I couldn’t believe my eyes, why is there a time limit this time?

Tutorial Mission 12: As a traveling merchant, you should be ready to travel far and wide. So, get your transport ready and do a small trip to get used to it. Prize: Unlock new products and "Maintenance workshop". Type: Mandatory. Done: 0/500 km. Time left: 7h 45min 37s

The flashing light and red letters kind of remind me of a siren of a firefighter truck, giving me the same urgent feeling, even more than in the morning… Add to it the time limit and the alarm in my head rings out loudly.

“System, why is there a time limit? What will happen at the end of the time?”

I stayed silent for what seemed an eternity, but there was no answer, just the ominous screen.

“Is it the fall of humanity you said?”

I swallowed with difficulty. Another minute or so of silence, each second seemed to take away a bit of my sanity.

“System, please, don’t play dead and tell me, can’t you tell me what ‘Fall of humanity’ means?”

Insufficient right of access.

Of course I have the right, it will affect my life…you should just say… I felt angry and suffocated at the same time, unable to breathe properly.

As I was trying to inhale more air…

“Oink? Oink, oink, oink!”

I was pulled back from the void in my mind. Looking aside, the piglets, who were sleeping together, are now playing with each other, wagging their tails. Even in the limited space, they’re headbutting, nipping and pulling each other's ear or tail.

“Pffttt…”

I couldn’t help it, they’re cute, cute enough to help me relax a bit and let me think straight again.

“It’s not time to freak out… If it will really be the apocalypse as I thought, I have to be fast…” I murmured, “System, tell me at least one thing, should I prepare for the worst?”

After finishing the tutorial, the user has access to visual configuration.

It repeated an old message, but I couldn’t help but lightly smile looking at its green color.

“I understand… Thank you.”

I moved fast, choosing to put the calves on the farm. I got my phone and began a buying spread in a delivery app, somewhere that would be delivered fast. I chose a whole-sale market and bought all kinds of seeds, a bunch of salt, oil, sugar, meat, fish, dry food, a lot of mineral water and some personal cleaning items to be delivered at home.

I’m sure things are going awry, whatever be the cause, so food and especially water is the first thing I should have ready and leaving outside vegetables, bread and even flour that I can obtain later with the system farm, since my space is limited. About the personal cleaning items, that’s about health too, okay? They’re a necesity…

I didn’t take my time choosing, just picked the first I could, using around twenty minutes and couldn't care too much about anything else, paid for it and drove home, fast speed.

Getting there, I kept the two chicks and piglets in the back of the car, with the window open, and I filled anything I could find with water, using every faucet in the house, and packed any important and useful things. Storing everything in the space, even the deliveries, as soon as they arrived, and the water, when the containers were filled.

I gobbed up my lunch while waiting.

Forty minutes after I got home everything was delivered and put away. My spaces are filled up, with just a little left in each, 2% or so. Looking at the time-limit I have six hours and fifteen minutes left.

“It’s enough…”

I need to drive to my parents home, they live in another city, more or less 450 km from this one. If something is going to happen I need to be with them.

While getting out of the city, I observed my surroundings. I can't see anything wrong, it’s just everyday life. There was a couple holding hands and looking at flowers, kids playing in a playground with their parents watching. Some cars, bicycles and motorcycles are being driven around, not many, since it's still work hours. There was a dog trying to catch a cat, birds flying in the sky, no clouds, the sun giving everyone a bright and warm summer day. 'Why... on such a day the system says humanity will fall? How could it even happen…'

I bit my lips and questioned:

"System, how many missions does the tutorial have?"

Twelve

"It’s the last one… I will have access to answers when I finish?"

This time the system ignored me. I still accelerated.

I have never driven this fast in all my life, well, I only lived twenty-two years and it’s not like I got my driver's license long ago, but still… keeping at 100~120km/h is more than I ever did, at most I drove at 80km/h before.

Luckily there aren’t many cars on the road, only when I’m near a city, when I have to slow down to 60~80km/h.

‘Mom would have a heart attack if she ever knew I drove like this… I can almost hear Dad nagging…’

Driving half way, I stopped next to a drugstore, in the outskirts of a city. At the same time I need some rest and buy some meds, I need to get my points, since my alarm for harvesting rang long ago.

So I collected the bread, put all the flour I had to do more (and open more space in my storage in the meanwhile) and sowed more cucumbers, it's fast and has a lot of water. ‘Maybe I can sow watermelon later too…’

Inside the drugstore, while choosing what could be useful in any way, I tried to make some calls, but none connected until I finished paying. So I can only send some messages and continue on my way.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

- Mom/Dad are you at home? I'm on my way to visit, bring grandma home, bring her meds too, I think it would be better if she slept over. I will be there in around 2 hours. How about buying some food? Maybe we could go to the country house? It’s been a long time since we last went.

- Bro, go back home, I'm visiting today.

After a few minutes driving I remembered I must have enough points to buy the mill. I slowed down a bit and tried talking with the system.

“System, can I buy the mill?”

Do you wish to unlock the mill for 150 points?

Yes / No

“Yes.”

We will need flour, besides, this will be another way to get more points. Opening the mill in my mind, like the bakery, it had three spaces on each side. Since I don't have wheat, I thought about the corn I harvested in the morning and thought about moving the corn from storage to machine. Five corn appeared in one of the squares, it will take two hours and a half to finish.

‘So, is it like bread? Does one corn take half an hour to make corn flour?’

Knowing there is no use asking, I just focused again on driving.

...

I'm already in my parents' city. Glancing at the mission, from the farm to home, and there to here, it's been 488km. There are 57 minutes left.

I dialed my mother’s number again, this time she picked it up after a few tries. I immediately bombarded her with questions.

"Mom, are you at home? Did you see my message? I'm going to visit today, I should be there in a few minutes... Is dad home? He saw my message? Have you two picked my grandmas? What about my brother?"

"Hey, hey… Breath, calm down. What's up with this suddenly? Leave me some time to answer…"

"Sorry… I just couldn’t reach you earlier…”

“It’s okay, we saw your message. Mom is here already, Kevin is picking your grandma and your father just walked outside, a bit grumpy…”

“Are you unhappy?"

"No, Arya, this child... It's just that we thought you had classes until friday…? And you suddenly tell us you’re on your way here… Did something happen?”

“... No… I just miss you, mom…”

“Hmm… Okay, I won’t ask… We’re here if you need us, so let us know. You know your dad, he doesn't like you to miss class… He is walking around, but he must be back in a bit."

"Okay mom… I know, don't worry, until soon!"

She hung up and I sent a message to my brother.

- Don't forget granny Adelia's meds, everything, and clothes.

When I drove past a bakery, I stopped and bought any cakes and pies they had. Then continued going around until finishing the mission, stopping a few streets from my parents house, the sun had already set. The mission is completed.

"I'm finished. Now, tell me, what is going to happen?"

Congratulations, now you're officially a traveling merchant!

There are 36 min 25 s left before officially upgrading on an Apocalypse Traveling Merchant

“Upgrade?”

Since the world will change, the system needs to adapt.

You will officially upgrade on an Apocalypse Traveling Merchant.

Even as I already thought about it, and prepared to some extent, in the end of my mind I had some hope I was wrong, but it all crashed down now.

"W-what?"

I pointed outside, still wanting to deny it.

"Apocalypse? Like, doomsday? End of the world? Can't you see everything is fine?! Yes, what you said before, about the fall of humanity, what does it mean? There must be a way you can stop it... Right?"

This world protection shield will end in 35min 19s.

Soon the isolated energy outside will spread inside, the world as you know will change.

"No, what do you mean? There is nothing like that, this is absurd. Even if there is, you’re a system, shouldn’t you tell me how to extend it? Like in those novels, give me a solution!"

This world protection shield will end in 35min 08s.

“It's telling me he can’t do anything, isn’t it?”

When I think about my family and what this world could have in store for us, I feel despair. In my despair I could only laugh. A laugh as ugly as a cry.

Anyone who ever watched or read something about the apocalypse would know how difficult it is to survive, what more protecting someone, but at least I’m sure I won’t be stabbed in the back by them and I would prefer to die before letting them die. I steeled myself for what is to come, no mather what it is, at least I have this system on my side.

"What can you do, then? What should we do now?"

Give the world a chance to thrive with trade.

“You said I’m a traveling merchant, so you want me to go around trading…? In the middle of the apocalypse? If you want to kill me, just say it, don’t go in roundabout ways… Do you even know what people are able to do in the apocalypse for something to eat??? HA!”

A traveling merchant in the apocalypse needs to be able to protect himself and attack when needed.

I stared at the screen, feeling a bit tired.

“You’re so talkative today, aren’t you… Couldn’t you just be a survival system?! Helping me survive and not putting me in more danger... Sigh…”

I know there is no free lunch in the world, so if I want to enjoy the system benefits, I need to be the said merchant. I frowned, it's too much of a change to accept in less than a day… For now, I want to be with my family, be sure they stay safe.

Looking at the clock, I still had some time, so I stopped at a nearby supermarket, left the windows of the car open because of the piglets and chicks. As fast as I could, I bought more water and what I could put in the car, as a facade. I can’t expose the system, even if I believe my family, the more people know about a secret, the less secret it is.

I drove to my parents home. There were some cars parked in their street.

"System, how much time left?"

8 minutes 24 seconds

Looking at my phone, it was already past seven p.m., I made a call.

"Mom, I'm outside."

The house gate opened and I parked the car inside.

Mom came with a huge smile and hugged me.

“Come, everyone is inside.”

“Just a minute.”

I got some packages from the car and left the door open, always looking at the countdown: 2 minute 37 seconds.

Getting inside the living room, it was a mess. There were four aunties, uncles, some cousins, my brother, my sister and my grandmothers.

“Mom?” I called, somewhat asking why and somewhat guilty for not thinking about calling them.

“Oh, it’s just that you wanted to go to the countryside to relax, I thought the more the merrier…”

It was a mess, but I was relieved. I probably would feel bad if something happened to them in this ‘fall of humanity’.

‘At least they won’t die for being confused in the mess caused by the beginning of the apocalypse…’

I could do something if they were near, I hope to be able to at least that much. I looked around nervously, holding my breath in the countdown. Five, four, three, two, one...

Congratulations, you're now an Apocalypse Traveling Merchant.

Nothing happened. I began to laugh crazily, tears going down my face.

'I knew it... I knew it... How could the world end like that...'

I controlled myself in the face of my startled family, dried my tears and smiled, trying to talk... When everyone suddenly fell on the ground, couch or chair, as if puppets had their strings cut.