"Watch out..."
Having only shouted out two words, Sora was shocked to find that his body suddenly couldn't move.
Not only that.
The falling advertising light box was frozen in mid-air.
Countless stationary water droplets were suspended in the air.
Pedestrians on the street, a crow in the sky, smoke drifting out from a barbecue shop... everything was instantly still, as if a magical pause button had been pressed.
It's not that there's an anomaly with my body; the entire world has a problem? A realization quietly grew in Sora's heart.
Could this ability be the legendary... Time Stop? Sora's eyes couldn't even blink. Only his thoughts could still function.
When he met Kuroneko at the gymnasium this afternoon, he had already prepared himself mentally—since he had encountered a "Witch," there were definitely more Witches in places he didn't know about.
The problem was that the gap was simply too large!
Kuroneko's special ability was communicating with cats. It sounded nice, but it was 100,000 kilometers away from Time Stop!
If ten thousand people were asked to choose between [Cat Speak] and [Time Stop], everyone would choose Time Stop!
As for why I'm still conscious... it's probably because of the game cheat?Tap, tap, tap. In the deathly silent world that had been paused, the sound of crisp footsteps suddenly rang out.
Hearing the footsteps approach from behind while being unable to turn around, Sora couldn't help but grow nervous.
The owner of those footsteps should be the person who activated the Time Stop, right?
What kind of existence would it be?
Was it a Witch like Kuroneko, or a man who wanted to rule the world with Time Stop?
The owner of the footsteps soon arrived at Sora's side. Without stopping for a moment, they brushed past him.
The next second.
The figure of a petite girl with waist-length flaxen hair entered his field of vision.
Sora's eyes couldn't turn. His line of sight could only catch half of the girl's profile.
Snow-white skin, bright eyes, a small and delicate nose, and pinkish, lustrous lips. Her features were perfectly combined, forming an angelic beauty that made people marvel.
Wait... it's actually Shiina Mahiru-san from my class? Sora recognized her identity in shock.
After starting his first year of high school, Sora happened to be in the same class as the girl in front of him. Although they had no prior interaction, they were naturally not strangers.
The Mahiru-san before him was arguably the strongest "normie" girl in class. Not only were her grades excellent, but she also possessed impressive physical ability. Combined with her perfect personality and appearance, many people privately called her "Angel-sama."
Under Sora's silent observation, Mahiru walked quickly beneath the falling advertising sign. First, she easily carried away the elementary school girl, but when it was the woman's turn, she clearly struggled.
As everyone knows, a person who is passed out is incredibly heavy.
In the stopped state, the mother was equivalent to a person who was dead drunk; her limbs could not cooperate in any way.
Mahiru was only a petite girl. Her strength naturally wasn't very great. Moving the stranger was quite difficult. she could only move her bit by bit. Before long, her pink lips were slightly parted, and she was panting for breath.
So weak.She has such a heaven-defying ability like Time Stop, yet she's panting from saving one person. She's way too weak!
"Haa... haa..."
In the deathly silent world where there was no other sound, the girl's delicate panting was clearly audible.
After working hard for a while, Mahiru finally moved the woman to a safe location.
"It's safe... I hope she won't be too scared later."
Mahiru raised her hand to wipe the thin sweat from her forehead. She put her hands on her hips, a sweet, slightly smug smile appearing on her pretty face.
Crack. The perfect image the girl maintained at school quietly shattered. The whole person suddenly became vivid and lifelike.
So she really is Angel-sama... Sora watched the whole process, his mood complicated.
Some people use Time Stop to try and rule the world, while Mahiru-san uses it to help others. The gap between people is indeed huge.
There was no doubt that Mahiru was truly as kind as an angel. Otherwise, she wouldn't have moved the woman several meters away.
Actually, as long as she wasn't hit on the head, there wouldn't be much danger. However, the splashing fragments of the light box might injure someone. The reason Mahiru worked so hard was clearly because she was worried about the woman being scratched by the shards.
"Phew..."
Mahiru soon caught her breath, then turned and walked to an inconspicuous streetlight nearby.
The next second.
The frozen world became "alive" again.
Boom! The advertising sign crashed down, hitting the ground with a loud bang as the shell fragments flew everywhere.
"Ah..."
The woman hugged her daughter in panic, but she soon looked up in a daze.
What happened?
Did she just teleport?
The other pedestrians were equally confused.
"Watch out... eh, that mother and daughter actually dodged it?"
"How did they jump so far all of a sudden?"
"How strange. It feels as uncomfortable as a frame skip when watching a video."
"Never mind that. As long as no one is hurt."
"..."
Clearly, only Sora possessed memories of the time-stopped period. The other pedestrians had no idea what had happened.
The ability to stop time... I really want it. Sora turned his head to look at Angel-sama standing alone under the streetlight, his gaze burning.
Helping a Witch purify magical impurities not only yielded experience points but even offered a chance to copy the other person's ability.
In other words, he also had the possibility of mastering the power of Time Stop... No boy could refuse that!
As long as he mastered Time Stop, he could work hard on his skills and never have to worry about running out of time again!
Looking at the girl with waist-length hair under the streetlight, Sora began to think about how to establish a connection with her. However, before he could come up with a plan, he was surprised to see Mahiru nervously extend her right hand, carefully waving it around in the air. Then she turned around and her small head hit the streetlight with a thud...
"Ah, it hurts..."
Mahiru covered her forehead with both hands, her pearly white teeth biting hard on her lower lip.
Compared to the pain on her forehead, the panic in Mahiru's heart was even more intense.
A few days ago, Mahiru woke up and was shocked to find she had acquired the ability to stop time. In the stopped state, only she could move freely, and no one else would notice.
But Mahiru soon discovered that the ability to stop time didn't come without a price.
When she ended the Time Stop, her sense of taste suddenly disappeared. Whether it was delicious food or extremely bitter black coffee, she couldn't taste anything at all. It wasn't until twenty-four hours later that her sense of taste finally returned to normal.
Yesterday, Mahiru tried the Time Stop for the second time. The sense she lost was still her taste.
Activating the Time Stop just now to save someone was the third time she had used the power. She had originally prepared herself for food having no taste again. Who knew that her vision would suddenly turn pitch black, and she could no longer see anything...
Clearly, the sense she lost this time wasn't taste, but sight.
Just as she was in a state of panic and helplessness, a voice suddenly reached Mahiru's ears.
"Shiina-san, do you need some help?"