For example, a high-mobility Titan.
“W-whoa. Isn’t this a bit too bold? Is this really okay?”
“Let’s strip off a little more.”
It begins by stripping away everything except the Titan frame, the thrusters, and the lower body needed for acceleration.
Attach ultralight streamlined armor to minimize air resistance. It is a choice made not for defense, but solely for speed.
To mount a high-firepower weapon capable of piercing a heavy-armored Titan, expand the frame of one arm. At the same time, mount a suppressive weapon on the opposite arm to balance the center of gravity.
And, for example, a bombardment-type Titan.
“It’s so big and heavy that even running is a pain.”
“I know. That’s what makes it good.”
Mount hydraulic spikes on the soles of the Titan’s feet for grounding, and do not assume close combat. Remove both arms and replace them with gun barrels for firepower.
Attach additional external frames, then add missile pods and railguns with large barrels. If something can be attached, focus firepower on every possible exterior surface.
A character build. Here, calling it a Titan build would be more accurate.
In a game that provides detailed adjustments, even slight tuning can decide victory or defeat. If a small difference in mobility leaves you exposed to an attack, or if your attack power is too low to pierce armor, you lose.
Right now, there are far more parts than in the previous game, and many more detailed adjustment elements.
Even just mounting thrusters gives you a lot to think about. The position of the fuel pipes, whether to expand the fuel tank, even the direction of the center of gravity.
As the Rapid Reading trait turns the information of countless parts into data, the Spatial Perception trait repeatedly incorporates them into the hologram and removes them again.
It is on a completely different level from adjustments made only with a pad’s joystick and directional buttons. Adjustments dozens of times more detailed are possible.
There are many things to make besides a bombardment type.
A heavy-armored type that raises generator output to the extreme and can spray coolant forward.
A detection type that disregards combat and maximizes radar as much as possible.
“Deep?”
A support type made as small as possible and with increased mobility to quickly compensate for allied damage.
Lastly, even if it is rarely used, a hodgepodge machine that can perform every role alone to some extent. It cannot be called an all-purpose machine. A Titan that does everything alone cannot exist.
“Hey, Deep?”
I understood.
In the game, this lecture time was probably originally a sort of free Titan build period. A time to keep modifying one’s final build, while receiving assistance in finding and purchasing the equipment for that build.
In the previous game, participating in ranked battles would unlock certain equipment. How would it be here?
“Cadet Deep.”
Thuuud!
I was startled. My head snapped up. The surroundings were silent. Professor Sumeragi was staring intently at me from a handspan away.
Normally, if a beauty were this close, my heart might have started pounding. Right now, there was none of that at all. In an instant, cold sweat drenched my spine.
I pushed my chair far back and retreated.
“Y-yes.”
“Have you ever gone to war?”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Separate from my confusion, I quickly shook my head from side to side. My pupils trembled from sheer disbelief.
“You have never gone to war, yet you are saying you produced samples for six machines in less than an hour?”
“Uh, yes.”
Only belatedly did my surroundings enter my eyes.
Most people had, at most, a single hologram floating in front of them. The princess beside me had not even touched her hologram at all.
The cold sweat would not stop. While I had been absorbed for a moment, I had completely forgotten about my surroundings. I should have read the room and done only enough that I would never stand out.
Professor Sumeragi grinned and said,
“By any chance, would you like to be my assistant?”
“I don’t, I don’t want to.”
And her expression froze just like that.
***
“No, why?!”
“B-because it’s burdensome.”
“Because it’s burdensome?!”
Ran shot up from her seat. I felt glances flickering over from around us. When Ian tapped Ran’s tray, Ran sat back down with an unconvinced expression.
“Eat your food. Your food.”
Lunchtime. I had originally planned to sit in a corner and eat alone, but Ran contacted me and asked if we could eat together.
There was no particular reason to refuse, and I was curious what kind of lectures other departments had too.
However, this stupid head of mine had overlooked something. Hearing about other departments meant I also had to talk about my own department.
It was inevitable that the story about the assistant offer would come up.
“No matter how I think about it, I just don’t understand. An assistant, you know. Lowborn like us are already short on money and have no positions, so where else would you get such a good offer?”
“I, I just, don’t, want to.”
Assistant.
I had never even set foot inside a university, but I at least knew what an assistant was. It was a position where a graduate or someone with excellent grades received a salary in exchange for assisting a professor with their work.
I was short on money.
On top of that, the other party was Professor Sumeragi. If I got closer to her while working as her assistant, I might receive great help with customizing my Titan.
It was a position with clear merits, but the problem was obvious.
If I became an assistant after receiving an offer from a professor on the very first day of lectures, there could be nothing more attention-grabbing than that.
If asked whether it was a waste, it was. But I hated the attention I would receive even more than that.
“Coward. Loser.”
Ian muttered while looking at me. Since I had nothing to say in rebuttal, instead of answering, I set down my spoon for a moment. My appetite had fallen a little.
At the same time, the hand that had set down the spoon stretched forward.
“Hey, lowborn!”
Thwap!
The water bottle entered my hand, and I immediately caught it. The surroundings went quiet for a moment. The gazes that had been directed at me quickly scattered.
Even I was surprised I had caught it.
Only belatedly did I raise my head and look at the other party. He wore a briefly flustered expression. It had been a throw aimed at my blind spot. Without the Spatial Perception trait, I would not have been able to react.
Before long, the other party put on a triumphant expression. Seeing several nobles with him, it was certain he was an influential noble.
Black hair and green eyes. He was a man, but in any case, he had a handsome face. It was not something someone like me could look down on.
In truth, I had already recognized who he was. Not because he was a familiar face, but because he was a face I needed to know.
“A lowborn. You keep standing out, unlike one. Did you know that?”
Aaron Dike. The princess’s fiancé. The eldest son of Grand Duke Dike, who was responsible for the eastern front.
One of the leading candidates for top student, who had been active on the hellish eastern front since the age of eighteen.
No, but isn’t it a little absurd that they still haven’t told us who the top student is? Usually, wouldn’t they inform us before entrance?
The fact that the entrance exam was right before admission also seemed very strange. Even if this was an academy inside a game.
As I was thinking about something else for a moment, Aaron Dike’s expression crumpled, and he approached. Ran flinched and stopped her spoon. Ian expressionlessly continued moving his spoon.
“If someone speaks to you, at least answer! It’s not like you’re mute!”
“Th-that, I, uh, I d-didn’t know.”
Aaron, who had been approaching, stopped walking for a moment.
“Do you have a speech disorder?”
I was pretty sure I had heard that last time too.
Why was everyone so thoroughly rude?
“N-no. I’m just nervous, th-that’s all.”
“Oh, really?”
Aaron looked relieved for a moment, then crumpled his expression again and stood in front of the table.
Thuuud! The moment he struck the table, the dishes rattled. The spoon dropped from Ian’s hand as he had been eating.
“What the hell did you do for Her Highness the Princess to keep sitting beside a lowborn like you!”
I would like to know that too. I do not know either.
When I failed to find a suitable answer, Aaron’s expression crumpled again. It was a bit of a different matter, but even a face that looked like it had no wrinkles formed wrinkles when it frowned.
Aha, amazing. The mysteries of the human body.
“I told you to answer!”
“I d-don’t know.”
“Food.”
The three of us looked at Ian at the same time. Ian’s foot pressed firmly against the edge of the table and applied force.
“I said, let’s fucking eat.”
Craack!
The table slammed straight into Aaron’s body. His body floated into the air, rolled across the floor, then sprang back up as if bouncing.
“You bastard—”
Aaron kicked the table and was sent bouncing back again. Ian still had the table firmly pressed down with his foot. It did not budge.
Pilots were one thing, but engineers also did an enormous amount of exercise. It just did not show as much because he was sitting down, but Ian was also extremely tall. Their weight classes were different.
“I-Ian!”
Ran hurriedly struck Ian’s foot downward and made him put it away. The nobles also hurriedly grabbed Aaron and helped him up. After catching his breath for a moment, Aaron clenched his teeth.
“Who the hell are you!”
Ian pointed at me with the tip of his chin.
“This loser’s engineer.”
Me?
Aaron gritted his teeth and jabbed a finger at me.
“You! You bastard, fine! During the simulation sparring lecture this Friday, fight me!”
Why was he getting hit by Ian and then dueling me?
When I looked at Ian in disbelief, Ian answered as if it were obvious.
“Do it.”
Who are you to tell me to do it?
Why does everyone do this to me?
Fuuuck.