The Academy’s Time Stop Player

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: N/A

"Phew, I’ve never met someone like him before."

In the principal’s office of the Academy, Choi Jungwon was gazing at the night sky, lost in thoughts about his morning meeting with Kim Hajoon.

In his long life, he had encountered numerous heroes and students, but none were quite as unique as Kim Hajoon.

"What kind of experiences has he had at such a young age?"

Choi Jungwon remembered Kim Hajoon’s face from the morning.

The face of a young man who had easily resisted his magical power and energy.

Completely relaxed, and... seeming bored.

Even the act of talking appeared to tire him, as if he found it entirely mundane.

"I wonder why he’s showing himself now..."

Why would someone so powerful seem so bored with everything?

Why did he choose to reveal his identity now, after staying silent for so long?

Why did he decide to join the Academy?

Was his bored expression a sign that he had accomplished what he set out to do?

"If only I had found you sooner, I could have helped you..."

He had met many talented individuals.

This year especially, there were many promising talents who were already famous before the entrance exam. Among them were unrivaled geniuses.

Some talents were just as good as the current heroes.

Usually, such a talent would appear only once a year.

But this year was an exception.

The Golden Generation.

Several powerful talents all emerging in a single year.

But still...

"That guy has set my expectations too high."

Even the boy seen as a potential Sword King.

And the boy considered a genius set to inherit his legacy.

Even the boy chosen by the Rune Language, and the boy picked by the American mythological class national treasure.

No one could likely match Kim Hajoon’s remarkable feats.

Killing an A-rank villain proved that.

An A-rank villain, wanted by the nation, was as destructive as a natural disaster.

"This year is shaping up to be quite interesting indeed."

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Raei Translations

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As Principal Choi Jungwon had advised, Hajoon took a day off to rest.

It made sense to rest more when he had the opportunity.

He knew that a hectic schedule would begin once he started at the Academy.

Plus, he had no idea when this darned system would assign him a quest.

"Well, then..."

The first part of the entrance exam was a written test.

It covered the principles and rules of hero behavior, the traits and habits of magical beasts, and other basic subjects.

Thanks to his good knowledge, he managed to pass the written exam, although just barely.

Most of the candidates were eliminated during the subsequent practical exam.

Around 10 percent of the exam-takers didn’t make it past the written part, while 70 percent were eliminated during the practical test.

Hajoon wasn’t worried about the practical exam at all.

’If I didn’t pass, that would be the real surprise.’

With ’Time Stop’ as his skill, what couldn’t he do?

Moreover, the final practical test was escaping an artificial dungeon.

From the outset, Hajoon being disqualified from this test was unthinkable.

"Candidate number 256, please begin when you’re ready."

Down the long hallway, there were ten neatly lined doors.

Each door led to an artificial dungeon.

Regardless of which door you chose, the difficulty remained the same.

"Hmm..."

The dungeon was eerily quiet.

Hajoon stood still at the starting point.

But time was ticking away.

As soon as he stepped through the door into the dungeon, his wristwatch’s stopwatch began ticking.

’I just need to make it through at my own pace.’

Hajoon’s only goal was to pass the test.

He had no intention of showing off to grab attention. After all, it was likely that the villain alliance was currently looking for the candidate who killed the Full-Power Man. What would happen if an unknown new student outperformed all other promising students and took the top spot?

Unless they were clueless, they would definitely suspect that I was the one who killed the Full-Power Man.

"Four minutes have passed. I wonder if that guy made it through yet?"

Han Siyoung, the Sword King’s disciple.

Among the characters, he was a main character, often seen as the protagonist.

He scored highest in this entrance exam.

Among all the talented students, he was the one with the most impressive skills.

"Well, then."

Just as he was warming up and about to start, the last voice he wanted to hear echoed in his ears.

Ding-

One of Hajoon’s eyebrows twitched at the sudden notification.

Feeling an unexplained worry, he checked the system window.

[The system highly commends Kim Hajoon for defeating the Full-Power Man.]

"Huh?"

[A penalty is applied because the future has been altered by the death of the A-rank villain, the Full-Power Man.]

"What?"

[The difficulty of the quest will increase.]

"Damn it!"

Ding-

[Main Quest]

Possible characters for the quest: Kim Hajoon (Liber Laphilton Phil Ehrman)

Description: Enroll in Rokia Academy as the highest scorer.

Reward: 150P

’You asked for it, damn you!’

Without hesitation, Hajoon activated Time Stop.

While time was stopped, Hajoon was trying to figure out how he could score the highest.

The biggest issue was his performance in the written test.

Well, he barely scraped by.

But to secure the top spot, shouldn’t you excel in both the written and practical parts?

’Well, I can’t do anything about the written test now...’

He immediately gave up on the written test.

There was no use thinking about it anymore, as there was no way to fix it.

He couldn’t even go back outside.

’So, my only chance is the practical test?’

He needed to stand out during the practical test.

Hajoon quickly made a decision and began looking around.

Merely passing the test wouldn’t suffice; he had to surpass Han Siyoung, the current top scorer, and do something even more spectacular.

Something that would leave even the instructors, who were evaluating the test in awe.

Something that could make up for his lackluster written test performance.

’I can’t find a solution...’

Soon, a troubled expression appeared on Hajoon’s face.

He had been looking for something suspended in the air, like the glass shards from before.

But the chance of finding something like that in this dungeon was pretty slim.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

As he made his way through the dungeon, he picked up a rock that some small goblins had been throwing around. Now, he had his hammer.

He just needed to find a nail now.

’I need a nail...’

As he continued on through the dungeon,

A sudden thought came to Hajoon.

’Do I really need a nail?’

Hajoon’s planned performance was simple.

Smash everything and get to the exit.

He wasn’t sure why he was searching for a nail in the first place.

’Damn, I’m overthinking...’

While a hammer is usually used to drive nails,

Sometimes, it’s most effective when used to shatter something.

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Raei Translations

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"Senior, what are you looking at so late?"

"Oh, nothing... Just watching the entrance exam videos of the prospective students."

Late in the evening, after the entrance exam, academy instructor Jang Hyunjun was scrolling through with his mouse, looking for someone.

Hyunjun vividly remembered the terror of that time. The sense of powerlessness against an overwhelming force. The realization that he had been saved by the child he was supposed to protect. A shadow passed over his eyes as he stared at the screen.

No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find the person he was searching for. The frustration of not being able to find him, even when he wanted to express his gratitude, was overwhelming.

"But this year was impressive. Did you watch the practice videos of numbers 74 and 125?"

"The Sword King and Sage candidates, right? What about the others?"

"Don’t even get me started. I only highlighted the well-known ones before they arrived, and they were exceptional."

"I bet..."

"Huh, senior, didn’t you watch their videos? Why such a lukewarm reaction?"

Jang Hyunjun responded nonchalantly to the words of his junior instructor, Han Eeseul. Hyunjun had also gone through videos of promising students one by one, so it’s not like he hadn’t watched them. Maybe... the old him would have been thrilled, but now, he didn’t feel much of anything.

"But, senior, have you heard the rumor?"

"What rumor?"

"The one about the Sword King candidate. The rumor that he’s not the valedictorian."

"What?"

Hyunjun’s eyes widened in surprise. He had seen that kid’s practical test video and had thought for sure he would be the valedictorian.

"Then is it the Sage guy?"

"No, not him either. Here, take a look at this."

What Han Eeseul pointed at was video number 256 from the practical test. But it was password protected. When she clicked on the video of number 256, a window popped up stating it was top-secret, and she was unable to watch the video.

"What’s this?"

"See? Among the instructors, they’re speculating that this one might be the valedictorian."

"Where’s his picture?"

"Here."

Upon seeing the photo, Hyunjun’s eyes began to tremble.

"They say he’s the valedictorian, but he looks rather average, doesn’t he? He came dressed casually for the exam. Usually, they wear uniforms even if it’s a free dress day."

"What was he wearing?"

"What was it? A white long-sleeved shirt and black shorts?"

That was enough information. Without a doubt, Hyunjun believed this guy was the valedictorian. Because his outfit was the same as the student who defeated the Full-Power Man.

"Ha ha, well, that’s a relief."

"But didn’t you know, Instructor Jang Hyunjun?"

"What?"

"That the principal already gathered the first-grade instructors and announced the valedictorian and showed the video?"

"What about me?"

"That’s what I wonder! Ah! Check the video. If you enter your instructor number, you might be able to see the video."

Upon hearing that, Hyunjun immediately tried.

As Han Eeseul suggested, once he entered his password, the lock released and the video began to play.

’It’s him.’

The same boy who defeated the Full-Power Man appeared in the video.

Jang Hyunjun was certain.

"Hmm… but what is he doing?"

Just as Han Eeseul said, four minutes into the start of the test, the boy hadn’t moved.

Jang Hyunjun was also puzzled.

The time frame to barely pass the academy exam was within 10 minutes.

Yet, even after four minutes, the boy hadn’t moved.

’Did I missee…?’

And at that moment.

"…!"

"Wha- What?!! He... he’s gone!"

The boy disappeared.

At the same time.

Crash――――!! Clang――――!! Boom――! Swoosh! Bang――――!!

The dungeon’s traps broke, collapsed, and the heads of the monsters inhabiting the dungeon began exploding one after the other.

Shortly after, the boy reappeared.

With a leisurely stride and his hands in his pockets, the boy was exiting through the door of the dungeon. The record was exactly 4 minutes and 21 seconds.

Ten seconds faster than the 74th Sword King candidate.

"Wha- Wow! No, what?! Huh?! Does that even make sense?"

After watching the video, Han Eeseul was breaking out in a cold sweat, looking at the screen with a shocked expression.

"Han Eeseul."

"Yes, yes?"

"Do not ever talk about this anywhere."

"Ah, ah, yes!"

And So, the two understood why this was classified.

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Raei Translations

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That night.

Hajoon, having returned to his dorm, was pondering the system and the skills.

’First off, if there are points, how do I use the store?’

Currently, Hajoon had 250P that he obtained by defeating the Full-Power Man.

Of course, there were settings related to points in the game, but he didn’t know how to use them.

More precisely, he was looking for a way to open the store, but what the method was... really...

"How do I open it? Ah, do I just shout ’store’?"

With those words,

Ding-

A window popped up.

A search window with ’store’ written on it, and a store window listing various items.

"Oh! It works."

Immediately, Hajoon checked what was in the store window.

The items listed in the store had different characteristics for each playable character.

For a swordsman character, it was about refining techniques and stats.

For a mage character, new magic and magic potions.

And in Hajoon’s case,

"Huh? Wow... What’s this?"

[Potion Items]

Lower Potion 10P 2. Intermediate Potion 150P 3. Upper Potion 250P

[Skills]

Unlock 500P (Available for purchase at Level 5.)

Locked (Unlocks at certain Level 10.)

Locked (Unlocks at certain Level 30.)

Locked (Unlocks at certain Level 50.)

Locked (Unlocks at certain Level 100.)

Locked (Unlocks at certain Level 120.)

Just as he had seen in the game, there were absurdly many locks.

Hajoon’s current level is 1.

Even after defeating the Full-Power Man, his level didn’t rise, which puzzled Hajoon.

"So how do I raise the level?"

As he said this, a new notification window popped up.

[Due to Player Kim Hajoon’s SSS-rank skill ’Time Stop’, balance will be patched.]

[Patch Note: Experience Points will not be given to Player Kim Hajoon.]

"Eh? What?"

[Experience Points will only be given through quests.]

[Kim Hajoon’s current earned experience points are 0.]

[Experience Points: 0/10]

"Damn it!"

This damn game!!

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