Fated to Die to the Player, I’ll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!

"Ugh...!"

When I woke up, the first thing I felt was a splitting headache. My vision was blurry from pain, but despite that, I could still recognize the white ceiling above me—the Military Hub's infirmary.

"What hap—huh...?"

As I wondered out loud, I noticed something amiss...

I spoke—but someone else's voice reached my ears. High-pitched. Cute-sounding. Something far from the deep, manly voice I should have.

As the pain in my head lessened, I began noticing other things.

My body... felt weak. Heavy. It was as if I'd been injected with a full-body muscle relaxant. I could still move my limbs if I forced myself, but...

This was getting weird.

"Hmm!"

I pushed myself to turn, shifting from lying on my back to my side.

As I did, my movement was hindered by something big, soft, and oddly painful.

My eyes lowered in confusion, only to see a deep valley in the middle of the patient gown I was wearing.

This... Did my pecs experience a sudden growth spurt?

"No... No way..."

At this point, I already had an idea about the situation...

But knowing and accepting were two completely different things. If this were a dream, I might have accepted it faster. But this was too real.

"Arthur, you bastard...!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to me.

A manly voice. One I was used to hearing—but something about the tone felt off. I turned toward the caller and saw myself standing by the door.

My face was filled with confusion, worry, and frustration. As I—he—rushed toward me... Fuck. This is getting confusing.

"You..." I whispered, narrowing my eyes at the approaching figure.

"You can't be me. That tone... Eva?"

"Yes!"

The "me" standing before me huffed in frustration.

"I'm Eva! But I'm in your body! What the fuck is going on?!"

I sighed, scanning the room for anything reflective enough to show my face.

Beside the bed, on a small table, I spotted a metal tray. I swept everything off of it and held it up, examining my new reflection.

Blonde hair. Royal blue eyes. And... Humongous assets that looked like they'd burst out of the thin gown at any moment.

"Yep," I nodded. "I have no idea what's going on, but... it looks like I'm in Cassandra's body."

My head ached—in a different way than before.

This was completely outside my realm of experience, even after considering all my playthroughs of TSO's story mode.

In the first place, was this mind-swapping? Soul-swapping? Either way, that sort of phenomenon didn't exist in the game.

I lowered the tray and turned to Eva—who was currently inside my body.

"Where's Cassandra?" I asked.

Eva sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"She went straight back to her meeting with the Meyers Star System's nobles as soon as she woke up," she said. "Using a voice changer and keeping her video feed off, of course."

"That's... wild."

Although she was not here, it was obvious that Cassandra was in Eva's body. In short, if the video feed was on, everyone would think that Eva's trying to step in for Cassandra during the meeting.

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Eva grumbled.

"Anyway, you haven't told anyone about this, have you?"

"Of course not! Even if I did, who the hell would believe me?"

"Good. Let's keep it that way. No need to spread the trouble further than us three."

Anyway, to summarize—

I was inside Cassandra's body.

Cassandra was inside Eva's body.

And Eva was inside mine.

It was a three-way swap, which only made things more confusing. How the fuck did this even happen?

"...Last thing I remember, I jumped forward and grabbed the Hunter's joystick, dodging the asteroid. Then..."

Right—

After that sudden turn, my body had slammed all over the cockpit, and I'd accidentally released both Cassandra and Eva seatbelts.

Then, the three of us tumbled around—

And...

Smashed our heads together?

...

Does that work?

If just smacking heads could really swap bodies, then hundreds of trillions of people would've tried it already.

"Wait..." I paused, recalling an important clue. "Before the crash, I saw...!"

My eyes darted downward. Not at the patient gown, but at my—Cassandra's chest.

I reached for the collar, pulling it aside to check, but—

*WHOOSH!*

"...!"

A fist stopped just an inch from my nose. My fist—or rather, Eva's.

"Bastard..."

Her voice was dangerously low, cold, and seething with killing intent.

"Try laying a hand on Casey's body, and I'll make you regret it."

I gulped. For the first time, I felt genuine fear for my life.

Rather—Eva... She only stopped because I was in Cassandra's body, right? If I were back in my original body, that punch would've connected for sure.

"Y-You're misunderstanding!" I raised both hands, pleading my innocence. "I wasn't trying anything weird—I was just reaching for the key!"

"The key?"

Eva's brow furrowed.

Then, after a moment of thought, she sighed.

"Alright then. Stay put, and I'll get it instead."

The next moment, Eva placed a knee on the bed's side, leaning closer.

Seeing my own face approaching me felt... weird. But more importantly—Why did my chest suddenly feel tight?

'Was this a medical condition Cassandra had?!'

Before I could process my body's reaction, Eva reached down and grabbed the collar of my gown roughly.

Since my new body was weak and powerless, I got pulled along with it, nearly headbutting her.

*THUMP!*

"...!"

Again?!

Why the hell was my heart palpitating?! This was bad.

I needed medical help, immediately!

"Don't move," Eva whispered, her breath tickling my face. "Or you might get hurt."

Then—

She slowly slid her other hand inside my clothes.

I froze.

I could feel her fingers—or rather, my own burly fingers—brushing against the middle of my chest. Each time her skin grazed mine, a shiver ran down my spine.

"E-Eva...!"

This isn't good.

I wanted to tell her to stop for a moment, but my voice barely came out. It was nothing more than a whisper.

My heart was pounding—so loud and fast that I feared I was having a stroke.

"Oh, found it!"

Finally, she grabbed something hard—and pulled her arm out, object and all.

"Hnn~!"

At that moment, my body convulsed. My mind went blank.

And, drowning in an overwhelming wave of euphoria—

I passed out.

---

"I got the key!"

Eva smiled as she examined the object, still tied around Arthur's neck with a simple chain. But just as she was inspecting it, Arthur suddenly collapsed back onto the bed.

His body—or rather, Cassandra's body—began to convulse slightly, sending a wave of panic through Eva.

"Huh? Hey! What happened?!" she called out, quickly tapping Arthur's cheeks.

But instead of helping, her actions seemed to worsen the situation. The spasms grew stronger, making Eva's worry escalate.

Just as she was about to slam the emergency button and call for the doctor, something caught her eye—

A small but telling detail that made her freeze.

The front of Arthur's patient gown had darkened, clinging to his skin—as if drenched in water.

"..."

Eva's mind raced, piecing together the sequence of events at lightning speed.

Arthur was in Cassandra's body.

Eva was in Arthur's body.

There was forced skin contact—initiated by Eva.

Then—convulsions.

Loss of consciousness.

And now...

The wet region just in front of the nether area.

Eva's expression went blank. She didn't need to double-check. She didn't even need to say it out loud. Instead, she placed a hand over her face—

And let out a long, deep sigh.

"...It was an accident. Sorry, Casey."

She whispered the words to no one in particular, almost like a prayer.

After a brief pause, Eva made a decision. For the sake of both Arthur's and Cassandra's dignity—she would handle the cleanup herself.

And as for what transpired... She would never speak of it again.

After changing Cassandra's clothes and ensuring everything was back in order, Eva finally sat down on a stool beside the bed.

Letting out another long exhale, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the key—the object she had painstakingly retrieved.

A key seemingly forged from glass, yet holding a prismatic glow deep within—colors shifting like a captured aurora.

"So... This thing is the cause of our swapped minds?"

Eva furrowed her brows, speaking her thoughts aloud.

"But isn't this only supposed to interfere with the boundary between universes...?"

She racked her brain, trying to piece together why this had happened. But no matter how much she thought about it, not a single solid theory came to mind.

It wasn't that she lacked intelligence. It was simply that she didn't understand enough about the key's full capabilities.

"...We should discuss this when everyone's together."

Letting out another resigned sigh, Eva slipped the key back into her pocket.

With nothing else to do, she leaned back and turned her gaze toward Arthur—Cassandra's sleeping face.

For a while, she just sat there in silence, watching the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

It was... oddly peaceful. A moment of calm amidst the storm of confusion.

Until—

"Sir Gerard?"

A voice called out from beyond the infirmary door.

Eva's head snapped toward the sound, eyes immediately scanning the figure standing hesitantly at the entrance.

It was a soldier under the Astoria Standing Army, looking somewhat uncertain about stepping inside.

Eva quickly composed herself and waved casually.

"Gerard's still asleep," she sighed. "If you have a message for him, just tell me. I'll relay it when he wakes up."

"...Huh?"

The soldier's expression twisted in confusion.

"Sir Gerard... P-Please don't mess with me. I have a command straight from President Astoria—your father."

He hesitated for a second before pulling out his terminal, reading directly from a note displayed on the screen.

"He's calling for you urgently. He said it's regarding the handling of the Eclipse Sovereign."

"..."

Eva's breath hitched.

She had forgotten that, right now, she was Gerard. Or rather... She was Arthur.

And that meant, technically—

She was the one being summoned.