Chapter 11: Suzu's Cheat Code

I have to admit, this shooting game is quite interesting.

Though it hardly feels like a roller coaster anymore...

Whether or not one sinks the pirate fleet doesn't actually affect the coaster's path, yet everyone is enthusiastically pulling their triggers at the pirate ships, cheering loudly whenever a vessel is "sunk" as if they had done it themselves.

After leaving the constellation of Pavo, the roller coaster passes through a "stargate jump" and quickly arrives at Tucanae 47.

Like Pavo, Tucanae 47 is a dense globular cluster filled with pulsars, binary star systems, and pervasive cosmic radiation; it even harbors a massive black hole at its center.

Naturally, because it is so dangerous, it has become a lair for pirate fleets. Unless one is familiar with the environment, even an elite Imperial fleet could easily find itself in peril if it ventured in recklessly.

In the game, pirate fleets charge straight at you, allowing you to fire at will. But in real history, such grandstanding by pirate fleets is rare. Usually, they only strike after confirming the identity of their victims, rushing out from an ambush point to deliver a fatal blow, ensuring no room for variables.

Although Chen Ziang usually practices with the Mandala Dharma Sword, he has trained in marksmanship as well. Plus, to accommodate the accuracy of the average tourist, the pirate ships fly exceptionally close, making them easy targets.

By now, his score has reached 1,200, while the tourists ahead of him are mostly hovering around seven or eight hundred.

Huh?

Chen Ziang is startled to discover that the laser gun held by Tsukimiya Reina, beside him, displays a score of 1,520—a full quarter higher than his own.

"Senior, don't just shoot at every ship you see!" Reina reminds him. "The ones charging in trying to board are just suicide drones; they yield very few points. You need to aim at those ships in the distance that are deliberately keeping their distance!"

"Oh, I see." Chen Ziang suddenly realizes his mistake and quickly shifts his target. Sure enough, he notices many ships lingering in the distance, firing lasers and missiles at them. While they lack the immediate pressure of the charging drones, a closer look reveals that these ships are indeed "higher tier" in design.

"The close-range suicide drones and torpedo boats are easy to hit, but they are only worth one point each," Reina continues, playing the guide. "The frigates in the back are worth two points, and the cruisers are worth five. If you look closely, you'll see the frigates intentionally shielding the cruisers, which prefer to hide within the fleet."

"Also, the pirate flagship is hidden in there too. It looks similar to a cruiser, but it doesn't fire. Each hit on it is worth twenty points."

A flagship? Chen Ziang strains to search the distance, but his eyes are soon overwhelmed by the barrage of beams and missiles; he cannot distinguish one ship from another.

Still, how does Reina know so much? Is she an amateur military enthusiast?

***

Xia Zili stands at the entrance of an alley.

She wears a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a thick mask. To avoid being recognized, she has even applied heavy makeup beneath the mask to obscure her features.

In a field of vision visible only to her, her mother stands before her like a ghost, raising an arm to point to the right.

In the corner of the alley, a few delinquents have pinned a student coming home from school against the wall, nimbly emptying his pockets.

"Why is this all the money you have?" the leader threatens, slapping the boy’s face with the bills. "This isn't what we agreed on!"

"Stop it!" Xia Zili shouts.

Her sudden appearance startles the delinquents, but they quickly notice her slender female frame and realize she poses no threat.

"Hey," the leader says, likely to mask his earlier fright, his expression turning vicious. "Who the hell are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am," Xia Zili, a superstar accustomed to facing tens of thousands of fans, is hardly intimidated by a thug’s glare. She says in a low voice, "Stop your illegal activities right now, or... or you’re going to regret it!"

"Oh, regret it?" The youth looks around mockingly, and his two cohorts chime in with laughter. "What kind of regret? What, are you going to hit me? I'm so scared!"

Xia Zili says nothing. She just waves her hand firmly and thinks to herself:

"Go, Mie-mie!"

Mie-mie is the nickname she gave her pet.

A moment later, the silhouette of a massive monster emerges from the murky shadows in the distance.

Before the three delinquents can even make out the shape of the creature, a primal warning of danger shatters their sanity. All three turn and scramble away in a panic.

Xia Zili watches this with satisfaction, thinking that she truly possesses the power to be a hero of justice.

She looks again at the boy, who is paralyzed with fear at the foot of the wall. She bends down, intending to ask with concern if he is hurt, but the boy quickly recovers from his terror and flees for his life, crawling and running away.

Left behind, Xia Zili stands in the empty, silent alley, her solitary figure appearing somewhat lonely and desolate.

But soon, her mother emerges from the void ahead and gently embraces her.

"You did well, Ah Li."

"You will become a hero."

***

Space Starport, Star Wars Zone.

The roller coaster has passed through the Orion Nebula and arrived at the final destination.

Near the finish line, the strongest and most troublesome "Takamagahara Pirate Fleet" makes its appearance, consisting of one battleship, six cruisers, twelve destroyers, and a large number of frigates, torpedo boats, and suicide drones.

Even Tsukimiya Reina, who usually focuses most of her attention on her senior, seems to lose interest in talking, concentrating solely on firing her laser gun.

To be honest, Chen Ziang feels a bit... lacking in immersion.

Whether in his past life or the present, he has never been the type who "can't play games." Sometimes, returning home late after working overtime, after tucking his sister into bed, he would find himself too stressed to sleep and would start a game in the living room to relax.

However, the background of this roller coaster, combined with real historical events, makes him feel somewhat strange.

Perhaps it is because he attended university and knows that the real-life suppression of pirates was never as lighthearted or joyful as the game portrays. But looking at the reactions of the tourists, they are not only ignorant of this but completely indifferent.

There are even people like that baseball-cap wearer from earlier...

For some reason, Chen Ziang suddenly recalls what Xia Qingyu said while standing before the monument at the Takamagahara History Museum:

"When will the debt Takamagahara owes the Shi family be fully repaid?"

Yeah, that sounded a bit ominous.

Under the "heavy firepower" of the tourists, the approaching pirate starships have all been wiped out, leaving only the massive main pirate battleship slowly closing in on the coaster, practically begging to be shot.

The tourists, naturally, do not hold back, pouring their final firepower into it.

Chen Ziang glances at his score and follows suit, locking his trigger onto the battleship to rack up points.

Finally, just like in most adventure movies, the pirate battleship fractures into several wrecks amidst brilliant pyrotechnic explosions, and the tourists on the ride cheer with relief... as if they had truly won an interstellar battle.

Then, the final score tally appears on the screen.

The top-ranked tourist is listed as "Right-3" with a score of 5,000.

Third row, right side... isn't that Reina?

"How can it be 5,000 points!" the man in the baseball cap behind them shouts in disbelief, having only managed 4,760 points. "5,000 is the limit for this game! You cheated!"

"Oh, really?" Tsukimiya Reina sneers. "Is that the excuse you use to comfort yourself when you're being eliminated by society? Cheating?"

The man ignores her and, as the staff arrives to release the safety restraints, grabs their hands and yells:

"Your score calculation is broken! How could there be a 5,000? Did she cheat!"

Fortunately, the staff seems to recognize this regular who is obsessed with high scores and quickly tries to appease him:

"Alright, alright, you can come to the back office with us to check."

While saying this dismissively, they quickly signal to Chen Ziang and Tsukimiya Reina to leave immediately, lest they get entangled with this freak.