Chapter 4 : Tutorial battle!

“Gh-gh-gh! How could the monsters come all the way to the command center? Maru, please!”

“Yes?!”

“Are you telling me to fight those disgusting things?”

“No way, I can’t do it! I’ve never fought a human, and I’ve definitely never fought monsters that are several times bigger than people!”

-Kwahjick.

“Eek…”

The insects are using one of their hands… though I’m not sure if I should call it a hand, but anyway, they are destroying something with it.

The strange machines I saw when I came to the lobby. They were indiscriminately smashing them.

The good news is that their vision seems to be narrower than I expected.

Even though they’re quite close, they haven’t noticed us.

Thanks to that, I have time to think…

“No! They’re destroying all those expensive things!”

“Exp-expensive things?”

“Nope.”

The commander screams in distress.

I don’t know much about machines, but I’ve heard that sophisticated ones cost thousands of dollars each.

Goodness, even by real-world prices, how many puddings would that be? Thousands of dollars could buy enough pudding to last for years.

Thinking about it, I nodded automatically.

To see years’ worth of puddings being stomped on and disappearing right before my eyes… I would have cried too.

“Maru! Please, I’m begging you! Show your strength!”

“Ah.”

The commander’s tearful cry woke me from my daze.

…Ugh, that’s a bit embarrassing. I can’t stop having random thoughts.

They say children have rich imaginations, but I should try to hold off on thinking about other things during a crisis like this.

“Okay… right. Let’s do this.”

“There are three enemies. And we have two…”

“Ah, no. How much did all of that cost…?”

“…It’s not ‘we’… it’s just me.”

“Let’s calm down and assess the situation.”

“I have no weapons, and I’m just a small kid. On the other hand, they have huge bodies, deadly antennae, and sharp mandibles.”

“Wait… can this really be called a fight?”

“Can I even win this?”

-Kieek!

My eyesight isn’t great, but I seem to have good hearing.

The praying mantis-shaped monster, which had been reacting every time the commander yelled, let out a strange screech and charged toward us.

“Okay, stay calm. Stay calm.”

Based on my many years of experience with trash games, I can deduce that this is a kind of tutorial fight.

Since there are three enemies, this must be a battle where you’d usually summon one more character via gacha.

…Or this could be a battle that’s a guaranteed loss, a special event fight. There are only these two options.

I just hope it’s not the latter…

At that moment, something sharp flew above my head.

Before I could even be surprised, I instinctively ducked.

“Eek.”

Whoosh—something passed overhead, and a few strands of white hair fell to the ground.

If I had been even a second slower, it could have been disastrous. My goodness.

-Kieeeek!

“Ugh, how I wish this were a turn-based game!”

I took a moment to catch my breath, but then the praying mantis monster screamed and started swinging its blades wildly.

It wasn’t attacking me directly. It seemed pretty angry that I had dodged its last attack.

It must have been annoyed that such a weak-looking thing dodged its strike.

“I don’t like you either, Kieek!”

Even if the attack isn’t aimed at me, swinging around recklessly is still dangerous.

Using my small body, I dodged its attacks and increased the distance between us.

Phew…

I need to think. How can I win this? If this situation continues, there’s no way out.

Time for a little child’s boundless imagination to come up with a plan.

“Ugh… It’s a bit of a gamble, but it’s the only option right now.”

Let’s see… There are some stones on the ground… stones…

Ah, found one.

Beside a familiar-looking ant, there was a small stone.

“Ha!”

I gave the ant a brief nod before I threw the stone with all my might.

Not at the praying mantis monster, but at the other two insects, who were staring blankly at the machines.

“Maru?!”

“Don’t worry!”

The commander, looking flustered, called out to me.

Of course, he’d be worried. He was already struggling with fighting the praying mantis monster, so there was no reason to provoke the other two.

But I had a plan.

-Kieeek?!

While the mantis monster was distracted by the noise, I quietly crawled behind it.

And then…

“Take this! Headbutt!”

I charged forward, running full speed, and rammed my head into the monster’s back.

Nice, now let’s head towards the other two monsters and…

Boom!

Huh?

The mantis monster I crashed into seemed to have weaker durability than expected.

Or maybe my physical abilities were much stronger than I thought.

Anyway, I never expected it to explode without a trace of resistance the moment I hit it.

How strange. This isn’t the kind of outcome I imagined.

“O…”

Now, I’m drenched in some mysterious, strange liquid. The mantis’s blood.

It’s oddly sticky, like the slime monsters my younger sibling used to play with.

It was already unpleasant to look at, and now, even in death, it’s a real hassle.

I feel so uncomfortable that I want to wash up right away.

Ugh, seriously, this is so gross.

Krrrk?!

Kang.

“Ah.”

As I struggled to remove the slightly sticky liquid, I could feel the gazes of the other two monsters.

It seems like the blood splattered when the mantis died just now has provoked them.

And maybe they’ve even figured out my location—many legs wriggling, pounding the ground as if they could charge at me at any moment.

What the hell? They look like enraged bulls. And what was that weird “Kang” cry just now?

“Ugh… huh?”

As I was trying to figure out what to do next, I felt a strange foreign object in my pocket.

I reached into my pocket and pulled it out, revealing a round metallic sphere with something resembling a safety pin attached.

‘…Is this a grenade? It looks quite different.’

Since I was dragged here before enlisting in the military, I only know what grenades look like from games…

But instinctively, I knew this wasn’t a grenade. It just felt that way.

Then what is this? It looks similar, though.

Kang.

The centipede, still making those strange fox-like noises, was preparing to charge at me.

And on its back sat a bizarre cockroach-like creature. What is this, a taxi service?

“Ugh, whatever this is, just take it!”

Deciding I didn’t have any more time to waste, I pulled the safety pin and threw the object at the monsters.

And then…

Paaah!

…?!

A blinding light covered my eyes.

Wait, was this a flashbang?! You could’ve at least put a warning label on it! I almost went blind!

“What the heck?! Uwaaaah!”

Even the commander got caught up in it.

Sorry, sir. I’ll share a pudding with you later.

!%%#$?@

The two monsters, seemingly startled by the unexpected flashbang, lost even their usual cries and let out eerie noises instead.

Now was the perfect chance to take them down while they were defenseless.

“Uh, um… Take this! Maru Kick!”

Luckily, I reacted quickly enough to take care of them before they regained their senses.

…And I ended up getting splattered with sticky blood twice.

So gross. Why don’t games have a filter for this kind of thing?

“…Is it over? Is it really over?”

As the sounds of the monsters stopped, the commander, who had been hiding far away, cautiously stepped out.

Looks like his eyes are fine. That’s a relief.

Squelch.

“Ugh…”

The floor was already drenched in monster blood.

Though calling it blood feels odd since it was green—it just felt disgusting and dirty.

Hmm, now that I think about it, I probably could have won even if I had fought them head-on.

Maybe I underestimated Maru too much.

In most gacha games, the starting character is usually overpowered in the early stages, yet I completely forgot about that.

No matter how poorly rated a starting character is, they’re bound to be strong in the beginning.

That’s just how it works.

Of course, as the story progresses, they’ll eventually get outclassed by stronger characters… but at least for now, that’s not the case.

Maru! You did great! You were amazing!

“Hehe. I’m pretty awesome, aren’t I?”

The commander, seemingly thrilled about defeating three monsters, picked me up—completely covered in sticky monster goo—and spun me around like an airplane.

Since I’m usually the one doing this for my cousins, I never realized how fun it actually is.

“Yeah, Maru is amazing! You’re the best!”

“Heheh. Hihi.”

And with the commander’s praise on top of it, my lips curled up in a huge grin.

The only sound that came out of my mouth was a silly “Fuhihi.”

It was a bit embarrassing… but whatever. I was the one who took down those monsters.

I deserve to bask in this victory a little.

I wish he’d pat my head, too.

“Whew… I feel so much better now.”

After finishing my bath, I walked into the command center, my skin feeling fresh and clean.

Thank goodness Maru’s room had a bathroom. The facilities were nice, too.

There was even a wardrobe. But… the only clothes in there were skirts and other embarrassing outfits.

So I just put on a plain white oversized T-shirt.

It was much bigger than my body, so it probably wasn’t mine… Why was it here?

Oh well. It’s comfy, so it’s fine.

“Commander! Huh?”

As I shook my long hair dry and stepped into the command room, I realized the commander was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go?

Initiating one mercenary summon.

“Huh?”

While I was looking around for the suddenly missing commander, a small sound came from outside.

And then…

“Nuya-ho~”

A new voice echoed through the command center, where only the commander and I were supposed to be.