002 Training Arc 2 Station Guild

Third of ten chapters posted, third of three.

"Alright, I'll leave the tour guide duties to you," I say.

Mina nods, then walks toward the white wall of the white room. The door slides open with a hiss.

This is where the Prince used to come and go—inside, the door is indistinguishable from the wall.

We step out into the hallway, and the door closes behind us. From the hallway side, the entrances are clearly color-coded.

So that’s why guests can’t wander off freely. Basic security measure, I guess.

If I were alone, I’d probably never realize it was a door at all.

A so-called lockdown room? Well, can’t blame the management. From their side, security’s priority one.

The hallway is lined with multiple identical entrances.

That means it can hold several people at once.

Following Mina down the hall, we eventually reach the elevator lobby.

We step straight down to the first floor and emerge into the entrance hall.

“This is the administrative tower. If anything comes up, just call Mina at the first-floor reception.

I’ll be your guide.”

I’ll just mentally translate “guide” as “annyai” and skip right past it.

I follow Mina out through the wide entrance hall.

I’d expected some block-structured space station, but instead there are actual buildings inside this massive structure.

“The station is a flat, spherical shape—100 kilometers in diameter, 20 kilometers tall. You need something this big just to store a kilometer-class battleship.

So movement’s done via transfer ports. Since Shira hasn’t settled on a residence yet, I’ll skip the housing area tour.

Once your Personal Ship is completed and your storage bay is assigned, a living quarter adjacent to it will be designated.”

Usually it's right above the hangar, that’s how it goes.

From the side, it’s basically a leaf-cigar-shaped UFO.

Ah, so that’s what they mean by abduction—real-life inspiration, huh.

After a short walk, we came to a plaza with a pillar of light at its center.

“This is the transfer port. Always found in front of major facilities within the station.

Tell your wristband where you want to go, step into the pillar of light, and you’re transferred.

The facilities are divided into administrative, commercial, residential, hangar, dock, industrial, production, combat, engine, and navigation control zones.

Combat zone onward is restricted access. Some parts of the production zone are open to part-time workers.

Transferring into restricted zones is prohibited—your account level determines whether you can be transferred at all.”

You can specify the destination down to the individual sector, though. Once you get used to it, just pick the nearest transfer port.

Now, next up—let me guide you to the guild."

With that, Mina stepped away from the transfer portal.

Huh? I followed, and the guild was right in front of the administrative tower.

"This is the guild. More precisely, the Starfarer Placement Office.

I call it the 'Guild' for short—short for Gamer Guild—to avoid accidentally blurting out unnecessary terms out in public.

Since Akira doesn’t have a Personal Ship yet, you can rent one for free.

But if you break it, you’ll cover part of the repair costs.

Here you can take on various quests—missions—and arrange simulated combat cards for fleet battles in the virtual space."

The guild always steps in before a fight—otherwise it's just a one-sided brawl, and that’s not how we roll.

Same specs as the home console game—SF C, y'know.

My skin went cold at those words.

I’m not cheating by using my sister’s save point to play SFC (the game), that’s all.

Better start with something simple, don’t you think?

I wonder if there’s any herb gathering going on?

The account was shared, so guild registration wasn’t necessary.

The counter by the open window was occupied by the usual receptionist.

Minor character, appearance omitted.

"Hello. One rental ship, one easy job for beginners."

Ordering like I’m some kind of idiot, me. Minna’s dead-eyed stare is starting to hurt.

The receptionist smiled and waved her off—efficiently getting through her work.

"First-timers should go for debris collection. There's a job available in the asteroid belt."

Sounds like a decent starter quest. Perfect for getting used to navigation.

"Then, I'll take that."

"Quest reward is 2,000 G. We can also appraise and buy back the collected debris. I'll assign you the standard mining configuration—two arms—ship number ten."

Rental fee... ah, free during construction period.

The receptionist tapped her terminal, pulling data from the wristband.

"Your rental ship’s storage is dock ten, Guild Storage. I’m writing access permissions onto the band."

She tapped the terminal. The wristband glowed. A sharp electronic *beep*.

"Quest acceptance complete. Safe travels."

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