The boat rocked beneath us as we drifted further away from the ruins of Shiganshina. The fires continued to rage in the distance, turning the sky a sickening shade of red. Screams had long since faded, swallowed by the night, but their echoes remained.
The silence on the boat was unbearable.
Eren sat motionless, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails had drawn blood from his palms. His eyes were vacant, locked onto the distant destruction of his home. Mikasa sat beside him, unmoving, as if afraid to speak. Armin shivered next to me, his breathing unsteady, his hands wrapped around himself as if that would stop the memories from clawing at his mind.
And me? I just stared at the water, my reflection barely visible beneath the ripples. My body felt light, yet impossibly heavy. The system messages in my vision flickered, demanding attention, but I ignored them for now. The weight of what had happened pressed down on my chest.
Hannes sat near the edge of the boat, gripping his flask with a trembling hand. He looked older somehow, as if the weight of failure had settled into his very bones. I had always known Hannes as a relaxed, easygoing soldier—someone who laughed too easily and drank too much.
But tonight, there was no laughter.
Eren finally moved. "We could've saved her."
His voice was cold. Not with anger, not yet. Just a quiet, empty kind of fury.
Hannes flinched, but he didn't deny it.
"I was scared," he admitted, voice barely above a whisper. "I looked at that Titan, and I knew—I couldn't win. I ran. I ran like a coward."
Eren's fists tightened. "Then get stronger."
Hannes blinked at him.
Eren's voice grew louder, shaking with emotion. "We can't stay weak! We can't let them win! The Titans took everything from us. Our homes, our families… my mother…" His breathing hitched, but he pressed on. "If we don't fight, we'll keep losing. We have to get stronger. We have to kill them!"
Mikasa placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him. He exhaled shakily, but the fire in his eyes didn't dim. If anything, it burned brighter.
We arrived at Wall Rose as the first light of dawn stretched across the sky.
The refugees from Shiganshina spilled onto the land, haggard, broken, their eyes filled with nothing but exhaustion and grief. Soldiers tried to organize them, directing them to shelters, but there were too many. Too many lost, too many displaced.
The smell of sweat, blood, and despair clung to the air like a curse.
I walked beside the trio, my mind still processing everything. We weren't the same people who had left Shiganshina. That part of our lives had been buried beneath rubble and Titan footprints.
"Name?" A soldier asked, clipboard in hand.
"Eren Jaeger."
"Mikasa Ackerman."
"Armin Arlert."
When it was my turn, I hesitated for a split second.
Then I spoke the name the system had assigned me for this world. "Akira Kurogane."
The soldier barely glanced up before scribbling it down. "Follow the others."
We moved forward, passing the crowd of survivors who were being corralled into makeshift camps. I scanned the area, noting the soldiers standing guard, the medics tending to the wounded. Food was being distributed in meager portions. Resources were stretched thin.
Starvation was coming.
And with it, desperation.
The days that followed were bleak.
Rations were cut. People fought over scraps. The government was indifferent—too busy calculating how many refugees they could afford to keep alive. Those unfit to work or fight would eventually be 'sent to reclaim Wall Maria'—a fancy way of saying they were being sent to die.
It was a cruel system. But that was this world. Cruel.
Through it all, we trained.
Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and I.
At first, it was simple—basic exercises to build our bodies back up after days of malnourishment. Eren pushed himself the hardest, his grief fueling him like fire. Mikasa was a prodigy, her movements already fluid, efficient. Armin struggled, but he never gave up.
And me? I trained in secret when no one was looking, using my system to push myself beyond normal human limits.
[System Quest: Strengthen the Body]
Complete 100 Push-ups, 100 Squats, 10km Jogging for 7 Days
Reward: +3 Strength, +3 Endurance, +2 Agility, Random Item
Each day, I grew stronger.
Each day, my control over my abilities sharpened.
Each day, I became more prepared for what was coming.
One evening, we sat outside, watching the dim glow of lanterns scattered across the refugee camp.
Eren leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "I'm joining the military."
Armin looked up. "The Training Corps?"
Eren nodded. "Yeah. If we want to fight back, we need to learn. We need to become soldiers."
Mikasa didn't speak, but I saw the way her fingers curled slightly. She had already made her decision. Wherever Eren went, she would follow.
Armin hesitated, his hands tightening around his sleeves. "I… I want to go too."
Eren looked at him, surprised. "Are you sure?"
Armin took a shaky breath, but his gaze was firm. "I don't want to be useless anymore. I want to help. I want to make a difference."
Eren grinned, slapping his back. "Then let's do it. Together."
They turned to me. "Rin?"
I smiled slightly. "You already know my answer."
Eren smirked. "Then it's settled. We'll join the Training Corps. And after that… we'll take back everything we lost."
I glanced at my system screen one last time before dismissing it.
A new path had opened.
And with it, new challenges.
The next step in our journey had begun.