"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission!"
"Host has received 10 reward points!"
The campsite was completely erased.
Ash covered the ground.
Not a single scream remained.
Upgrage slowly lowered his arms. His expression was conflicted as he slammed his fist into a nearby tree.
"Shit… If only I had Clock King right now."
He cursed under his breath.
If he could draw Clock King tomorrow—
Go back to this exact moment—
Turn everything back to the way it was…
Could he save them?
Ethen wasn't a saint.
But if saving dozens of lives only required a single rewind—
He would do it.
These people were never meant to die like this.
"Ethen!" Ben's voice trembled.
"We… we could've tried other ways! We didn't have to kill them on the spot!"
It wasn't accusation.
It was pain.
"Enough, Ben!" Grandpa Max stepped forward and slammed a hand down on Ben's shoulder.
"Ethen was cleaning up your mess. He was bearing the consequences for you. Grow up. Face reality."
"Grandpa…" Ben looked up, tears finally spilling over.
"I was wrong… Can they come back?"
Drip. Drip.
A crisp sound echoed.
Ethen canceled his transformation. Upgrade's form dissolved.
His face was solemn as he spoke quietly.
"I'll try to find a way to fix this later. What I did just now… was the only option I had."
"Okay." Ben nodded hard.
"I'm counting on you, Ethen."
Pfft!!
A heavy splash erupted from the swamp.
A massive crocodile crawled onto land—
Its entire body covered in eyeballs.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Dozens of laser beams fired simultaneously, flooding toward Ethen.
"Crocodile?!" Ethen spun instantly, dodging at full speed, weaving through the laser storm by inches.
Damn it—
He didn't want to get grazed.
Guardian Mode would trigger—
But it would still hurt.
"Ben! Now!" Grandpa Max shouted.
Ben raised his hand—
Carefully.
Too carefully.
He tapped open the Omnitrix screen, slowly rotating through alien silhouettes.
His fingers trembled.
The Omnitrix glowed faintly.
Ben froze.
His pupils dilated.
He pulled his hand back.
By then—
Ethen was already exhausted from nonstop evasion.
"Ethen! Your sword!"
Grandpa Max gritted his teeth, rushed into the car, and grabbed the Sword of Bezel.
The moment he touched it—
Crack.
The blade vibrated violently.
"…What?!" Max's expression changed.
He couldn't wield it.
"Let me!"
Gwen hurriedly raised her magic pendant.
Whoosh!!
A violent gust lifted the god sword, carrying it out of the vehicle.
Bang!
Ethen caught it mid-air.
He stopped dead.
Turned.
And swung.
BOOM!!
Sword qi erupted, shredding the incoming lasers in an instant.
Smoke swallowed the area.
The laser crocodile froze—
Its vision lost.
Whoosh!!
Ethen mounted his hoverboard.
A flash of motion—
Lightning-fast.
He passed the crocodile in a single streak.
The creature split cleanly in half.
Dead. Completely.
"I wonder how many more things like that are hiding in this swamp."
Ethen hovered in midair, calmly sheathing the god sword.
"Doesn't matter. However many come— I'll kill them all."
He stared into the swamp for several long seconds—
Then backed away.
Only then—
Whoosh!
A green flash appeared.
Ben finally completed his transformation.
Heatblast stood there, slumped.
"…Aw. I didn't make it."
"Ben." Ethen flew back, irritated.
"You take way too long to transform. By the time you're done, the fight's already over."
"I wasn't that slow!" Heatblast snapped back, then deflated again.
"I—I was just scared of messing up the Omnitrix again…"
Silence.
Everyone exchanged looks.
Ben wasn't being lazy.
He was afraid.
The swamp.
The deaths.
The consequences.
He'd developed real psychological trauma.
Anyone would.
They returned to the old RV in silence.
Ethen ate an ice cream bar, grounding himself.
Gwen hugged a pillow tightly.
"I'm definitely having nightmares tonight."
Ben sat in the corner, staring into nothing.
Grandpa Max tried to comfort him—
But it barely helped.
Two hours passed.
Suddenly—
Ben stood up.
"I swear it! I swear I'll never mess with the Omnitrix again!"
Max nodded slowly.
"Don't forget this feeling, Ben. Bury it deep. And pull it out whenever you're about to do something stupid."
The moment passed—
Only because Ethen said, "I'll find a way to bring them back tomorrow."
Ben suddenly remembered something.
"Grandpa… I checked earlier. It's crocodile hatching season. If the Omnitrix DNA contaminated the swamp… Then this whole place—"
"We deal with it." Ethen cut him off, expression firm.
"Every single creature. No exceptions."
"Alright." Max got back in the driver's seat.
The RV sped toward the swamp once more.
The swamp was vast.
Endless.
They walked carefully—
But found nothing.
No sounds.
No movement.
Nothing.
"That's good," Ben said weakly. "Looks normal."
"No," Ethen replied quietly.
"It's too quiet. I don't like it."
Ding! Mission Issued: "Darkness in the Depths of the Swamp"
Mission Content: A terrifying darkness lurks deep within the swamp. Proceed deeper.
Reward: 20 Reward Points
Just walking deeper—
Worth 20 points?
Ethen's eyes narrowed.
This wasn't going to be peaceful.
...
Author's Note:
The fanfic Ben 10: Daily Check-In System Activated! Part 1 is now fully completed.
The entire story has been uploaded on Patreon as a dedicated collection:
📚 Ben 10 (Chapters 1–132)
Organized into 14 posts, with multiple chapters per post for easy binge reading.
🔥 I also have an Additional 18+ fanfics now available for readers who enjoy exclusive mature stories. 😉
1.Dragon Ball: Oolong's Sex Adventure
2. Elements of Lust – ATLA & Korra Mixed Smut
3. Doraemon: Filtering with Nobi Tamako
4. The Naive Me Who Became Someone's Everyday Secret
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