Ch.32″Maintenance is essential for operations.”

The next morning.

“Did you sleep well, Commander?”

“Mm, yes.”

I watched Jessica bow her head in greeting while simultaneously wiggling her rabbit ears on both sides.

I nodded lightly in response and operated the console to check the base status screen.

—————————————-

<Astral Base Lv. 3>

<Currently Available Facilities>

<Commander’s Room>

<Command Center>

<Shipyard>

<Medical Bay>

<Recreation Room>

<Shop>

<Training Room>

<Resource Storage>

<Hibernation Chamber>

<Dimensional Signal Collection Communication Amplification System>

<Multi-Dimensional Fixed Causality Generation Device>

<Advanced Research Laboratory>

<Resource Synthesis Production Facility>

<Advanced Technology Management Office>

<Rare Resource Production Facility>

<Docking Facility>

<Comprehensive Defense System>

—————————————-

“Hmm…”

Seeing how many facilities had accumulated, I let out a small sigh.

When did we get so many of these?

But thinking about it, every time the base upgraded, new facilities popped up one after another.

Perhaps having this many was only natural.

With that in mind, I decided to examine each one while I was at it.

<Commander’s Room>

<This is the private bedroom for the Commander who leads the Astral Base.>

<It guarantees powerful security that no Superhuman can penetrate, and boasts durability that can withstand a direct hit from a strategic nuclear weapon.>

<It also provides perfect insulation and soundproofing if the Commander requires it.>

This place, which had the setting of being the exclusive space for the “player” commonly seen in gacha games—a kind of “decoration” space—is now being used completely as my private bedroom.

Since there was no “bed” when it was just a game, I initially had to use the sofa as a bed.

But as anyone who’s tried sleeping on a sofa knows, for someone like me in this awkward situation, it was incredibly uncomfortable.

Now I’ve separately purchased a jelly mattress bed from the shop.

That’s how I’ve been solving my sleeping arrangements.

Incidentally, the reason Pashtra was able to infiltrate the Commander’s Room before was simply because I was careless and left the door unlocked.

Now Jessica comes to check once more before I go to bed, so such incidents can no longer happen.

As for the rest, most of them have been here since I first fell into this world.

In other words, they were facilities that had been part of this base from the beginning.

<Command Center>

<This is where fleet and Superhuman combat operations are commanded.>

<With each base upgrade, the command range and number of fleets that can be commanded at once increases.>

<Shipyard>

<A facility for ship production.>

<Production of cruisers and smaller vessels is possible.>

<Medical Bay>

<A facility for treating injured Superhumans.>

<Treatment time varies depending on the severity of injuries.>

<Recreation Room>

<A leisure facility for Superhumans.>

<It’s an all-purpose entertainment facility equipped with gaming consoles and TV, as well as exercise equipment and a simple bar.>

<When assigned, reduces Superhuman fatigue by -50 per hour>

<Shop>

<A special dimensional shop where various currencies and equipment can be obtained.>

<Unfortunately, except for a few functions, it is currently unavailable.>

‘Hmm.’

I paused briefly at the shop description, recalling when I went there to buy my bed, and nodded.

‘It’s definitely been drastically reduced.’

Unlike in the game, we can’t make real-money purchases in our current situation.

Plus, most items that could be exchanged with in-game currency were locked.

To be frank, it felt like nothing more than a furniture store for actual “commanders.”

<Training Room>

<A place used for training Superhumans.>

<Training efficiency varies according to rank.>

This facility, which was like life-saving rain in a drought for newbies in the game, was currently being used as Berial’s exclusive training ground in our fleet.

This was because Ignis had the level-up exploit through the miracle miner operation she learned from the chat, and Pashtra was a beam cannon-firing character who would put holes in both the training room and the base’s outer walls if she fired inside.

Unless new personnel joined, it would remain Berial’s exclusive domain for the foreseeable future.

<Resource Storage>

<A warehouse for storing resources obtained through mining ships or quests.>

<Maximum storage capacity: 10,000>

<Current storage: 1,400>

<Docking Facility>

<Increases the maximum capacity of the fleet.>

<Maximum capacity: 100 points>

<Current usage: 79 points>

And this cursed docking facility was the culprit that made it difficult for users to go solo in this game, forcing them to form “alliances.”

No matter how much you maxed out your docking facilities and filled your fleet with unique ships, it was hard for even a top-ranked player to withstand multiple users attacking at once.

Of course, there were other reasons why users couldn’t survive alone, but that’s awkward to explain here… who am I even talking to?

<Hibernation Chamber>

<A facility where Superhumans sleep, waiting for the Commander’s return someday.>

<This is an exclusive reward for returning players.>

<After the first upgrade, every time the base reaches level 5, a Superhuman in the hibernation facility will wake up.>

<When using the Multi-Dimensional Fixed Causality Generation Device, 50% of the Superhuman appearance probability is used to release personnel from the hibernation chamber.>

At this point, I paused my reading and recalled what happened a few weeks ago.

‘Come to think of it, this is how Berial returned to me.’

I thought I heard that hibernation would be released with each base upgrade, but looking at the explanation, it seems to happen once every 5 levels.

‘Well, I suppose having more than 10 Superhumans by base level 10 would be overpowered in its own way.’

Nodding at what seemed like a balance patch, I continued scrolling to check the rest.

And from here on, everything else was newly built:

<Dimensional Signal Collection Communication Amplification System>

<Detects multi-dimensional communication signals and connects them to a separate dimensional server, allowing Commanders to use the “Community” and “Chat” smoothly.>

An essential item—no, facility—for exploring the gallery.

<Multi-Dimensional Fixed Causality Generation Device>

<After capturing causality occurring across multiple dimensions,>

<By fixing that causality at a certain level, you can obtain amazing rewards using the energy generated.>

<How it works internally is completely black-boxed and cannot be verified.>

To put it bluntly, the gacha system.

<Advanced Research Laboratory>

<A place for developing and enhancing various blueprints, weapons, armor, shields, carrier-based aircraft, drones, etc. needed for ships.>

<Although many personnel are constantly being ground down in the pursuit of developing new technologies,>

<Just as graduate students have no human rights, researchers too cannot afford such luxury.>

And this Advanced Research Laboratory proves through its “description” that it’s not just me and the Superhumans in this base.

<Resource Synthesis Production Facility>

<A place that absorbs surrounding interstellar dust and synthesizes it to produce a small amount of resources.>

<Daily resource production: 100 minerals>

A facility that produces a minimum amount of basic resources, literally for users who can’t access resource zones.

I’ll skip the Advanced Technology Management Office since I saw it before.

<Rare Resource Production Facility>

<Absorbs dark matter, interstellar dust, and ether energy.>

<Additionally inputs basic resources to produce very rare resources.>

<Daily resource production: 10 rare resources>

A facility that produces rare resources by sacrificing regular resources.

And finally…

<Comprehensive Defense System>

<A central control system that encompasses all means of defending the base.>

<The defense systems currently controlled by this system are as follows:>

<Defensive laser turrets x10>

<Unmanned interceptor hangars x2>

<Defensive railguns x3>

<Anti-air missile batteries x2>

<Floating shield x1>

‘Oh my God.’

Where did those pathetic defense facilities that could barely stop a single pirate ship go?

I couldn’t help but shed tears of emotion at the sight of how robust our defenses had become—now capable of slapping around even a decent battleship multiple times.