The words stabbed her like a blade to the chest.
Jenna staggered back, her calves bumping into the bed as her strength drained out of her limbs. She sat down heavily, staring at nothing.
"I don't want to die…" she whispered hollowly.
The system waited patiently for her to lose all hope, wail, and cry before it continued.
[However... ]
Jenna's ears perked, her breath seized.
[Upon the host's death, whether the System will bind to another individual is not guaranteed.]
Jenna's eyes snapped wide. She quickly wiped her tears, "What do you mean?"
[The System God chooses the hosts for the system. This unit hasn't seen a system transfer to a host's killer. Rather...]
It stopped talking.
A chill crawled up her spine. The system has a god too?
[This unit does not possess the authority to override or interfere with that judgment.]
In other words, even if De Warden killed her, he might not get the ring.
And if he didn't get it, he might not survive the apocalypse… in other words, he needed her.
"Hahaha!" she laughed boisterously for a while, happy that she'd escaped death.
Then, recalling how she almost had a melt down, she hissed.
"You unreliable system, why didn't you say that earlier? You watch me almost lose my mind, crying like an idiot, when you had such a juicy escape route all along?"
The system paused.
[Observing the host's psychological breakdown, recovery, and adaptive reasoning is… entertaining.]
Her smile froze.
"Entertaining?" Jenna almost screamed. "So you waited until I hit rock bottom just to enjoy the show?"
[Correct]
She choked. "You–you sadistic piece of shitty code!"
[Correction, host, this unit is a benevolent entity.]
As if expecting Jenna to blow up, it went mia.
And the system wasn't wrong, because Jenna exploded. However, nothing she said afterwards could get it to respond.
Still hyperventilating, Jenna sported De Warden's note. She hopped off the bed, picked it up and huffed.
She didn't forget what he did to her in their previous lifetime. He was one of those people she would seek revenge on.
Also, for putting her under such pressure in this lifetime too, he deserved to pay.
With that, she thought for a while, then a daring idea crossed her mind.
How about she gave him something more important to worry about? That way, he wouldn't have time to chase her around? He could also pay a little for feeding her to his hounds.
Hitting two birds with one stone.
Jenna grinned malevolently, causing the system to shiver.
She took out Hazel's phone from her backpack. But unfortunately, it was locked. She tried all the codes that held importance to Hazel — her birthday, parents and brother's birthday, her favorite numbers, and so on.
Nothing worked.
She groaned, throwing the phone aside.
What she wanted to do, she couldn't use her own phone, in case the authorities or De Warden's people traced it back to her.
The last thing she wanted was trouble.
Just then, she recalled the sadistic system and called.
"System?"
[Human?]
"Oh? You can hear me? I thought you died."
[This unit was not offline. Communication was deprioritized.]
She rolled her eyes. "Can you unlock this phone?"
[Device detected… Scanning…]
A brief pause followed. Then phone in her hand vibrated once.
[Biometric and encryption barriers removed.]
The screen lit up.
Unlocked.
Her lips slowly stretched into a grin. "Wow. You're so useful."
[The System has never been useless.]
She rolled her eyes again. "Don't be cocky."
Just as the System ignored her again, she quickly called out.
"Hey—wait!"
[Yes, host?]
She paused to think, then waved her hand. "Nevermind."
She wanted to ask if it could unlock safes, tamper with security cameras, and other security systems, but stopped herself.
Knowing this system, it might tell her no. However, she somehow believed that if she got into trouble, it would help her.
So, forgive Jenna, she would rather manipulate it than take rejection.
It was the system's turn to "roll" its non-existent eyes.
Jenna grinned, lowering her gaze to the buzzing phone.
Hazel's phone was like a goldmine.
Messages flooded in. Notifications stacked upon notifications. Group chats, private chats, missed calls, social media alerts. Tags and lots more.
Jenna's fingers flew as she skimmed through them, her smile widening by the second.
"Tsk, tsk," she murmured. "So popular."
She opened Hazel's gallery. Photos. Videos. Screenshot. Some innocent. Some not. Some… very not.
Before she could get lost in the mesmerizing gallery, Jenna's brows lifted when she saw a familiar name repeatedly popping up in Hazel's chats. Jack.
Jenna frowned.
The sight of the name reminded her of her crush, childhood friend, and only companion.
In her past life, from the beginning of the apocalypse until she died, she didn't see nor hear from Jack. It was one of the many things she worried about. She believed he died, yet she prayed for his safety more than she prayed for hers.
Purely out of curiosity, she opened the chat and a barrage of messages flooded the screen.
He'd also heard about Hazel's kidnapping. It seemed to be all over the internet. Jack's messages were filled with panic and inquires.
She tapped the profile.
To her shock or not, the person staring back at her was her Jack. The man she loved foolishly all her life, in both lives.
The image burned into her eyes.
Jenna went still.
Not a dramatic freeze. Not shock that sent her reeling.
Just… still.
Jack was half-turned toward the camera, arm lazily bent behind his head, dark lashes lowered as if he'd just woken up, or hadn't bothered getting up at all. His bare chest was on full display, familiar in a way that made something in her chest stir.
Beside him, pressed close, Hazel lay wrapped in his arm, wearing a silk nightdress.
For a long moment, she didn't breathe. Or maybe not.
After what seemed like an eternity, she whispered.
"Oh."
That single word felt heavier than all the screaming she could have done.
Hazel was seventeen. Jack was eighteen, three months older than Jenna, and six months older than Hazel.
Even so, it was wrong of them to be in bed together.
Wait, what was she even thinking? Shouldn't she be heartbroken about the betrayal? Jack may never have professed his love for her directly, but before he moved abroad, they kissed. He showered her with gifts and kindness.
Another thing Jenna noticed was the phone number. It was the same as the one stuck in her mind for years. Even though she couldn't recall the whole numbers from memory, she knew the last three digits. 300.
So, what this meant was that she got blocked.
They didn't lose contacts. Jack blocked her.
Jenna sighed.
She'd lived in the apocalypse for five years and saw what humans were capable of. So, she felt nothing but clarity.
To her, the Jack she knew was long dead, and she already mourned him in the apocalypse.
He was still typing desperately, dropping almost ten messages under few seconds.
Jenna closed the chat without responding to any of the messages. Then, she dialed the emergency number attached to the newsletter.
After a few rings, the call connected.
"Hello, this is the Central Fugitive Command," a firm male voice said on the other end. "State your location and the Subject ID you're reporting."
"I'm calling in a credible lead regarding the recent prison break announced in your newsletter," Jenna said evenly. "I believe I know the current location of the criminals."