Luke woke to the sound of wind and laughter.
Not the thin mountain wind of his village—but a wide, salt-heavy breeze carrying music, voices, and possibility.
"Jack! You sleep through anything, don't you?"
Luke's eyes snapped open.
Above him stretched a sky so blue it felt unreal. White canvas sails billowed overhead. The deck beneath him vibrated with steady, confident power—the pulse of a ship that believed itself invincible.
A young Italian man leaned over him, grinning.
"Wake up. We're flying!"
Fabrizio.
Luke's breath caught.
Before he could speak, memories flooded in.
A poker table slick with sweat and beer.A final winning hand.Tickets held up against the sun, laughing at destiny itself.
"I'm the king of the world!"
Jack Dawson's voice echoed in his bones.
Luke sat up slowly.
Titanic.
Not a reference.Not a reenactment.
The real thing—at the very beginning of the movie, when hope was still cheap and the ocean looked friendly.
A translucent shimmer unfolded before his eyes.
[World of Remorse — Mission Initialized]
Host Identity: Jack DawsonNarrative Role: Disposable Romantic LeadTimeline Position: Day 1 — DepartureWorld Stability: HighCompensation Granted: 100 Free Karma Points
Luke swallowed.
"So this is how it starts…"
The interface shifted.
Wish List — Active
Primary Wish:Ensure Rose lives a long, full life.
Luke's chest tightened as Rose's face surfaced in Jack's memories—defiant, trapped, furious at a gilded cage she hadn't chosen.
Secondary Wish:Witness the Statue of Liberty together.
A future that never existed in the original story.
Then, faintly—almost hidden—
Hidden Wish:Die with the belief that I was the luckiest man in the world.
Luke closed his eyes.
Jack Dawson didn't regret dying.
He regretted how he died—cold, forgotten, reduced to a footnote in someone else's survival.
"Jack!" Fabrizio shouted. "Come on!"
Luke stood, steadying himself against the railing as the Titanic surged forward. He felt it then—the weight of narrative. This world wanted to move forward exactly as it always had.
So Luke smiled.
Easy. Carefree. Reckless.
Jack's smile.
He let events unfold.
The first-class dinner he wasn't invited to.Rose standing at the stern, tears streaking her face.The moment she climbed the railing.
Luke ran exactly when Jack had run.
"Don't do it!"
Their conversation played out almost word for word—but Luke listened differently now. Not as romance. As mission-critical reality.
Rose wasn't just the heroine.
She was the primary objective.
That night, Luke lay awake in the steerage bunk, staring at the wooden beams overhead.
The iceberg hadn't appeared yet.
But it would.
Soon.
The System interface opened silently.
[Karma Store — Limited Access]
100 Karma Points available.
Luke scrolled.
Physical Enhancements
Enhanced Strength (Minor) — 30
Pain Suppression — 20
Biological Adaptations
Disease Resistance — 25
Thermoregulation (Extreme Cold Survival) — 60
Luke stopped there.
Twenty-eight-degree water.More than ten minutes meant death.
Jack originally lasted longer than physics allowed—but not long enough.
Luke continued.
Mental / Cognitive
Emotional Regulation — 20
Engineering & Physics Intuition — 40
His fingers hovered.
The door.
The goddamn door.
Luke replayed the scene in his mind—not the myth, but the reality. Weight distribution. Buoyancy. Stability. The waterline creeping higher.
"It wasn't about space," he murmured."It was about balance."
He exhaled.
No strength upgrade.No pain suppression.
Jack didn't survive by overpowering fate.
He survived by thinking.
Luke confirmed the purchases.
[Purchase Complete]Biological Resilience (Thermoregulation)Advanced Engineering / Physics Intuition
Remaining Karma: 0
Warmth spread subtly through his limbs, like embers buried deep in muscle and bone. His thoughts sharpened—not louder, but clearer.
Luke smiled faintly.
"Alright," he whispered into the dark."Let's make it count."
Far below, ice drifted silently through black water.