Into the Cosmos (Star Rail SI, Chaos Gacha) (Patreon)

Prologue: Getting Drunk Paid Off… Right?

As a kid, I was always fascinated by staring up at the stars and wondering what was out there. It helped that I grew up in a small town next to some mountains, so my view of the sky was unobstructed by the pollution you’d normally see in bigger cities.

There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t do that as a child, always finding something new in the vast sky before me. I memorized all the constellations and learned all I could about each star’s history, if it had one.

Of course, like all things in life, time is the enemy of us all, and eventually I stopped watching the sky as much as I did when I was a kid. Responsibilities set in, and I started to understand what growing up really meant.

How can you watch the sky when you’re too busy working your ass off to pay rent, food, bills, and every other living expense? As much as most people would deny it, money ran the world, and you needed a steady supply of it just to live comfortably.

The little free time I actually had was usually spent gaming or watching anime and movies, anything that helped me disconnect from the troubles of the world.

By the time I reached my twenties, stargazing was nothing more than a fond childhood memory I wished I could relive every now and then. The freedom of having no responsibilities or worries felt like a wonderful dream.

The only real time I spent indulging in my old hobby was through space games. Unfortunately, there weren’t many good ones, but hey, at least it was something.

Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that my life was pretty normal, all things considered. I never would’ve even considered something like this happening to me.

What was that, you ask?

Well… it was none other than waking up in an unknown, futuristic-looking room, with two complete strangers hovering over me with worried expressions. I felt like a stranger in my own body, and most importantly of all, there was a floating, almost transparent blue screen in front of me that I apparently could only see, displaying the following words:

Welcome to the Chaos Gacha.

PS. Thanks for paying for my drink last night. Enjoy your new life.

Below that was a list of Curses and Tickets that had apparently already been rolled, all waiting for me to look through.

‘What the fuck did I do last night?’

Within moments, blurry memories of last night’s events finally filled my head, giving me a small headache similar to the ones I rarely got when I decided to go out for a few drinks.

Having been invited to a small bar and grill by some coworkers, I decided to go for once. I remembered arriving a bit early, and with not much to do, I figured that since it was a special occasion, I’d order a drink for myself. So I sat at the bar and waited.

Eventually my drink arrived, and I enjoyed it quietly while waiting for my friends to show up.

That was when things started getting blurry.

I remembered a guy wearing a suit and fedora taking the seat next to me, and for some unexplainable reason, we started casually chatting as he ordered a drink for himself. The conversation itself was hazy, but from what I could piece together, it was mostly trivial stuff.

A few minutes later, I thought I noticed my friends had arrived, and when I turned back to the man, I ended up paying for his drink on a whim as thanks. It was only a few bucks, and I didn’t really see any big deal in it.

Before I walked away, though, I remembered the stranger looking at me oddly before laughing, shaking his head, and saying something about paying me back.

Not paying much attention to him, I waved it off and joined my friends, thinking I’d never see him again. After that, the rest of the evening went as usual. I had fun with my coworkers until we eventually called it a day and everyone headed home.

Tired after the long night, I immediately crashed into my bed, and… that was that. I think.

‘…Wait. I think I remember seeing an intense flash of light in my apartment before I passed out.’ I thought with a blink before a realization hit me.

‘Don’t fucking tell me I got kidnapped by some aliens or something!’ I thought in alarm.

“Are you all right? Can you hear me? Do you remember your name?” a soft feminine voice asked, worry clear in her tone.

It seemed that in my panic, I’d completely forgotten about the strangers still hovering over me. They must have seen the alarm on my face if their expressions were anything to go by.

Focusing on them again, I finally took in their features, blushing slightly as I noticed one of them was an extremely beautiful girl with light pink hair—which looked natural, strangely—and a pair of pink and blue eyes. Again, she didn’t seem to be wearing contacts or anything. Everything about her looked real, which only made it even weirder.

Beside her was a teen of Asian descent wearing a green and white coat with a black undershirt and a jade pauldron of all things on his left shoulder. He had black hair and blue eyes, which was normal enough, but he also had some red mascara under his eyes, along with strange pupils.

My blush immediately faded as I fully registered their odd features, and I found myself answering her question without even thinking, my voice coming out hesitant.

“H-Hello, I’m alright, thanks. Just a little dizzy.”

The pink-haired girl exhaled in relief at that, and a pretty smile lit up her face, making her look even more beautiful to my eyes.

“Thank goodness you’re okay. What do you remember last? Can you at least remember your name?” she asked with an encouraging smile, while the male teen just watched me silently.

My mouth opened to give her my name, only to pause as confusion crossed my face when I couldn’t recall it at all. The name I’d used for the past twenty-two years was just… gone. Every time I tried to remember it, a sharp pain stabbed through my head, forcing me to hold it gingerly.

“I-I don’t remember,” I eventually stuttered out as I massaged my temples. “I don’t even know where I am or how I got here.”

“Aw, this isn’t good…” the girl said, frowning for a moment before quickly smiling again in encouragement. “Can you try harder? I’m sure you can at least remember your name…”

“Don’t force him, March,” the teen suddenly said. He looked at her for a moment before turning back to me with a calm expression. “Let’s introduce ourselves first. My name’s Dan Heng, and this is March 7th.”

“This space station was just attacked by the Antimatter Legion. We came to help with the rescue at the request of Lead Researcher Asta,” Dan Heng explained.

I was no longer listening, though.

The second I heard their names, a sharp headache hit me, and memories that weren’t mine suddenly rushed into my mind all at once. I winced and grabbed my head.

Thankfully, the amount of memories was small, probably because they’d been erased by Kafka only moments before, so the pain quickly faded. When I opened my eyes again, I knew exactly where I was… and who was standing in front of me.

I had somehow ended up in the world of Honkai: Star Rail.

And standing before me were none other than the MC’s companions, fellow Trailblazers on their journey through the stars.

More memories surfaced, this time actually mine, as I recalled playing the game and everything that was in store in the future. Except now I’d taken the place of Caelus, and my nerves shot through the roof.

The Star Rail universe was ridiculously dangerous. There were multiple deities capable of destroying the entire universe, and one of them had made it his mission to do exactly that. The MC’s job—my job now, apparently—was to stop Nanook of Destruction from wiping everything out.

My attention snapped back to the floating screen at the edge of my vision, and I made it my first priority to figure out what it was.

‘So… I really got isekai’d instead of kidnapped by aliens.’ I thought nervously. ‘Which is good, but I need to see if I have any kind of safety net, because this universe is fucking dangerous.’

Seeing March and Dan Heng looking at me with worry again, I straightened up and finally lowered my hand from my head, offering them a small smile. Somehow, just knowing where I was and what had happened to me had managed to calm most of my earlier nerves.

“Caelus,” I muttered, my new name somehow feeling right to say despite it being brand new to me. “My name is Caelus. And I’m sorry, but that’s all I really remember. Everything else is mostly a big blank,” I said, shaking my head to clear the lingering headache.

“You said that the Antimatter Legion attacked the space station?” I asked, wanting to move the topic along before my face gave anything away.

“Nice to meet you, Caelus~” March said with a big smile. She placed a hand on her hip and raised the other as if she was about to explain something.

“As for the Legion, they’re goons owned by the Destruction. You’re lucky the most dangerous Lord Ravager among them isn’t around, just some nasty minions. We’ll take those invaders out soon, don’t worry.” She reassured me with a confident look on her face while Dan Heng simply nodded beside her.

Thinking about how to answer them, I decided to be a bit honest. I’d never been a good liar, and I didn’t want them getting suspicious of me.

“While I vaguely know who the Antimatter Legion is, I’m sorry to say that I still have no idea how I got here,” I said with a small frown, and that was the truth.

While I knew Kafka was mostly responsible… I think… I still had no idea how they pulled it off, and no amount of game knowledge could fix that since it was limited.

March blinked in confusion, while Dan Heng placed a hand under his chin, studying me more closely.

“You mean you’re not an employee working for Asta?” March asked, tilting her head cutely.

“No,” I said with a shake of my head.

March and Dan Heng looked at one another silently for a moment. March looked completely lost on what to do, almost begging Dan Heng to take over.

“For now, let’s head back to the master control zone,” Dan Heng suggested. “Asta and the other researchers have gathered there. We can ask them if they know anything about you.”

March quickly nodded at his idea.

“Plus, that’s where we parked the Astral Express!” she added, hands on her hips as she looked at me proudly, her expression reassuring. “Don’t you worry, we’ll protect you from the monsters and clear up this mess.”

Hearing about the Express, an excited gleam appeared in my eyes, and I asked March a few questions about it. She happily answered, with Dan Heng occasionally chiming in as well providing more details.

With all the worry and stress about my sudden kidnapping by what sounded like an R.O.B., I realized that if I played my cards right, I would be traveling the stars in the mentioned train soon. I honestly couldn’t wait to see it.

‘If I get out of the mess that is the Doomsday Beast alive that is.’ A small voice whispered in the back of my mind that I did my best to ignore.

As we were about to move out, Dan Heng told us to go on ahead, since he needed to look for Arlan from the Security Department.

“Oh, alright! You stay safe,” March said, not looking worried at all.

Giving me one final nod, Dan Heng walked away, leaving me alone with March, who had picked up a very familiar-looking bat when I wasn’t looking and offered it to me.

“Caelus, maybe you should take this,” she said with a smile. “The Legion are rampaging through the space station like a pack of wolves, this trip won’t be a walk in the park. It’s better if you have something to protect yourself.”

“Just a suggestion though. You’re safe as long as you stick with me~!” she boasted proudly, puffing out her chest.

Slowly taking the bat from her hands, I felt Caelus’s—or my—muscle memory kick in as I held it expertly, like I’d used it countless times before. I just barely managed to stop myself from saying the iconic line. Instead, I tightened my grip and gave March a small nod of thanks.

‘At least I don’t have to worry about arriving here without any protection. Caelus was pretty competent even without his memories,’ I thought, feeling a small weight lift off my shoulders. Having a weapon in my hands, something I could actually defend myself with, was reassuring.

As we walked toward the exit of the room, I felt a few pings and blinked when the floating screen appeared in front of me again, several messages popping up.

Feat Achieved! Met main protagonists and left a good impression.

+1 Silver Familiar Gacha Ticket.

Feat Achieved! Acquired MC’s iconic weapon.

+1 Gold Item Gacha Ticket.

Raising an eyebrow at the messages, I quickly made sure March wasn’t looking before clicking the screen and opening it fully, greeted by a welcoming message.

Welcome to the Chaos Gacha!

The endless chaos of the infinite multiverse, condensed and refined into a Gacha system available right at your fingertips!

Maybe you’ll become a shapeshifting fire monarch.

Maybe you’ll turn into a supreme tinkerer.

Or maybe… a supreme lady-killer.

The possibilities are functionally endless!

So go ahead—gamble to your heart’s content! The ever-changing multiverse awaits. Spin the wheel, gamble with Nuclear Chaos, and see what fate has in store for you!

Below that were two categories that I could see glowing.

The top was titled Tickets, and the one beneath it had ominous red letters spelling out Curses.

‘So it’s like most gacha games. When you complete or achieve something, you get rewards, in this case, tickets to roll for powers or abilities pulled from the multiverse,’ I figured out quickly. It was pretty self-explanatory, especially with the tickets I’d just gained.

Then I finally stopped stalling and gulped, my finger hovering over the Curses section. Taking a deep breath, I pressed it.

‘Better learn the bad news first. I just hope it’s nothing too bad,’ I thought, closing my eyes for a moment… before opening them again and silently cursing as I noticed there were four of them.

A moment later, I nearly lost my composure as my eyes swept across the list, my stomach dropping hard.

‘FUCK!! What kind of shitty luck is this?!’

CURSES

[Alcoholism]

|Severity 2|

Not even the supernatural kind—you just like drinking a lot, and when you don’t get alcohol, you experience withdrawal.

|Resolve: Get sober, you bum.|

[Orphan]

|Severity 4|

Your parents were killed in a car crash. Doesn’t matter who they were— they just were. At the very least, the parents who were supposed to raise you, anyway.

|Resolve: One and done deal.|

[Illiterate]

|Severity 5|

You have lost the ability to read every language you previously knew. Time to learn again.

|Resolve: Relearn the languages you forgot how to read.|

[Disease]

|Severity 19|

You have the fabled anime death disease that keeps killing off overpowered characters—weakening you and reducing your energy levels. Over time, it will keep getting worse and worse until you find a way to treat it. You probably don’t even have a full year.

|Resolve: Get treated with a Legendary-or-higher healing/curing ability, or roll a trait that cures your disease.|

TICKETS

[Energy Heart]

|Epic Trait|

Your heart is replaced with a more metaphysical alternative that pumps raw energy through your veins instead, massively increasing your maximum energy reserves. It also adds your natural regeneration speed to your energy regeneration, alongside your normal energy recovery.

[Sharingan]

|Elite Ability|

Naruto — Grants you exceptional visual prowess and allows you to copy and imitate moves and skills you see. With training, you can unlock higher levels of the Sharingan.

[Meteor Strike]

|Elite Ability|

Call down meteors from the sky. The meteor’s size and speed are dependent on how much energy you expend.

[Greedy Ring]

|Rare Item|

An ornate red-and-gold ring that attracts wealth to its wearer, making it easier to earn money and find treasures.

“Caelus? You coming?” March called from the hallway, her voice bright like everything was normal.

I snapped my gaze away from the screen and forced a smile as I followed after her, bat still in hand.

But my mind wasn’t on the Legion anymore.

It was on the curse list… and the one that told me I didn’t even have a year left to live.

As I stepped out of the room, the screen flickered once beside my vision, almost like a reminder.

Tsk.