Chapter 8

Chapter 2. Selection (3)

"Mr. Eunho, isn't that Secretary Kim's voice really good?"

"Is it?"

"It's similar to some announcer. And she looks like one too. Who was it...?"

At that moment, a meaningless conversation flashed through his mind.

A conversation with someone who had a crush on Miss Ji-eun.

"Uuuuuuunhooooo-!"

But now, Miss Ji-eun was only making strange, inhuman sounds, far from being an announcer.

The playback speed was so low that the voice was stretched, sounding like it came from a broken video.

'The surroundings have slowed down.'

He desperately tried to think while moving his body.

He was holding Miss Ji-eun with his left hand and gripping the floor, which felt like a wall, with his right.

To move more freely, he needed to move Miss Ji-eun to a safe place first.

— Thud.

He opened the system box attached to the floor, stepped on it, and climbed up.

He immediately lifted both feet one after the other, and finally pulled out his fingers that were stuck and dug them into the upper wall again.

'If it weren't for the Petrification skill, I would have fallen for sure.'

He had only taken a few steps, but his left arm was already cramping.

Fortunately, he reached the pillar where Jae-hyuk was hanging just before his arm gave out; otherwise, he might have crushed the unharmed Miss Ji-eun into the flames.

'Phew... Miss Ji-eun... She's quite heavy.'

Just as he was about to lay Miss Ji-eun down and catch his breath,

"Downnnnnn... above! Huh?"

Click.

The time axis returned to its normal position.

The giant table, which had been falling slowly as if it had stopped, regained its speed.

— Boom!

The heavy sound made the space tremble.

And then, silence.

If he had been hit, his head would have definitely exploded.

"Ah, no, why am I here..."

As he wiped his chest, Miss Ji-eun's eyes widened even more.

And then,

"Thank you, Mr. Eunho! How did you move so fast?"

"I'll explain later. For now... check the skill."

"Okay."

「Acceleration (Lv.1): Increases the relative speed of the user. Can extend 1 second to (5) seconds.」

A semi-transparent system window with white text appeared.

The number (5) was written in blue, and it seemed that as the skill level increased, 1 second could be extended even longer.

'1 second to 5 seconds... so that's why everything slowed down.'

To others, it probably looked like he moved five times faster.

'What if it was extended to 10 seconds, 50 seconds, 100 seconds?'

It would be almost like stopping time.

In that 1 second, he could do an incredible amount.

'This is amazing.'

Just in case, he tried saying 'Acceleration' again, but a message appeared saying it was on cooldown.

The Petrification skill was also on cooldown.

Maybe these were overpowered skills with penalties.

Anyway, there was about 1 minute left. During that time, he had to endure without using Petrification or Acceleration.

"Miss, doesn't the fire seem a bit weaker?"

"Huh? Oh, you're right! The slope has also become gentler."

"It must be because we've climbed up!"

Jae-hyuk was right.

The only thing that had changed was that they had taken a few steps up, but the fire had become slightly weaker, and the slope had become gentler.

There must be a rule.

'If I were the administrator...'

A situation where the number of people needed to be reduced. A slippery floor. A personality that finds details annoying.

'Let's start from the beginning.'

The floor first tilted when the arguing couple walked to the corner of the exhibition hall.

After that, the sudden slope caused people to fall towards the couple.

The slope became gentler again when the three of them moved away from the people and climbed up.

Could it be...

"I have an idea. Let's climb a bit more."

"Did you find something?"

Not entirely sure, but probably.

"A seesaw... I think."

"A seesaw?"

"There's a sharp fulcrum in the middle, and we're on top of it."

He continued speaking carefully as they climbed the slope to avoid rolling down.

"So, if people gather on one side, that side of the floor goes down. The center of gravity shifts."

"Oh..."

"It seems designed to ignite the fire when it tilts beyond a certain angle."

'To gather people in one place and burn them all at once.'

That might be the concept and purpose of this mission.

"Oh! So we're going to the opposite side to balance it?"

"Yes. Ideally, we should calculate everyone's weight here, but..."

It would be difficult to figure out the weight of thirteen people and arrange them so that one side doesn't tip.

Miss Ji-eun was startled.

"O-our weight?"

"Our weight."

Most importantly, if he suddenly asked, "What's your weight?" in this situation, he would be treated like a lunatic.

But if they at least climbed up with the three of them, maybe they would believe him.

Then Miss Ji-eun started talking rapidly.

"Um, do we really have to? If it's about weight, there are so many things piled up over there, and I don't think moving just the three of us would have much effect."

Miss Ji-eun pointed to the wall where the furniture that had rolled down the slope was piled up like a mountain.

'So, is it divided by the number of people?'

It made sense, and he thought for a moment, then Miss Ji-eun hastily added,

"Absolutely not because I don't want to reveal my weight!"

There were thirteen people left.

If they needed to be evenly distributed,

Six people should stand at each end, and one person should guard the center of the exhibition hall.

After calculating, he shouted to the people still tangled in the corner and shouting.

"Hey! Four of you, come this way! I think I've found a way!"

"How are we supposed to climb? Didn't you just see us roll down?"

"It should be fine now. It's not that steep!"

People who were half-believing and half-doubting his words started to look around and pull themselves out.

One, two, three, four... five?

"Stop! There are too many! The one with the hat, stay there!"

"What do you care if I want to go?!"

"This mission requires evenly distributing the number of people! If more people cross, this side will tip!"

"Whatever! Are you saying we should all burn to death?!"

When the man shouted, the people were shaken.

The slope had almost flattened, and the fire had noticeably weakened, but it didn't seem to register in the minds of people who had already lost their reason.

Instead...

"Out of the way! I want to go too!"

"Fuck! I was first!"

'What should I do? Everyone is too excited.'

— Thud!

Thanks to the people who followed him, the floor quickly flattened.

'If we move more, this side will tip.'

"Stop here! Don't move any further!"

He shouted at the people running towards him to avoid the flames behind him.

One woman and two men.

"Fuck, you want us to die?!"

He could feel the floor tilting slightly again, this time in the opposite direction.

He needed to stop them quickly...

'Words won't work!'

— Crack!

So he stepped forward.

He walked steadily towards the fire that people had just escaped from.

"Mr. Eunho! Where are you going?!"

To others, it might look like he was jumping into the fire.

But he was approaching the fire to avoid it.

"Who, who is that guy?"

"This lunatic!"

He soon met the people running towards him. Now...

"Acceleration."

"Get out of the way-!"

The world stopped.

His face was scrunched up, his breath was heavy, and his feet were pushing off the ground.

'Leave the woman as is.'

— Grab.

He grabbed the back of the necks of the two men with both hands and ran.

The two men were dragged along the floor, wiping away dust, but it was a hundred times better than dying.

— Crack!

'People need to be evenly distributed. No tilting to any side of the square.'

He visualized thirteen points on a square in his mind.

Looking down from above like a soccer game, he arranged the people.

'One person... here.'

He placed the man with the hat like a toy soldier in an empty spot.

'One person here.'

He placed the other man in his spot.

The last place he needed to be...

'Of all places...'

Right in front of the burning flames.

A place where the heat could be felt even in the manipulated time.

'This will definitely catch people's attention.'

Once they were focused on him, they wouldn't leave the positions he had arranged.

He closed his eyes tightly and thought hard, his forehead burning.

Click.

Time passed.

"Juuuuuukuuuuuuuuuuu if you die alone... Huh?"

"What is this?!"

"U, Mr. Eunho? Why are you there...! Run away!"

The flames roared in front of his nose.

Feeling the intense heat all over his body, he turned to the people and shouted.

"Everyone, stay still!"

Standing there, about to be consumed by the flames, he didn't run or show fear, and the people were confused, their eyes darting around.

"What, what is this? Why are you suddenly there..."

"Don't move if you don't want to die! All of you!"

'I didn't want to show them the skill... but there was no time to persuade them.'

The calculation was perfect.

It would end soon, if his prediction was correct.

— Whoosh.

"Got it!"

"The fire is going out!"

The flames gradually subsided.

From flames as tall as him, they shrank to shoulder height, waist height, knee height, and finally to just touching his feet before disappearing completely.

— Thud.

"It's over..."

His legs gave out, and he collapsed without realizing it.

"Mr. Eunho! What was that just now... no, are you okay first?"

"Rather, why didn't you take me? Jumping into the fire alone!"

"Haha..."

He opened his mouth to say he was fine, but a weak laugh came out due to the relief.

At least they were alive.

"Oh... everyone okay? I thought we were all going to burn to death..."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same. Maybe it would have been better to just blink out earlier... No, no, that's not true."

People glanced at the spot where the couple had burned to death and spoke cautiously.

A mix of fear from the sudden disaster, anxiety from seeing people die, and relief at being alive.

"Still, if it weren't for that young man, we would all be dead."

"Thanks to him, we survived. Thank you!"

"Thank you. Thanks to you, I survived from those idiots."

When Yi-ji from the accounting team pointed at 'those idiots' with her chin, the man with the hat spoke up.

"What are you looking at? Fuck!"

"What! Did I say something wrong? You swear every time you open your mouth, don't you?"

That guy had been swearing ever since he opened his mouth.

Wearing jeans, a hoodie, a deeply pulled-down hat, and even three-striped slippers, he clearly wasn't an office worker.

He looked like a jobless person who had come to eat at the underground food court nearby.

'Because of people like him, hardworking people are also disrespected...'

"...Thank you."

"What did you say?! And you're younger than me, so why are you speaking informally?"

"I thought I was going to die from fear, but I'm incredibly grateful you saved me! ...Yo!"

'...Not that.'

"The fire doesn't chase, but things fall from above and might crack your head! Damn, if it weren't for you, I would have either died or become disabled! ...Yo!"

He was just a person with a foul mouth.

Hearing his confusing words, which were a mix of curses and gratitude, everyone started to chime in.

Then someone cautiously raised a question.

"Um... but how did you move so fast?"

When the man with glasses asked, everyone's attention focused on him.

And a brief silence followed.

"That's not a possible speed... Ah! No, I'm not criticizing or anything..."

Everyone was curious.

They thought of him as a savior and couldn't bring themselves to ask.

'Should I tell them about the skill?'