The Academy's Time Looper

Not even bothering to cover his ears, Athen simply zoned out, only focusing on the sound of a heartbeat and nothing else.

However...his heartbeat sounded like the exhaust of a fully modified and modded Lamborghini SVJ.

*BRRRRR*

*BRRRRR*

There were no rhythmic beats... his heart was just non-stop pumping blood in and out without any pauses.

Putting that aside, Athen concentrated on his stomach with his eyes closed, hoping that his ability would somehow activate again before the attendants reached him.

But...there was nothing.

There was no cold breeze to wake Athen up from his slumber.

And, after a moment, the loud sounds of talking and footsteps reentered Athen's ears.

It was over...he had been caught.

The fact that he had been able to activate his time-stop ability three times in this short period was already a miracle, so it seemed four times was just asking too much.

Accepting defeat, Athen simply put his head down, awaiting his arrest by the attendants.

He had failed to consider that there would never be any investigation in the first place.

If it were him, a random nobody, versus the obviously wealthy black-haired figure, the attendants would believe her no matter what.

There was also the fact that Alice seemed to know who "Kai," the person whose clothes were stolen, was, as she had been able to identify Athen as not Kai.

After a few seconds of simply waiting with his head held low and eyes closed, Athen was surprised he hadn't felt anything.

Wasn't he supposed to be in handcuffs?

Regaining a sliver of hope, Athen slowly opened his eyes, tensing his legs as he prepared to make an escape if possible.

Although Athen had considered throwing himself off the railing to avoid being arrested...he valued his life far too much to do that, as shown by his constant precautions.

Living, no matter the circumstances, was better than the death.

If Athen had ended himself back in his hometown because of his terrible life, then he would never been able to gain the ability to stop time...and experience this ride on the flying ship.

He kept living and would continue living because there was always that 0.001% chance that things would get better.

And if he didn't live long enough to experience that, he would never forgive himself.

What were all those years of pain spent in his hometown for if he never went to truly enjoy life?

Why had he even lived in the first place if things were always going to stay the same and never get better?

Even if he was put in jail, he would live...just because he knew there was that slight possibility that things would get better.

"...?"

Reopening his eyes, Athen found himself inside the upper deck, sitting on a chair while countless people slept around him.

Rubbing his eyes countless times, Athen confirmed that he was not on the lower deck with the girl anymore...but back on the upper deck.

Did he pass out?

Then, Athen stared not at his surroundings but down at himself.

His entire body was covered in a familiar light-blue hue, and around him, everybody was staying eerily still.

He was back in this place...where it all started.

As the ten-second usage period of the ability ticked down, Athen stood up, seeing his belongings floating behind him in his previous position.

Glancing to his right, Athen found the boy named Kai a couple of meters away, still sleeping with all his clothes intact.

Time-stopping to travel back in time wasn't a big jump...was it?

Ignoring the inside area of the upper deck, Athen rushed outside, phasing right through the glass doors.

Passing right through the countless frozen figures and tables on the deck, Athen sprinted forward.

Arriving at the railing of the upper deck, Athen's hands phased right through the railing as he glanced downwards.

And there, the black-haired girl was in the same position, simply waiting for him to arrive.

There was still the problem of being prepared for the academy, clothes-wise...

As the light blue surrounding Athen's body began to flicker, he immediately ran back into the inside area of the upper deck, barely managing to phase through the glass doors as his ability ran out.

After picking up his invitation diamond and bronze coin, Athen walked toward Kai while time resumed to normal, and the others began moving.

Tapping Kai on the shoulder, Athen watched as he slowly opened his eyes before scratching his brown hair and staring at Athen confusedly.

Making eye contact with his amber-brown eyes, Athen immediately questioned.

"Hello, I was wondering if you happened to know a girl by the name of Alice."

Raising his head, Kai seemed to ponder for a moment before asking.

"I do...but do you know her?"

Nodding his head, Athen quickly pointed to his ragged clothes before answering.

"Ah yes, she has instructed me to get a proper pair of clothes. She said something about me being too poor of a sight for her eyes."

"...she did?"

As Athen nodded his head in response, Kai continued.

"Both of us alongside..."

Stopping mid-sentence, Kai pointed outside at a figure from earlier who was bragging about his academy rank.

"Lance and the other top ten students in the first year were forced to meet up at the city this ship just left him."

"I met the girl, Alice, at that dinner."

Shaking his head, Athen inwardly cursed his bad luck.

Out of the probably over sixty students on the ship, Athen had managed to pick one out of the ten that the girl knew.

Seeing Kai about to drift back off to sleep, Athen pointed at his black cloth before sighing and asking.

"Do you think they would let me into the academy with these cl-"

"You'd get kicked out at the front gate."

Pausing for a moment, Kai's face suddenly lit up as he asked.

"Oh wait, are you a first-year as well?"

"Yeah...but all my luggage is already at the academy, so this is all I have left to wear."

"Ah...I see."

Opening his luggage, which was resting on the seat right next to him, Kai smiled before saying.

"I think I have an extra pair in my luggage; you can borrow it for the orientation."

"...it was that easy?"

"What was that?"

Waving his hands, Athen graciously accepted a white collared shirt, a blue tie, and blue jeans from Kai.