The Academy’s Time Stop Player - C.96Nov 09, 2023

When Elaine shouted and explained her reasons, Hajoon couldn't help but be taken aback.

"So... you're saying I did that?"

"Why are you acting clueless now?"

Hearing her explanation, Hajoon didn’t know how to respond.

Honestly, even to him, what he heard seemed utterly reprehensible.

To summarize, after Liber's parents passed away and his family fell into ruin, he abandoned his sister, Elaine, and ran away alone, taking all the family's money with him.

To make matters worse, he also stole the family's artifacts before leaving his sister behind.

Hajoon was momentarily at a loss for words, just staring at Elaine.

Hearing her reasons, he couldn’t think of any excuse to defend himself.

Anna, who was beside them, looked at Hajoon with an incredulous expression. After a moment of thought, she tugged at Hajoon's sleeve and beckoned him.

"Hajoon. Can we talk outside for a moment? Excuse us for a bit, Miss Elaine."

Before Hajoon could reply, Anna pulled him out, and as the door closed behind them, she demanded an explanation with a somewhat amused yet pressing smile.

"I may not be one to interfere in someone's family matters, but I need to know. What happened?"

"Uh..."

"Hajoon? Don't tell me..."

"I'm not entirely sure."

"What do you mean? Your answers have been so vague since the beginning."

That's because he truly didn’t know.

Hajoon couldn’t recall anything related to what was described. In fact, he felt somewhat wronged at the moment.

'I thought he was a playable character, expected to be somewhat decent... What kind of character is this?'

Liber Laphilton Phil Ehrman.

Being the only character Hajoon hadn’t played, it was natural he had no idea about this character's gameplay or story.

He believed playable characters generally had good personalities.

However, first and foremost, he had to explain himself.

And the only excuse he could think of was the truth.

Hajoon said, "The truth is, I can’t remember."

"What? Memory loss?!"

Hajoon chose not to answer.

After all, Anna's 'Eyes of the Sage' could potentially detect lies.

Well, he specifically chose not to answer that last part because being caught in a lie would be bad. And as expected, after using the 'Eyes of the Sage' to verify the truth, Anna hesitated before speaking.

"From what I heard from Miss Elaine, it seems she wasn’t lying."

"Ha... Figures."

Hajoon could sense the sincerity in Elaine’s anger. It was unlikely she made up the story.

"Well, earlier, you should have just taken a hit from her... It might have cooled her anger a bit."

Hajoon wanted to retort that if he'd taken that hit, he might have been seriously injured, but in his current position, he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

"What will you do now?"

"I should apologize."

Of course, it wasn't entirely my fault... but seeing the situation, it felt right to apologize.

There's also something I need to discuss with her.

Hajoon reopened the door and entered the accommodation with Anna.

And there stood Elaine, arms crossed, still wearing a disgruntled expression, glaring at Hajoon.

Elaine spoke up.

"If there's nothing else, can I leave?"

Hajoon paused, taking a moment to observe Elaine, who was looking at him with contempt.

He wasn't accustomed to apologizing, so he hesitated, pondering the best way to go about it.

After all, shouldn't an apology feel sincere only when one truly feels remorse?

Perhaps that's why Hajoon couldn't muster a genuine apology at this moment.

Thus, the words that came out of his mouth were remarkably curt and terse.

"I'm sorry."

"Seriously?!"

Elaine, unable to hold back any longer, finally exploded.

With a low hum, Hajoon remained at the residence. It was when Anna sent Elaine home in the limousine.

Anna thought there would be no benefit to Hajoon accompanying them.

Anna discreetly turned her head to glance at Elaine.

Lost in deep thought, Elaine was gazing out of the car window.

"Um..." Anna cautiously called out to Elaine.

With a gentle smile, she asked, "You're Hajoon's younger sister, right?"

"You mean Hajoon? Are you referring to my brother?"

"Huh? He doesn't have another name?"

Elaine sighed, "Where on earth did he get that name from? That's not his real name."

"Then, what's his real name?"

Elaine stared wide-eyed at Anna for a moment before letting out a sigh, "His real name is Liber. He used to have a longer name, but I can't recall it right now."

"Oh, so that was his original name."

"Yes, but what's your relationship with my brother?"

Anna responded with a warm smile, "We're friends. School friends."

"He goes to school?"

"Yes. He attends Rokia Academy."

"Ro, Rokia Academy!? The one with the Sage of Korea?"

At that, Elaine's eyes began to sparkle.

She started asking Anna, now with an evident excitement, "Wow! So you've met Anna, the princess, and senior Han Siyoung?"

For context, Anna had not yet removed her sunglasses and mask, so Elaine couldn't recognize her.

Anna answered awkwardly, "Um, yes... I'm quite close to Siyoung."

"Wow, I've always dreamt of joining Rokia Academy."

Anna chuckled softly, "Is that so?"

Elaine continued, "Have you met senior Liam Martel and senior Haruna Ruel?"

"Yes, I'm close with them too. Though Liam tends to talk a lot."

"Wow, I'm actually preparing for the entrance exam of Rokia Academy. I really want to pass and join."

Anna, smiling kindly, replied, "If it's you, Elaine, I believe it's possible. After all, you're Hajoon's sister."

"Me? Oh... wait..."

It dawned on Elaine, "By any chance, the alias my brother was using..."

"It's Hajoon."

"Hajoon..."

Elaine's face turned to shock.

Staring at Anna with a slightly flustered look, all she did was shake her head in disbelief.

“No, that can't be. Could it really...?”

Elaine's unpredictable thoughts only added to her charm.

Anna looked at Elaine with a gentle smile and slowly posed a question.

“May I ask you something, Elaine?”

“A question?”

“Yes. What was Ha- I mean, your older brother like in the past?”

Elaine pursed her lips in thought for a moment.

She tried to recall her brother from the past.

“I don't remember clearly, but he was a rather stern person.”

Her brother from back then had been cold.

His expression was so impassive that it was hard to guess what he might be thinking.

Thinking about it now, he had an unexpectedly mature demeanor for his age.

“He used to always have that stoic face and bury himself in books in his study. But seeing him now, he feels like a completely different person, though his face is the same.”

And the brother Elaine remembered was brilliant.

Being able to perform magic at just 10 years of age, he was truly intelligent.

“He was really smart. I secretly watched him practice magic in his study. Even the teacher who taught him back then, Master Darham, called him a genius.”

As she recalled those memories, another naturally came to her.

It was a memory of sneaking into the study and pestering her brother to play with her.

He would sometimes indulge her, but there came a point where he began to ignore her, seemingly annoyed. Of course, his expression always remained the same, making it hard to decipher his feelings, but she was sure he found her bothersome and disliked her.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have left her behind like that.

“Regardless, he was quite different from now. And he wasn't the type to easily bow his head either.”

“I see.”

Having heard all this, Anna nodded calmly in response.

However, it was clear that the Hajoon from Elaine’s stories was very different from the one she knew now.

Meanwhile, Hajoon was lying in his accommodations.

Going with her would only inconvenience her.

“Hmm, how should I approach this?”

The reason he came to meet her was, of course, to inquire about Liber.

Being a playable character, Liber should have a main episode.

However, judging by the current situation, it wasn’t the right moment to casually ask.

What on earth had she done in her past?

“Tsk.”

Still, he couldn’t just leave like this.

Ding-a-ling-

“Huh?”

At that moment, Hajoon's phone rang.

Picking up his smartphone, he answered the call.

The caller was Lorelei Hills from the Hermes guild.

-Hello~ Did you arrive safely in the UK?

“Yes, what can I help you with?”

-You know, I’ve deciphered a part of that letter you gave me last time. Want me to share what I’ve found?

“The letter?”

Was she talking about that letter encrypted in a code?

He remembered it wasn't in English when he first saw it, so he had asked the Hermes guild to decode it. They seemed to have made some progress.

“So, what did you find?”

-Of course, I haven't deciphered everything yet, and it's not that crucial. In short, I translated it as 'Take care of Elaine.'

“Elaine?”

Elaine.

Or, in other words, 'take care of my younger sister.'

'I can guess who wrote the letter now...'

Knowing the content of the letter made Hajoon even more baffled.

It must have been Liber’s parents who wrote this letter.

Did she know about the letter and still abandoned her sister?

It was a fact beyond Hajoon's comprehension.

-Oh! There’s also another piece of information I found out.

“What information?”

-Liber Laphilton Phil Ehrman. I found the address of the old mansion of the Ehrman family.

“The mansion’s address?”

Hajoon's interest was piqued at her words.

Given the current situation, it was the most helpful piece of information.

“Where is it?”

-Right, I’ll tell you now. You can check it out later.

Meanwhile, at that very moment.

Inside a guild master's office in England.

"I've, I've found him!"

A lean middle-aged man with sharp features and silvery-white hair stood there.

He watched the video on the monitor with disbelief, his hand shaking uncontrollably.

And his eyes fixated on the black-haired boy in the video.

Though the boy's hair had significantly changed, that face was unmistakably the same young boy who disappeared 7 years ago.

"It's been 7, 7 years, Liber."

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist so tightly, blood began to seep out.

He glared at the boy in the video with a demonic expression.

His eyes radiated a madness enveloped in rage.

"So, you've returned after 7 years."