[Blue Archive] Substitute

Ode to Abydos IV (The Hyena and The Lost Soul.)

"Warning AP at twenty-five percent." I quickly dodge another volley of missiles firing my own back. My opponent scored multiple energy rifle shots on me; thankfully, most of my missiles hit the target dead on. They quickly duck behind a building, and I notice they aren't there as I chase them.

"Above!" The second I aim my targeting in the air, I get shot and almost killed. I skate backward while avoiding more incoming fire from drones. The warning beeps of low AP go off as I evade shot after shot. I am quickly boosting to the right to evade a rocket salvo. My opportunity comes the second my enemy begins to descend from running out of EN.  I fire my rockets and shoulder-mounted grenade launcher at them. Finally finishing my foe off.

"Finally! I've won!" I hear a grumble from my left. "Don't you dare say anything! I've been struggling over here for the past thirty minutes!" He scoffs at me.

"Fine, I'll stay quiet, just don't yell again." I glare a little at his response. He doesn't know how hard it was to beat that mission. Forget the fact I had to restart because I couldn't make the jump since my generator didn't have the power earlier. I look back at the screen and see I scored a C on the mission. My repair and ammo costs took almost everything I made from this mission. I can't buy any new parts, not even the extension that fires additional rockets. But there's no buying it now. I can't keep my money in a video game; from what I hear, it's supposed to be easier. Not for me, though. "Alright, Kitty Cat, what's wrong?" I look towards him.

"Nothings wrong; in fact, everything is great!" I see his brow raise

"The sarcasm is palpable."  Of course, he picked up on it.

"Well..it's just....shouldn't making money in a videogame be easy? Not like real life at all." He hums in acknowledgment.

"Well, it depends on your game and the developer's intentions." It was a simple, honest answer, but not the one I wanted to hear. I looked at my COAM, which was only 367,000 thousand. It was enough to buy a part or two, but I had to make sure I had some in the bank for repairs and ammo. Sighing, I resigned myself to the slow motions of earning more COAM, which is the weirdest name I've heard currency called.

Every once in a while, I would look out the car window. We're still quite far out but making steady progress towards Abydos. The desert outside looks infinite, breaking occasionally because of the buildings we pass by. The clouds are gray; I guess I'll experience the once-in-while Abydos desert rainstorm. I scroll through some of the weapons in the shop and stop at the MAW-DLC/POWER. It's only about 82,200c, so it's not a bad price; getting a better weapon may be a good idea. I should check first to see if my generator can support it. I tab over to the garage and scroll down to the generator. My energy seems fine, so there's no cause for concern. I'll just have to be even more careful in missions now.

"So, how's the game?" I grumble when he asks.

"Honestly, kinda bad, but in a good way, I guess?" I look towards him and see his confused expression. "Yeah, that's a bad way to describe my time with the game."

"It's because you made it sound like a question more than an answer." His cackling voice hurts my ears.  "Anyways, you wanna elaborate on what you mean? Could help relieve some frustration." I can't tell if he's poking fun at me or being serious.

"Well, it's just, why does the game have to be so hard? Like I get the missions are supposed to get harder with every completed mission or failed, but seriously! Then there are the monstrous fees." The fees I got in the game for ammo and repairs put Abydo's debt to shame after a few missions.

"Well, it's supposed to simulate a freelance mercenary's life. So, of course, it'll be hard." I don't like how he made it make sense.

"Well, shouldn't it be more lenient since it's a game!" He mauls over my words for a bit.