Please enter with caution if you cannot handle any heartbreak. Those looking for a consistently thrilling read from start to finish might want to skip this one. Given the world-view and structure of Attack Titan, it's challenging for it to be a pure 'feel-good' story. I will do my best to ensure that the unresolved regrets from the original work find a satisfying conclusion.
Naval cannons roared in unison, the entire shoreline engulfed in artillery fire. Limbs were torn asunder, and screams rose and fell in continuous waves.
A female soldier with long black hair, wearing a red scarf, lunged desperately towards a long blade, passionately kissing it. A tear slipped from her eye, before she was completely swallowed by the smoke of cannon fire... In a magnificent palace, a queen, crowned and radiating an imposing aura, stood at the grand entrance, surrounded by a hundred firearms. The queen ignored the weapons before her, instead gazing into the distance, her eyes filled with a sense of relief. The next second, the hundred firearms opened fire... A man floated in the void, his body covered in electric arcs and dense lightning, like the embodiment of a thunder god. With a soft roar, he unleashed countless bolts of lightning, transforming into a phantom image. All human structures in the vicinity exploded into ruins.
Thousands of towering Titans before him were all shattered. Civilians within tens of kilometers were all pulverized by the sky-filling lightning in despair. A prosperous modern city instantly turned into a dead city, filled with the cries of surviving women and children, and the desperate, resentful wails and roars of surviving youths... "I'm counting on you."
...Kanzaki suddenly opened his eyes, quickly sat up, gasping for air, drenched in sweat. He found himself feeling very disoriented, and his heart had a piercing, agonizing pain.
"Such a realistic scene..." Kanzaki pressed his forehead, trying to recall the fragments of his dream. All that remained was a sense of dread and anger that filled his chest, but the images were already blurry.
Kanzaki's eyes were filled with melancholy; the long nightmare felt like reliving an entire lifetime.
Kanzaki touched the corner of his eye and found it wet with tears. He realized that for some unknown reason, he was experiencing waves of pain.
"Hehe... That damned Hajime Isayama... making me have nightmares..." Kanzaki covered his forehead, feeling a headache.
Kanzaki gradually awoke from his daze, realizing he was in a completely unfamiliar environment.
"Holy crap!" Kanzaki suddenly shot up from a wooden bed.
He was in a somewhat primitive, rustic wooden room. Looking around, besides a small cupboard, there was also a wooden hanger with a pink jacket hanging on it.
As Kanzaki subconsciously pondered, he touched his chin, then abruptly paused, touching it again more carefully. Why was it so smooth?
Where were his pimples? He looked down at himself, stretched out his hand—it was soft and delicate. "Holy crap!" he exclaimed again, leaping off the bed. With a 'bang,' his feet instantly broke through the floorboards, sending splinters flying.
"Alright, not awake yet, I'll go back to sleep." Kanzaki confirmed he hadn't woken up from his dream and prepared to lie back down.
Then he stretched lazily, his hand sliding to the nearby clothes hanger, which snapped directly in half.
Seeing this, Kanzaki punched the wooden floor beneath his feet. The floorboards instantly shattered, his fist striking the bluestone ground.
"Hmm, not bad, it's still a superpower dream, it just hurts a little." Kanzaki nodded, understanding.
Kanzaki looked at his loose school uniform and pants, and his shoes, which were suddenly five sizes too big. Although it was unusual, he was in a dream, so what did it matter?
Just then, the small room's door creaked open, and a pretty little girl first stepped in, revealing half her body, then slowly walked inside.
So cute! Kanzaki's eyes lit up.
This isn't right, is it? How could I have a dream like this? This is a little girl, isn't it?
"You're not hurt, are you? My name is Mikasa Ackerman, and this is my home."
Saying that, she turned and shouted:
"Mom, Dad, the boy is awake!"
Mikasa Ackerman? It seems the after-effects are too strong; I'm having a dream about Attack Titan. Kanzaki couldn't help but show a wry smile.
Kanzaki walked up to Mikasa and carefully examined her small, delicate face, feeling a wave of sadness.
Mikasa blinked her big eyes, not knowing what Kanzaki was going to do.
Her adorable appearance made Kanzaki instinctively reach out and pinch Mikasa's face playfully.
"Ow! That hurts!" Mikasa rubbed her slightly reddened cheek, stepping back, looking at Kanzaki with great grievance and shyness.
Just then, a hearty man entered, glancing at Kanzaki and then at the floor. He had golden hair, deep, rugged features, distinctly European in appearance.
"Little friend, are you alright! My wife, could you get me a first-aid kit?"
"Coming, coming!" Just then, a beautiful Mrs. Ackerman, who bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Mikasa, also entered.
These must be Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman, I suppose. I don't know when I'll wake up from this dream, so I might as well enjoy it.
"Hello, my name is Kanzaki. You can call me Chance, or you can call me Kanzaki." Kanzaki said with a slight smile.
"Little friend, where are your family? Why were you lying alone in the forest? That's very dangerous. Fortunately, Dr. Yeager left us a first-aid kit last time, and it still has some liniment."
With that, Mrs. Ackerman picked up Kanzaki's slightly swollen finger, dabbed it with medicinal wine on cotton, and carefully wiped it. Then Mr. Ackerman picked Kanzaki up and placed him on the bed, and Mrs. Ackerman carefully wiped Kanzaki's entire body, which had no injuries whatsoever.
"You're quite heavy, kid." Mr. Ackerman, who had just carried Kanzaki, said with a laugh.
"That means Kanzaki is very healthy!" Mrs. Ackerman said, covering her mouth with a smile.
"I told you the floorboards in the room need to be replaced! Dr. Yeager will be here soon and he'll laugh at us." She finished, giving Mr. Ackerman a glare.
Mr. Ackerman scratched the back of his head and said honestly, "I've been busy with a few new orders lately, forging iron, and I forgot. I'll go replace them right away." With that, he exited the room.
Just outside the room, Mr. Ackerman's head popped back through the doorway.
"Little Kanzaki, just treat this place as your own home. If you can't find your family, you can consider us your family." He finished, then smiled and ran off.
Kanzaki felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this. They truly were good people.
"About the floorboards, I'm sorry, I..."
"Oh, it's not your fault at all. They're very old and should have been replaced a long time ago. What matters is that you weren't hurt when you fell. Otherwise, if we had you stay with us to recover and then you got injured, I wouldn't know how to explain it to your family."
Mrs. Ackerman smiled, completely unfazed, while Mikasa watched Kanzaki quietly, her small eyes constantly darting around.
Kanzaki nodded.
Kanzaki looked at the adorable big eyes of eight or nine-year-old Mikasa at this moment and couldn't help but feel a deep sense of emotion.
"Mikasa, you're so cute."
Upon hearing this, Mikasa's face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple.
"Tha... thank you." She lowered her head slightly, not daring to look at Kanzaki, but every now and then, she would shyly glance up at him.
I'm sorry, Mikasa, I can only see you in this dream. I can't change your tragic lives. I'm truly sorry.
"Goodnight, Mikasa." Kanzaki smiled slightly, twisting his finger hard, preparing to wake up.
"Goodnight?" Mikasa was stunned.
"Crack!" A sound of bone breaking echoed.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!"
Three days later.
Am I really transmigrated?!
Kanzaki looked at his bandaged pinky finger, on the verge of tears.
He gradually accepted the world-shattering reality that he had truly transmigrated to Paradis Island, a medieval era without the internet or various flavorings and sauces.
"It's over, only two months until the college entrance exam, I'm doomed. I won't be able to go back, will I? It's over, my life is over, I'm going to be eaten by Titans." Kanzaki, with a titan bandaged pinky finger, huddled in a corner, muttering to himself, as if a dark cloud floated above his head.
On the other side of the wall, Mikasa curiously watched Kanzaki.
"What a strange person." Mikasa felt a peculiar sensation watching Kanzaki, who often talked to himself and liked to break his own fingers for no reason.
"Kanzaki... Kanzaki Gege, let's play hide-and-seek." Mikasa said shyly.
"Hide-and-seek?" Kanzaki was startled.
"Yes! Hide-and-seek. Don't you know how?" Mikasa said.
Three days later.
During this time, Kanzaki and Mikasa got along very well, often running around in the nearby woods together. He would play hide-and-seek with Mikasa, though he was basically in a state of completely questioning life. Whether hiding or seeking, he would just find a spot and zone out.
However, to his surprise, Kanzaki found that his stamina almost never wavered, as if he were a perpetual motion machine, tirelessly working. His strength was also immense; the unusual power he had previously thought was a dream seemed not to have disappeared.
He no longer hoped to wake up from this "dream" and had already accepted reality, pondering how to survive in this "man-eating" world.
"Splash!" A scoop of clear water was suddenly splashed onto the dazed Kanzaki's face by Mikasa.
"Titans! Ahhh! Holy crap!" Kanzaki screamed reflexively.
"Titans? Brother, what are you talking about?" Mikasa blinked her innocent eyes.
Seeing it was Mikasa, Kanzaki immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, Mikasa!" He immediately reached out his mischievous hands towards Mikasa's armpits.
"Eek! Hahaha!" Mikasa turned and ran far away. Kanzaki waited for Mikasa to run about ten meters, then caught up in the blink of an eye.
"Kanzaki, you're so fast!"
"So fast?" Suddenly, Kanzaki seemed to remember something and glanced at the pond a dozen meters away.
"Holy crap, I'm so fast!" Kanzaki said, somewhat surprised.
"So fast! So amazing!" Mikasa clapped her hands from the side.
Why did that sound so strange? Kanzaki's face darkened.
"Ahem, Mikasa, look, there's a butterfly ahead!" Kanzaki couldn't continue, so he quickly pointed to divert the topic.
Mikasa looked back and saw a vibrant, large butterfly flying through a colorful flowerbed. Her bright eyes widened, and she chased after it with her mouth agape. However, the kind Mikasa didn't try to catch it, but instead followed it closely, watching quietly.
At this moment, the butterfly began to circle Mikasa. Mikasa excitedly said, "Kanzaki, look!"
Kanzaki looked at the happy Mikasa, his eyes softening a little. The oppressive hostility he felt in the city before his transmigration, and the constant worry about Titan attacks, seemed to be cured and swept away at this moment.
"This must be the charm of the second dimension, oh no, it's reality now."
"This way… it seems… pretty good," Kanzaki murmured, watching Mikasa circle with the butterfly. Suddenly, his brain throbbed with pain, as if some image was trying to force its way in, but then it vanished in an instant.
"Ugh." The sudden sharp pain made Kanzaki rub his forehead, frowning slightly, but it dissipated after a moment.
"Why does it feel like there's something I can't remember?" Kanzaki frowned deeply and massaged his temples.
"Kanzaki, I've been so happy these past few days. I've never had many friends since I was little, and this is the first time I've met someone who's willing to play with me!" Mikasa looked at the clear lake beside them, a joyful smile on her face.
Seeing this, Kanzaki couldn't help but think of the tragic ending of this world and Mikasa's life experiences, and his heart ached.
He clasped Mikasa's hand, looked into her clear eyes, and said with a slight smile, "You'll meet many more friends in the future, and many people will like you. You won't be lonely anymore, and I'll always be with you."
"Let's go catch fish!" Kanzaki said, then pulled Mikasa and ran along the lakeside.
Mikasa was momentarily lost in thought upon hearing Kanzaki's words. Besides her parents, no one had ever treated her like Kanzaki did. These words, at this moment, seemed to be branded deep into her soul.
Mikasa stared blankly with her clear, sparkling eyes at Kanzaki, who was holding her hand, and gazed at his profile as he pulled her forward, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Kanzaki didn't know that this sentence, which wouldn't even count as a love confession in his world—as plain as could be—had caused such a huge ripple in Mikasa's heart.
"Okay!" Mikasa nodded, letting Kanzaki pull her along, and kept staring intently at Kanzaki's profile.
Kanzaki arrived at the riverbank and quietly looked at his reflection in the water. He had actually become younger and transmigrated. What exactly… what exactly… was going on? The development of things has its laws and its logic. Could it be that Earth had a bug?
Forget it, since he was here, he would make the best of it. The world of Attack Titan… how should he survive and develop in this world? As Kanzaki pondered, he lightly took two steps and actually ran seven or eight meters, almost falling into the lake.
He came back to his senses, a little stunned. Now, if he wasn't careful, his steps covered such a long distance. This sudden increase in speed and strength was indeed a bit hard to adapt to.
At this moment, he saw a ripple in the water. His eyes fixed, he concentrated and held his breath, then pounced fiercely. The muddy ground by the river was dug into a small pit by his push, and a large fish landed in Kanzaki's arms, struggling continuously.
"Kanzaki, you're so amazing!" Mikasa, standing nearby, had stars in her eyes.
She had seen her father catch fish before and naturally knew that it wasn't easy to catch them bare-handed, because the fish in this lake swam very fast and were difficult to catch without tools. However, Mikasa's praise made Kanzaki a bit smug. Kanzaki's hand slipped, and the fish jumped directly back into the water, darting far away.
Kanzaki was a little embarrassed. In a fit of pique, he pounced again, even further, slamming his palm hard into the water, directly smashing the fish into a mud pit. His hand also sank deep into the mud pit at the bottom of the lake.
Kanzaki then realized that there seemed to be a swamp underneath. Alarm bells rang in his heart, and he quickly exerted force, trying to pull himself out. However, he found that he and the fish were continuously sinking.
"Kanzaki! It's a swamp!" Mikasa cried out in extreme panic, seeing Kanzaki continuously sinking. She was somewhat at a loss, shaking her head and looking around, then immediately ran to a certain spot.
Kanzaki continued to sink. The mud had already covered his waist, and his legs were completely immobile.
Calm down, calm down. What should one do when stuck in a swamp? It seemed he shouldn't use force; the more he struggled, the faster he would sink. But if he couldn't use force, what should he do? Kanzaki realized at this moment that his wilderness survival knowledge was so lacking.
Struggling also meant sinking, not struggling also meant sinking, so he might as well give it his all! For the first time since coming to this world, Kanzaki used all his strength, gritting his teeth, his arms bulging with veins, and all 639 muscles in his body began to crackle.
Suddenly, a faint blue light flashed in his pupils, a fleeting moment, and a series of electric arcs surged from his arms. In an instant, Kanzaki felt his body lighten, he broke free, and he flew back to the shore, holding an electrocuted fish in his hand.
At the same time, a sense of weakness spread throughout his body; he was suddenly incredibly fatigued and couldn't exert any strength.
Meanwhile, Mikasa, holding a long wooden plank, anxiously ran back.
"Ding, congratulations, esteemed VIP player, for your first kill of an otherworldly creature. Activating a one-time VIP novice tutorial. Please note, this system is a one-time system.
Please listen carefully. The player has arrived in the world of Attack Titan, created by the author Hajime Isayama. To help the player have a better gaming experience,
this system has prepared a pending activation 100% Ackerman bloodline template for the player. This is the player's Ackerman bloodline limit, not the limit of all Ackerman people. At the same time, you will possess the ability to control the power of lightning.
You can integrate the destructive power and speed of lightning into your own strength and speed. Of course, directly using visualized lightning abilities is also feasible,
provided the player has sufficiently powerful abilities not to fear the gaze of otherworldly natives, or has a convincing explanation.
The player's current abilities are not in their complete state. You need to slay a Pure Titan for full activation. Slaying one hundred Pure Titans / killing one Intelligent Titan can elevate your ability level and grant you greater power. (Each Pure Titan slain grants an enhancement)
Player's current strength: With specific equipment, you can solo a Pure Titan. Additionally, player, be warned, the term 'game' is merely a mechanism of this system; you are still in reality. If the player harbors thoughts of waking up after death, the consequences are at your own risk. Now, please begin your journey of exploration."
"VIP? So there are civilian players?" Kanzaki asked, frowning deeply.
"Civilian players are all fodder for VIP players. In fact, anyone in this world other than you can be called a civilian player," the system responded.
Kanzaki frowned slightly and said, "So why did I transmigrate?"
The system did not respond this time.
Seeing that the system didn't react, Kanzaki focused his attention on his abilities.