Chapter 1: Beginning (1)

"Uhhhh~ What's the noise!" A young voice sounded. he could hear the sound of alarm beeping.

He opened his eyes.

"Did someone turn off the light?" It was pitch black around him.

"Wait, how come I can't touch anything!?"

He reached out instinctively, trying to find and shut off what he assumed was an alarm clock. His fingers met only empty air, no solid surface, no furniture, nothing.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Am I floating!? Wooaaah!"

He got panicked as and began flailing his arms and legs, like swimming on water.

His tried moving his body slightly making his head feel light and dizzy. After a few moments of frantic movement, he forced himself to take deep breaths and calm down.

The dizziness faded, and he realized that while it felt strange, there was no sense of falling, just complete weightlessness.

"It feels like swimming but on air."

He stretched his hands out again, moving them slowly this time.

After a few tries, his fingers finally brushed against a hard, smooth edge. He gripped it tightly, it was the corner of a metal table.

He steadied himself upright.

"Seriously! What is happening!?"

No one answered. Only the sound of beeping alarm echoing from somewhere outside.

Suddenly, a soft blue light flashed from his right wrist.

To be exact, it came from the glowing metallic watch fastened there.

"Hello, Commander Luis. You are finally awake!"

The voice was crisp, clear, and feminine, yet it was an unfamiliar voice Luis only heard now.

Luis raised his left hand unconsciously to get a better look, and what he saw made his eyes go wide with shock.

"Who!?"

Hovering above the watch face was a small, translucent hologram of a young woman. She wore a neat, futuristic suit, outlining her nice curves, her face was beautiful. He didn't recognize her he haven't seen her once.

"Greetings Commander," the hologram spoke again, her tone steady and formal,.

"I am your System. To better cater and assist you, I have merged myself into the established personal AI assistant belonging to the original body you now occupy."

"System? Merged? AI assistant? Original body!?"

"Is this some kind of prank? Did someone drug me or put me in a simulation?"

"No, Commander. I have no reason to joke about such matters," the System replied.

"To be exact I am your system, I am the Greatest Commander System. I have integrated into the AI assistant of the person whose place you have taken over."

The more Luis listened to the System on who she was, how did he an Earthling took over this person and also the reason why he was transported here.

Pieces began to click into place.

He remembered clearly, back on Earth, he had stayed up late writing chapters for his sci-fi novel, his eyes burning from staring at the screen. Exhausted, he then had fallen asleep at his desk. 

The next thing he knew, he woke up here.

Did I die?

My soul must have crossed over and replaced this Luis person. And right now, I'm inside a spaceship!

To be precise, an interstellar colony ship, one of those massive vessels built to carry thousands of people across the space.

"Woah! So this is the popular trope! Isekai!?" Luis blurted out, half excited and half disbelieving.

But his excitement quickly faded when he recalled what the System had just said. If he was here, it meant the original owner of this body was gone.

"System, why did the original Luis die?"

"Commander, according to my preliminary analysis, the original Luis suffered severe blunt force trauma to the head. There is currently a large, still tender wound on your forehead. As for the exact cause of the injury, I cannot confirm. The local AI was deactivated shortly after the incident occurred, so no data was recorded."

" I see."

Luis raised a trembling hand and touched his forehead. Sure enough, there was a crusty layer of dried blood caked against his skin, and a dull throbbing pain pulsed beneath it.

Glancing down, he noticed more dark brown stains splattered across the front of his tight-fitting, one-piece utility suit.

"Am I in some kind of crime mystery world? Is there a killer or impostor running loose on this ship!?"

The more he thought about it, the more wrong everything felt. The lack of gravity making it hard to even stand properly, the constant blare of the alarm, the wound on his head, all of it pointed to something terrible having happened.

"Oh right! System, you said you are the Greatest Commander System. What exactly does that mean?" Luis asked.

"Yes, Commander!" The System's tone brightened instantly, full of enthusiasm.

"I am designed to help you rise to become the most powerful and respected commander in the entire universe! Under my guidance, you will lead fleets, explore new star systems, conquer challenges, and build your own legacy!"

Luis's eyes lit up. "Oh! That sounds great! So what can you do for me right now?"

He almost let go of the table in his excitement, but caught himself at the last second.

"However," the System added, her tone shifting back to business-like, "full activation of my functions requires you to first take command of a valid starship. Currently, only basic diagnostic and access features are available."

"What? There are requirements already!?" Luis felt his mood drop instantly.

"So I have to become the commander of this ship first? Seize control? And on top of that, there's a chance someone tried to kill the original owner of this body? This is way more complicated than I thought!"

For several minutes, he drifted in place, weighing his options. There was no going back to Earth, that much was certain.

He could not return to the life he once knew. If he wanted to survive, he had to adapt.

"Might as well go with the flow then," he muttered.

"Sitting here and doing nothing will get me nowhere. First priority, gather information."

He looked toward the door of the room, barely visible in the dimness.

"I can't stay cooped up here forever. I have to go out and see what's really going on."

Then came the struggle.

Without gravity, every movement required effort. He grabbed onto the edges of furniture, handholds along the wall, and even pushed off the floor to propel himself forward. His movements were clumsy at first, often sending him spinning or crashing into walls.

"What kind of lousy colony ship is this? No gravity at all!?" he complained, irritation rising.

"These ships are supposed to have stable artificial gravity at all times!"

"Commander, their is a high chance of a system failure, power outage, or even a ecurity protocol has deactivated the gravity generators. This is not normal operation," the System analyzed calmly.

"I know, Sherlock! I could have guessed that much myself!" Luis grunted.

"The problem is what it means, if gravity is off, that means something serious has gone wrong. And serious usually equals dangerous."

"I am not Sherlock. I am your System~"

"Got it! Got it! Just help me move faster!"

----- 

After a full minute of awkward floating and maneuvering, Luis finally reached the door.

"Now what?"

He ran his hands over the surface. It was smooth and seamless, no doorknob, no handle, no keyhole. If not for the faint outline of a frame, it would look no different from the surrounding bulkhead.

"System, can you open this door?"

"Affirmative, Commander. One moment please."

The hologram on his wrist gave a crisp salute before fading away. Seconds later, a small rectangular panel beside the door flickered to life, glowing with a faint amber light.

There was a soft hiss of pressure equalizing, and the heavy door slid open inward.

"Ugh! What is that smell!?"

Luis immediately clamped his hand over his nose and mouth. A thick, rotten, metallic stench rushed into the room, making his eyes water and his stomach churn.

Stepping out into the hallway, he found it even worse. The corridor was dark, only illuminated by flashing red emergency lights.

The shrill alarm sound was louder here, echoing endlessly down the length of the passage.

"This is like stepping into a horror movie!" Luis whispered, his heart pounding a little faster.

"Not that I'm scared or anything but I really don't like horror. I don't even play those kinds of games!"

"Commander, please remain focused," the System reappeared on his wrist.

"To fully activate my functions and ensure your survival, you must proceed to the Command Center and take full control of the vessel. That is the only way to gain access to life support, navigation, and defense systems."

"Easy for you to say!" Luis grumbled.

"I don't have a weapon, I can barely move around properly, and how am I supposed to just walk up and say 'Hey Captain, I'm taking over now'?"

Still, he had no other choice. Holding one hand over his nose and using the other to grip the metal rails mounted along the walls, he pulled himself forward, kicking off the floor whenever he needed to move faster.

As he drifted further down the corridor, his blood ran cold.

Spattered across the walls, ceiling, and floor were dark streaks and pools of dried blood. It looked as if a violent struggle had taken place everywhere. But what made him freeze in place was what lay further ahead.

Bodies.

Several human figures was floating motionless in the passage, their suits torn and stained. And right beside them, Luis saw something that made his breath catch in horror.

Also floating among the corpses were grotesque, alien creatures.

They resembled giant beetles, but each was as large as a medium-sized dog. Their hard shells were covered in sharp, jagged spikes, and from their mouths have knife like fangs and mandibles.

"What in the world have I stumbled into!?" Luis whispered, his voice trembling.

This was nothing like the simple crime mystery he had imagined.

Forget using wits and politics to take over a ship. This vessel had clearly been invaded by monsters!

"Ah! What terrible luck!" he groaned inwardly.

"How come every other protagonist in these stories gets to arrive in a peaceful place, or at least starts with easy tasks? I feel like I won the lottery, except it's the hard mode lottery!"

He looked down at his watch with a pleading expression.

"System, please transport me somewhere else? A different world, maybe one without danger? Like somewhere with cute magical girls, with some beastmen full of women, and maybe some cool mechs? That sounds way more fun!"

The System's tilted its head, looking confused.

"Commander, I do not understand your request. My functions are limited to assisting you in this reality. I have no ability to transport you to another world. That is beyond my scope."

"Huuh~" Luis sighed heavily, looking back toward the way he came.

"Maybe I should just go back to the room and wait. Surely rescue ships will notice this vessel drifting and come looking, right?"

But the System's next words shattered Luis' hope instantly.

"Commander, while I was accessing the door control, I retrieved data from the ship's central network. The main oxygen reserves are dropping rapidly. Current air purity and pressure levels stand at less than 40% of the safe threshold. You have approximately two hours remaining before oxygen deprivation causes cognitive impairment, loss of consciousness, and eventually death."

Luis stared at the hologram, his face draining of all color.

"Darn it all! Whoever threw me into this mess, if I ever find you, I will definitely give you a piece of my mind! Why couldn't you at least drop me somewhere safe first!?"

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