The Academy’s Time Stop Player

In a dimensional space where nothing existed but the darkness of the abyss, a man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

Draped in a robe, he looked almost like a devout believer, yet the magic he emitted was dreadfully dark.

Soon, he slowly opened his eyes.

His deep purple irises showed no disturbance, but his emotions were significantly agitated.

"The King is dead," the man said.

The Fairy King, Bahelia.

Her energy and magic had vanished in an instant, as if her very existence had been erased.

A disappearance leaving no trace of magic, he thought of one king.

"...Horton."

The King of Kings, the Destroyer Horton.

Had he been resurrected? Or had someone inherited his power?

Regardless of the truth, traces of his presence were discovered in this world.

A being that could shake the world's rules.

Only an entity equal to him could perform such feats.

"A Transcendent has appeared in this world."

Transcendent.

Like Horton in the past, a being that could disrupt the world's rules had emerged.

"Now is probably the time..."

Then, there was no need to hesitate.

He slowly rose to his feet.

Standing up, he waved his hand lightly through the air.

Shortly after, a portal to the dimensional space opened, and he walked towards it with calm, leisurely steps.

"Thank you for your help, Adrian Heights."

After the ISU meeting, Joa was traveling in a car with Adrian.

Adrian, sitting next to her, asked with concern.

"It's nothing. How are you feeling?"

"Yes, you don't need to worry too much."

"Hmm, I guess I got too angry for my age. I thought someone of your caliber could withstand my magic."

"Actually, I think it's good. Since the great hero Adrian Heights has warned them, they won't bring up the irregular agenda again."

"Hmm..."

Adrian nodded calmly at her words.

"So, what about the support request from Korea? I heard you were going?"

Hajoon had asked for her cooperation as a prophetess in exchange for helping with the incident of Liam's disappearance.

With the future now unpredictable due to altered events, Hajoon planned to use Joa's foresight as an alternative.

Naturally, Joa readily accepted his offer.

"I'll probably stay in Korea for a while. I plan to help him until the villain situation there settles down, as he requested."

"Is that so? If anything happens, contact me. This old man will lend his strength."

Joa responded with a bright smile and expressed her gratitude to Adrian.

"Thank you."

Meanwhile, in his hotel room in America, Hajoon lay on his bed, checking his stat window.

Name: Kim Hajoon

Level: 30 (+11)

Job: Student

Title: Destroyer

Fame: Immeasurable

HP: 60 (+20)

MP: 700 (+700)

Strength: 120 (+25)

Agility: 80 (+20)

Stamina: 102 (+22)

Defense: 15 (+12)

Magic Resistance: 999(Max)

Mental Strength: 999(Max)

Skills: [Time Stop] (SSS) [Indomitable Will] (SS) {Always Active}

The long-unseen stats had shown significant growth.

His strength and stamina had surpassed 100, reaching a level befitting a superhuman.

Of course, this was an expected result.

He had resolved the terrorist crisis in Korea, completing various quests assigned by the system, leading to this growth.

However, what caught Hajoon's eye was his level.

'At level 30, I should be able to get auxiliary skills.'

Checking the system window, the lock on the auxiliary skill list would have been lifted.

Hajoon immediately checked the auxiliary skill list.

But his eyes narrowed incredulously upon seeing it.

-Unbind 500P (Available at level 5)

-Time Stop Storage 2,000P (Available at level 10)

-Slow Time's Flow 10,000P (Available at level 30)

Slow Time's Flow?

He could guess the ability from the name, but it seemed like a lesser version of Time Stop. Auxiliary skills were supposed to support the main ability, not be a downgraded version.

'Should I try it?'

He had accumulated plenty of points from previous quests.

Hajoon immediately purchased 'Slow Time's Flow.'

A description window popped up.

{Slow Time's Flow}

[Can be used for 3 seconds, during which time flows slowly.]

[Does not freeze objects or beings.]

[Can be used three times a day.]

"Is this it?"

Hajoon was dumbfounded.

The ability was literal and simplistic, beyond expectation.

Moreover, just 3 seconds... It was practically a disclaimer that it's an inferior version of Time Stop.

Regardless, Hajoon decided to try out the ability.

The method of use was straightforward.

Simply thinking about using it, the skill name appeared, and it activated automatically.

Tick-tock- Tick-tock-

He could hear the sound of the second hand moving.

Initially, the sound flowed normally, then gradually slowed down.

Tick…-tock- Tick…-tock-

Being inside the hotel room, he couldn't notice changes in the surroundings, but the slowing of the second hand indicated the skill's activation.

Hajoon decided to move.

Soon, he could physically feel the changes brought about by the skill.

"Wow!"

How to describe it? It was like gravity had disappeared from the surrounding space.

His body felt light.

It was like floating in space or swimming in water.

But that was all.

He couldn't perceive any significant change.

"…?"

Wondering, Hajoon walked around his room.

He tried jumping off the walls and touching the ceiling.

There seemed to be some gravity, as he fell slowly.

But beyond that, he noticed no other changes.

It was just as it said: time flowed slowly.

'There has to be more to this… Huh?'

That's when Hajoon realized something.

More than 3 seconds had passed in reality.

'Could it be 3 seconds in real time?'

He couldn't estimate how slow time was flowing, but it seemed the ability would deactivate after 3 real-time seconds.

Hajoon decided to wait.

After about 10 minutes by his estimation, the ticking of the clock gradually sped up. When the ticking returned to its normal pace and the sound disappeared, the ability deactivated, and an unexpected change occurred.

Crack!! Snap! Crack!!

"…?!"

Hajoon's mouth fell open.

He was at a loss for words from the sheer absurdity.

Suddenly, the walls and floor around him cracked with a loud noise. The bedspread tore in half, and the ceiling of the room cracked like a spiderweb.

Hajoon stared blankly at the scene for a moment, then realized the cause.

"…Is it that?"

Unlike Time Stop, 'Slow Time's Flow' allowed interaction with objects.

It wasn't a complete stop but a slow flow of time. To others, Hajoon moving normally must have appeared as if he was moving at high speed.

'Is it because force is proportional to speed?'

The rapid motion probably resulted in the force, causing such destruction. But that aside,

'What should I do…'

Hajoon scratched his cheek sheepishly.

He had inadvertently wrecked his 5-star hotel room. He worried about being banned from the hotel.

He had enough money to compensate for the damages, but it was still troublesome if he got banned from a hotel he liked.

Ding-Dong-

Just then, his phone rang.

He thought the hotel had called him due to the noise, but it was his phone ringing.

Hajoon decided to deal with the aftermath later and answered the call.

It was Anna on the other line.

"Hey, what's up?"

-Hajoon, are you busy?

"…No."

-Ah! Then, do you have time?

Hajoon looked puzzled as Anna told him her reason for calling.

The reason Anna called was not for anything serious but simply to suggest visiting Yoo Seolah's younger sister, Yoo Soona, in the hospital.

Upon hearing this, Hajoon immediately called the president of the American Hero Association to explain the situation at the hotel and left the aftermath to them before returning to Korea.

He felt a bit sorry, but since he had offered to pay for the damages himself, there shouldn't be any major issues.

Back in Korea, Hajoon contemplated a certain episode.

It was about Anna, who had inherited all the powers of the Sage, healing Yoo Seolah.

Considering the episode, it seemed that Anna had inherited the Sage's powers quite early, causing this episode to progress swiftly.

It would have been an after-story in Anna's epilogue under normal circumstances.

Nevertheless, among the changes Hajoon had made to the future, this was not a bad situation.

"The power of the Sage is amazing. It lets you know things you didn't before."

Anna said this while walking beside Hajoon in the hospital corridor.

Hajoon simply responded indifferently.

"Is that so?"

"Sage Choi Jungwon couldn't heal Soona's illness. His power was divided because of me. But now it's different. After inheriting the power, I can heal her. I'm able to do it now."

With those words, Anna smiled at Hajoon.

It was a pleasant expression he hadn't seen in a while.

However, there was a hint of intoxication with power in her demeanor.

Originally, the previous Sage, Choi Jungwon, would have taught her how to use the power, but since he was asleep, Hajoon decided to advise Anna in his place.

Hajoon said,

"Don’t use that power recklessly."

"Why?"

"Life might become boring."

The power of the Sage.

Another name for this mysterious power, separate from magic, was 'Truth.'

A power that precisely allowed one to know everything.

'Magic' was just a part of that power.

Realizing something from Hajoon's words, Anna responded.

"Ah… I see. 'The Sage is not happy,' right?"

"Yes."

If she wished, she could easily know everything. The 'Truth' that magicians seek was easily accessible through this power.

That's why Choi Jungwon had put limitations on this power in the past.

He knew its dangers better than anyone.

"Everything will feel meaningless."

As she said, everything would feel futile.

Life, fulfillment, sorrow, human emotions, someone's death.

Even the desire to heal Soona now, or the vengeance that fueled her to kill Karthon, would all feel trivial.

"Have you been to the dimensional space?"

As a Sage, she should be able to enter that vast library.

At his question, Anna nodded.

Hajoon simply told her,

"Only read the contents of that library. Trying to know more might be dangerous."

"Ah… I see."

When she heard this, Anna began to smile warmly, somewhat inexplicably.

"In fact, the library had a method for treating Soona's illness. It seems the principal had written it in advance in preparation for this time."

"He was always thorough."

Anna smiled and nodded in response to Hajoon's comment.

As they continued their conversation and walked, they arrived at Soona's hospital room.

Hajoon and Anna knocked and then entered the room where Yoo Seolah and Yoo Soona were waiting to greet Hajoon.

"Ah! Mr. Hajoon!"

"Wow! It's Hammer Oppa!"

At their warm reception, Hajoon approached them with a slight smile.

Meanwhile, that evening.

Upon hearing that Joa Elliot was coming to Korea, Kim Jeongyong, the president of the Korean Hero Association, waited for her with a bright expression in the reception room of the association's building, in front of the opened gate.

It was Joa Elliot, the world's fifth-ranked prophetess, a hero of America, coming to Korea to lend her strength in the villain terror crisis. Kim Jeongyong's face was beaming with smiles.

'I was worried at first, but this turned out really well.'

The terror situation in Korea had been foreseen as part of the country's future.

While the presence of the great hero Sage Choi Jungwon had been preventing such events, the villain infiltrations from various countries were unpredictable.

In this situation, the appearance of one hero had turned the tide.

Now, probably no one in Korea was unaware of the existence of the Irregular.

'Irregular' had had a significant impact on Korea.

'More importantly, it's really fortunate.'

And what the Association President found most fortunate was that Student Hajoon's burden would be somewhat reduced.

His power was immense, but bearing everything alone would have been an enormous burden.

Just then, the gate in front of Kim Jeongyong wavered.

He straightened his clothes and waited for her.

Soon, Joa Elliot stepped through the gate, her expression calm.

Approaching her, Kim Jeongyong greeted her with the brightest smile he could muster.

"Welcome, Hero Joa Elliot. We are sincerely grateful for your cooperation with the terror situation in Korea…"

However, upon seeing her expression, he had to stop mid-sentence.

Approaching the Association President and extending her hand for a handshake, Joa suddenly widened her eyes and froze, looking puzzled.

"Uh…"

"Ah! I'm sorry, President. My ability suddenly activated…"

After regaining her composure, she calmly extended her hand again and requested a handshake from Kim Jeongyong.

A bit bewildered, President Kim Jeongyong shook her hand and couldn't help but ask about the incident.

"Is there… any problem?"

"Well, it's just that as soon as I arrived here, I saw the future."

"The future, you say?"

"Yes. It seems the situation in Korea is more serious than I anticipated."

She said this with a serious expression, facing the Association President.

Upon hearing her words, Kim Jeongyong's expression also turned increasingly serious.

He couldn't guess what kind of future she had seen to make such a face. Joa then immediately made a request to Kim Jeongyong.

"Can you call the Irregular right now? It's a serious matter."