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

Chapter 5: Invitation to the Stars

When I opened my eyes again, I immediately sat up groggily, one hand going to my head as dizziness washed over me. It faded after a moment, allowing me to take in my surroundings.

‘…The space station, huh?’ I thought drowsily, recognizing the familiar view of the cosmos from the Master Control Zone.

Then a familiar voice came from my right.

“Hello there~”

Turning toward it, I saw March looking at me with a bright smile that, at first glance, seemed genuine.

After spending a few hours with her, though…

I could tell it wasn’t. March was someone who wore her emotions on her sleeve.

As she opened her eyes fully, the feeling only strengthened. Beneath the cheerfulness, her pink-blue gaze held deep worry, and an unmistakable sadness.

All of it directed at me.

It took me only a second to understand why.

‘I see… They must’ve run a diagnostic while I was unconscious to see if I was alright,’ I deduced silently. ‘While there’s no way they could possibly know it’s a curse, the illness part affecting my body would definitely show up.’

Looking closer, I noticed March glance away the moment our eyes met, which only confirmed it.

“Is everyone, alright?” Was the first thing I asked.

“Yeah,” March nodded her head slowly. “Thanks to you, everyone managed to make it out alright, you turned the Doomsday Beast to literal ash. Then Mr. Yang dropped in to the rescue when you were having a small episode.” March recounted with a small cheer coming back into her tone before it disappeared again.

After that silence settled among us and I decided to stop beating around the bush.

“So… you know,” I whispered quietly, my voice flat as my gaze dropped to my lap.

March flinched.

After a small sigh, she pulled over a chair and sat beside the bed.

“…Yeah,” she admitted softly. “One of the scientists here ran a diagnostic after your little light show earlier. They found the illness right away.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw her staring down at her lap, her hands fidgeting restlessly as tears gathered at the edges of her eyes.

A small smile tugged at my lips despite the situation.

“You might not believe me when I say this,” I said gently, looking back up at her, “but it’s not all bad.”

I barely finished speaking before March’s head snapped up.

Her glare was sharp, angry.

The tears finally spilled over.

“Not that bad!?” she burst out, her voice rising before she quickly remembered where we were and forced herself to lower it.

“Caelus, you’re literally dying as we speak!”

Her hands clenched into tight fists as she stared at me in disbelief.

“You call your body slowly breaking down, having less than a year left to live, amnesia, and symptoms that look like some kind of substance withdrawal not that bad!?”

“Yes, I do,” I said patiently, nodding my head.

That only seemed to make her more upset, so I slowly raised a hand to signal I wasn’t finished.

“There is a way to fix all of that,” I declared, my expression turning serious.

March blinked in confusion—

then her eyes widened as hope flooded into them.

“T-There is—hic?” she asked, letting out a small hiccup as she hurriedly wiped at her eyes with her sleeve.

“Yes,” I confirmed with another nod, a small smile forming on my face as my gaze briefly flicked toward the blinking HUD at the edge of my vision, signaling unread messages.

“It has to do with my memories and my past,” I continued, lowering my voice slightly, “but to be honest, I don’t feel comfortable sharing that here on the space station.”

I glanced meaningfully at the scientists and workers passing by.

“What I have to tell you is… sensitive. I don’t want strangers overhearing us. I’d be fine if Dan Heng and Himeko heard it, though.”

When I looked back at March, her eyes were alive again, full of fragile hope.

Honestly…

I hadn’t expected to make this much of an impression on her in such a short time.

Looks like I seriously underestimated March 7th and the impact of me saving her despite my limited lifespan.

At my words, she suddenly blinked as if something clicked in her mind. Then she abruptly stood, quickly wiping away the remaining traces of tears.

“A-Alright. But you better not be lying, mister. I mean it,” March semi-threatened, though the worry was still obvious.

I immediately shook my head.

“If that’s the case, we’ll talk later,” she continued quickly. “I just remembered Himeko asked me to do something, so I have to go. I was actually waiting for you to wake up.”

She paused, then added—

“By the way, Himeko wants to talk to you about something. If you agree to her request, we can have that conversation like you wanted, without anyone interfering.”

March turned to leave, then hesitated and looked back at me, her eyes still a little red.

“And… Caelus.”

Her voice softened.

A beautiful smile spread across her face.

“Thank you for saving me~”

Then she hurried off, only to suddenly rush back into view like she’d forgotten something.

“And don’t forget, Himeko’s looking for you! A-Also… Dan Heng and I would be really happy if you agreed to her request. B-Bye!”

With that, she finally dashed off for real this time, leaving me watching her retreating figure with mild amusement.

Now alone—

well, as alone as someone could be on a fully staffed space station—

I turned my attention to the Gacha System and opened the new notifications.

A pleasant surprise greeted me.

It was time to roll.

And pray for a miracle.

With everything happening so quickly, and the sudden appearance of the Doomsday Beast, I hadn’t exactly been paying attention to my Gacha System or any new notifications for obvious reasons.

Right now, however…

It looked like I had a whopping seven new Gacha tickets waiting for me.

Feat Achieved! Met Arlan and left a good impression.

+1 Silver Random Gacha Ticket.

Feat Achieved! Met Himeko and left a good impression.

+1 Gold Random Gacha Ticket.

Feat Achieved! Met Asta and left a good impression.

+1 Silver Random Gacha Ticket.

Feat Achieved! Met Welt Yang and left a good impression.

+1 Gold Random Gacha Ticket.

Feat Achieved! Killed Doomsday Beast.

+1 Legendary Ability Gacha Ticket.

Feat Achieved! Survived the fight with the Doomsday Beast despite the odds.

+1 Legendary Trait Gacha Ticket.

Feat Achieved! Nanook of the Destruction personally gazed at you.

+1 Legendary Skill Gacha Ticket.

In total I had…

+2 Silver Random Gacha Tickets.

+2 Gold Random Gacha Tickets.

+1 Legendary Ability Gacha Ticket.

+1 Legendary Trait Gacha Ticket.

+1 Legendary Skill Gacha Ticket.

‘…My first Legendary tickets,’ I thought in stunned silence before a giddy smile slowly spread across my face.

‘Okay… let’s roll the Silver and Gold tickets first. Get the warm-up pulls out of the way before the real prizes.’

With that in mind, I mentally triggered all four rolls in quick succession.

I watched in anticipation.

[In Shining Armor]

|Uncommon Trait|

Whenever you save a damsel in distress, they are almost guaranteed to develop romantic feelings for you.

[Blessing of Hestia]

|Rare Trait|

You are a child blessed by Hestia, the goddess of Hearth. You have resistance to all mental effects and negative ailments. Your body is way healthier and people feel more comfortable around you due to the natural aura you have around you.

[Tantric Healing]

|Rare Ability|

Allows you to heal ailments and various negative status effects through sexual intimacy, even scars, old wounds, and diseases can be healed and curses mitigated. The higher the level of intimacy and release the more effective the healing.

[Endless Purse of Gold]

|Elite Item|

Hota - A purse filled with endless riches, every 24 hours, 500 200-gram pure gold coins fill this bag and the bag can hold an infinite amount of these coins.

…Well, there go my money problems.

A giddy smile spread across my face as my attention locked onto the Endless Purse of Gold.

Say goodbye to being a broke bum with no credits to your name, Caelus.

In Shining Armor would definitely be useful if I ever decided to seriously lean into the whole harem route, but that was a problem for future me.

The one that really caught my interest was Blessing of Hestia. Not only would it improve my overall health, which was always welcome, it also made people more comfortable around me.

That could be huge.

The one I was… less certain about was Tantric Healing.

Sure, it might help stabilize my condition in the long run…

…but first I’d need to find someone willing.

And that was the real challenge.

As my mind briefly drifted to images of Himeko and me alone in a bedroom, I quickly shook my head and forced myself to focus.

Now wasn’t the time to get distracted.

The last two rolls were what really mattered. Either one of them might finally give me something capable of dealing with my curse.

Taking a slow, nervous breath, I selected the Legendary Ability Ticket and waited, my heartbeat loud in my ears.

Eventually…

the roll stopped on—

[Schrodinger]

|Mythical Ability|

Hellsing - You can teleport, except is it really teleportation? Because in reality, you are everywhere and nowhere at once, all it takes is closing your eyes and you can appear at any location you are aware of. This ability does not consume energy/mana.

I stared at the description in silence.

Then read it again.

…And again.

I honestly didn’t know whether to curse my luck for not getting a healing ability—

—or start celebrating immediately.

Because while it didn’t solve my curse…

this ability was absolutely insane.

Free.

Limitless.

Teleportation.

The universe had just opened itself to me in a whole new way.

…and yet.

The metaphorical knife of my curse still hung firmly over my neck.

“…Whatever. I’ll take the win and move on,” I muttered under my breath.

Still, my excitement was noticeably more subdued as I pulled up my next ticket.

The Legendary Trait.

With a steadying breath, I activated the roll.

The Gacha System spun through thousands of traits before finally slowing…

…and stopping.

[True Hero]

|Epic Trait|

You are the True Hero blessed by the divines themselves. All Light and Holy-based abilities are greatly enhanced alongside your physical abilities. Beings aligned with the Divine/Clergy are more favorable toward you and are more likely to view you with reverence and affection, and to reward you for your merits and service to them. In addition, all blessings are stronger and last longer on you. Whenever you are combating a creature in order to save someone you gain a temporary enhancement to all of your stats depending on your willpower and the stakes.

“…Well,” I muttered slowly, leaning back slightly.

“I guess I should just be thankful I pulled a Mythical ability at all… and True Hero isn’t bad, all things considered.”

“Alright, now for the last one.” I said closing my eyes for a moment and mentally rolling my last ticket.

When it came to a stop, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

[Master Cooking]

|Epic Skill|

You are a real master of cooking, you can cook almost any dish to incredible levels of taste to the point where they might even gain supernatural traits depending on the ingredients you used. You can induce actual foodgasms with your cooking.

“And now I don’t have to worry about going hungry.” I said pleased with the result.

Still…

It meant waiting longer.

Risking my life again against another monstrosity for the opportunity to obtain a Diamond ticket at the least.

Rolling the dice with fate one more time.

Just to get rid of this damned curse.

Not wanting to sit around and mope about my impending death, I pushed myself fully off the bed and stretched, my joints popping pleasantly as I did.

Time to move.

“No rest for the wicked and all that,” I muttered under my breath as I began making my way through the Master Control Zone in search of Himeko’s distinct, beautiful red hair.

It only took a few seconds to spot her.

As I approached, she turned, likely having heard me coming.

When our eyes met, I could immediately tell she’d been informed about my condition. Her usually bright golden gaze carried a hint of somber concern…

…but her smile remained just as warm as the first time I’d seen it.

And just as mesmerizing.

‘…Thank goodness,’ I thought, feeling a small weight lift off my shoulders. ‘I was worried she’d look at me with pity.’

“I’m glad you’re awake, Caelus,” Himeko said gently, posture relaxed. “How are you feeling? Everyone, especially March and Dan Heng, has been worried about you. It seems you three really hit it off.”

“I’m feeling much better now, all things considered,” I replied with a small shrug. “And yeah, March and Dan Heng are great. I’m really lucky I met them.”

I could tell she wanted to bring up my illness.

But she didn’t.

Instead, her gaze shifted toward the side.

“It’s almost time. She should be arriving any moment now,” Himeko said calmly.

Following her line of sight, and already having a good idea who she meant, I wasn’t surprised when a familiar figure approached.

A beautiful doll.

One that looked exactly like a young Herta, with its fair skin, long brown hair and purple eyes.

“I’ve only been gone, what… a few months? And the space station is already in this state?” the Herta puppet complained immediately, her cute voice clashing hilariously with her annoyed tone.

Honestly, it was my first time seeing a fully autonomous doll up close, and the visible joints and slightly inhuman movements were… a little surreal.

Still—

I knew better than to underestimate her.

If you managed to earn Herta’s trust, which was notoriously difficult, she was one of the most reliable allies you could have in this universe.

After all…

the real Herta was an Emanator of the Aeon of Erudition.

Not to mention that she would be essential when we reached Amphoreus and during our fight with a Lord Ravager.

She just had a… unique personality.

Almost tsundere, in a way.

Which, admittedly, was kind of cute.

‘…Probably shouldn’t say that out loud,’ I decided wisely.

“Welcome back, Herta,” Himeko greeted politely before turning slightly toward me. “This is the true master of the space station, Genius Society member number 83, Herta.”

“At least give me a proper introduction! Genius Society number 83…? Of all my outstanding achievements, that’s what you lead with?” Herta shot back sassily.

“So you’re being controlled by the real Herta, huh?” I mused aloud, resting a hand thoughtfully on my chin in what I hoped was a cool pose.

Honestly…

some of these mannerisms just slipped out naturally.

Maybe it was Caelus’s instincts.

Maybe it was me.

Either way…

it felt strangely on brand so I just rolled with it.

‘I just hope I don’t pick up his habit of digging through trash cans,’ I thought with mild dread. So far, I’d been doing my best to avoid even looking at one, and barely succeeding.

“Looks like we’ve got a sharp one,” Herta said, raising an eyebrow before turning back to Himeko. “So this little twerp has the Stellaron now? Huh.”

She turned back to me, and a small, almost predatory, smile spread across her face.

“Hmm. I’ll have to take a good look at you.”

I stayed very still as Herta examined me closely, her gaze sweeping over me again and again while she hummed thoughtfully. It was… unsettling.

‘Could she actually detect the Chaos Gacha System inside me?’ I wondered, not entirely sure which answer I preferred.

“Hmm… truly amazing!” Herta said, her tone sharpening with fascination. “I built an entire space station just to contain this unactivated Stellaron and keep the Blue safe from disaster…”

She tilted her head this way and that while studying me, somehow managing to look oddly cute despite the intensity.

“Yet someone managed to achieve that using this little twerp’s body. How did they do it?”

“Moreover, the Stellaron is still very stable inside Caelus’s body,” Himeko added smoothly, even giving me a small wink when I glanced her way.

“You’re right. This little one’s body really is strange…” Herta murmured as she suddenly stepped closer.

And poked me.

Once.

Twice.

I froze, trying very hard not to panic.

Then she looked up at me with a smirk.

“What truly fascinates me, though, is this other energy I can feel inside you, completely different from the Stellaron. Just what secrets are you hiding, I wonder~?”

Her grin turned just a little bit scary.

My mind immediately supplied a vivid mental image of being strapped to a table in some sterile white lab.

…Yeah, hard pass.

“It’s truly remarkable you appear so normal when that strange energy is actively damaging your body from within,” Herta continued, now fully lost in her analytical spiral. “Is that why they implanted the Stellaron in you? An attempt to stabilize the host, perhaps?”

‘…So she figured that much out,’ I thought, barely suppressing a grimace.

Apparently not well enough.

Because Himeko’s eyes flicked to me in worry, she’d definitely caught it.

Before I could say something stupid, like “I don’t want to be proved” in an attempt to derail the conversation, Himeko mercifully stepped in, bless her kind soul.

“Stop teasing him, Herta,” she said smoothly before turning back to me. “What Herta is trying to say, Caelus, is that she’d like you to remain on the space station.”

“There you have it, twerp,” Herta said bluntly. “I’m very interested in you now, so there’s almost nothing I wouldn’t accommodate. Name your price.”

She paused, then added flatly:

“I can’t promise I won’t lose interest halfway through, but that’s not my problem.”

I deadpanned internally.

You would be an absolutely terrible merchant.

Himeko gently drew my attention back to her, her expression warm but serious.

“Caelus… you do have another option,” she said softly. “The Astral Express. If you wish, you can leave with us. The Express has considerable experience dealing with Stellarons.”

Her tone softened further.

“There’s also a chance we may find a way to treat your illness during one of our journeys. I know March would be delighted if you joined us.”

Then she added thoughtfully:

“Besides… we can always return and allow Herta to conduct her research, with your permission. She’s very interested now, trust me.”

“Hm. Works for me,” Herta nodded. “Keeps the subject fresh. And this way I don’t have to keep babysitting the little twerp. Perfect.”

I stared at the doll with dull eyes.

…Truly. A terrible merchant.

Still…

If the choice was between:

Staying on a space station and potentially becoming a science project.

Or traveling the cosmos aboard a magical space train with two beautiful women…

Yeah.

I really didn’t need to think too hard about that one.

‘Sorry, Herta,’ I thought dryly. ‘But until you upgrade from puppet body to real human girl, you’re not winning this particular competition.’