The Power of [Temporal Rewind]
He lay there, staring up at the dark cave ceiling. His breathing was ragged. His entire body hurt. He felt like an old man who had just run a marathon.
Was it over?
A holographic screen appeared in the air. This time it was bright gold, clean and free of glitches.
[Target Eliminated: Chimera (Elite/Mutant).]
[Experience Gained.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
Michael’s body jerked.
A warm sensation flowed into him. The pain in his joints slowly faded. His stiff muscles relaxed again.
But that wasn’t the best part.
Thin black smoke rose from the Chimera’s corpse. It didn’t disperse into the air, but drifted toward Michael and seeped into his skin.
[Trait Activated: Time Eater.]
[You have stolen the target’s remaining time.]
[Remaining Chimera Lifespan: 15 Years.]
[Converted to Human Lifespan (Ratio 10:1): +1.5 Years.]
Michael felt his heartbeat grow slightly stronger. His breathing became easier.
"One and a half years..." he muttered. "I killed a monster that strong for just one and a half years?"
He was disappointed. But at the same time, he realized something.
He could live.
As long as he kept killing.
He tried to sit up. His hand brushed through his hair. It still felt coarse and dry. He pulled a lock of hair into view.
Still white.
The level ups and added lifespan didn’t restore the fifty years he had lost. They only increased his remaining time, not rejuvenate his body to its former state.
Michael let out a small laugh. Dry. Hollow.
"So this is how it works..."
[Status Updated.]
[Name: Michael]
[Race: Human (Time-Variant)]
[Level: 3]
[Remaining Lifespan: 1 Year 6 Months 23 Hours.]
[Skill: Chrono-Stasis (Rank ???)]
He looked at the Chimera’s corpse before him. It looked withered, as if it had been dead for days despite having fallen only moments ago. That was a side effect of [Time Eater]. He didn’t just kill it. He devoured its temporal existence.
Crack... BOOM!
A massive rumble came from the direction of the entrance.
Michael snapped his head around.
The gigantic stone door Ellian had fled through earlier had now completely collapsed. Huge rocks fell from the ceiling, sealing the only exit from the chamber.
The vibrations from the battle and the mana potion explosion had damaged the already ancient cave structure.
Thick dust filled the room.
When it finally settled, Michael saw a towering pile of rubble. No gaps. No light from outside.
He was trapped.
Alone in the darkness with a monster’s corpse and two human bodies growing cold.
Strangely, Michael didn’t panic.
The old Michael the Porter would have been sobbing hysterically by now. But this Michael... this white-haired Michael felt an unnatural calm.
Maybe because he had already died three times. Fear of death had dulled.
Or maybe because he knew something others didn’t.
He walked over to the Chimera’s corpse and placed his hand on the bloodied lion head.
"System," he called. "You said I have a skill to rewind objects in time, right?"
[Correct. Basic Skill: Temporal Rewind.]
[Cost: Varies depending on object size and complexity.]
"How much will it cost to rewind this corpse to prime condition?"
[Analyzing Target: Chimera Rank B (Mutated).]
[Estimated Cost: 2 Months of Lifespan.]
Michael smiled faintly. A smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
He had over a year left. Two months was a cheap price for a guardian in this hell.
"Do it," Michael ordered coldly.
Gray light poured from his palm, enveloping the massive corpse.
The wound in the monster’s eye began to close. The black blood scattered across the floor flowed backward, returning to its host. Torn flesh rejoined itself.
This wasn’t healing. It was rewinding a recording.
The monster’s body trembled.
Its yellow eyes opened again.
But this time, there were no pupils. Only dull, faded yellow emptiness. No soul. No life.
Just an empty shell awaiting its master’s command.
The monster slowly rose to its feet, its movements stiff like a wooden puppet being pulled by strings. It lowered its lion head before Michael until its snout touched the floor.
[First Minion Acquired: Time-Lost Chimera.]
Michael patted the monster’s snout.
"Good," he said softly. "Now guard me. I need sleep."
Just as Michael was about to lean his exhausted body against the wall, a red warning box flashed aggressively in his vision, accompanied by a siren only he could hear.
[WARNING! WARNING!]
[Dungeon Energy Unstable!]
[Due to the death of the 'Guardian Boss', the Dungeon core is attempting forced evolution.]
[Difficulty Level Increased: Rank C -> Rank B.]
The cave floor began to tremble again. Not from collapsing rocks, but from something crawling upward from deep beneath the ground.
The earth around the pile of bones in the corner of the chamber began to crack.
A human skeletal hand burst out of the soil. Then another. And another.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Their empty eye sockets ignited with cold blue flames.
Michael let out a long sigh as he stared at the newly risen army of undead. He glanced at his Chimera, already poised to attack.
"Looks like sleep will have to wait," Michael muttered as he pulled the Mythril dagger back out of the torn pocket of his pants. "Ready for round two, Big Cat?"
"Destroy them."
A single, brief command slipped from Michael’s dry lips.
Before him, the newly revived Chimera moved. There was no roar of rage or intimidating growl like when the creature was alive. Its movements were silent, efficient, and terrifying.
The serpent tail at the back of the monster’s body shot forward like a spear, piercing three skulls at once as they crawled up from the ground.
Crack!
The sound of shattering bone rang out sharply.
The lion’s front legs slammed into the ground, creating a shockwave that pulverized the rib cages of five more skeletons into chalky dust.
Michael watched the scene while leaning his back against the cold cave wall. His breathing sounded like a broken whistle. His lungs felt stiff, as if their elasticity had been forcibly stolen by time.
This was the power of [Temporal Rewind].
The Chimera had not truly come back to life. Its heart did not beat. Its pale yellow eyes did not blink. The creature was nothing more than flesh and muscle rewound to their physical prime, but without a soul to govern them.
A puppet of meat.
"Enough," Michael said softly.
The Chimera stopped instantly.
Its right forelimb, raised to tear apart the remaining skeleton, froze in midair. It stood motionless, like a horrifying wax statue in a museum of nightmares. There was no rise and fall of its chest to indicate breathing.
"Perfect," Michael murmured, then broke into a violent cough.
Fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, staining the ragged shirt that now looked far too large for his shrunken body.
Pain slammed into his knees and elbows. It felt like acute rheumatism suffered by an eighty-year-old man. Michael slumped down, sitting heavily on the rough stone floor.
The adrenaline that had sustained him during the battle was gone. Now, the reality of his new body demanded payment.
His stomach growled loudly, twisting painfully as if he hadn’t eaten in a week.
"Hungry..." he hissed.
He looked at the Chimera’s standing corpse. For a second, a mad thought crossed his mind—to eat the monster’s flesh. But he quickly shook his head. Monster meat was poisonous to ordinary humans who hadn’t reached Rank C or higher.
His gaze shifted elsewhere.
In the corner of the chamber, partially buried under fallen rocks, lay the corpse of the Ranger whose neck had been snapped earlier. His waist pouch was still intact.
Michael dragged himself forward. He couldn’t walk upright. His legs were too weak. He crawled across the dusty floor littered with bone fragments, ignoring the raw pain in his palms.
"Sorry, friend," Michael murmured as he reached the body. He rolled the Ranger’s cooling corpse over. "You won’t need this in hell anymore."
Michael’s trembling hands tore open the waist pouch.
Inside were two solid ration bars and a half-full bottle of mineral water.
Michael ripped open the food wrapper with his teeth. He devoured it greedily, nearly choking from not chewing properly. The bland chocolate taste and sawdust-like texture felt like the most delicious meal in the world.
After finishing the first bar and gulping down some water, Michael finally managed to breathe a little easier.
The dizziness in his head subsided.
"Status," he ordered.
A holographic screen appeared.
[Name: Michael]
[Physical Condition: Critical (Premature Aging/Malnutrition)]
[Remaining Lifespan: 1 Year 4 Months.]
[Minion Status: Time-Lost Chimera (Duration: Permanent while User Mana/Time remains).]
Michael frowned as he read the last line.
"While my remaining time lasts? What does that mean?" Michael asked the empty air.
The system responded with new text.
[Minion Maintenance Cost: 1 Hour of Lifespan per day.]
Michael let out a dry laugh. "That’s an expensive rental. One hour of my life for one day of using you."
He looked at the Chimera standing motionless. A Rank B monster as a personal bodyguard for the cost of one hour of lifespan per day? That was cheap compared to his life.
Michael tried to stand. His legs were still shaky, but at least he could support his own weight. He walked toward the Chimera.
