Chapter 94

“We were born too late to sail the seven seas, and a bit too late to explore the sea of stars.”

A short narration appears on the black screen. Stars shine brightly, and a spaceship passes through them.

The universe, already developed to its fullest. It was the universe of *Cosmic Osuary*.

“‘*Cosmic Osuary*’ has the same era setting, but are the characters different?”

It was a reasonable guess. After all, wasn’t the scenery the game showed exactly that?

“What are they trying to show in the worldview of *Cosmic Osuary*?” Ga Joon-sik thought for a moment.

*Bzzzt—* Noise flickered on the screen. Wondering if it was a device error, Ga Joon-sik furrowed his brow. Soon, a square frame appeared around the screen, and the once-clear image of space slightly degraded.

And then.

The space grew smaller and farther away.

Ga Joon-sik blinked as the cosmic scene turned into a smartphone screen.

What is this?

“This game is getting boring too.”

The protagonist spoke up. As he fiddled with his smartphone, the cosmic scenery he had just been watching transformed into a mobile gacha game.

*Cosmic Osuary* had turned into a mobile gacha game.

That much made sense.

But then. What kind of game is this?

He had turned it on expecting a space adventure mixed with gacha, but from what he’d seen so far, it felt far from that.

He didn’t know what future homes looked like, but the protagonist’s room had an interior reminiscent of the early 2020s.

Nothing special was added to it. It was just an ordinary, non-fantasy reality.

If it were a dating sim, that would be fine, but *Cosmic Origin* was a mobile gacha game, so it felt odd.

There wasn’t much to show this way.

As if answering Ga Joon-sik’s doubts, the protagonist continued speaking.

“Games these days are all boring. I might as well make one myself.”

The protagonist voiced a question every gamer has had.

Immediately after.

A light emitted from the smartphone and swallowed the protagonist whole.

The screen changed.

From a home to a desolate-looking diner.

“It’s already been a month since I arrived in this world.

I looked for a way to return home, but nothing like that existed.

If this is how it is, there’s no choice.

I’ll just have to accept it and move on.”

“So it’s a game possession story?”

The sudden shift in atmosphere deepened Ga Joon-sik’s immersion.

The world the protagonist possessed was the world of *Cosmic Osuary*, but at the same time, it wasn’t.

To explain the intro with a slight twist, it was a world “too late to sail the seven seas and a bit too early to explore the sea of stars.”

That was the world of *Cosmic Origin*.

A time when dreams of space were just beginning. Decades after the realization of terraforming Mars, a dream once held by the godfather of Dogecoin.

A time when travel to other planets took mere weeks, but the solar system remained unconquered.

It was during this time that the protagonist was possessed.

Ga Joon-sik observed the surroundings in third-person. He saw a frying pan and risotto.

“Is this guy a chef after being possessed? What’s the difference between this and me streaming after being possessed in a game?”

*ㅇㅇ donated 2000 won*

“Well, he got possessed in a different era from the original game, so it makes sense, right?”

True. Ga Joon-sik had also played *Cosmic Osuary* like the protagonist, but if he were possessed in a past era like this, he’d probably be in a similar situation.

The only useful knowledge from the original would be something like Han Yoorim’s ability to slice spaceships with a sword, but where would he even use that now?

“This world’s pretty bleak, huh?”

Countless methods had been used to establish settlers on Mars. For nearly half a century.

What formed in the end was something close to a lawless zone.

Just look at Mexico—people didn’t care much about what happened in other countries.

They didn’t like their taxes being spent on trivial matters.

Let alone Mars, which took weeks to reach by spaceship?

Many dismissed it as a story from another dimension.

So, no matter what happened on Mars, Earth turned a blind eye, busy profiting from trade…

Actually, these weren’t the reasons Mars was such a bleak place.

Places like this were common on Earth too.

The real reason Mars was overwhelmingly bleak.

It was tied to why humanity terraformed Mars and desperately settled people there.

The Aier.

At some point, Mars was chosen as a forward base to block the monsters constantly flying in from outer space.

That was the biggest reason Mars was such an unpleasant place to live.

*Creak—* The store door opened, and people walked in.

“Ugh. Damn it.”

The men spat out thick curses. The rifles on their backs revealed their profession.

Hunters.

People who made a living killing Aier.

The men ordered whiskey and potato dishes, chatting loudly.

“What are we supposed to tell the management bureau this time? That the rookie pissed himself and died?”

“Just say he died due to lack of experience. The bureau guys don’t read reports anyway.”

Being a Hunter was an extremely dangerous job.

In a world where even Awakened Ones risked their lives to kill Aier, non-Awakened Hunters were even more vulnerable.

In the era of *Cosmic Osuary*, where Awakening Abilities had developed fully, Awakened Ones wouldn’t struggle against lower-tier Aier. But this was the past. Research on Awakening Abilities, and the abilities themselves, were still lacking.

However, I still wanted to obtain that Awakening Ability.

Only then could I live a somewhat better life in this tiresome world.

Along with the narration, the protagonist skillfully prepared food and served it to the hunters.

“Here’s your food.”

“Hey, man. The potatoes aren’t fully cooked. Is this the kind of food you serve to customers?”

“If I cook them any longer, they’ll burn.”

The protagonist spoke in a baffled tone, but the man ignored him and stood up.

It was just a petty argument. The kind of thing someone on the verge of snapping would do.

The hunters risked their lives every day, and today they even saw corpses.

So, Ga Joon-sik understood the idea of venting stress by picking a fight with anyone.

He just couldn’t relate.

The man rolled up his sleeves and approached the protagonist.

Watching this, Ga Joon-sik checked the system. It seemed like he was about to take control of the character and start the combat tutorial, so he needed to prepare in advance to respond quickly—

*Crash!*

Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed, interrupting Ga Joon-sik’s thoughts.

The protagonist also seemed affected by the shock, his vision swaying.

*Screech.* The protagonist raised his head at the eerie sound, like metal scraping.

In the center of the store, a monster stood tall.

Panicked, the protagonist picked up a rifle that had fallen to the ground.

Since the owner of the rifle had just died, no one objected.

The rifle fired. *Ping!* A barrier around the monster blocked the bullet. It was an Awakening Ability.

“Damn it.”

Feeling the danger, the protagonist turned to run, but the monster swung its fist, determined not to let him escape.

*Crunch.* The rifle, hastily used as a shield, shattered, and the protagonist’s body was sent flying.

*Thud!* The protagonist hit the wall and rolled on the floor. His consciousness was fading. In this dire situation, he muttered weakly.

“Someone… help me.”

Watching all of this, Ga Joon-sik crossed his arms and said,

“Honestly, I’m not a fan of the protagonist. Even if the original knowledge isn’t helpful, this doesn’t make sense. Cooking? With the way the story’s been going, I don’t feel like spending any money.”

<ㅇㅇ님 donated 2000원>

-In gacha games, it’s not the protagonist but the characters you pull that need to be appealing.

“Well, I guess we’ll see. But how do you even fit gacha elements into this kind of story? Just tell us to pull?”

The moment Ga Joon-sik muttered this, a powerful Psychic Energy erupted from the protagonist’s body.

Awakening.

Yeah, things were getting too hopeless.

What kind of Awakening Ability is this?

Reinforcement System? Transformation System? Control System? Summoning System? Divine System? Or maybe a Special System?

As if answering Ga Joon-sik’s question, the protagonist whispered,

“…Fate Gacha?”

At the same time, Ga Joon-sik’s perspective shifted.

From third-person to first-person. The protagonist’s perspective.

When he raised his head, the monster was charging at him at a terrifying speed.

And then.

[From past lives, parallel worlds, and the future, the bonds of fate have come to find you!]

Along with the cheerful message, someone appeared in the empty space.

*Slice.* The person effortlessly cut the monster in half and spoke.

“Joon-sik, you’re still out of it. Can you really make me the best actress with that kind of mindset?”

“…What?”

“I missed you. It feels like just yesterday you ate all the boiled eggs by yourself. I can’t believe so much time has passed.”

“??????”

Ga Joon-sik’s jaw dropped.

He couldn’t help it.

Someone had made the game this way.

‘Han Yoorim’ helped Ga Joon-sik up and said,

“It’s so good to see you again. How do you like my power?”

“Who are you?”

“I am me.”

“No, I mean…”

Ga Joon-sik was momentarily stunned by this unexpected situation.

Han Yoorim continued,

“I’d love to catch up, but sadly, this is as far as we go.”

“Why?”

“This power isn’t mine, so I’m not sure. But if fate brings us together again, we’ll meet. Don’t worry too much.”

“Hey!”

Before Ga Joon-sik’s shout could finish, Han Yoorim disappeared.

As Ga Joon-sik stood bewildered by this mirage-like appearance, another cheerful message echoed.

[Fate Gacha is your Awakening Ability.]

[To use Fate Gacha, a Summoning-Special hybrid ability, you need strong willpower.]

[To permanently summon a character, you need extremely strong willpower.]

Extremely strong willpower.

What that meant became clear as soon as the shop window appeared.

Ga Joon-sik, as if entranced, clicked on the shop window.

<ㅇㅇ님 donated 2000원>

-Han Yoorim poisoned Ga Joon-sik’s wallet.

That day, Ga Joon-sik learned what pity breaks and ceilings were.

And what breaking limits and exclusive weapons were, too.