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

The Range Falcon's repair cost was far more than I could have ever imagined—it reached an astonishing half million Credits. Considering the pounding the hull had taken from our ill-fated adventures, it did make sense though. But seeing more than a quarter of our pay vanish in the blink of an eye wasn't good for the heart.

We set off once again once the repairs were done—after wiping the bitter tears from my eyes.

Our destination was the Muzan Sector, 100 AU from the Ursula Space Station. There, a black hole of some 100 solar masses awaited us. It was small by contemporary standards, with a Schwarzschild radius of only about 295 kilometers.

According to the plot of the game, the "cause" of the anomaly we were looking for would be around 0.08 AU from the center of the black hole. That range would put us at nearly 10G of gravitational pull, just within what the Range Falcon could counteract with all boosters active at maximum output.

It was still a perilous region. One wrong move could plunge us into the black hole, leaving us to discover firsthand whether they truly lead to alternate universes—or simply to our doom. Either way, there was no turning back now.

---

"We're almost at the target: 0.30 AU away," Eva muttered, her eyes focused on the star map.

She had taken up the role of navigator while her frigate was docked securely in the hangar of the Range Falcon. Her sharp eyes scanned the radar and star maps to ensure nothing caught us off guard.

Yet, to my growing unease, the journey so far had been eerily peaceful. No pirates, no anomalies, not even a stray asteroid blocking our path. The lack of trouble made my skin crawl. The MC Correction wouldn't just dump everything on us at once... would it?

I shook off the haunting thought. No time for paranoia now. We were already at 0.30 AU away, and the black hole's gravitational pull was getting stronger. If we weren't careful, we would end up trapped in the gravity well, unable to escape.

I adjusted the ship's trajectory, orienting the main thrusters toward the black hole. Then, I powered them down entirely. The plan was simple: let the black hole's gravity do the work, pulling us closer to our destination while conserving energy and letting the thrusters "rest."

"Do we really need to get this close?" Eva asked, her voice betraying a mix of confusion and fear.

To an outsider, we probably looked like lunatics on a lucrative suicide mission. I couldn't blame her for questioning my judgment—this was, objectively, insane.

"Trust me," I said with a reassuring smile. "I wouldn't risk our lives without a good reason. Just keep an eye on our distance and leave the flying to me."

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at me. "If we get trapped by its extreme gravity, I'll kill you before the black hole does."

"Ooh, how terrifying~!" I laughed, hoping to lighten the mood. Though I was unsure if she was joking, or completely serious.

By the time we hit 0.15 AU, the tension on the bridge was palpable. "We're getting pulled in fast!" Eva exclaimed, her voice edging toward panic.

"Perfect timing," I replied calmly. "Engaging counter-thrust. Thrusters to 100% power!"

I slammed the pedals, and the Range Falcon's engines roared to life, fighting against the immense gravitational pull. After allowing ourselves to accelerate for so long, our speed was no joke. If I couldn't bring it under control, overshooting our target—or worse—was a very real possibility.

The monitor displayed our speed and acceleration, and I kept a close eye on the numbers. Gradually but steadily, our fall reversed. From -6G we climbed to -2G, and our velocity fell from 1,000 km/s to a mere 30.

As we moved closer to the event horizon, the pull grew stronger. The Range Falcon groaned under the strain, but it held steady.

"0.08 AU from the black hole!" Eva called out, her voice tight with urgency. "Target distance achieved!"

"Good. Overdrive thrusters—300% power!"

The engines screamed, pushing the ship to its limits. Within a minute, we achieved positive acceleration, pulling ourselves out of the black hole's grasp. I eased off the thrusters, dialing back the power to maintain a steady 1G acceleration and maintain our orbit.

A tense silence filled the bridge as Eva exhaled a long-held breath. She leaned back in her seat, muttering, "... Position stabilized."

"Good work," I said, twisting the controls slightly to adjust our heading. "Now we just need to sweep this region and find what we're looking for."

Eva glanced at the radar, then at me. "And what exactly are we looking for?"

I grinned, setting Percy's autopilot to keep the ship's orbit. "Simple. A glowing, stationary crack in space."

---

At 0.08 AU from the black hole, the circumference of the orbit we needed to survey was approximately 0.5 AU. Given our current speed and the diagonal path we were taking, it would take months to complete even a single revolution.

"C-Crazy bastard...! I'll haunt you if I die here!" Eva growled, her voice shaking with both anger and terror.

"Hahaha! If that happens, I'm probably dead too, so it's no use! Just hang tight!" I retorted, trying to lighten the mood.

We didn't have months to spare. If we wanted results faster, drastic measures were necessary.

To speed up our survey, I started adjusting our trajectory. Once I cleared a small portion of the orbital zone, I would nudge the ship slightly inward toward the center of the black hole. This would shrink our orbital radius but increase the gravitational pull. This means that with increased gravitational pull came increased speed for clearing the perimeter's circumference.

"Alright, realigning to parallel orbit. Stabilizing distance and speed," I announced as I eased off the thrusters, letting the ship stabilize after the latest adjustment.

Each maneuver shifted our position by about 0.5° around the orbit. After 15 minutes of these repeated adjustments, we had already covered a 6° section of the 360° orbit—a vast improvement compared to the sluggish pace of our initial survey.

"Do that again, and I'll strangle the living hell out of you!" Eva hissed, her voice trembling as she gripped her seat.

"Hahaha~!"

"Don't hahaha me!!!"

That was frustratingly understandable. Every time I accelerated a little inward, the ship was subjected to enormous forces. The maneuver created a punishing combination of pulls—10G dragging us inward toward the black hole and another 10G pushing us against our seats from the acceleration. It was like being in a drift car during a hairpin turn, but multiplied several times over.

Without our G-Suits and the inertial dampeners on the ship taking some of that stress off, our necks—or worse—would've snapped from those forces. And even with them, it wasn't exactly a comfortable ride.

Still, the result spoke for itself. At this pace, we might finish the survey in 8 hours instead of months. Hopefully, the "glowing crack in space" would show itself sooner rather than later—before Eva really made good on her threats.

About five hours into our search—just as Eva was begrudgingly adapting to the torturous maneuvers—something finally appeared on our displays.

"Is that... it?" Eva whispered, her tone a mix of curiosity and disbelief before she zoomed in on the image displayed before us. "That's the thing we've been looking for? The cause of the anomaly in this sector?"

Roughly 13,000 kilometers ahead, a glowing crack in space shimmered against the abyss. It looked impossible, unreal even, but there it was. The fabric of spacetime had been torn open, revealing a radiant tunnel leading into an unknown realm. If I had to describe it, I'd call it a wormhole, a "bridge" connecting two far-off locations. But this one did not resemble the neat depictions in physics books or sci-fi stories. It was chaotic, unstable, and seething with energy.

"Yep, that's it," I said with a strict nod. "Now we need to get ready before entering."

"Prepare?" Eva gave me a piercing stare. "What preparations? You didn't tell me anything about that!"

"Oh, it's nothing too complicated," I shrugged. "We'll just leave a portable hyperspace device here. You know, just in case."

In Trinity Star Online, this part of the quest had been ridiculously easy. Fly into the glowing crack, loot some rare minerals, and leave unscathed. But reality had not been so easy on me since I woke up in this universe. If the trend of things going sideways continued, I had no doubt that something unexpected would happen. Adding to the eerie fact that we found no trouble up to here, I almost felt confident that we'd be met with extreme danger inside.

To account for that, thankfully, I'd splurged on a portable Jump Gate beforehand. Though it wasn't cheap—1.1 million Credits, to be exact. A compact version of the massive gates stationed in high-traffic sectors, this one could generate a hyperspace jump highway for up to ten ships simultaneously. It was state-of-the-art and painfully expensive, but the alternative—charging in without a backup plan—was not an option.

And if we succeed in this quest, I reminded myself, the payout will more than cover the expense.

"Hmm..." Eva hummed, clearly unimpressed. "And how, exactly, are you planning to keep the Jump Gate stable out here? We're next to a freaking black hole."

"Ah, that's the easy part," I said with a smile. "We'll use your Hunter Frigate to anchor the gate and counteract the black hole's gravitational pull."

"You what?!" Eva's eyes blazed as she bolted upright in her seat. "You're telling me to risk my baby for one of your insane schemes? No way!"

I sighed, turning to her with a small frown. "Really? So you plan to dive into that anomaly without any safety net? If something goes wrong in there—and I bet it will—we'll have no way to retreat. We'll just disintegrate into space dust."

"Ugh...!" Eva groaned, clenching her fists and shooting me a deadly glare.

"And for the record," I continued, pushing the point, "staying near this black hole is a hundred times safer than wherever that thing leads. So your ship should be safe."

Her eyes widened as her voice grew sharper in pitch. "You're telling me the destination we're bound for is worse than a black hole?! You're crazy! Now forget it! I'm staying here with my baby. You can go off and get yourself killed alone!"

"Fine." I shrugged and leaned back in my seat. "But if that's how you want it, then I'll have to scale your cut of the quest rewards down to 5%."

"Fair with me!" she retorted, every word dripping with sarcasm. "My life's worth more than a few thousand Credits."

"Fair enough," I said nonchalantly. "So then the 100 million Credit reward is mine."

"... Wait, what? 100 million?"

Hook. Line. Sinker. I was almost going to grin, then caught myself, keeping my expression in check. "Yeah, 100 million. The space ahead is full of rare minerals and artifacts. Stuff we can sell for a fortune. But hey, if you're scared, I get it."

Eva froze and frowned deeper, crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes were already narrowed, giving her a clear look of disbelief. "And how do you know that? You haven't even been inside yet. Are you trying to scam me?"

"Ever wonder how I knew about this place in the first place?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's not like anyone just stumbles on a glowing crack in space. I've got my sources."

Her narrowed eyes drilled into me, her sharp mind no doubt calculating the risks versus rewards. I could practically see the gears turning.

Finally, she let out a heavy sigh and surrendered. "Alright, but if this adventure kills me, I am definitely taking you down with me!"

I beamed back with a wide grin. "Deal. Now let's position that frigate!"