The transition between worlds was not instantaneous. It felt like being pulled through a straw, a compression of space and time that would have driven a normal mind to madness.
But Ren's mind was fortified by the System.
He blinked, and the white void dissolved.
The smell hit him first. Not the rotting stench of the Walking Dead, but the smell of baked bread, coal smoke, and livestock.
He stood in an alleyway paved with cobblestones. The architecture was medieval European—timber-framed houses, red-tiled roofs.
[System Notification]
[World Arrival: Attack on Titan (Paradis Island)]
[Location: Shiganshina District.]
[Date: Year 845.]
[Time Dilation: 1 Day in Main World (TWD) = 1 Year in Current World.]
[Current Status: Illegal Resident.]
Ren looked down at himself. The System had automatically transmuted his tactical gear. He now wore a high-quality brown leather coat, a white button-up shirt, dark trousers, and heavy leather boots. His katana was still strapped to his back, but it now looked like a custom blade rather than a modern tactical weapon.
[Inventory Check: All modern firearms are locked to avoid excessive causality disruption. Melee, Magic, and Skills are Active.]
"No guns?" Ren smirked, cracking his knuckles. "I don't need guns for overgrown toddlers."
He stepped out of the alley. The streets were bustling. People were laughing, trading, living their ignorant lives inside the birdcage.
Ren looked up. The Wall.
Wall Maria towered fifty meters above the town, a monument to fear and false security.
"It's peaceful," Ren noted. "Which means I'm just in time."
[Main Quest Generated: The Titan Slayer]
[Objective: Defend Shiganshina during the Fall.]
[Sub-Objective A: Save Carla Jaeger (Prevent the Smiling Titan kill).]
[Sub-Objective B: Kill 10 Titans.]
[Reward: 5,000 System Points, 1x Vial of Perfected Titan Serum (No Ymir Curse), Unlock: ODM Gear Proficiency.]
"Perfected Serum," Ren's eyes gleaned with greed. "That's the ticket."
The Lightning Strike
Ren walked through the crowd, parting them with his Incubus Charisma. People stared—he was taller, healthier, and far more imposing than the malnourished peasants of the district.
He made his way toward the outer gate.
Suddenly, the air pressure dropped. The hairs on Ren's arms stood up.
KRA-KOOM!
A bolt of yellow lightning, thicker than a house, struck the ground just outside the gate. The earth shook violently, knocking civilians off their feet.
Ren stood firm, his Super Soldier balance compensating instantly.
Steam hissed, rising in a massive cloud. And then, a hand—red, skinless, and massive—gripped the top of the Wall.
The Colossal Titan.
Ren watched as the sixty-meter face peered over the edge. The sheer scale was impressive, far more terrifying than on a TV screen.
"Bertholdt," Ren whispered. "Showtime."
The Colossal Titan swung its leg.
BOOM.
The gate shattered. Debris, massive boulders the size of cars, rained down on the district. The shockwave flattened the nearest houses.
Screams erupted. The peace was shattered.
"Titans! The Titans have entered!"
Ren didn't run away. He ran toward the residential district. He had a date with the protagonist's mother.
The Jaeger House
Ren moved with the speed of a sports car, leaping over crushed carts and panicked civilians.
[Agility Check: 25 + Limit Breaker Boost.]
He reached the Jaeger house. It was crushed under a massive boulder.
Eren and Mikasa were frantically pulling at the wooden beams.
"Lift it! We have to lift it!" Eren was screaming, tears streaming down his face.
"My legs are crushed," Carla Jaeger gasped from beneath the rubble. "Eren, take Mikasa and run! You have to run!"
"No! I'm not leaving you!"
Ren slowed to a walk as he approached. He saw Hannes, the Garrison soldier, running up, looking terrified.
The ground shook again. Thump. Thump.
From the street corner, a Titan appeared. It had a grotesque, permanent smile. The Smiling Titan. Dina Fritz.
Hannes drew his blades, looked at the Titan, and froze. The fear was absolute.
"Hannes!" Eren screamed. "Help us!"
Hannes took a step back. He was going to run. He was going to save the kids and leave the mother. That was the script.
"Pathetic," a voice cut through the chaos.
Hannes spun around. Eren and Mikasa looked up.
Ren stood there, his coat billowing in the wind. He looked at the Smiling Titan approaching, then at the boulder crushing Carla.
"You," Ren pointed at Hannes. "Grab the kids."
"Who... who are you?" Hannes stammered.
Ren ignored him. He walked up to the boulder. It was a solid chunk of masonry, easily weighing two tons.
"Eren, move," Ren ordered.
"We can't lift it!" Eren sobbed. "It's too heavy!"
Ren placed one hand on the rock.
[Skill: Telekinesis (Assist)]
[Stat: Strength 27 (Super Soldier)]
"Up."
Ren gritted his teeth. Veins popped on his forehead. With a guttural roar, he heaved.
The boulder didn't just shift; it rose. Ren lifted the two-ton rock and tossed it aside like it was Styrofoam.
CRASH.
Eren's jaw dropped. Mikasa's dark eyes widened.
Carla was free, though her legs were broken.
"Mom!" Eren scrambled to her.
"Ren," the Smiling Titan was thirty meters away now, reaching out.
"Get her out of here," Ren told Hannes. "Take them to the boats."
"What about you?" Hannes asked, finding a shred of courage now that the impossible had just happened.
Ren drew his Katana.
He channeled his mana.
[Elementalist: Lightning].
Blue electricity surged down the blade, crackling loudly, contrasting with the yellow lightning of the Titan transformation earlier.
"I'm going to teach that thing a lesson about dental hygiene."
Sovereign vs. Titan
The Smiling Titan lunged, its massive hand aiming to scoop Ren up.
Ren didn't use ODM gear. He used Limit Breaker.
He jumped.
He soared twenty feet into the air, dodging the hand. He landed on the Titan's extended arm.
"Die," Ren whispered.
He sprinted up the Titan's arm.
The Titan tried to bite him. Ren sidestepped on the shoulder, moving faster than the lumbering giant could track.
He reached the nape.
"First blood."
SLASH.
Ren didn't just cut a chunk of meat. He poured his Lightning into the strike.
ZZZ-CRACK!
The nape exploded. The electrical discharge fried the Titan's brain stem instantly.
The massive body went limp and crashed to the ground, steam erupting from the wound.
Ren landed gracefully on the cobblestones, flicking the steaming blood off his sword.
[System Notification]
[Target Eliminated: Smiling Titan.]
[Progress: 1/10 Titans.]
[Hidden Objective Complete: Dina Fritz Neutralized.]
[Destiny Point Acquired: Eren Jaeger's Motivation Altered.]
Ren looked back. Eren was watching from Hannes's shoulder as they ran. The boy wasn't looking at the Titan with fear anymore.
He was looking at Ren with awe.
"Run!" Ren shouted.
The Slaughter
For the next hour, Shiganshina became Ren's hunting ground.
He moved through the streets, a phantom of death.
A 10-meter Titan cornered a group of civilians. Ren used Telekinesis to rip a chimney off a roof and smash the Titan's face in, then finished it with a sword strike.
A 4-meter crawler tried to bite a child. Ren kicked it in the jaw with such force that its head snapped back, breaking its neck.
[Progress: 8/10 Titans.]
He needed two more.
He saw the inner gate closing. The Armored Titan was coming. Reiner.
Ren stood on a rooftop. He could stop Reiner. He could kill him right now.
"No," Ren calculated. "If I kill Reiner now, the Paradis government stays complacent. They need the fear to mobilize. I need the chaos to rise."
He turned away from the gate.
Two 15-meter Titans were blocking the path to the boats. The Garrison soldiers were being eaten.
"Last ones."
Ren sheathed his sword. He held out both hands.
[Skill: Lightning Storm (Max Output)]
"Burn."
Two massive bolts of blue lightning shot from his hands. They struck the Titans in the chest, blowing holes straight through them and scorching the napes from the inside out.
The Titans fell.
[Quest Completed: The Titan Slayer.]
[Rewards Deposited.]
[1x Perfected Titan Serum (Inventory).]
[Unlocked Passive Skill: ODM Gear Proficiency.]
[Description: You possess the spatial awareness and acrobatic reflex of a veteran Scout. Even without the gear, your ability to calculate trajectories, utilize momentum, and fight in mid-air is perfected. Synergizes with Agility stat.]
[5,000 System Points.]
[Current Balance: 6,300 Points.]
Ren smirked. He felt it—a sudden shift in his proprioception.
"Ackerman reflexes," Ren noted. "Combined with Super Soldier stats? I don't need wires to fly."
The Boat
Ren reached the canal just as the last boat was departing. It was packed with refugees.
Hannes was there, guarding Carla, Eren, and Mikasa.
"Wait!" Eren shouted. "He's coming!"
Ren leaped from the pier, landing on the back of the boat. The vessel rocked, but stabilized.
The refugees stared at him. He was covered in Titan blood, his blue eyes glowing faintly.
"Did you kill them?" Mikasa asked quietly. She was clutching her scarf.
Ren looked at her. This was Mikasa Ackerman. The ultimate bodyguard.
"I killed enough," Ren said. He looked at Carla Jaeger. Her legs were splinted crudely. She was pale, but alive.
"You saved me," Carla whispered. "Why?"
Ren leaned against the railing, watching Shiganshina burn as the boat drifted away. The Armored Titan had just smashed the inner gate. The wall was lost.
"Because I hate tragic endings," Ren said.
He looked at Eren. The boy was shaking, filled with rage and confusion.
"You have power," Eren said, gripping Ren's coat. "Teach me. Teach me how to kill them like that."
Ren smiled. The seed was planted.
"I will, kid. But first, we survive."
The Refugee Camp (Wall Rose)
Two days later. The food shortages had already begun.
Ren, however, had the Pocket Dimension.
He found a secluded area in the woods near the refugee warehouses.
"System, open Pocket Dimension."
He stepped inside.
The contrast was jarring. Inside, it was a paradise. The villa was warm. Maggie was waiting.
"Ren!" She ran to him. "You've been gone for... a second? But you look..."
"It's been two days for me," Ren said, stripping off his blood-soaked coat. "And it was a hell of a two days."
He went to the inventory table. A small wooden box sat there.
He opened it. Inside was a syringe filled with glowing, iridescent spinal fluid.
[Item: Perfected Titan Serum]
[Description: grants the power of a Titan Shifter without the need to eat a current shifter. The user can choose their form based on mental image and compatibility. No 13-year curse.]
Ren picked it up.
"This," Ren said to himself, "is how I break the Governor."
He turned to the interface.
"System, use 5,000 Points to buy 'Titan Hardening Ability' and 'Warhammer Construction' skill books."
[Purchase Confirmed. Skills added to Inventory.]
Ren looked at his stats.
He was strong. He was fast. But he wasn't a giant yet.
"Should I take it?" he mused.
If he took the serum, he would become a Shifter. A Sovereign Titan.
But he had another idea.
"Maggie," Ren called out.
"Yeah?"
"How would you like to be ten times stronger?"
Maggie looked at the syringe, then at Ren. She trusted him with her life.
"If it helps us win," Maggie said.
"No," Ren shook his head. "Not you. Not yet. This is for me. But I need a spotter."
Ren sat on the bed. He rolled up his sleeve.
He injected the serum.
The Transformation
Pain.
It felt like magma was being poured into his veins.
Ren fell to the floor, convulsing. His Deadpool Healing Factor went to war with the Titan viral agent.
[System Alert]
[Genetic Rewrite in Progress.]
[Super Soldier Serum + Healing Factor + Titan Fluid = Hybridization.]
[Evolution Commencing.]
Ren screamed.
Yellow lightning arced off his body, mixing with his own blue mana lightning.
The villa shook.
"Ren!" Maggie screamed, backing away.
[Transformation Complete.]
Ren gasped, lying on the floor. He hadn't turned into a mindless Titan. The System had stabilized the process.
He felt... heavy. Dense.
He stood up. He looked the same, but his eyes were now glowing with a permanent, faint golden ring around the blue iris.
[New Form Unlocked: The Sovereign Titan.]
[Height: 15 Meters (Adjustable).]
[Abilities: Hardening, Weapon Creation (Warhammer), High-Speed Regeneration, Lightning Conductor.]
Ren clenched his fist. Sparks flew.
"I'm ready," Ren said, his voice sounding like two voices speaking in unison.