LIGHTNOVELSTORY chapter 5
5
Minhyuk’s war hammer, which had been moving without rest, finally stopped.
It was after he had completely crushed the heads of the monsters.
＜Return Time in Possession: 2 minutes 30 seconds＞
After eliminating all the goblins, he had accumulated an incredible 2 minutes of return time.
Furthermore, he hadn’t sustained a single injury while fighting them.
Minhyuk, who had achieved a perfect victory, felt proud.
The princess and the old man were watching Minhyuk’s battle scene from afar.
They were so surprised that they couldn’t close their gaping mouths.
“Raymond, what did we just see!?”
“The Author’s ability is truly amazing!”
“It’s not just amazing! Is that man really human?”
The old man paused for a moment before opening his mouth.
“I remember reading in a book that there were people whose physical abilities developed rapidly as they adapted to the Overflow… Could the Author perhaps be one of those people?”
100 years from now,
A great upheaval occurred in this world.
Areas with harsh environments where it was difficult for humans to survive suddenly began to expand rapidly.
Lush forests,
Arid deserts,
Scorching volcanic zones.
They encroached on human territory and expanded at an alarming rate.
That wasn’t all.
Wild beasts also grew in size and became more ferocious.
Mutant monsters that had never existed before also emerged.
People called this phenomenon the ‘Overflow.’
Because of the Overflow, humans’ sphere of activity could only continue to shrink.
100 years had passed since the Overflow began.
Now, the humans of this world stood on the brink of extinction.
A strange sense of anticipation flickered in the princess’s eyes as she looked at Minhyuk.
She had the feeling that a savior had appeared who would illuminate the empire’s dark future.
She wasn’t just impressed by his incredible combat abilities.
She was also moved by his character, as he struggled to protect the weak and fight the monsters all by himself.
Little did she know that Minhyuk was actually trying to monopolize the prey in order to accumulate return time.
‘Ack!’
Suddenly, something entered the princess’s field of view.
She urgently shouted toward Minhyuk.
“Watch out!”
Minhyuk, hearing those words, quickly turned around.
Swish-
An object was rapidly flying toward him.
With his extraordinary dynamic vision and agility, Minhyuk caught it with his bare hand.
It was an arrow.
It was a crude arrow with a stone tip and bird feathers.
Swish-
Swish-swish-
More arrows flew in from all directions.
They were being shot by goblins up in the trees.
Minhyuk deflected some of the arrows with his mace and dodged the rest by twisting his body.
Thud-
One arrow pierced his shoulder.
Even with Minhyuk’s incredible physical abilities, he couldn’t avoid all the arrows that were incessantly flying in from all directions.
Squelch-
Minhyuk pulled out the arrow that was stuck in his shoulder.
The arrow was crude, and its penetrating power wasn’t very strong, so the wound wasn’t very deep.
‘I’ll finish this and heal it later.’
Swish-
Swish-swish-
Arrows continued to fly in.
While dodging the arrows, Minhyuk picked up a dagger that was lying on the ground.
The dagger was also dropped by a dead soldier.
He threw it with all his might toward a goblin in a tree.
Whoosh-
The dagger spun and flew at a rapid speed.
Thud-
However, it missed the goblin slightly and got stuck in the trunk of the tree.
This time, Minhyuk picked up a rock that was lying nearby.
Since this place was a clearing with little grass, it was easy to find rocks scattered here and there.
He held the rock in his hand and assumed a baseball pitching stance.
Whizz-
The rock he threw with all his might flew accurately and hit the goblin in the head.
Thud-
Its skull caved in, and the goblin fell from the tree.
＜Forest Goblin slain.＞
＜Earned 10 seconds of return time as a reward.＞
‘Nice!’
Minhyuk continued to pick up stones and threw them at the goblins.
Except for the dagger he had thrown at first, every single stone hit its target.
His new body also had amazing strength.
Swish-
Thud-
He dodged the arrows and threw stones repeatedly.
＜Defeated a Forest Goblin.＞
＜Earned 10 seconds of return time as a reward.＞
＜Defeated a Forest Goblin.＞
＜Earned 10 seconds of return time as a reward.＞
.
.
.
Before he knew it, he had defeated all the goblins in the trees.
Once they were all gone, there were no more attacks.
This time, the battle was really over.
＜Current return time: 4 minutes and 10 seconds＞
He had earned a total of over 4 minutes of return time.
However, he had also taken some damage.
Even though he had tried hard to dodge, he had been hit by arrows in several places.
“Inventory.”
Snap-
A refrigerator appeared in front of Minhyuk’s eyes.
He took out a bottle of red recovery potion and drank it.
His wounds healed instantly, and the arrows that had been embedded in his body were automatically pushed out.
Thud-
Thud-thud-
The arrows fell to the ground.
Minhyuk, his wounds completely healed, felt refreshed.
‘It really works well.’
The princess and the old man ran towards Minhyuk.
“I’ve never seen anyone fight like you!”
“You defeated all those monsters by yourself! Your fighting power is equal to ten! No, a hundred soldiers!”
The two of them praised Minhyuk endlessly.
Minhyuk wasn’t the type of person to be pleased by mere compliments.
However, their reactions revealed something to him.
It was clear that people with his physical abilities were rare in this world.
“And, you seemed to have taken that potion out of thin air just now… Did you use spatial magic?”
The old man’s question made Minhyuk realize another fact.
The refrigerator was only visible to him and not to others.
To the princess and the old man, it must have seemed like Minhyuk was pulling out potions from thin air.
Minhyuk didn’t bother to tell them about the refrigerator.
The old man continued speaking.
“Not only do you possess extraordinary physical abilities, but you also wield high-level magic!”
The princess asked Minhyuk.
“Who exactly are you? What’s your identity?”
“What business is that of yours?”
Minhyuk didn’t answer and started walking.
The princess called out to Minhyuk’s back as he walked away.
“Where are you going?”
“What business is that of yours?”
Minhyuk kept walking.
There was no reason for him to stay with them any longer.
His mind was filled with thoughts of hunting as he wandered through the forest.
And he was very hungry.
His throat was parched.
Once he was out of their sight, he planned to take out the bread and water from his bag and eat.
“Help us!”
The woman called out to Minhyuk again.
Minhyuk turned around with an annoyed expression.
“What do you need help with now?”
“All the soldiers are dead, and we’ve run out of potions! We won’t be able to make it back to the fortress alive at this rate! Please escort us safely to the fortress!”
Along with the princess’s request, a new message appeared before Minhyuk’s eyes.
＜The Princess of Asdel is asking for help. Safely guide her to the fortress.＞
＜Upon success, you will be rewarded with 10 minutes of return time.＞
＜Current return time: 4 minutes 30 seconds＞
The reward he had earned from fighting goblins and the blood ogre was only about 4 minutes.
But if he safely escorted the princess home, he would be given more than double that, 10 minutes.
“How far is the fortress?”
In response to Minhyuk’s question, the old man pointed in the direction the sun was setting.
“If you head straight west from here, you can reach the fortress before nightfall. That is, if nothing goes wrong.”
The fortress they spoke of was about two hours away from their current location.
It was a short job that would earn him a significant amount of return time, so there was no reason to refuse.
He could always hunt after he finished this task.
“What will you give me if I escort you to the fortress?”
Earning return time was Minhyuk’s personal reward, and he needed to negotiate separately with them.
The princess’s expression brightened.
Minhyuk’s words meant that he wasn’t completely unwilling to go with them.
Her ultimate goal was to keep Minhyuk by her side.
As the de-facto ruler of Asdel, she could not afford to lose such a coveted talent.
She was determined to take him to the stronghold and somehow get him to do her bidding.
“Right now, I have nothing to give you! Once we return to the stronghold, I will give you whatever you want there! Treasures, food, anything I can give you!”
At the princess’s words, the old man interjected with a serious expression.
“Your Highness! No matter what, those words of yours about giving anything are a bit… What if he asks for something strange?”
The words ‘give anything’ should not be uttered lightly.
Especially by a woman.
The princess blushed prettily and corrected herself.
“Except for my purity and things like that…”
Flustered, she ended up saying something nonsensical.
Minhyuk chuckled and replied.
“Don’t worry, I’m not even a little bit interested in you.”
“What?”
The princess’s expression was complicated.
She couldn’t figure out why she was a little hurt in a situation where she should be relieved.
Minhyuk walked towards the direction the sun was setting and shouted.
“Let’s go!”
It meant he would take them to the stronghold.
The princess and the old man followed after him with joyful expressions.
.
.
.
As they passed through the forest, they were attacked by goblins and wolves here and there.
Each time, Minhyuk killed the monsters alone and accumulated return time.
＜Return time in possession: 10 minutes and 10 seconds＞
Before he knew it, he had reached his initial goal of 10 minutes.
‘I wonder if I have enough time to make a quick trip to the supermarket?’
Crunch, crunch-
Minhyuk chewed on bread as he walked.
It was incredibly hard, like a rock.
He had to hold water in his mouth for a long time to soften it before he could swallow it.
But despite being a market snack, it wasn’t tasteless.
Every time he chewed, a savory grain flavor spread in his mouth.
“If you just pass through that swamp ahead, you will see the stronghold.”
Before they knew it, they had arrived at the swamp, the final gateway to the stronghold.
The swamp was inhabited by deadly beasts.
The old man grumbled.
“To safely pass through the swamp, each person needs to have at least one or two bottles of potion…”
When the princess led the soldiers out of the stronghold, they had secured plenty of potions of various colors.
But it was all used up when I had an accident in the forest.
The only green potion left was the one in Minhyuk’s bag.
Hmm-
Minhyuk thought for a moment.
‘I hope my guess is right.’
He was going to conduct a very important experiment from now on.
Minhyuk took out the green potion from his bag.
And he chanted in a small voice.
“Inventory.”
Poof-
A refrigerator appeared before his eyes.
Minhyuk put the green potion in the refrigerator, just like when he took out the potion.
And he said to the princess.
“I’ll be back in a moment, so don’t move from here.”
“Yes? Where are you going?”
“It won’t take long. Just in case, take this.”
Minhyuk handed the princess two bottles of red potion.
And he chanted softly.
“Return.”
Poof-
A bright flash of light flashed before his eyes.
Swish-
As the light faded, the surrounding objects began to appear.
An old desk,
A cell phone charger on it.
Minhyuk had returned to the Gosiwon.
Bam-
He opened the refrigerator door first.
A smile spread across Minhyuk’s lips as he checked what was inside.
‘I knew it!’
There was something else in it with the eggs.
It was a tangerine.
What this means is,
‘Eggs are red medicine and tangerines are green medicine!’
Simply put, if you buy tangerines and fill them in the refrigerator, you can get green potions.
I’m going to go out and buy eggs and tangerines right now.
‘I have to be back within 10 minutes!’
Tatatat-
Minhyuk ran out of the room and across the hallway.