His hand moved almost automatically, pressing the file. But before it could open, the screen was suddenly filled with black-and-white noise. A hoarse electronic voice crackled from the terminal speaker.
"…if you hear this… don't let—"
The voice was cut off by the campus alarm suddenly blaring loudly.
All screens turned red.
WARNING. ENERGY DISRUPTION DETECTED IN CENTRAL SECTOR. LIMITED EVACUATION ADVISED.
Alven stood up instantly.
Central sector.
Central plaza.
Where Lica was waiting.
Without thinking, he ran out of the archive room, down the corridor, pushing through the growing panic of students. The alarm echoed off the glass walls, emergency lights flashed red, and in the distance came the sound of something exploding—still small, but enough to make the floor tremble.
"Lica," he muttered.
He rushed down the emergency stairs two steps at a time. By the time he reached the ground floor, the campus was already in chaos. People were running toward the exits, some ducking and covering their heads. Thin smoke began creeping from the direction of the central plaza.
Alven forced his way through the crowd.
As soon as he reached the open area, the world seemed to slow down.
The plaza, once crowded, was now filled with wild bursts of electricity from the energy tower at its center. Its main light source pulsed unstably, spewing blue sparks into the air. Several glass panels shattered and scattered. Screams mixed with the sound of cracking metal.
And near the tower, Alven saw Lica.
She stood frozen with two other students, perhaps too shocked to move. A large metal frame above the tower began to come loose, tilting slowly to one side.
"Lica!" Alven shouted at the top of his lungs.
Lica turned.
For a brief moment, their eyes met in the chaos.
Alven ran toward her, but everything happened too fast. A surge of energy exploded from the tower's core, striking the unstable metal structure. A burst of blue-white light tore through the air. A wave of heat slammed into Alven's face. His body was thrown backward.
A deafening sound filled the world.
When his vision cleared, the first thing he saw was shards of glass falling like rain.
The second was Lica's body hitting the plaza floor.
"No…"
Alven forced himself to stand despite the pain in his knees. His ears rang violently. Smoke and dust filled the air, blurring everything. He stumbled—half running, half falling—toward Lica.
She lay motionless on the ground, a thin line of blood running from her temple. Her eyes were half open, but unfocused.
Alven dropped to his knees beside her.
"Lica. Lica, look at me." His hands trembled as he touched her shoulder. "Please… don't do this. Please."
Lica's lips moved faintly, as if trying to say something, but her voice was drowned out by the approaching sirens.
"Alven…" she whispered at last, barely audible.
"I'm here."
Lica's eyes looked at him—weak, confused—then slowly dimmed.
Something inside Alven shattered.
"No! No, listen to me—" his breath broke. "You said I had to come to the presentation. You said not to run away. I'm here, so don't go now. Don't—"
His hand clenched the pendant in his pocket as tightly as possible, as if the pain in his palm could wake him from this nightmare.
And at that moment, the Chronolocket opened on its own.
A golden-blue light burst from between his fingers.
The air around him twisted. The sirens stretched into a strange echo. The city lights, the smoke, the blood on his fingers, Lica's pale face—all of it seemed to be pulled backward by an unseen force.
Alven screamed, but his voice was swallowed by the spiraling sound of a frenzied ticking clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Then everything stopped.
Alven jolted awake at his desk in class.
The professor's voice was clear at the front of the room.
Daylight streamed through the windows.
Students' tablets glowed normally.
Beside him, Lica leaned in and whispered irritably, "If you keep spacing out like that, the professor might call on you."
Alven turned, his breath caught.
Lica was there.
Alive.
Whole.
No blood. No explosion. No alarm.
The digital clock on the wall read 09:17.
Twelve hours before Lica's death.
Alven stared at her face, too shocked to respond.
Lica frowned slightly. "Alven… why are you looking at me like that?"
Because for a moment, he had just lost you.
And now time had given him a second chance.
But if time could truly turn back, would he be able to save Lica… without destroying everything?
Alven stared at Lica without blinking. The professor's voice, the sound of tablet notifications, and the murmurs of other students felt distant, as if he were inside a glass chamber separating him from the world. His heart pounded violently against his chest. His right hand, which had just been gripping blood and shards of glass, was now only holding a cold stylus on the desk.
"Alven?" Lica whispered again, softer this time.
"You're seriously scaring me."
He swallowed. His throat was dry. "You… are you okay?"
Lica frowned, then touched her own forehead as if checking herself. "I should be asking you that. You look really pale."
Alven turned to the digital clock on the wall. 09:17. His eyes moved quickly to the professor's presentation screen, to the positions of the students, to the sunlight coming through the window. Everything was exactly the same as he remembered before the alarm sounded. Before the explosion. Before Lica lay lifeless in his arms.
This was not a dream.
He remembered the Chronolocket in his inner jacket pocket. It now felt warm, as if it had just finished doing something. Alven's breath caught. His mother's message echoed again in his mind: When the time comes, trust no one.
The time had come.
The class bell rang. Students began to stand. The professor closed the lesson, unaware that for Alven, the world had just been destroyed and reassembled in a matter of seconds. Lica stood and adjusted her tablet, but her gaze never left Alven's face.
"Do you want to go to the clinic?" she asked.
Alven stood up too quickly, his chair scraping loudly. Several students turned to look. He didn't care. "We shouldn't go to the central plaza this afternoon."
Lica blinked. "What?"
"Don't go there. Don't wait for me there. Don't go near the energy tower."
Lica's expression shifted from concern to confusion. "Alven, what are you talking about?"
He wanted to explain—but how? That he had just seen Lica die? That time had rewound? That a necklace left by his mother might have broken the laws of reality? It all sounded insane, even in his own head.
"I'm serious," he said finally, forcing the tremor out of his voice. "Whatever happens, at lunchtime you stay with me. Don't be alone."
Lica looked at him closely. There were a thousand questions in her eyes, but for the first time, she didn't press. "Okay," she said softly. "If that makes you feel better."
They walked out of the classroom together. The campus corridor was filled with daylight and ordinary conversation, as if the universe was deliberately mocking the panic in Alven's chest. Every second now felt like a countdown to something he had already seen—something that might still be prevented.
Alven slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and felt the metal surface of the Chronolocket. The cold sensation crept back to his fingertips.
If he had truly been given a second chance, then he had to save Lica.
But if time demanded a price for every change, would he be able to accept whatever had to be lost afterward?