Time Stop Ability
[Superpower: Time Stop]
[But the drawback is ■■■■■]
Hayato's eyes snapped open to floating text hanging in the air.
A few seconds later, it vanished like it was never there.
Superpower? What the hell?
But that wasn't even the weirdest part. Something else clicked in his mind, hitting him way harder.
Wait… Wasn't I supposed to be dead after a horse kicked me?
Hayato looked around, taking it all in.
Brilliant lights painted the venue in vibrant colors. Music pulsed through the air, alive and electric. Hundreds of fans waved their glow sticks with wild energy, cheering and shouting as if their lives depended on it.
On stage, several girls in red and black pleated uniform skirts danced and sang, their movements so full of life it was infectious.
Their voices were sweet, their choreography captivating. The crowd erupted with wave after wave of cheers that felt like physical force.
Hayato was at a concert.
Reincarnation?
The thought slammed into him immediately. Hayato fumbled around his pockets and found a phone and a passport.
According to the passport, his current situation was pretty straightforward.
"Huh?"
Citizen of some Eastern country. Seventeen years old. Student card Japan. Probably a high school student.
Right then, the performance seemed to be wrapping up.
A girl with long purple-black hair waved enthusiastically with her right hand, radiating pure energy. Her delicate features were stunning under the spotlight, and every movement in that uniform practically screamed youth.
"Everyone, thank you so much!"
"Thank you for always supporting B-Komachi!"
"And please keep supporting us!"
"B-Komachi will bring you even better, more amazing performances!"
Hoshino Ai. The eternal center of the B-Komachi idol group.
Microphone in hand, her starry eyes suddenly locked onto a guy in the front row.
"This performance was really surprising!"
"Some brave male fan actually confessed his love to Ai-chan! It's my first time, you know! I'm so moved, so happy!"
"But... right now, Ai-chan needs to focus on her idol career. I want to bring even more wonderful performances to all my fans, so... sorry! Ai-chan doesn't want to date right now!"
As Hoshino Ai's regretful words landed, laughter rippled through the venue like a wave.
"Haha, Ai-chan is so interesting! So gentle!"
"That's the Ai-chan we love!"
"Ugh, why didn't I confess?! If I had, I'd be the first guy to ever confess to Ai-chan!"
Everyone's attention zeroed in on the guy. He'd become the second focal point of the night.
"But as a reward for boldly confessing to Ai-chan, I've decided... I'll take a photo with him! Ehehe."
Instantly, jealousy and envy exploded through the crowd.
"What?! There's a bonus like that?!"
"I want to take a photo with Ai-chan too! She's so kind! Rejecting his confession but immediately giving him a consolation prize! I want that too!"
"This guy's luck is insane. He should get picked by one of those death game things. I bet he'd clear it easily, hahaha!"
"No, pick me instead! I'd totally survive a death game and become a total winner in life. Then Ai-chan would be my girlfriend, and my future would be set!"
"Someone with stinky feet, kick this guy twice."
Waves of envious complaints kept coming.
Regret. So many people were drowning in it, kicking themselves. Why hadn't they confessed?!
Meanwhile, the guy at the center of attention completely ignored all the jealous stares burning into his back. His focus stayed locked on that beautiful purple-haired girl on stage.
Hoshino Ai....
Wait, isn't that the main character from "Oshi no Ko"?
So he'd transmigrated into the world of that anime?
This had to be compensation for dying from overwork as a horse trainer. All his past life's luck must've been saved up for this exact transmigration moment.
And he even got a superpower. Time stop, no less.
Unknown power level, with some unknown drawback.
But still, this ability alone could make him soar in this new world.
Wealth, power, beautiful women. All those things that were impossibly out of reach in his previous life could actually be his now.
Becoming a winner in life surrounded by beauties wasn't just a dream anymore.
As for the drawback?
If you don't know what the drawback is, then there is no drawback.
The concert ended.
Bathed in envious and jealous stares from the crowd, Hayato waited at his spot as people filed out around him.
Hayato watched as the purple-haired girl in that beautiful red and black uniform came down from the left side of the stage, a faint smile on her face as she approached him with measured steps.
Hoshino Ai.
Watching this stunning girl standing just a meter away, Hayato felt a fleeting flutter in his chest. He could even catch the sweet, pleasant scent drifting from her.
"Thank you so much for liking me and confessing to me. Really... thank you so much."
Hoshino Ai thanked him again and bowed deeply. This triggered another round of cheers from fans still queuing to leave, praising her gentleness and kindness as she'd just performed a miracle.
They all wanted to be treated like that, too.
"'Thank you' doesn't mean 'yes.' I get it."
"Eh?"
Hoshino Ai froze.
"Don't worry, I won't bother you again. I'm not gonna turn into some psycho stalker with a knife."
The moment those words left his mouth, Hoshino Ai stiffened instinctively. An unpleasant feeling crept into her chest, cold and unwelcome.
That was... an implied threat, right?
It had to be!
"Ahem, alright, alright."
A blonde manager in a suit pulled out an instant camera, pointing the lens at them with practiced ease.
Hoshino Ai suppressed her discomfort and moved closer to Hayato, forcing herself to maintain professionalism.
"Come on, smile! Are you too nervous being in a photo with our Ai-chan? Hahaha..."
Hoshino Ai leaned in a bit more, raising her right hand in a big "yes" gesture, her stage smile back in place.
Click...
Photo taken.
Hoshino Ai grabbed the photo and used a colored pen to write the date and her name, adding a few heart shapes with practiced strokes.
"Here! I hope you'll continue supporting me as always. Ai-chan looks forward to your support!"
She flashed a sweet, cute, playful smile that could've melted anyone's heart.
"Support? Yeah, maybe in the next life!"
"Eh?!"
Hoshino Ai froze. Even the manager who'd taken a couple of steps away stopped in his tracks.
"In this life, I'm going to support Sakurajima Mai instead. Mai's definitely better."
Hoshino Ai: ???
What the hell does Sakurajima Mai have that's so great?!
Hoshino Ai's whole mood crashed hard. Her smile literally froze on her face, stuck there like a mask that stopped working.
Right then, Hayato was considering whether to use his time stop ability to test it out on the spot.
His gaze landed on Hoshino Ai, quickly sizing her up from head to toe.
This made Hoshino Ai instinctively sense something bad coming her way.
"Ai, Ai, my Ai..."
Suddenly, a low, suppressed male voice came from the shadows nearby, barely above a whisper.
A man in a black hoodie walked forward step by step, head down, muttering continuously like he was possessed.
"Ai-chan... is mine..."
"For Ai-chan, I... came back alive... I came back alive from... the death game..."
"Ai-chan... I support... you..."
"Tonight, Ai-chan... stay with me..."
Hoshino Ai stared at the black-clothed man approaching them, her breath catching. The panic in her chest intensified with every step he took.
"Hey, stop right there, you punk... Aaaah..."
The blonde manager suddenly screamed in terror like he'd seen something horrifying, and collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Saito-san..."
Hoshino Ai's voice cracked as she cried out.
The black-clothed man rushed forward, laughing in a way that made her skin crawl.
"Dare to not support Ai... die..."
He pivoted and locked eyes with Hayato. Something seemed to emanate from his gaze, something dark and wrong. A knife appeared in his hand, its metal gleaming menacingly in the dim stage lights.
"Screw it."
Time stop activated!
Bzzt...
A faint electrical sound crackled through the air and vanished.
The world seemed to freeze in that instant.
The knife-wielding man in black remained locked in his lunging posture, suspended mid-motion. Hoshino Ai's eyes were wide with terror, pupils dilated. Everything appeared to be frozen in place, like someone hit pause on reality itself.
Hayato first snatched the knife from the man's hand, then instinctively wanted to mess with him, but changed his target at the last second. He walked over to Hoshino Ai, waved his hand in front of her face, pinched her cheek, poked it, and touched it with genuine curiosity.
From start to finish, Hoshino Ai showed no reaction whatsoever.
"It really is time stop. I just don't know if the world actually stopped, or if I accelerated to millions of times normal speed, making everything only appear frozen."
Hayato walked over to the man in black and yanked off his hood without hesitation.
Hayato froze.
He suddenly noticed a pitch-black bead stuck to the man's forehead, gleaming dully under the lights.
Decoration? Mutation? What's that?
Hayato got the feeling this world wasn't as peaceful and calm as it seemed on the surface.
Plop...
Through the fabric, Hayato pried the black bead off directly, wrapped it in several layers of cloth, and stuffed it deep into his pocket for later examination.
Next...
Thud thud thud...
Hayato punched the black-clothed man's abdomen again and again, each hit landing with solid force.
"You wanted to kill me?"
"Crazy stalker fan?"
"Without me, Hoshino Ai would probably get stabbed by you tonight."
Punch after punch landed solidly, each strike heavy and deliberate. Like a storm, the blows rained down on the man without mercy.
After the beatdown, Hayato repositioned the guy carefully and adjusted the knife's position with precision. Before that, he made absolutely sure to wipe off any fingerprints.
He looked at Hoshino Ai beside him and pinched her cheek one more time, softer this time.
"Consider that as payment. Without me stepping in, your situation tonight would've been pretty damn bad."
Time stop ended.
In that instant, the world seemed to resume its motion like someone pressed play again.
"Die... ugh... aaaah..."
The black-clothed man's pained voice rang out. He stumbled two steps back and fell hard to the ground with a crash.
Hayato pulled Hoshino Ai away quickly, shielding the girl behind him in one smooth motion.
Right then, Hoshino Ai was in complete shock.
What did she just see? What the hell did she just witness?
The world froze and stopped moving. The man moved freely in that frozen world, beat up the attacker, repositioned everything, and groped her, taking full advantage of the situation.
She wanted to move, wanted to avoid it, wanted to scream, but there was absolutely nothing she could do.
Her body completely refused to respond.
Not until the world returned to normal.
Hoshino Ai swallowed hard, her wide eyes filled with shock and something else she couldn't quite name.
In her field of vision, all she could see was the man's back standing protectively in front of her.
The male fan who'd confessed to her and been rejected was a superpower user. And it seemed like he had time-stopping abilities. He must've gotten this incredible power from one of those death games!
Hoshino Ai couldn't help but feel worried and scared, yet she couldn't suppress her curiosity bubbling up.
A real, living proof, super-powerful death game player!
A legendary figure standing right in front of her!
Hayato noticed the girl's panic from the corner of his eye.
It made sense for a young girl to be scared and horrified after encountering a crazy fan attack and a bloody incident like this.
"Ugh, aaaah..."
The smell of blood spread through the air, thick and metallic. Red liquid kept flowing from the man's body, pooling on the ground.
"Why... why is this... happening..."
"I... I was supposed to... with Ai..."
He struggled, reaching one hand toward Hoshino Ai, as if trying to grab the panicked girl one last time.
"Aaaah..."
Finally, it turned into an unwilling, roaring scream that echoed through the empty venue.
The man couldn't catch his breath and lay on the ground, motionless like corpses...
In that moment, Hoshino Ai realized the attacking man in black was actually dead. She hugged herself tightly, her mind still in chaos, her body trembling slightly despite her best efforts to stay calm.
Fifteen minutes later, the police arrived with sirens wailing. The body was taken away under a white sheet, and Manager Saito still seemed to be in shock, completely unconscious. He was sent to the hospital in an ambulance.
Meanwhile, the two witnesses, Hayato and Hoshino Ai, were brought to the nearest police station for questioning.
About half an hour later, the questioning and statements were done, and they were released without issue.
Right now, Hoshino Ai was still in an unstable, panicked state. She clutched the coat draped over her shoulders, her mental state clearly not great.
"Can you take me to the nearest hotel? It's about 200 meters away. I remember there's a hotel there."
It wasn't that Hoshino Ai didn't think Hayato might harm her, but when she remembered his unreasonable superpower, Hoshino Ai realized she was totally overthinking it.
If this person really had bad intentions, she couldn't resist at all. He could do whatever he wanted to her, and she'd have no way to stop it.
Late at night, no moonlight. The few stars and streetlights on both sides of the road barely provided any real illumination.
Hayato agreed.
The two walked side by side in silence.
At some point, the fog grew thicker around them.
The surroundings became even quieter. Even the sound of insects disappeared completely. The night breeze carried a chill that made her pull the coat tighter.
Soon, a building in the distance lit up. Red and purple lights became the only source of light, cutting through the darkness.
Hayato led Hoshino Ai straight toward it without hesitation.
When Hayato could clearly make out the sign on the building, he froze mid-step.
恋の心ラブホテル.
Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel?
Hoshino Ai asked me to take her to a love hotel. Wasn't that... some kind of hint?!
It's Japan Girl, really this open and forward!?
Meanwhile, Hoshino Ai looked at the hotel and seemed to realize something. Her face instantly turned pale.
Impossible… Have I been forcibly pulled into a death game rightnow?!