The Academy’s Time Stop Player

The following day, Sunday afternoon, Jin Ahhan held a news conference to clarify the details of the recent event.

Amidst the persistent clicking of cameras, she declared she wouldn't entertain any questions before releasing her statement concerning the incident.

"You might have heard of an Irregular during this series of events. That news is indeed accurate."

Immediately, whispers among the journalists started growing louder.

Despite her clear statement of not taking any questions, the reporters didn't hold back. Right after she finished her talk, they began to pepper her with questions, causing quite a commotion.

"Is this situation linked with the much-discussed student, Kim Hajoon?"

"People are suspecting Kim Hajoon to be the Irregular! Is that the case?"

But Jin Ahhan chose not to respond, she stuck to the prepared statement explaining the circumstances. Her rundown of the situation was succinct.

First, she confirmed an Irregular was present during the incident.

She then declared that Kim Hajoon, who happened to be at the scene, joined forces with her and the Irregular to catch the villain behind the incident. She added that catching the villain would have been much harder without his help.

Following her statement, a flood of questions concerning the Irregular came pouring in. However, attention also started shifting towards Kim Hajoon. The journalists kept pushing Jin Ahhan for details about Hajoon, but she shut them down with a brief statement.

"Please ask him directly."

Once the press conference concluded, the journalists reflected on her words.

In a way, her statements firmly denied the suspicion of Kim Hajoon being the Irregular.

She had essentially announced that Hajoon and the Irregular were together during the incident.

Of course, if someone were to dig deeper, the truth could be found, but the media seemed more interested in student Kim Hajoon, who had helped top heroes apprehend a villain.

'Is... this really the best way to handle it?'

Kim Hajoon, watching the press conference video on his phone, felt more reassured than he had expected.

Yes, his name became well-known due to this press conference, but he considered that better than being suspected as an 'Irregular.'

'I've anticipated this scenario since I got acknowledged as the top scorer...'

He felt it was preferable to be recognized as a promising talent who assisted a top-tier hero in catching villains, rather than an unheard-of boy who defeated an A-rank Full-Power Man, thwarted the Nephertem Hotel terrorist incident, and blocked the Dimensional Dungeon.

'Is there no other way?'

Hajoon decided to settle.

Of course, as a result, he became as renowned as the other four, but he decided to endure it for now.

What Hajoon feared most wasn't a certain degree of fame, but becoming so renowned that it made managing everyday life impossible.

And right now, the existence of an 'Irregular' was such a figure in the world.

The reason why associated hero organizations and guilds in different countries suspected Hajoon as an Irregular and attempted to recruit him was exactly that.

"Phew! Anyway..."

Stretching, Hajoon opened his status window for the first time in a while.

Name: Kim Hajoon Level: 5 Job: Student Title: None Fame: 1000 (+700) HP: 17 MP: 0 Strength: 30 (+16) Agility: 12 (+3) Stamina: 35 (+14) Defense: 0 Magic Resistance: 999 (Max) Mental Power: 999 (Max) Skills: [Time Stop] (SSS) [Indomitable Will] (SS) {Always active}

"Oh! It's grown quite a bit?"

He noticed a respectable growth when he checked the status window for the first time in a while.

It was impressive to have grown this much at this stage, about three months after Hajoon joined the academy.

Or perhaps it's not that quick?

He had spent more than three months in the stopped space.

Well, at this rate, he might reach the level of an average student within a few years, he thought optimistically.

Hajoon envisioned in his head.

He envisioned himself running as fast as a car like other kids and showing off a strength like Superman.

'It would feel great...'

Of course, he knew it would take at least a few years to develop to that extent.

The main reason Hajoon wanted to boost his stats wasn't to become stronger, but to swing his hammer more comfortably. As his strength and stamina stats grew, his body would feel lighter, and he could complete tasks more quickly.

"Now, then..."

Hajoon relaxedly lay down on his bed to rest.

Because he had spent a lot of time in time stop, this short weekend was more precious to Hajoon than anything else.

The next morning.

As always, Hajoon changed into his uniform and went to school at the usual time.

But as soon as he walked into his class, he couldn't help but notice something was off.

Because the class was unusually quiet.

Normally, at this time, it would be standard for energetic children to be chatting away, but he began to feel uncomfortable in the unusually quiet class atmosphere.

'What's going on? Did someone pass away?'

Before sitting down, Hajoon scanned the whole class.

However, no matter how much he searched, the only empty seat was his.

Soon after, Hajoon understood why the class was so silent.

'Ah... now that I think about it, aren't midterms next week?'

The midterm exam at Rokia Academy.

After joining Rokia Academy, the first midterm exam is a crucial test that even the kids who don't usually study and spend their time messing around tend to take seriously.

There were many reasons, including the risk of being downgraded, but one of the main reasons was the 'student request' system.

The student request was a unique system of the academy that allowed kids without a hero's license to participate in hero-like activities legally.

And with this first midterm exam, the first-year students would be graded, and the difficulty and number of requests they could accept would increase based on their grades.

Of course, there were those who wanted to make themselves known to the world through this student request system, but the biggest benefit was likely the request fee.

How much could they offer for just a student request? However, the higher the difficulty of the request, the more the reward exceeded expectations.

At the very least, even a high-grade request could easily exceed 5,000, which was quite normal.

For the first-year students who wanted either money or fame, this first midterm exam was considered one of the most significant tests.

'Ah... boring.'

Of course, there are always students who stand out in such an atmosphere.

Liam Martel was looking around the entire class with a bored expression.

He began to shake his head as if he couldn't understand the sight of everyone holding pencils and whispering to themselves.

'Why the hell are they revising? Didn't they pay attention during class time?'

If anyone heard him, they would want to slap him for such an irritating remark, but Liam was sincere. In fact, despite his outward appearance, he had a mind that would classify him as a top student.

If we were to rank them, Liam would likely be the third best student after Yoo Seolah and Anna.

"Ah... I'm bored."

"Shush! Be quiet. Can't you see everyone's studying?"

"But I'm still bored, you know?"

Anna warned Liam with a stern look.

Nevertheless, Liam's boredom did not go away.

Then, Liam's gaze began to shift towards Hajoon.

'Oh! It's the talk of the town!'

The student who had performed yet another remarkable feat in the XX department store this time.

'My friend, I'm so proud of you!'

The corners of Liam's mouth rose slightly.

Even if he chatted with him, wouldn't there be some interesting story?

Liam immediately rose from his seat and started heading towards Hajoon.

And then, Liam's expression began to freeze as the situation unfolded.

"What...?"

Liam could only be shocked by what was happening now.

And it wasn't just Liam.

Anna, Yoo Seolah, Haruna, and Lee Jooah, including half of the class, all started to turn their eyes towards Hajoon.

They all began to gaze at Hajoon in astonishment.

"Uh, what?"

"Wow, what? Did I see that wrong?"

"Unbelievable."

Unexpectedly, the last remark was made by Anna.

Even Han Siyoung, who was sitting right next to him, couldn't take his eyes off Hajoon with a slightly surprised look.

The reason they were all so shocked was simply because Kim Hajoon was reading a textbook.

"Kim Hajoon? Studying?"

Kim Hajoon.

While known to the world as a boy thought to be an 'Irregular', he was known in the class as a lazy boy with extraordinary power.

This boy was earnestly studying.

The children could only gaze at Hajoon in disbelief.

"Wow, what?"

"Really?"

Liam approached Hajoon with widened eyes.

Soon after, Hajoon, who noticed the pencil writing sound in the class had stopped, looked up at the children.

'Why?'

What? Why are they suddenly looking at me?

Not understanding the situation, Hajoon tilted his head in confusion.

Then Liam approached and opened his trembling eyes to Hajoon.

"You, who are you?"

"··········What are you talking about?"

"You are Kim Hajoon, right?"

At that, Hajoon stared at Liam as if looking at a madman.

Immediately after, Anna, Lee Jooah, and Yoo Seolah each spoke to Hajoon with worried expressions.

"Mr. Hajoon. You're not sick, are you?"

"Hajoon, are you okay?"

"May I use my Ability if it's not too rude?"

At this point, Hajoon wondered, 'What? Is it really weird for me?'

He didn't understand why the children were looking at him as if they had seen something strange.

Soon after, Hajoon's gaze turned to the textbook spread out on his desk.

In that moment, an 'Aha!' of understanding filled Hajoon's mind, along with an incredulous feeling.

'Was my image that bad?'

Of course, I had a rough idea of the image the children had of me.

Considering my behavior so far, it's fair to say I've been distant from being diligent.

But I didn't expect it to be this bad.

'I was a top 10 student during my school days··········.'

Back in my school days, I had a mindset that I needed to work hard enough to survive. So, even if I didn't want to, I often made the effort if I thought it was necessary.

One of those efforts was studying.

Well, when I was a student, the main duty of Korean students was studying. So, Hajoon did his best to fulfill that duty.

The result of that effort was being in the top 10 in the entire school.

'Oh boy··········.'

It was so unbelievable··········, this was the first time I got attention like this.

I was trying to study for a change because it felt too cheap to cheat with Time Stop (SSS).

There is a separate reason related to the episode for studying in the first place, but this reaction gave me a push.

I guess I can't just casually study anymore.

Just when I was thinking that studying half-heartedly wouldn't work.

The classroom door opened, and teacher Han walked in.

"Liam, sit down. I'm going to start the morning roll call."

With that, teacher Han began to check the children's presence.

The morning roll call ended quicker than expected.

After all, it was an exam period, so there probably weren't any special plans for the week.

After the morning roll call was briefly wrapped up, Teacher Han called out Han Siyoung and Hajoon before leaving the classroom.

"Kim Hajoon, Han Siyoung."

"Yes."

"Huh?"

"Go to the principal's office. The principal has something to tell you."

At that, Hajoon stood up from his seat, wearing a puzzled expression.