The Academy’s Time Stop Player

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun

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After the top-ranked heroes’ strategy team failed before even starting, the association immediately began tests to understand the dungeon’s conditions.

The dungeon’s conditions had various factors like age, gender, and race. But with time against them, they first verified the key conditions of age and gender. Soon, they understood the dungeon’s requirements.

Despite this, they found themselves in a situation where they couldn’t advance or retreat once they knew the entrance requirements for the dungeon.

The dungeon had the notoriously challenging ’age restriction’ condition. Furthermore, only boys and girls under the age of 19 could enter.

Once they understood these conditions, the Hero Association called an emergency meeting.

"Because of these conditions, we can’t send in an exploration team. To ensure safety, we need at least three superhumans with high-ranking hero abilities."

"There may be such superhumans among the 19-year-old heroes..."

"We must prevent the three major disasters of the dimensional dungeon at all costs. Given the gate’s confirmed magical power, there’s a high chance of a dungeon break happening within 12 hours.

If our strategy fails, we will have to seal the dungeon."

The three major disasters of the dungeon referred to the three calamities that happen during a dimensional dungeon break.

Dungeon Phenomenon, Monster Wave, and Boss Monster.

In order, when the gate collapses, the dungeon’s inner space will move to the present world, causing a large-scale terrain change similar to an earthquake.

Simultaneously, the area turned into a dungeon will initiate a Monster Wave, and the Boss Monster, the dungeon’s owner, will be set loose in the present world. The boss monster, regardless of the dungeon’s rank, is designated the highest danger rank as the dungeon’s owner.

There was an infamous incident where a village was wiped out due to a lower-rank dungeon’s boss monster’s special ability.

"So, what should we do..."

"We should not just look at the ranks, but also consider the children’s abilities."

"Don’t take this lightly! They are only 19 years old, just 19! Is it reasonable to throw these children, who aren’t even 20 yet, into a dimensional dungeon?"

This dungeon was a place where safety wasn’t guaranteed.

It was absurd to send these young people into such a dangerous place.

So, intense debates were unavoidable.

The two primary opinions were to abandon the citizens of the dimension dungeon and seal the dungeon, or to trust in the children’s potential, despite the difficulties, and assign them to at least rescue the citizens.

In the clash of these two views, they eventually decided to settle the matter by majority vote.

With the votes split evenly, 4 for and 4 against.

The chairman simply closed his eyes, lost in deep thought.

"Chairman, please make your decision soon."

"We are pressed for time."

Under the watchful gaze of the association’s executives, Chairman Kim Jeongyong slowly opened his eyes and spoke.

"My son and granddaughter are trapped in the dungeon."

"What?!"

"Oh, no... this can’t be..."

Kim Jeongyong clenched his fists.

Soon after, his body started to tremble, and blood began to drip from his clenched fists.

"Since my son and granddaughter are trapped, I don’t think I can make a rational decision as the Chairman... so..."

"..."

"..."

In the silence from all the association executives gathered in the conference room, in response to Kim Jeongyong’s words.

Chairman Kim Jeongyong gritted his teeth and spoke.

"I am in favor. If this rescue mission fails, I will resign as chairman. Because this is a decision made not for the chairman but for my family."

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Raei Translations

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It was 7 PM.

Hajoon was called to the principal’s office.

He had a pretty good idea why, so Hajoon calmly waited for Choi Jungwon’s words with a composed expression.

Soon, Choi Jungwon, sitting across the sofa, began to speak while looking at Hajoon.

"The Heroes Association contacted us. They said that the dimension dungeon is a special conditional dungeon."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, so they must have asked for the students’ help."

Hajoon already knew these facts.

Fortunately, he had been worried that the future might have changed because it had been brought forward, but everything seemed to have proceeded as expected.

"Did you give them permission?"

"No one understands the horror of a dimensional dungeon better than me. I naturally opposed it... but they said they were going regardless."

By ’they’, Choi Jungwon probably meant student council president Lee Joohee and Han Siyoung.

They likely contacted the top students from grades 1, 2, and 3 immediately.

"They also contacted you. The top student of the 1st grade was not reachable, so they asked me."

Choi Jungwon looked uncomfortable and full of regret.

He seemed to feel guilty that the children have to make sacrifices because the adults couldn’t handle it.

That’s why Hajoon decided to try and ease Choi Jungwon’s worries a bit.

"I won’t go."

"..."

Choi Jungwon’s eyes widened in surprise at Hajoon’s words.

Soon after, a small chuckle escaped from his mouth, and a smile spread across his face.

"That’s right... I can’t force you..."

Choi Jungwon nodded as though he understood Hajoon’s feelings.

Hajoon, who had been staring blankly at Choi Jungwon, got up from his seat.

"Then I’ll take my leave now."

"Yes, you can go."

With that, he opened the door and headed back to his dormitory.

Upon arriving at the dormitory, Hajoon checked the news on his smartphone with a blank expression.

The article was all over the news and the comments were flooding in.

Naturally, because it was a decision that deviated significantly from the ideology of the Hero Association, ’Protection of Superhumans.’

"Everything is going according to plan."

While looking at the article, Hajoon turned off his phone without much thought and lay down on his bed, preparing to sleep.

He was simply tired and wanted to go to bed early.

Then there was a knock at his door, and Hajoon’s brows furrowed.

"Who’s there at this hour?"

Hajoon got out of bed and approached the door.

He wanted to see who had come to see him without considering the late hour.

With a pull, he opened the door and saw an unexpected figure standing there.

"What are you doing here?"

It was Han Siyoung.

He was looking at Hajoon with his uniquely indifferent expression.

"I have something to say."

"I don’t."

Hajoon tried to close the door immediately.

At that moment, Han Siyoung resisted, holding the door.

Hajoon’s brows narrowed in displeasure.

Despite his attempts to close the door, it didn’t budge as if time had stopped.

What a stubborn and strong person.

"Ah! I said I have nothing to say!"

"It would be nice if you could just listen to what I have to say."

"Ha... No, I don’t want to. It’s about the Dimensional Dungeon, isn’t it?"

There could be no other reason for him to come looking for me.

Naturally, I was filled with the intent to refuse.

"You can do it on your own without me, can’t you?"

"Why won’t you go even though you have that much power?"

"Do I need a reason not to go when I’ve said I won’t?"

"..."

At my words, Han Siyoung looked like he had a lot he wanted to say, but in the end, he remained silent.

He just looked at me with a disappointed expression.

"I understand..."

With only those words, Han Siyoung left.

To Hajoon’s surprise, he began to feel an inexplicable irritation.

"This is ridiculous..."

Honestly, there was a lot he wanted to say.

The request was to accompany him to the four continents. Who would agree to such a thing so readily?

"Tsk-"

For some inexplicable reason, Hajoon felt uneasy. He flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes.

He planned to sleep on it, forget about the feeling.

And after several hours had passed?

Knock- Knock-

The timing was impeccable.

Just when he was about to fall asleep.

Hajoon got up, opened the door with a grimace.

"Ha..., who is it?"

With half-open eyes, he yawned and opened the door.

What appeared before him was the familiar face of a girl.

The student council president, Lee Joohee.

She looked at Hajoon, gave a cynical smile, then spoke.

"If it isn’t too much of an imposition, I have something to discuss."

"Um..., yes. Please, come in."

To be honest, as soon as he saw her, Hajoon felt a bit conflicted.

Because he could guess why she had come.

Still, it didn’t feel right to turn away the student council president at the door, so he invited her in.

"So, what do you wish to discuss?"

He wasn’t a fan of drawn-out conversations, so he decided to get straight to the point.

In response to Hajoon’s question, Lee Joohee started looking at him with a bitter smile and downcast eyes.

"I came to ask you for a favor."

"What favor?"

"You must be aware of the new dimensional dungeon."

Every Korean would probably know about it, right?

Considering the amount of noise the media was making about it.

"Yes. I am aware."

Hajoon nodded his head.

Immediately afterwards, Lee Joohee started to look at Hajoon with serious eyes.

Hajoon was prepared to reject whatever she was going to say.

And the moment she opened her mouth.

She said something unexpected.

"The Association has contacted me about the dimensional dungeon incident. Of course, I am planning to go."

"I see."

"Therefore, in case anything unexpected happens... I want you to take care of Jooah."

"Pardon?"

To be honest, he was about to reflexively reject the request.

Hajoon looked at Lee Joohee with slightly surprised eyes.

Soon after, Lee Joohee showed a bitter smile and spoke to Hajoon.

"You saved my younger sister twice. Not only her, but you saved many people. I couldn’t ask you to come with me to the Dimension Dungeon due to shame."

"Ah, yes, that is..."

"You have already put in a lot of effort."

He saved the students from the Full-Power Man and protected many people from Karthon.

He saved people from two calamities that killed countless people.

She couldn’t easily ask the boy to go with her to the Dimensional Dungeon.

The boy had already put in a lot of effort and suffered.

"That’s all I have to say. I’ll go now."

With those final words, she stood up from her seat.

Hajoon was still staring at Lee Joohee with a stunned expression.

Honestly, he thought she would ask for his help with the strategy for the Dimension Dungeon.

However, his mind went blank due to an unexpected request.

"Oh, that’s... Yes. Take care."

A clumsy response came from Hajoon’s mouth.

At his response, a smiling Lee Joohee looked at Hajoon and delivered her final words.

"Please take care of Jooah."

Clang-

With that, the front door closed and Hajoon sat on his bed with a blank expression.

Honestly... his feelings were odd.

What should he say...

He felt a warm feeling.

Surprisingly, he was moved by her gratitude.

However... why...

She couldn’t possibly know... no, she definitely wouldn’t know about his abilities.

-You’ve already put in a lot of effort.

Her words felt like they understood his efforts up until now.

"Ha..."

It was a strange feeling.

Of course, it wasn’t the first time he’d been worried about, but this was an exception... and it had been a long time.

You’ve done enough, so it’s okay if you don’t go...

’It reminds me of the old times...’

He had an older brother who had been with him since his days in the orphanage.

He was a grateful brother who was always by my side despite my dog-like personality.

Somehow, her words reminded him of his brother.

"Ha... I should sleep."

Hajoon flopped down on the bed.

He tried to trust her and sleep, but...

"Tsk- I’m fully awake now."

Hajoon quickly got up again.

Was it because he tried to sleep but got up in the middle of it?

He couldn’t sleep.

"There’s plenty of time anyway..."

Hajoon got up from the bed and changed his clothes.

The current time was 11 PM.

Now planning to go to the site of the Dimensional Dungeon, he left the lodging.

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