Chapter 25

The Academy’s Time Stop Player

Unlock is changed to Unfix. That name doesn’t make sense. So I changed to Unfix fpr time being until we get better understanding of the skill. Sorry about that

.

.

.

—Inside the cave, there was a eerie silence.

The cool air in the cave became even colder.

Soon, Ha-Jun’s gaze calmly turned towards Yoo-Seol.

Feeling his gaze, Yoo-Seol explained with a wave of her hand.

“Umm, I’m just a spectator.”

“Really? then…”

He then reduced the size of the maharaj and put it in his pocket.

Liam’s brows gradually furrowed as he questioned this action.

“Here you go…”

As it was, Ha-Jun, with the maharaj in his pocket, took out a bell point and handed it over.

Liam laughed, perhaps taken aback by the sight, but Ha-Jun didn’t care, and spoke.

‘I’m tired, take it.”

It’s not like I have any greed for evaluation scores…

If this was an exam associated with expulsion, like a mid-term or final exam, but it was only a combat training for student evaluation, he wasn’t motivated.

At least, he could be satisfied with only scoring enough points to avoid instructor Li Han’s supplementary training.

Liam, however, seemed to think differently.

“I’ll take it after the fight.”

“It’s too much trouble, take it.”

“Please, I’m begging you, Ha-Jun.”

“No, please, take it!”

“I’m going to give you a fair fight.”

Liam’s eyebrow raised.

Soon, Liam slowly approached and began to close the distance.

“Huh…”

I let out a breathless sigh .

I expected it, but he still refused.

Because this guy’s character wouldn’t accept something like this so easily.

“You may get hurt.”

“I’m intending to do this seriously too.”

“Tsk.”

Ha-jun kicked his tongue tsk tsk and stood defenseless without any particular posture, waiting for Liam to approach first.

Liam could see numerous gaps in Ha-Jun’s stance, but he couldn’t move easily.

(Why is that?)

He even felt a strange feeling of discomfort.

Indeed, his spear was within reach of Kim Ha-Jun.

Yet his body did not move.

Soon, Ha-Jun, who was watching such a figure with tired eyes, spoke.

“Start. Finish it quickly.”

“…”

Ayah!

In the blink of an eye, Liam’s momentum changed.

The magic power filled the cave to the point that even the surrounding beasts were shaken.

An attack with all his might.

When Liam, who swung his spear with no restraint and just gave it his all, aimed at Ha-Jun.

“…?!”

Liam’s vision went dark.

Is this another ability of Kim Ha-Jun?

Liam closed his eyes for a while and concentrated on his senses.

He immediately swung his spear in the direction where he could feel the presence of someone.

However, the spear just cut through the empty air and immediately towards Liam’s ear, he quietly heard Kim Ha-jun’s voice, which for some reason seemed to be sniggering.

“Take care.”

Startled by the voice he heard for a moment, Liam frowned and swung the spear towards it.

But this time, too, the spear cut through the air only, and the human presence he had immediately felt was gone.

***

Ha-Jun was looking at Liam, who had stopped in a vague spear-stabbing posture.

(What am I going to do with him…)

Liam Martel.

He’s simply a light-hearted and cheerful boy, but I knew what this guy was hiding.

So even at the mention of giving him bell points, he would suddenly come at you.

However, for a moment beyond that, he shouldn’t have been here.

Because the episode that happens in this combat survival training was Liam’s episode.

Artificial island episode (Wave of Beats).

A beast called Su, who has been living in the underground tunnels of the artificial island for a long time, will tonight cause a wave of Magical Beast. Liam happened to see the target beast entering the tunnels, so he went into the tunnels and blocked their numerous beasts by himself in this episode.

It’s not a red quest, so it’s not so dangerous, but whatever it is, it’s only if he prevents them so that I wouldn’t have to be exhausted at night.

(Anyway…)

Name:Kim Ha-Jun

Level: 5

Occupation: Student – Title: none – Fame: 300

Vitality: 17 (+2) – Magic: 0 – Strength: 14 – Agility: 9

Stamina:21 – Defense:0 – Magic Resistance:999(Max) – Mental Strength:999(Max)

1. 500P for Unfix.

Ha-Jun purchased a new skill, Unfix.

Release Fixation.

Frankly, just looking at the name, I have an idea of what kind of ability this skill is.

Ha-Jun immediately used the ability.

[ (Unfix) is used].

[Choose an target].

“Liam Martel”.

[Release completed].

[Fixed for 30 minutes].

[After the skill is lifted, the target who used the immobilisation cannot be immobilised for 30 minutes]

(30 minutes?)

Apparently, this skill has a time limit.

I don’t like the fact that there is a time limit, but what can I do? I have to put up with it.

I approached Liam immediately .

I put my hand on him and found that his skin and clothes, which I thought would be hard, were the same as before he was stopped, and his arms and legs were able to move freely.

Once I was sure that he was in effect of the skill, I immediately hit him once on the back of the head and lifted Liam with both hands as hard as I could.

This was because until now I had not been able to move anything that was touching the ground or walls, except for things floating in the air.

But compared to the effort I put into it, it was lifted too easily.

I gently set the lift him up and he remained suspended in mid-air.

“Is this possible?”

It was possible to stop without the rigidity characteristic of time-stopping disappearing.

Moreover, restrictions on movement disappeared.

I grabbed his legs as if I were holding a balloon, and carried him out of the cave.

The time was 30 minutes.

As long as he was once in the air, I would be able to carry him around even if his Unfixing skill was released.

I was going to take him straight to the den of ants where he was supposed to be.

“Was there a cave somewhere in the centre of the island?”

* * *

“Huh?!”

Yoo-Seol started looking here and there around the cave with an astonished look on her face.

Still, there wasn’t.

Liam, who had been showing tremendous momentum in front of her eyes just a moment ago.

“How did you…”

“Hey.”

I was startled by the voice I heard shortly afterwards and quickly turned my head to see Ha-Jun standing there.

He looked tired, as if he would collapse at any moment…

“No, more importantly, where’s Liam?”

“Huh…, you don’t need to know.”

“Eh? Eh? Is that one of Ha-Jun’s abilities?”

“Well, they’re similar… but more importantly, why were you sticking around with that guy?”

“That’s what Liam asked for.”

“He did?”

The Liam I know, unlike his light face, is not the kind of guy who easily asks favor of others.

Why is that?

I looked at Yoo-Seol with a questioning expression.

Yoo-Seol then understood the expression and explained the situation.

“He asked for healing.”

“Healing? Who? Me?”

“Both of you… well, in the meantime, my fears are unfounded.”

I see.

The momentum that erupted before the time stop was activated was almost vital.

So I triggered the time stop before I was stabbed by the spear.

Probably because if I had been a little late, my neck must have been penetrated as it was.

(Didn’t you just want to fight for real?)

Isn’t that really crazy?

Or, did you think, I could stop it, just fine?

“So….where did you send Liam?”

“You don’t need to know. I’m going to sleep a bit.”

Ha-Jun trudged over on tired legs and lay down on his sleeping bag.

Before he closes his eyes as it is, he said to Yoo-Seol, just in case.

“If you stay here, he’ll come back on his own, so you can wait too.”

“Will he?”

“And protect me while I sleep.”

I don’t mind sleeping with time suspended, but a hard sleeping bag was a bit inconvenient.

Of course, there is a skill called Unlock, but isn’t there a time limit?

I wanted to sleep with this softness maintained all the time.

Yoo-Seol heard me say…

“No, that’s not…”

Yoo-Seol, who approached for a while and examined Ha-Jun, sighed naturally in dismay.

This was because as soon as Ha-jun lay down on the sleeping bag, he was asleep in the process.

“How can you sleep so soundly? Is it narcolepsy?”

Although stunned, Yoo-Seol decided to honestly listen to Ha-Jun.

‘He’s a bit… No, he’s a very strange person, but he’s a benefactor to me…’

As such, Yoo-Seol crouched down next to Ha-Jun and waited for him to wake up.

And the moment he fell asleep.

[The future changes and a penalty is given].

[The difficulty of the episode increases.]

A new system window floated above Ha-Jun.

While he slept the story was gradually changing .

***

Meanwhile.

Liam had flinched, then patted his head with a tingling sensation and was moving through an unknown space.

(Where— am I?)

He could not see anything around him.

Inside this invisible wide space, Liam just started to move his body around, looking at his surroundings with just his sense of awareness.

To be honest, at first I thought it was just the ability to block his vision, but it wasn’t.

Looking at the wall surface, I don’t think it could have been the outer wall of a cave.

Rather, soil?

Looking at the surrounding tunnel-like shape of the path, it seemed to be a completely different place from the cave we had just been in.

(That—)

At one moment, while walking along the path, he saw a faint light at the edge of the path.

Liam approached towards it and what he immediately saw were three students using light magic to illuminate their surroundings in the wide cavern.

As soon as they spotted Liam,, they began to rejoice, fussing.

“What? Could it be — Liam Martel?”

“Huh? It’s true—it’s Liam!”

“Oh, thank God. Thank God…”

“—Hmm?”

Liam looked at them oddly.

Because for some reason, from the reactions he could see, it looked like these three didn’t know where they were either.

Later, a female student who was standing in the middle of them and activating light magic asked Liam cautiously.

“Ah— do you know the way out here?”

“Ah! Right!!! You just have to go back the way you came in.”

“Hmm— good. We actually got lost here for four hours too. Bell Point can’t seem to indicate a path under the ground either.”

“—-”

Liam did not answer their words.

No, he couldn’t answer.

He had been abducted here himself.

However, fortunately or unfortunately, a situation occurred where he did not have to answer.

Kukukun —–!!!

“Caaaaaaaah!!!!”

“Huh? What is it?”

“What!!!! Over there!”

With a roar that shook the entire tunnel, some of the earth began to collapse.

What followed was a Giant Ant with a physique twice as large as a human body.

Of course, it was a Beast that could take a student’s level lightly, but the problem was its numbers.

The number, which was roughly visible only to the eye, exceeded 30, and was gradually increasing more.

— Keeeeeee!!!

— Kii!!!!

Soon the number had increased to the point where it was approximately impossible to tell, and dozens of Giant Ants, including the ceiling, began to roar menacingly as they surrounded Liam and a group of students.

“Aah, ah—”

“Oh, no, this isn’t about training!”

“But, we have to run— Quick, call the instructor!”

“You idiot! Did you forget that we couldn’t get a signal earlier?”

While everyone was in confusion and panic.

Liam stepped forward and raised his spear.

Liam looked around for a moment and opened his mouth, looking a little confused.

“This is a bit dangerous—“