A Monster Called Benji

"Hah!" Benji breathed. Before he could do anything, he was teleported to a place with nothing but plain green grasses. The area was vast, never ending.

[Your penalty quest starts now!]

[Outrun the monster until your time is over]

[Failure to survive until the set time is bound to die]

"Hold on, hold on!" Benji exclaimed, not ready for what was about to happen.

But unfortunately for him, there was no going back.

Huge serpentine monsters sprang up from the soil and began to give him the chase.

"Hell no!" He screamed and began to run for his life.

[01:00:00]

[01:00:59]

*At the same time*

~Inside an office~

"Boss, I have something I want you to see," a busty lady dressed in a tight sky-blue shirt and a short black skirt that hung around her thighs said as she walked into the office where a young man with blue hair was sitting on a chair.

The man looked up, seeing who it was, he smirked, barely noticeable and then bent down to what he was doing before.

"What is that?" He asked, his voice neutral.

"Here," the lady said and dropped the file she was holding on the table. She cleared her throat and the man dragged the file to his side.

Opening it, he saw an information belonging to a rather average-looking boy with black hair and bangs covering his blue eyes, around his eyes were dark circles that could be as a result of keeping late nights.

"Benji Martin, sixteen years, E-rank hunter," the man read. Seeming uninterested, he frowned and looked at the lady. "What's the meaning of this?" He asked her and pushed the file away from him.

"Go down, boss," the lady replied.

Sighing, the man pulled the file back and then read down the information. There he saw the information the lady wanted him to see.

"He's the only survivor among the D-rank hunters that died in the dungeon raid four days ago?" He asked the lady.

"Yes," the lady replied. "Funny enough, he came out unscratched."

"Hmmm," the man squinted his eyes. "It's unheard of."

"Yes, that's why I brought it to you. Perhaps we should go and check for ourselves," the lady said and the man nodded thoughtfully.

"It is possible that this kid had his second awakening."

"A hunter may likely undergo his second awakening during a death-near situation, and that person is likely to level up instantly. For example, if such a person was a D-rank hunter in his first awakening, he is likely to level to C or B-rank during the second awakening," the lady explained.

"You are right, Mikasa," the man said. "But for this boy to come out alive, he must have levelled up to a C-rank hunter. We need him."

"Send me, then," the lady said.

"No,Mikasa," the man shook his head. "I must go instead. I must be applauded by the big boss this time."

-------

Back at the plain field, Benji was still running for his life. He was completely surrounded on both sides, with no place to turn to or a place to hide and catch his breath.

His clothes were soaked wet with his own sweats and his visions were blurring but he knew well enough not to give up because giving up meant dying and throwing away his second chance in life.

All the system wanted him to do wa survive until the given time... It wasn't all that difficult.

[00:00:10]

"Damn it!" Benji grunted as he continued to run. His legs pumped furiously as he sprinted across the field. His chest rising and falling rapidly.

[00:00:05]

Just as Benji thought he couldn't run anymore, one of the serpentine monsters lunged forward, its jaws wide open. Benji tried to dodge, but the monster's attack caught him off guard.

He felt a searing pain as the monster's fangs sank into his shoulder.

"Damn... It!" Benji cried out, stumbling forward. His legs buckled beneath him, and he tripped, falling hard onto the ground.

One of the monsters loomed over him, its jaws open wide, ready to deliver the final blow. Benji closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

[00:00:01]

But just as the monster was about to attack, time ran out.

[00:00:00]

The world around Benji began to blur, and he felt himself being teleported away.

When his vision cleared, Benji found himself back in his own room, gasping for breath. He looked down at his shoulder, expecting to see a gaping wound, but there was nothing. No pain, no blood, no scars.

Benji collapsed onto his bed, exhausted.

[Penalty quest completed]

[You still have daily quests to complete]

"Huh? What now!" Benji grunted angrily. "I almost got killed out there because of this damn penalty quest and you want me to complete the daily quests too? Isn't the daily quests supposed to get cancelled after undertaking the penalty quest? This is being unfair, really."

[The first penalty quest was only the beginning. Failure to complete the daily quests will result in dire consequences]

"Argh!" Benji grunted, pulling his bangs. As he complained, his eyes caught the countdown and noticed that it was no longer counting. He sighed in relief about it. "At least, I can take my time. That's preferable."

Just as he was still busy with his system, a knock came at his door.

"Who could it be?" He wondered. 'Lucy can't be in my home at this time because of her morning training so who else could it be?'

As he got to the door, he peeked through the hole and saw a young a man standing there, behind him was a pretty lady with orange hair and green eyes.

"Huh?" He muttered and went ahead to open the door for them.

"Hello," the young man greeted him, sounding polite despite the huge gap in their status.

"Hello, sir," Benji greeted, his eyes fell on the lady behind the man and he could not help but be enthralled by her beauty.

The man noticing his gaze on the lady behind him, shifted and blocked his view.

At this, Benji cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the man, if anything, he didn't want them to see him as a perverted young man.

"The name's Mr. Park," the man introduced himself to Benji. "And she here is Mikasa, my assistant."

"How many I help you, Mr. Park?" Benji asked.

"Can we come in?" Mr. Park asked. "It is not something we can discuss outside."

Benji was not sure if it was okay letting them come into his apartment not because he was scared but because of how it looked. It didn't look like where a human being lived.

"Ehm, I am not sure about that," he said, scratching his head. "My house looks a bit messy, can we go somewhere else?"

Mr. Park glanced at Mikasa who responded with a shrug.

"We do not care about how your home looks like but if you're pretty sure that going somewhere else will be better, it's fine by me."

Benji was relieved to hear that from the man. "Let me change into something else, hold on," he said and dashed into the house, not forgetting to lock the door behind him.

"Hmmmm," Mikasa sighed.

"What is it?" Mr. Park asked her.

"He doesn't look like someone who has just got a second awakening," she noted.

"Right? Well, we'll find out laters," Mr. Park said, feeling that there was no need to get worried.

Soon after, Benji came out of the room all dressed in his best attire. No one knew what he was thinking while putting on the neatly-ironed clothes and the two standing before him didn't really care about it either.

"Shall we?" Mr. Park asked him. Gaining a nod from him, the expectant man led Benji to his car. A beautiful black car with tinted glasses.

Benji breathed, he had never dreamed of entering such a fine car before. He went in on Mr. Park's order and the driver drove off.

Soon, they arrived at an eatery and and went in.

"Order whatever you want," Mr. Park calmly said to him as they took a table by the window.

"A-alright," Benji nodded. He didn't know why the man was being friendly and all that and he could not help but feel nervous all of a sudden. Nevertheless, he went ahead to order a plate of spaghetti and a glass of orange juice to accompany the diet.

After being served, Benji took the first bite and he closed his eyes to savour the taste. Surely, he had never tasted anything so delicious like it before. Not even while his mother was still around because the lady was a bad cook to begin with.

Mr. Park and his assistant watched as Benji enjoyed his meal, they waited patiently for him to be done with the food and when he was done, they jumped into business.

"Young man, the reason why we are here is to confirm something," Mr. Park began and Benji listened attentively. "During the D-rank dungeon raid, all the hunters lost their lives except you. This could only mean one thing."

"What is that, sir?" Benji asked Mr. Park.

"You underwent a second awakening," Mr. Park replied and Benji widened his eyes in shock.

"Is that even possible?" He muttered out of breath. 'Does that explain why I came out alive?'

"It is possible, though it is not something that happens on a daily basis," Mr. Park replied.

"Wow," Benji mumbled. If that was the case, then that means he was no longer an E-rank hunter.

"Place your hand on this device, it'll tell us your new rank," Mr. Park said and Benji nodded and quickly placed his hand on the device.

Everyone waited in anticipation as the device counted but the moment they saw the result, their faces turned sour.

"0?"