[Fifty minutes left!]
A red holographic screen popped up in front of Min-beom. He scratched the back of his head and let out a sigh. He glanced over at the others who were tired from fighting and had already cleared their objectives, chilling in the side street.
"Damn it… We're running out of time." He muttered under his breath. The little girl looked up at him, raising her eyebrows. She noticed Min-beom's frustration and took a deep breath.
"Ahjussi, don't worry. We can do this." She said, trying to sound optimistic. She held her grimoire in her hands, ready to use her animal magic again. "We just need one more kill each, right?"
Min-beom nodded, feeling a bit of gratitude for her encouragement. He looked around, searching for a suitable target. He spotted a beast that looked wounded and weak. It was a Rank D [Giant Scorpion] that had a broken tail and a cracked shell.
"There!" He pointed at the beast. "That one looks easy enough. Let's go for it." He said, running towards the beast with his sword.
"Okay!" Bon-hwa followed him, summoning another beast with her magic. This time, it was a Rank D [Flaming Lion] that had a mane of fire and sharp claws.
[The Animal Magic ability is leveled up from Level 1 to Level 2!] - [The Vision, The Creator of Animals is amazed by your sudden level up!]
The screens flashed in front of the little girl, lighting up her mood as they reached the beast. Min-beom slashed at its shell, trying to find a weak spot. Bon-hwa commanded her lion to attack its legs, trying to make it fall. The scorpion tried to fight back, but it was too injured and outnumbered.
[Kill Rank D beasts (3/3) Completed!] A screen flashed in front of Min-beom as he smiled in relief, panting heavily as he glanced at Bon-hwa with a cheerful expression.
The lion she had summoned disappeared behind her as she closed the grimoire, hovering in the air. All of a sudden, her smile faded slowly, making Min-beom raise his eyebrow and frown slightly.
"What's wrong?" Min-beom asked as he put his hand on her shoulder, squatting on the ground, reaching her height.
"I still need one more kill, Ahjussi… Do you think I can make it in time?" She asked sadly.
Min-beom quickly looked at the timer of the scenario, there were only forty minutes left.
'Oh crap, I need to find something weak for her to kill…'
"Don't worry, Bon-hwa. We'll find something for you to kill. You're doing great so far."
He said, trying to encourage her as he ruffled her hair gently. He looked around as he stood up from the ground, searching for a suitable target. He spotted a beast that looked injured and slow. It was a Rank D [Giant White Spider] that had a missing leg and a torn web.
"There's one!" He pointed at the beast. "That one looks easy enough. Let's go!" Min-beom said, running towards the beast with his sword.
Bon-hwa followed him, summoning another beast with her magic. This time, it was a Rank D again [Ice Wolf] that had a fur of snow and sharp teeth. Min-beom slashed at its web, trying to cut it off.
"That one!" Bon-hwa commanded her wolf to attack its head, trying to make it bleed. The spider's lifeless body dropped to the ground as a screen appeared in front of Bon-hwa, her green eyes shining brightly.
[Kill Rank D beasts (3/3) Completed!] The screen disappeared in a flash as Bon-hwa stretched out her hand, lifting it up.
"Ahjussi! High five!" She giggled happily, Min-beom's eyes widened in surprise, looking at her hand that was offering a high five. His gaze softened and a warm smile crept onto his face. "High five!" He said, laughing as he high fived with the little girl.
[Thirty minutes left!]
The screen announced as the others started to panic. The ones that hadn't completed their objectives yet were still fighting with the monsters in the middle of the street. Min-beom and Bon-hwa walked to the corner to avoid any attention from the monsters.
Min-beom let out a tired sigh as he sat on the ground, leaning against the stone wall. Bon-hwa stood there as she saw the two creatures coming towards them. It was Myung-mi and Bora who had done nothing but watch.
"Oh? Master, you're done?" Bora said as she hissed softly.
Min-beom nodded and smiled awkwardly. "Yes, it was kind of tough."
"And please, call me Min-beom." He continued. Bora and Myung-mi's eyes widened in shock. The two exchanged glances at each other and then looked back at him, as if he had said something wrong.
"Wait, Master has a name?" Myung-mi asked as he hovered in the air, flapping his wings. Bora stared at Min-beom in confusion.
"According to the life and death contract… Master didn't sign his name at all, just 'Nameless Merchant'." Bora remembered as she looked at Myung-mi then to Min-beom.
'Wait… What?'
"O-oh! Is that so… Strange! Hahaha… I changed my mind and decided to reveal my name to you two, I guess." Min-beom said, his tone slightly quivering. He didn't know what this character was doing, he didn't know his past, everything about the Merchant was unknown to him.
He tried to recall anything about the Merchant, but nothing came up in his mind, just the important pages and events of the novel, such as, the protagonist's reset of events.
'What event timeline is this…? It can't be the 7th round that he had reset the events. Right?'
'The number of times he had reset the events was around six… but, what about the last chapter? Darn, I haven't read it yet! All I remember before the last chapter, he had reset again.' He scratched the back of his head, feeling frustrated.
'Why the heck am I even in this novel? About the protagonist whose world became a disaster and gained the ability of resetting events… The novel I have been reading for 5 years.'
"Master, you've been acting weird lately… ever since you hit your head in the ground, are you okay?" Myung-mi asked, sounding a bit concerned as Bon-hwa stands there, playing with the attribute screen by swiping left and right, not eavesdropping in the conversation at all.
"Unless… You and Master had switched souls?!" Bora gasped as she hissed softly, Min-beom's eyes widened by Bora's remark.
'Switch… souls?' He looked down the ground, thinking the possibility.
'No way… that could be impossible since I jumped off the building…! If it's not… What would the merchant do in my world?'
Min-beom sighed, the nervousness and disbelief showing in his face as Bora chuckled, "I'm joking, maybe, Master just changed?" Bora said as she hissed softly.
"Yeah, I just changed, dumbasses." He rolled his eyes sarcastically, hiding his nervousness and disbelief as it subsided slowly from him. A creature appeared in the middle of the street, hovering in the air as Min-beom's gaze shifted to the creature.
It was a small and adorable creature with white fur, the size of a box. It had a pair of golden eyes that looked like the serpent's pupils, black horns on its head and an earpiece microphone. It was wearing a black formal suit as it hovered in the air.
The others had their gazes on the creature, their eyes widening in surprise as the beasts continued to attack at the others that were still fighting for their lives. There was only twenty minutes left in the scenario.
[Ahem, Ahem! Is this working?] The creature adjusted its earpiece microphone and then cleared its throat, smiling, showing its serrated mouth.
[Greetings! Oh! Oh! It's kind of nervous being up here, huh? First time showing my public appearance! Hehe~] The creature giggled as Min-beom stood up from the ground and stared at the creature, feeling a surge of recognition.
'No way… The creature from the Visionary Broadcast?!'
'A Seonbi!'
The creature was a rare and powerful being that could manipulate reality with its words. It was the host of the Visionary Broadcast, a mysterious program that showed glimpses of other worlds and scenarios. Loyal and obedient towards the Olympians, the Primordial Beings and the Vision Gods.
[Anyways, congratulations to the mere mortals that had completed the objectives and enjoy the suffering of the remaining useless piece of garbage fighting for their lives!~] The Seonbi chuckled, looking like a harmless adorable stuffed animal but actually a dangerous one.
[While you wait for the twenty minutes to finish, peek some few scenarios all over the world that's also waiting for the scenario to finish~] The Seonbi snapped its fingers with a menacing smile.
There were screens that popped up in the air, showing live videos of the few countries that also had the same situation… Such as, America, Philippines, Japan and a lot more. They were fighting for their lives, there were brutal deaths as being torn apart or getting killed.
It was an overwhelming sight that caused Min-beom to not move in his place as he watched the screen, Bon-hwa tugs onto Min-beom's sleeve as he pats the little girl's head, covering her eyes from the videos then suddenly the Seonbi snapped its fingers and disappeared.
The screens vanished along with the Seonbi, leaving behind a deafening silence as the Rank D gates had closed. Min-beom felt a cold sweat on his forehead as he realized that he was witnessing a global catastrophe.
He looked around and saw the other survivors who had completed the objectives. They looked shocked, scared, and exhausted, some of them were injured or bleeding.
Some of them were crying or praying, some of them were hugging or comforting each other. They all shared a common bond of having gone through a hellish ordeal, while the others didn't care at all like they were used to it.
[The second scenario is now finished!]