Chapter 16

Episode 16. Something seems off.

While our Icarus is busy diligently studying the manual.

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Title: If you’re an SSS-grade owner, you deserve an upvote lolololololol

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: [A frog shooting a gun]

Next.

Comments:

– [What? I can’t hear you, are you saying there’s no SSS-grade?]

– [Bring a translator next time.]

– (Author) [You bastards…]

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Title: All dignified SSS-grade owners, please take your seats.

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: [Photo of a group of well-dressed Westerners]

Today’s SSS-grade owners’ meetup photo ^^

Everyone was so polite ^^

Comments:

– [What lolololololol]

– [Lololololololololololol]

– [Bro, take the photo down]

– [???]

– [Your photo looks like a vase pattern, nothing else.]

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Around the time the community started spinning a slightly different narrative about Icarus’ SSS-grade achievement.

On the other hand, instead of talking about Icarus setting a new record with double SSS.

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– Made SSSSSSSSS-grade (5)

– But isn’t it not the time to talk about pulling an SSS-grade right now? (26) <
- Turn off comment censorship (1)

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Title: But isn't it not the time to talk about pulling an SSS-grade right now?
Author: Chuming
Content: [Pirate Ship Image 1], [Pirate Ship Image 2]
I don't know what's going on, but pirate groups mixed with destroyers are already appearing.
How are we supposed to stop that?

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A more realistic topic.
At this point, users are worried about the emergence of enemies they can't face head-on with their current fleets.
Of course, it's not some AI-generated image in the game, but an actual screenshot submitted as evidence.
Users who confirmed the situation, regardless of their level, were all equally shocked.

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- [Is this for real?]
- [It hasn't even been a month, why are destroyers already showing up? Are they crazy?]
- [No user has even pulled a destroyer yet.]
- [At best, we're barely past escort ships, right?]
- [???]
- [But isn't it just a slightly bigger ship? Is it really that dangerous?]
- [I dunno lol]

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Of course, in the midst of this, genuine newbies or grandpas with dementia were left bewildered by the appearance of destroyers.

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- [Newbies are gonna get wiped out.]
- [Help me, Speedwagon!]

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To save these poor newbies and dementia patients, some users in the community quickly gathered information and started posting guides.

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Title: Why the appearance of destroyers is dangerous.
Author: ㅇㅇ
Content: [Image of a pirate fleet destroyer]
At first glance, it's just one ship, and it doesn't look much bigger than the nearby escort or patrol ships, right?
But that's just the perspective. In reality, it's over twice the size of the escort ship.
Not only that, but its main gun firepower and penetration are at least twice that of an escort ship.
Sometimes it's not, but then its rate of fire is insane.
Anyway, what this means is, for now it's fine, but later when pirates start raiding your base,
those destroyer uncles will come along and shred your patrol ships.
Unless you pulled a superhuman or ship from the gacha, but...
Instead of resources or equipment, did upgrades pop up?

Then keep solving quests, gather resources, and pray while pulling the gacha, hoping just one comes out.

If you don't, later when dealing with pirates, your fleet will get wrecked, and you won't be able to replenish it, leaving you in deep trouble.

Comments:

- [F*ck. It's. Over!]
- [Not easy]
- [You should tell them that even superhumans need at least S-rank, what if someone with an A-rank starts showing off?]
- [That's just natural selection]
- [Makes sense]

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With the appearance of a detailed explanation from a certain someone, the clueless newbies started screaming in the comments.

The SSS-level bait in the gallery was instantly buried, and the community's topic quickly shifted to the strengthening of pirates.

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Title: Newbies' bases... are shutting down...!

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: ㅅㄱ

Comments:

- [Eh, really?]
- [Eh, really?]
- [Eh, really?]
- [Eh, really?]
- [Eh, really?]
- [Why are these guys all posting the same thing?]
- [Eh, really?]
- [Eh, really?]

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And regardless of the newbies' reactions.

The veterans who had been playing the game until now realized the state of the game they were dragged into.

- [Hey, it's not just equipment, bases, and skills that got reset in the update, right?]
- [It's like we only kept our memories, everything else is the same as beginners.]
- [This is that thing, the first appearance event of the Pirate Queen.]
- [But is that event supposed to happen now? Last time, it only triggered when over 70% of the user population had at least one destroyer.]
- [Is it a bug?]
- [No, realistically, it's more normal than destroyers suddenly popping up everywhere.]

They started holding onto their sanity tightly, thinking that users could be wiped out here if things went wrong.

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And just as the community's fiery discussions were calming down.

Our Icarus, no, I finally managed to "somewhat" understand and use the manual.

"Alright, I perfectly understand it now."
"Commander, your way of speaking shows you didn't understand at all, are you sure you're okay?"
"Of course."

...Actually, I hadn't fully understood it, but I couldn't just hold onto the manual right now.

The blazing community gallery and chat windows were showing that.

And most importantly...

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<Quest>

<Linked Quest>

<The Pirates' Frenzy!>

<Pirates have stolen a large number of destroyers that other nations were transporting for decommissioning.>

<This situation has further fueled the pirates' plundering activities.>

<The pirates' strengthened forces are causing serious material and mental damage to commanders, colonial bases, and planetary systems across the universe.>

<In response to this sudden crisis, the Earth Federation is preparing to send a task force to eliminate the pirates.>

<Objective: Successfully defend your base during the Pirates' Frenzy period (one week)>

<Reward: 1 Destroyer, various resources and currency>

<Time remaining until Frenzy begins (47:59:13)>

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‘Ugh, damn.’

As this quest proves.

The current situation is like when I was enjoying the game back then.

It shattered the mental state of countless users.

Known as the Space Mult* Event, it suddenly spiked the game’s difficulty.

It was a legendary event line that halved the user population right after the game’s launch.