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

Chapter 39

The place Chacha-san led me to was the hangar connected to the office—Marshmallow Smile's private hangar.

There, I was secured inside a vertical capsule and my limbs and torso were detached. Right now only my head remains.

"So this is maintenance......?"

Chacha-san is shaving pieces off my components and, conversely, attaching new ones.

"Yup. One of the hidden parameters: when you raise your stats, the weight of the parts goes up. Just a teensy bit, though. Boost thruster output and the thrusters get heavier. Raise armor value and the armor gets heavier. Boost radar and the head gets heavier."

I had indeed felt my body getting heavier compared to the very beginning.

But it was a tiny amount—small enough to dismiss as my imagination.

"I can correct the imbalance caused by that added weight. This is the true value of the 'Mechanic' role~. My combat ability is practically zero, but when it comes to tuning Space Girls, nobody beats us!"

After about ten minutes of waiting, Chacha-san finished adjusting every part and gave them back to me.

I tried moving my renewed body—and was startled.

"——Amazing. My body is light... and stable!"

"Based on Shiki-cchi's combat data, I rebalanced the whole body so it moves just the way Shiki-cchi likes."

Yeah. Exactly right. It fits me perfectly. If my old body was like a loafer one centimeter too big, now it's a pair of sneakers that fit like a glove.

"Last step: inside the system menu choose 'Model Settings' and press 'Confirm Model.'"

"Okay.——Pressed it."

"Now even if Shiki-cchi gets killed, you'll respawn in this tuned model. If you don't confirm the model and you die, you'll revert to your pre-adjustment body."

I see. I never knew that system existed. Still so much I don't know.

"By the way, Chacha-san, is the item I ordered ready?"

"Ah, I totally forgot!"

"Eh!? The Rank Match is tomorrow, you know!?"

"No no. I only forgot to hand it over. I already made it."

Chacha-san pulls something from a toy-box-like cardboard box.

"Ta-daa!"

What Chacha-san holds up is a sapphire-blue jewel—an expansion part.

"'Precision Radar.' Made it exactly as you requested."

"Thank you very much!"

"Precision Radar" is an expansion part that displays detailed information about targets caught on radar.

Normally, when radar locks onto an enemy, only their position appears on the map, along with distance and altitude relative to me. It doesn't tell me their posture or height.

Because of that, when I rely solely on radar I might land shots but miss the vitals again and again. A tall opponent, a short opponent, one standing, one sitting—the vitals shift accordingly. So in between Konpeito-hunting sessions I asked Chacha-san to build me this radar-analysis expansion part.

My custom "Precision Radar" tells me the target's height and stance. Moreover, while normal radar shows distance and altitude in one-meter increments (if the enemy is one meter above me it shows "+1"), this precision radar shows values down to 0.01 mm. It gives exact numbers for every coordinate including distance, altitude, and bearing. Chacha-san pointed out that the amount of visual information increases nine-fold, but that's no big deal. I'm good with numbers.

With this, the accuracy of my "radar sniping" will jump dramatically.

Incidentally, I paid the full production fee. Chacha-san said I didn't have to, but I figured it was bad to leave things vague, so I paid anyway: 70,000 chips. For the performance, that's cheap.

"Equip it right away?"

"Yes!"

I can't install expansion parts myself. You either ask a mechanic or go to a specialty shop to have them attached and detached. Inside the thruster is a slot for expansion parts; they opened it up and swapped them out for me.

"Okey-dokey! All done."

"Thank you very much."

Expansion part—check. Now,

"How about the other one?"

"That one took, like, two seconds. Here."

I receive the second weapon from Chacha-san.

"Wow! Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted..."

"Making something like that is child's play. But what on earth are you planning to use it for?"

"It's insurance for when I have to reveal my trump card."

I equip the weapon I received.

Preparations complete.

(......I'll beat Tsubasa-san. I'll win the next Rank Match and lead Marshmallow Smile to victory...!)

One question pops into my head.

"By the way, Chacha-san, why is this team called Marshmallow Smile?"

"Nfufufu~, that's because everyone's smiles are as sweet and fluffy as marshmallows~"

I don't really get it.

"......Sorry. It was totally random," says Sheena-san, who has just entered the hangar. Niko-san is with her.

"Letting Chacha name it was a mistake."

"Ehh, it's a great name. Marshmallow Smile! C'mon everyone, all together—marshmallow smiiile~~!"

At Chacha-san's signal everyone puts on their best smile.

Chacha-san→full-face grin.

Sheena-san→icy smile.

Niko-san→mocking smile.

Only Chacha-san can be called a marshmallow smile...

"Hey, you do it too."

"Eh!? M-me!?"

"Of course. You're a member of Marshmallow Smile too."

"Here we go, Shiki-cchi~! Marshmallow smiiile~~!!"

I somehow force a smile onto my face.

"M-marshmallow smile..."

When I do, for some reason Niko-san and Sheena-san burst out laughing.

"Wh-what is that sleazy old-man face—ha ha!"

"Sorry... I couldn't help it..."

I can't believe even Sheena-san laughed at me... My whole face is burning.

(B-but... I'm glad I made them laugh... right?)

...I'm going to practice smiling after I log out.