Chapter 552: Reincarnating Supernova

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You could say Saiga-san and I have formed a party. Meaning we won't be seen as two separate individuals, but as a single pair.

And naturally, our seats on the Maglev are also assigned as a pair...

"So it looks like the overall booth layout is something like this, the entrance is here so... Saiga-san?"

"Hahya!? R-Right, how about somewhere around here?"

"...That's the restroom."

"Uguu."

What do you mean, "uguu"?

I was consulting with Saiga-san—who was sitting in the window seat—while showing her the JGE venue map on my mobile device, but the spot she had just pointed at was unmistakably the restroom.

"N-No, that's not it, my aim was just a little off, what I really wanted to point at was here..."

"Let's see? Hmm......... Supernova?"

"Do you know them?"

I do recognize the name. Which means they've released some kind of trash game out into the world. What was it again... Bakumatsu is Royale, and Oberon Games, who gave birth to Faer-kuso, is already bankrupt... Ah, no, it should be a space-related trash game.

Not Universe Storm. Cosmo Buster? I'm pretty sure that one's originally from overseas, so uh......... ah, I remember now.

"Galaxy Traveler, huh."

That void game only playable by billionaires with an abundance of free time in multiple aspects of their lives! This developer is still alive?

"What kind of game... is it?"

"Eh? Ah..."

It's hard to just say, "It's a trash game."

But I also feel hesitant to explain in detail that it's a void game linked to real-time, meaning that participating in any event shaves away a considerable chunk of your life.

To be fair, it's the kind of game where the people who love it really love it, so it rides a fine line on whether it can strictly be called a trash game. That being said, if you ask whether continuously wandering through the pitch-black void of space while dealing with space pirates, hostile lifeforms, and a constantly complaining NPC crew is fun or boring... well, it's the latter.

Word is that it's somewhat enjoyable if you use the planetarium included in the premium edition—which is expensive enough to buy a full VR system—but who was it that screamed 'The fun doesn't justify the price!'? ...It was me.

"W-Well, yeah, uh... It's the kind of game that awakens your PhilosophyPhiloposy, I guess."

"Philosophy..."

Yes, Philoposy. [*1]

It even has paid expansion content, so they clearly want to squeeze every last dime out of the users... That's what I thought after playing through it once, and I fully expected this type of game wouldn't live long, but... looking it up, it seems they're still keeping the service running... hm?

"Huh? They had a super massive update?"

"Super massive?"

"Whoa, what is this, it's fundamentally a different game from the ground up."

In GalaTra, the player is locked into the 'Captain' role, meaning as a general rule, the system revolves around operating a spaceship by issuing orders to NPCs. Because of that, players are left getting irritated by NPCs increasing damage with idiotic movements, getting irritated by NPCs failing to learn tactics no matter how much you teach them, getting irritated by NPCs throwing first-turn insults at aliens to trigger massive wars, and ultimately getting irritated by NPCs letting their dissatisfaction explode into full-blown mutinies.

However, checking the details, it looks like a super massive update a few months ago completely removed the curse-like restriction locking players to the captain's seat. Specifically, players can now personally participate in combat, and it's even possible for the player to stand in the line of arrows as a negotiator.

"Wait, isn't this... just genuinely fun now?"

"U-Um..."

Whoa, alien-made rigging parts got unlocked!? Even that bullshit cheat weapon that reflects a hyper-thick laser off bit-satellites for a direct hit while we're stuck fighting with flimsy peashooter lasers!? What happened, Supernova, did you always have such a compliant nature to grant user requests for free?

"Wow... Seriously..."

"U-Um! Rakuro-kun!!"

"Huh!?"

Crap, I completely ignored her and got immersed in GalaTra memories!

"Ah, my bad, Saiga-san! My thoughts flew off."

"Ah, no, I ended up raising my voice a bit too... um, are you interested in this place?"

"Ah, yeah, a little... no, I'm actually pretty interested."

I've played plenty of trash games that rotted away while still being trash games, but I've rarely seen a trash game that actually resolved all of its objectively trashy elements. I've experienced games that threw caution to the wind and sublimated their trash elements into enjoyable trash elements, though.

"Then, let's go there... shall we?"

"Ah, thanks for being considerate... hm?"

"Did something... happen?"

.........Huh? No, but......... hmm, was that unconscious?

"Um, Rakuro...-kun?"

"No, it's nothing, Rei-san."

"Kukyu."

What was that noise? It sounded like a faucet being turned off.

"Well, you started calling me by my first name at some point, so I figured I should too... but... does it bother you?"

"............(Smile)"

"Err, what exactly does that smile mean..."

"............(Smile)"

Is she an NPC without an AI installed or something?

Saiga-san was completely frozen with a smile plastered on her face, but gradually her face turned red... no, she went right past that and started turning blue...

"Are you breathing?"

"Buha!!!"

I don't think this is what they mean by 'having your breath catch,' but Saiga-san, whose breath had factually caught, turned her face away from me, took a deep gasp of air, and held her palm out toward me in a "No problem" gesture.

"Ah... Was the first-name basis a no-go?"

"No, it's fine, there's no problem, none at all! There is absolutely no problem."

"I-Is that so."

"I-It's just easier to say, right! There's no other meaning behind it, right!"

"O-Oh."

Shupapapapa! As Saiga-san... rather, Rei-san rapidly flashed her palms at me as if putting up an invisible wall, I felt a slight tinge of horror, but the Maglev kept moving forward.

I wonder why... even though the sky outside past Rei-san is clear with very few clouds, I have a premonition that a storm is coming.

Author's Afterword

・Galaxy Traveler

A game that felt like it extracted only the pure agony of standing above others and gave it a space flavor. For some reason, it became a massive hit with a certain demographic, allowing it to not only escape the crisis of service termination but actually operate in the black. Having undergone a large-scale update, it seems it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a masterpiece—aside from its "Death Penalty".........?

Translator's Notes

• [1] In the original Japanese text, Sunraku mispronounces Philosophy (Firosofī) as "Fisorofī". Rei corrects him with the proper pronunciation, but Sunraku doubles down on his mistake in his internal monologue.