Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!-Chapter 110: Clash of Ships, Crash of Hearts

Finally, we caught up with our target—Eden Company's distasteful golden ship. They were just a few hundred meters ahead, about to exit the last corner of the Asteroid Field section.

Cassandra didn't miss the chance. During their turn, she closed the remaining distance in a flash, rapidly approaching the enemy's ship—only to face harsh consequences.

"W-What's going on, I can't—?!"

As we neared, our ship abruptly entered a "lock" state, rendering us unable to steer or stop. The Hunter overshot the corner due to this, earning us our first few seconds of penalty.

"Return fast!" Eva shouted, her voice tight with worry.

Although Cassandra reacted as best she could, it still took us five seconds to return to the original track—resulting in nearly half a minute of total penalty. By then, the Eden had already widened the gap significantly.

"Sneaky bastards…!" Eva cursed as she scanned the system reports. "I don't know how they pulled it off, but they triggered the ship's security to overreact, locking everything up for a second!"

"Locking security?" I echoed, still occupied with blocking the barrage of shots from the Primula.

The mention of "locking" and "security vulnerabilities," paired with the race of the enemy pilot—a Voltherian—stirred an unwelcome thought in my mind. A name I really didn't want to entertain this early flickered behind my eyes.

'No… There's no way she'd be part of a race like this! It has to be someone with a similar skill set!'

I tried to shake it off, but deep down, I was already 80% certain it was her. And if that was the case, we couldn't afford to approach the enemy ship carelessly anymore.

"Eva! Assist Cassandra with navigation. Keep our physical distance from the enemy over 1 km at all times!" I ordered, my fingers flying over the console.

"Got it!"

If "she" was truly working with the enemy, then I had to make sure her tricks wouldn't work on us again. While one half of my focus stayed on intercepting incoming attacks, the other was already diving into our systems—working to disable a core component of the ship: the firewall and security module.

Yeah, it was risky. If the enemy realized our firewall was down, they'd hit us with everything they had. But unfortunately, this was also the quickest countermeasure we had against their manipulation.

"Good!" I said aloud once I confirmed the firewall was fully disabled. "Close the distance now!"

As though she had been waiting for that moment, Cassandra snapped back into her hyper-focused state, and in a matter of seconds, caught up with the Eden's ship. This time, their trick—which had previously thrown our system into a frenzy—had no effect, allowing us to cling to their vessel—literally!

*CRACK!*

The ship's hull groaned in protest as the Hunter Frigate pressed tightly against the enemy's side. The wings clashed, scraping like two grapplers locked in a brutal clinch.

Approaching the next turn in the zigzag, Cassandra abandoned her usual perfect cornering and instead matched the Eden's pace to the dot. The two ships, glued together so tightly, looked like a single, merged vessel.

{Bastards…! Fuck off…!}

The enemy pilot's voice flared over comms, snarling with frustration.

But Cassandra didn't flinch. She moved our ship like a shadow, sliding beneath the enemy vessel, refusing to be shaken off.

Now that our ship was directly under theirs, the Primula lost its clean shot—buying me some much-needed breathing room.

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Honestly, I'd feared our assumption was wrong, and that the Primula would fire right through both of us. But it seemed they weren't willing to risk their own ship just to stop us from winning.

Getting totaled again would tack 10 minutes onto their lap time. Sure, they could skip straight to their pit stop and ride a backup ship, resuming the race from their last completed lap. But with a penalty like that, catching up to the lead—the Grand Hellsing—would be out of the question.

I don't know what Eden Company's higher-ups are thinking, but clearly, they're ready to do whatever it takes to seize that trophy.

Anyway, now that we had them pinned—our ship nestled beneath theirs, and theirs nestled over ours—a brutal game of leverage began. At every turn, Cassandra would flip the ship, looking for the upper hand, trying to shove the enemy right into an EMP trap.

{Don't think you can handle me this easily, fuckers…!}

But just as the enemy pilot's taunt came through the comms, our entire ship jolted violently. Warning lights flared across the board, followed by shrieking sirens—shaking the cockpit and jolting Cassandra's focus.

"Shit! Hull damage at 30%! They fucking rammed our undersides...!" Eva snapped, her voice crackling with frustration and fury.

But that wasn't even the worst part.

The sudden shove, paired with the blaring lights and shrieking alarms, shattered Cassandra's focus. She missed her timing entirely—and smacked straight into an EMP Mine. The EMP wave and impact threw the ship into disarray, sending it drifting past the track's edge, completely out of control.

"...!"

Panic overtook her instantly. She scrambled to correct the ship's position, desperately fighting to steer it back onto the course. Eva moved just as fast, launching the ECM systems and frantically trying to reboot our critical systems—but—

"Shit! The navigation system is down!" Eva growled, frustration laced with panic. "I'll fix it now. Cassandra, don't touch anything!"

"…Fuck."

Of course, I understood exactly how this disaster had come about. The entire navigation collapse with just one EMP? It was because I had disabled our ship's protections in order to close in on the Eden. In short, this situation was entirely my fault.

I wanted to jump in and help Eva restore the system, but unfortunately, I had my hands full.

The moment we separated from Eden's ship, the Primula resumed its relentless assault. If I so much as blinked at the wrong moment, our ship would be torn to shreds—just another pile of space junk floating in the void.

"Damn! The damage is too deep, I can't repair it manually!" Eva cursed, her voice sharp. "I'll load it from the backup instead. ETA five minutes!"

Five minutes?!

Considering we were off-track, that delay would rack up to a 25-minute penalty!

Sadly, there was nothing I could do to reduce that time.

Seconds dragged by, turning into long, tense minutes. Eva's fingers danced wildly across her keyboard, her focus absolute as she tried to shave off even a single second from the system's restoration. Meanwhile, I poured all my energy into intercepting incoming fire, keeping the ship intact.

"W-What do I do…"

Cassandra alone was idle, unable to help. Ordered not to touch the controls to prevent further interference with the system's reboot, she sat frozen, useless—which only heightened her anxiety.

She was thinking that this situation was her fault, making her feel guilt beyond normal.

Her face turned pale. Her eyes flicked from screen to screen, tracing the progress of the race as if she was watching her world fall apart. Her breathing grew sharp and shallow—gasping for air, on the verge of hyperventilation.

"Calm down, Cassandra!" I called out, trying to sound calm, stable—reassuring. "Take deep breaths, okay?"

But my words barely registered. It was as if her senses had dulled completely—trapped in a fog of tunnel vision. She didn't respond to me, or to Eva. She was utterly shut down.

'This is bad…'

If this continued, considering how little stamina she had—paired with her poor condition due to her monthly cycle—she might collapse completely.

I needed to snap her out of it immediately. I had to break through that mental wall—to reset her system before it shut down entirely.

*PING!*

As I blocked another laser blast, I seized my chance. I had ten seconds before the next shot—maybe only five once I factored in the time to realign the shields. Not much, but just enough.

I unbuckled my harness and launched myself forward, landing in front of Cassandra with careful precision—making sure not to touch a single control.

"Cassandra!" I called her name as I flipped open my visor.

In the same moment, I reached for her helmet, removing her visor to expand her visual range. Her wide blue eyes blinked up at me, stunned. Her pale purple lips parted slightly, trembling, trying to form words she couldn't say.

There was no time. I had to hit her with a shock big enough to reboot her senses.

"Cuss me all you want later," I whispered—then leaned in and pressed my lips to hers.

"…!"

She froze. Her entire body stiffened like stone, her eyes locking directly into mine—confused, startled, but present.

One second. Two. Three…

Slowly, her posture softened, the tension draining from her limbs. Her hands, which had gripped the seat in panic, loosened.

Taking the cue, I pulled back just slightly and took a long, deep breath. Cassandra mirrored the motion instinctively, drawing in air like she hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath.

Her expression was no longer panicked. Now it was just puzzled. Her breathing, now steady. The trembling, gone.

Thank god—my improvised "first aid" had worked.

Without wasting another heartbeat, I vaulted back to my seat, strapping in quickly and re-engaging with the defensive systems. My focus returned to the shields, shifting their orientation just in time to block the next strike.

I was so focused—locked into survival mode—that I completely missed it.

The piercing, icy gaze drilling into the side of my head.

Little did I know… the bone chilling fate waiting for me at the end of the race.