Chapter 38

Chapter 38. Raising the Empress (1)

And just as I was about to have this thought.

A shiny quest window appeared before my eyes for the first time in a while.

—————————————-

<Quest>

<For the Future Pirate Empress!>

<Through a series of coincidences, you now have a being in your grasp who could become the future Pirate Empress.>

<Like an unscratched lottery ticket, take care of her and nurture her to ensure a guaranteed reward in the future!>

<Objective: Achieve Level 50 with 'Mary Ann,' reach minimum affinity level>

<Reward: Increased affinity with the future 'Pirate Empress,' higher chance of positive responses in certain events>

—————————————-

‘Yeah, this seems about right.’

Thanks to the quest window popping up at just the right time, I felt like my already overflowing confidence was about to skyrocket.

Now that even the status window has firmly confirmed it, there’s no room for doubt.

So, the moment the quest appeared.

I decided to officially launch the plan to raise the Pirate Empress (real).

==========

So, what to do?

Ultimately, our goal is to have her, who will eventually return after escaping.

Not only is she a rare, noble-class, SSS-grade mid-range commander.

But she also operates a separate fleet that doesn’t consume the user’s Fleet Points, boosting the user’s overall strength.

For solo players like me who don’t or can’t form alliances, she’s an essential support character—the ‘Pirate Empress.’

So, we’re now entering full-on affection mode for the still-genuine Pirate Empress, ‘Mary Ann.’

Because if we don’t manage her intensely from now on.

We might end up with the dreaded Normal Ending #2 due to the tiniest of differences.

Of course, some newbies who came from other games would often say, “Can’t you just judge the affinity by looking at it?”

But the problem is, this damn game refuses to show exactly how much ‘affinity’ has increased or how much has been accumulated.

The only hint is that as affinity rises, the character’s attitude and tone toward the player-Commander changes.

So, you can kinda guess based on that.

“Jessica, if you had to score the current affinity level, what would you say?”

“…Even if you ask me, I can’t really say anything about that.”

“I believe in you, so just tell me.”

“Commander, no matter how much you want to cheat… some things just can’t be done.”

“Sigh.”

“Besides, there are people whose affinity doesn’t show on the surface.”

As Jessica pointed out, there’s a limit to how much you can guess.

So, whether I like it or not, until the day ‘Mary Ann’ escapes.

I have no choice but to shower her with affection like crazy.

==========

But that doesn’t mean we can just focus all our affection on ‘Mary Ann = Marian.’

Common sense dictates that if we suddenly start favoring the new recruit over everyone else.

The other characters might react badly.

‘Ugh, seriously.’

Even though it’s been three years since I last played, and I don’t remember the details.

Looking at the criteria for Marian’s bad ending, this damn game also checks how much the user cares about the other characters.

If I’m not careful, the other characters might turn into jealous drama queens because I’m favoring the new one.

In fact, even before I quit, this was a common issue among players.

Just glancing at the forums now…

—————————————-

Title: WTF why are these b*tches suddenly fighting each other?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Superhumans fighting inside the base 1], [Superhumans fighting inside the base 2]

[Unnecessarily dynamic video]

Suddenly, they’re like, “If only that b*tch wasn’t here, the Commander would blah blah,” and they’re pulling each other’s hair and fighting like crazy.

Even if I tell them to stop, they won’t listen and keep beating each other up. What am I supposed to do?

I want to break it up, but if I step in, I’ll probably end up as minced meat.

—————————————-

-[Catfight ON]

-[Kyaaa, our Sirekan is getting so much love lolololololololol]

-[Cat lolololololololol fight lolololololololol]

-[You know? From now on, kill each other]

-[Why does this fight feel so intense even in this situation?]

-[Both are women, but are they really naturally punching each other in the stomach?]

-[“If I can’t have your baby… this match is mine…!”]

-[Dude, what the hell?]

-[Holy sh*t]

-[Sorry, but can you hold your breath for like 3 hours?]

-[Why are you just spamming exclamations instead of telling me how to do it, damn it]

-[But seeing two ranged dealers grabbing each other’s hair and slapping each other’s cheeks and stomachs, along with knee kicks and punches, is just too stimulating.]

-[True]

-[F*cking true]

—————————————-

If you don’t manage your favorability properly and openly show favoritism, jealousy-induced catfights will break out.

—————————————-

Title: Sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t

Author: Toad Nebula

Content: [A video of a firmly locked door being pounded from behind]

Damn, this is messed up.

These guys have gone yandere and turned dark, saying they want to be together forever and are trying to kill me. What do I do?

They’re currently holding a sit-in in the Commander’s office, and there’s no one to stop them.

Damn it, someone please help me.

—————————————-

Comments:

-[nice boat]

-[nice boat]

-[nice boat]

-[You damn brats] (Author)

-[Goodbye, and don’t come back.]

-[You’re so panicked you even made typos lololololol]

-[Call other superhumans to subdue them, that should work]

-[I failed the gacha, so I don’t have any other superhumans] (Author)

-[What the hell did you do to make them go yandere?]

-[Damn, I thought it was impossible to rank up anyway, so I just suggested we live quietly together.]

-[It’s gay…]

-[Have a beautiful love ^^]

-[You damn brats!!!] (Author)

—————————————-

…I have no idea how that’s even possible.

Characters who are supposed to be absolutely loyal to the Commander are now turning into yandere, and the Commander is suffering in real-time.

Suddenly having to manage favorability and affection levels, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

—————————————-

“In the end, you have to treat everyone equally while also boosting Mary’s favorability and treating her well.”

“It’s not an easy task. If it were, what just happened wouldn’t have occurred.”

—————————————-

Even Jessica, who was reading the community posts with me, acknowledged how tough my job was.

Managing an affection level that’s completely unknown in terms of how much I’ve accumulated and how much more I need to reach the next stage.

And realizing how hard it is to make a comeback in the late game through that.

‘Ah, so that’s why they give rewards through quests.’

Nothing in this world is easy, and I realized that massive rewards require equally massive effort.

—————————————-

Anyway, after all that nonsense.

I kept agonizing over how to use Mary in the future.

But that agony didn’t last long.

—————————————-

<Quest>

<First Steps, One at a Time!>

<Mary Ann, who hasn’t evolved into the Pirate Empress, is barely an A-tier character!>

<Even that is only because of her S+-tier magic defense, which is inflated.>

<Remember that most of her stats are below B-tier average, let alone A-tier!>

<So instead of throwing her into battles right away, why not start with some training?>

<Goal: Complete 10 training sessions with Mary Ann>

—————————————-

‘Oh.’

Seeing a properly structured curriculum, as expected of a named NPC, I let out a sigh of relief.