Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!

It’s not like I suddenly became fearless of monsters or aliens. It’s just that I trust the Range Falcon’s sensors more than my instincts. As such, with the negative scan results, I could explore outside the ship without worry.

After exiting the loading bay, I turned 180 degrees and headed forward. The thrusters on the back of my suit burned a bright green as they pushed me ahead.

Before long, I came to a stop, scanning my surroundings.

Only one of the many statues of forgotten gods held my interest—the Forgotten God of Space, Arivar.

"But which one was he again...?"

I tried recalling but couldn’t quite figure it out. After all, statues—especially in basic postures—practically looked the same to me. Art was never my strong suit.

By process of elimination, I narrowed the choices down to three statues.

One had slightly cracked features, depicting a man with long wavy hair holding a book in his hand.

Another had shorter hair, was missing an arm and a leg, and clutched a cane.

And the last one—

"...It’s the last one, right?" I muttered, staring at the headless statue.

As I moved toward it, I scrutinized its details closely. As I did, pieces of memory clicked into place, and I finally recognized the statue.

Without hesitation, I flew closer to the statue’s chest and planted a hand over it.

*THUMP!*

A strange pulse reverberated beneath my palm, like the steady beating of a heart.

Of course, that was impossible. An inorganic object couldn’t have a heart, so this was something else—the very thing I was searching for.

To extract the object, you simply need to recite a verse, a prayer of sorts, for the Forgotten God, but... "Uhh... How did the prayer go again?"

Normally, you’d have to search for the prayer among the countless reliefs carved into the pillars, walls, and floors of the temple. It was the equivalent of reading a novel with 500,000 words—in an unknown language, to boot.

Of course, someone in the game had already deciphered it through quests, but translating a dead language from scratch—and pronouncing it correctly—was a feat that only madmen would attempt.

And naturally, I was one of those madmen.

"Right, it goes—Vash’kell druunakai, zeth’ra volun threx. Ozmith quor’na vik sha-un!"

It was spoken in the forgotten god language and roughly translated to:

"By the echo of the void, I call upon the lost one. Grant me the relic of your forgotten will!"

As soon as I finished reciting the words, the statue began to glow. It wasn’t blinding but rather gentle, making me instinctively squint.

Within that glow, something emerged from the statue’s chest, pushing my hand away.

A fist-sized tetrahedron slowly drifted outward.

Its edges were rough, as if it had once been part of a larger whole but had been violently snapped from it. The cut portions were jagged and uneven, while the remaining three faces were as smooth as polished metal.

As the light dimmed, the details became clearer. Despite its pristine surface, intricate reliefs were carved into it, with a faint purple glow running along the engravings—almost as if the object was alive.

"This is it...!" I exhaled, excitement surging through me. "I got the Warp Nexus Fragment!"

While I basked in my achievement, a boorish voice yanked me back to reality.

{Alright, enough of that. Get your ass back here if you’re done!}

Eva’s irritated voice crackled through the comms.

Well, I did say I’d be quick... but I had gotten delayed due to my hazy memory.

"Roger that. I’m heading back," I muttered, carefully securing the Nexus in my suit’s carrier compartment. With it locked in place, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing it mid-flight.

I powered my thrusters, preparing to head back—

But then, an unnerving chill crept down my spine.

I froze.

Quickly, I turned around, scanning the surroundings—

Nothing...?

There were no creatures. No movement. Only the silent watching statues.

I furrowed my brows, cautiously backing away toward the ship while keeping my gaze locked on the statues—

{What the hell are you doing? There’s nothing there! Just hurry up!} Eva urged again.

She sounded unnerved, as if afraid due to my actions. Still, I kept my guard up, but nothing else happened.

Eventually, I reached the Range Falcon and stepped inside. The cargo bay shutters sealed shut behind me.

"...Was it just my imagination?" I muttered, still unsettled.

Regardless, I confirmed that the Nexus was safe with me, and a triumphant smile spread across my lips. Why? Because this Warp Nexus Fragment was another End-Game tier artifact!

Though...

It’s useless in its current state.

The Warp Nexus had been shattered into three fragments, and this was just one of them. To activate its abilities, I needed to find the other two pieces—and I already knew their locations.

The problem?

If the Temple of the Forgotten Gods had been displaced into this parallel world, then chances were...

The other two fragments weren’t where they were supposed to be.

"Finding them will be a complete hit-or-miss..." I sighed, rubbing my temples.

Still, securing one fragment was a huge win.

As long as I had this, no one else could assemble the Nexus without going through me.

I leaned back against the wall, exhaling in relief.

"Now we just need to return to World-Zero and..."

I paused.

"...What should we do after that?"

---

Hours had passed since then. However, my mind still lingered on the last question I had.

What should we do after returning to the main universe?

After all, we had basically picked a fight with the entire Meyers Royalty—and by association, an entire Star System. It wouldn’t be surprising if they had already branded us as rebels and placed bounties on our heads.

Still, staying in World-One forever was never an option.

From the complete lack of civilization along the way, we could conclude that this parallel universe was one where space travel hadn’t developed yet. There wasn’t a single ship in sight—only mysterious alien lifeforms that made our skin crawl, threatening to erode our sanity.

I turned toward Cassandra, who was now awake. Her expression was unreadable, her gaze distant and serious.

To my other side, there was Eva—wearing a sleazy grin as she reviewed the alien corpses we had harvested, estimating their worth like a merchant counting gold.

’Am I the only one overthinking things…?’ I sighed.

Regardless of whether we would live as fugitives or fight back against the Meyers Royal Family, one thing was clear—we needed to grow stronger. And for that, we needed artifacts.

Not just any artifacts—End-Game tier ones.

Minutes later, I finally made up my mind.

I pulled out the Warp Nexus Fragment and held it up.

"As soon as we return to the main universe," I declared, "we’ll be looking for the rest of this fragment!"

"Huh?" Eva muttered, blinking in confusion. "Weren’t we heading back to Calumet to lay low?"

Even Cassandra raised her concern, her brows knitting into a cute frown.

"I think it would be dangerous for us to roam around randomly right now," she said, her voice steady. "Father doesn’t back down once he sets his mind on something. I doubt he’ll stop chasing us."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"We can’t lay low in a single place—we’d get caught in a jiffy. Sorry, but we can’t dock at any stations either."

The Range Falcon was too distinctive to go unnoticed. If we stopped anywhere for too long, the enemy would track us down within minutes.

"And we can’t just keep running, either," I continued. "We’d end up burning through resources without any way to replenish them."

We were already trapped, backed into a corner. Like prisoners lined up on the chopping block, just waiting for the executioner to drop the blade.

But—if we could complete the Warp Nexus and merge the fragments, then all of those worries would become meaningless.

After all, the Nexus had a broken ability—it could warp to any location we had previously visited.

In game terms, it was the Fast Travel feature.

If we had that, then unless King Meyers stationed fleets at hundreds of thousands of spaceports across the entire universe, we wouldn’t need to fear pursuit—we could escape at any time.

The problem?

The two remaining fragments were far apart. Gathering both would take at least 50 galactic days of continuous travel.

And our resources—especially water—would never last that long.

The electrolyzing of hydrogen fuel while in World-One had already drained a significant portion of our supplies.

At this rate… we’re stuck.

But then—

Eva’s offhanded remark sparked an idea in my mind.

"You’re an Astoria, right?" she had said. "Your family is loaded—it wouldn’t lose to the Meyers in terms of scale. Why don’t we rely on them for protection?"

"...Ah."

For a brief moment, I sat there stunned.

I completely forgot about that.

I may be using my real name, Arthur Grail, but my body—the one I inhabited—belonged to Gerard Astoria.

That meant I was an Astoria—the only heir to the Astoria Family!

And to make things even more convenient…

One of the two remaining Warp Nexus Fragments was located near an Astoria-controlled galaxy—the one where the main family resides!

"That’s a great idea!" I exclaimed. "This… would definitely work!"

A surge of hope rushed through me.

We weren’t out of the game yet.

We still had a chance!