Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Entering the Ishimura
“Survive 24 hours in one of the following: Silent Hill, Raccoon City, or the USG Ishimura—and win a hundred million dollars.”
Lucien Kade had only clicked on a random prank pop-up window.
The next time he opened his eyes, he was standing in a strange metallic corridor.
The stench of machine oil mingled with flickering red emergency lights. The whirring of exhaust fans slammed against his eardrums.
The cold steel hallway and the floating virtual projections told him the same thing—this wasn’t his world anymore.
Lucien struggled to recall what he had done just before all this.
He had just gotten off work for the holidays, ready to finally enjoy a night of uninterrupted gaming.
He was about to launch COD, determined to play till dawn.
Then a gray dialog box had popped up on his computer.
Survive 24 hours in Silent Hill, Raccoon City, or the Ishimura—win a hundred million.
Thinking it was a prank from one of his programmer friends, he clicked on the “Ishimura” option without a second thought.
The next moment he blinked… and was here.
Lucien shook his sore head and steadied his body, which felt like it had been slammed hard.
He needed to confirm this wasn’t a kidnapping or a joke.
“Welcome, CEC Equipment Maintenance Engineer Lucien Kade, ID number 4425, aboard the USG Ishimura Planet Cracker Vessel...”
Just a few steps forward, a holographic projection flickered to life in front of him.
It looked like a synthesized AI projection—emotionless, strictly following a programmed routine.
“Your data is being uploaded to the Ishimura’s security system... Error, error... Chief Security Officer Alissa not found…”
“Upload failed… CEC company rank privileges will be assigned automatically… Please contact Ishimura staff immediately…”
Abruptly, the projection glitched and faded out.
At the same time, the green light above the door at the end of the hallway turned on.
Lucien’s thoughts began to clear. He pinched his thigh hard.
The sharp pain confirmed—this wasn’t a dream.
Although suddenly arriving in an unfamiliar world was terrifying, Lucien had grown up in the age of information. He’d read plenty of survival and dimension-hopping web novels.
If that pop-up was real…
Then surviving on this ship called the “Ishimura” for 24 hours meant he could leave—and get a hundred million?
Of course…
The money wasn’t his concern. Surviving this 24-hour trial came first.
He remembered the other two choices in the pop-up.
Silent Hill—a fog-covered nightmare town filled with monsters, but reportedly safe inside the church.
Raccoon City—zombie-infested from the Resident Evil games and movies. Full of viruses and nukes. But find a safe spot or escape by car within 24 hours and you could make it.
There had to be a way out of Ishimura, too.
Just find the critical survival point—he could make it through.
While thinking, the door at the end hissed open as the pressure valve released.
Lucien stepped through and was greeted by the sight of massive floor-to-ceiling observation windows along the hallway.
Outside the ship—
A massive, ochre-colored planet hung silently in the void.
Compared to the two-kilometer-long ship beneath his feet, the planet was unimaginably vast.
But even this “small” ship had cast several massive energy tethers.
They pierced into the planet, tearing a colossal chunk—dozens of kilometers wide—straight from the surface.
The chunk, weighing hundreds of millions of tons, was now suspended by those gravity tethers.
As if triggered by Lucien’s presence, the glass displayed detailed information.
In the 23rd century, humanity had long entered the interstellar era. To meet Earth and colony demands, CEC Corporation built several planet cracker ships.
These massive vessels used proton-gravity fields to extract mineral-rich sections directly from planetary crusts.
Then the gravitational tethers pulled the chunks beyond planetary gravity.
Finally, engineers on the colony would deploy mining robots to extract resources.
All materials would be shipped via FTL transports back to Earth—thousands of light-years away.
The Ishimura, first of its kind, had served safely for over 60 years.
Now—
It hovered above the colony world of Aegis VII, conducting planetary cracking.
Learning all this eased some of Lucien’s panic.
How much danger could a massive vessel like this be in?
Space pirates? Colony revolts? A catastrophic crash into the planet?
Lucien decided to explore the Ishimura first.
But then—
He heard a strange sound behind him.
Before he could turn, searing heat bloomed in his chest. Agonizing pain tore through his heart and ribcage.
His vision blurred as the world spun.
In his final moments, he saw flashing red lights.
And a shrieking AI warning.
...
Am I dead?
Lucien’s eyes snapped open. He reached out to touch the cold metal wall.
Sweat poured down his face.
He jerked his head down and yanked up his shirt.
The pain of his chest being pierced still haunted him—sharp and vivid.
But his chest was spotless. No wound, no blood.
He reached around—no hole in his back either.
“A dream?”
He shook his throbbing head and stood on shaky legs.
The smell of machine oil filled his nose again. Red lights spun at the end of the corridor.
He slapped his flushed cheeks. Memory surged back.
“No… not a dream.”
“Welcome, CEC Equipment Maintenance Engineer Lucien Kade, ID number 4425, aboard the USG Ishimura Planet Cracker Vessel…”
The same projection flickered to life again, emotionless as before.
“Did I just die?”
The memory of that agonizing death still clung to his nerves, stabbing at his consciousness.
Lucien held his head, forcing himself to stay calm.
“My name is Lucien Kade. I’m 25. I live at Unit 802, Yunan Complex. I clicked a pop-up on my computer and ended up here.”
“This is the USG Ishimura, currently above Aegis VII, thousands of light-years from Earth.”
“I need to survive here for 24 hours—only then can I leave.”
He tried to piece together his thoughts.
If that death wasn’t a dream… did he just come back to life? Was time rewinding?
He was still pondering when the green light above the door flickered on.
Hiss...
The heavy door opened.
