I Got a Monster Spaceship from the Tutorial Tower - Chapter 45
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 45
45
Though admittedly, the atmosphere had grown a touch chaotic thanks to Hwa-ryeon appearing out of nowhere in sweatpants.
Once Ha-yoon had pulled out Hades, the crew members set about inspecting the fighter with sudden gravity, as if nothing odd had happened at all.
“Hmm… if it’s this bad…”
“There—it’s melted through here.”
“Man, this damage is pretty extensive. Right, Su-ri-ka?”
“Still, with the maintenance chief here, it’ll be fixed in no time, won’t it?”
In moments they’d scattered across the hull, hunting down every point that needed repair.
Meanwhile, Ha-yoon—who, per medical advice, was supposed to be resting—looked far more intact than expected.
There were scrapes here and there, and white bandages wrapped both wrists like protective gear, but given the state of the fighter itself, she’d come through remarkably well.
“How’s your body feeling?”
“Fine. Once the fighter’s repaired, I’ll be ready to enter the cockpit whenever needed.”
“The medical team said you should rest.”
“The cockpit’s dented somewhat, but I’m not badly hurt.”
……
Yeon-u studied Ha-yoon with suspicion as she rattled off such things with apparent unconcern.
Yeon-u had heard that after an ordeal like that, most people would take a full week to recover from trauma alone.
Meanwhile, Su-ri-ka, who’d climbed toward the cockpit, let out a startled cry.
“H-hey! There’s a hole right through the cockpit!”
Su-ri-ka climbed up after her and nodded with a grave expression.
“Wow, looks like it caught a laser blast dead-on?”
“…?”
As Yeon-u’s gaze grew more searching, Ha-yoon let slip a quick remark.
“Combat situations generate these sorts of damages regularly.”
‘Not in my experience.’
Of course, Yeon-u was stationed aboard a space battleship, so she stood apart from direct combat anyway.
Yet the carrier-based fighters of Macross or Gudru didn’t return from every sortie with holes punched clean through their cockpits.
“The fighter’s undercarriage is punched through too. Su-ri-ka, could you grab the measuring tools?”
“Right away!”
……
Yeon-u gave up trying to extract explanations from Ha-yoon.
The battle against the Iron Blood Assault Squadron must have been an absolute melee.
‘Coming back alive from that seems like a miracle in itself.’
As Hwa-ryeon inspected Hades thoroughly, she reported that the damage was slightly more severe than the photographs had suggested.
“Still, I think it’ll hold until Ha-pi emerges from the pod, Captain.”
“Good. Once this is wrapped up, there’ll be bonuses all around. I’m counting on you.”
“Think nothing of it~”
Hwa-ryeon swished her tail with that ‘just leave it to me’ air and turned back toward Hades.
Then she called over Gudru and the Goblin brothers.
“Alright, repairs begin now! Gudru, bring scrap metal here, and Goblin brothers, get the undercarriage work started!”
“Yes!”
Watching the precise coordination, Ha-yoon looked somewhat taken aback before turning to Yeon-u with a question.
“So that nine-tailed fox is the maintenance chief?”
“Yes, and her name is Hwa-ryeon.”
“How does she manage fighter maintenance in that form? Maintenance work usually requires considerable strength.”
Ha-yoon had never once witnessed Hwa-ryeon actually carrying out repairs.
Yeon-u grinned and gestured with her chin toward where Hwa-ryeon stood.
“You’ll understand when you see for yourself.”
“?”
At the vague reply, Ha-yoon turned her gaze accordingly.
Whoooooosh!
!
In an instant, bewilderment transformed into astonishment.
Light flickered around Hwa-ryeon, and soon her signature fox-fire blazed throughout the warehouse, illuminating everything.
The scraps called up from the space battleship melted away, and the damaged sections of Hades were separated in a matter of moments.
“How is it?”
“It’s incredible…”
Ha-yoon exhaled genuine wonder in an expression Yeon-u had never seen on her face before.
Hwa-ryeon’s repairs were far more than merely flashy—they were a work of art incarnate.
Even with the goblin brothers and Gudru moving swiftly, keeping pace with her alone was a struggle.
Meanwhile, Torka, who had been watching the repairs from a distance, quietly joined Yeon-woo and Ha-yoon.
“Well now, I’ve heard tales of the Nine-Tailed Fox clan’s repair prowess, but seeing it firsthand is a first for me.”
Torka clicked his tongue in admiration.
Ha-yoon glanced at Yeon-woo with a hint of wariness.
“I’ve never seen that goblin before.”
“Ah, his name is Torka—a pilot. He’s newly joined us.”
Ha-yoon had already latched onto one particular phrase from Torka’s words.
“‘Heard tales?’ What do you mean by that?”
“Well, it seems Torka is a goblin who died a thousand years ago. He was a clan leader of the Iron-Blooded Assault Unit.”
“?”
Ha-yoon’s face bore the expression of someone listening to an absurd joke.
And rightfully so.
Yeon-woo had grown accustomed to the summoning system and had absorbed enough background knowledge from Ureelka to take it in stride.
But how could an ordinary person immediately accept that someone dead for a thousand years had been summoned?
“It’s complicated to explain…”
Yeon-woo shrugged with an air of helplessness.
Just as he was wondering how to wrap up the conversation, Torka stepped forward on his own.
“Are you the pilot of this Hades?”
“…Yes.”
“The Reaper! A troublesome machine indeed. When antimatter cannons graze past, the chill down one’s spine is something fierce! Back in my day, there were only two guns, but it seems you’ve upgraded to four. Tell me, do you know how to use the Deathside?”
“I do.”
“Splendid! You’re a pilot brimming with talent. Looking at you reminds me of a Hades pilot from the past—someone I traded blows with, though an enemy. Heyerd Nicolien! We had what you might call a dangerous comradeship, kindled in neutral territory.”
‘Here we go again.’
Yeon-woo naturally drifted closer to Ha-yoon, watching Torka launch into his old stories with a weary gaze.
From the atmosphere, it seemed the crew of the warship hadn’t been giving him much attention either.
But now that Ha-yoon showed interest, he seemed delighted.
‘Wait.’
Ha-yoon was taking an interest?
Yeon-woo regarded Ha-yoon with fresh eyes.
It wasn’t Yeon-woo’s mistake.
Ha-yoon seemed to have forgotten that Torka was a goblin at all, his face subtly animated as he hung on every word.
“You knew… you knew another Hades pilot?”
“Of course! Nicolien and I faced each other’s guns on the battlefield, but in the dusty pubs of neutral worlds, we clinked glasses as trusted companions. If military police had caught wind of it, I’d have been hauled in on the spot. We exchanged notes on fighter specs and capabilities under the guise of sharing expertise.”
“What… what sort of things?”
“Guffaw! A rare young man who respects old history. Good, good! I’ll unpack my entire treasure trove of tales for you today.”
It wasn’t particularly special, but since Ha-yoon showed interest, there was no harm in it for Yeon-woo either.
‘I should tell him to stop by now and then for some conversation.’
When you thought about it, being resurrected after a thousand years with no one to hear your stories was a rather sad fate.
“Come, let’s move somewhere more comfortable! There—have a seat and listen to my tales in ease.”
And so the human and the goblin found themselves a separate spot and began sharing stories of Hades from a thousand years past.
Though most of the talk ended up being about Torka’s exploits and deeds of valor rather than the machine itself.
“Such a thing is possible?”
“If you have the courage to cut through the cosmos and the audacity to ignore incoming fire, what is difficult? Let me ask you this: would a young pilot like yourself have the will to plunge into a black hole if the mission demanded it?”
“…Of course!”
“Excellent! That’s the spirit. In that case, I truly must tell you about the time I flew into an actual black hole.”
“…!!!”
Ha-yoon looked unexpectedly thrilled.
Perhaps he wouldn’t have been this excited even if he’d single-handedly destroyed the Iron-Blooded Assault Unit.
Ureelka approached, releasing a sigh of relief.
“We’ve lifted quite a burden. We’ll need to maintain friendly relations with Pilot Shin Ha-yoon going forward.”
“Who wouldn’t?”
Yeon-woo wholeheartedly agreed.
Ha-yoon didn’t leave until late evening, as the sun was setting.
He spoke with genuine reluctance.
“I’ll come again tomorrow.”
“…Tomorrow as well?”
“I need to hear the rest of today’s stories.”
“O-of course.”
Torka swallowed his own disappointment and waved goodbye to Ha-yoon.
“Shin Ha-yoon, fly well! There’s a youthful romance in you that reminds me of my younger days!”
‘Where on earth did that come from…?’
“And safe travels to you as well, Torka.”
How many hours had they been talking to become this close?
From the snatches she’d overheard passing by, it was all nonsense—about catching wasteland beasts with a single laser rifle, harvesting energy from supernova explosions, that sort of thing.
‘Still, Pilot Shin Ha-yoon is clearly no ordinary person either.’
Yeon-u instructed the crew to begin wrapping up their work, then turned to Hwa-ryeon with a question.
“How’s the repair coming along?”
“Great! Fortunately, most of the internal precision components are intact. S+ grade really does live up to its reputation. The Empire clearly puts serious effort into their top-tier models.”
By now Hwa-ryeon had revealed to Yeon-u the relationship between the Alliance and the Empire.
She wasn’t one to deliberately avoid mentioning such things.
‘That’s probably why Urelka called those fighters mass-produced models earlier.’
In any case, just as she’d told Jin-yong the first time, the repairs should be finished by tomorrow.
The next day brought more fighter repairs.
“Good morning, Pilot Seo Yeon-u.”
“Good morning.”
“Where’s Pilot Torka?”
“Well…”
“Ah, Pilot Shin Ha-yoon! You’ve come again!”
Ha-yoon had clocked in practically the moment Yeon-u arrived, promptly disappearing with Torka into a corner.
While work was in full swing, an unexpected visitor arrived.
“Ugh… Pilot Seo Yeon-u?”
“Clan Leader, you’ve come?”
“Yes, since you mentioned the repairs would be finished today.”
Jin-yong had lugged in a heavy box, grunting under its weight.
Clank.
Yeon-u jumped in alarm and quickly took the box from him.
“You… you’re quite strong for someone who looks like you’d be normal.”
“Haha, I just exercise a lot in my spare time.”
“Exercise. I probably should do more of it myself.”
She hadn’t mentioned the training facilities to Jin-yong yet, so it was reasonable for him to be surprised.
By human standards, he was still quite strong—nothing particularly suspicious about it.
“But what is this?”
“Ah, that’s…”
“Oh! Clan Leader’s here? But the repairs aren’t done yet.”
“Ahem! It’s nothing special—just found these lying around. Thought they might be useful.”
At Hwa-ryeon’s appearance, Jin-yong quickly turned sideways and waved his hands dismissively.
Yeon-u set the box on the floor and inspected the contents with Hwa-ryeon.
Inside were several black tool cases.
Click.
“My goodness!”
They contained Earth tools used for fighter repairs—organized by type and size, a complete set.
Hwa-ryeon let out a small gasp of surprise, then smiled knowingly at Jin-yong.
“Were you trying to give these to me?”
“What are you talking about? I said I found them. Besides, if I were giving them to anyone, it’d be to Pilot Seo Yeon-u, not to you.”
“Hmm, that’s true, Captain.”
“Yeah, I don’t need them, so you use them.”
“Sure thing! The Clan Leader has a surprisingly thoughtful side~. Actually, there were some tasks that were inconvenient with our current tools. These are different from what I’ve been using, but they’ll do.”
Hwa-ryeon, though not as easily as Yeon-u, lifted the box with greater ease than Jin-yong had, then headed toward Hades while humming tunelessly.
Jin-yong explained himself to Yeon-u.
“This warehouse was scheduled to be cleared out anyway, so the equipment is incomplete. I just grabbed a few items the maintenance team had marked for replacement.”
For such an explanation, everything looked far too new and pristine, but Yeon-u decided to let it slide.
Besides, she’d seen it when she first came to the warehouse.
Zzzt!
“Surika! How many times do I have to tell you not to move equipment like that! Handle it gently, like you’re holding a baby! Don’t you understand?”
“S-sorry, Team Lead! Even though I look like this, I’m still new to all this…”
Contrary to Jin-yong’s words, the warehouse still contained all the heavy equipment needed for maintenance.
His true intentions showed through transparent as glass.
In any case, on the morning of the fourth promised day.
“Alright, Pilot, let’s bring the engine output up slowly, starting from idle.”
Whoooooosh……!
“Next, weapons maintenance check!”
Click, click, click.
“Level alignment verification!”
Whiiiir.
“Yes, output’s stable, controls responsive. I’d say the repairs are complete.”
Under Hwa-ryun’s direction, the maintenance crew finished restoring Hades without incident.
As Hwa-ryun announced the completion with a bright expression, Jin-yong spoke in stunned disbelief.
“In just two days…… you’re truly remarkable.”
“Oh, this is nothing special~.”
Ha-yun, descending from Hades, bowed respectfully in gratitude.
“All systems confirmed operational. The interface is functioning normally. We should be ready to begin the assault tomorrow.”
“Not yet! The repairs are done, but you need two more days of rest!”
“But…….”
Ha-yun, trying to slip into the tower, received a stern lecture from Jin-yong instead.
For the retry of the twentieth floor, they’d arranged to coordinate with rising talents gathered from each clan.
With that level of coordination, clearing the twentieth floor should be manageable enough.
Jin-yong shook hands with Yeon-woo, smiling brightly.
“Thank you for your work. The payment I promised will be transferred today.”
“The crew did the hard work. And Pilot Ha-yun has been quite helpful as well.”
“?”
Jin-yong’s expression asked what that meant, but everyone only offered a knowing smile without explanation.
“Pilot Ha-yun has been of great help, you say? What exactly do you mean by that, Captain?”
‘Your sparring partner.’
Torka, too, was equally puzzled by the remark.
After Jin-yong and Ha-yun placed Hades in the hangar and left the warehouse,
Beep-beep-beep!
an alarm chimed from Yeon-woo’s phone at just that moment.
“Time for us to head back to the ship.”
“Of course, Captain.”
Four days of waiting.
The Hades repairs had filled the time quite well.
Now it was time to climb the tower again, this time with Macross at its new grade.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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