Chapter 3: Mine
Blood rained across Ren’s face.
Warm. Fresh.
The female student beside him didn’t even have time to scream properly before her body exploded apart like crushed glass. Pieces of flesh hit the ground. Students nearby froze in complete horror.
Then chaos erupted.
"AAAAAHHH!!"
"MONSTER!!"
"RUN!!"
Ren stumbled backward, his heartbeat nearly stopping entirely.
The Queen still stood atop the rooftop silently. Watching him. Only him. The burning city behind her made the entire scene feel unreal, like a nightmare that refused to end properly.
Her crimson eyes slowly lowered toward the blood staining Ren’s clothes.
And she frowned.
As if something precious had been dirtied.
Ren’s instincts screamed at him to run immediately. But his legs refused to move. Fear had rooted him completely in place. Because deep down he understood something terrifying.
The girl hadn’t died accidentally.
The Queen killed her because she touched him.
A cold breeze swept across the ruined campus. Then the Queen disappeared. Ren’s eyes widened. Gone. No movement, no sound. She simply vanished from the rooftop like she had never been standing there at all.
His survival instincts exploded instantly.
MOVE.
Ren turned and sprinted toward the outer gate with everything he had. Monsters crashed across the campus behind him while awakened students desperately fought back using unstable new abilities. Fire. Ice. Lightning. Screams mixed with explosions from every direction.
Yet none of it mattered to Ren anymore.
Because something far more terrifying than the apocalypse was chasing him.
---
[Ding!]
[Emergency Warning.]
[The Crimson Queen has locked onto your existence.]
[Danger Level: FATAL]
"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!"
Ren nearly shouted while running. His mind raced violently. Who was she? Why did she know him? What had happened in the previous timelines? And why did the System itself sound terrified of her?
Suddenly a student slammed into Ren from the side.
"Watch where you’re—"
The guy stopped mid-sentence. His eyes widened strangely. Then his expression turned completely blank, almost fearful. Without another word he backed away slowly and ran in the opposite direction.
Ren frowned.
"What was that about...?"
Then he noticed it. Everyone around him was avoiding him. Instinctively. As if they sensed something dangerous nearby. No, not near him. Behind him.
Ren slowly turned his head.
And his entire body went cold.
The Queen walked calmly several meters behind him. Barefoot. Elegant. Silent. Monsters crawling nearby immediately lowered themselves against the ground whenever she passed, like servants greeting their ruler. Students unknowingly moved away from her path without understanding why.
Her crimson eyes remained fixed entirely on Ren.
She smiled softly the moment their gazes met.
"Found you."
Ren’s throat went completely dry.
"H-how are you here already...?"
The Queen tilted her head slightly. That small movement looked strangely innocent. But her eyes weren’t. Those eyes belonged to something ancient. Something that had seen far too many timelines end badly.
"You ran from me."
Her voice sounded gentle. Yet the pressure behind it made Ren’s chest tighten painfully.
"Shouldn’t I?!"
The words escaped before he could stop himself.
For the first time, the Queen looked hurt. Actually hurt. Her crimson eyes dimmed slightly as if he had said something genuinely painful.
"You’re afraid of me again."
Again. That single word hit Ren harder than he expected. Again. Meaning this had happened before. Many times. More times than he could count.
The Queen slowly stepped closer. Ren instinctively stepped back.
Immediately the air temperature dropped several degrees.
The Queen stopped moving. Her expression darkened slightly.
"You stepped away."
Ren’s survival instincts screamed even louder inside him. Something deep told him that one wrong answer here could get the entire city destroyed without a second thought.
"I-I just don’t know you."
Silence stretched between them.
The Queen stared at him quietly for a long moment. Then she smiled. A beautiful smile. A terrifying one.
"That’s alright."
She reached toward his face slowly. Ren forced himself not to move. Her cold fingers brushed against his cheek gently, carefully, like she had done this exact thing a thousand times before.
The surrounding monsters immediately began trembling violently.
"You always forget at first."
Ren’s heart pounded hard against his ribs.
"What are you talking about...?"
The Queen leaned closer. So close he could smell something faint, roses mixed with blood, an impossible combination that somehow suited her perfectly.
"In every timeline..."
Her voice became almost affectionate.
"You die."
Ren froze completely.
"And every time you die..."
Her fingers tightened slightly against his face.
"You leave me alone again."
A distant explosion shook the city somewhere behind them. But neither of them moved. The world around them felt strangely silent inside all that chaos.
Ren forced himself to speak.
"What are you?"
For a moment the Queen looked genuinely surprised. Then sad. A sadness that looked old and heavy, like it had been carried for a very long time.
"I was human once."
Before Ren could ask another question, the ground exploded nearby.
A massive creature crashed between them without warning. A giant armored beast covered entirely in black spikes. Its roar shattered nearby windows instantly. Students screamed in terror all around them.
The monster’s glowing eyes locked onto Ren immediately.
[Elite Monster Detected.]
[Black Fang Juggernaut — Rank D]
[Survival Probability: 0.3%]
Ren’s face went pale.
They were dead. Absolutely dead.
But the Queen looked merely annoyed. Like someone had interrupted a perfectly private conversation at the worst possible moment.
The giant beast roared again and charged directly toward Ren. The ground cracked and split beneath its enormous weight. Ren couldn’t even react. Too fast. Too powerful.
Then the Queen sighed softly.
The monster stopped mid-charge. Completely froze where it stood. Its enormous body began trembling violently.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Black fractures spread slowly across its armor like spreading ice. Then the creature lowered itself before the Queen. All the way down. Like a kneeling servant before a throne.
Ren stared in complete disbelief.
The Queen’s crimson eyes glowed faintly.
"Leave."
The monster whimpered. Actually whimpered like a frightened animal. Then turned and fled through collapsing buildings in absolute terror, crushing everything in its path to get away from her faster.
Ren’s mouth slowly fell open.
That thing was afraid of her.
The Queen looked back at Ren calmly and gently fixed his bloodstained collar with her fingers like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"As long as I’m here..."
"Nothing in this world will hurt you."
Instead of comfort, her words filled Ren with even greater fear. Because the way she said them sounded less like protection.
And more like ownership.
---
[Ding!]
[Special Condition Triggered.]
[The Crimson Queen’s affection has increased.]
[Current Affection Level: ???]
[Warning: Affection directly influences world stability.]
Ren nearly choked on air.
"What kind of insane system is this?!"
The Queen blinked curiously.
"You can hear it?"
Ren froze instantly.
The Queen smiled slowly, something shifting behind those crimson eyes.
"So the system finally chose you again."
Again. That word appeared once more, carrying the weight of every forgotten timeline behind it.
Ren’s breathing became uneven.
"What happened in the previous timelines?"
For the first time since meeting her, the Queen went completely silent. A strange emotion crossed her face one after another. Pain. Regret. Longing. All of it together in a way that looked too raw to be performed.
Then she whispered quietly.
"You promised me forever."
A distant scream echoed somewhere nearby. Several students ran across the ruined street while monsters chased them desperately. One of the girls accidentally crashed into Ren while fleeing and her hand grabbed his arm for support.
The moment she touched him, the Queen’s smile disappeared.
Instantly.
The atmosphere changed violently without any warning. The air itself became heavy and suffocating. The running girl froze mid-step as overwhelming fear consumed her from nowhere. She looked around confused, trying to understand why her legs had stopped working.
Then her eyes found the Queen.
Crimson eyes glowing. Terrifying. Possessive.
The girl collapsed trembling to the ground.
"I-I’m sorry...!"
Ren’s heart skipped hard.
"No, wait!"
The Queen took one step forward. Reality cracked beneath her bare foot like broken ceramic.
"She touched what belongs to me."
The killing intent in her voice made even nearby monsters flee without looking back. The girl started crying desperately, her entire body shaking against the broken ground.
Ren reacted without thinking and grabbed the Queen’s wrist.
"Stop!"
Everything stopped.
Even the wind.
The Queen slowly looked down at Ren’s hand holding her wrist. Then those crimson eyes widened slightly. Not angry. Not cold.
Shocked. Almost vulnerable, like something small and forgotten had suddenly been handed back to her.
Ren realized too late exactly what he had done.
But before he could pull away, the Queen gently intertwined her fingers with his.
And smiled.
A soft, beautiful, completely insane smile.
