Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!-Chapter 62: Return

"So this is what had been calling for you...?" I muttered, confused, while looking at a key in Cassandra’s hands.

It had been about three hours since the unfortunate accident in my room, and I had already repaired the air conditioning system, saving us from the deathly cold inside the Range Falcon. Immediately after I was done, Cassandra presented me with this key, but...

’I don’t have any knowledge of this weird object.’

At the very least, it shouldn’t be a key item for the player. Maybe some sort of relic that’s part of the backstory? I didn’t know... There was too little information to decide for now.

"Yes," Cassandra nodded. "This key... As soon as I took hold of it, it crammed a great amount of information into my head. And a part of that information includes how to use it."

"And that usage is...?"

Cassandra nodded firmly at my question. "...You probably guessed it already. It has the ability to open up a portal toward parallel universes."

Well, I did expect that in some way or another. After all, we wouldn’t be getting key items that had no relation to our current predicament.

Although this world is now my reality, it’s still a world similar to Trinity Star Online—a game. Some of the universal "laws" remain the same, especially when it comes to special places and items.

"That means we can finally return to the real universe, right?" I nodded, smiling in relief. "Then, let’s begin packing up and return!"

Just as I was about to command Percy to start up the engines, however, a voice suddenly called out, stopping me in my tracks.

"Wait a minute!"

It was Eva’s voice, coming from the entrance of the bridge. "Before that, aren’t you forgetting something?"

"Huh?"

Forgetting something? I frowned, trying to figure out what she meant.

I had already heard the full story about how they rushed back carrying me straight to the ship. After that, Eva had even returned alone to collect my supply crate—so there shouldn’t be anything left for us to—

"Ah! The alien loots!"

Right, there was that!

The aliens in this parallel universe, for better or worse, were similar to the ones in the Kariki system. If we returned as is, then the alien corpses filling the cargo hold would definitely be identified as Kariki’s property, even though they technically weren’t!

"Now we’re talking." Eva nodded in approval.

"You ordering your drones to pick up the corpses and bring them back to the ship is worthy of praise, Arthur. But if we leave it at that, we’d end up losing a majority of the money that should rightfully be ours!"

I felt a little sad hearing her say that. That part was supposed to be my surprise for her, and I had been looking forward to enjoying her reaction—her shock, her excitement... Too bad I ended up fainting and half-dead, missing it.

"Anyway, we need to figure out how to hide those loots from scanners." Eva continued, crossing her arms.

"Just that?" I grinned, waving my fingers. "I guess I haven’t told you about it, but my Falcon is equipped with a small anti-scan cargo hold! With it, we can even carry contraband into stations without raising suspicions!"

"...Isn’t that illegal?" Eva narrowed her eyes at me before shaking her head with a sigh. "Ugh, whatever. I’m not gonna nitpick, since it actually helps our case. Then hurry up and relocate that mountain of gold to your safe!"

"Why should I?" I smirked, shrugging my shoulders. "My nose still hurts, and I need to pilot the ship soon. Why don’t you do it yourself? I’ll send you the location of the anti-scan safe, so you can go sort out the loots yourself!"

"You...!" Eva grumbled but quickly quieted down. "...Alright. I’ll do it." And with that, she walked away like a defeated lion.

Well, her punishment for raising her hand against me had been quite heavy, after all—a cut of her share. A gentleman wouldn’t raise a hand against a woman... but that doesn’t mean I would let her actions go unpunished! Well, not like I’m a gentleman either but... Anyway.

She wouldn’t risk getting another deduction, so she had no choice but to do it herself.

With that out of the way, I returned to the captain’s seat, while Cassandra took Eva’s usual spot, acting as navigation support.

"Defense systems online at full capacity. Thrusters at maximum output. Ready for launch," I relayed to Cassandra, waiting for her to do her part.

"Affirmative." She nodded, before holding the key in her hand once more. "Opening the intra-universal gate using the Key."

As if unlocking an invisible door before her, she pushed the key forward—and it sank into the void, a mysterious sight. The fabric of space rippled from the action.

Slowly, she twisted the key clockwise, and as she did—

"Woah..."

Ahead of the ship, about twenty meters away, a gigantic, purple, unstable-looking rift appeared. It was the same color as the rifts outside, the ones at the four corners of the Kariki Star System we discovered earlier.

"I see... I guess this proves that we really were pulled into that other universe by this key," I nodded in realization.

"Alright,"

After seeing the fluctuations stabilize, and with Cassandra giving me a nod—indicating that it was now safe to enter—I spoke through the comms for Eva to hear.

"Hang tight! We’re going in!"

I floored the pedals immediately, sending us surging toward the rift ahead. As expected, the entire Range Falcon began shaking violently as we passed through—but we still made it to the other side safely.

The scenery changed as fast as someone flipping a page, returning to the familiar, yet unfamiliar, cavernous space of the Kariki Star System. Cautious, we quickly sent a scan to the environment, ensuring that we were safe and out of trouble.

*TING!* *TING!* *TING!*

A nervous silence filled the air until the sudden sound of pinging notifications nearly made me jump in surprise. I quickly checked what it was, only to be met with an unexpected sight.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

The scanning of the Kariki System was complete, and the drones had just sent me the data. Everything—from the terrain details to a full census of the alien population—was accounted for. The report was so thorough, it hadn’t missed a single thing.

"We were just away for a week, right? That was fast..."

Just as I was reading through the compiled reports from the drones, a strange feeling crept over me. Something felt off, though I couldn’t pinpoint what—at least, not until Cassandra began murmuring to herself.

"We... reached Kariki System on the 8th of the 7th month, right?"

"Huh?"

Curious about her question, I checked the ship’s logs. And immediately, I saw that she was spot on. We arrived at the Kariki System on the 8th day of the 7th month, Year 580 of the Yezra Unified Calendar.

But what caught my attention wasn’t our arrival date—it was the "current" date.

I turned back to the drone’s report and double-checked the values. The report had been sent on the 28th day of the 6th month!

"Why is there a 12-day gap in the dates?!"

We had spent roughly a week in the parallel universe, but the total time that had passed in the real universe was 20 days! That meant time in the parallel universe flowed 2.5 times slower than in the main universe!

I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing, but at the very least, our quest had been completed effortlessly. That alone made me feel pretty good about this unexpected side effect—at least, until the radar scan ended.

The ship’s warning sirens blared, filling the cockpit with an ominous red glow from the flashing lights. Without hesitation, I turned to the radar scan, and as soon as I saw the readings, my breath hitched.

Within the 0.5 AU range of the Range Falcon’s radar, just outside the Kariki Solar System, an entire section of space was blotted out with red dots. From the way their formation arced, it was clear—they had the entire system surrounded.

’In short, as soon as we get out of here, we’ll...!’

Cold sweat dripped down my back as I grasped the severity of our predicament. But what truly sent a chill through my spine was one particular signal among the countless red dots—a very familiar one.

The Eclipse Sovereign.

"What’s going on?!"

Eva burst into the bridge, her face a mix of confusion and urgency. "Where’s the enemy?!"

The sirens weren’t just ringing in the cockpit—they were blaring throughout the entire ship. She must’ve been spooked by the suddenness of the alert.

Her eyes darted around until they locked onto the radar display. The moment she saw the hundreds—no, thousands—of red dots scattered across it, her expression darkened. Her brows furrowed into a deep frown, a clear sign that she, too, realized the severity of our situation.

"Eva, return to your position. Cassandra, you too." I ordered, my voice steady despite the storm brewing in my mind. "Looking at the situation, it seems we have no choice but to engage."

Kariki was a man who would even dare sell his soul—as long as the price was right.

We could stay "safe" here for a short while, but as soon as they agreed on a price for our heads, the fleets would descend on us, turning our ship into nothing but scrap metal floating in space.

In short—now that 20 days have passed, long enough for their "discussion" to wrap up, time was no longer on our side.

"Wait!"

But before I could finalize my decision, Cassandra raised her voice, her eyes gleaming with determination.

"I think I can help us escape this encirclement!"

Despite our despairing situation, a sliver of hope remained!