The Lone Sniper: I Was Just Minding My Own Business Sniping Players, and I Ended Up Becoming a Raid Boss

Chapter 100

"One thing after another, busy as ever"

"Sorry every single time......"

At Jolly Roger's port, I got picked up by Ms. Eve's car.

"First a truck, then a kei-truck, then a bike, and next it's a one-box car......"

"It's a camper. Look in the back! Sofa, refrigerator, even a kitchen—everything's there~"

Ms. Eve is really living it up in this game too, huh~.

Hm? There's a big stuffed animal on the sofa.......

"You spent your entire fortune at the last auction, so where did you scrape up the money to build this camper?"

"I borrowed it......"

"Eeeh!?"

"No worries. As payment for helping with this incident, the military police said they'll give me enough to pay it back. A real lifeline. I was almost stuck waitressing in basically underwear."

Probably borrowed it from the Master of Bad Joke.

"Well! It's not just this guy I built with the loan, though."

"You made something else too?"

"That's saved for later fun."

We race across the desert, heading for the pyramid.

A massive pyramid. Overwhelming. It's a labyrinth crawling with Machine Beasts inside. But they're only around level 40, so they're not my match.

"I'll wait here. I've got zero combat ability, after all."

"All right. Please pick me up on the way back." ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel⟡fire.net

I start walking toward the pyramid.

"Hold it. Do a test run of this guy while you're at it."

Ms. Eve raises her right hand. A shadow bursts out of the camper and lands in front of me.

"Nyassaa~"

In a word—it's a bipedal giant cat. About 130 cm tall. Eyes like '—(void)'. Mouth like an unreadable 'Δ'. Fur is white. Wearing a camouflage outfit and camo-pattern hat for some reason.

A laid-back expression.

Looks fluffy-mochi all over.

Soft-looking coat.

Ka...ka—!

"So cute!!"

I hug it without thinking.

"What is this thing!? What is this unbelievably cute creature!?"

Puni-puni, fuwa-fuwa! It smells like sunshine!

"Lord Eve's custom cat-type support robot! Built for escorting deliveries. Modeled on a Guardian, with pretty high armor. Works as a shield, can extend claw-type laser sabers to rip enemies apart, handles TW guns too, and can drive. Only downside is slow feet."

"A name! What's its name!?"

"Soldier Cat—'Solnyn'."

"Solnyn! So kyute~! I'll treasure you forever~!"

"No way you're keeping it. Just lending it for now."

Cute...that unchanging expression is cute too. '—' eyes and 'Δ' mouth...adorable.

But honestly, it doesn't look like much of a combat asset.

"Relax. It's strong. I poured all my skill and materials into it."

"Does it have any special abilities?"

"First, the core uses the Phoenix I won at the last auction."

Phoenix...the semi-permanent energy, high-output Core Engine.

So basically it needs almost no energy supply.

"Plus the frame is built around Growmetal. Phoenix, Growmetal, and Chacha's self-developing personality AI installed. Has levels and learns on its own—my masterpiece! Performance equal to one Space Gull."

Growmetal really is all-purpose. Ms. Nadra went to absurd lengths to get it.

"I already leveled it to 70. But its personality is still immature—basically a baby."

"P-p-personality...!? That sounds scary...is it okay to give it a personality!?"

"What are you thinking. Those SF tropes where an AI gains a personality and rebels against humans, or feels anguish because it has emotions even though it's a robot—none of that. Don't worry. I hard-coded into its subconscious that this world is its home, not to oppose its master, and to take pride in being a robot."

That somehow sounds even more pitiful.

"By the way, it only knows two words now. 'Nyassaa~' for YES and 'Munyaa~' for NO."

"Nyahaa~"

"And there's the echo 'Nyahaa~'. Even without language skills, it obeys orders perfectly, so relax."

And so, I enter the pyramid with Solnyn.

Step on stone pavement and go in through a rectangular hole.

Inside is like a maze, but I've memorized the MAP, so no problem.

Torches placed at fixed intervals provide decent visibility—well, it's still dim.

Right away the radar shows enemy icons.

"Machine Beasts, nya!"

"Yeah! —wait, huh?"

A bat-type Machine Beast flying straight at us is slashed in half by Solnyn's laser claws.

"Easy, nya!"

Solnyn strikes a pose.

"U-uh, Solnyn?"

"Something wrong, nya? Temporary master."

"Y-you're talking normally!? Ms. Eve, you said Solnyn couldn't talk at all!"

Solnyn turns its back to me and curls up.

"My current number-one worry, nya."

"Number-one worry......"

The Japanese is a bit off, but whatever.

"Master, I've been looking forward, so so much, to speaking, nya. From the moment I was born, I've waited, nya. I've waited and waited, nya. That's pressure, nya. So even after gaining language skills, I still can't speak in front of master, nya."

"I see. As a fellow socially-awkward type, I kinda get it, nya......"

"What should my first line be. Should it be serious, or maybe a gag...I don't know, nya. I'm torn about my character too. Go with a stiff samurai vibe, or full-on moe..."

It's probably a genuine worry, but honestly it's pretty stupid...

"I think just saying master's name is fine for your first words to me."

"Nyaruhodo! My doubts are blown away, nya. I'm grateful, nya! Temporary master!"

Somehow...it's ended up with a quirky personality. But cute is cute, so it's fine.

—————— Afterword ——————

Celebrating chapter 100!!!

It feels both long and like the blink of an eye......

I kept going this far thanks to everyone's support! Thank you!

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