As that ominous premonition suddenly crossed my mind,
while the two of them were away, I walked around the streets myself to gain a deeper understanding of this world.
‘It looks like Power Stones are needed everywhere.’
If High-Efficiency Batteries were the Replicas’ power source and food, then Power Stones were the city’s energy itself.
The heating system and cafeteria, which had apparently been activated recently, consumed Power Stones without exception.
Basically, one per facility each day.
Under City had not been a management game, so it seemed they had loosely settled on one unit of consumption per facility, but…
Realistically, I supposed that meant Power Stones were a resource containing that much energy.
With every single resource being precious, I could only feel grateful and sorry toward Ariel for prioritizing the cafeteria and heating system with me in mind.
On the other hand, battery consumption was a little different from how it had been in the game.
Originally, it had been a resource used according to each Replica’s individual consumption rate whenever they were deployed on an operation, much like energy. In reality, it felt as though it had become a resource that was consumed one at a time at set intervals depending on efficiency.
That was why the two of them had each taken several spare batteries before heading out on the operation.
It would be a problem if an emergency delayed their return and they shut down on the surface.
In matters like this, it was thoroughly realistic again.
As aspects that had been glossed over by game logic abruptly became real, I began to feel a little wary.
I could not keep treating this place as a game forever.
The coordinates designated as stages could change at any time due to ‘realistic’ changes.
And I should not expect the resources that had apparently begun dropping the moment I returned to remain infinite forever, either.
‘Then I guess all I can do is wait until those two come back.’
In the end, with waiting being the only thing I could do right now, I interlaced my fingers behind my head and leaned back against my chair.
There was less to do as this Leader than I had expected.
Was it because this had fundamentally been a game I played for thirty minutes to finish the daily quests, then logged off?
Now that it had stretched into a full twenty-four-hour day, there was nothing I could do after sending out an operation and being left alone.
There were no books worth reading, and with power in short supply, even the streetlights were dim. There was no way this city had anything to do for fun.
There were Replicas who could unlock functions to develop facilities like that, of course…
But with survival, resource gathering, and growth all taking priority, that was still a distant prospect.
[Purification Level - 0%]
‘This percentage crashed too.’
In my last memory, the Purification Level had reached 47 percent as I progressed through the main story. Now it was at 0 percent.
They said the city had been abandoned for years, so ‘realistically,’ it made sense, but still.
‘It did not need to be realistic about this, too.’
Even as I swallowed that inward complaint, I wrote down an estimate of the resources that would be needed going forward.
Once I had projected resource consumption, I figured there was no need to leave the lights on and turned off the lights in my room.
The lights were always on in the game, but when every resource mattered, I could not keep them running all the time.
"Haaah, ahh…"
Sleepiness happened to wash over me, so after letting out a long yawn, I decided to take a quick nap with my head on the desk.
Was this the first time I had tried to sleep sitting in a chair since my school days?
The reason I was deliberately sleeping sitting up was because I felt somewhat guilty about lying down while the two of them were working outside.
If someone made me work, then lay around sleeping peacefully when I came back, my faith in humanity would plummet too.
As I spent some time with my eyes closed, sinking into an indescribably sweet sleep—
Bang!
At the deafening crash that echoed through the room as if the door had been kicked in, I jolted awake and raised my upper body from the desk.
Ariel stood there, breathing hard, with Sati following close behind her.
Startled by how visibly shaken they looked, I stared wide-eyed and practically shouted at Ariel.
"What—what happened?!"
"Ah, thank goodness… You were here."
But Ariel, the one who had made that thunderous entrance, seemed to lose all strength in her legs and collapsed right where she had thrown open the door.
Even through my groggy state, I managed to get up and take a few steps toward her to help her to her feet.
"Haa… Why were the lights off?"
Sati got to Ariel first and helped her up, then glared at me as though reprimanding me with a short sigh.
Had I done something seriously wrong?
Unable to do anything as Ariel panted for breath, I hesitated a short distance away before briefly answering Sati’s question.
"Uh, well? I thought we might be able to save a little."
"You startled me. I thought… you had left again."
Seeing Ariel struggle to speak even as she gasped for breath, guilt welled up inside me once more.
It would be too much to say she was overreacting just because I had turned off a single light. We had been apart for far too long.
"Sorry. Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes…"
Lately, there had been a marked increase in days when I felt especially sorry.
After receiving Sati’s support and then mine, Ariel slowly got to her feet and picked up the sack she had dropped.
"Operation report."
Perhaps she had decided to report in Ariel’s stead because Ariel was still out of breath. Sati began the operation report while looking straight at me—the person she could not stand to look at.
"Like you said, we brought back Power Stones and batteries from the coordinates. There should be around two to three hundred of each. I think that is enough to activate a few more facilities."
Her tone was still prickly, but she reported precisely what was necessary without bringing personal feelings into it.
"What about the other thing I asked you to do?"
"…Oh, right. There was that too."
When I asked about the other task I had given them, Sati spoke indifferently, as if she had forgotten about it for a moment.
What I had asked was for them to clear the coordinates for Stage 4-2 once, go to Stage 4-3, then return to Stage 4-2.
In other words… I wanted to know whether the concept of ‘respawning’ existed.
Depending on the results of today’s report and the report from the next operation, our future course of action would have to change significantly.
I waited tensely for Sati’s next words.
"When we went back to the first location, there were monsters gathered there again. There were a lot fewer than when we first encountered them, though."
The instant I heard Sati’s report, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.
"I see… That is good."
Words laced with relief slipped from my lips.
According to Sati’s report, monsters did appear to gather at designated stage coordinates under something like a respawn system.
It probably just took some time for them to gather into a group without it seeming unnatural.
For now, that was enough of an understanding.
The atmosphere suggested the operation report was over.
"You both worked hard on the operation. Put the resources you brought back in the warehouse and get some rest."
"Hmph."
The moment I praised their efforts, Sati abruptly spun around, snorted, and walked out of the room.
She really did not like me.
Maybe it was because I had unintentionally frightened Ariel.
"You should get some rest too, Leader."
"Yeah."
Ariel looked back and forth between Sati and me, then hesitated as if something was bothering her before saying goodbye and leaving the room.
I had the feeling that Ariel, caught between two people who did not get along, was the one suffering the most.
[Power Stone]
[321]
[High-Efficiency Battery]
[297]
A few more hours passed, and when I checked the panel, the amount of Power Stones and batteries in the warehouse had increased considerably.
They had estimated roughly two or three hundred, and the first digit of both the Power Stones and batteries had risen from one to around two.
At this rate, I really could activate another facility or two.
Considering the city’s development level, what I should do at this point was open the shared maintenance bay, but…
‘No. I should hold off for now.’
I stopped myself, thinking I could not just use resources the two of them had worked so hard to farm.
We could decide together which facility to activate later.
I did not know whether Sati would be willing to talk, but if not, I would at least ask Ariel.
‘For today, I guess this is it.’
As the cafeteria lights flickered out, I made a quick assumption.
There was no alarm clock, but I had set bedtime as the point when the lights from the cafeteria visible outside went out.
I took out my sleeping bag, stepped into the wider area, and spread it out on the floor. Then I heard brief footsteps from outside the door.
"Leader, are you asleep?"
"No, I was just about to go to sleep."
When she heard my answer from inside, Ariel carefully opened the door with a click and entered.
"Excuse me."
"What is it?"
Tilted my head at Ariel’s unexpected late-night visit, I immediately asked what was going on.
"I was wondering if you could come to Star Plaza tomorrow morning."
"What?"
In response to my question about what she wanted, Ariel suddenly asked whether I could come to Star Plaza tomorrow morning.
I twitched my brows and let out a confused sound at the somewhat random proposal.
Star Plaza.
It was one of the facilities the player could activate, a place you could visit once a day with a Replica.
In the game, it had been used as a facility for increasing affection.
The problem was that Star Plaza was not an urgent facility, so I had not activated it.
"But it has not even been activated yet, has it?"
"It is okay."
Even so, Ariel simply said it was okay.
Why was she suddenly so insistent on Star Plaza?
"All right."
"It is a promise?"
Though I sensed something suspicious, if it was Ariel, I could not exactly refuse. So I shrugged and agreed.
Then time passed, and the next morning came.
Waiting for me in the unlit Star Plaza was not Ariel, but Sati.
"What? Why are you here…"
"Huh? Ariel told me to come here…"
In that moment of overlapping confusion,
with loud clank, clank sounds, power was supplied and Star Plaza began to activate.
Only then did I understand the situation, and I was left speechless.
Using a promise as an excuse, Ariel had gathered Sati and me in one place, then activated the plaza at just the right time.
Did she trick us?
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