Extra To Protagonist

Merlin and Victoria arrived home quickly. The entire walk was eerily silent—though that might've been because Merlin reeked the whole way.

As soon as they stepped into the apartment, Merlin bolted straight to the bathroom, while Victoria barely held back a chuckle.

'This is ridiculous…'

Glancing at himself in the mirror, he looked like he had just crawled out of a horror movie. His hair was an absolute mess, his face was pale as a ghost, and bloodstains dotted his uniform. He looked less like a student and more like some half-baked cosplayer or a kid heading to a Halloween party.

'No wonder people were staring…'

With a sigh, he stripped off the filthy, bloodied uniform and tossed it straight into the washing machine before stepping into the shower.

'God, I needed this.'

The warm water ran down his body, washing away the grime, exhaustion, and whatever else clung to him.

'Perfect temperature. Not too hot, not too cold.'

It was refreshing, almost rejuvenating. By the time he stepped out and ran a comb through his hair, he actually looked human again.

After throwing on some clean clothes, he dashed into the living room, where Victoria was lounging on the couch.

"What do you wanna eat, little bro? You're still paler than a fresh coat of paint."

She barely held back a laugh as she spoke.

'Laughing at your brother's suffering… How kind.'

Merlin sighed before collapsing onto the couch.

"Anything but burgers."

The mere thought of the heavenly burger he'd eaten earlier sent a pang of disappointment through him—because he knew he'd never find one that could compare.

"Alright, something spicy the—"

"No!"

Merlin shot up instantly, his voice filled with sheer terror. He hated spicy food. He'd probably start crying if he ate it.

Victoria burst out laughing at his reaction, while Merlin stubbornly turned away.

"Fine, fine… I'll order something nice."

She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes as her laughter died down.

"You were hilarious, by the way."

Merlin narrowed his eyes at her, his lips curling into a devious smirk as he scrolled through his phone.

After ordering the food, Victoria disappeared into the bathroom. Meanwhile, Merlin sat there, lost in thought.

He needed a way to make money. But being only fourteen, it wasn't like he could just invest in anything…

At least, not in his old world.

But here? Here it was perfectly legal.

His mind wandered back to his past life, specifically to when Nathan made his first investment at sixteen.

'Alright, let's see what we're working with.'

Pulling up his bank account, Merlin nearly had a heart attack.

'One million Lonar?! Isn't that a bit much for a fourteen-year-old?!'

Still… who was he to complain? Free money.

He immediately jumped onto a few investment platforms, scanning for something worthwhile.

'There was that one company that blew up later on… there it is.'

Invoke.

Without hesitation, he poured 900,000 Lonar into the company's stocks. The verification process was painfully slow, but once it was done, he leaned back with a satisfied grin.

Invoke was the company that ended up manufacturing Nathan's weapons in the novel. It exploded in popularity not long after its launch, becoming the number-one weapons supplier in the world.

'I'd be an idiot not to buy in.'

By the time he was done, he had secured 8% of the company's shares—an investment that would be worth millions in the future.

'Now I just sit back and let the money roll in slowly.'

Rubbing his hands together like a villain scheming his next move, Merlin barely noticed Victoria stepping back into the room. The moment he did, he quickly leaned back and feigned innocence, acting as if he hadn't just thrown nearly his entire fortune into a single investment.

'Everything's fine. Nothing to see here.'

He forced a casual smile, which only made Victoria squint at him suspiciously.

"Food should be here soon. And stop smiling like that—it's creepy."

She shook her head before flopping onto the couch.

—

Their peaceful TV-watching session was interrupted by the sharp ringing of Victoria's phone.

'Finally, the food?'

But instead of answering, she frowned.

"I need to go. Something came up at the office."

She was already gathering her things at an almost supernatural speed.

"If the delivery guy rings, just grab the food. And don't eat mine."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Be careful."

"You too."

And with that, she was out the door.

'…What kind of trouble could be going on at her job?'

Merlin briefly considered looking into it—then shrugged and went back to watching TV.

'Not like I can do anything.'

—

A little while later, the doorbell rang, snapping him out of his movie.

'Of course. Right when it's getting to the good part.'

Sighing, he grabbed his wallet and opened the door, only to be hit by the mouthwatering aroma of freshly baked—

"Two pizzas for Victoria Everheart?"

Ah. So she ordered pizza.

"Yep, those are for us."

He reached for his wallet, but the delivery guy cleared his throat.

"It's already paid for."

'Oh.'

Merlin accepted the pizzas, thanked the guy, and retreated back to the couch.

'…I should wait for her before eating.'

He needed something to kill time.

'System. Training menu.'

[Training (Daily) currently available.]

[Would you like to proceed? Y/N]

'Yes.'

The moment he confirmed, a strange dizziness overtook him. It felt as if his mind was spinning on a rollercoaster. His vision darkened—

Then, suddenly, the scent of fresh grass filled his nose. A cool breeze brushed against his skin, and the soft earth pressed beneath his fingers.

It was refreshing. Almost too real.

Merlin pushed himself up from the ground, once again finding himself in the same vast field.

'This place is oddly refreshing again.'

Before him lay the same rapier he had used last time—still stained with goblin blood.

'Couldn't it at least clean itself or something? It's disgusting.'

With a sigh, he picked it up and tried to shake off as much of the dried blood as possible. Strangely enough, the black streaks still looked fresh, as if they had only just been spilled.

But there was no time to dwell on it.

[Wave 2]

The system's voice thundered in his mind like an explosion.

'So we're jumping straight into it again, huh? No warm welcomes I guess.'

A portal tore open in the air before him, distorting space itself as it crackled with energy.

What kind of nightmare is coming through this time?

Then, he heard it—deep, rhythmic thuds shaking the earth.

'Footsteps? Jesus this is loud as fuck.'

A towering figure emerged from the portal—a massive, ogre-like creature covered in thick, gray hide. It let out a deafening roar, almost draconic in its intensity.

In one hand, it held an enormous battle-axe—something that should've required two hands, yet it wielded it effortlessly with one.

'An ogre?'

Merlin tightened his grip on his rapier.

Without hesitation, the ogre charged at him, the ground trembling under its sheer weight.

Merlin sighed.

'This won't take long. No armor, no defense—just a big, slow target.'

Mana surged through his rapier, and with a burst of speed, he vanished—reappearing behind the ogre in an instant.

A deep gash carved itself across its chest before it even realized what had happened.

"Your skin's tougher than I expected. I thought this would be over in one strike."

The ogre roared in pain, but before it could react, Merlin disappeared again—then again, and again.

He flickered around it like a phantom, each teleportation leaving behind another deep wound.

Finally, the beast had enough. With a furious snarl, it swung its massive axe toward him.

"You're not bad, big guy!"

[Tricker's Reflex]

Merlin twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the strike, then resumed his relentless assault.

The ogre had no chance to counter. Its sheer size made it painfully slow, while Merlin was like a grasshopper—darting around unpredictably, landing strike after strike.

Then, as blood dripped from his nose from overexertion, he smirked.

'Time for the finale.'

Channeling every ounce of mana into his rapier, he propelled himself forward, using his space and wind affinity to blur through the air like a lightning bolt.

The ogre barely had time to react.

In one clean motion, Merlin landed behind it.

A moment later, its head soared into the air, severed as effortlessly as if it had been made of paper.

"And that's that."

[Training Completed!]

[Rewards]

+2 Intelligence

+2 Agility

[Hidden Quest Completed – Finish training in under ten minutes!]

[Reward]

+1 Selectable Affinity

Suddenly Merlin's mind raced, the world around him shifted as his eyes closed and he found himself back on his couch. The smell of the pizzas lingering in the room.

Merlin looked around just to notice Victoria was still not home.

'One new affinity again. I might have just won the lottery this time again.'

He barely held back a chuckle as he looked at the reward of the hidden quest.

'I guess finishing quickly can be rewarding sometimes. Let's see what I get.'

After he chose the reward a panel materialized in front of him displaying the affinities.

Merlin's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

'N-No way'