The Academy’s Time Stop Player
chapter-152

That afternoon at 5 PM.

Hajoon was at the association's reception room, having been called away from his visit to Soona due to an urgent message from the association.

He looked across at the two seated opposite him and asked with a puzzled expression, “So, what’s the matter?”

Although he didn’t know why, their expressions seemed grave. It appeared that they hadn’t summoned him over a trivial matter.

Soon, Joa, looking serious, opened her mouth to speak, “Irregular. The moment I set foot in Korea, I foresaw a certain future.”

“A serious future?” Hajoon asked, his face calm.

Responding to Hajoon’s question, Joa slowly nodded and said, “Yes. From what I see, it's a bit serious.”

“So, what is this future about?”

At that, Joa slowly closed her eyes, recalling the foreseen future before responding, “First, the S-rank villains residing in Korea will join forces and collaborate.”

“They're going to cooperate?” Hajoon was surprised.

“Yes.”

S-rank villains. Beings whose strength and abilities posed a threat to entire nations.

The notion that such beings would collaborate was unexpected to Hajoon. In the original episodes, there had been no instance of them working together. Frankly, the idea of them cooperating seemed unbelievable. They might be part of a villain alliance due to Saan's proposition, but their relationships were far from amicable.

After all, beings powerful enough to be called S-rank didn’t usually seek comrades.

However, Hajoon was not just concerned about their cooperation but also intrigued by Joa’s use of the word ‘first.’

“Is there more?” he asked.

With a somber expression, Joa nodded and answered, “Yes. A pseudo-religious group called ‘The Altar’ will emerge in Korea, causing a syndrome that will lead many civilians to believe in and form a congregation around this religion.”

That revelation brought a specific episode to Hajoon’s mind. ‘Could it be…’

It was all too similar to an episode Hajoon knew. However, this wasn’t the right time for that episode – it was content from the last episode of Haruna Ruel.

This led Hajoon to a realization. Choi Jungwon, who had faced Saan prematurely. Lain, who had concluded Liam’s episode by giving up her own goals. Could it be that the episodes involving other playable characters were also progressing more quickly due to these changes?

Just as this thought crossed his mind,

Ding-

A sudden system notification appeared, confirming Hajoon’s suspicion as true.

[Main Quest]

Quest Eligible Character: Kim Hajoon (Liber Laphilton Phil Ehrman)

Objective: Safely graduate from Rokia Academy with your companions

● Han Siyoung (40%)

● Anna Elizabeth Hartel (60%)

● Haruna Ruel (70%)

● Liam Martel (Completed)

Failure Condition: Death.

An alarmingly high progress rate for just the second semester of the first year at the academy.

It was as Hajoon had thought.

The episodes that the children were to experience were indeed progressing faster than the original timeline.

“Tsk-”

Hajoon frowned in annoyance.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure about Anna and Han Siyoung, but he had a hunch about why Haruna Ruel’s episode was accelerating. It was likely because the entity known as ‘Nara’ was continuously protecting Haruna, and they had no choice but to opt for this last resort.

“Let’s deal with the S-rank villains later. We can take them all out at once since they'll be gathered together anyway.”

“Yes, understood. For now, we have deployed Puppeteers and the association’s agents nationwide to locate The Altar.”

It was somewhat odd that, amidst the nationwide chaos caused by villain rampages, The Altar was unusually quiet, as if they were preparing for something. And Hajoon had a feeling about what it might be.

Haruna Ruel’s last episode ‘The God’.

It was the situation that unfolded when The Altar, backed into a corner after failing to kidnap Haruna Ruel at the very end, made their move.

Just as the name of Haruna Ruel’s last episode, it was the entity they worshipped as 'God' that was stirring.

After hearing Joa’s foresight, although Hajoon knew what was to come, there was nothing he could do. The best he could do was attend the academy while keeping a close watch on Haruna Ruel for any signs of trouble and wait until Irian, the Puppeteer, and the association’s agents located The Altar.

However, even after a week, then three weeks, there was no news.

The villains must have gone into hiding, making it difficult even for Irian, who controlled numerous puppets, to easily locate them.

Then, one day, an event signaling the start of the episode occurred.

“So, these are the kids?”

Hajoon was in the principal's office.

The reason was the sudden increase in the number of students whose superhuman abilities had grown significantly, prompting them to apply for a class reevaluation.

Hajoon had gone to the principal's office to review the list of these students and had asked Riella for the names.

“Yes, just in a week, the number of students applying for reevaluation of their class status has surged.”

“There are quite a lot of them.”

Upon reviewing the list, there were about 50 students who had applied for reevaluation. These were students from the lower and middle classes applying directly for the special class, which Hajoon belonged to. While there were exceptions like Lee Jooah, normally students didn't skip the advanced class to apply directly for the special class.

Well, they must have some reason to believe they could, he thought.

Of course, Hajoon had a guess as to what that reason was.

As Hajoon was looking over the list, Riella let out a troubled sigh and said, “There have been a lot of unsettling incidents happening lately.”

“Like the fight between the lower and advanced class students the other day?”

It was an incident that had happened recently.

A lower class student had picked a fight with an upper class student, a common occurrence of student brawls in the school.

Apparently, the instigator was from the lower class, and moreover, this student had overwhelmingly defeated the upper class student in the fight.

What was amusing was that this wasn’t a one-time event. Since last week, there had been about five violent incidents.

While it’s normal for kids at their peak of energy to get into fights, the issue was the unusually high number of such incidents, and, more importantly, that the students from lower or middle classes were overwhelmingly winning these fights. Moreover, all the students who initiated these fights were included in this list.

It was understandable that the students from lower or middle classes, suddenly empowered, became overconfident and eager to test their new strength, but the severity of the beatings was problematic.

“Tsk, tsk, students using the techniques taught to fight villains for brawls?”

Some were working so hard, yet here they were.

Hajoon clicked his tongue in a manner that suggested the end of days.

Seeing this, Riella looked at him with a strange expression and a furrowed brow.

“Why?” Hajoon asked.

“You’re asking that?”

“Do I not have the right to ask?”

“Sigh, never mind. What’s the point of arguing with you?”

Riella was irritated, thinking it ridiculous for someone who often skipped classes out of laziness to talk about academic matters, but she felt it wasn’t right to bring that up with someone who was dealing with the terror crisis in Korea.

Riella crossed her arms and sighed again.

“How should we handle this… I’m not sure if it’s related to the recent increase in ordinary people awakening as superhumans. It’s unlikely for 50 people to suddenly grow so much.”

There had been an incident where a bullied student who awakened as a superhuman retaliated against the bullies. And another where a regular criminal in prison had awakened as a superhuman and attempted a prison break. These incidents had all occurred within a week.

From these events, Hajoon understood that the villains from The Altar had begun their plans.

“Rumors say they saw a god in their dreams, who granted their wishes or something.”

“So, everyone on this list is involved?”

“Yes. They’re a real headache. I don’t know how they did it, but it’s clear they’ve made significant progress upon inspection. The problem is they’re demanding a special class or an individualized one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Had there been such a thing in Haruna Ruel’s episode?

Hajoon asked with a puzzled look.

Riella continued with a sigh, “They probably realize realistically not all 50 of them can be placed in the special class. So, they’re requesting a new class to be created.”

“So, they’re asking for a separate class for themselves?”

“Yes. The problem is the lack of instructors to manage the education. It’s just not feasible.”

“Hmm…”

Hajoon looked at her, deep in thought.

Then, seemingly struck by an idea, Hajoon calmly looked at Riella and suggested, “Shall I help you with that?”

“Huh? How would you?”

Intrigued by Hajoon’s offer, Riella began to look at him with a curious expression. Could he possibly have a solution in mind?

Riella looked at Hajoon, somewhat hopeful.

Hajoon responded casually, “Why don’t I conduct the grade evaluation? I can do it one-on-one with each of them.”

Riella’s mouth fell open in shock at his suggestion.

She was so flabbergasted that she lost her words for a moment, staring blankly at Hajoon before suddenly bursting out, “Are you crazy? You’ll fail all the kids!”

“Weren’t you planning to fail them all anyway, Riella?”

“There’s a limit, you idiot! I was planning to assign at least a few to the special class.”

“In my view, it doesn’t seem like all 50 of them have grown legitimately. Honestly, you think so too, Riella.”

At that, she crossed her arms and groaned.

Honestly, Hajoon was right. It was strange that all 50 had undergone such sudden, dramatic growth.

“Sigh… I already have enough on my plate with the principal's duties, and if I do that, complaints will flood in like a burst dam. It’s such a hassle.”

“Then, let’s do this.”

Hajoon’s proposed method was simple.

In this case, he would conduct the evaluation and fail all of them. If the students protested against this evaluation, he would announce a reevaluation in a month. Hearing this, Riella could only look at Hajoon with an incredulous expression and say, “Then what’s the point?”

Ultimately, failing them all through Hajoon would be meaningless.

To that, Hajoon shook his head and continued, “In my view, their growth won’t last very long.”

“Hmm… You seem to have an idea about it?”

“Well, yes.”

Upon hearing that, Riella pondered for a while before eventually letting out a sigh.

Judging by her expression, she seemed to have made a decision.

“Do as you see fit. While you’re at it, please correct those troublemakers who’ve been causing violence.”

At that, Hajoon grinned and replied, “Sure, why not.”