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"Watch out—"
He barely got the first word out before Blake froze in shock. His body suddenly wouldn't move.
Not just him.
The falling advertisement sign hung motionless in midair.
Countless droplets of water were suspended in the air, completely still.
Pedestrians on the street, a crow mid-flight, the drifting smoke from a barbecue shop… everything had stopped in an instant, like someone had pressed pause on the world.
"…So it's not my body that's broken. It's the whole world?"
The realization quietly formed in Blake's mind.
"Could this be… time stop?"
He couldn't even blink. Only his thoughts were still running.
After running into Kuroneko (Goko) at the gym earlier, he'd already braced himself. If "witches" existed, then there had to be more of them out there.
But this gap was ridiculous.
Kuroneko's ability was talking to cats. Pretty nice, sure—but compared to stopping time, it wasn't even close.
If you asked ten thousand people to choose between "cat language" and "time stop," every single one would pick time stop without hesitation.
"As for why I'm still conscious… probably because of that game cheat?"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
In the deathly silent, paused world, the crisp sound of footsteps suddenly rang out.
They were coming from behind him.
Blake couldn't turn his head, and that made the tension creep in.
The one walking… had to be the person who stopped time, right?
What kind of person would it be?
Another witch like Kuroneko? Or someone planning to rule the world with this power?
The footsteps quickly approached, then passed right by him without stopping.
A second later, a small figure entered his field of view.
A girl with waist-length flaxen hair.
His eyes couldn't move, so he could only see half her profile.
Snow-white skin. Bright eyes. A delicate nose. Soft, glossy lips. Every feature came together perfectly, forming a beauty so striking it felt almost unreal—like an angel.
"Wait… that's Shiina from my class?"
Blake recognized her instantly, stunned.
Since starting high school, they'd ended up in the same class. They'd never really interacted, but of course he knew who she was.
Mahiru Shiina.
The top-tier "perfect girl" in class. Great grades, surprisingly capable in a fight, flawless personality, and looks to match. People even called her "The Angel" behind her back.
Under Blake's silent gaze, Mahiru quickly ran beneath the falling sign. She first scooped up the elementary school kid with ease, moving her out of danger.
But when it came to the woman beside her, things got a lot harder.
Everyone knew this—drunk people are absurdly heavy.
In a stopped-time state, the child's mother was basically like someone unconscious. Her body offered zero cooperation.
Mahiru was just a petite girl. She wasn't particularly strong. Moving a fully grown adult was tough, and she could only drag her little by little. Before long, her lips parted slightly as she panted for breath.
So weak.
She had an ability this broken, and yet just saving someone left her gasping? Way too weak.
"…Haa… haa…"
In the silent world, her soft breaths sounded unusually clear.
After a long struggle, Mahiru finally managed to move the woman to a safe distance.
"…That should do it. I hope she doesn't get scared later."
She wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead, placed her hands on her hips, and showed a small, satisfied smile.
Click.
The perfect image she maintained at school quietly cracked.
In its place was something far more vivid and real.
"So she really is an angel…"
Blake watched everything unfold, his feelings complicated.
Some people would use time stop to conquer the world.
Shiina, on the other hand, used it to help strangers.
The gap between people really was something else.
There was no doubt about it— Mahiru Shiina was genuinely kind. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone through all that trouble to move a stranger several meters away.
Honestly, as long as the sign didn't hit someone directly in the head, it wouldn't be fatal.
But the shattered pieces could still injure someone.
That's why she pushed herself so hard—she was worried the woman might get cut by debris.
"…Alright."
Mahiru steadied her breathing, then walked over to a nearby streetlamp.
The next second—
The frozen world came back to life.
Boom!
The advertisement sign crashed to the ground with a deafening noise, fragments scattering everywhere.
"Ah—!"
The woman hurriedly pulled her daughter into her arms, then looked up in confusion.
What just happened?
Did she… teleport?
The other pedestrians were just as confused.
"Watch out—wait, they actually avoided it?"
"How did they suddenly move that far away?"
"That felt weird… like a video skipping frames or something."
"Whatever, at least no one got hurt."
"…"
Clearly, only Blake retained his memory of the stopped time. Everyone else had no idea what had happened.
"Time stop… I seriously want that."
Blake turned his gaze toward the "angel" standing alone under the streetlamp, his eyes burning with interest.
Helping witches purify their magic not only gave experience points, but there was even a chance to copy their abilities.
In other words… he might be able to get time stop himself.
No guy could say no to that.
With time stop, he could grind skills as much as he wanted. No more worrying about running out of time.
As he watched the long-haired girl beneath the streetlight, Blake began thinking about how to approach her.
But before he could come up with anything, something unexpected happened.
Mahiru suddenly raised her right hand, waving it cautiously through the air. Then she turned—
Bang.
Her head smacked straight into the streetlamp.
"O-ow…"
She clutched her forehead with both hands, biting her lower lip.
But compared to the pain, the panic in her heart was even stronger.
A few days ago, she'd woken up to discover she had gained the ability to stop time.
In that state, only she could move freely, and no one would notice anything.
But it didn't take long for her to realize the ability came with a price.
After ending time stop, she suddenly lost her sense of taste. Whether it was delicious food or bitter black coffee, everything became completely flavorless. It only returned to normal after twenty-four hours.
Yesterday, the second time she used it, she lost her sense of taste again.
Just now was her third time using the power.
She had already prepared herself to lose her sense of taste again…
But instead, everything went dark.
She couldn't see anything at all.
This time, what she lost wasn't taste.
It was her sight.
Just as panic started to take over, a voice suddenly reached her ears—
"Shiina… do you need help?"
"....."