Chapter 1: Chapter 001: Transcending into a Two-Dimensional World
Chapter 001: Transcending into a Two-Dimensional World
[Superpower—Time Stop][But the drawback is ■■■■■■]
Lin Ye opened his eyes and was greeted by a string of text.
A few seconds later, the text disappeared as if it had never existed.
Superpower? What's going on?
But Lin Ye quickly remembered something else.
"I remember... wasn't I... dead?"
After graduating from college, he had joined the grind culture as an overworked employee in an internet company, endlessly cycling through grueling 007 schedules. After several sleepless nights and excessive overtime, he ended up in the ICU emergency ward. His consciousness finally faded into cold, lifeless silence.
And now...
Lin Ye looked around.
Brilliant, colorful lights filled his vision, music echoed in the air, and a massive audience waved glowing sticks, cheering and shouting.
Onstage, several girls dressed in red and black pleated-skirt uniforms were passionately dancing and singing.
Their graceful moves and melodious voices elicited wave after wave of cheers from the audience below.
He realized he was at some kind of concert.
Transmigration?
Lin Ye couldn't help but think. He fumbled around, eventually finding a phone and a passport.
Through the passport, he pieced together his current situation.
An individual from a major Eastern country, 17 years old, holding a study-abroad visa for Japan—apparently a high school student. His appearance was identical to his own.
"A parallel world counterpart? Or did I travel back to my younger self while also transmigrating into this world, replacing this world's 'me'?" As for further details, he had no idea.
He had no memories of this world's version of "himself." Lin Ye could only assume he had transmigrated and replaced this world's version of "himself."
At that moment, the performance on stage seemed to be reaching its conclusion.
A girl with long purple-black hair waved her right hand energetically. Her lively presence and delicate features shone charmingly under the spotlight. Every step she took exuded youthful energy as her uniform-clad figure moved gracefully.
"Everyone, thank you,"
"Thank you all for your continued support for B-Komachi,"
"And we hope you'll keep cheering for us,"
"B-Komachi will continue to bring you more amazing and wonderful performances."
Ai Hoshino, the eternal center of the idol group B-Komachi.
She held a microphone in hand, her starry eyes suddenly landing on a man in the front row of the audience.
"This performance was surprising,"
"Ai-chan was boldly confessed to by a fan who loves her! A first in her life! Wow, I'm so thrilled and happy,"
"But... Ai-chan is currently focused on her idol career and wants to bring even more wonderful performances to her fans, so, sorry, Ai-chan doesn't want to date right now!"
(Author's Note: In this version, Ai Hoshino has no romantic history, and many events from the original story do not exist.)
As Ai's regretful tone echoed from the stage, a burst of laughter broke out.
"Hahaha, Ai-chan is so funny! So sweet!"
"That's why we love Ai-chan."
"Ahhh, why didn't I confess? If I had, I'd be the first man to confess to Ai-chan!"
The audience's gazes focused on the man in question, turning him into another highlight of the evening.
"But as a reward for boldly confessing to Ai-chan, she's decided... to take a picture with him, hehe."
Instantly, a wave of jealousy and envy surged among the crowd.
"Wow! Is that really happening?"
"I want to take a photo with Ai-chan too! Ai-chan is so kind—she rejected his confession but immediately offered a photo as compensation. I want that too!"
"This guy is so lucky. He's definitely going to get selected by some weird game. I believe he'll clear it, hahaha."
"Why not pick me? If I went into a weird game, I'd come back alive, become a winner in life, and Ai-chan would instantly become my girlfriend. What a dream, huh!"
"Whose foot stinks? Kick him twice already."
Jealous and envious voices echoed all around.
Regret. Everyone regretted it! Why didn't they confess?
At that moment, the man at the center of everyone's attention ignored the envious and jealous stares from those around him, focusing his gaze on the beautiful girl with long purple hair and delicate features standing on stage.
Ai Hoshino.
Wasn't she the heroine from Oshi no Ko?
Had he transmigrated into the world of the Oshi no Ko anime? Or was this some two-dimensional world mixed with other universes?
Between the two, he'd prefer the latter.
There were so many two-dimensional heroines he wanted to meet!
For example, Mai... the famous star Mai. Compared to idols, big stars were better, right?
In that instant, a rapid flash of two-dimensional heroines' names and faces sped through Lin Ye's mind.
This had to be compensation for dying from overwork. All the luck he lacked in his past life was used up on transmigrating after death.
And he had a superpower, too—time stop.
The power's true strength was unknown, and it came with an unknown drawback.
But with a power like this, he could soar in this new world.
Wealth, power, beauty—all things that were out of reach no matter how hard he worked in his previous life—could now be easily obtained.
Becoming a winner in life with beauties in both arms was no longer a dream.
As for drawbacks?
If he didn't know what they were, then they didn't exist.
…
The concert ended.
Basking in the jealous and envious gazes of countless audience members, Lin Ye stayed put, waiting for the crowd to clear.
From the left side of the stage, he saw the purple-haired girl in her beautiful red-and-black uniform step down with a faint smile on her face as she approached him.
Ai Hoshino.
Standing just a meter away from the stunning girl, Lin Ye felt a fleeting tremor in his heart. He could even catch a sweet, pleasant scent emanating from her.
A goddess-like girl of this caliber was someone he could never even dream of approaching in his previous life.
But now... with a superpower like time stop, what woman was out of reach? Who wouldn't fall right into his hands?
Lin Ye's confidence surged to the brim, almost overflowing.
"Thank you for liking me and confessing. Really... thank you so much."
Ai Hoshino expressed her gratitude once again, bowing deeply. The gesture sparked a round of cheers from fans still in line to exit, marveling at her warmth and kindness.
They wished to be treated like that too.
"Your thanks ≠ you don't hate me, I get it."
"Uh…"
Ai Hoshino froze.
"Don't worry, I won't bother you again, nor will I become some extreme fan who stabs you with a knife."
Ai Hoshino flinched instinctively, a bad feeling surfacing in her heart.
Was this… a veiled threat?
It had to be, right?
"Ahem, alright, alright,"
The manager, a blond man in a suit, pulled out a Polaroid camera, aiming it at the two.
Ai Hoshino, suppressing the discomfort in her heart, stepped closer to Lin Ye.
"Hey, buddy, smile! Are you so nervous about taking a photo with our Ai-chan? Hahaha..."
Ai Hoshino leaned in a little closer, extended her right hand, and made a big thumbs-up gesture.
Click...
The photo was taken.
Ai Hoshino took the picture, scribbled the date and her name on it with colorful pens, and added a few hearts.
"Here. I hope you'll continue to support me in the future. Ai-chan looks forward to your support!"
She beamed a sweet, adorable, and playful smile.
"Support? Maybe in the next life!"
"Eh!"
Ai Hoshino froze in place, and even her manager, who had just taken two steps, stopped in his tracks.
"In this life, I'm going to support Mai. Mai is definitely better."
Ai Hoshino: ???
凸(艹皿艹), what's so good about Sakurajima Mai?!
Ai Hoshino was completely dumbfounded, her smile frozen on her face.
At this moment, Lin Ye was contemplating whether to use his time-stopping ability to test its effect.
His gaze fell on Ai Hoshino, quickly sizing her up.
This instinctively made Ai Hoshino feel uneasy.
"Love, love, my love…"
Suddenly,
A low, repressed male voice echoed from the shadows not far away.
A man in a black hoodie walked forward slowly with his head down, mumbling under his breath.
"Ai-chan… belongs to me,"
"For Ai-chan, I… I came back alive. I survived that strange game… and I came back,"
"Ai-chan, I support… you,"
"Tonight, Ai-chan… you'll be with me…"
…
Ai Hoshino looked at the approaching man dressed in black, and the fear in her heart grew stronger.
"Hey, stop! You punk—ah!"
The blonde manager suddenly let out a terrified scream, as if he had seen something horrifying, and collapsed to the ground.
"Mr. Saito…"
Ai Hoshino shouted.
The man in black lunged forward, chuckling darkly.
"Don't support Ai? Die."
He turned, locking eyes with Lin Ye. His gaze seemed to emit some kind of strange power, and in his hand, a knife glinted under the dim stage lights.
Lin Ye had originally planned to keep a low profile and quietly observe what would happen next.
Now,
"No more pretending."
Time stop activated.
'Zzzzz…'
The faint sound of an electric current flashed and disappeared.
The world seemed to freeze at that moment.
The man in black, mid-swing with his knife, was frozen in place. Ai Hoshino's wide, terrified eyes were also locked in time, as if everything had been immobilized.
Lin Ye first snatched the knife from the man's hand. On impulse, he thought about messing with him but decided against it. Instead, he approached Ai Hoshino, waved a hand in front of her, pinched her cheek, poked her face, and touched her gently.
Throughout it all, Ai Hoshino showed no reaction.
"It really is time stop. But I wonder if the world is truly frozen, or if I've sped up to a million times normal speed, making everything seem still."
He turned to the man in black and pulled off his hood.
Suddenly, Lin Ye froze in surprise.
On the man's forehead, a pitch-black orb was stuck like an adhesive.
An accessory? Mutation?
Lin Ye had a feeling this world wasn't as peaceful as it seemed.
'Plop…'
Through the fabric of the hood, Lin Ye carefully removed the black orb, wrapped it in several layers of cloth, and tucked it into his pocket.
Next…
'Thud, thud, thud…'
Lin Ye began punching the man in black's abdomen, blow after blow.
"Trying to kill me?"
"Extreme fanboy freak?"
"If not for me, Ai Hoshino would've been stabbed to death by you tonight."
Each punch landed with brutal force, the sound of impact echoing like a storm.
After a thorough beating, Lin Ye adjusted the man's posture and carefully positioned the knife in his hand. Before that, he wiped the knife clean of fingerprints.
He glanced at Ai Hoshino beside him and, as a final act, pinched her cheek one last time.
"Consider this your reward. Without my intervention, your fate tonight would've been far worse."
Time stop ended.
The world seemed to resume its motion in an instant.
"Die... ugh... argh…"
The black-clad man let out a pained cry as he stumbled and fell heavily to the ground.
Lin Ye quickly pulled Hoshino Ai away, shielding the girl behind him.
At this moment, Hoshino Ai was in shock.
What had she just witnessed? What had she just seen?
The world had stopped, frozen in time, while the man moved freely in that still world. He had violently beaten the black-clad man and made his arrangements, and as for her, he had taken advantage of her, touching and groping her.
She wanted to move, to avoid him, but there was nothing she could do.
Her body wouldn't obey her commands at all.
Not until the world returned to normal.
Hoshino Ai swallowed hard, her large eyes filled with astonishment.
In her vision, all she could see was the man's back in front of her.
The fan who had confessed to her and been rejected was a superpowered individual—more specifically, a superpowered individual with the ability to stop time. He must have obtained this incredible power from some kind of eerie game!
Hoshino Ai couldn't suppress her fear and worry, yet at the same time, she couldn't help but feel curious.
A living, breathing, extraordinarily strong, mysterious player!
The person from the rumors!
Lin Ye noticed the girl's fear through the corner of his eye.
It was perfectly normal for a young girl to feel scared and horrified after encountering a deranged fan and a bloody incident.
"Ugh… ahhhh…"
The smell of blood filled the air as red liquid continued to flow from the man's body.
"W-why… is this… happening…"
"I… I still wanted to be with Ai…"
Supporting himself with one hand, he reached out toward the panicked girl, seemingly trying to grab her.
"Ahhh…"
Finally, his scream of unwillingness turned into a roar of despair.
The man couldn't catch his breath, collapsed to the ground, and never moved again.
Dead.
At this moment, Hoshino Ai realized that the black-clad man who had attacked them was dead. She hugged herself tightly, her mind still in chaos, her body trembling slightly.
Lin Ye, on the other hand, began contemplating the limits of his time-stopping ability. With the crisis resolved, he decided to test its boundaries—its time limit, its range.
With this in mind, he began his experiment.
"Time stop, activate."
The world once again plunged into a state of stagnation. Lin Ye started counting his heartbeats to measure the elapsed time.
At the same time, he left the scene to observe the range of the time stop. Based on his observations, everything within his vicinity was frozen.
Suddenly, Lin Ye noticed a distinct change in his heartbeat—it was accelerating.
"Five minutes."
He noted the time point. However, he didn't stop the time stop and continued counting. After a while, he began to feel intense fatigue, approximately around the ten-minute mark.
Lin Ye also noticed slight difficulty in breathing.
Even though the time stop hadn't ceased, it seemed it could remain active indefinitely as long as he willed it to.
However, Lin Ye understood that, regardless of its theoretical unlimited duration, his body was enduring a certain level of strain. If he pushed it too far, his body would collapse from the burden.
"Phew,"
Lin Ye stopped the time freeze after approximately twelve or thirteen minutes, having returned to the concert venue.
"Five minutes is the safest limit, ten minutes is within the acceptable range, but beyond that, I'll need to consider the strain on my body."
"Frequent use of the time stop will accumulate physical and mental fatigue, requiring a period of rest to recover."
"Still, if I improve my physical fitness through training, I wonder if I can extend the duration of the time stop."
Was this a limitation of the time freeze? Lin Ye wasn't sure.
However, he understood that every ability had its limits and came with a price to pay.
"The most critical question is whether my lifespan continues to decrease while in the time-stop state."
Everything except him was trapped in the frozen world, but he wasn't. Was his life still ticking away?
Lin Ye glanced at his fingers. "A ten-minute duration isn't enough to judge the condition of my body through the healing of wounds or signs of aging."
He pondered the matter but couldn't think of a suitable method to test this for now.
Meanwhile, Hoshino Ai once again witnessed the world come to a halt. The man had used his time-freezing ability to stop the entire world, but this time, he neither killed anyone nor took advantage of any girls. Instead, he left the scene and returned about ten minutes later, seemingly testing or observing something.
And throughout the entire ordeal, she couldn't move or speak. All she could do was stare helplessly at the one figure in her field of vision capable of moving freely.
Who exactly was he? What kind of person was he?
These questions swirled in Hoshino Ai's mind.
Her starry purple eyes were entirely fixated on the figure of that man.
...
...
Fifteen minutes later, the police arrived. The body was taken away, and the manager, Saito, still seemed to be in shock and hadn't regained consciousness. He was sent to the hospital.
As for Lin Ye and Hoshino Ai, the two individuals directly involved were taken to the nearest police station for questioning.
About half an hour later,
The questioning and statement-taking concluded,
And the two were released from the station.
At this moment,
Hoshino Ai was still in a state of unease and panic, clutching the coat draped over her shoulders tightly. Her mental state wasn't great.
"Can you take me to the nearest hotel? It's about 200 meters away—I remember there's one nearby."
She had considered the possibility that Lin Ye might harm her, but the thought of his unreasonable time-stopping ability made her realize she was overthinking it.
If he really had malicious intentions, she wouldn't be able to refuse. She could even be utterly helpless if he decided to do whatever he wanted with her.
In many anime, when the male protagonist gains a time-stopping ability, girls often end up being taken advantage of. She understood that if this man with the time-stopping ability had any bad intentions toward her, she wouldn't stand a chance.
But since he had principles and boundaries, he could be trusted.
The night was deep, with not a hint of moonlight. The faint starlight and the dim glow from the streetlights on both sides offered little illumination.
Lin Ye agreed to her request.
The two walked side by side.
At some point,
The fog around them grew thicker.
The surroundings became even quieter—so silent that even the sound of insects was absent. The night wind brought a slight chill.
Soon,
In the distance, a building with lights came into view, glowing in red and purple hues—the only source of light in the dark night.
Lin Ye led Hoshino Ai straight toward it.
When he got close enough to see the sign hanging on the building, he froze.
Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel.
Heart of Love, Love Hotel?
Hoshino Ai had asked him to take her to a love hotel. Was this some kind of hint?
Was a two-dimensional heroine this open and forward?
Was she really offering herself tonight?
Was this actually happening?
At that moment,
Hoshino Ai looked at the love hotel and seemed to realize something. Her face turned pale in an instant.
"Ding!"
"Welcome to Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel."
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