Hsssss.
I take a deep breath.
Click—
I slam the magazine, which I usually keep separate from the gun, into place and open my eyes.
[Mock Combat Training, Highest Difficulty, beginning in 5 seconds.]
"Hahh."
The count begins the moment I let out a short breath.
[5... 4... 3...]
I raise the gun and tense my body. Normally, this kind of training is a process of engraving movements into the body, not the mind, but my case is different.
The body remembers, but the mind does not know. Therefore, a process is needed for the mind to grow accustomed to the body's memories. I must retrace the body's experiences, allowing the mind to synchronize with it.
[2... 1...]
I do not know the limits of this body's potential.
I have the knowledge that 'Misono Mika' possesses monstrous strength, enough to be counted among the strongest in the story, but I do not know the exact level to which it can be exerted. All I've ascertained for sure is that her natural physical abilities are as great as her innate strength.
Furthermore, I know that she has a skill in the game that drops a meteor, and that I can wield that power, but I know nothing about the true nature and scale of this ability.
[Set 1, Begin.]
Clank—
Targets spring up from all sides. The core of this training is how quickly and accurately I can dispose of them.
But if that were all, it would be nothing more than a slightly more difficult shooting drill, not mock combat training.
Therefore, each target is, in fact, a type of turret. When it recognizes the student participating in the training, it begins firing in various patterns until the target receives a neutralization judgment. Metaphorically, it serves a role similar to a pitching machine.
Except these are far more expensive, and they're worth the price. The maintenance costs are also considerable, but this is a realm that only Trinity can afford.
Well... to summarize, the correct answer to this training is to deal with those things as quickly and accurately as possible, and with 'minimal damage.'
Clack— RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT—!!
The moment I saw the turret muzzles turn towards me, I kicked off the ground. Dodging a bullet after seeing it is obviously impossible, but anticipating its path and performing evasive maneuvers is a different story. Even if I can't predict the path, just moving at high speed greatly reduces the chance of being hit.
They're non-lethal rubber bullets, so a body with a Mystery wouldn't die or be seriously injured even if hit a hundred times, but if I were to just tank the hits while shooting back at the targets, that would be an incorrect answer that ignores the 'minimal damage' condition.
What I want is the most perfect answer. My goal is to perfectly replicate the correct answer engraved in Mika's body and make it my own. Only then can I realize the picture I'm painting.
Therefore, I must become the perfect gun-toting high school girl.
First, I confirm the location of the turret equipped with a sniper rifle and head for a structure that can provide cover from its line of sight. And in the process, I turn my muzzle towards the target on my front right and fire.
Tat-tat-tat—!!
The muzzle spits out bullets with a sound that, for some reason, feels exhilarating. As three consecutive shots hit slightly to the left of the target's center, the turret deactivates and ceases to function.
That's one.
The first set has a total of seven target-turrets. The type of firearm equipped is random, except for the one sniper rifle turret. It seems I didn't get another sniper rifle in the random draw.
Ah, and of course, if all these turrets were to fire at the student simultaneously, the training wouldn't even be possible. What would be the difference between that and experiencing what it's like to be prey hunted by a pack?
So, this training is structured such that a few turrets will open fire, and after they've emptied their magazines, other turrets will begin firing in succession.
BANG—!
Except for the sniper rifle. That thing just shoots whenever it wants. That's why it's the most annoying.
While the turrets don't have a set firing pattern, there is a certain flow. The thing that breaks that flow is the sniper rifle turret, which naturally makes it the top-priority target for elimination.
Of course, the turrets don't just stay in one place. In a real battle, the target is moving nine times out of ten. Whether it's up, down, left, or right, they are moving targets.
But Mika's body is perfectly optimized for combat. Even if my mind cannot paint the perfect picture, it displays a near-perfect performance. What does that mean, exactly? It means that, fundamentally, this body has a semi-auto-battle function built-in.
Swoooosh— CRUNCH!
A small cluster of stars blossoms from my fingertips, drawing an arc impossible for a bullet and flying to crush the sniper rifle turret's target. Should I consider this a Mystery-type attack with a reality patch?
Anyway, I've decided to define this ability as a superpower that creates and manipulates small-scale stars or meteors. If it turns out I can use the ability on a larger scale, I can just change the definition then. The important thing isn't that, but becoming familiar enough with this ability to use it at will.
After neutralizing two turrets, one of them the sniper, the difficulty drops significantly. To the point where it takes less than 40 seconds to deal with the remaining five targets.
But it's not enough. Mika's correct answer is on a level far above this.
[Set 2 will begin in 30 seconds.]
In the second set, the number of target-turrets increases to 14, and in the final set, to 28. As the number of turrets increases, the probability of a sniper turret appearing naturally rises, and the difficulty is bound to jump by double or more.
[The final score for this mock combat training is 27860.]
I don't know how it works, but it even recognizes the number of times the student is hit and applies a penalty, so the loophole of tanking hits to clear the targets in the shortest amount of time doesn't work. However, I have a hypothesis that when necessary, taking a hit might lead to a higher score than wasting time dodging. I'll have to try it in the next session.
...
[The final score for this mock combat training is 28210.]
Hmm, the hypothesis was correct.
[Mock Combat Training High Score Ranking] [1. Misono Mika☆ - 29500]
...But seeing that catastrophic score, which seemed to exist only to crush even a sliver of hope, I had to soothe my bitter heart once again today.
◇─◇───◆─◈─◆───◇─◇
The girl stared blankly at the pink envelope for a long time, her expression unreadable, before biting her lip.
[From an angel who learned of your circumstances☆]
"...Not funny."
The girl's brows furrowed, her hand tightening for a moment. She then roughly tore open the envelope and checked its contents.
Inside was a neatly folded piece of paper, and...
"A debit card?"
[To the Vice President of Abydos High School.]
[Hi? This is my first time sending a letter to someone, so it's a little awkward! With that in mind, I'm going to try a little icebreaker.
Mmm~ Actually, doing an icebreaker by myself is a bit weird... It takes two hands to clap, you know. But I'll give it a try anyway! A new attempt is always worthwhile.]
"..."
What on earth was this person trying to say? The girl had to skip about three paragraphs filled with meaningless content before she could get to the main point.
[Ah, have I been talking about useless things too much? Mmm~ But I think we can get to the main point now!
First, to talk a little about myself, I'm a student who holds a pretty high position at Trinity. Amazing, right? For the record, this is the point where you're supposed to be surprised, so if there's someone next to you, at least pretend to be surprised!
Well, I can guess that you don't have very good feelings about Trinity... but I hope that, at least while you're reading this letter, you'll set aside your prejudices for a moment☆]
"If anything, thanks to you, I think I'm starting to develop a grudge against Trinity that I didn't even have before."
The girl pressed her temples, soothing her throbbing head. Just from the contents written here, she could tell that the author of this letter was no ordinary chatterbox.
[Recently, I learned of the hardships Abydos is facing. To be more precise, the debt you're in, the amount of interest you have to pay each month, and the existence of the delinquents hired by someone to pressure you. You probably already know how I found out, so I'll skip that part!]
"A position at Trinity that allows access to information about other schools would probably be, at the very least, one of the heads of a major club."
[For the record, we can't solve Abydos's debt and interest problems. You probably weren't expecting it, but if you were, then sorry! But considering Abydos's current state, that would be close to charity, and no one in Trinity's upper echelons would easily agree to it.
There might be a chance on the condition that Abydos High School becomes a subsidiary of Trinity, but that's probably not what you want. Right? You've stayed in Abydos all this time, doing your best to keep the school running☆
Support from Trinity as an institution isn't a simple matter either. Since there's no corresponding return, it's still just charity with nothing in it for us! Ah, I'm writing this in case you're thinking of tearing up the letter at this point, but this letter wasn't sent to mock or laugh at your situation?!]
"You seem like the type to exhaust the people around you..."
The parts where the sender's personality was blatantly revealed, which could be seen here and there, advertised that she was the type of person who would undoubtedly be tiring to be around.
[Mmm~ So, Trinity won't help Abydos. And the General Student Council has no justification to help you with your problems with a private corporation. It's true that the interest amount is a little outside the bounds of legality, but that's not a problem that can be solved just because the General Student Council steps in.
So I've decided to support you personally!]
"...?"
The girl wondered if she had misread something.
It was only natural. Until now, no one from any other school had ever offered to help Abydos. Regardless of the size of the goodwill, no kindness had ever reached them.
But the sender of this letter was saying that she would extend a helping hand. For the first time, someone from another school was offering to help Abydos.
If the sender had been an adult, she might have thought it was just a convenient lie or a trick. But the sender was a student, just like her. Perhaps that was why the girl, with a newly serious expression, decided to read the letter again from the beginning.
Her personality was so boisterous you could tell just from reading her writing, but her thoughts seemed quite deep. The attempts to lighten the mood here and there, well. She couldn't tell if that was the sender's personality, or an attempt to be considerate.
One thing was certain: she didn't seem to have any intention of ending the story as a joke. For that, the letter was too deeply imbued with a desire to help, with a sincerity that was unmistakable.
The girl returned to the original sentence.
[So I've decided to support you personally! Isn't it too sad that Trinity, the General Student Council, and everyone else won't lend you their strength?
You probably saw it when you opened the envelope, but there's a debit card enclosed with the letter. I've put a little money from my personal funds into the account linked to it. Ah, this money isn't for you to pay off your debt, okay?
I hope you'll use the money I sent to solve your supply problems. Then you'll be able to breathe a little easier when it comes to paying the monthly interest, right? If it really bothers you, you can think of it as a personal debt to me. I haven't set a repayment deadline, the interest rate is 0%, and I plan on refusing even if you come to repay it☆
I'm sorry I can't help more than this. But there are other kids I want to help personally, so with my circumstances, it would be difficult to provide more support than this at once. Ahaha, was the ending a little disappointing after talking so big at the beginning?]
"..."
The girl read the letter to the very end without a word.
[I hope everyone can be happy.]
The content ended there. There was no more space on the paper. Seeing as she didn't add another sheet or continue writing on the back, perhaps that was her intended end.
The girl could not, in the end, find out who sent the letter.
It would be nice if there were a way to find out on her own, but Abydos's circumstances did not even allow for that.
"A high-ranking member of Trinity, an angel with a status that allows her to access information on other schools."
What is that? The scope is too broad.
The girl, Takanashi Hoshino, let out a sigh and neatly folded the slightly crumpled letter, placing it back in the envelope. Then, she untied her hair and fell onto her bed as if collapsing. Her pink hair scattered in all directions before settling.
The girl decided not to be stubborn and refuse to use the debit card. If the sender had been someone who had singled them out to help, she might have felt a sense of resistance first, but that was not the case.
"No matter what, I'll definitely..."
I'll definitely find you, and then I'll scold you for living so stupidly kind. Because a world where everyone has a happy ending doesn't exist.
Takanashi Hoshino did not yet know that the sender was no simple fool.