LIGHTNOVELSTORY chapter 6
6
Thud—
I jumped down to the first floor and headed to the front door.
Just then, the old man next door came out of the management office.
His eyes met Minhyuk’s, and he asked in surprise.
“Minhyuk, where are you going? What happened to your injuries?”
The old man was holding a first aid kit in his hand.
“I’m fine!”
“How can you be fine!? You were bleeding profusely!”
I was grateful that the old man was worried about me, but I didn’t have time to explain everything in detail right now.
If I didn’t get to the supermarket within 10 minutes, everything would be for nothing.
“That··· I’ll tell you later! I’m in a huge hurry right now!”
Minhyuk cut himself off and ran out of the front door.
And he started running towards the supermarket.
The closest store was about 300 meters away from here.
‘I wish it was right in front of me.’
It couldn’t be helped.
If there were convenient facilities like a supermarket nearby, the monthly rent for the Gosiwon would be higher.
Thump, thump, thump—
I gritted my teeth and ran with all my might.
Then I noticed something strange.
‘Was time frozen?’
When Minhyuk first returned for 10 seconds,
He saw the old man next door running to the management office with a first aid kit and returned to that world.
And he had stayed there for quite a while.
He must have spent at least a few hours there.
But when he returned to reality, the old man was just now coming out of the management office with the first aid kit.
Judging from this situation, Minhyuk was able to form a hypothesis.
While he was in that world, time in reality did not flow and stopped.
Thump, thump, thump—
He ran with sweat pouring down his face while thinking about time in his head.
It had been a long time since I had run at full speed, and I was out of breath and my heart felt like it was going to burst.
But he endured the pain and did not slow down.
Huff, huff—
Finally, I could see the supermarket sign in the distance.
[Happiness Supermarket]
I had only seen the sign as I passed by, and I had never actually gone inside to buy anything.
In fact, Minhyuk didn’t use convenience stores very often.
He only occasionally went to buy essential items when they were on sale.
There was no reason to come to this hole-in-the-wall shop that never had any sales.
Jingle-
The bell on the door rang as I stepped into the store.
The owner greeted Minhyuk.
“Welcome!”
“Boss, do you sell fruits here too? Do you have tangerines?”
“They’re over there.”
The tangerines were where the owner pointed.
[Jeju Tangerines]
Some were in boxes, and some were in plastic bags with smaller portions.
“How much do you want?”
“I’ll take a box!”
“We have 3kg and 10kg boxes. Which one do you want?”
I fought monsters in a bloody battle to earn the time to come here.
It’s always better to buy a lot when you come here.
Of course, within the limit of what I can carry.
Minhyuk chose the 10kg box of tangerines.
“Do you have eggs too?”
“Of course we have eggs. How many do you want?”
“5… no, give me 10!”
I stacked 10 packs of eggs on top of the tangerine box.
My refrigerator is small, so it might not all fit at once.
But that didn’t matter.
I could just stack them in my room.
Then, even if I run out of potions, I can just put the ones stacked in my room in the refrigerator without having to go all the way to the supermarket.
“How much is it in total?”
The owner tapped on the calculator and told me the price.
Minhyuk clicked his tongue after hearing the price.
“That’s so expensive!”
“Of course it’s expensive. You bought a lot.”
Minhyuk was quick at math, so he realized right away that it was more expensive than buying the same amount at the big mart at the intersection of the main road.
But there was nothing he could do.
Even if I came back to life, I wouldn’t be able to get to the big mart in 10 minutes.
Minhyuk handed his credit card to the owner.
“Please charge it to this.”
“You don’t have cash? The card reader is broken.”
“I only have my card right now!”
“Is that so? Then…”
The owner took out a piece of paper from the drawer and inserted it into the card reader.
A receipt printed out as I swiped my card.
It was supposed to break down, but it worked just fine.
He wanted to complain about the inconvenience, but he didn’t have time.
He put away the card and receipt, and took out his phone to check the time.
He had pressed the stopwatch when he left his room.
He still had 6 minutes left.
‘6 minutes should be enough.’
The distance to the Gosiwon was 300 meters, so if he walked at 100 meters every 2 minutes, he would make it.
He had to factor in the time it would take to put the groceries away in the fridge, so he would have to hurry a bit more than that.
But if he rushed too much and ended up falling, it would be a disaster.
Minhyuk quickly grabbed the eggs and tangerines.
Then he went out of the store.
It was pretty heavy, but it wasn’t too much for him to carry by himself.
‘Be careful!’
Minhyuk walked towards the Gosiwon, quickly but carefully.
.
.
.
He arrived at his room without any problems.
He quickly put the eggs and tangerines in the fridge.
He filled up all the space, regardless of whether it was the refrigerator or freezer.
After putting in 2/3 of the tangerines and 7 packs of eggs, there was no more space.
He piled up the rest next to the fridge.
He checked the time, and there was still 1 minute left.
Whew-
He felt a sense of relief that he had accomplished his goal.
Then a thought crossed his mind.
‘Should I put that in too?’
There was a small knife in the desk drawer.
It was a fruit knife he used to cut fruit.
What if putting the knife in the fridge turned it into a powerful weapon?
‘The only way to find out is to try.’
The fridge was already full, but there was enough space to put in a small fruit knife.
Minhyuk took the fruit knife out of the drawer and put it in the fridge.
He still had about 40 seconds left.
He suddenly wondered.
Once you return, do you have to use up all your remaining time before you can go back again?
Can you not go back before that?
If that was possible, he would be able to use his precious time more efficiently.
Minhyuk quietly muttered.
“Return.”
Contrary to his expectations, nothing happened.
He tried again with different words.
“To Wonderland!”
Again, nothing happened.
“To another world!”
“To a different dimension!”
“To a magical world!”
No matter what words he said, there was no response.
‘Could it be?’
Minhyuk reached out to the refrigerator.
Then he said again in a small voice.
“Return!”
BAM-
A bright flash of light flashed before his eyes.
Swish-
As the light faded, the surrounding objects began to appear.
Minhyuk had returned to the swamp.
＜Remaining Return Time: 32 seconds＞
By touching the refrigerator and saying ‘Return,’ he could return to this place without using up all of his Return Time.
He had discovered a very useful fact.
Minhyuk checked inside the refrigerator.
It was full of red and green potions.
The eggs had turned into red Advanced Potions,
And the oranges had turned into green Low-Level Potions.
Both the eggs and the oranges were of different varieties, but it seemed that didn’t matter.
‘Rather than that…’
He was curious about what the fruit he had put in last had turned into.
Minhyuk looked inside the refrigerator with anticipation.
However,
＜Goblin’s Rotten Leather Scrap＞
– Useless trash.
It had turned into something disgusting and useless.
‘Gross!’
Minhyuk took the rotten leather out of the refrigerator and threw it far away.
Not everything he put in turned into something good.
However, after impulsively throwing away the filth, he felt a little sorry.
It had been a good fruit.
“Excuse me.”
The princess called out to Minhyuk.
She was holding two bottles of the red potion that Minhyuk had given her.
“Where do you think you’re going, leaving us here?”
She had no idea that Minhyuk had already been somewhere.
Minhyuk immediately grasped the situation.
‘Time has stopped here, too.’
Now he knew for sure.
When Minhyuk stayed here, time in the real world stopped, and when he stayed in the real world, time here stopped.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Minhyuk changed his words.
As he did so, he took back the potion the princess was holding.
It was a deadly move to give and take back, but there was a reason.
If the princess and the old man drank the potion when they were injured, they might not be able to earn precious time.
Splash, splash-
Minhyuk took the lead and stepped into the swamp.
The water rose to his thighs.
The bottom of the swamp was solid, so his feet didn’t sink deeply.
“Let’s take the path less traveled!”
The old man exclaimed in dismay at the sight of Minhyuk.
“You shouldn’t just go into the swamp like that! It’s dangerous!”
“Don’t worry and follow me!”
Splash, splash-
The princess followed Minhyuk into the swamp.
She trusted Minhyuk implicitly.
“Wh, Princess?!”
“Raymon! Stop dawdling and follow us quickly!”
“Yes…”
The old man followed them.
Swish-
Something swam swiftly over the surface of the water and approached Minhyuk.
It was a yellow snake.
It was thinner than the forest cobra he had seen under the mango tree.
＜Swamp cobra detected.＞
＜You can earn a bonus of 10 seconds of return time by killing the swamp cobra.＞
Screech-
The snake opened its mouth, revealing its fangs, and lunged at Minhyuk.
He was the one who could catch even flying arrows.
He grabbed the snake’s neck without difficulty.
And he squeezed its neck with all his might.
Squirm, squirm-
The snake writhed in agony under Minhyuk’s monstrous grip.
After a while, it collapsed weakly.
＜Swamp Moccasin has been defeated.＞
＜10 seconds of Return Time has been accumulated as a reward.＞
＜Return Time in possession: 42 seconds＞
‘Is it nothing special?’
The venom of the snake was deadly, but if you didn’t get bitten, it wasn’t that difficult to deal with.
Of course, this was only the case for Min-hyuk.
It wasn’t the same for ordinary people.
Ahhh-
The princess’ scream was heard.
The snake had bitten her thigh.
In an instant, the venom spread, and not only the bitten area but her whole body turned black and swelled up.
“Please save Her Highness!”
The old man shouted at Min-hyuk as if begging.
The princess was shivering all over and barely enduring the pain.
Pop-
Min-hyuk opened the lid of the green potion.
Then he fixed the princess’ chin with his finger and poured the potion into her mouth.
Then, in an instant, the swelling subsided and her complexion returned to normal.
＜A human who was poisoned has been healed.＞
＜10 seconds of Return Time has been accumulated as a reward.＞
＜Return Time in possession: 52 seconds＞
“Thank you.”
The princess’ face, which expressed her gratitude, was flushed red.
It was because she was embarrassed by the fact that she had taken the potion directly from Min-hyuk.
Ugh-
This time, the old man was bitten on the forearm by the snake.
His skin also turned black and swelled up all over his body.
“Ugh… I feel like my body is burning…”
Pop-
Min-hyuk opened the green potion.
And just like with the princess, he fed the potion directly to the old man.
＜A human who was poisoned has been healed.＞
＜10 seconds of Return Time has been accumulated as a reward.＞
＜Return Time in possession: 1 minute 2 seconds＞
Min-hyuk was now consuming the green potion and accumulating Return Time.
The tangerines had turned into green potions, and they were turning into Return Time.
I’m sorry to say this, but the princess and the old man were like exchange offices to Min-hyuk.
.
.
.
They safely left the swamp, catching snakes and taking potions.
Then, a dry hill appeared.
Minhyeok began to climb the hill with the group.
“We’re safe from here on! We’ve entered the territory of Kaho!”
Kaho’s territory? The old man made a sound that no one could understand.
As they reached the top of the hill, the princess pointed somewhere and shouted to Minhyeok.
“That’s our castle!”
A magnificent castle could be seen below the hill.