Ch.318[Chapter 318] The Value of 4 Stars

“I want to scout you.”

Sir Dominic responded to Captain Elang’s bold statement with a look of disbelief.

“Are you allowed to say such things so boldly?”

“…?”

Captain Elang wore a puzzled expression, as if unable to understand Sir Dominic’s question.

“…Ah!”

Then she realized she had omitted quite a lot.

“Ah, um. I mean, I’m sorry. I had been thinking about it in my head but accidentally blurted out just the conclusion. I was supposed to raise your affection level first and then make a transfer request at the end, but…”

Captain Elang became flustered and reverted to her timid self.

She was so flustered that she spilled everything without filtering her thoughts.

“Um, so, what I need for raising affection is…”

“Raising affection, you say. Why would you need such a thing?”

Captain Elang was so severely flustered that she began rummaging through her pocket for her military notebook.

She was probably looking for a way to handle the current situation.

Seeing her bewildered state, Sir Dominic asked with a puzzled expression.

“Huh? There’s no affection system here? Wait a moment. Huh? Really?”

Captain Elang put the military notebook back in her pocket.

“Why, why? Why isn’t there a system where giving about 3,000 gifts raises affection to 100?”

“Why, you ask? Well…”

“Is it because this is both Gachaland and reality?”

Captain Elang’s eyes darted around nervously as she spoke, as if something was confusing her.

It seemed she was uncomfortable because this environment was quite different from what she was used to.

“T-then where do I go to recruit you all? I want to add you all to my unit right now!”

“My, what kind of person is this?”

The Vicious Park Chunbae, who had been quietly listening, suddenly burst out in anger at Captain Elang’s words.

“Even for a Newbie, there are things you can and cannot say!”

“Eek-!”

Captain Elang flinched at the sight of the fierce-looking Park Chunbae, shrinking her neck in fear.

The hostile atmosphere was so vivid it seemed like he might attack at any moment.

However, what came to Captain Elang was not Park Chunbae’s fist, but his words.

“If you’re a Newbie, you should start by clearing Story Mode 1-1! Got it? From what I can see, you haven’t even cleared the prologue mission! Come back after you clear it, and I’ll tell you. Go clear it quickly!”

“…You can see that?”

Sir Dominic asked Park Chunbae how he knew that Captain Elang hadn’t even completed the prologue mission.

“Of course. Look there.”

Park Chunbae pointed above Captain Elang’s head.

There was the number 0 written there.

Just like how Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, Park Chunbae, and Malley had titles above their heads.

“That’s the level system that was updated recently. They say our level cap increases as that level rises. It should be in patch note #97 or so.”

Sir Dominic looked at the patch notes again.

And indeed, at #97, there was information about the leveling system.

Sir Dominic was impressed by Park Chunbae’s unexpected attention to detail.

“Anyway, go clear the prologue first. That will unlock the card pack exchange. You can clear it quickly using the androids they provide by default-“

“-can’t.”

“Huh?”

Park Chunbae was offering various pieces of advice to this Newbie commander, albeit in a gruff but kind manner.

However, the Newbie commander hung her head low, clenched her fist, and muttered something in response to Park Chunbae’s words.

“-I can’t.”

“…What are you saying?”

“I don’t know. She’s saying something about not having-“

“I don’t have any androids!”

Captain Elang screamed at the top of her lungs.

She was breathing heavily, expressing her anger with her entire body, and then began spitting out words like a machine gun.

“The prologue? Of course I’ve tried it. But why is the prologue so difficult? The mobs can’t be caught! The text is broken! The androids don’t even move properly! What kind of game is this! It’s just a buggy program!”

Captain Elang grabbed the cap on her head and threw it to the ground.

Still not satisfied, her breathing became even more ragged.

“If I still had androids left, I could at least try again.”

“I’ve created new accounts 1,113 times, but the androids keep disappearing. It seems there’s a bug that makes androids disappear when accessing from certain devices-“

“Then why are you still here?”

Park Chunbae addressed Captain Elang in an annoyed tone.

“Do you have some kind of story?”

Of course, he didn’t forget to be considerate to the Newbie.

“That’s… that’s…”

Captain Elang’s anger gradually faded.

However, an even greater sense of injustice and sadness began to fill the emptiness in her heart.

“It’s… because I really like the characters… Actually, I came here because of Dr. Banshee. But as I watched, I grew attached to all the other characters too…”

With those words, Captain Elang suddenly began to cry bitterly.

It was probably a mix of frustration at not being able to properly clear even the prologue mission and anger at her bug-prone account.

“Waaah! I’m angry! I said I’m angry! As angry as 3,000 Gacha Stones! No, a guaranteed 3-star selection ticket! No, add equipment material selection to that! No, as angry as 42,000 Gacha Stones and a guaranteed 3-star ticket!”

Captain Elang was screaming almost like a child throwing a tantrum.

The sound was so loud that even Park Chunbae burst out in anger.

“Stop! Stop! Stop it! You’re being a nuisance!”

Captain Elang’s voice was so loud that, as Park Chunbae said, it was causing almost public disturbance levels of damage.

Windows were breaking, Malley, who was nearby, was on the verge of fainting, and even Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica, who had high resistance, had to cover their ears because the crying was so intense.

“But… but… I’m exhausted now! If you consider my position of experiencing the same bug 1,113 times, you can’t stop me! No androids, and even when there are, they’re buggy… Oh, my poor life! All I wanted was to enjoy this game at a leisurely pace!”

“Ah, so we’ll help you, so stop! Stop crying right now!”

Park Chunbae yelled angrily.

His spirit was so impressive that Captain Elang immediately stopped crying, just sniffling.

“Well, it seems the androids are defective, but we’ll help you, so don’t cry. Hey, you knights over there!”

“Are you talking to us?”

Sir Dominic pointed to himself in response to Park Chunbae’s words.

“Yes. Don’t you want to help too?”

“Hmm.”

“We may be rivals, but let’s join hands just this once. Actually, you know there are quite a few rewards for this beta test, right? It wouldn’t hurt to know a commander or two, would it?”

Park Chunbae’s words were logical.

It was a fact stated in the patch notes that the first 100 selected individuals would receive greater rewards the more commander assistance requests they received.

Moreover, Captain Elang had been accidentally thrown into Gachaland due to a bug in the prologue mission and happened to be the first to arrive, but according to Park Chunbae’s explanation, there would be many more commanders in this beta test.

…or so Park Chunbae explained.

“I see.”

Sir Dominic stroked his chin thoughtfully at Park Chunbae’s explanation.

“This is a win-win situation. You know, there’s a law of conservation of luck—being this unlucky now means your luck will turn around later, right?”

Park Chunbae raised his voice slightly, as if wanting Captain Elang to hear.

Sir Dominic knew Park Chunbae’s words were correct, but he couldn’t understand why he was appealing so actively.

“…Has he fallen for her?”

Sir Dominica frowned as she looked at Park Chunbae.

“Surely Captain Elang isn’t exactly Park Chunbae’s type or something like that?”

“That’s a possibility.”

Sir Dominic nodded at Sir Dominica’s words.

If not for that, the vicious Park Chunbae wouldn’t act so proactively.

As evidence, look at the villainous Malley right beside him.

Even he was looking at Park Chunbae’s behavior as if it were strange.

“Ah, so you’re not going to help?”

Park Chunbae raised his voice even more, as if feeling guilty about Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica’s whispers.

“Are you knights saying you won’t help a Newbie in trouble?”

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica looked at each other, then back at Park Chunbae.

Park Chunbae’s words were obviously provocative, but they were very effective on Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica.

“Fine. We’ll help.”

“By the way, aren’t you being too obvious?”

“O-obvious? What do you…”

Park Chunbae cleared his throat a couple of times, pretending to be nonchalant.

In truth, Captain Elang was quite beautiful.

Golden hair braided into two plaits, blue eyes, a delicate body, and white skin that triggered protective instincts.

If there was a flaw, it was her seriously flat… no, while she was slender, taking that into account, she was undeniably beautiful.

Park Chunbae glanced at Captain Elang.

He was concerned she might notice his attempts to flirt with her.

Fortunately, Captain Elang only tilted her head at Park Chunbae’s gaze, not seeming to find anything strange about it.

“Ahem. Anyway, so everyone agrees to help Captain Elang, right?”

Park Chunbae spoke loudly, as if boasting that all this was his achievement.

It was an action that showed he was overly conscious of Captain Elang.

“…Thank you.”

Captain Elang expressed her gratitude to everyone, still sniffling from her recent crying.

Park Chunbae smiled contentedly, noting that although her eyes were a bit swollen, she was still beautiful.

“Well, if you’re grateful, maybe later we could have coffee-“

“Of course! I have bullets ready, so I can buy you as much as you want. Once I clear the prologue and area 1…”

Captain Elang hugged Park Chunbae, Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Malley one by one, as if truly grateful.

Park Chunbae’s mouth split into a wide grin that reached his ears.

“…Did you notice?”

“…That’s it, right?”

And behind them, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica wore strange expressions, as if they had discovered something from their recent contact with Captain Elang.