Thump!

  The heavy oak door slammed shut, followed by the screech of the iron bar sliding home.

  Pandora Douglas leaned back against the cold wood, gasping for breath, her heart trying to hammer its way out of her ribs.

  “My Lady, are you alright?”

  Elsa, the maid at her side, asked, her voice a ragged whisper. Her longsword was stained with fresh blood, the tip quivering.

  “I… I’m fine,” Pandora lied, her gaze fixed on the nasty bite mark seeping blood from Elsa’s forearm. It glistened in the lamplight.

  “Damn it, what in the world is happening!?” she muttered, her eyes sweeping across her father’s study. It was just as she remembered, filled with dusty books and leather chairs. But the Viscount wasn’t here. Of course he wasn’t. It was the full moon, and he was required at the town’s festival.

  Which meant it was just her, her handmaiden, and a manor full of monsters.

  Just a few hours ago, her biggest problem had been whether to wear the blue or the green dress. Fourteen years of this cushy noble life and she’d almost forgotten she wasn’t born for it. No final exams, no job hunt… just a monster apocalypse. What a joke.

  The clock tower had struck midnight, and then the world ended. One moment, the guards were smiling and bowing; the next, their faces twisted into snarls as they began tearing into anyone nearby. The change was so fast there was no time to react.

  If she hadn’t felt a pang of anxiety and gone for a walk, she’d have been killed in her sleep, just like the others. Bitten. Transformed. Mary, her other maid, was already dead, killed when she’d tried to reason with a turned guard. Only Elsa, who knew a little swordsmanship, had fought her way here with her.

  “My Lady, I… I don’t feel so right.”

  Elsa’s weak voice snapped Pandora back to the present. Her loyal handmaiden was pale, leaning against the desk, her body trembling uncontrollably.

  Pandora’s heart clenched. She rushed forward. “Elsa, hold on. We’ll think of something.”

  She couldn’t lose her. Elsa was more than a maid; she was family.

  “No, My Lady, I… I don’t think I have much time,” Elsa shook her head, a flicker of pain in her eyes. “I can feel something changing inside me. I can’t control it… It’s… It’s just like them.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Pandora’s heart sank. A transmigrator knew the tropes. This was an infection. A zombie movie, right in her own home.

  “My Lady, please… please kill me.” Elsa’s voice was suddenly firm. “Before I become a complete monster.”

  “What? No, I can’t…”

  “Please, just listen!” Elsa’s voice was urgent. “There’s no saving me, but you still have a chance. If you don’t, when I turn, I’ll be the first to attack you. All my efforts will be for nothing. I’ll kill the person I cherish most with my own hands…”

  “I don’t want that!”

  Elsa’s eyes were bloodshot, but the pain in them was undeniable. She was in agony, despairing at the fate she saw for herself.

  “You always cared for me,” Elsa said, a tear tracing a path down her cheek. “You never treated us like tools the way the Viscount does. Being your maid… it was the greatest happiness of my life.” She looked at Pandora, her gaze unwavering. “So, Pandora… My Lady… please… please live on. For my sake.”

  The master of her heart had always only been Pandora.

  Just then, Elsa convulsed. Her face contorted in even greater pain.

  “Quickly… My Lady Pandora… I can’t hold on…”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, Elsa’s body jolted. A flash of crimson madness filled her eyes, and her body lunged toward Pandora of its own accord. Her lips curled into an unnatural arc, revealing sharp teeth.

  “No!”

  Tears streaming down her face, Pandora recoiled instinctively, but her hand shot out, grabbing the longsword Elsa was already pushing toward her.

  Shlick!

  Half by Pandora’s grip, half by Elsa’s own final, desperate guidance.

  The blade sank into Elsa’s throat.

  Blood sprayed out, splattering across Pandora’s cheeks, hot and thick.

  Elsa’s body went rigid. The red light in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by a look of pure relief.

  She whispered,

  “Next life… I’ll still be your maid,”

  and then, her eyes closed forever.

  Pandora’s hand trembled as she pulled the blade free. Fourteen years of memories flashed through her mind… She clutched Elsa’s body, a loneliness and pain she had never known before washing over her.

  Why… why did this have to happen?

  The moonlight shone through the window, casting Elsa’s face in a pale, papery light, as if she were merely asleep.

  And then, a voice. Cold. Digital. Right inside her skull.

  【Initiating self-check #769751 ...】

  【Ether fluctuations detected...】

  【Drastic increase in ether concentration detected!】

  【Ether concentration approaching critical threshold...】

  【Attempting cold boot... Boot successful.】

  【Viable target detected for extraction. Extract Alchemical Elements?】

  A System? Now? A laugh, ugly and choked, died in her throat. All that time she’d spent trying to activate it, for nothing. It chose now, of all times, to show up.

  The System wanted her to "extract Alchemical Elements." She knew what that meant. It was a desecration.

  【Please confirm extraction of Alchemical Elements?】

  The System’s voice was devoid of all emotion, like a cold, unfeeling machine.

  Pandora was silent. She stared at Elsa’s body, remembering her final words. Next life… I’ll still be your maid.

  Reason, cold and sharp as the sword in her hand, stabbed back. If she did nothing, that peace would rot. Elsa would rise. All of this—her sacrifice, her love—would be for nothing. She would become a mindless monster and kill the person she cherished most.

  Pandora squeezed her eyes shut, a single tear tracing a path through the blood on her cheek.

  “...Confirm,” she rasped, the word tasting like ash.

  【Confirming. Extracting Alchemical Elements... Extraction successful.】