arc3 · 184-ch184
Chapter 184: Which Unit Should I Pick?
In the end, we kept up the hunt for a while after that and gathered Magic Stones. For some reason, Hosomi-san had turned cooperative, which made things more efficient too. They'd collected quite the haul of Magic Stones, and were delighted that at this rate they'd have this year's quota turned in early.
When we parted ways, Hosomi-san asked for my contact info, but I managed to slip out of it by turning to talk to Yukimizu-san. Then Yukimizu-san nearly asked for it too, and I hurriedly left the dungeon behind — a fond memory, that.
Hayate and Shiden had been earning steadily on their end as well, and my level has gone up to 33. The drones' level is 29. One more, and at 30 I'm hoping the skill points I get will be 30 too.
The Mana Potions Hayate gathers and the Mana Potions I burn come out to roughly the same amount. My stock isn't growing, but I'm not running dry either, so I'll count that a win. After all, it's got the EXP pouring in.
Now then — this afternoon, a press conference is waiting for me. The event where I hand the Blue Sapphire over to Sieg Howard. I've been a touch nervous since morning, but there's still a little time, so let me check over my status first.
Name: Soramine Sota
Job: Drone Pilot
Level: 33
HP: 109
MP: 10560
Skills:
Additional Unit Unlocked
Attack Unit Unlocked
Medical Units Unlocked
Small Drone Unlocked
Medium Drone Unlocked
Ultra-Small Drone Unlocked
Drone Summon Count +3
Drone Connection
Parallel Thinking
Call
Storage
Auto-Mapping
Mana Detection Radar
Drone Info:
Hayate
Shiden
Gekkou
Ooh, looking at it all together, my MP has climbed quite a lot. Gekkou's summonable now too, and my fuel economy's only getting worse, after all. MP going up is a good thing.
And as for the drones' skill points: Hayate has 210 left, Shiden 80, and Gekkou 380. I'd like to add some units to Hayate and Gekkou. In times like these, there's no one better to consult than President Yamamoto.
I activated Asahi, parked at Yamamoto Electronics, and summoned Hayate.
Having the summoned Hayate search around the factory, I found President Yamamoto right away. Was it a drone for sale? He seemed to be tinkering with its frame.
"Morning, President. You're full of energy bright and early."
I brought Hayate up in front of President Yamamoto and called out to him.
"Ah, SS my boy. Tinkering with drones like this is just my idea of a good time. So, what can I do for you today? You've got that important conference coming up after this, don't you? Something urgent?"
So President Yamamoto knew about today's conference too, of course. It'd be embarrassing to admit I came to talk because I was too nervous to settle down, so I'd just say I had something to consult about.
"The thing is, I wanted to ask your advice on what units to put on Hayate and Gekkou."
I gave the President my business.
"I see, so that's your angle! Right then, tell me your current points. I've got memos of the obtainable units, so we're fine. If anything new's been added, do let me know."
As expected of the President. He shoved the drone he'd been tinkering with into a corner and spread out the paper listing Additional Units. Grateful as I am — won't he get an earful from Sasaki-san over this?
"President, I'm grateful for the quick response, but will you be alright on the Sasaki-san front?"
It worried me a little, so I asked.
"Ah, Sasaki-kun isn't coming in here today. He's scheduled to attend that very press conference, you see."
What? Sasaki-san is attending Sieg Howard's press conference? That's news to me. What would he be attending for?
"Is that so? Do you have some business there?"
Curious, I asked President Yamamoto.
"Ah, Arihara asked him to. He's probably going to formally announce that Yamamoto Electronics is partnered with you, SS my boy — including the fact that we're under government jurisdiction. The idea, I'd guess, is to make it so other powers can't just move on us lightly."
Ahh, I see. So things are finally moving in earnest. Come to think of it, he did say the paperwork to put that detached house under government jurisdiction was proceeding too. Arihara-san is even moving the government itself to protect my family — all I can feel is gratitude.
"I could never point my feet at Arihara-san or President Yamamoto when I sleep. Truly, thank you."
Gratitude for everything the two of them had done for me came spilling out all on its own.
"Oh, don't mention it — we've been letting ourselves in for plenty of good fortune on this end, too! Once today's conference makes the Yamamoto Electronics–SS relationship public, our stock will skyrocket!"
Honestly, I understand nothing about stocks — but if President Yamamoto's happy, that's what counts.
"I hope it does. Oh, right — so first, about Hayate..."
After consulting with President Yamamoto, the decision for Hayate was to spend 100 points on Acceleration Boost. This skill doubles acceleration and max speed for five minutes. It costs 100 MP to use, though, and has a thirty-minute cooldown.
I'd leave the remaining 110 points in reserve, and if nothing new turned up in Additional Units, save up to 200 and take the Hardening skill.
Then we discussed Gekkou's units.
"You're set on support-specialized, with an eye to assisting yourself in a fight too. In that case, you'd want the healing line — but in practice, you've got potions for healing, antidotes, and paralysis cures already. Potions that fix petrification or curses, on the other hand, are rare — handy to have, but you'd rarely get the chance to use them.
"Or, hey — you could go get the Poison Needle, raise your annihilation speed, and make points easier to farm. That might be the play, you know."
Hmmm. My own thinking had been to take the Healing Needle, then the Antidote Needle, then the Paralysis Cure Needle, in that order — but now that he mentions it, I remember antidote and paralysis-cure potions being pretty cheap. And come to think of it, I bought some and have never once used them.
Looked at that way, the President has a point. Poison's damage-over-time being effective against enemies whose damage doesn't go through easily — that was a staple of the game world too. Maybe this is the time to be bold and pick the Poison Needle.
"Thank you for the advice. Just as you say, President — I'll get the Poison Needle first. Next, the Healing Needle; after that, depending on how things go, I'll weigh Stealth or the Paralysis Needle, and the Anti-Petrification and Anti-Curse needles."
President Yamamoto nodded along to my decision. There we go — a new fighting power acquired. The morning's nervousness melted away as if it had never been, and feeling deeply satisfied, I moved Hayate off toward the conference venue.