Chapter 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Diet (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A week had already passed.
While it felt like time was flying by, I was starting to get a bit anxious about myself with no changes whatsoever. Of course, I hadn't just been slacking off during that time. I'd gone to the training grounds without fail every single day to train.
I'd even made some effort to get friendly with the people around me. Not that it yielded much success. The way they looked at me—like I was some kind of bug—hurt deep down. But there was nothing I could do about it.
In a way, this was my own fault. According to the diary of the Time Stop Breeding Uncle, he'd been using time stop to effortlessly steal food and goods from people.
From their perspective, I was just a suspicious guy who never worked but always had overflowing supplies. It was only natural they'd give me dirty looks.
"Besides, the time stop ability isn't completely invincible."
Of course, I wasn't saying the time stop was weak or anything ridiculous like that. The more I used it, the more I realized it was a total cheat skill. It just wasn't without flaws.
The biggest weakness was the cooldown. I could surprisingly control the duration as I wished, but the cooldown was twice as long as the time I stopped. In other words, I couldn't spam it recklessly.
In the original story, that probably didn't matter. He only showed up after all the enemies were dead. With time stop, opponents couldn't even react—why worry about cooldowns?
But things were different now.
If the opponent was a normal human, fine. But with their regeneration, they often survived even decapitation. Not that this diminished the value of time stop at all.
Just being able to fight in an overwhelmingly advantageous position made it more than worth it—overflowing with value. But if I couldn't finish them off, I'd lose in the end.
In short, I couldn't get cocky relying solely on this cheat ability called time stop. Plenty of novels and comics had characters die pathetically after getting arrogant with their overpowered skills.
"Huff, huff."
The second weakness was the extreme stamina drain. Simply put, it was like running a marathon. Stamina drained continuously, and eventually, I'd collapse from exhaustion, releasing the time stop.
Put another way, if my stamina held out, I could maintain time stop indefinitely. That meant personal skill mattered a lot. Without stamina, I couldn't sustain it.
And no matter how much I stopped time, if I couldn't kill the enemy, I'd be the one dying. Sure, I could always run away if I tried, but things don't always go as planned.
"Uncle! Uncle!"
"Whoa! When did you sneak up?"
"Just now!"
The training grounds in the refugee camp were open to everyone. Even kids. Thanks to that, the Red-Haired Kid I'd met before kept showing up almost every day.
The more I saw her, the more she felt familiar, like I'd seen her somewhere. But I couldn't place it. I clicked my tongue and looked at her. For whatever reason, she was grinning brightly.
"Why do you keep coming around?"
"Just 'cause! I'm curious what you're up to, Uncle."
"This uncle's always working hard at exercising."
"Why? To lose weight?"
"……Yeah."
Hit with a fact from an unexpected angle. Did I look like a pig to her too? I suddenly felt depressed. But I had to admit it—I was a pig right now.
Honestly, gaining weight in this situation was impressive in itself. Well, the Time Stop Breeding Uncle always got food easily. Yet he never exercised, just lounged and ate every day.
No wonder he turned into a pig. And now I had to bear the full responsibility. Thinking about it made me feel so wronged I wanted to scream. So I stopped thinking.
"You look a bit thinner than when I first saw you!"
"Really?"
"Nope!"
This little brat?
I charged forward to give her a knuckle rap for daring to tease an adult. She squealed with laughter and ran off. Guess I'd built up some stress.
I chuckled. Yeah, kids should just be kids and laugh it up. But right then, someone blocked my path. Looking up, I saw a young man in brown leather armor.
Early to mid-twenties? He had fairly clean skin and blue hair. But that wasn't the point. It was his gear.
Brown leather armor and a cheap short sword. Nothing special, but standard issue for village guards. In short, this was like getting nabbed by the cops.
Kyaaahhh!!!
Calm down, stay calm. Even if a tiger bites you, keep your wits and you'll live. I hadn't done anything wrong yet. So why was a guard here? First, think calmly about the reason.
What was I doing just now? Playing with the kid. She ran, I chased... Oh shit, I accidentally convinced myself. Now what?
"Now you're going after kids too, Hans?"
"As if I'd do something like that!"
"Oh yeah? Then explain what you were just doing."
His slightly upturned lips dripped with mockery. At first, I thought he'd intervened because I looked suspicious. But this felt outright malicious. I snorted.
"Guess you see what you want to see. Right on the nose."
"What'd you say?"
"What? Did I say anything wrong?"
"You bastard! You couldn't even look me in the eye before!"
"……."
Looks like this guy knew the Time Stop Breeding Uncle. He'd called me by name earlier. No wonder he approached so casually—there was history.
But with that kind of power, did the uncle really walk around head down? In a way, it was conscientious. At least he acknowledged he was trash.
I glanced around. People drawn by the commotion were whispering, all shooting me bad looks. Naturally toward me. This was bad.
Setting aside possession nonsense, objectively, I was at a huge disadvantage. I was dead weight to the village, useless. He was a guard, protecting it.
"What's wrong? Where'd that bold mouth go?"
"……."
The momentum had shifted. Realizing it, his face lit up smugly again. No point fighting more here. Worst case, I'd get kicked out of the village. That'd be trouble.
Sure, I had time stop, but building strength safely in the camp versus rolling the dice outside? Even an idiot knew which was better.
"Looks like you finally know your place, Hans."
"……."
"Last chance. Apologize, and I'll let it slide."
"Sor……."
Apologize and he'd let it go? No reason not to. One apology to defuse this? Profitable deal. I could settle the humiliation later.
"Stop bullying Uncle!!!"
"???"
If the kid hadn't jumped in midway, I probably would've. I was stunned. Somehow, the Red-Haired Kid had wedged between us, trying to protect me.
"This is grown-up business. Kids shouldn't butt in."
"Uncle's a good guy! He gave me unspoiled food!"
"Wh-what's that got to do with anything here?!"
He seemed flustered. The kid yelled it out red-faced, teary-eyed, like she was blurting anything. But it made me realize one thing.
"That rotten food from before... that was from you?"
"He gave rotten food to a kid?"
"What? A guard wouldn't..."
The mood shifted again. At the innocent child's words, eyes turned to him now. Yeah, I'd thought it was weird. Rotten food? Even so.
"Wait, were they fighting over that issue?"
"Giving out rotten food is a problem."
"We can't let this slide without complaining properly..."
Now I had justification too. People mistook it for us arguing over that. As the situation turned against him, his face twisted in fury.
"You damn brat!!!"
"Kyaaak?!"
He finally lost it and swung his fist. My reaction was too slow. Even rotten, he was a guard—that punch was lightning fast. One wrong move, and the kid could've died.
But right before it connected, all color drained from the world. In the grayscale realm that followed, I alone could move. I swiftly grabbed the kid by the nape.
Pulling her back while thrusting my palm to block the guard's fist. Then time resumed. Boom!! A massive crash echoed. I grimaced and said,
"Doesn't seem like something to do to a kid."
"Th-that's... awesome!!"
"Where'd you learn to say that?"
The kid, gripped by her nape, sparkled with excitement. But it wasn't that cool in reality. The punch was too fast; I reacted late. And I was overpowered in strength too.
Without time stop, I couldn't have blocked it. Fortunately, other guards arrested the guy. I breathed a sigh of relief. And realized—I couldn't stay like this.
"I need to get stronger than this."
To find a way back to my original world, I'd need power whether I liked it or not. I'd held back for safety so far. But at this rate, who knows when I'd get strong.
Starting today, I'll train using time stop.
Cool-down might put me in danger.
But staying put changes nothing.