Squeeze, ping. Boom! Squeeze, Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Hey, hey."
Squeeze, ping. Boom! Squeeze, Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Oii."
Squeeze, ping. Boom! Squeeze, Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Big brother! My cousin~!"
Ignoring my impolite cousin, I repeated the motion of triggering my cannon, each shot precisely and accurately missing the target I aimed for.
Why am I holed up in my training room doing this, you ask?
A wise man once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." However, in my case, with great power comes great chances of survival! And this training is obviously to improve my shooting skills.
[You have run out of ammo! Please reload!]
'Holy cow! I don't know how to reload!'
With sensors and a helmet attached to various parts of my body and head, I recognized the beeping red screen blocking my whole vision in the hologram display.
My mecha avatar in the hologram was bombarded with shells from opponents as I struggled to reload the new cannon module, which was fixated on my mecha.
"Hahah! You don't even know how to reload the cannon module!"
This incarnate of a witch! Not only did she refuse to teach me unless I gave her a kiss in advance, but Saffron also entered my private training room and was currently in the process of teasing and irritating me.
'Damn! We just gave them a reload button in the game; how the hell would I know how to reload it practically!'
Literally, people living in India can't even legally possess a gun! I have only reloaded roll strips in a 20-rupee toy gun sold during Diwali.
[You are defeated!!]
My avatar destroyed, the monitor blinked out of life. I sighed and sat down, my nerves bulging as loud snickers got tangled with my ears.
"Hahaha! You are pathetic! Haha!"
"You lowly girl! What do you know? I am just using it for the first time; I bet you didn't even last a second on your first try."
In reality, it was me who didn't even last for a second on the first try. Fortunately, Saffron wasn't present at that time yesterday.
"Kiss me then; I will teach you! At this rate, your proficiency level rises! Hehehe, you have no other option but to kiss me!"
In this game, aside from levels, there's something called proficiency. It ranges from I to A, and then S, allowing you to use weapons corresponding to your rank. At I, you use a NEB (Neutrino Energy Blaster) cannon, and at A, a BSA (Black Star Annihilator), and so on.
Apart from cannons, there are plasma energy swords, missile pods, nanite injectors, and rattling rail guns, but I chose the cannon because it's the basics of the Particle Rifle.
That's because the artifact, the Quantum-Pulse Rifle, is broken and overpowered.
Normally, using weapons or skills requires molecular energy, in other words, ME. The more powerful the weapon, the more ME it consumes, limiting its usage.
But with the Quantum-Pulse Rifle, there's no need for ME consumption to be used. That means you can continuously unleash the strongest skills without any care in the world.
By the way, players who use the Quantum-Pulse Rifle to bombard the final boss with the strongest skills from out of its range are showered with insults like, "Apologize to the developers, you scum!"
But I couldn't care less about that. My life is on the line here.
Squeeze, ping. Boom! Squeeze, Boom! Boom! Boom!
I restarted my training session as the screen came back to life, putting me inside the cockpit of my mecha.
"Muu."
Even if she pouts her lips, I am not going to mind her.
Even if she takes that attitude, I'm not going to stop. I need to become strong or else I need to curry favor with the bitchy and beautiful heroine right here.
Each heroine has a dream of becoming the head of the Zener system and determining the federation's policies.
The policies are prioritized in commerce, military expansion, scientific development, and expansion to other systems.
Each heroine has a backstory explaining why they want to pursue such a dream, and they compete in the election to achieve it.
So, about this cousin right here. Princess Knight Saffron prioritizes military expansion and developing more advanced tech.
Here's her backstory explaining why:
The Quest Kingdom, located on the east side of the planet, suddenly faced a massive invasion of Xylothrax. Xylothrax is a bipedal, reptilian creature standing approximately 2.5 meters tall.
Sent to the first fleet to boost morale, Saffron witnessed the fallen army, ravaged mechas, numerous deaths, the death of her real father, and other tragic scenes.
Awakened by her father's death, Saffron stalled the Xylothrax and managed to quell their invasion after the arrival of the Federation.
And to ensure such a thing never happens again, she aims for military expansion and advanced tech.
Well, that's the gist of it.
The reason I'm trying to get stronger is to prevent the Xylothrax invasion in place of Saffron and to help her biological father, thereby currying favor with both the king and the princess.
Squeeze, ping. Boom! Squeeze, Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Hmph. So you won't look at me, huh! Take that!"
I received a dropkick.
Ouch, but I'm not angry.
Hmph, it's just a prank from a 13-year-old girl after all.
Although my memories from my past life are vague, I have knowledge of adult games, so I'm probably around that age...
I mean, to be honest, it's not so much a personality overwrite as it is just an increase in knowledge, so I only feel like I'm 15-year-old Ryker, but as an adult, I shouldn't get mad.
Squeeze, ping. Boom! Squeeze, Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Muu! If you're going to ignore me, I won't teach you how to use the cannon module at all! And, I will complain to my father about you calling me a lowly woman!"
This vixen! Attacking my weak points like that.
I reluctantly stopped my hand.
"Alright. I'll play with you, so please forgive me."
If she snitches on me to her father, my mom and I will probably be sent to some resource-filled satellites to work as miners.
And, without her help, my proficiency will never increase! Or it may take a decade or two to increase it from [I] level!
"No way, if you don't kiss me, I won't forgive you."
This lewd redhead!
Reluctantly, extremely reluctantly, I kissed her, and Saffron melted.
"Squee! I like it."
"Mwah!"
Pushing and ignoring my cousin sister who tires for another one while being simmered, I picked up my helmet.