The moment I saw the notification, every trace of excitement vanished.
The warriors had arrived.
My grip tightened unconsciously.
For years, they had only been names in my memory.
Characters from a story I already knew.
But now?
They were real.
Alive.
Walking somewhere within Wall Maria.
Three children carrying the fate of nations on their shoulders.
Three Titan Shifters destined to change history.
And three people responsible for the disaster that would soon destroy my home.
A chill ran down my spine.
For the first time since my rebirth, the enemy was no longer a future problem.
They were here.
Now.
Inside the walls.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down.
Panicking wouldn’t help.
The warriors were hidden for a reason.
Even if I knew who they were, finding them among thousands of people would be nearly impossible.
Not to mention dangerous.
At my current strength, confronting them would be suicide.
Especially one of them.
The future holder of the Colossal Titan.
Even with all my advantages, I wasn’t remotely prepared for that.
Not yet.
"Ding."
A notification interrupted my thoughts.
==================
Hidden Mission Triggered
The Infiltrators
Objective:
Identify one of the three warriors.
Reward:
5 Gacha Tickets
Random Rare Reward
==================
I nearly laughed.
The system certainly had a twisted sense of humor.
Identify one of them?
If only it were that easy.
I already knew exactly who they were.
The problem was proving it.
And even if I succeeded, what then?
Nobody would believe a nine-year-old child accusing random people of being enemy agents.
The mission wasn’t impossible.
But it certainly wasn’t simple.
For now, I pushed it aside.
There were more immediate concerns.
Like becoming stronger.
Much stronger.
The following months passed quickly.
Training consumed most of my free time.
Thanks to Battle Instinct, every session became dramatically more effective.
Combat movements that once felt awkward now seemed natural.
My reactions improved.
My awareness sharpened.
Even Danger Sense appeared to benefit from the synergy.
Several times, I caught objects before they fell.
Avoided accidents before they happened.
Predicted people’s movements seconds in advance.
It was subtle.
But undeniably useful.
Then something unexpected happened.
One afternoon, while sparring with a wooden stick, Mikasa suddenly stopped.
Her eyes narrowed.
"What?"
I lowered my weapon.
"What do you mean?"
She pointed toward me.
"You’re stronger."
My heart skipped.
Again?
Had I exposed too much?
Fortunately, she continued.
"Much stronger."
I exhaled slowly.
Well.
She wasn’t wrong.
At this point, I was probably stronger than most trained adults.
Not because of talent.
Not because of genius.
Simply because the system was absurd.
Still, revealing that fact would raise questions.
Questions I couldn’t answer.
So I shrugged.
"I train a lot."
Mikasa stared at me.
Then surprisingly nodded.
Apparently, that explanation was sufficient.
For now.
But her observation planted a dangerous thought in my mind.
If Mikasa noticed...
How long before others did too?
I needed to be more careful.
The last thing I wanted was attention.
Especially from the military.
Especially from people connected to Grisha.
That evening, another monthly reward arrived.
[Ding.]
Monthly Reward Available.
Claim?
Yes.
A silver chest appeared.
The lid opened.
Light exploded outward.
[Reward Obtained.]
[Intermediate Swordsmanship Skill Book.]
I almost jumped from excitement.
Another skill book.
And a better one.
Without hesitation, I used it.
The familiar pain returned instantly.
Knowledge flooded my mind.
Techniques.
Footwork.
Attack patterns.
Defensive forms.
Combat principles.
Thousands of movements appeared and disappeared like lightning.
Minutes later, the process ended.
I collapsed onto my bed.
Sweating.
Breathing heavily.
But smiling.
Very smiling.
I could feel the difference immediately.
It was enormous.
The gap between basic and intermediate swordsmanship was like the difference between a student and a professional.
My combat ability had skyrocketed.
The system window appeared.
==================
Intermediate Swordsmanship Acquired.
Skill Rank Updated.
==================
Excellent.
Very excellent.
At this rate, I might actually become strong enough before the fall of Wall Maria.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
Then Danger Sense activated.
Violently.
Much stronger than ever before.
I shot upright.
My heart pounded.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
A warning.
An instinctive feeling of danger.
But not aimed at me.
At someone else.
Before I could understand what was happening, another notification appeared.
[Ding.]
World Event Detected.
The Butterfly Effect Activated.
A canon event has begun to diverge.
Reward Pending.
I froze.
My breathing stopped.
A canon event was changing?
Already?
Without me doing anything?
That shouldn’t be possible.
Unless...
Unless my previous actions had finally started creating consequences.
Small changes create larger waves.
The system’s earlier hint echoed in my mind.
Suddenly, the challenge mission appeared again.
==================
The Future Cannot Be Changed?
Progress Updated
1%
==================
One percent.
A tiny number.
Yet it represented something incredible.
Proof.
Proof that fate could change.
Proof that the future wasn’t absolute.
Proof that my efforts mattered.
A grin slowly spread across my face.
For years, a small fear had remained hidden inside me.
The fear that no matter what I did, everything would still happen exactly as before.
Now that fear was gone.
The future was moving.
Shifting.
Changing.
And if it could change once—
It could change again.
Far away, beyond the walls, three young warriors continued their mission.
They had no idea.
The future they remembered was already slipping away.
One small change at a time.
And before long...
Those changes would become impossible to ignore.