Chapter 94: A Glimpse into Cosmic Origin

“We were born too late to sail the seven seas and just a bit too early to venture into the sea of stars.”

A short narration played on a black screen. Stars twinkled vividly, and a spaceship passed between them.

It was a universe already developed to its fullest—Cosmic Ossuary’s universe.

Does this mean the setting is the same as Cosmic Ossuary, but with different characters?

It was a reasonable assumption. After all, wasn’t that exactly what the game’s visuals suggested?

Just as Gajunsik pondered, What exactly is Cosmic Ossuary’s universe trying to show here?, the screen flickered.

A static noise crackled.

Frowning at what seemed to be a device error, Gajunsik watched as a rectangular frame formed at the edges of the screen. The once-crystal-clear image of space lost a bit of its sharpness.

And then—

The view of outer space shrank and pulled away.

Gajunsik blinked as the cosmic expanse morphed into a smartphone screen.

What… is this?

“This game is getting boring.”

The protagonist spoke, moving their lips. As they tapped on the smartphone, the cosmic scenery transformed into a mobile gacha game.

Cosmic Ossuary had turned into a mobile gacha game.

That much, he could grasp.

But then—what the hell kind of game was this?

He had expected a space exploration game mixed with a gacha system, but everything he’d seen so far felt completely off from that expectation.

He wasn’t sure what homes in the future would look like, but the protagonist’s room had an interior design that strongly resembled the early 2020s.

And there was nothing particularly special about it—no fantasy elements, nothing out of the ordinary. Just a plain, realistic setting.

If this were a visual novel, it would be understandable. But Cosmic Origin was a mobile gacha game, making it all the more confusing.

Wouldn’t that severely limit what could be shown?

As if responding to Gajunsik’s unspoken doubts, the protagonist continued speaking.

“All these new games are boring. Might as well make my own.”

A thought that every gamer had entertained at least once in their life.

And then—

A blinding light burst from the smartphone, swallowing the protagonist whole.

The scene changed.

From an ordinary home to a bleak, desolate diner.

“It has already been a month since I arrived in this world.
I tried to find a way back home, but no such thing existed.
At this point, there’s no choice.
I have to accept it.”

“So it’s an isekai possession story?”

The sudden shift in atmosphere heightened Gajunsik’s immersion.

The world the protagonist had been thrown into was Cosmic Ossuary’s universe, yet at the same time, it wasn’t.

To slightly modify the earlier narration:

A world where we were born too late to sail the seven seas and just a bit too early to venture into the sea of stars.

That was this world—Cosmic Origin’s world.

A time when humanity’s dream of space exploration was just beginning to take root.

A time when Mars had already been terraformed—a dream once held by the godfather of Dogecoin, now realized decades ago.

A time when interplanetary travel took only a few weeks, yet humanity still couldn’t break free from the solar system.

And that was the era the protagonist had found themselves in.

Gajunsik observed the surroundings in third-person perspective.

He spotted a frying pan and a risotto dish.

“So this guy got isekai’d and ended up as a chef? How’s that any different from me getting isekai’d into a game and doing internet streaming?”

[user has donated 2,000 won.]

You got isekai’d into a different era of the original game, so that makes sense.

Fair point.

Gajunsik had played Cosmic Ossuary before, just like the protagonist.

If he were thrown into the past like this, he’d likely be in the same boat.

After all, the only real in-game knowledge he could make use of was… what? Maybe something absurd, like Han Yurim slicing a spaceship in half with a sword? But how would that be of any use right now?

“This world is pretty grim, huh?”

For nearly half a century, humanity had employed countless methods to establish a settlement on Mars.

And what they had created in the end was… something not far from a lawless land.

Just look at Mexico. Regardless of what happened to other countries, people generally didn’t care, as long as their tax money wasn’t wasted on trivial issues.

So what about Mars? A place that took weeks of space travel to reach?

For many, it was a completely separate dimension—something irrelevant to their lives.

Because of that, no matter what happened on Mars, Earth remained indifferent, too preoccupied with profiting from interplanetary trade.

But that wasn’t what made Mars such a dark and hopeless place.

There were plenty of grim places on Earth, after all.

No—what made Mars truly hellish…

Was the very reason humanity had bothered to terraform it and fought so desperately to establish a colony there.

Aier.

The extraterrestrial horrors that had been invading from deep space for who knows how long.

Mars had been chosen as the front line.

That was why Mars was an unbearable place to live.

Creak—.

The door to the diner swung open, and people walked in.

“Ah, f*ck.”

A group of men cursed under their breath.

The rifles slung over their backs made their occupation clear.

Hunters.

People whose job was to kill Aier.

The men ordered whiskey and potato dishes, then started chatting loudly.

“What are we supposed to tell the Bureau this time? That a newbie pissed himself and died?”

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

Being a Hunter was an incredibly dangerous job.

In a world where even Awakeners had to risk their lives to kill Ire, ordinary non-Awakened Hunters didn’t stand a chance.

『In the era of <Cosmic Ossuary>, where Awakened abilities have developed to their peak, Awakeners wouldn’t struggle against mere low-tier Ire.

But this was the past.

Awakening ability research was still primitive, and the abilities themselves were far from refined.

Even so, I wished for an Awakening ability.

Because only with one could I hope for a slightly better life in this wretched world.』

As the narration played, the protagonist skillfully prepared food and served it to the Hunters.

『“Here’s your food.”

“Hey, what the hell? The potatoes aren’t cooked properly. Is this what you serve to customers?”

“If I cooked them any longer, they would’ve burned.”』

The protagonist responded in an exasperated tone, but the man simply stood up, ignoring him.

It was a confrontation for confrontation’s sake—something a person at their breaking point might do.

Hunters put their lives on the line every day, and today, they had even seen a corpse.

So it made sense that someone would lash out and take out their frustration on whoever was nearby.

Gajunsik understood that much.

He just didn’t sympathize.

The man rolled up his sleeves and approached the protagonist.

Watching this unfold, Gajunsik checked the system.

He figured it was about time he took control of the character and started the combat tutorial, but before he could do that—

BOOM!

The ceiling suddenly collapsed, cutting off Gajunsik’s train of thought.

The protagonist, caught in the shockwave, stumbled as his vision blurred.

A grating sound, like metal scraping against metal, made him lift his head.

At the center of the shop, a monster loomed.

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

No one objected—its previous owner had just died.

The rifle roared.

Ting!

A barrier formed around the Ire, deflecting the bullets. It was an Awakening ability.

『“f*cking hell.”』

Sensing danger, the protagonist turned to run, but the Ire wasn’t about to let him go.

A massive fist shot forward.

CRACK!

The protagonist raised the rifle as a makeshift shield, but it shattered instantly, and he was sent flying.

THUD!

His body slammed into the wall and tumbled to the floor. His consciousness wavered.

As he teetered on the edge of blacking out, he muttered softly.

『“…Someone… please help me.”』

And as all of this unfolded, Gajunsik watched with his arms crossed.

“I don’t really like this protagonist. Even if he doesn’t have knowledge of the original story, this is ridiculous. All he’s done is cook so far—nothing about this makes me want to spend money.”

[○○ has donated 2,000 won.]

• In gacha games, the protagonist isn’t important. The characters you pull from the gacha are what matter.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to see how it plays out. But how are they planning to incorporate gacha into a story like this? Just… make me roll?”

Just as Gajunsik mumbled to himself—

A surge of powerful psychic energy erupted from the protagonist’s body.

An Awakening.

Yeah, that was necessary.

What kind of ability was it?

Enhancement? Transformation? Control? Summoning? Divine? Or something else entirely?

As if answering Gajunsik’s question, the protagonist murmured softly.

“…Bond Gacha?”

At that moment, Gajunsik’s perspective shifted.

From third-person to first-person, from an observer to the protagonist.

When he lifted his head, the Ire was already charging at him at terrifying speed.

And then—

[From past lives, parallel worlds, and the future—bonds reach out to find you!]

With that cheerful message, a figure appeared out of thin air.

Shing.

A single, fluid motion cleaved the Ire in half.

Then, the figure spoke.

“Junshik, you still seem as dazed as ever. With that attitude, do you really think you can make me the greatest actress?”

“?”

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

“??????”

Gajunsik’s jaw dropped.

It was inevitable.

Because someone had made this happen.

Han Yurim.

She reached out and helped Gajunsik to his feet.

“It’s been a while. Tell me, what do you think of my power?”

“…Who are you?”

“I am me.”

“No, I mean—”

Gajunsik was still flustered by the unexpected situation, but Han Yurim continued.

“I’d love to catch up, but it seems our time is up.”

“…Why?”

“This power isn’t my own, so I don’t really understand it. In any case, if fate allows, we shall meet again. So don’t worry too much.”

“Hey!”

Before Gajunsik could finish his sentence, Han Yurim’s figure vanished.

As he reeled from the surreal encounter, another cheerful message appeared.

[Bond Gacha is your Awakening ability.]

[To use the summoning-special hybrid ability ‘Bond Gacha,’ strong willpower is required.]

[Furthermore, to summon a character permanently, an extremely strong will is needed.]

Extremely strong willpower.

Gajunsik understood what that meant the moment the newly unlocked shop screen appeared.

He clicked on it, almost entranced.

[user has donated 2,000 won.]

• Han Yurim just poisoned Gajunsik’s wallet.

That day, Gajunsik learned what it meant to get a bad pull and hit the pity system.

As well as what Limit Breaks and signature weapons were.