Maya's POV
Three hours until my sister tried to kill me.
I grabbed my jacket and keys, mind racing. The system warning burned in my vision: Yiren had received a message telling her to kill me. But from who? And why?
None of that mattered right now. What mattered was survival.
I couldn't stay in my apartment—too easy to trap me there. Couldn't go to Ethan's place—he'd side with Yiren. Couldn't go to the police—what would I say? "My sister got a message from a magical system telling her to murder me"?
I needed to disappear. Find somewhere public where she couldn't attack without witnesses.
My phone buzzed. Yiren's name flashed on screen.
"Hey sis! Are you home? I want to apologize for asking for money. Can I come over? I'll bring coffee"
My blood turned to ice. She never apologized. Never brought me anything.
This was it. The attack.
I typed back with shaking fingers:
"Not home. At the library studying. Talk later."
Her response came instantly:
"Which library? I'll meet you there!"
Too eager. Way too eager.
I didn't reply. Instead, I ran out of my apartment, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. My system pinged:
[DEATH SENSE ACTIVATED][WARNING: HOSTILE PRESENCE DETECTED IN BUILDING][LOCATION: STAIRWELL - 2 FLOORS BELOW][INTENT: LETHAL]
She was already here.
My heart hammered as I reversed direction, going up instead of down. The roof. I could get to the roof and jump to the next building—they were close enough.
Footsteps echoed below me. Fast. Getting closer.
"Maya!" Yiren's voice called out, sweet as poison. "I know you're here! Your car is still in the parking lot!"
I ran faster, taking stairs two at a time. My system blazed with warnings:
[DANGER INCREASING][YIREN'S SYSTEM ACTIVE][ABILITY DETECTED: SIREN'S VOICE - A-RANK][EFFECT: MENTAL MANIPULATION AND PARALYSIS]
Of course. Her power hadn't awakened yet in this timeline, but the system message must have unlocked it early. She could freeze me in place with her voice, make me unable to move while she—
"Stop running, sister." Her voice changed, becoming layered with power. The command hit me like a physical force, trying to lock my legs in place.
My system countered:
[DEATH'S ARCHITECT IMMUNITY ACTIVATED][MENTAL ATTACKS NULLIFIED]
I kept moving. The roof door was right ahead.
"STOP!" Yiren screamed, her power fully unleashed now. I felt it wash over me like a wave—the command to obey, to freeze, to be helpless.
But I wasn't helpless anymore.
I burst through the roof door into sunlight. The neighboring building was three meters away—too far to jump normally, but I had seconds before Yiren reached me.
Behind me, the door slammed open.
"You can't run from me," Yiren panted, stepping onto the roof. In her hand, she held a kitchen knife. My kitchen knife, stolen from my apartment. "The system told me everything. You're going to destroy the world. Kill thousands. Become a monster."
"What?" I spun to face her. "What are you talking about?"
"The message!" She held up her phone with her free hand. On the screen, glowing golden text:
[URGENT QUEST][KILL MAYA CHEN BEFORE APOCALYPSE][REASON: She will use Death's Architect system to enslave humanity][REWARD: SSS-RANK SYSTEM UPGRADE][FAILURE: You and everyone you love will die by her hand]
My stomach dropped. Someone was manipulating her. Using her. Making her think I was the villain.
"Yiren, listen to me—"
"No!" Tears streamed down her face. "I don't want to do this. You're my sister. But the system showed me visions. Showed me you commanding zombie armies. Showed me you killing Ethan. Killing me." Her knife hand trembled. "It showed me the future where you become a demon."
"Those are lies," I said desperately. "Someone's tricking you—"
"The system doesn't lie!" She lunged forward, knife flashing in the sunlight.
I dodged, barely. The blade cut through my jacket, missing my ribs by centimeters.
"I'm sorry," Yiren sobbed, attacking again. "I'm so sorry, but I have to save everyone from you!"
Her knife came down. I caught her wrist, twisting it. The knife clattered to the ground.
For a moment, we stood there, sisters locked in combat, both breathing hard.
"You don't have to do this," I said. "Whatever that message told you, it's wrong. I'm not going to hurt innocent people."
"But you're going to hurt someone." Her eyes met mine—and I saw it. The truth. "You're planning to destroy me and Ethan, aren't you? The system knew. It knew you'd come back for revenge."
My silence was answer enough.
Yiren's face crumpled. "So it's true. You hate us enough to—"
"You fed me to zombies!" The words exploded out of me. "You and Ethan locked me in a basement and laughed while the undead tore me apart! So yes, I'm planning revenge. But that hasn't happened yet in this timeline. You haven't betrayed me yet."
"Because you came back." Understanding dawned in her eyes. "You came back from the future. From after we..." She stepped back, horror replacing fear. "Oh god. We really did that to you?"
"Yes."
"But why would we—" She shook her head, confused. "I love you. You're my sister. Why would I ever—"
"Because when the apocalypse comes, you'll awaken as A-rank and I'll awaken as F-rank," I said bitterly. "And suddenly, your useless big sister isn't worth keeping around. Suddenly, it's easier to take everything I have and throw me away."
Yiren stared at me like I'd slapped her.
"I would never—"
"But you will." I picked up the knife, and she flinched. But I just set it aside, away from both of us. "In three days, the world ends. And when it does, you'll have to choose: stay human, or become a monster. You chose monster last time."
"And you're choosing revenge," she whispered.
"I'm choosing survival." I moved toward the roof door. "And I'm choosing to save people who deserve it. You want to kill me? Go ahead. Try. But know this: I'm not the villain in this story. I'm just the person who refuses to die quietly."
I left her standing there, tears streaming down her face.
My system pinged:
[IMMEDIATE THREAT NEUTRALIZED][YIREN WILL NOT ATTACK AGAIN... TODAY][WARNING: THE MESSAGE SHE RECEIVED CAME FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE][SOMEONE IS MANIPULATING THE TIMELINE][SOMEONE WANTS YOU DEAD]
I made it back to my apartment, hands shaking. Locked every lock. Checked every window.
Then I texted Jae-hyun:
"We have a problem. Someone's sending system messages to people, telling them to kill me. They're sabotaging the timeline."
His response came instantly:
"I know. I just received one too."
My blood froze.
"What did it say?"
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Finally:
"It said: 'Maya Chen is too dangerous to live. Kill her before she awakens, or she'll destroy everything you're trying to save. This is your only warning.'"
My phone slipped from my numb fingers.
Jae-hyun—the one person I'd started to trust—had just received orders to kill me.
Another text came through:
"Meet me at Gangnam Coffee Shop. Now. We need to talk about who's trying to make us enemies."
"And Maya? Bring a weapon. Because if someone's manipulating both our systems... we can't trust anyone. Not even each other."
I stared at the message.
Was this a trap? Was Jae-hyun luring me out to kill me?
Or was he really trying to help?
My system offered no answers. Just a single quest notification:
[CRITICAL CHOICE][TRUST THE VOID KING... OR RUN FOREVER][YOUR DECISION WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING]
I grabbed the kitchen knife Yiren had dropped.
Then I headed out the door, toward either an ally or an executioner.
I'd find out which soon enough.