I Got a Monster Spaceship from the Tutorial Tower - Chapter 46

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 46
46
The summoning chamber of the Space Battleship.
Yeon-u and the crew stood before the capsule, their faces tight with anticipation.
No matter how much Markross had been ridiculed in the past, or how many foolish stunts he’d pulled.
Now that this extraordinary event — a Grade Ascension — had arrived, surely something would change?
‘Maybe he’ll become a pilot of some remarkable charisma.’
A swallow.
Each of them held their breath in their own way, when—
「Grade Ascension Capsule usage is complete.」
A notification window bloomed before Yeon-u’s eyes.
Psshhhhh!
Just as when the capsule had first opened, an enormous plume of steam erupted, and the lid gradually hissed open.
Inside, surely the harpy Markross had been reborn as an A+ Grade—
“Snooooore! Hack-hack-wheeze!”
“…….”
“I suppose even a crude harpy would be acting naturally, wouldn’t he, Captain?”
He was simply sleeping deeply.
‘That’s really a Grade promotion?’
Yeon-u couldn’t shake the doubt and issued an order to Urelka.
“Go wake him up.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Urelka hurried over to where Markross slept and leaned in close to his ear, whispering.
“Pilot Markross, it’s time to wake.”
“……Mgh?”
“Pilot Markross, it’s time to wake.”
“A pilot isn’t some… night watch……”
Half-asleep and utterly confused, Markross rubbed his eyes as consciousness returned.
Standing before him was not a junior officer waiting for the watch change, but rather—
A glint.
A rusted Short Sword, and his superior officer, the vice-captain.
“Caw-caw-CAW-CAW!”
Delighted to see the Short Sword again after so long, Markross jolted awake and shrieked with joy.
「Pilot Harpy Markross’s Grade has risen to A+.」
‘At least the upgrade went through without incident.’
Though he couldn’t yet tell what had actually changed, Yeon-u figured he’d understand soon enough once they tested it in actual combat.
After all, a harpy with Flight Phobia reaching Grade A had always been odd to begin with.
With that thought, Yeon-u called out to Markross.
“Markross, did you sleep well?”
“C-Captain! Get this crazy goblin away from me! What kind of welcome is a Short Sword for someone who just woke up?”
The trouble was he’d slept far too well.
Yeon-u nodded and gestured to Urelka.
Urelka tucked the Short Sword into her pouch and stepped aside, clearing a path for Markross to emerge.
Markross climbed reluctantly out of the capsule.
And then, oddly enough, the capsule transformed into vapor and vanished, as if it had never existed at all.
Markross trudged toward Yeon-u.
Yeon-u asked him.
“Feel anything different about yourself?”
Markross tilted his head in thought, glancing down at his wings and legs in turn.
“Hmm… I’m not sure yet. Just woke up, so everything’s a blur. But actually, there is one thing.”
“What is it?”
At the mention of something different, not only Yeon-u but the other crew members perked up.
“I want to fly.”
“?!”
What?
At Markross’s sudden bombshell, Yeon-u’s expression froze in shock.
A beat behind.
“C-caw-CAW-CAAAAAW! D-did I just say that, Captain?”
Even Markross himself couldn’t believe what had come out of his beak, his eyes wide open, his mouth agape.
“F-fly?”
“Cluck-cluck-cluck……!!!”
Something impossible had just happened.
Markross—the very idea that such words would ever leave his mouth.
Markross himself seemed disbelieving of his own declaration, and he dropped to one knee before Yeon-u, his voice trembling.
“Captain…… I, I want to fly…….”
“That can’t be right…….”
Could this creature actually be Markross if he wished to fly?
Urelka and Hwaryeon each added their own remarks.
“Still, it’s gratifying to see such a precious capsule put to good use, Captain.”
“Hmph. About time he came to his senses.”
And Torka, unaware of the full context, tilted his head and asked the nearby crew members.
“What’s wrong with wanting to fly? Shouldn’t every pilot naturally harbor such ambition?”
It was a fair point.
The problem had simply been that Markross, until now, had lacked that very natural desire.
In any case, it was a shocking declaration: Markross had overcome his Flight Phobia.
Yeon-u dropped to one knee, grasped one of Markross’s wings, and helped him to his feet.
“Captain……!”
“Yes, Markross. I always knew you’d become a true pilot one day.”
A touching tale of captain and carrier aircraft pilot—the sort that moves one to tears!
‘Though I do wonder if all this was truly necessary.’
According to Urelka, the Grade Ascension Capsule represented the pinnacle of modern Federation technology.
Naturally, it had to be an extraordinarily valuable piece of equipment from the Federation’s perspective.
And here it was being used simply to cure a pilot’s fear of flying?
Be that as it may, Harpy possessed natural talent in flight and piloting.
And if the phobia—the sole weakness of Markross, who had received an A-Grade evaluation—had vanished,
then the capsule’s use was justified.
‘But if he was A-Grade even accounting for the phobia, just how much further could he develop?’
Yeon-u offered Markross the warmest of smiles and patted his shoulder reassuringly.
“You’ve worked hard all this time, Markross. Since you’ve just returned, shall we venture into the 21st Floor?”
“Eh? Still the 21st Floor?”
“?”
“Well, since the legendary thousand-year pilot Torka has arrived, I thought you’d have climbed at least five more floors while I was away…….”
When they could only ascend one floor per day, how in the world would they manage five more?
Yeon-u regretted the warmth of the smile he had just bestowed upon Markross.
As Yeon-u’s expression turned cold in an instant, Markross sensed the shift and cried out in alarm.
“Ah, no! The 21st Floor! Yes, there’s no time to rest now!”
“Because we need to win the war against the Empire?”
“No, that’s not—cluck-cluck! Captain, how did you know about that?”
“Urelka, explain.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Explanation was Urelka’s duty by default.
Yeon-u coolly delegated Markross’s curiosity to her and exited the summoning chamber.
Having narrowly escaped the immense danger of the 20th Floor, they should be able to proceed without major incident for some time.
Still, basic preparation was necessary regardless.
Moreover, this would be Torka’s first sortie, so he would need some time to acclimate.
“So this will be your first deployment……, yes?”
At Yeon-u’s awkward phrasing, Torka laughed heartily in response.
“Haha, feel free to speak casually with me, Captain. Soldiers live by rank, not by age.”
Still, a thousand years was pushing it.
While other crew members could speak informally without hesitation, Torka was a Relic Grade Goblin, so caution seemed warranted.
Under normal circumstances, the matter would already have been settled, but Markross’s absence and Hades’s repairs had caused delays.
“W-would that really be alright……?”
“Of course. In fact, it would make things more comfortable for the other crew members as well.”
“Then let’s do that.”
Indeed, speaking informally to everyone else while using formal speech only with Torka might seem strange to the others.
Yeon-u descended to the hangar with Hwaryeon and the other pilots to show Torka the Goliath he would pilot for now.
“Impressive—the Goliath has changed quite a bit from what I remember. It seems larger, and all the weapons have been upgraded to the latest laser systems.”
“Eh? Pilot Torka, everything here is at least thirty years old.”
At Torka’s admiration, Sureka tilted her head quizzically.
“In-seok, compared to what I saw a thousand years ago, it is cutting-edge.”
“Ah, that’s right. Yes, it would be.”
A technological gap spanning no less than nine hundred seventy years!
Hwaryeon smiled as she spoke.
“Still, the cockpit interface shouldn’t have changed much. One wrong touch there and who knows what kind of error might cascade through the whole system. Sureka, would you mind going in and giving him a hand?”
“Yes, ma’am! I’m on it, Chief!”
Sureka called out eagerly and entered the Goliath alongside Torka.
Soon the engine fired, and mechanical clicks echoed through the bay.
From the look on Torka’s face, it seemed he had no major trouble adapting, just as Hwaryeon had predicted.
Yeon-u asked, a slight worry creasing his brow.
“But the fighter we use is on the Empire side, and the one Torka was flying—that’s Federation-issue, right?”
Hwaryeon gave an easy smile and waved off the concern.
“The details differ, but the fundamentals are similar enough. The two sides have studied each other’s aircraft extensively, and back when Torka was active as a pilot, he had to capture and fly enemy fighters all the time. It won’t be a problem.”
Whirrrrr.
Just then, Urelka and Markross descended into the hangar, deep in heated conversation.
“So, so, so—once we pass the 20th Floor, the chance we get detected by the Empire goes way up? That means we’re all dead, aren’t we?!”
“Not quite. The Tutorial Tower is a pretty isolated network from the Empire’s perspective. Even if they notice something, it’ll take time for them to respond.”
“That won’t do, Captain! We need to hurry up!”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying we can only climb one floor per day.”
Flap-flap! Whirrrrr!
Markross, clearly anxious, flew lightly with his wings—something he didn’t usually do—and boarded the Silver Edge.
“Markross, Silver Edge boarding complete!”
‘Still timid as ever.’
He’d conquered his Flight Phobia, but Markross was apparently just naturally prone to fear.
……Yeon-u had completely forgotten that when he’d first learned the secrets surrounding the Tutorial Tower, he’d spent half a day practically groaning over it.
In any case, now that all the pilots had boarded, Yeon-u, Urelka, and Lapis headed back up to the bridge.
Bounce!
Lapis, as always, leaped onto the Master Ball.
All preparations were complete.
Vwoooooom!
The Space Battleship’s engines rumbled to life, and it moved beyond the platform.
“Entering Tutorial Tower, 21st Floor.”
As if to shake off the regret of all the days they couldn’t clear, the ship surged instantly into the 21st Floor.
The atmosphere of the 21st Floor was markedly different from what came before.
“From here on, we get Orcs, right?”
“Yes, Captain.”
The spawning monsters changing to Orcs was just the baseline.
And beyond the bridge’s observation window, the space itself had transformed dramatically.
Before, there had been nothing but open void between our forces and theirs—no obstacles at all.
The 21st Floor was an Asteroid Field.
One careless maneuver, and instead of taking fire from enemies, sensitive systems could be struck by asteroids, dealing catastrophic damage.
The 21st Floor’s objective was to destroy and harvest a set amount of asteroids while evading harassment from Orc scout fighters attacking from all sides.
These missions, commonly called “Mining Layers,” had a structure where completed asteroid harvests added salvage rewards on top of base compensation—making them quite popular with pilots.
Typically, one or two aircraft in a five-ship formation would handle the mining while the rest maintained defensive positions.
“There really are a lot of asteroids……”
The 21st Floor’s space looked even more cramped, given the sheer bulk of the Space Battleship.
Bounce-bounce! Bounce-bounce!
Lapis bounced lightly up and down on the Master Ball, as if to say there was no need to worry.
“Yeah, with you here, we should be fine.”
Lapis’s way of showing confidence was simple.
Whoooosh!
The Space Battleship’s course wove gorgeously through the countless asteroids.
Though obstacles had emerged, navigating this space depended on Yeon-u’s will alone—such was the slime’s wordless declaration.
Yet Lapis wasn’t the only one brimming with confidence.
During the four days while Yeon-u was repairing Hades, he and Urelka had discussed the strategy thoroughly.
A mining method inspired by how an unmanned cargo vessel had been loaded into the Space Battleship.
While Urelka hadn’t been entirely certain, she’d praised it as a clever exploitation of the system’s blind spots—and it was Yeon-u’s plan.
“Launch all Carrier Aircraft. Deploy the drones as well.”
“Yes, Captain.”
At Yeon-u’s order, the Carrier Aircraft shot down the runway and took flight immediately.
Rat-tat-tat!
And from both sides of the Space Battleship, roughly thirty Unmanned Aircraft peeled away.
The Space Battleship’s response to the Orc scout craft was straightforward.
It used the sheer number of Drones to cover as wide an area as possible, tracking the enemy’s approach.
Then the Carrier Aircraft would swoop in and crush any Orcs that attempted an ambush.
And the Asteroid Field mining—the very essence of the 21st Floor, its most critical function—
“Why don’t we go clear it all out? Lapis.”
Whirrrrr!
Lapis, who actually piloted the Space Battleship, played the most vital role.
The blue trajectory of the Space Battleship synced with Yeon-u’s vision.
That path wove between the asteroids scattered here and there like a constellation connecting distant stars.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the Hero of Earth—
[Relic Grade Space Battleship (Super Carrier), Identity/Nationality Unknown, 21st Floor]
└ It’s back!
└ What’ve they been doing for four days?
└ It’s been 3 days of rest, not 4?
└ Sick leave;;;
└ Did they recruit another Pilot? lolol
Viewers flooded in as if they’d been waiting for the Space Battleship’s live broadcast to resume.
As if answering those chat messages, four Pilots—including Torka—launched from the Space Battleship’s runway.
└ What’s going on?
Though viewers were beginning to accept the addition of fighter craft as routine by now.
When they saw the Carrier Aircraft dispersing in all directions alongside the Drones that had defeated the Bloody Hawk, they voiced their confusion once more.
└ ? If all the Carrier Aircraft scatter, who’s doing the mining?
└ Isn’t it the main cannon?
└ I heard the main cannon could only fire two or three shots max? How do they meet the quota with that?
└ lol Are they plowing through asteroids with the runway?
It was only natural to wonder, since the Carrier Aircraft appeared to have no interest in asteroid mining at all—each one flying off at a distance.
And then.
Whoooooosh……!
The Space Battleship, having completed all its preparations, began gliding through the vacuum with movements graceful for its massive size.
└ ???
└ What’s really happening??
The viewers found themselves doubting their own eyes, just as they always did during the Space Battleship’s conquest attempts.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————