The Academy’s Time Stop Player

Anna, with a worried expression, greeted Hajoon as he exited the building of the Roban Guild and approached its main entrance.

As Hajoon stepped out, the agents of the British Hero Association, who were waiting outside, bypassed him and entered the guild building. Seeing Hajoon, Anna let out a weary sigh.

"Hajoon, is it finally over? Did you k-"

"I didn’t kill anyone. And it’s not over yet."

Both Anna and a middle-aged man standing beside her were taken aback by his words.

The middle-aged man, in surprise, stammered, "It's... it's not over yet?"

"Yes. And who are you?"

"I am Lucas Pollihan, the president of the British Hero Association. What do you mean it’s not over...?"

"I have one last place to go."

Swallowing nervously, Lucas asked, "Where might that be?"

"A guy named William from the Belhar family."

"William of the Belhar family? Is he... connected to this incident?"

"Yes."

Lucas's eyes widened in shock upon hearing the name. The Belhar family was renowned, known as the lineage of the great hero who had ended the era of the Great Chaos.

And William Belhar, the current chairman of a major company supplying magic in England and a sponsor of the Roban Guild, was rumored to have meddled with the younger sister of the Irregular. Lucas struggled to find words.

However, as the association president, he had to make a decision quickly.

"Irregular sir," he started with deep respect, bowing slightly toward Hajoon, "I implore you. Could you at least speak with him first?"

"You want a conversation?"

"Yes, I'll contact him ahead of time for you."

At that, Hajoon smirked.

The Belhar family.

Hajoon knew of them too.

It's none other than the family of the British great hero.

Helen Belhar.

One of the great heroes who fought against the great chaos and someone who left England to travel the world.

While he didn’t know much, he understood the president's feelings, knowing that what he was trying to do involved the descendant of a great hero.

"Thank you for understanding."

"But, leave out the part where I’m coming."

"What? Why?"

"I want to see his reaction."

For Hajoon, the lineage of a past great hero didn't really matter. The main reason he accepted Lucas's request was because of something he heard about the Belhar guy and he was curious to see his reaction.

Hajoon, with a cold demeanor, fixed his gaze on Lucas, "Mr. President."

"Yes?"

"I'm already exercising a lot of patience."

Feeling the tense atmosphere, Lucas swallowed and listened intently to Hajoon’s words.

Hajoon continued, looking straight at Lucas, "And it’s wearing thin."

“Seeing Anna and the guild master's faces, I'm holding back.”

“...”

“Whether he's the descendant of the great hero or not doesn't matter. I have every right to be this upset. Don't I?”

“...”

“So don't try to dissuade me with strange thoughts. You can just stay beside me, but remain silent. Understand?”

At that, Lucas could only close his eyes tightly and nod.

The boy speaking to him now was Irregular, the 6th ranked hero in the world.

In no position to treat him as a state guest, let alone attempting to arrest him, was out of the question. It was simply impossible given the circumstances.

This was the situation in Britain.

The reason Britain could still be counted among the superpower nations was due to its solid internal structure.

All the prominent superhumans active in Britain were heroes ranked within the top 30 worldwide.

However, the downside was that, compared to other countries, the number of superhumans was notably scarce.

To be more precise, there was a lack of talent.

Even those who awakened as superhumans, only a very few showed outstanding abilities.

And Guild Master Lucas felt that even if he deployed all the top-ranked heroes of Britain to stop this boy, it wouldn't be enough. If they somehow managed to stop him, it seemed the inevitable outcome would be all British heroes sustaining injuries.

In the end, all Lucas could do was nod.

Swallowing nervously, he felt the dryness from the tension.

Right now, the guild master felt like he was holding onto a ticking time bomb.

It was only natural to think so when considering that Irregular's younger sister had been messed with by both the Belhar family and the Roban Guild.

That evening at 10 o'clock.

Anna, a British princess, had been advised to avoid involvement, so only Hajoon and the Guild Master took a car to the mansion where William Belhar of the Belhar family resided.

As the Guild Master had suggested, they were headed there for a conversation.

At least they weren't going to attack, so they couldn't use the gate.

The Perception Obstruction Bandage was inactive.

For now, Hajoon intended to meet without revealing that he was an Irregular. He believed there was no need to hide his face, even in front of the British Guild Master.

The Guild Master was discreet; he wouldn't blab about it.

Upon arriving at the grand Belhar mansion, Hajoon and the Guild Master were led to the reception room by the heroes affiliated with the Belhar family who awaited them at the entrance.

After a heavy silence of 10 minutes, the doors of the reception room opened, revealing a man in a suit. A blonde man with a commanding presence, appearing to be in his thirties.

William Belhar.

He sat on the sofa opposite Hajoon, greeting him with a relaxed smile.

"I did not expect a visit from the Guild Master at this late hour."

As he spoke, he extended his hand for a handshake.

However, Guild Master Lucas responded with a displeased expression as he took William's hand.

Seeing the Guild Master's reaction, William looked puzzled and asked, "Has something happened?"

"Sigh... My business isn't with you. It's with this young man beside me."

William's gaze shifted to Hajoon, looking at him quizzically.

"So... Who are-?"

Suddenly, the reception room door flung open, and a man who looked like a hero from the Belhar family approached William with a grave face, whispering into his ear.

"There's a problem at the Roban Guild..."

-?!

Upon hearing the whisper, William's brow furrowed deeply.

With a serious expression, he bowed slightly to the Guild Master, saying, "I apologize. An urgent matter has come up. Can we continue our conversation later?"

"Oh, it's no-..."

"I'm sorry."

With that, William attempted to rise from the sofa.

However.

He remained frozen.

His pants had turned rock-solid, immobilizing him.

As he looked at his pants in confusion,

"Sit down."

Hajoon's tone was cold and commanding.

William's brow creased further, the agent next to him tensed up, and the Guild Master's expression turned contemplative.

Hajoon then warned William with a piercing gaze, "It's in your best interest to sit down when asked nicely."

"What the-?!"

Taken aback, William's expression twisted, and he began to glare at the Guild Master.

And as the stiffness of his pants relaxed, he let out a sigh and whispered to the agent beside him before sitting back on the sofa.

William asked, "Director, who exactly is this kid? Using his abilities so recklessly, I've never seen such rudeness."

"Just calm down and let's hear the boy's story."

With a frown, William turned his gaze to Hajoon.

"What do you want?" William questioned.

Leaning into the sofa, Hajoon looked up at William comfortably and began to speak. "The Ehrman family. You're familiar, aren't you?"

At those words, William's eyes widened in surprise. He stared back at Hajoon, slightly taken aback, and asked, "Who are you... wait a moment?"

As William scrutinized Hajoon's face, realization dawned on him. With a mixture of surprise and disbelief, he blurted out, "Could it be? Liber?"

"It seems you do recognize me."

"You're alive... So, what brings you here?"

William looked at Hajoon with eyes filled with disbelief. Hajoon, noticing William's state, elaborated on his reason for the visit.

"The joint mining project between the Ehrman and Belhar families regarding the magic stone mine. You're aware of it, right?"

Hajoon had learned much from Roban. Past events. Precisely how the Belhar family and Roban, the butler of the Ehrman family at the time, collaborated on some scheme.

The Ehrman family had discovered the magic stone mine in the past and collaborated with the Belhar family to excavate it. And what happened afterward was a tale as old as time.

It was a mere plan carried out in collaboration, driven by individual greed and benefits.

Butler Roban desired the family's artifacts, and the Belhar family wanted exclusive rights to the magic stone mine.

Hajoon knew all this, but he was curious about William's reaction. This conversation was merely to gauge William's response for future reference.

Hajoon pressed, "Have anything to say regarding that?"

William, his expression contemplative, looked down for a moment. It wasn't a face lost in thought but rather one deeply considering something, trying to figure out the best way to approach the situation.

Soon after, William looked up, briefly glancing at the director, sighed, and immediately pulled out his smartphone to contact someone. Then, looking at Hajoon, he calmly said, "To be honest, I'm relieved you've come back."

Hajoon remained silent, merely looking at William.

Shortly after, the door to the reception room opened, and a man, seemingly an agent of the family, entered, handing over a piece of paper.

It appeared to be an old document.

It was the contract related to the joint excavation of the magic stone mine from the past.

Showing it to Hajoon, William began to speak.

"After you disappeared in the past, we couldn't stop the excavation plans, so our Belhar family proceeded independently."

"..."

"As long as the contract exists, the ownership of the mine belongs to the Ehrman family. So, for now, I'll grant your wishes. If it's money you want, I can give it to you now."

Hajoon remained silent, lost in thought.

To be honest, the response was as he had expected.

He hadn't anticipated that they would still possess the contract, but the reply wasn’t much different from his expectations.

He was deliberately avoiding mentioning past events.

In other words, even if his 17-year-old self knew the truth, what could he possibly do?

Had the guild master not been here, what might they have done?

Probably tried to eliminate him to erase evidence.

"How interesting."

One corner of Hajoon's mouth lifted in amusement, only to twist irritably a moment later.

William's brow furrowed at Hajoon’s reaction.

And just seeing that expression made Guild Master Lucas's mind go blank.

For whatever reason, he sensed something was going terribly wrong.

"Guild master,"

Hajoon began.

He spoke in a voice filled with gravity, "There's no need to listen further, is there?"

Guild Master Lucas wasn't fully informed about the intricacies of the Irregulars and the Belhar family.

However, one thing was clear.

He felt that William had made some grievous mistake.

He should've apologized right then.

"Yes..."

All Lucas did was close his eyes tightly and bow his head.

Hajoon then reached into his pocket and drew out Maharazu. The moment William saw the hammer, his pupils began to shake as if an earthquake had hit.

"The, the Irregular?!"

"Now, then..."

Without paying heed to William's reaction, Hajoon acted immediately.

Hajoon raised Maharazu and pointed it at the window.

Whoosh! Crash!

In an instant, Maharazu’s handle stretched out, smashing the window, extending all the way out of the mansion.

That's when chaos ensued.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground reverberated.

With a massive tremor, the entire mansion began to shake.

William and Guild Master Lucas looked at Hajoon with faces filled with horror.

"What, what on earth is that?!"

"Good heavens..."

Screams of the mansion’s servants echoed from outside.

And when the gazes of William and Lucas turned to the window, they were left speechless.

A massive pillar stood tall.

A golden-colored pillar.

It was connected to the hammer Hajoon held.

Moreover...

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

It was growing even larger.

Beyond the mansion, it continued to grow infinitely.

Maharazu had grown so enormous that it was unfathomable. The hammer's head alone was as big as the Maharazu that Hajoon was currently holding.

Hajoon then took out his smartphone and placed it casually on the table.

For now, it's just a warning.

Hajoon hasn’t heard about the past plans from William's mouth yet.

Turning on the recorder on his smartphone placed on the table, Hajoon spoke.

"You seem to think I came here for fun."

At those words, William's face turned pensive, looking towards Hajoon.

His entire body began to tremble, as if shaken by an earthquake.

A face filled with fear.

Only then did he grasp the gravity of the situation.

Realizing he had provoked someone he absolutely shouldn't have.

"Tell me everything. Unless you want to die."

Of course, he'd have to think about whether to spare him even after hearing everything.