Since N tends to lag quite a bit for some players, I think that in-game time could be used as an alternative timing method, since the game has a built-in timer. Thoughts?

I'm all for it, although we could make it so there's an in-game time and real time column on the leaderboards. Most games with loadless timers have that on here.

How would in-game timing work?

I said this in our discord, but I'll copy it here so anyone can read it.

I think it would be really cumbersome to calculate in game time, and in addition to being able to take breaks between levels, it would also allow for pause exploitation. It's unfortunate, but I think speedrunning any game requires someone to have a computer that can run the game smoothly. I just wish it wasn't a flash game so we could at least solve the lag more easily.

That being said, I'd be willing to take a vote on this if people like the idea.

I'm also interested to hear any other opinions on this. This isn't something I've ever thought about.