The Academy’s Time Stop Player

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

"Sigh..."

After sending Lain off, Hajoon went inside the house and lay down on the bed.

The gigantic magic circle floating over Seoul.

And the remaining locations of the kings.

Lying on the bed, Hajoon scratched his head as he thought.

"It's been a while since I felt this tired..."

Hajoon's gaze drifted to the air.

Name: Kim Hajoon

Level: 35

Job: Student

Title: Destroyer

Fame: Incalculable

HP: 78

MP: 700

Strength: 150 (+25)

Agility: 105

Stamina: 121

Defense: 30

Magic Resistance: 999(Max)

Spirit: 999(Max)

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

Hajoon's body had grown significantly from the past.

The stats in his status window were already beyond human, and such physical growth had reduced Hajoon's fatigue in most activities, making him seldom feel tired.

However, the being he was about to face was one to whom the power of destruction did not apply.

Ultimately, it meant Hajoon's body would suffer.

That's when Philaten spoke to Hajoon.

-My king.

There was a certain tension in Philaten's voice.

-I have something to tell you.

"...What is it?"

-It seems the magic circle manifested in the sky has activated.

At her words, Hajoon sat up from the bed.

He took out Maharazu and spoke.

"Hadn't you said there was still a long time before it would activate?"

-This is something I did not foresee… I am sorry.

Hajoon got up from the bed with a stern face.

Thinking he needed to see it for himself, he prepared to go outside.

Exiting the second-floor bedroom, he went down the stairs and opened the front door, where he could see Irian and Elaine on the balcony, staring up at the sky with blank faces.

"Hey… that…"

"Brother…"

Both had frozen faces as if they had seen something horrifying.

Hajoon also looked up following their gaze.

And he could see it.

Something that had appeared in the place of the great magic floating in the sky.

ISU's meeting room.

There, heroes from around the world, including the presidents of each country's hero associations, had gathered.

It was to discuss countermeasures for the threatening great magic manifested all over the world's skies.

"This is not magic that can be manifested by humans."

Halz Matildon, the current president of the mage tower and a great sorcerer, asserted.

She was certain that the type of giant magic manifested in the sky could not be identified, but it was definitely not something that could be manifested by humans.

She judged that perhaps the greatest sorcerer, Sage Choi Jungwon, could identify and even manifest the magic, but activating it across the world's skies would be impossible.

"Hmm... Great magic that cannot be manifested by humans… Then, do you think it's the work of magical beasts?"

Great Hero Adrian Heights.

He too attended this meeting.

Given the gravity of the situation, even though he had retired from being a hero, he couldn't just sit idly by.

Soon after Adrian Heights spoke, Andre, the president of the American Hero Association, politely responded.

"It seems that's the only conclusion we can draw."

"What happened to the magical beast captured by the mage tower?"

"Somehow, the Irregular said it couldn't be killed. It must have escaped."

"A magical beast that the kid couldn't kill..."

Adrian Heights sighed deeply, his voice heavy with concern.

"Hmm... How many years has it been? I have a bad feeling about this."

Adrian Heights' words added weight to the atmosphere in the meeting room.

It was a statement coming from the great hero who had ended the Great Chaos, emphasizing the severity of the situation.

"One thing is clear though. That gigantic magic circle isn't the work of the magical beast captured by the mage tower."

In the midst of the situation, Adrian Heights spoke with certainty, attracting everyone's attention to him.

"Decades ago, wasn't it? When I was still active, I too encountered a magical beast that could speak human language."

"?! Is that true?"

"Yes. It was the first time I had encountered such a monstrous being after the end of the Great Chaos. It had a human form with elongated ears."

Adrian reminisced about the past.

After the end of the Great Chaos, while hunting a magical beast living in the mountains near America, he encountered the monster.

It had a human form, but it was not human.

-Are you human...?

The moment it spoke, Adrian realized.

The creature in human form before him harbored an immense amount of magical power.

Yet, he felt no hostility.

The monster merely opened a gate and disappeared without further interaction.

After reminiscing for a moment, Adrian slowly opened his eyes.

He looked around at those gathered in the meeting room and continued.

"That creature's magical power was at least greater than Choi Jungwon's."

A heavy silence fell over the room at Adrian Heights' words.

It was an assertion made here by Adrian Heights.

A magical beast with the power to threaten an entire nation was an entity even the great heroes could hardly handle.

"It's been a while since we've had a tough challenge. For now, I'll contact my comrades. Of course, they've probably already sensed the situation, so gathering them won't be too difficult."

The other three great heroes, excluding Choi Jungwon.

They too would likely be aware of the current situation.

Following the words of the great hero Adrian, everyone in the meeting room nodded, and the strategy meeting proceeded once again.

As various opinions were exchanged and about an hour had passed,

suddenly, the door to the meeting room opened, and one of the association's agents, with a serious expression, approached Andre and quietly whispered something into his ear.

"-President, it's..."

"?! Is that true?"

Soon after, President Andre's astonished exclamation was followed by the vibrating phones of the association presidents from various countries attending the meeting.

As they all received the calls with puzzled faces, their gazes quickly shifted to the sky beyond the window.

"What in the world..."

"This can't be..."

"Ah, isn't that the thing?"

All of them started to exclaim in shock at the transformation of the gigantic magic circle in the sky.

The change in the magic circle came quietly and calmly.

It arrived silently without any forewarning, but the change that occurred in the magic circle shocked everyone present at the meeting.

"A gate..."

The gigantic magic circle manifested in the skies above various countries.

It had now morphed beyond the form of a magic circle, creating a huge hole in the sky.

A massive hole appeared high in the sky.

The hole emanated an ominous purple aura, and its center displayed a darkness like an abyss.

The gigantic magic circle had, at some point, created a gate.

Moreover, no one present was unaware of the existence of this gate.

"It's a gate to a dimensional dungeon..."

It was a statement from the great hero, Adrian.

The gate to the dimensional dungeon, which disappeared with the end of the Great Chaos.

Looking at the giant gate floating in the sky, Great Hero Adrian began to grimace.

"Isn't that... a dimensional dungeon?"

"..."

"..."

Irian said.

At his words, Hajoon frowned as he looked up at the sky, while Elaine had her mouth open, making a dazed face.

"Brother..."

"Sigh..."

After scratching his head, Hajoon looked at Irian and spoke.

"Irian."

"Yeah?"

"Take Elaine and go to the association."

"Okay."

Irian nodded, understanding Hajoon's words.

Irian took Elaine and went inside the house to prepare their things.

After confirming they had entered, Hajoon, who had been blankly staring at the dimensional dungeon that appeared in the sky, heard Philaten speak.

-As I mentioned before, it's a great magic mixed with two types of magic. There is still one more magic that remains.

A great magic mixed with two types of magic.

One of them was known to be a gate magic that opens a dimensional dungeon.

However, the remaining magic had not yet been activated.

Almost certainly, but with near conviction, the last remaining magic would be activated in 3 days.

"They're definitely trying to start a war."

Not a war just between Hajoon and them.

They are trying to start a war against all of humanity.

It was a desolate rocky area without a single blade of grass.

There sat a human-like figure, mountainous in size, on a massive rock.

To call it human was a stretch; its body was too enormous, clad in thick rock armor, and the magic power it emitted carried an alien aura.

The giant's gaze turned downward.

A profound voice flowed from his mouth.

[What business do you have, King of Elves?]

The King of Elves, significantly smaller than the giant.

However, the magic power he possessed was greater than anyone else's.

King Hermorus of the Elves.

He looked up at the King of Giants and spoke.

[The preparations are complete, Gigantmakia.]

[Is that so...]

In response to that, King Hermorus of the elves looked up at the King of Giants silently for a moment.

After a brief silence, Hermorus asked the King of Giants.

[...What were you thinking about?]

[...]

The King of Giants did not answer immediately, lost in thought.

Then, he slowly opened his mouth.

[I met a human who inherited Horton's power.]

[The human who killed the other kings?]

[Yes.]

[Was he strong?]

At that, King Gigantmakia shook his head as if to deny it.

[He was weak. Too weak and insignificant to believe that he had killed the other kings.]

Far too weak.

It was hard to believe that a human who had inherited Horton's power could be so frail.

Likely, his power was so feeble that it would easily crumble under his own...

[Despite such weakness, the energy he possessed was strangely vast.]

The energy housed within such a frail human body was vast beyond his anticipation.

It was so immense and unfathomably deep that it could not even be seen, held within that small body.

It was a sensation that only he, who had devoured the primordial giants and possessed senses and power beyond cognition, could feel.

However, the King of Giants did not harbor doubts about the energy he felt.

The reason for his doubt lay elsewhere.

[Surely, our meeting was the first time, but...]

He looked down at the King of Elves and continued.

[I feel a familiarity with him. As if I had met him before.]