Chapter 69: Rewinding Time
Chapter 69
Alex first froze, wondering how the hell the bastard managed to figure out that he was outside? But then he snapped out of it. Now was not the time to be wondering about something like that, instead it was better for him to think of how to escape this situation.
With his skills and latest +5 boost to all his stats, he was definitely above any early realm awakened in terms of physical ability, so handling two people though tough and bloody should give him a slight edge, but he hesitated.
’What if the third person has a gun?’
That could make the situation more precarious than it already is. Plus the fact that he wanted the enemies to be in the light while he remained in the dark, told him all the more reason why instead of fighting, it was better to escape.
But the other awakened had already caught his scent so escaping was futile. The bastard would still one way or another end up tracking him down.
’Wait! Didn’t I have something in my Desire Store that could help me for this exact moment? Though it would be crazy expensive, it should be worth it.’
Soon the sound of heavy footsteps heading towards the door rang out, prompting Alex to quickly call to his system. The chibi appeared floating around his head with a lovely smile on her ridiculously cute face and asked.
[So why are you calling me Alex?]
’I need you to open my inventory and display all available option right this moment!’
[Alright]
[Desire Shop: Status Opened]
• Minor Luck Boost for twenty four hours — 50 Desire Points
• Body Recovery Water (Heals injuries) — 50 Desire Points
• Charm Amplifier Lvl.1 (Temporary increases attraction towards the opposite sex) — 80 Desire Points
• Sleeping potion (within two hours) — 80 Desire Points
• Random Gacha spin — 100 Desire Points
• Aura Of Seduction Lv.2 — 500 Desire Points
• X-ray Vision — 500 Desire Points
• Time rewind (Only within one minute) — 700 Desire points
[Total Desire Points: 1010 DP]
As Alex scanned through the options, his eyes quickly landed on the time rewind option. Though the price made his heart want to die. Especially after all he had done to get his desire points all to that level he truly had no choice this time.
Since the time rewind could effectively take him back one minute into the past, then it was the most suitable option for this particular occasion.
So just as he was about to select time rewind, the large bulky man from earlier suddenly kicked the door open with a ferocious grin on his face. His eyes lit up with something that Alex would rather not talk about for his sanity’s sake.
"Ah! So it’s a pretty boy that was eavesdropping on us all along." He slowly licked his lips with a predatory glint in his eyes. "Looks like today’s my lucky day. I can’t wait to get a taste of that body, ohh... Your scent smells sooo divine."
Alex almost had the urge to puke but he suppressed it. The bastard was truly a pervert of the highest order. His eyes drifted to the two people behind the burly man, and for a fraction of a second, he saw something unreadable in the eyes of the baby-faced girl, before she quickly covered it with a mask of cold indifference, while the slim, lanky man looked at him with something more of annoyance than surprise.
The man didn’t even draw any weapon, instead he just leaned against the doorframe as if he were about to watch a particularly interesting street performance.
"Well, well," the lean man mused, his eyes scanning Alex’s face. "A rat in the walls. And a young handsome one at that. Tell me boy, who sent you? Or were you just in the wrong place at a very, very unfortunate time?"
"Enough talk Cecile. I want to make sure he never tells anyone about this permanently!"
Cecile dismissively waved his hand.
"He’s all yours. Just make sure not to leave a mess after you’re done. Because God knows I won’t be helping you clean up your mess this time."
The man grinned and suddenly dashed forward with a speed that defied human logic and absolutely seemed surprising for his size. He swung a fist brimming with explosive power straight for his head, but Alex dodged the attack with ease. To him the man’s speed couldn’t compare to the first abomination he had faced in the training realm.
Everyone looked at him with surprise written all over their faces except for the baby-faced girl. She just stood there with her usual composed expression that betrayed no hint of emotion. The lanky man pushed himself off the wall and his eyes slowly turned serious as he uttered one word.
"Awakened."
The bulky man was also stunned that Alex had dodged his fierce attack, then his grin grew wider.
"So you’re an awakened also? Good, I was kind of hoping that you wouldn’t die so easily. Really takes the fun out of the kill when the prey is too weak. Since you’re an awakened, then I guess I should get a little serious. I hope you don’t mind"
Immediately he said that, his pupils began to narrow into vertical slits of glowing red, then pitch black claws that looked like they could tear through steel with ease began to grow out of his fingers, even his height began to increase, reaching a level that would not be possible for an average human.
Alex’s eyes twitched slightly as he noticed the transformation.
’So it turns out that the bastard ability is a kind of beast-type transformation. It’s a pity that I won’t be able to fight him today.’ he turned towards the chibi still floating beside him. ’System I choose to buy the time rewind!’
[Alright then]
[700 Desire Points Deducted. Remaining Balance: 310 DP]
[Activating Time Rewind... Chrono-sync in 3... 2... 1...]
As soon as the countdown reached zero, the world around him began to distort heavily. He watched as the beast-man tried reaching for his throat with his blackened claws but everything and everyone around him dissolved into streaks of light and shadow.
Alex then found himself in a vacuum of space filled with various images from the past one minute. He was amazed by the sheer beauty of time distorting, playing back images. Everything just felt so surreal. Soon he felt as though his body was suddenly pulled through a straw, and then the void-like feeling suddenly vanished.
Alex blinked when he found himself back beside the door, standing in the exact same spot he had been sixty seconds ago. Inside the room, the second man was still speaking.
"... The location is right here. Which is the abandoned shipyard on the southern docks. It’s out of the way and is largely shielded from the city’s surveillance grid..."
Alex’s heart was hammering against his chest. He felt dizzy and disoriented after just going back in time, but he didn’t have a single second to waste. The time rewind had cost him seven hundred Desire Points, and if he didn’t move now, then everything would be for nothing.
He knew that in less than forty seconds, that beast-type bastard would start sniffing the air to catch his scent. So willing his spatial storage space, his mind delved into it, before he finally found what he was looking for.
A small dark brown glass bottle with a bright green label suddenly appeared in his hand. It was the McCormick Pure Peppermint Extract he had grabbed from the baking aisle during his massive shopping spree. It was a really good thing that he had bought it, because it was quite handy for this exact moment.
With trembling fingers, he uncapped it and let a few drops fall onto the ground where he stood, then he dabbed a bit on his collar and pants to mask his scent. If the bastard wanted to track his scent then he was going to get a nose full of chemicals instead.
’Legs don’t fail me now.’
Using his leg muscles he jumped up with all the strength he could muster and used the pipes running along the ceiling to pull himself up into the rafters. He pressed his body flat against the cold iron and slowed his breathing until it was barely audible.
"... Understood." The girl’s voice was as cold as ever. Then the door creaked open.
Alex watched from above as the burly man stepped out first, his nose twitching almost immediately, making him stop dead in his tracks. He lifted his head slightly and sniffed the air deeply while closing his eyes.
Sniff... Sniff...
The man turned his head toward the spot where Alex had been standing only seconds ago.
"What is it now, Gnash?" The lanky man named Cecile asked with a sigh of exasperation.
"I thought... I smelled something." Gnash grumbled while scanning the corridor. He walked right under the pipes where Alex was hanging and sniffed deeply.