The Academy’s Time Stop Player

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

Dirt scattered in all directions along with the broken head of the giant.

As the dirt dispersed in all directions poured over Hajoon's entire body, obscuring his vision, the voice of the foe whispered in Hajoon's ears.

[Human who inherited the energy of Horton, remember. You cannot kill me with the power of destruction.]

The voice sounded ominously chant-like.

As his last words were heard, the sand in all directions settled to the ground.

[Just like Horton did back then…….]

The dust and sand cleared, and visibility was restored.

At that moment, with a crackling noise, a red system window appeared before Hajoon.

[Main quest recovery is complete.]

[Main Quest]

Eligible quest character: Kim Hajoon (Liber Laphilton Phil Ehrman)

Description: The Giant King 'Gigantmakia' incites the War of Destruction. Win the War of the Kings.

(72:00:00)

Failure: Death

Suddenly, the main quest notification was restored.

And added to that, the first quest that appeared was a red quest.

A quest that only requires risking one's life, with no rewards.

Hajoon's brows furrowed.

However, in another sense, he thought it was obvious that if he lost the fight with that thing, he would die regardless of the quest's failure reward.

The quest just indirectly informed him of that.

‘More importantly, that count is…….’

Hajoon's gaze shifted to the count on the quest window.

(71:59:58)

The numbers started to decrease.

It seemed to be a countdown to when the war would start.

If 71 hours meant 3 days were left, it was a countdown indicating the time when that thing would move.

‘What is he planning to do?’

The war mentioned by that thing didn't sound like a simple duel.

"It’s……"

Just then, someone called out to him, and he turned his head.

Shaking off the sand from his body, Hajoon approached Andre and Halz Matildon.

“Is it over?”

Andre asked cautiously towards Hajoon.

For now, Hajoon nodded and said,

“Let's go up for now.”

“Ah! I see.”

Understanding Hajoon's words, he immediately nodded.

Hajoon's 'stop' had somehow prevented the tower's collapse, but the tower was still in a precarious state.

Immediately, a mage affiliated with the tower opened a gate, and Hajoon, Andre, Halz, and other mages who were sealing the giant passed through the gate, escaping the underground to come outside the tower.

The condition of the tower seen from outside was dire.

The tower, consisting of 100 floors, had nearly 50 floors riddled with cracks.

However, thanks to Hajoon's stop and the quick response of the mages waiting outside the tower, it seemed they were able to stop the damage at the 50th floor.

“Thank you, Irregular.”

At that moment, Halz Matildon respectfully bowed his head towards Hajoon.

"Thanks to you, we were able to prevent the worst-case scenario of the tower collapsing."

The collapse of the mage tower, larger than any building, would have resulted in numerous casualties.

Of course, it was designed with self-repair magic in anticipation of such situations, but Halz Matildon probably hadn't anticipated this crisis of collapse.

The power of the giant was beyond imagination.

Its magic alone was enough to destroy the mage tower.

She, having witnessed the scene firsthand, would understand better than anyone.

"It's fortunate that the magical beast is dead."

That was how Halz Matildon viewed the existence of the giant.

An entity capable of annihilating America on its own.

Without the Irregular, there would have been no way to kill such a being.

However.

Hajoon shook his head at her words.

"It's still alive."

At those words, Andre and Halz Matildon's eyes widened.

Andre asked in a shocked voice towards Hajoon.

"Alive? What do you mean-"

But Andre's words were cut off.

Drrring- Drrring-

The sudden sound of a ringing bell.

A call came through on Andre's phone.

But the same was true for Hajoon.

Their phones began to ring simultaneously.

Anticipating something bad, Hajoon immediately answered the call.

The call was from Kim Jeongyong, the president of the Korean Hero Association.

-Student Hajoon!

As a cry came through the phone, Hajoon lifted his head to look at the sky.

-An unknown magic circle has appeared above Seoul...

The moment those words were heard, a huge magic circle manifested and revealed itself in the sky over New York.

"What in the world..."

President Kim Jeongyong looked up at the sky with a voice close to a sigh.

Having received the contact, Hajoon immediately returned to Korea through a gate.

Standing on the rooftop of the association with President Kim Jeongyong, he looked up at the gigantic magic circle that had appeared over Seoul.

Its size was extraordinary.

It was so large that it covered the entire city of Seoul.

"Have you managed to decipher half of the magic circle's identity?"

Kim Jeongyong asked an agent standing next to him.

However, the agent shook his head, only delivering bad news.

"We received a report that even America's mage tower couldn't decipher it."

Upon hearing this, President Kim Jeongyong's expression gradually hardened.

Conversely, Hajoon was asking Philaten.

'What is that magic circle?'

-It's the magic circle of King Hermorus of the elves.

Hajoon's brows furrowed as he looked up at the magic circle.

King Hermorus of the elves.

Another king was still alive, aside from the Giant King.

-It appears to be a magic circle mixed with two kinds of magic. It's natural that humans cannot decipher it.

A magic circle mixed with two kinds of magic.

That was how Philaten explained it.

-A magic circle mixed with two great magics, a technique only possible by the elves who deal with the origins of magic.

'Can you tell what kind of magic it is?'

-I'm sorry, but no one can understand the magic circle of the elves.

'So it's like that.'

Hajoon looked at the magic circle in the sky with a troubled expression.

The range was too wide, and he thought that even with the power of destruction, he couldn't eliminate it, in addition to it being manifested in the sky.

Even Hajoon's magic power, which was at 700, had its limits.

The magic power of the being that manifested such a huge magic circle not only in one place but all over the world would have far surpassed Hajoon's magic power.

-However, it will take a long time to activate a magic circle of that size.

'Can you estimate the time?'

-Considering his power, it will be activated within 3 days at the latest.

'We need to prepare.'

It was clear that they needed to prepare before anything happened.

Fortunately, Hajoon knew exactly how much time they had.

3 days.

(71:30:28)

It exactly matched the countdown time given in the quest.

Hajoon turned his gaze to Kim Jeongyong.

Just then, Kim Jeongyong was also turning his head to call Hajoon.

"Student Hajoon. I have to go urgently because I received a call from the ISU."

A call from the International Superhuman Alliance.

Hajoon had a rough guess why and nodded.

After Kim Jeongyong left and disappeared,

Hajoon, left alone, was blankly watching the magic circle floating in the sky when Philaten cautiously spoke to him.

-My king, there is something I must advise you.

"What is it?"

Whoosh!

At that moment, a faint light emitted from Maharazu, and Philaten revealed herself.

She bowed her head calmly towards Hajoon and continued politely.

"Giant King Gigantmakia, he is the one who massacred all the primordial giants and devoured them. He is also the very giant king who first betrayed the dwarf king, Horton, and incited the War of Destruction long ago."

"What do you want to say?"

Hajoon could see that she was hesitating while speaking.

He realized that what she really wanted to say wasn't about the strength of the being but something else.

The fact that the being was strong was something he had known for a long time.

The monster that had once stood on equal footing with Horton, the only owner of this hammer.

After hearing Hajoon's words, she looked at him with a stiff face and said,

"He is a being to whom the power of destruction does not apply."

She conveyed what she truly wanted to say to Hajoon.

"If it remains this way, you will not be able to avoid death, my king."

"..."

Hajoon silently looked at her for a moment.

Philaten looked up at Hajoon with a face that seemed genuinely worried about him.

"Philaten."

Hajoon spoke to her.

"I am not Horton."

"But-"

"Don't worry too much."

Hajoon simply smiled wryly at her concern and responded.

"It'll work out somehow."

Afterwards, Hajoon headed home.

Not to rest, of course, but because he had business with Lain at home.

When he arrived in front of the house after stopping time, Lain was waiting for him in front of the house.

Hajoon approached her after releasing the time stop.

"You're here now."

She opened her mouth as soon as she saw Hajoon.

At that moment, her eyes transformed into dragon eyes.

At some point, Lain, who had entrusted her body to Leanon, spoke.

[You killed the King of Humans.]

Hajoon nodded at her statement.

Hajoon said to her,

"You remember the promise, right?"

[I've already received permission from Lain.]

At that moment, the space above her head tore open.

A giant eye appeared through the torn space.

A magic far greater than anything seen before flowed from beyond the torn space.

King Leanon of the dragons.

With those giant eyes, Leanon continued,

[As promised, I will help you.]

The force emanating from beyond the torn space was wildly ferocious, incomparable to the past.

It seemed as if the suppressed humiliation was bursting out with magic in anger.

[King Hermorus of the elves, I will take care of him.]

Hajoon felt reassured by the statement that he would take on the other.

This way, Hajoon could fully concentrate on killing the Giant King.

[The Giant King is not an easy opponent, Irregular.]

"Yes, I know."

Hajoon nodded at the statement.

He already knew about the being's power from Philaten.

Leanon's eyes, which had been watching Hajoon, gently closed.

With the closing of his eyes, the torn space was restored.

[I wish you good luck.]

With those final words, the dragon eyes disappeared, and Lain regained consciousness.

Lain blankly stared at Hajoon for a moment.

"I'll be going now."

As Lain, who had been blankly staring, turned to leave with those words, suddenly the gate opened, and Elaine hurriedly approached Lain.

"Ah! Sister!"

"Hey, hey, wait a minute."

Irian, who came out with her, grabbed Elaine's clothes, trying to stop her.

Then, seeing Hajoon, Irian urgently shouted towards him.

"Hey! Stop her for a second!"

Elaine, for her part, just waved her hand in greeting.

"Sister! Come again later!"

Hajoon's face crumpled at her words.

What, inviting herself over again as if it was up to her...

But Lain, for her part, just showed a pleased smile and nodded.

"Sure."

With those words, dragon wings sprouted from Lain's back.

Leaping up, Lain flew into the sky and disappeared into the distance.

After she vanished, Hajoon looked at Elaine for a moment.

Wondering what had happened in just one day to become friendly with a criminal...

"Surely you're not really coming back, right?"

"..."

Ignoring Irian's anxious gaze, Hajoon, puzzled, turned his head towards Elaine and spoke.

"Elaine."

"Hmm?"

"She's a vicious criminal."

He said it, thinking she might have become friends with the criminal without knowing her true nature.

However, to his surprise, Elaine nodded calmly.

"Yes, I know."

This left Hajoon even more dumbfounded.

Knowing that, why would she still become friends with her?

Could it be that my sister aspires to be a criminal?

Just when he was having such thoughts, Elaine explained.

"But she hasn't killed anyone, and she only stole things. And now she's reflecting and has turned herself in."

"Who told you that?"

"Sister Lain."

At that, Hajoon's face became somewhat disapproving.

It's true she turned herself in, but whether she's reflecting is another matter.

And the things she stole were national treasures of the United States...

It's also hard to believe that she hasn't killed anyone.

After all, she was the main villain targeting Liam in the game.

Hajoon's gaze then shifted to Irian, standing next to Elaine.

What exactly was he doing while his sister was becoming friends with her...

"So, what, you want me to die instead?"

Irian retorted, feeling unjustly accused.