Extra To Protagonist

[Please choose an affinity.]

• Time

• Shadow

• Lightning

• Light

'…These are all overpowered. But there's only one real choice here.'

'I choose time.'

The moment he made his choice, a flood of information rushed into his brain. It was so overwhelming that his body reacted instinctively—he smacked himself in the face.

Right at that moment, the door opened.

Victoria stood frozen in the doorway.

"…"

"…Pfft—"

She tried to hold it in. She really did. But within seconds, she burst out laughing, slamming the door shut behind her as she doubled over.

'Of course, this is my luck…'

Merlin sighed, rubbing his face as he got up from the couch.

"They already delivered the pizza. I waited for you."

He forced an unnatural smile, which only made Victoria raise an eyebrow.

"Alright then." She sat down and opened the box, releasing the heavenly scent of otherworldly pepperoni into the room.

The moment the smell hit Merlin's nose, his eyes widened.

'Is this… heaven?'

He sat down, grabbed a slice, and so did Victoria.

"Bon appétit."

They said it at the same time.

The pizza was perfectly balanced—not soggy, but crispy enough to crack slightly under his bite. It was the ideal texture.

And the taste? Unreal.

'The food here is practically divine…'

Merlin savored every bite like it was his first time ever tasting pizza.

Slice after slice disappeared into his stomach until he had eaten the entire thing—not a single crumb left.

'No food waste on my watch.'

Just as he was about to relax, a beeping sound came from the bathroom—the washing machine's cycle was done.

"Hold on a second."

Victoria, half-asleep on the couch with the TV still playing, gave a lazy nod—or at least, Merlin thought she did. She might've just twitched in her sleep.

He grabbed his clothes, now freshly washed, and spun the air around them in tight, controlled motions. Within moments, they were completely dry.

'Perfect.'

Satisfied, he stepped back into the living room—where Victoria was now softly snoring.

'Rough day at work?'

Shaking his head, Merlin grabbed a blanket and gently draped it over her.

'Guess it's time for me to sleep too.'

He stretched and quietly made his way to his room.

Lying in bed, Merlin stared at the ceiling, thinking about his new time affinity.

Nathan, the protagonist in the original novel, had also gained time affinity—but only at the very end of the story.

Which meant that Merlin, right now, had no idea how to use it.

'I can't even kick a rock compared to late-game Nathan…'

Sighing, he rolled onto his side.

Tomorrow was an important day.

A specific event would take place—one that had changed Nathan, even if he never showed it on the outside.

'And that means…tomorrow is going to fucking suck so damn much.'

Tomorrow, Nathan will have his first training session with the system.

—

The Next Morning

Merlin got up, completed his usual morning routine, and stepped out of the apartment. Victoria was already gone—probably at work.

Taking a deep breath, he stretched.

'Everything feels… oddly perfect today.'

As soon as he stepped onto the street, a taxi pulled up right in front of him.

'What kind of luck is this?'

Skeptically, he got in. The ride to the academy was flawless—no delays, no traffic, no issues getting through security.

'Okay… this is definitely a prank.'

Opening his phone, he checked his schedule for the day.

[Tactical Blade Application]

His hands started trembling. His eyes twitched.

'Never mind. My luck is officially over.'

With a heavy sigh, he made his way toward the open training ground, where a few students were already waiting.

Nathan wasn't here yet. Neither was Reinhardt. But Dorian was.

'This is awkward.'

Silently, Merlin walked up and stood beside him.

Dorian did the same.

Neither of them said a word.

It was like watching two mute birds trying to out-silence each other.

Eventually, Reinhardt entered the training ground.

Nathan was still nowhere to be seen.

'So he's still going through system training, huh? That's… unfortunate.'

Reinhardt crossed his arms and swept his gaze across the students. His eyes landed on Merlin.

"Everyone, grab your weapons."

Merlin picked up his rapier—the same one he always used.

"I'll be demonstrating a basic technique."

'Please, please, please don't—'

"Merlin Everhart, step forward."

A chill ran down his spine. Reinhardt's smile was terrifying.

"Sir, I think there might be someone more qualified—"

"Merlin Everhart."

There was no escape.

Letting out a slow, defeated exhale, he stepped forward.

He and Reinhardt faced each other, weapons drawn, while the students watched in anticipation.

'Please, gods, if you exist—just don't let me break any ribs. Or limbs. Or my spine. Or my—'

"Merlin, attack me."

Reinhardt didn't even move.

Merlin just stared at him.

'It doesn't matter how I attack—he's going to absolutely wreck me.'

Resigning himself to fate, he took a step forward and executed a simple, speed-boosted slash.

At the very last second, Reinhardt slid his sword along Merlin's blade and—

WHAM.

—slammed the hilt of his sword straight into Merlin's stomach.

Merlin doubled over in pain, clutching his abdomen.

'This… this is torture…'

Reinhardt turned back to the students.

"As you can see, this is how you properly execute a parry. Of course, I didn't want to hurt Mr. Everhart, so I only used the hilt."

'Yeah, sure. Totally didn't want to hurt me. Not at all.'

Merlin groaned.

Today was not his day.

"Mr. Everhart, attack again—"

Before Reinhardt could finish his sentence, Merlin warped forward, using his space affinity to instantly close the gap.

'Screw you, you sadistic bastard!'

He swung his sword down, aiming straight for Reinhardt's head.

Reinhardt moved to parry, but just as he was about to counter—

[Trickster's Reflex]

Merlin's body twisted unnaturally, avoiding the counter at the last second.

Reinhardt's brow twitched.

'Yeah, what now, you—'

BAM!

A well-placed kick to the stomach sent Merlin flying back several meters, like a ragdoll tossed into the void.

Lying on the ground, Merlin gasped for air.

'Alright. Now this is personal.'

Ignoring the pain, he leaped back to his feet and charged again.

Reinhardt, meanwhile, casually scratched his ear.

The students just stared, blinking in confusion.

"…Has he lost his mind?"

"Did he finally snap?"

Merlin lunged forward, executing a sharp forward slash.

Reinhardt blocked it effortlessly.

"When slashing, make sure to use your waist properly. Rotating your core adds more speed and power."

Merlin's eyes twitched.

'He's actually giving a lesson while I'm attacking him?!'

He resisted the urge to throw in his other affinities, limiting himself to just space—not that he could do much with it yet.

Still, he tried applying pressure with spatial distortions.

It felt like an ant trying to push over a boulder.

Merlin gritted his teeth and slashed again.

Reinhardt countered with a powerful downward swing—

And for a split second—

Everything slowed down.

'…What the hell?'

Reinhardt's movements turned sluggish, his blade creeping toward Merlin at a snail's pace.

Acting on instinct, Merlin jumped back—

And suddenly, time resumed as normal.

Reinhardt's eyes widened.

From the students' perspective, it just looked like Merlin had dodged at the last second.

Merlin, standing there in shock, blinked.

'Was that… my time affinity?'

Reinhardt's expression remained unreadable.

But his raised eyebrows and stunned stare spoke volumes.

'Time…'

Reinhardt's thoughts churned.

It wasn't just the dodge—it was how Merlin dodged. His movement wasn't natural.

His eyes had flickered, scanning everything at an unnatural speed mid-evade.

'…She's the only one who could have this.'

Time affinity.

The rarest affinity in the world. The only known user was the Academy's Headmaster.

No one else.

Merlin stood motionless, staring at Reinhardt.

'The old man knows something.'

Merlin already knew that nobody besides the Headmaster possessed time affinity—except for Nathan at the end of the novel.

Which was precisely why he chose it when the system offered.

'It's broken. That's why I took it.'

He narrowed his eyes.

'Now, what's this old man planning—'

"Well done, Merlin. That was a good demonstration. Return to your spot."

Merlin's eyebrow twitched.

'…What? That's all? Seriously?'

His forced smile trembled as he wordlessly nodded and walked back to the group.

As Merlin walked back, the students around him stared.

Some with confusion.

Some with amusement.

And some… with pure disbelief.

"…That's it?"

"That's the whole demonstration?"

A few students were already snickering among themselves.

"Oh no, Merlin's just too powerful to keep fighting! Reinhardt must've gotten scared!"

"Clearly, he's a hidden monster!"

Merlin ignored them. He literally couldn't care less about them.

Mostly because he was too busy gritting his teeth whilst thinking about the consequences of his time affinity.

'Now that I think about it..maybe time is too good..I also wanted to get back at the old man.'

And even though his brain told him it was good news—that Reinhardt wasn't going to publicly annihilate him in front of all the students present, his pride felt like it had just been drop-kicked.

He sat down with an exaggerated sigh, arms crossed. As he looked at the rapier in front of him.