Start with a Hammer, End with Five Beast Husbands

Matched with Five Partners

I didn’t stop.

Because I knew—somewhere like this, if you don’t keep moving, you’re just waiting to die.

My father used to say: trash is never useless—it just hasn’t been put to the right use yet.

So I started dismantling things. Salvaging metal rods, cables, structural parts—anything I could use—and dragging them back to the ship piece by piece.

From scrap metal, I made my first pry bar. Then a hook. Eventually, a whole set of crude tools.

They weren’t pretty—but they worked.

And this world wasn’t entirely dead.

On the fourth day, I saw my first “living thing.”

It looked like a rabbit—but larger, with powerful hind legs and an unusually long tail that dragged behind it like a rope.

It was insanely alert.

I barely moved, and it vanished into the ruins—so fast it was almost just an afterimage.

Aside from those long-tailed rabbits, there were plenty of creatures I’d never seen on Blue Star.

Some were docile—like those five-horned sheep, quietly grazing, never coming close.

Others were volatile—like the hard-shelled crawling beasts that would charge wildly at the slightest disturbance.

And then there were stranger ones—semi-transparent, elongated things that drifted silently through the wreckage, almost invisible.

Using salvaged elastic metal strips and cables, I built a crude bow.

The limbs weren’t perfect. The draw was uneven. The arrows were rough—just sharpened metal rods.

But the first time I hit that long-tailed rabbit, I knew—

I was going to survive.

Fire was another problem.

I tried everything—impact, friction, even shorting leftover wires from the ship.

In the end, I succeeded.

A single spark caught, spreading through dry debris.

I built a simple grill from scrap metal.

Cleaned the catch. Set it over the fire.

Fat dripped, sizzling softly. The smell slowly spread.

For the first time, this world had the scent of life.

By day, I went out—hunting, scavenging, exploring.

At night, I returned to the ship, climbed into the stasis pod, and sealed it shut.

The only place in this world that could still be called “safe.”

That’s how I survived alone on Null Terra.

That’s how I survived—alone—on Null Terra.

As my range expanded, about twenty miles out, I discovered a small settlement. There was a shop there.

That’s where I learned this place was designated Planet Y926—a dumping ground for the surrounding star systems. Just as I’d suspected, there was nothing here but trash.

The entire system used pulse credits as currency—an energy-based trading system.

I had no money, so I brought in the animals I hunted and traded them for water, food, and basic supplies. I also started saving up pulse credits at that one and only shop.

Little by little, I got used to it.

One hunt at a time. One credit at a time.

Before I realized it—

I had sold five hundred rabbits, three hundred sheep, and over a hundred assorted insects.

At last, I had enough pulse credits.

If I wanted to leave this place, I needed to buy a neural terminal.

In the only shop in the settlement, I took my time choosing.

In the end, I went with the cheapest basic model.

Ten thousand pulses.

The moment I paid, my heart ached.

All that time spent saving—gone in an instant.

The shop owner looked up at me. “Ever registered a neural terminal before?”

I gave a small smile. “No. Couldn’t afford it. First time.”

She glanced at my worn-out clothes and softened a little.

“Then step over there.”

She pointed to a device that looked like a scale.

“We need your genetic data to register your account.”

I nodded and stepped onto it.

One account per person, for life—that much she had already explained.

I didn’t resist. A helmet slowly lowered, enclosing my head.

She worked the controls beside me.

“Put the terminal on.”

I did as told.

Less than a minute later—

“All set. You can step down.”

That fast?

What followed was a series of steps.

Activation. Binding. Confirmation. Verification…

I followed her instructions one by one. Finally, the connection went through.

The moment the star network interface lit up, I was about to explore it when my entire field of vision was suddenly overridden.

Several notifications popped up at once.

Priority—maximum.

[Beep! Vital signs stable. Identity binding successful!]

[Notice: Ms. Ashley Calder, according to Article 2 of the Federal Population Optimization and Genetic Matching Act, you have reached the age of eighteen—]

Before I could react, the text continued scrolling.

[The Federal Core Intelligence, Aegis Prime, has selected several partners with highly compatible genetics and psionic alignment for you, to ensure the continuation of superior genes and the prosperity of the Federation.]

My brows slowly drew together.

…What the hell is this?

[Match Results: 5 Compatible Candidates]

[To ensure stability of the bond, 50% of each candidate’s personal assets has been transferred to your account.]

[The candidates will arrive on your planet within one standard month.]

I froze where I stood.

My mind went completely blank.

A few seconds later, I finally found my voice.

“…?”

I looked down at the interface on the neural terminal, then up at the shop owner, then back down again.

Wait.

No one told me that registering a terminal would assign me partners.

Five of them.

I stared at the screen and scrolled down.

Five names, lined up in a row.

Below each—an ID photo.

[Caedmon Thorne]

Identity: Major General, Federal Military | Silvermoon Wolf Clan

Genetic Compatibility: 98.7%

Status: Match confirmed. Asset transfer completed

[Assets: 333,800,000,000 Pulse; 3 mineral planets; 1 private fleet…]

Me: “…?”

I looked again, instinctively.

—Three hundred and thirty-three point eight billion.

I stared at the number, my brain lagging.

Had I been starving too long? Was I hallucinating?

And in Pulse?!

My fingers felt stiff as I scrolled down.

[Ilyas Serin]

Identity: Chief Justice, Federal Tribunal | Serpent Clan

Compatibility: 99.1%

[Assets: 513,300,000,000 Pulse; judicial foundation shares; rare archives…]

[Ragnar Pyros]

Identity: Secretary-General of the Federal Council | Black Panther Clan

Compatibility: 98.8%

[Assets: 484,700,000,000 Pulse; 5 rare metal veins; 88 properties in the central star region…]

I sucked in a breath.

It felt like the air on Null Terra wasn’t enough anymore.

Chief Justice.

Secretary-General.

I looked down at myself: covered in dust, clothes in tatters, living out of a broken stasis pod.

…Perfect match.

I kept scrolling.

[Cassian Virex]

Identity: Head of the Virex Consortium | Fox Clan

Compatibility: 99.1%

[Assets: 5,468,300,000,000 Pulse; 47% stake in a commercial empire; 2 resource star systems…]

My legs went weak. I almost dropped to my knees on the spot.

Five… how much?!