The Academy’s Time Stop Player
chapter-177

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

The Age of the Great Chaos, a time of war.

The era at that time was no different from an apocalypse.

100 years ago, with the sudden emergence of magical energy, dimensional dungeons appeared, and with them, monsters and demonic beasts.

Back then, these creatures were monsters with abilities beyond human weapons, and the rapid collapse of civilization was somewhat inevitable.

Several villages were formed by people who had fled from these creatures.

This village, too, seemed to have been one of those from the past.

Even after the Age of Great Chaos ended and peace returned with the advancement of civilization, there were still people who chose not to leave and settled in the village over the years.

‘So this was the place…’

Hajoon remembered Han Siyoung's episode and knew about its final ending.

He probably understood Siyoung's situation better than anyone else.

But even Hajoon didn’t know the far-off past of Han Siyoung, a past that wasn’t even part of the game.

One thing was certain, however.

In a situation where the ending was clearly different from what Hajoon knew, he was sure that this was where Han Siyoung's last episode began.

● Han Siyoung (62%)

The progress of Han Siyoung's episode had been slowly increasing.

But first things first.

“So, where is the Sword King?”

“…….”

At that question, Han Siyoung looked around for a moment.

After all, the purpose of their journey was to find the Sword King.

Siyoung seemed a bit troubled and didn’t respond immediately.

After glancing around, Siyoung turned back to Hajoon and spoke.

“I plan to wait here tonight.”

Hajoon looked at him in disbelief.

“You mean we’re sleeping outside?”

“Yes.”

With those words, Siyoung turned away.

“I’ll go find something to eat.”

Before Hajoon could say anything, Siyoung quickly ran off into the bushes.

Watching him leave, Hajoon sighed and approached the campfire again.

While fiddling with the firewood, an idea struck him, and he spoke to Philaten.

“I recall you mentioned sensing the aura of a human king here?”

-Yes, that's correct.

Hearing this, Hajoon slowly stood up.

There was still time before Siyoung returned with the food, so he decided to take a look around.

“Guide me.”

-A faint aura of a human king can be sensed from the center of the pit. Perhaps you should take a look there.

“The center?”

Upon hearing that, Hajoon looked indifferently towards the center, then walked towards it.

A thought occurred to him on the way to the center.

‘Now that I think about it…’

He remembered a conversation with the Sword King who had suddenly appeared a few days ago.

"I've been searching for him all this time."

Unknown to Hajoon, the Sword King had been searching for traces of the human king for a long time.

"I owe a debt to him from a long time ago."

Hajoon wasn't sure what that debt was, but he felt it was somehow related to this place.

After reaching the center and looking around, Hajoon found nothing out of the ordinary.

All that was visible was land covered with lush grass and shrubbery.

While he was surveying the area, Philaten spoke up.

-The magic of the human king is faintly present, but that seems to be all.

“So, nothing particularly strange then?”

-Yes, but there is one thing. There is a trace of a great magic spell in this place.

“A great magic spell?”

At this, Hajoon's brow furrowed.

Philaten continued.

-Yes, it seems that the human king once used a great magic spell here, and only a faint trace of his magic remains after all these years.

By the time Han Siyoung had returned, he was already dismantling the monster he had just caught. Hajoon returned to the campfire as Siyoung skillfully dissected the monster, preparing the edible parts to cook over the fire.

The ensuing atmosphere was silent.

The awkward silence was filled only with the sounds of insects and the hooting of owls from the trees.

Neither Siyoung was talkative, nor did Hajoon have anything to start a conversation with.

Amidst this silence, Siyoung unexpectedly broke the ice.

“When did you meet the master?”

It was an awkward question to answer.

Hadn't they just glossed over that?

Hajoon, however, was not one to be easily embarrassed.

“When you came to my dormitory.”

At that, Siyoung's eyes widened.

Then, with an incredulous expression, he started to speak.

It seemed that even with a poker face, he couldn't hide his surprise at Hajoon's answer.

Finally, Siyoung looked at Hajoon with a displeased face.

To this, Hajoon responded.

“Don't blame me. He asked me to keep it a secret.”

“Ha…, I guess so.”

Siyoung returned to calmly tending the fire and cooking the meat.

Hajoon then asked him.

“Do you know why the Sword King doesn’t want to meet you?”

“Yes.”

Siyoung nodded confidently in response.

With a calm expression, Siyoung opened his mouth.

“Probably because I'm not good enough…”

His tone was bitter, but that wasn’t really the case.

The Sword King had sent Siyoung to society and avoided meeting him, simply to make him adapt to social life.

This was Hajoon's guess, but perhaps the Sword King also hoped to change Siyoung's unnaturally calm manner for his age.

Hajoon kept these thoughts to himself and spoke up.

“So, how long do you plan to stay here?”

“……”

“You're not even sure if the Sword King is here, are you?”

At that, Siyoung fell into a moment of contemplation.

However, asking that question was a mistake.

"I plan to stay here until I find him."

Clearly, Siyoung was stubbornly determined to wait here until the Sword King appeared.

Could it be that he had some strong conviction? Hajoon couldn't be sure, but he had a hunch.

The progress of Siyoung's episode had increased the moment they arrived here, suggesting the Sword King might indeed be somewhere nearby.

But that aside.

"What about me?"

Hajoon asked Siyoung, implying he was reluctant to wait as well.

Siyoung answered his question.

"You can go ahead. But I plan to wait here."

"Really?"

Hajoon nodded, somewhat reluctantly.

He guessed Siyoung was considerate enough to give him that option.

Of course, Hajoon wanted nothing more than to lie down in his bed, but he couldn’t just leave with Siyoung's progress still increasing.

After some thought, Hajoon decided on a compromise.

‘I'll wait until tomorrow morning and then leave.’

The plan was to stay with Siyoung until tomorrow morning, return to his bed, and then come back.

What could possibly happen in that time?

Even if something did happen, he could just use Time Stop and come back.

Early the next morning, Hajoon left Siyoung at that place and returned home.

Exhausted, he lay down in his bed and took a nap.

A few hours later.

"Brother."

"…Hmm?"

"Wake up, brother. We have a visitor."

At Elaine's words, Hajoon rubbed his eyes and sat up.

Without opening his eyes, he asked Elaine.

"A visitor? Who is it?"

"Someone from the American Hero Association. They're waiting downstairs."

"Ugh."

Hajoon clicked his tongue in displeasure.

It would have been better if they had visited on a weekend instead of a weekday.

"I'll be down."

"Okay, get ready and come down."

With that, Hajoon washed up quickly in his bedroom's bathroom and then went downstairs.

Downstairs, a familiar face greeted him with a smile – Emma from the American Hero Association.

She stood up and spoke.

"It’s been a while, Irregular."

"Yes, it has. But what brings you here?"

"Sorry for the unannounced visit. I had to come quickly to share some urgent information."

Hajoon sat across from her with a puzzled look.

"What information?"

"The information I'm about to share is strictly confidential."

Emma's expression turned serious as she continued.

"Lain has escaped from prison."

"…?"

Hajoon looked at her incredulously.

"When?"

"It happened two nights ago."

"You mean, you want me to catch her again?"

Emma shook her head at his question.

Emma took out some documents from the black leather bag she had brought and began to speak.

"Here are the photos of the scene right after Lain's escape. There's something suspicious about it."

She showed Hajoon photos of the crime scene. It didn't seem like a dramatic escape; it looked like Lain had simply broken through the iron ceiling of the prison and flown away.

"The association knew it would be difficult to completely confine her. But there's a dubious aspect to her escape. Can you take a look at this video?"

Emma pulled out her phone and showed a video.

In the video, Lain was sitting calmly on her bed, reading a book.

"This was taken just minutes before her escape that night."

Hajoon closely examined the video. Lain's demeanor didn't seem different from before, just quietly enjoying her reading.

But then, suddenly, the calm Lain lifted her head abruptly and her expression turned grave.

She abruptly stood up from the bed, looked around, then ground her teeth and hissed.

Soon, she transformed her body, breaking through the ceiling and escaping, which was where the video ended.

That was the end of the footage.

Hajoon now understood why Emma was dubious about Lain's escape.

He turned to Emma and said, "It's as if she's running from something?"

After watching the video, that was Hajoon's impression. Lain's behavior before the escape was as if she had seen something and was fleeing.

Emma nodded, agreeing with his observation.

"We can't be certain, but the association thinks so too. Still, we felt we had to inform you in advance, just in case. As you know, Lain might harbor a grudge against you."

Though Hajoon hadn't sensed any animosity from Lain when they last met, the association, not knowing the exact situation, might naturally think so.

Hajoon wasn't particularly worried, but he nodded to Emma's words.

"If I find anything about Lain's whereabouts, I'll let you know. I have to go now; I have things to do."

With that, Emma stood up from her seat.

Hajoon walked with her to the front door to see her out.

As they opened the door and stepped outside.

"……?"

Emma's expression turned to one of surprise.

She was startled by the sight of the gate opened in front of Hajoon's house.

Hajoon looked at the open gate in front of the entrance and spoke.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"That's... not our association's gate. Were you expecting someone today?"

"No."

With that answer, Hajoon looked puzzled, and Emma stared at the gate with a bewildered look.

If that wasn't the gate of the American Hero Association, whose gate was it?

As Hajoon looked at the gate with a puzzled expression, familiar voices came from the other side.

-Is the leader really okay?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

-Ha…, I'm not sure if this is right.

-But since the leader said it's okay, I opened it.

-Lain, try eating this too.

The voices coming from beyond the gate were familiar.

Soon, five people emerged from the gate, all faces Hajoon recognized.

Hakuse, Millie, Hal, Elly, and Lain, who had just escaped from prison.

Lain, holding a hotdog, stopped in her tracks and widened her eyes at the sight of Hajoon.

The other four did the same, staring at Hajoon with wide eyes.

“……”

“……”

Hajoon looked at them in disbelief, and a moment of stunned silence fell over the absurd scene.

As Hajoon was so astonished he couldn't find words to speak, Emma took a gun out of her pocket and aimed it at Lain, shouting.

"Don't move!"