Estimated reading time: 8–10 minutes
Chapter 10: Orange finally gets a production job
This is the first time I’ve heard talk of quests existing in this game. In the first place, it’s a game where you have to take the initiative to grab even drop items yourself – there are many parts that seem deliberately made so you have to do things with your own hands even though they should really be systemized.
And yet here we have quests mentioned. In other words, they must be that important but… what exactly is a Strain to begin with?
「Strain… the timing’s too perfect, huh. The predecessors probably got stuck here so they released it to the public instead of keeping it to themselves.」
「Our side doesn’t know too much about that either. I did hear talk of limits on how many could be mobilized.」
「…Oh, so that’s what the beta test talk was about. Guess this one’s pretty high difficulty.」
I ignore Reina’s pretentious manner of speech. But what the heck am I supposed to do here? Hearing talk of the Strain, the old man clearly pales, his hands shaking as they halt in the middle of repairs. No no, please keep moving those – the AP is more important than losing an event battle!
「It’s over… our president and the others sacrificed so much just for the five years we had…」
The old man curls up, clutching his head. Ah, right – the setting was something failed back in 2055 leading to 2060 being the present huh. I see, so the old man and the other townspeople must be survivors. And in-game, Momiji died so they swapped in the real Momiji who seems to have amnesia. That’s a dick move from the devs, using people without permission – we’ve got grounds to complain.
…Hey wait, doesn’t that mean there’s probably no decent defenses or the like left?
Reina wears an expression pondering what should be done now. Meanwhile, Momiji looks to me as if to ask what I plan on doing. I decide to ask Reina, who’s pondering with her ears twitching around.
「Hey, what happens if we lose here?」
「Probably get reset to the game start and resume from there. But I heard they can’t get the exact same timing so it’d be maybe 1-2 days before the attack starts again. Worst case, as soon as you log back in you’re already under attack.」
「Wouldn’t that lower the quest success rate each time we fail then?」
「It would. That’s why it’s scary – we’ve gotta decide things in this try and the next.」
「What a trash game… they’re on the fast track to shutting down the servers huh.」
「Sure seems that way. But the key to making judgments is always intel, you know. Like when this Strain is gonna show up, what its specs are. Maybe we’ll get cornered if there’s no Apollyon Fusions, or maybe we can scrape by somehow if all the players make a suicide charge.」
Momiji makes a good point. There’s no use agonizing without even investigating whether there are countermeasures or some way to break through. There could still be some trump card hidden away in this town somewhere.
「So what’s Orange’s stance on this anyway?」
「Me huh. Well, it leaves a bad taste to lose to this crappy game and just give up plus it looks like we can repair the AP so I wanna try clearing this somehow. I wanna go as far as upgrading the equipment more and battling robot on robot. And there’s the expectation that maybe we can win if we’ve got mass-produced APs too.」
「You’re really going all out on desire huh. Yeah I agree it’d suck if you checked out here.」
「Then it’s decided. Let’s head to an intel hub.」
「Hub? Oh right, you had a job or something before right?!」
I’d completely forgotten. No, I was even trying to acquire a production job myself before getting completely distracted by the blacklisting and Momiji shock… As I’m thinking that, Momiji goes chitchat and operates a window. Then a new window appears over my quest window, overlapping it.
『The job『Apollyon Mechanic』can be acquired. Equip?』
My expression freezes in shock. Huh, what’s this about, I think just as Momiji brings her body close and shows me the window. Player name: Kureha. Job: 『President of Kōmitsu Solutions』.
「I’ve got appointing powers you know.」
「No way, you’re kidding!」
Is it really okay for there to be this big a disparity? I’d heard jobs were less something you acquired and more something you were recognized for or scouted into. And sure, I guess a company that handles APs would have the authority to appoint employees. But this is awful. The fact that a player wields job appointment powers. Well, I guess other companies in this situation could probably do similar things but still!
You’re right, from the perspective of the mechanics who spent 5 years making it back here, I can see why they’d view Momiji as their returned boss. But isn’t it going too far for someone’s birth in the real world to have this much influence – unfair even?
With complicated feelings, I press the confirm button.
『You have become an Apollyon Mechanic. You can now learn job-exclusive skills.』
…And that’s it. Not even any talk of learning new skills or anything. Seriously, is the job system barebones to THIS extent? I mean c’mon, in other games you change jobs to Mechanic and suddenly you can make guns right off the bat. Well, I wasn’t expecting much from this crappy game but still!
I heard that jobs have a strong position/status aspect to them. As a basic player with no job or fixed address, you can’t get various services or participate in events. For example, you can’t take courses to learn the Security Force’s Arrest Technique without joining their ranks first. In other words, the same goes for me. I’ve got no choice but to work hard from here on to acquire Apollyon handling skills as one of them now.
「It’s over…」
At this rate we might really be done for. As I wonder what to do, Momiji moves again. She walks over to the old man and lightly pats his shoulder, saying:
「Mr. Tanaka, this time we’re gonna win for sure! That’s why we need to repair this AP. Fix it up and find some weapons or make do if there’s nothing around alright?」
「B-But…!」
「It’ll be fine, I made it back alive too you know. It might turn out better than expected. C’mon, shoulders up!」
With gentle words, she encourages the old man. She’s got quite the knack for this – she really seems like a President. The old man who’d been sobbing for a while silently stands back up and faces us, giving a slight bow before turning his back to us. Heading off to fight on his own battlefield.
Momiji comes back over here and puffs out her chest a little. No wait, that’s more than a little – that’s a pretty huge size for most adult women huh. I suppress my vulgar thoughts.
「How ’bout that!」
「Splendid work.」
We exchange brief words and get back on track. Looks like I won’t be getting any production job skills for now, but the AP repairs should work out somehow. For that, we need intel – I glance at Reina who looks a bit sulky. Understanding I’m looking her way, she sways her tail.
「Now then, back to talk of my job. Adventurer – a job that hunts machine beasts outside. For that purpose, some devices were left behind – long-range radar, past records, stuff like that. Due to the nature of the job, they’ve probably started gathering intel on the Strain too.」
「Yeah, figures. So we’re good to head over there?」
「Good to go.」
「I’ll guide you. You need at least one Adventurer to get into their guild headquarters after all.」
「By the way, what are the conditions to get the job?」
「Defeating machine beasts. I took down 12 solo so they see me as a super promising talent. You’d do well to take notes.」
「Don’t get all cocky now…」
She seems intent on somehow competing against Momiji’s cheat President job. Chatting with Reina, I leave Kōmitsu Solutions. and set off.
「Oh right, payment!」
「I told ya it’ll be my treat with my CEO powers. Free of charge today and in the future too, of course!」
Sorry Reina, but with that level of cheat abilities I don’t think you’ll ever beat her.
《President》
An exceedingly strong job. Constraints:
①The company must survive even post-collapse.
②Employees have to recognize the player (proving identity gets really tough if your face changes).
There are also similar jobs like [Department Head] but slightly nerfed. Incidentally this phenomenon occurs at other companies too, causing all sorts of mischief intertwined with game updates but that’s a story for later. There’s also the side effect of people coming to Japan to get the job → influential figures transferring over, steadily turning the ruins of old Osaka into a cursed land.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
Sub29: Hey there! If you enjoy the content and want to stay updated with all the latest, make sure to follow my channel on WhatsApp! Click here to follow