The Academy’s Time Stop Player
chapter-196

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

Thud! Boom!

For the first time, the king of giants was propelled into the air, flying straight into the distance.

The ground was sheared left and right where the king of giants had passed, accompanied by explosive sounds.

In that situation, Hajoon narrowed his eyes, watching intently as the king flew into the unseen distance.

When he struck the giant's heart with Maharazu, a fine crack appeared, but that was all.

Despite delivering a compounded massive shock with all his power, he only managed to slightly fracture the giant's body.

'Is this not enough?'

Hajoon quickly assessed the situation.

A mere fine crack was not enough to kill the giant.

After all, a body capable of regenerating so quickly from such minor damage.

'I need more power.'

He needed enough force to pierce the giant's heart.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

It was then.

The ground vibrated as Hajoon's gaze followed the direction in which the giant had flown.

And the moment he saw that, Hajoon couldn't help but scowl.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A massive sandstorm appeared.

It resembled a tidal wave made of dirt.

The height was immeasurable, and this sandstorm was rushing toward Hajoon.

In that moment, Hajoon enlarged Maharazu.

Thud!

The now-gigantic Maharazu shielded Hajoon's body.

As the dirt tidal wave crashed into the enlarged Maharazu with a bang, it pushed back slightly, protecting Hajoon from the oncoming dirt.

Hajoon then reduced the size of Maharazu.

And he watched as the king of giants approached with leisurely steps that caused the ground to quake.

Thud! Thud!

[Did you think that would be enough to kill me?]

The king of giants said this as he approached Hajoon with an easy stride.

Hajoon's gaze shifted to the heart area he had struck.

And as expected?

The spot that might have had a fine crack from Hajoon's impact was already healed without a trace of injury.

[However…, truly impressive. To think a human body could inflict damage on me.]

The king of giants spoke, his voice slightly admiring as he looked at Hajoon.

At the same time, Hajoon's brow furrowed.

The giant had withdrawn the violent magic he had been unleashing and now looked down at Hajoon calmly.

He opened his mouth to speak to Hajoon.

[It's marvelous. To drive me to this point.]

"What are you trying to say?"

Hajoon demanded, glaring at him.

In response, the giant seemed to try to level with Hajoon's eye height, kneeling on one knee, though his massive stature still meant he was looking down.

He opened his mouth towards Hajoon.

[I've come to desire a conversation with you, as a fellow king.]

"……"

[I acknowledge your strength; you are indeed powerful. Among all the humans I have seen, you are the strongest.]

His voice mixed with admiration.

Gigantmakia continued.

[Therefore, I offer you a choice. Relinquish the inherited Maharazu to me and follow me. Then, I will grant what you desire.]

"……"

[I will create a self-governing district for humans. You shall be its king. Even King Zahart was merely the king of a country. So, become the true 'King of Humans.']

With that, the giant slowly extended his hand towards Hajoon.

As if offering a handshake, the king of giants continued speaking.

[Take my hand, or humanity's destruction is inevitable.]

It was a threatening proposition.

Yet, the aura he exuded was calm.

There was no oppressive force bearing down on Hajoon.

The king of giants simply waited for Hajoon's decision.

[What do you say, new king?]

The king of giants was somewhat sincere.

The small human before him made him see such worth.

He had not felt this when he made a pact with the former human king, Zahart.

But now, this human had opened his eyes to such a possibility.

[Choose, will you oppose me and be destroyed, or will you choose the survival of your species?]

With fierce eyes and a crazed smile, he posed the question to Hajoon.

It was a choice to be made.

To oppose him to the end and face destruction.

Or to choose the respite of his kind and survive.

In the midst of this proposal, Hajoon remained silent.

Smirk-

With a smirk, he merely scoffed at him.

Seeing Hajoon's expression, Gigantmakia's face suddenly hardened.

He asked Hajoon,

[Why?]

Why had he rejected his proposal?

Hajoon responded with a fierce expression, unleashing the power of destruction.

Whoosh!!

Golden power surged from Hajoon's body.

Looking sternly at the king of giants, Hajoon answered calmly,

“This land has always belonged to humans. You are the intruder.”

It was a proposal not worth considering.

Hajoon found it laughable that this intruder acted as if he owned the place.

Seeing Hajoon's response, Gigantmakia slowly rose from his kneeling position.

Soon, ominous chaotic energy began to emanate from his body as he spoke to Hajoon.

[So, you still think you can kill me.]

As he spoke, the power bursting from Gigantmakia exploded upwards dramatically.

[Then let me crush that pathetic hope of yours.]

Boom!! Bang!!

The ground around him split open as the massive power surged up to the sky, the energy pouring out from his entire body.

In that situation, the king of giants looked down at Hajoon and said,

[The power of destruction will no longer affect me.]

Chaotic power enveloped his entire body.

Simultaneously, the ground began to shake as if reacting to his released energy.

The power that had risen to the skies started to create abnormal weather conditions.

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered, and lightning struck all around.

In this situation, the king of giants asked Hajoon once more.

[I ask you again, do you still think you can kill me?]

In response, Hajoon calmly stared back and increased the size of Maharazu.

The oppressive power of the magic now was incomparable to before.

The released energy was immensely greater than just moments ago.

However, Hajoon had already rejected the offer.

Instead of verbally responding, he lifted the enlarged Maharazu and slammed it down from above.

Whoosh!!!

As he swung, Hajoon maximized the weight of Maharazu in an instant.

The enlarged Maharazu, empowered by its mass, erupted with a formidable sound.

It descended with a majestic force towards the king of giants.

Yet, the king of giants merely stood firmly and reached up with one hand.

And the moment Maharazu touched Gigantmakia's hand.

Thud!!!

With a massive thud, the ground around where Gigantmakia stood cracked wide open.

Though Gigantmakia's ankle was slightly buried in the ground, he did not flinch and held off the enlarged Maharazu with one hand.

At the same time, the situation erupted suddenly.

Boom!!

The ground began to move.

The earth started gathering towards the center where Gigantmakia stood.

Soon, the dirt that had gathered began to climb up the giant's legs, eventually covering his entire body.

Along with this phenomenon, the giant's body began to swell even more massively.

Just moments ago, he had been about the size of a five-story building.

Now, he had grown to a size beyond comparison, as if a mountain had taken on a human form.

He was truly a giant.

[You will regret this.]

With those words, the giant's massive arm surged towards Hajoon.

It was like a high-rise building falling straight towards Hajoon.

It was unavoidable.

Realizing it couldn't be stopped, Hajoon immediately used time stop to create distance between them.

Thud!!!!

At the same time, the moment the giant's massive arm touched the ground, a huge explosion erupted from that spot.

The ground shook violently, sending a massive storm hurtling towards Hajoon, who was quite a distance away.

Unable to block such a storm with his bare body, Hajoon immediately enlarged Maharazu just enough to shield himself and took cover.

Whoosh!!!!

The aftermath of the impact started swirling around, sweeping the surroundings.

After planting Maharazu in the ground, Hajoon used the "Stasis Storage" skill to anchor it, barely managing to block the raging storm.

When Hajoon reduced Maharazu's size and turned towards where the giant had been, Gigantmakia had already noticed Hajoon's direction and leaped from the ground towards him.

[I already know.]

Boom!!!

As he fell, Gigantmakia slammed his massive left arm towards the ground.

Despite having used time stop to dodge the attack and swinging Maharazu several times towards the giant's heart area, it seemed to have no effect; the King of Giants simply rose up unscathed.

He approached Hajoon with majestic steps that vibrated the ground.

He looked down at Hajoon with a relaxed voice.

[The aura of magic from your body feels weak. You must have reached your limit.]

"......"

[Do you think you can fight me without the power of destruction?]

"Whose concern is that?"

With that reply, Hajoon activated an auxiliary skill he had obtained upon reaching level 120.

{Time Regression}

[Consumes 50 HP to regress the designated target's time by one hour.]

[More time can be regressed, but it will consume more HP.]

An auxiliary skill that allows the regression of time for a designated target, which Hajoon had acquired as his last skill upon reaching level 120.

Despite the penalty of consuming HP proportional to the skill's effect, it didn't matter.

Having reached the maximum level of 120, Hajoon's HP had already surpassed 200.

Hajoon immediately designated himself for time regression.

Ding-

HP: 163 (-50)

Immediately as his HP decreased, changes occurred in Hajoon's body.

White particles emerged and enveloped him, replenishing the magical power that had been depleted during the fight.

Ding-

MP: 700 (+672)

Even though Hajoon had replenished his magic, his body did not feel less tired.

In fact, he felt even more tired than before, likely a repercussion from the HP consumed by the time regression.

[Ho, you possess a curious talent.]

But even with replenished magic, nothing had changed.

The King of Giants once again prepared to strike Hajoon with his fist.

And Hajoon, focusing intently on his opponent, thought about his situation.

He had the Time Regression skill, so he could replenish his magic power even after it was depleted.

However, the situation hadn't changed, and the number of times he could use Time Regression was limited.

'Including the potions in my inventory, about 9 more times?'

Even if he used potions to restore the HP reduced by Time Regression, he could only activate it about 9 more times.

In such a situation, he had to find a way to defeat his opponent.

Hajoon charged Maharazu with 600 units of destructive magic.

When Maharazu began to vibrate intensely after absorbing 600 units of destructive magic,

Hajoon instantly enlarged Maharazu and swung it towards the giant's ankle.

Thud!!

"Can't you see?"

Inside Horton's psychic world, Philaten was appealing with emotion in his voice.

"The king is fighting for you!"

Philaten was addressing the dead that existed in the psychic world.

The dead, having forgotten their purpose, merely existed in the psychic world.

Philaten shouted at them with emotion-filled voice.

"He is fighting for none other than you!"

Hearing this, the dead slowly began to rise from the bone-made ground and gathered in front of Philaten.

Among them were those made of skeletons and others who appeared as black, round souls.

Yet, all of them were listening to Philaten's appeal.

The dead, who had forgotten what they were and were only thinking of revenge against the king of giants who had made them this way, were focused on Philaten's emotional voice.

Philaten then opened his mouth sincerely towards them.

"If he is not your king, then who is?"

From Philaten's lips came a voice that seemed to sob quietly.

But at that moment,

A faint glow appeared in the eyes of the dead, who had forgotten their emotions and their existence.