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Chapter 609 - Eleventh day
🕑 Added 2025-04-30 08:46:51 +0000 UTCIt’s the tenth day at the Academy, and I find it strange that still no Champions have entered the area to investigate the cause of death. Min-Jae theorizes that they might be preoccupied with maintaining the barrier to contain the possible killer, acting as guards to prevent other Champions from entering. The geopolitical situation is likely quite unstable.
Additionally, since the Academy does not belong to any nation, allowing Champions from one country to enter and threaten important individuals from other nations is probably not permitted. Or it could be that they are afraid of whatever killed that selari Champion, as Maya and I theorize.
Another reason could be that this floor’s setting, unlike previous floors that encompassed entire worlds, is limited to a specific region: the Academy, one or two nearby cities, and a few villages.
Despite all of this, the studying continues. When these students have children of their own, they will undoubtedly be able to say, “You do not want to learn because a little snow prevents you from attending school? When I was young, we studied even as the Champion died, and there was a threat of world war!”
Or something of that nature. A true trump card.
Of course, the search continues along with Academy wide scans. Every so often, someone is stopped by polite men in uniforms for a few questions and occasionally called in for further questioning. I am also certain that some rooms are being searched.
If they search mine, I just hope they do not find the thermonuclear warhead hidden under a blanket with a few pieces of clothing tossed on top.
However, the day is pleasant, and my mood is greatly improved by the puppy Biscuit, whom I am carrying in my arms. He is still sleeping, still as cute and fuzzy as ever. Occasionally, he growls in his sleep, although it might simply be his stomach. As Tess has said, he wakes for only about one hour per day before succumbing to a terrible food coma again. Apparently, eating the special experimental Baby Progenitor Mimic created by the Progenitor Mimic causes the same kind of trouble that eating the creepy, weakened deer Champion did.
Part of me wonders if his giga form was caused by eating that mimic, and if so, what exactly did he get from it and from the deer? Tess knows but refuses to tell us. With her all-knowing smile, she just tells us to wait, likely so she can enjoy our surprise.
What an asshole.
I would totally do exactly the same.
With Biscuit, I reach the building where I have a lesson with Ari and Kays. Both of them are already waiting there, along with the redheaded guard, Melo.
“You are late,” Kays complains immediately.
“I was stopped and questioned by the detectives,” I reply.
“What? Really? They suspect you?”
“No, I lied, I just almost forgot we had a lesson.”
“What the fuck!” Kays shouts in his usual manner.
“So, what is it today? After the last time, I realized I don’t have to study for the lesson with you two, and now I only know it has something to do with a sensory deprivation tank.”
“Melo, please tell me you hear this shit as well.”
“I do, Sir Kays.”
“Should we report him?”
“If you do, I will make you fail your grade or perhaps claim I saw you sneaking around the palace where the Champion died before he did, or something,” I say, pulling Biscuit away from Ari, who reaches toward him with three of her six arms.
“I want to pet it!” she complains.
“And I want to triple my mana. So what?” I say, taking another step back and heading inside the huge building. It is shaped like a large black cube. There are no windows, and the walls appear to be composed of hundreds of thousands of tiny hexagonal pieces.
The three of them follow behind me, and as we enter, the door closes behind us. At that moment, it is as if the world outside does not exist. The ambient mana, the arrays placed over the Academy, the mana seeping from people or inscriptions, all the sounds and smells: everything is gone.
The man behind the pult glances at Biscuit before looking at me. Even as I hand him the document confirming our reservation, he continues to glance at Biscuit rather than at the paper.
Once everything is confirmed, he shows us the way, and I head to the room marked with the number 3. Unwilling to let go of the corgi or disrupt his sleep, I create arms made of mana and use them to open the door and enter.
With all of us inside and alone, I look around before moving toward the control panel in the middle of the room. The room itself has no furniture, just thousands of hexagonal patterns on the walls, all in matte black.
I do not even ask what we should be doing, as I am too curious. I quickly find a multi-setting control on the panel and activate the first option. With that, the world blacks out. My sight, smell, sense of taste, and even hearing all disappear at once after I allow the effect to take hold.
Through kinetic sense, I notice surprised twitches and movements from Ari and Kays, who look around with what feels like panic. Melo just continues to stand there, but I am sure he is examining the area as his body remains turned toward me, even as I take steps around the room.
It is extremely strange to walk around without even feeling my feet touching the floor or the vibrations running through my body. Without my kinetic senses, I wouldn't even know that I'm actually moving.
Lastly, I observe Ari, for whom this should be the first time in a sensory deprivation tank. Her reaction is the same as Kays’s: initial confusion, followed by her senses probing the area. I cannot discern anything remarkable. There is no instantaneous display of extraordinary perception. However, one thing greatly bothers me: her actions closely resemble those of Kays, as if she is limiting herself to his level or merely imitating him after some initial observation.
I take a few steps and stop in front of Kays, under the watchful eyes of his guard. It takes Kays a few seconds to sense me before he steps back. I reach out my hand toward him and tap the top of his head. He does not sense anything, but this time he reacts faster and moves his hand toward mine, but too late.
Then I do the same with Ari, who detects me more quickly and even attempts to avoid me, but in the end, I still tap the top of her head.
Taking a few more steps, I move and stop beside Melo, whose head continues to follow me. From that distance, I create two fist sized mana orbs of not too high density and turn to him, in what I assume is a questioning manner.
Even though he cannot see or hear me, and I cannot feel his mana, he understands, and I sense him nodding.
Then I shoot an orb at Ari and Kays, striking their legs with a force as if I threw a tennis ball. Of course, they cannot sense the pain, and I did not use much force, but I am certain that the more I strike them now, the more it will hurt when their senses return.
I mean, I would prefer something like an arrow to heighten their sense of danger and for a quicker improvement. Maybe I can bring the twins here later, or some others. I quite like this room and will likely need to examine it further so I can construct something similar in the future.
After my orbs strike them a few more times, Kays and Ari seem to understand and do their best to dodge.
Each time it seems they have adapted, I make the orb more difficult to detect and continue my barrage. When they try to cheat by detecting my position, I create fake mana signatures of myself around the room. Something I have learned from the twins, though I'm not at their level, but they are good enough to trick someone less perceptive.
At the same time, I train as well. I keep switching between sensing heat, kinetic energy, or mana, exploring their differences and advantages. I also keep trying to pierce the shielding of the room to sense signatures outside, but it feels near impossible, and I don't get close at all.
I also tweak my Mana Cycling and attempt to use other skills. Without the ability to feel pain or my body at all, it is somewhat worrisome. I could have made a mistake while Mana Cycling, and my body might be suffering damage from mana spiraling out of control, which I cannot detect due to the absence of pain and other senses.
After a while, I become bored and touch the control panel again, causing all senses to return immediately.
Ari and Kays groan in pain, holding the areas where I struck them multiple times when they were not improving quickly enough. There is some talk of abuse, a few threats, and even the rare card called “I will tell my dad!” is mentioned.
So, to make them happy, the next round focuses on them trying to detect and attack me. I am about to make an offer, a reward if they manage to hit me at least once, but they do not hear it, too excited to already try to harm me.
What vile creatures..
In the end, neither of them can hit me, and neither notices the smaller orb I use to continuously strike their backs at the same spot. After we end this prompts another round of complaints about rule breaking, despite there being none, and allegations of student abuse.
They call this abuse?
With that, the lesson ends, and I head to meet the others, accompanied by the best doggo of the Academy.
***
On the eleventh day, we decide that none of us will go on the trip offered by the Academy. While it has its advantages, it also comes with responsibilities. Despite everything happening, some students choose to go, but we decide to stay here, just in case.
If the opportunity arises, I will go next time. There are two options: travel by magic train or magic airship, both of which are certainly intriguing. Perhaps I am simply missing the Deathtrap. That old, rusty thing was cool as well, wasn't it?
Lost in thought while walking through the hallway, I blink and suddenly find myself in a different place. I have not used teleportation, nor have I sensed anyone moving me, but out of nowhere, I find myself standing in the same room we appeared in at the start of the floor.
Every member of Group 4 is here as well, looking around in confusion.
“What just happened? I was guarding that little shit,” Maya asks first.
The others quickly exchange sentences while I stay quiet and begin scanning the area around us and the room for mana, arrays, and inscriptions. I activate my eyes and search for traces of forced teleport. I activate the Mana Wavelength Tyrant passive and so forth.
I even use black mana to boost my processing speed, but I find nothing. There is no sign I can pick up on, which leaves only two possibilities: either someone extremely powerful did this and moved us here, or the system itself did.
But what purpose could moving us here serve? Just for shits and giggles?
I glance around the room and at the items there. Then I check my status. Both leave me even more confused.
Leaving the others behind to talk, I allow Sophie to add me to her web and head outside despite their protests.
The room I exit leads to the same beautiful garden as before: fruit trees, flowers, fountains. Scattered around are small groups of students, each wearing the same attire as those in Group 4. They act as if they were unaffected by what just happened to us.
Everything appears normal. There is no threat I could sense, no wide-range scan going on.
Then a voice calls from behind me, “Assistant Professor Gwyn, may I ask where you have been this entire time?”
I turn around and look at Professor Elian.
“Why do you look so confused? This is your first day, and yet you are already late and slacking off somewhere in the gardens,” he says.
He continues with a stream of intriguing, and at times subtly insulting, remarks, spoken just loud enough not to carry far and only after making sure no one is watching or listening. A weak barrier even flickers around us.
As a group of students passes by, he lowers his voice further and greets them with a brilliant smile. A few girls in the group blush and start giggling, while one of the boys bows slightly, clearly admiring him.
That smile remains only until they have passed, and then he turns to me: “Do you not know how to speak?”
I answer, “I do. I apologize; I simply got lost.”
He shakes his head. “I will see you later. I hope you manage to be more punctual than you seem to be now.”
With that, he leaves.
Not bothering to examine further, I head back to the room. After inspecting our belongings again, I realize that all our items are here, just as they were when the floor began. Even both thermonuclear warheads.
Lastly, I open my status screen, confirming that my newest skill is gone and the token is back there.
Otherwise, my stats are exactly as they were when the floor started.
***
Comments
Kevin McGuire
What's the count down at now? It should be something like 2 years 340 days right? I'm wondering if the system actually sent them back in time or just rest the floor and everyone on it.
Sushitrash
Ohhhh, this is a glorious training ground to play with combinations
Homie G
AAHHH! Wasn't expecting time loop academy arch 😂
Zaim İpek
Why should there be a last loop other than running out of the total five-year tutorial duration? I don't see why they should get a free pass for repeated failure. The system is not that nice. If the clear condition is protecting the ruler candidate, they should not be allowed to progress without protecting the ruler candidate, no exceptions. And if they never manage to do it, then they never progress. Simple as that.
Zaim İpek
Easy difficulty is probably passing a basic test in one of the classes.
Zaim İpek
Seems like you are hoping for a time loop to undo this time loop. lol
Tee
Please god, no! Just no. Don’t do it. Don’t do the time loop shit. It kills the story for me.
Ivan Jelenić
Yup, Mother of Learning was fun.
im_among_you
The Candidate probably "died" so they got reset to try again, but they have there memories to learn, otherwise its an endless loop
Joe Woodhouse
Many comments assume the dead Champion was the Ruler candidate. I agree that's possible, but we have several other candidates, most of whom would be narratively more satisfying. (More satisfying to be given a "defend" quest for a weaker target; defend a stronger target is a much harder story to sell.) If I had to put my money on System (and cerim) fuckery: there is more than one Ruler candidate.
Mato
If you Really think about it its an oportunity, he can use the token to combine diferentes abilitys and study them to be able to gain them without the token, its a CRAZY good situación
Jordan Jones
Why would his levels reset but not his memories? Obviously because that’s just how it works, but it still seems odd. Generally I’m not a fan of level regression in stories (backtracking is a little annoying) but the ride’s been smooth so far, so i can only believe that this arc is gonna continue to be great.
P K
Oh dam, it rests if the candidate dies and they can't move on and must be remove the threat I suppose? Dam even their progress is gated by this floor
Belmont Igneul
OOOOO
Gardor
So this hell difficulty floor has multiple attempts if you fail to protect the ruler candidate. Neat. The easy difficulty scenario must be playing tic tac toe against yourself.
William Johnson
Oh man is one of the Ruler candidate's skills looping? That would be nuts, and was one of my thoughts for the kind of skill the first beyonder might have to get sent straight to beyond. Thanks for the chapter!
Mark Bullock
Wow, talk about a crazy curve ball. Now he can do another three and get "ur line" back because he didn't lose memory!!
Aaron Stewart
I feel like i need to watch Clue the movie before reading this.
Bob
One problem for experimenting in a time loop is that you don't know if it is the last loop.
Jon
I think he is going to combine his skills much sooner in order to use the nearly undetectable [Ur Line] to track the thermonuclear warhead thief
Iron
So question now is, did the message on the community board reset as well, or is this localized to their group instance of the tutorial
Brendin Olsen
What in the time fuckery is this?
M van Dongen
Groundhog day.
Zaim İpek
Yay! Nat can explore new skill combinations now. As long as they repeat their actions closely enough, they shouldn't accidentally clear the floor. This is great skill training. While they don't get skill levels, they do get practical experience, which will allow them to regain the lost levels very quickly. This is also a perfect time to have an extended stay in Beyond, because the floor will just keep resetting. Time loop in a magic school is very Mother Of Learning. I approve. If you are going to copy, copy from the best.
Ben K
oooh yes interesting point! Disciple is not part of the time loop so how does that affect the token
Patrick
That was my first thought lol
TBONEMAN
Cerim is nerfing Biscuit with this loop. His digestion of the mimic probably gets reset with the loop.
im_among_you
Nah I reckon they were meant to go on the trip and once they decided not to it was reset and that them going the trip is an key part to the story that can’t be denied
Andrew
Thank you!
im_among_you
Fr fr my mate on my account liked before I could lol I loved that book
CptJimmy42
Nat is going to abuse this to get the best combo of skills possible, isn't he?
KittuKatsu
So, the ruler candidate died and now they have to start all over. Nice
Ansordia
But this is just my HDT Theory... I hope Cerim I didn't 100% hit the right version of time fuckery... 😜 Would be hella funny.
Ansordia
My Theory is that the weapon did this... And its probably not a weapon at ALL... But something similar to Edge of Tommorow stuff that alien do... Or the time machine in Lazarus Project where it resets if something TOO bad happens.. Like not finding the killer or the killer killing another champion which causes the other nations to try to grab for power.. Because if it was the system doing it.... They should get a message while the system is an ASSHOLE... Its atleast an "informative" asshole... So my guess is that this the floors theme... That they need to stop the threat to the candidate or the world ending... I wonder if they can make progress they probably can.. 🤔 Also I wonder if we will get a death... Who is then revived with this timeloop like Tom Cruise or the lazarus project are in those mentioned movies/shows... Would be weird to be considered true DEAD... But not at the same tine... 🤔
Bob
Always with time loop the problem is you don't know how many loop you have available!
Ansordia
My theory is that the weapon was used again but failed and killed everyone... Or maybe the weapon IS a timerewind like in Lazarus Project where it resets to a savepoint if something bad enough happens?
Ansordia
I think tournament and beyond stuff aren't touched that is probably why they are returned to this specific room where the tutorial doesn't do its shenanigans...
Ansordia
Naaah... If they failed the system wouldn't give them a second chance (maybe they don't die but are transported to the next floor without rewards) or there would be a notification... I think the floor is either meant to do this (seems weird) or the Absolute noticed something funny biscuit or something other... and did the rewind... But probably not... Favourite theory is that the weapon does it when its used too much... That it would kill the antendize so being fair they rather reset the tutorial... But that should come with a warning of what happened...
Luke
Makes a lot more sense why there’s so much emphasis on how many days have passed if it’s a time loop
Kael Foxwell
Theory time. The weapon is the thing causing the time loop, that's how champ dies, infinite trys until he dies, this resetting is the weapon being used on the group but because of tutorial shenanigans they don't loose memory
venkata siddhardha yarlagadda
These are very interesting questions. I hope they get answered.
13L00D13ANE
I was thinking the same thing! Use the token on a bunch of different combos
13L00D13ANE
HDT groundhog day? Interesting... My theory is that they either failed to protect the ruler candidate, or there is a time limit to do so. Maybe the ruler candidate killed the champion and the group failed to keep them out of jail or something
Funny guy
DANKS FUR DA CHAPPIE! HOLY FUCK I LOVE TIME LOOPS YEAAAAAAAA
JTP
Time loop!
Sondadir
I think so, maybe the candidate was killed during the trip ?
Bladehawk256
Time to cheat triple active skill merge to the max!
11335577
This is wierd. Could he stash all his items in beyond and get them back with the next reset? Or if he goes to beyond and buys new items there, will they be lost during the next reset? Does he just have infine beyond tokens until he clears this floor?
ShockedCorgi
This is going to be the best story arc yet! Group 4 on a whole are going to get a lot better. I wonder what skill combination Nat will try next! TFTC!
Manther
Will Victoria's group lose their tournament rewards on reset? (given that they were already mid 8th floor)
Half Life
When Nate figures out that they all just instantly died he's going to be amused.
SarahB
Hmm so probably resets when they fail to protect the ruler candidate? This seems to be shaping up into a sort of murder mystery with the dead candidate as well.
ein Google Nutzer
Does even the disciple talk token get a reset?
Bruno Correia
Mother of Learning setting
mitchell kaiser
He’ll probably get them back with very little experimentation.
Peter Stawiarski
The geopolitical situation is likely quite unstable. Timeline too.
Vladimir Khorikov
Yeah, what happens if he goes to beyond and the floor resets?
Sargon Yami
Time travel (because of the token) or looped floor?
Borbino the great
Ohhh I didn’t even think of that that’s really interesting
WhiteLeeopard
I usually don't like time shenanigans, but this could be interesting. The first thing to know is, how does the loop happen? It would suck to experiment and then be stuck with something inferior and no redo. Also, he levelled up some skills...how did he loose those levels when it just implies a greater ability and understanding on his part?
Death56
Can't wait for the skill experiments
Max
Tftc!
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
Adrian Rake
Return of „The groundhog day” 😂🙂👍
Val the mysterious Jedi
Twilight Zone/ ground hog day time
Seamus Harley
Now this has gone from an interesting arc to a fascinating arc, I wonder what he will end up doing with his skill combination tokens
ein Google Nutzer
I wonder how minjae will improve with him having more time to learn now
Pierre-clément LAMBRIX
I'm pretty sure Nat is going to try to combine many skills in the different iteration of the loop.
Kelto
Nat can try different Skill combinations without fear!!
Sail
Infinite chances to search for the ideal skill combination, also damn, this chapter made me want to read Mother of Learning
Nerø
Ohhh shittt. Is it possible that when they fail to protect the Candidate, floor itself restarts??
TheOne320
So a time loop until they figure out the truth? Interesting. Mother of learning style.
Conor
Nat can abuse this to try different skill combinations and settle on the one he truely likes
Tanean
Most likely they fail to protect the Ruler Candidate, so the system reset the floor instead of just killing them or never allowing them to progress to floor 9. In any case, time loop hype! :D
Bedivere the Mad
Academy time loop arc, hell yeah!
D Pryor
Whoa a failed quest!? Idky I loved that little twist
FuzziPeach
Time to cheese the tokens!
Extra16
Even if it’s a time loop, it’s weird that even his system stuff like the skill and token were reset, also an opportunity to try out new things I guess. But it makes me wonder if the loop is by the system as intentionally part of the floor or something else.
frankie doerr
And since we know about the ur line can he create it himself now
jj
A time loop mystery!! Yay!! Can't wait for this floor to ramp up!!
Dandaveeto
Mm good ol’ time loops
frankie doerr
So since we know that he gets the token back how are we going to milk this as much as possible
Test Test
Chapter 609, whooo!
Venno
I did not expect a time loop
D Pryor
I almost called the missing persons hotline
Sir Supports Alot
Woop
ChildConsumer
YIPPEE! FIRST!
vEnviouz
O.O!!! A TIME LOOP FLOOR!!!! OMFG!!! TFTC!!!
ChildConsumer
:D
