[User Has Earned The Talent: Fifth-Time]
"Yes," I whispered, as my paper floated into the hand of the new examiner.
Fifth-Time was Zack's talent—one that, despite his insufferable personality, brought him near the top of the academy as a B-rank.
The talent allowed him to halt time for five seconds, increasing by an additional five with every rank.
That meant when he was at D-rank—the rank at which his talent awakened—he could stop time for five seconds, and now, as a B-rank, his limit was fifteen seconds.
'Good thing I made him a pervert who preferred spying on female students with his ability rather than using it for actual training.'
I couldn't help but feel idiotic for granting such an overpowered talent to a lunatic, but it had served its purpose.
Looking at the jubilant Shadow Saint—I smiled.
'Maybe not immediately, but we're gradually becoming overpowered... Now onto my next problem.' Ithought, turning my gaze to the sky-blue-haired girl at the very back, her eyelashes matching her hair color.
She was undeniably stunning, but none of the students could compare to Neko-sensei, who smiled at me through her glasses.
With every motion she made, the boys would follow as if entranced by an invisible spell.
"The Noctis System has compiled your results. Without further ado," she snapped her fingers, and a radiant light consumed the room.
"Wait! No!!! I don't want to go!" screamed a student seated two places behind me—who was in the front row.
Soon he and some other students vanished in the golden light.
Light of Purgatory—one of the many things Noctis was infamous for, aside from its low acceptance rate and high expulsion rate. Each year, one student per class would vanish—unless specific conditions were met.
The Light of Purgatory was the ability of the first mage and founder of Noctis. After his death, fragments of his talent were preserved there—since talents couldn't be destroyed.
More screams echoed through the room, but I knew I wouldn't be among those that failed.
Why? Because the media was still watching, and even if I received the lowest score, they'd be forced to wait until my first semester to expel me—unless they wanted public outrage. Still, I was confident in my written score. Though 45 out of 50 in combat wasn't ideal.
"The 21 students remaining here, as well as those from other examination zones," Neko-sensei stepped forward, standing just in front of me.
She pulled a strand of her hair back into her ponytail and continued, "Welcome to Noctis Academy."
The crowd erupted into cheers, but the professors didn't bother to suppress them—these students deserved it. At least now they were part of the top ten percent of society.
"All students must return to their lodges, say goodbye to your guardians, wear the uniform left in your lodges, and report back in two hours... The gate of the school will open."
The students leapt from their seats at her command, some sprinting, others moving with grace—but all with a shared destination: their final descent into hell.
"Now where is she..." Scanning the hall, I caught a glimpse of the girl already at the door. "Shit."
"Kai, where are you—" Amy tried to ask, but I was too preoccupied to respond. 'Where's he going at that speed?' she wondered.
"Where did she go?" I looked left, then right—nothing. Only the twenty students bottlenecked at the hall's exit.
[YOU HAVE ACTIVATED THE TALENT: CLAIRVOYANCE.]
I quickly rescanned the area—caught a glimpse of the beautiful girl and dashed forward.
'Is it just me, or did she pick up the pace?' I thought.
But in truth, even though she was moving fast, she wasn't exerting much effort. I was simply too damn slow.
"Move it, legs!" I yelled, trying to push harder, but the more I strained, the more my lungs burned, my chest gasping for the barest thread of air. 'Damn this pathetic stamina.'
[User's stamina is depleting at an impressive rate—I am genuinely astonished by how exceptional you are. You might even reach Elysium sooner than expected.]
'Stupid system. Useless system.'
Slipping Gobo from my shadows, I sent him gliding through the dark walls of a nearby alley. He moved effortlessly, tracking the sky-blue-haired girl.
My bond with my saints wasn't yet strong enough to see through their eyes, but I could at least sense their surroundings.
'Let's see... I can't use Fifth-Time now. It'd be a waste of an entire day's worth of time-stop... So—'
I let Gumiho emerge as well. She was a fox of standard size, though I suspected she could shift her scale.
Like my other Saints, she was composed of black and blue energy in place of fur. However, she bore nine white dots on her forehead and two tails—signifying that she had reached the second stage of Fifth-Time, allowing both her and me to stop time for ten seconds per day.
I mounted her as she adjusted her form to my size, then dashed through the alley.
From my understanding of talents and since I had designed the system myself—I knew one thing: if Gumiho activated time-stop, I'd be frozen as well. But if I did it, she wouldn't be affected—at least not yet.
With calculated steps, Gumiho activated her ability. In that split moment before the world froze, I saw a blue light envelop everything as though the sun, the stars, and all illumination turned blue.
In the next moment, I stood on the staircase of the lodge adjacent to mine. "Wow."
Gumiho braked sharply, halting just before a closing door. Seeing no chance of making it through in time, I dispatched my largest Saint—Shiki, to hold the door.
As expected, he succeeded, but all the exertion—despite time being frozen, took a toll on my stamina and mana reserves.
"Wait!" I called, pushing the door open. "We... ne... ed... to talk." My cracked voice reached the ears of Cordelia Blackwood—the main female lead of TBH.
"What do you want?" she asked, her tone cold.
Raising a hand from my hunched stance, I whispered, "A moment... Let me catch my breath."
'Damn stamina. I'll need to upgrade it as soon as I'm back.'
After a minute or so, I raised my head, eyes locking onto the breathtaking girl behind the door. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong—something incredibly inappropriate.
"How? How do you know that name?" I asked, my tone steady.
"What name? I don't know what you're talking about." she replied, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
The fact that she waited, or even responded to someone as weak as me told me one thing: this wasn't a character I created.
Cordelia was supposed to be a princess from a fallen clan—emotionless. From a young age, she hid behind a mask that eventually became her identity.
The only thing that could crack that mask was overwhelming strength, which the protagonist had.
Slowly, she would fall for him, and eventually they would start dating—but until then, she never acknowledged any man who wasn't at least close to her strength level.
"Who are you?" My tone sharpened like a blade.
"I could ask you the same. Each sector of Noctis was meant to have exactly 20 students. Now there are 21."
My eyes darkened. She knew everything I did. And based on her tone and precision, she wasn't a regressor. The original Cordelia wouldn't have cared for such details.
"Are you some sort of anomaly or a butterfly effect?" Her voice was unflinching.
"Answer the damn question. I asked first, didn't I?" I quickly tried to regain control of the conversation.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
'At this point, nothing would surprise me.' I mused inwardly.
"My cousin is your father and your god. The creator of this universe. You could say I'm an assistant deity... sounds insane, right? So—"
Cordelia froze, her eyes locking onto mine, now slightly trembling. "Hari?"
Recognition surged between us. "Wait... No way... Oppa!!!!" her expression softening as she collapsed into me like a lifeless doll
Her voice was raw with relief and genuine joy. "I thought you were dead. Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunt—we all searched for you... But... But..."
I raised a hand, gently patting her back. "As you can see, I'm alive."
She nodded but refused to let go. I could tell, being separated from her family had taken its toll. Not everyone was cut out for transmigration.
Kim Hari—my cousin, someone I considered a sister, since we grew up together while my uncle was job-hunting.
We were only two months apart, often inseparable. And just like she said, she co-produced TBH, even quitting high school to help me.
A complete crybaby who clung to me like a leech—but also one of the most terrifying people I knew.
'Why did she get Cordelia,' I thought.
Generally, I considered myself intelligent. My mom's family—The Kim family—specialized in chess. By the age of five, I could defeat most professionals, and only Hari or individuals of my mother's caliber could offer me a true challenge.
And now, the very same person once nicknamed "psycho" in high school possessed the magic of one of the most powerful characters.
"Just to ask—you didn't do anything reckless since you arrived, right?" I asked Hari, who was still clinging to my tracksuit top.
She shook her head and replied, "No, I was transmigrated the moment Neko-sensei entered the room."
'That wasn't even twenty minutes ago…'
"Wait... wait... that doesn't add up. How are you able to use mana more proficiently than I can, when I've been here for an entire day?"
Hari looked up at me with teary eyes. "Just a day? But you've been dead for a year now."
'Huh?' My head reeled. 'A year…? That can't be right. I received the message from TTT less than two days ago.'
"Hari." She responded to her name with a glance. "Can you explain what happened?"
She nodded. "But first, Jin-sung oppa, I want to tell you—gates appeared in our world too."