The Academy’s Time Stop Player
chapter-43

Three research topics were restricted by the World Magic Tower Association. These topics were 'Time', 'Resurrection', and 'Brainwashing'.

Zehar, the forbidden magician, had studied Brainwashing. He was a serious threat in the game. The magic he used was more about simple body control than brainwashing. However, the issue was the number of people he could control.

From Hajoon's perspective, Zehar was the most dangerous villain. If danger levels were to be measured, Zehar should be the first villain to be eliminated.

But Hajoon was initially hesitant to kill him. If handled poorly, the villain's death could lead to a bad ending for Haruna Ruel. But in the end...

"Who are you going to kill?"

Hajoon's own words helped him make a decision. He had to eliminate Zehar immediately. It would be better to do it sooner, given that a group's leader had decided to kill him.

"Hu... I didn't realize you were such an outlier. What a coincidence..."

Zehar, initially surprised, regained his composure and sighed deeply. He slowly looked up at Hajoon and spoke.

"If you know my name, then you obviously know who I am..."

Next, he turned his wide eyes towards Hajoon.

"And yet you came here alone?"

Zehar's magic power started to ripple. It was so intense that even Hajoon could see it. His dark purple magic power flowed out of his body like an aura and dispersed into the wind.

Moving quickly for a magician, Zehar approached Hajoon and reached out towards Hajoon's head. As his hand touched Hajoon's head, his magic power began to seep deep into it.

Just as Zehar started to smile chillingly upon confirming this...

Whoosh!

Zehar's vision went black.

"··········?!"

In the unseen field of vision, Zehar slowly raised his shaking hand and touched his own head. The part of his head from the nose up was gone, including his eyes and forehead.

Shortly afterwards, he heard a chilling boy's voice.

"So, he doesn't die like this?"

Upon hearing this, the corners of Zehar's mouth that had been raised started to droop. Soon after, his fallen head began to liquefy.

The liquid quickly slithered back into Zehar's body. As his missing head regenerated back to its original form, he looked at Hajoon with a hardened expression.

"··········What did you do?"

Zehar couldn't understand the situation that had happened so quickly.

Zehar's 'Melting' ability, which liquefied his body, rendered physical attacks useless. However, he couldn't perceive the moment Hajoon swung his hammer.

"My brainwashing magic doesn't work either..."

His opponent seemed immune even to his body-controlling brainwashing magic. His magic power had definitely infiltrated Hajoon's head, yet the boy remained unharmed.

"Are you... really human?"

Zehar started to regard Hajoon with a bewildered look. Yet, he maintained his composure. Regardless of Hajoon's inexplicable strength, it appeared the boy had no means of killing him.

Recognizing this, Zehar spoke casually.

"You can't kill me, no matter who you are. How about we have a conversation? I'm also curious about you-"

Whoosh! Bang!

Suddenly, another invisible force struck Zehar's body. With his right arm severed, he regenerated the lost limb while clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Tsk- It's in vain, but he doesn't understand."

Whoosh! Bang!

No sooner had he finished speaking than his left arm was severed, falling to the ground with a thud.

Observing this, his brows furrowed in frustration.

"Do you really not understand what I'm saying-"

Whoosh!

This time, his left leg was severed, and before it could regenerate, his right leg was also cut off.

He quickly regenerated, but as he observed Hajoon's expression, he realized something.

"You... surely?"

"It keeps regenerating, doesn't it?"

As Hajoon spoke, a small smile began to form on his face. He glared at Zehar, his voice ice-cold.

"Shall we see how far this regeneration goes, then?"

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Hajoon's words marked the end of their conversation.

Kwa-Kwa-Kwa-Kwang!!!

A relentless barrage of strikes rained down on Zehar's entire body. His body morphed into liquid, scattered, and reformed. Each time it regenerated, it was dispersed again. The cycle repeated.

'This, this bastard!' Zehar realized.

Hajoon had identified the weakness in his ability. Regeneration required magic power. While liquefying his body didn't require magic power, moving the separated parts did.

If Hajoon had noticed this...

"Kuaaak!! St, stop!!"

Fear seeped into Zehar's expression, which until now had remained composed. His relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by trembling eyes filled with fear.

He tried to resist Hajoon's onslaught, but it was useless. His body continued to disintegrate, his magic power gradually depleted.

Kwa-Kwang!! Kwang! Kwa-Kwang!!

Zehar's body shattered into fragments. Each time his scattered remains tried to reassemble, another brutal blow landed, scattering his form into even finer pieces.

Zehar's voice slowly began to fade amidst the relentless onslaught. Only when his screams had completely disappeared did Hajoon finally stop his assault and survey his surroundings.

"Hmm..."

Zehar's remains lay scattered on the ground, not even twitching. Despite being one of the three pillars of the Altar, his end had been surprisingly anticlimactic.

Still, Hajoon had no regrets about his decision. Zehar's research into forbidden brainwashing magic was a grave threat, destined to cause significant damage in future episodes.

He watched the scene with an impassive gaze before slowly turning away. With Zehar confirmed dead, there was no longer a reason to linger here.

"Cough!! Aaargh!!"

When Zehar finally came to, he was writhing in intense agony.

Having been thrown onto a stone bed, he rolled off it, groaning in pain.

"Cough! Haah! Haah!"

He felt as if his flesh was being ripped apart. In his torment, he slowly turned to look at the ceiling.

The quiet courtyard was filled with a cold silence.

The dim space, lit only by surrounding candles, was unmistakably the headquarters of the Altar.

"Haah! Haah!"

Despite the excruciating pain, he couldn't understand what had just transpired.

As soon as Hajoon had swung his hammer, Zehar's other body, created through his liquefaction ability, met a swift end. He hadn't even had a chance to react before he experienced death.

Fear coursed through him, making his hands tremble.

Although it was a duplicate body, it was as real as his own. In preparation for an emergency, he had divided his body and allocated half of his magic power to his duplicate.

But now, due to this incident, he had absurdly lost half of his magic power.

Gritting his teeth at this unexpected setback, he swore.

"Cough! Damn kid..."

Thanks to this incident, Zehar was able to make a swift decision.

"Haah! Haah! I must kill him."

Kim Hajoon.

He had to get rid of that boy somehow.

It was clear that Hajoon knew about the Altar and, undoubtedly, its purpose. There was no other explanation for why he approached Haruna.

"Kuuek!! Kim Hajoon..."

With bloodshot eyes and gritting his teeth, he softly muttered the boy's name.

The time was 6 p.m., after the sun had set.

Jin Ahhan, who had finished her patrol duties and returned, was conversing with Han Jayul in the guild master's room.

"So? You couldn't answer the phone because of that reason?"

Han Jayul, who had been waiting in the guild master's room, fixed Jin Ahhan with a disapproving look.

Jin Ahhan could only apologize awkwardly, not meeting her eyes.

"That... I'm sorry. I was quite preoccupied with the incident today."

As she mentioned, the pickpocketing incident that occurred wasn't an ordinary one.

The pickpocket turned out to be a civilian, as Jin Ahhan had expected.

Upon realizing this, she immediately contacted the Hero Association.

She suspected this incident was connected to a larger case.

"Haah... Well, it's not like you intentionally ignored it. Just leave these kinds of incidents to the Hero Association. They can't be solved by simply worrying and pondering over them."

"Uh... well, I understand. So, why did you contact me earlier?"

Han Jayul narrowed her eyes further at Jin Ahhan's question.

Jin Ahhan, on the other hand, tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"No, I was wondering if you really don't know."

"Um...?"

"First, take this."

Han Jayul quickly retrieved some documents from the leather bag beside her and handed them to Jin Ahhan.

Receiving the papers, Jin Ahhan looked at Han Jayul with a puzzled face and asked,

"What's this?"

"The information you requested earlier."

"...Ah! Don't tell me! Is this about the Irregular?"

"Yes. I used my ability to conduct an investigation, so the information should be fairly accurate."

"Let me see... Huh?"

Upon hearing Han Jayul's words, Jin Ahhan quickly skimmed through the documents.

Her eyes stopped at a certain name.

Slowly lifting her head, Jin Ahhan gave Han Jayul a blank look.

Seeing her reaction, Han Jayul sighed and said,

"Do you finally understand why I was upset?"

"Huh... what is this? Is this for real?"

"Yes. You mentioned that you wanted to meet him, so I investigated and even pinpointed his location for you. Did you forget about that?"

At her words, Jin Ahhan's eyes and mouth widened in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Yes. It's Kim Hajoon, isn't it?"

"But, but..."

Jin Ahhan found herself thinking about Hajoon.

'He didn't seem like it on the outside?'

In her evaluation, he didn't seem particularly powerful.

To be frank, as a superhuman, she rated his powers as below average.

While his ability had an appropriate output level, overall, it seemed just average when compared with others.

"Are you sure it's him? What's the likelihood?"

"Ah..."

Han Jayul took back the information she had given Jin Ahhan, laid it out on the table, and began pointing out key parts with her finger.

Her pupils soon took on a green shimmer.

Han Jayul's ability was 'Probability Calculation'.

It allowed her to quantify the accuracy of data she had investigated.

With it, the facts she had discovered became clear.

"This is from the Full-Power Man's bus terror incident. This is from the Nephertem Hotel terror incident. Finally, this is a sketch drawn by a citizen who claimed to have seen the face of the 'Irregular' during the Dimension Dungeon incident. The common thread between these incidents is that they all involve Kim Hajoon."

"Huh... the sketch is quite handsome, so it doesn't seem like him?"

"That's beside the point. In any case, there's a lot more information, but when I activated my ability based on the collected data, there's nearly a 98.7 percent chance that it's Kim Hajoon."

"9, 98.7 percent?! So, it's almost..."

"Yes. It's almost certain."

At her words, Jin Ahhan's face momentarily went blank.

Looking at the guild leader in that state, Han Jayul shook her head and continued.

"Also, even without using my ability, I suspect the other hero guilds and offices have a rough idea."

"Huh? Uh..."

"It's not 'huh, uh', sis. You understand what I'm trying to say, right?"

With a serious look, Han Jayul fixed her gaze on Jin Ahhan and spoke.

"Sis. We need to recruit him no matter what. In my opinion, this might be our only chance."