My finger pressed the first option.
[Ability Selected: Titan Trigger]
[Warning: This ability requires a "Trigger Condition".]
[Condition: ???]
The window faded.
Before I could curse, the world exploded in front of me.
BOOM—!!!
The Colossal Titan's kick ruptured the gate.
The shockwave sent shards of metal and stone flying across Shiganshina like a storm of knives.
I covered my face, stumbling back, the air choked with dust.
People screamed.
Smoke rose like a second wall.
The ground trembled beneath my feet.
"Move—! Everyone, move!!" a Garrison soldier yelled, voice cracking with terror.
Children cried for their parents.
Mothers dragged their sons and daughters, their tears mixing with dust.
Someone's leg was bleeding. Someone else wasn't moving at all.
My stomach twisted.
This was too real.
And I—
I had no weapon.
No ODM gear.
Just a "Titan Trigger" skill with a condition I didn't even know.
I clenched my teeth.
"System… what is the trigger?"
Silence.
Of course.
The world didn't wait for me.
A deafening roar echoed from deeper in the district—
the sound of Titans flooding through the broken gate.
My heart dropped.
"No, no, no…"
I knew this moment.
I had seen the anime so many times…
but it never showed the smaller moments—the people tripping, the mothers screaming, the sound of bones breaking under Titan feet.
A teenage boy ran past me.
"Mom! Where's my mom?! MOM—!!"
His voice cut off.
I didn't want to turn around.
But I did.
A 3-meter Titan lifted him up, jaws opening—
"STOP!!" I screamed.
The Titan froze.
…No.
Not froze—
it just noticed me.
Its head tilted.
Drool dripped from its mouth.
Its lifeless eyes locked onto my trembling figure.
My blood ran cold.
Step.
Step.
Each one shook the ground.
"System — tell me the trigger!"
My voice cracked with panic.
Nothing.
The Titan lunged.
I didn't even have time to scream.
A hand suddenly grabbed my collar and yanked me sideways.
"ARE YOU SUICIDAL? MOVE, DAMMIT!"
I crashed into the dirt beside a woman holding a half-broken spear.
Her uniform was torn, and blood dripped down her temple.
"Get to the boats at the river!" she yelled, eyes blazing.
"We can't hold them—just run!"
She charged the Titan again, not even waiting for my answer.
The Titan swatted her aside like a fly.
"NO—!!"
Her body slammed into a wall. She didn't move.
Something in my chest cracked open—
pain, anger, helplessness, horror—
all swirling like a storm.
My heartbeat grew louder.
If I was the protagonist…
If this system really chose me as an MC…
Then why couldn't I do anything?
The Titan turned toward me again.
Closer.
Its shadow swallowed me.
Its mouth opened, strings of saliva hanging.
Death was seconds away.
My vision blurred—
and then a faint whisper echoed inside my skull:
[Trigger Condition Detected.]
My breath caught.
A glowing red mark pulsed on the back of my hand.
[Requirement: "Extreme Survival Determination" — Achieved.]
[Titan Trigger: ACTIVATED.]
A burning sensation tore through my nervous system.
My teeth clenched.
My body convulsed.
It felt like molten metal pumped through my veins.
I dropped to my knees, gripping the dirt as steam poured from my skin.
"W-What—what's happening to—AHHHH—!!"
My bones snapped.
My muscles pulsed.
My heart roared like a furnace.
The Titan's hand reached toward me—
The world flashed white.
A sound exploded out of my throat—
raw, monstrous, drowning out everything else.
—RRRROOOOOAAAAAARRR!!!—
The ground cracked.
The Titan staggered back.
Through the burning haze, I felt it—
something massive forming around me, like my body was inside a living cage of heat and power.
My fingers dug into the earth—
except they weren't fingers anymore.
They were claws.
Steam engulfed the street.
A towering silhouette rose from the smoke, shaking the ground with each breath.
People screamed—
but not in pain.
In disbelief.
Someone cried out:
"W-What is that?! A Titan? A NEW ONE?!"
Inside the steaming ribcage, I gasped for breath.
I couldn't see clearly.
I couldn't feel anything but fire and power and instinct.
And one message burned in front of me:
[Titan Form: Incomplete.]
[Percentage: 46%]
[Duration: 2 minutes.]
My eyes widened.
"Incomplete…?"
The Titan body around me felt unstable, trembling with every move, joints creaking like they might fall apart any second.
But it was enough.
The Titan that tried to kill me trembled, backing up.
A strange instinct inside me smiled.
Good.
Run.
Because for the first time—
I wasn't the prey.