
Slot 2: null
Slot 3: null
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——————Afterword——————
As starting items I'd had repair kits, EN bottles, upgrade parts, and so on, but I lost them all.
I'm sorry to interrupt your reading, but I'd like to make a small request here.
[To all my readers:]
If you think "That was fun!" or "I want to know what happens next!", please give me a ★ by tapping the "Celebrate with ★" button at the bottom of the page!
Your support is my motivation.
I really don't like adding notes like this, so thank you for your cooperation!! (I want to cram the afterword with hidden lore!)