chapter 3 :- "Three Months Back"

Winter leans back, resting against the cold wall. As if he had just brushed against death itself and somehow made it back alive, he exhales—a long, shaky breath. Relief floods his chest like a wave.

But then, that same voice returns inside his mind, crackling and impatient.

"Hey! Oye! Why have you sat down? I gave you entry so you could save me! If you try anything clever, I'll throw you back outside!"

Winter flinches. The voice is harsh, sarcastic, and commanding.

 This was supposed to be an easy cave exploration, but this was made for higher-ranking adventurers. There's no point in someone like me being here.

"Even I don't know how so many goblins showed up." Three months ago, there wasn't anything like this here."

Winter narrows his eyes. What do you mean, three months ago? These goblins must've been based here for at least years!

"First, help me get out." Being stuck in freeze mode, I'm getting a suffocating kind of feeling, buddy."

"Fine. I'll come once I feel ready to walk. I can't climb stairs in my current state."

"What injury?" the voice from inside the chamber snaps.

Winter blinks. What? My injuries?

He touches his shoulder. His ribs. The bruises, cuts, and pain, they're gone.

"They're healed."

"Winter," the voice says, "in this room, all injuries heal."

A cold sweat breaks over Winter's back.

"One second… how do you know my name?"

"Oops. My tongue slipped. Anyways, questions later. First, the task, Winter Pizza Guy."

"The hell?!" Winter yells, stunned by the bizarre nickname.

Still rubbing his now-healed arm, Winter inspects himself quickly, checking all his wounds. Then, one step at a time, he moves forward. The stone steps were covered in layers of green moss and damp grass.

As he climbs, the casket becomes visible to him.

Winter reaches the small platform at the top. He moves closer and peers through the thick, mist-covered glass of the chamber.

Inside, he sees the figure. Still. Unmoving.

"I'm handsome, right?" the voice chuckles, clearly amused with itself.

Winter flinches again. Your face… looks familiar, he thinks.

What shall I need to do?

"Nothing much. Just chant a spell with me."

"…Okay."

"Is tra viel na bal vra."

Winter nods slowly, then closes his eyes and repeats the chant.

"Is tra viel na bal vra."

He opens his eyes.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

"What do you mean nothing happened?" the voice snaps."Now what am I supposed to do? If you don't do something in the very next minute, you are going to be ejected from this room!"

"Hey, wait! Why the rush?! I'll try the spell again!"

"Is tra vie…"

Suddenly, "Wahaha hahaha!" The voice laughs, mocking and sharp."Your face was worth watching!"

Winter scowls. You can see me?!

"I can see everything around my room."Look to your right, and there should be a system window. Place your palm on it. Your palm is the key."

Winter turns slowly to his right, and there it is, a glowing panel, still in the air.

He steps closer and reads the text displayed on it:

Without much thought, Winter slowly moves his hand forward, his palm facing the surface. At an inch's gap, A sharp buzzing sound occurs.

The chamber begins to unlock with a deep metallic click. A burst of blue smoke hisses outward, spilling into the room like dry ice mist.

But…no one steps out.

Winter, cautious, leans forward, peering inside.

There's no one here... A stranger's voice whispers in winter's ear.

Winter frowns. He steps back, uneasy. He turns to his left instinctively—something shifts in his peripheral vision.

And there, the body that had been inside the casket is now standing right in front of him.

Alive. Smiling. And Winter is completely shocked.

He steps back slightly, eyes scanning the figure.

A young man with orange eyes and red hair, wearing a deep red martial arts dress with black and orange outlines.

Then—without warning—the stranger steps forward and hugs Winter.

"Thank you… for saving me," he says softly."That was my first time jump."

Winter calms the guy and slowly backs him down.

"Dude, look…. If you explain things to me, maybe then I'll be able to think with a stable mind. This is just too much to process. Please… what exactly is going on here?"

The stranger points at Winter with a casual hand gesture.

"Look. Green eyes. Orange-haired guy. Winter Williamson."

"Those goblins standing outside this room…"

BANG. BANG.

The door shakes violently, as if a bunch of elephants were charging down at it.

The stranger continues unfazed.

"I have no connection with those green things outside. I only chose this dungeon to build this room because there weren't any monsters here at that time.

Winter squints, his tone sharpening.

"Who even are you? A time traveller? A healer? Some telepath?"

The stranger backflips smoothly.

"Glad you asked!" "I'm the best outsider in your world!" lands in a cartwheel. "Smartest in your entire country!" puts a finger against his chin thoughtfully.

"Name's Xen Benov."

Winter exhales deeply, unimpressed.

"Cut the flashiness and get to the point. Tell me how you know me."

Xen's face finally gets serious.

"Actually… I'm not even from your world, I'm a hero in your world, summoned by your king." "I used to visit your pizzeria all the time. Uncle Ten and Aunt April…"

Winter's eyes go wide.

"I know everything about you. You told me you wanted to become an adventurer. I've seen you summoning small things from the outside world. That's why I chose you."

Winter takes a step back, stunned.

Xen paces slightly, remembering.

"Right-hand President Archduke Ferzmerryland was going to be assassinated on June 15, 1914. "I was assigned to stop it as his personal bodyguard during the speech." Some monsters had disguised themselves as humans to infiltrate the crowd." But because I failed to stop them, I had to time-jump… three months back. That's how far I could jump.

Winter stares blankly. "So that means right now, there are two of you?"

"No." Xen shakes his head."There's only one Xen. We heroes are not from your world, so the laws of time don't apply to us the same way it does to you all. I noticed this fact and levelled up to my max potential to unlock Altering Reality, which helped me make a theoretical time travel hypothesis to a functional reality.

As a result, I built this time machine far from town, in this dungeon. To keep it confidential as a backup plan, but it comes with a cost, whenever I travel back, I will lose all my connection with people like you, and my system will reset back to level 0."

With the help of my system, this machine helps me back track in time, and to open the casket, I needed help from the outside. "That's when I remembered you, Winter." The system alters the reality in the past to help me meet you; this all was bound to happen.

After a moment, Winter clenches his fists. and punches xen.

"Because of your game, my friend, Finn disappeared and those four people died outside. All because of you."

"Hmm." Xen smirks faintly. Then punches Winter hard in the stomach.

Winter coughs and doubles over.

"Dude. I told you. Benov snaps back. I'm just as clueless as you about those hostile predators outside. As I said, it was predestined. Those people… were meant to die today."

 Winter stares at Xen.

Xen continues, calmer.

"Look, I promise you I will look into this matter, but my inventory is empty. You'll have to summon a sword. That dagger of yours is useless to me. If you want to fulfil your dream of becoming an adventurer, now's the time. Otherwise, the goblins will break in. This entire room is filled with healing spells, but if we're swarmed… We'll both die. And I absolutely hate that outcome."

Winter grits his teeth, furious.

But he complies.

He bends down and starts chanting a spell. A spirit circle emerges, its size grows, and its glow increases. The air thickens with mana.

After some time, a faint shimmer of light begins to take shape. small dots meeting it and increasing its size.

"Not a pebble, Williamson. I said a sword."

Winter narrows his eyes and intensifies his focus.

The light sharpens, until it takes the form of a sword. after the completion, the weapon drops to the ground with a metallic thud.

Xen grabs it and lifts it to observe.

"Damn. This thing is… something. good jo...."

Suddenly—"KRUB!"

Winter drops unconscious.

Xen looks over his shoulder and sighs.

"Mr. Sleeping Beauty here… couldn't even handle summoning a sword. And was ready to throw hands with me. Glad I only used 10% of my physical strength… otherwise, this room would've had a hard time healing him."

Outside…

The room is surrounded by goblins scratching, snarling, and pushing.

A couple of them keep attacking the reinforced door.

But then—BOOM!A blast tears through the gate. Goblins are thrown into the air like ragdolls.

From the explosion, Xen appears, carrying Winter on his back.

Later…

The sky is orange. The air smells like evening.

Umm… what happened? Winter groans. It's evening… the sun's setting…

Was that all… a dream?

He gets off his bed, slowly. Moves closer to the window to enjoy the sunset view.

"Your room is great."

Xen is sitting in a chair, chewing on an apple, one leg tossed over the armrail.

Winter turns around slowly, then freezes.

"IT WAS REAL," he whispers in shock.

"IT IS REAL." Xen smiles."Told ya."