Five Frozen Centuries

“Passengers who have not boarded the bus, please hurry up! The bus heading to K Town will be departing soon!”

A driver was shouting out from the window in the service area next to an expressway. One after another, passengers started boarding the bus. The driver looked behind him and asked, “Is there anyone else who hasn’t gotten on? Check if your friends are here? We’ll be departing soon!”

The passengers at the back replied, “Everybody is here, we can depart!”

The driver nodded his head and started the engine. He gradually drove the bus out of the service area. At that moment, a young man seemingly in his 20s barged out of the toilet in the service area. He shouted at the bus, “Wait, I haven’t got onto the bus yet!”

However, the distance between the young man and the bus was too far. The driver could not hear him at all as the bus drove into the highway and kept speeding up. After a few seconds, the bus was out of sight.

The young man was speechless. “…”

‘Why?!’

That young man was called Wei Huo. He turned 19 this year. Ever since he was born, he always had a weak presence. He was once left out by his teacher during a class spring outing and had no choice but to go to the amusement park alone. At the amusement park, he encountered a trafficker who ended up ignoring his presence, allowing him to escape back home. By the time he was home, he found that both his parents had forgotten to prepare his meal portion. Left with no choice, he went out to get a cup of instant noodles and did not even have to pay because the shop owner ignored his presence.

His weak presence was literally a curse and now, even the bus driver neglected him.

“School is reopening tomorrow, what should I do now?” Wei Huo almost broke down. He took out his phone and turned on the navigation. The nearest exit from that highway was at least 20 kilometers away.

‘Arghh! Why is my presence always so weak?’

Wei Huo was about to lose his mind when suddenly a voice appeared from within him. It felt like it was coming from his surroundings, but at the same time, it also felt like it was coming from somewhere deep inside his heart. The voice only said one sentence.

“Time halted!”

At the next moment, everybody in the service area stopped moving and stayed in their position with frozen expressions as though buffering a video stream. Everyone stayed still.

If it were not for the birds’ chirping outside the service area and a stream of water flowing out from a tap, Wei Huo would have thought that the whole world stopped running.

Wei Huo looked at the surrounding people in shock. They were not even moving an inch. Some of them were in a walking position with one foot out and their body leaning forward. They were just frozen right there. It was impossible for a human to stay in such a position. Time halted was the only logical explanation.

‘But, why am I not frozen?

‘Am I neglected again?’

A bold idea suddenly struck Wei Huo’s mind…

Wei Huo walked up to a restaurant waiter and patted him on the shoulder. However, he realized that the waiter’s shoulder was as hard as steel. It was then that he noticed a layer of dim golden radiance surrounding each person’s body. It seemed like that radiance was protecting every human from harm.

Wei Huo picked up a cup of coffee and splashed it onto the waiter’s body. Surprisingly, the coffee trickled down along the golden radiance. It did not leave a trace on the waiter’s body.

Seeing this, Wei Huo finally understood what the time halt meant. It was just like how a person was frozen in absolute zero conditions. Both the mind and body were halted. Due to the golden radiance’s protection, time would not leave a single trace on them. Not even coffee!

However, at that moment, Wei Huo suddenly realized a serious problem. Time was halted for everybody. They did not need to eat or drink, and they were protected. How about him? He would be thirsty, hungry, tired, and hurt.

‘Hey, God! Please don’t forget to halt me too.’

Right at that moment, the mysterious voice appeared again somewhere deep within Wei Huo’s heart.

“New menu ‘Character Attributes’ added.”

Right after that voice disappeared, Wei Huo felt something in his head. He noticed that he could now open the Attributes Menu by just thinking about it. The Attributes Menu was a five-pointed star made up of five round discs. Different words were written on each disc. Social, Inventory, Character, Needs, and Health.

Wei Huo was not sure if the discs were actually appearing on his retina or if it just popped up in his head. However, it seemed like he could open any of the five options with just a single thought.

A thought came to Wei Huo’s mind, and the Social Feed was opened. It was empty, and the same went for the Inventory Menu. However, he found something when he whipped out the Character Menu.

The Character Menu listed 10 skills. Shooting, Wrestling, Beast-taming, Medicine, Culinary, Construction, Farming, Art, Crafting, and Research. Currently, these skills could not be unlocked and each had their own skill levels. Other than Wrestling skill being at level one, Wei Huo’s other skills were at level zero.

He opened the Needs Menu next. In the Needs Menu, the Hunger bar, Thirst bar, and Rest bar were shown. All three values were currently at around 70% but it was gradually reduced over time.

The following tab was the Health Menu. The attributes Age and Lifespan greeted his eye when he opened the Health Menu. ‘Age: 19 Years Old. Lifespan: 88 Years.’ Other than that would be Mobility, Operability, Speech, Reproductivity, Vision, Hearing, Breathing, and so on. All the abilities were at a healthy level. The Disease bar also showed no signs of sickness.

Wei Huo felt slightly relieved after reading the Attributes Menu. It would not be that bad if he could monitor himself through the menu. Since the whole world halted, it would not be a big deal if he grabbed some food and drinks from the store and stayed the night at a hotel, right? Wei Huo’s main concern was the duration of time halt. What if it stopped for several hundred years?

After a while, the voice came back again.

“Achievement System implemented.

“Increasing influence of natural calamities such as solar flare, solar eclipse, and temperature changes toward organisms.

“Accelerating animal mutation and reproduction.

“Increasing the number of Titan and Legendary creatures.”

…

The voice kept coming back every five minutes. Wei Huo’s heart sank each time he heard that voice. He was too naïve. His primary goal now was not to eat, drink, and rest. He should be discovering how to survive in this perilous world.

The god-like existence’s voice suddenly stopped after a series of augmentations and modifications made. Wei Huo’s eyes lit up as a glimmer of hope sparked in his heart.

Was time starting to flow? The survival rate would be much higher if he cooperated with others rather than struggling alone.

The next moment an emotionless, electronically synthesized female voice rang within Wei Huo’s heart.

“Congratulations! You have just unlocked ‘The Loner Abandoned by God’ achievement.

“Obtaining this title allows you to permanently enter into ‘Camouflaged Mode’. Chances of other creatures discovering you will be reduced by 75%.”

Wei Huo was speechless. “…”

Wei Huo thought that time was finally starting to flow again, but it was just the Achievement System granting him a title. However, he could not deny the fact that the title’s function was beneficial. At least it gave Wei Huo the assurance and hopes to survive. Regardless, Wei Huo still did not know whether he should be happy or sad.