<h4>Chapter 608: The People Who Hand It Power</h4>


    It leaned forward again, voice lowering.


    "Think about it. The few who embraced their destiny changed the course of history. Imagine what would have been if everyone who has died since the beginning of the world had done the same."


    "And that’s why I’m imploring you, Nnenna, embrace your destiny." The Love System’s voice was steady, almost gentle. "I can’t force you. Neither can my master. Free will is always the first rule. But listen: the reward for taking this path is far greater than the cost of burying it with you."


    Nnenna opened her mouth, but the system held up a hand. "I’ll give you time to think. Your human body is still healing, and with the good points you’ve earned, it won’t be long before you can wake. Try to decide before then."


    "Two days," the System said, setting the deadline like a quiet drumbeat. "Two days in the human world."


    Then it stepped back and walked away, leaving Nnenna alone with the tick of a clock and a tight, growing frustration in her chest.


    Two dayster.


    Outside, on the whitewns of the Love System’s world, the girl waited. The light here was soft and bright, like a promise half kept. She walked up to Nnenna without hurry, eyes calm.


    "Have you decided?" she asked.


    Nnenna rubbed her temples. "I need more time," she answered, voice thin. "Please, just a little more."


    The girl’s smile was polite but closed. "I’m sorry. You don’t have more time." She stepped closer. "Decide from what you’ve thought over. If you ask me, I would say ept it. You’re better off epting your fate than denying it."


    Nnenna scoffed. "Thanks for telling me to do exactly what your master wants."


    The girl pursed her lips, then said, softer, "I hoped I wouldn’t have to do this. But maybe it will help you decide. Look up." She lifted her chin and nced at the white sky. Then she raised her right hand.


    Nnenna obeyed, looking up.


    The sky changed. Images shed, first like pages tearing, then like a rough film finding focus. The scene stitched together fast: crops browned to dust, rivers running slow, children with hollow faces, cities burning, men with empty eyes. The shes came one after another, clean and merciless.


    Minutes passed.


    Finally Nnenna couldn’t take it anymore.


    She tried to look away. Her throat tightened. She blinked, pulled at her sleeves, anything to stop the vision. But her head felt fixed, as if invisible threads held her gaze.


    The images kepting. She could not turn away.


    "I can’t look at this anymore. Stop!" Nnenna screamed, but the system didn’t answer. The next scene pushed on.


    "Stop it, please," she begged, clutching her face. She had seen dead bodies before, but these were worse, hollow eyes, children with bellies sucked in, fields turned to ash. The images were on a different level of wrong. Even with all she had survived, her stomach lurched.


    "This is what happens if you refuse your destiny," the Love System said atst, but it didn’t stop the stream. Nnenna’s voice cracked. "You expect me to believe I was made to save the world? I’m only one person."


    "Exactly," the System replied when it finally let her look away. "There is only one of you, one piece that matters. If you refuse, the others cannot finish theirs. The chain breaks."


    "So one ck cloaked thing will cause all this?" Nnenna asked, desperate for a simple enemy to fight.


    "No." The System shook its head slowly. "That ck cloaked thing only works because of human fear, doubt, and hatred. It’s not the root cause. It uses people. Anyone who lets themselves be used bes the reason these scenes happen. The danger is not the creature alone, it’s the people who hand it power."


    Nnenna sat in a hollow silence, the images still burning behind her eyes. The truth was worse than she had thought: this wasn’t only a monster she could stab. It was a wound in people’s hearts.


    "If people can resist it, the world will survive," the Love System said, turning to face her. "But many have already given themselves over. My master hoped they would resist, but they have free will. If they choose that darkness, they must be stopped."


    "So I can really stop them?" Nnenna asked, doubt heavy in her voice.


    "You can try," the System said. "You can help those people turn away from the energy. If they refuse, then you can stop them. It’s better when they change, but sometimes force is the only answer. You’re not the whole story, just one very important part of it."


    "Will I have help?" she asked. "You said I would had help before. Will moree?"


    "Yes." The System’s tone was steady. "You’ve already had allies. More wille. And my master will help too."


    Nnenna stood very still. The deadline had pressed on her like a de for two days. Fear, doubt, and sorrow crowded her thoughts, what if she failed? What if she wasn’t enough?


    But the images in her mind, the streets emptied by famine and war, pulled her back to a single truth: doing nothing meant letting that happen.


    Finally she straightened, voice low but firm. "I ept."


    It was quiet, but the choice felt like lightning. Part of her still trembled, she had spent two days imagining every way she could fail, but something in her chose to move forward anyway. She would try. She would fight. She would not let fear decide for her.


    The System nodded, a small, pleased motion. "Okay. For the next six months, I will train you, mentally. It won’t be physical work here, because this isn’t your body. But the training will prepare your mind, your will, and your power. When you return to your body, you’ll be able to stand and fight better than before."


    "Six months?" Nnenna blinked. "Isn’t that too long? I’ll miss a lot."


    "You’re right," the System said. "It sounds long. But remember: time passes differently here. Six months in this world is one month in the real world. You will have plenty of time." It smiled like reassurance. "We start tomorrow. If you follow my instructions and train, by the time you wake you’ll be a new person. I’ll give you everything you need for your destiny till the day you fight."


    Nnenna swallowed, then nodded. "Okay."


    ---


    One monthter in the real world, Nnenna gasped awake. Air filled her lungs with a small, sharp pain, from the wound, from long sleep, from fear. Her eyes blurred. For a few slow minutes the light hurt; then her vision sharpened.


    She looked around. The room wasrge and elegant, every detail exactly to her taste. It felt like a princess room, not the guest room she remembered from before. It didn’t feel like Lionara. Not like Prigrian. This had Riverum written in the lines of the furniture.


    "Hmm." She touched the sheet, testing truth with a fingertip. "This must be my original room."


    Memory flickered, Nanny’s voice earlier, the court, the trial. The thoughtnded: the room Nanny had once called hers must have been a guest room after all. The ce she had woken in now... this was different. This was must be the room Carl decorated for her.


    Nnenna frowned at the strange weight in her throat. A tube. She touched it clumsily with shaky fingers. I was intubated? Her voice couldn’t form, but her eyes narrowed.


    Her hands didn’t feel like hers, trembling and weak. For long minutes she couldn’t lift them. When she finally managed, the strength came in unsteady bursts. She tugged at the tube, her breath ragged, and before she could second guess herself, she pulled.


    Beep! Beep! Beep!


    The venttor shrieked, rms echoing through the room. Lights blinked red on the machine as if dering an emergency.


    The door banged open. A nurse rushed in, her eyes wide. For a heartbeat she froze, then her face split into relief.


    "You’re awake!" she gasped, hurrying to Nnenna’s side. She quickly steadied Nnenna, guiding the tube the rest of the way out to prevent injury.


    Nnenna coughed hard, chest heaving, but she was breathing on her own. The nurse patted her back gently, her hands shaking with excitement.


    "Oh, thank goodness... you’re breathing fine." Her voice wavered betweenughter and tears. "Wait here, don’t move. I need to call Doctor Carl immediately."


    Without another word, the nurse darted out of the room, the sound of her hurried footsteps echoing down the corridor as the venttor rm finally silenced.


    The door burst open again, this time with heavier footsteps. Carl rushed in first, his face pale with worry, hair slightly disheveled as if he hadn’t slept properly in days.


    "Nnenna!" His voice cracked as he reached her bedside. Without hesitation, he leaned forward, grabbing her hand with both of his, as if afraid she might slip away again. His eyes were already ssy, tears threatening to fall. "You’re really awake... you’re actually awake..."


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