Chapter 302 (1/2)
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?” the administrator asked.
“Well, judging from how it looks—”
“Whoa!” the administrator cut Su-hyeun off. “Looks can be deceiving! And that other saying about a book…,” he tried to remember.
“Don’t judge a book…,” Su-hyeun began.
“Yes! Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Of course, Su-hyeun knew better than being deceived by appearances. He would rather be amazed by the content than its packaging.
“In any case, take it.”
Su-hyeun received the hourglass from the administrator. It was as small as a finger, and no matter which direction he turned it, the sand didn’t settle to the bottom part.
“I thought about what reward you would need the most. Any regular weapon would not be much of a reward for you, and I heard that you rejected the title of ‘Sage’, too.”
“N-no, it’s not like I reje—”
“It’s fine,” he assured Su-hyeun. “No need to be so humble. I heard that you prefer to attain the Sage title through your strengths. Which means, we can’t bestow it upon you as a, say, favor…can we?”
Was the administrator making fun of Su-hyeun or he actually meant what he said?
Whatever the case might be, it seemed that aquiring the Sage title would be impossible now. Su-hyeun sighed and took another glance at the hourglass.
“Check it out first,” the administrator confidently suggested. “We can talk about the details afterwards.”
As proposed, Su-hyeun decided to check out the hourglass’s effect.
[Broken Sandglass]
* This is the first failed attempt by the God of Time to create an hourglass. It cannot reverse time, but, when used, the user can stop the flow of time and enter a specific time frame.
* Remaining usable period: 3 years
* Grade: God
“…?”
That explanation confused Su-hyeun.
He couldn’t tell whether this was good or…not so good.
‘This is the first time I have seen such an item with that grade. But then, what does it mean that I can ‘enter a specific time frame’?’
Even after reading the explanation, he couldn’t grasp what this item’s effect was supposed to be. However, the first thing that caught his attention was the item’s grade.
A god-grade item…
Su-hyeun had seen all sorts of items in his life, but he had never seen and held a god grade before. He had never even heard about such a grade in the first place.
“It’s hard to tell, right?” the administrator spoke.
“Yes, just where should I even…”
“In that case, why don’t you use it? You have plenty of time left anyway.”
At the administrator’s recommendation, Su-hyeun nodded.
The moment he grasped the hourglass, he instantly understood how to activate it. The user must wield the hourglass for it to work.
Su-hyeun placed the hourglass on his palm. And when he wished for it to activate, the sand began to settle at the bottom.
“…?”
However, no remarkable changes were seen.
Su-hyeun was puzzled. He then turned to the administrator. “Excuse me. Could this be a faulty item?”
“Definitely not,” the administrator replied with a knowing expression. “Its effect should have already—”
“Eh?”
The administrator suddenly stopped mid-speech. Su-hyeun was looking at him, confused.
He wondered if the administrator was pulling a prank on him. He then waved his hand in front of the man’s face, but didn’t get a reaction.
No matter what, it did not seem like a prank.
‘He’s not even breathing…’
The administrator, although he wasn’t human, suddenly stopped breathing. Su-hyeun was shocked and worried. Then, he noticed that all the sand inside the hourglass had already settled at the bottom.
[Remaining usable period: 2 years and 364 days…]
The Broken Sandglass was now activated, and the time was specified.
‘Is this the definite time frame?’ he wondered.
Su-hyeun was stunned by the hourglass’s power and stumbled backwards.
Nothing could be found in the white world created by the administrator. Then with a loud thud, a chair fell over at Su-hyeun.
Thud!
“Argh!”
Su-hyeun scratched his head. He was stunned that, for a moment there, he forgot about the chair behind him.
He reached for the chair to put it back on its feet but stopped.
A thought occured to him. ‘It fell over…’
Didn’t the time flow stop through the hourglass’s power?
Yet the chair still fell over. A chair falling over would need ‘time’ to do so.
‘Can it be…’ he mused.
Su-hyeun recalled the part in the Broken Sandglass’s explanation, the one about the specific time frame.
Shu-rung!
He then unsheathed his sword. With his mind still in doubt, he struck the chair.
Slice!
The chair was sliced into halves, and each part fell to either side.
Shortly after, Su-hyeun flipped the hourglass.
And just as the sand began to settle again…
“…manifested by now,” the administrator finished his speech.
In that moment, Su-hyeun was startled, but he was able to regain his wits. He realized exactly where he was at present.
“Judging from your expression, looks like you have experienced it for yourself.”
Whoosh!
Su-hyeun noticed the chair he was sitting on. He clearly remembered slicing it into halves a while ago, yet it was completely intact.
“Changes brought by the actions performed in the definite time frame end as soon as the item’s effect run out. Is that it?” Su-hyeun clarified.
“Something like that, but not quite.”