The device in the man's hand was small.
Black.
Smooth.
With a faint blue light blinking on its surface.
Liya's instincts immediately screamed danger.
"That doesn't look like a phone."
The man didn't answer.
He simply held the device up slightly.
Ethan glanced at it.
"Let me guess."
"Time police gadget?"
The man's voice stayed calm.
"A temporal enforcement tool."
Ethan blinked.
"…Yeah, that sounds exactly like time police."
Liya stepped slightly in front of Ethan.
"What does it do?"
The man answered plainly.
"It prevents anomalies."
"By doing what?"
He looked directly at Ethan.
"Ensuring the loop completes."
Silence.
Liya's hands clenched.
"You're going to kill him."
"If necessary."
Ethan sighed.
"Okay, I preferred the falling piano version."
The man ignored the joke.
His thumb moved slightly on the device.
The blue light began blinking faster.
Ethan's phone buzzed again in his pocket.
He pulled it out.
The time glowed on the screen.
11:08 PM
Fifty-two minutes left.
The man spoke quietly.
"You still have time to cooperate."
Ethan looked at him.
"And what does cooperation look like?"
"You accept the reset."
"You die peacefully."
"And the loop stabilizes."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Yeah, that's not happening."
The man's eyes hardened slightly.
"You are risking catastrophic instability."
Ethan shrugged.
"I've heard worse pitches."
Liya stepped closer to Ethan.
"You're not touching him."
The man studied her for a moment.
"You're the anomaly."
She lifted her chin.
"So what?"
"You shouldn't exist in this loop."
"Too bad."
Something flickered across the man's expression.
Almost… curiosity.
"Interesting."
Then the device beeped once.
A quiet digital sound.
Ethan's phone suddenly glitched.
The screen flickered.
The clock changed.
11:09 PM
Then 11:10 PM
Then back to 11:08 PM.
Liya noticed immediately.
"What did you just do?"
The man answered calmly.
"I'm syncing the reset point."
Ethan frowned.
"Translation?"
"I'm locking midnight."
A chill ran down Liya's spine.
"What does that mean?"
The man spoke slowly.
"No matter what you do…"
"…midnight will arrive."
The air felt heavier.
Ethan slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"Well."
"That sounds inconvenient."
The man pointed the device toward him.
"You cannot escape the reset."
Ethan tilted his head.
"Escape?"
He smiled slightly.
"I'm not trying to escape."
The man narrowed his eyes.
"Then what are you doing?"
Ethan looked at the dark sky above the city.
Then back at him.
"I'm trying to survive."
The device in the man's hand beeped again.
This time louder.
The blue light turned red.
The man glanced at it briefly.
Then something surprising happened.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Not frustration.
Concern.
Liya noticed instantly.
"What is it?"
The man stared at the device.
"That's not possible."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Always a fun sentence."
The man looked toward the skyline suddenly.
"Something else is interfering with the timeline."
Liya's stomach dropped.
"…What?"
The device beeped faster.
Then a warning message appeared on its screen.
The man whispered the words slowly.
"Secondary anomaly detected."
Ethan blinked.
"Wait."
"Secondary?"
The man looked back at them.
But this time…
His calm confidence was gone.
"Someone else just entered the loop."
And somewhere in the city…
A third player had just joined the game. ⏳