Eren awoke to the echo of rain…
but the sound wasn't real.
It was as if time itself was trying to remember what rain was supposed to sound like.
The city moved slowly around him.
People crossed the streets, cars passed by —
but he couldn't ignore that strange sensation in his chest —
as if his heart was beating outside of time.
He lifted his wrist… the counter was gone.
The clock had disappeared.
In its place was a gray circle, expanding slowly like a dead pulse.
> [System synchronization: 12%... 24%...]
[Warning: unstable timeline detected.]
He gasped and looked around.
No one heard anything.
The voice was inside his head —
or maybe inside another timeline.
---
Behind him, a rough voice spoke:
> "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost, time-less one."
Eren turned.
A man in torn clothes stood there, wearing a black watch on his wrist —
unlike any watch he'd ever seen.
It didn't show numbers… it showed names.
He asked, his voice trembling:
> "Who are you?"
The stranger smiled faintly, as if it were a stupid question:
> "I'm one who lives outside the counter… just like you."
Eren froze.
How did he know?!
The man extended his hand calmly:
> "Welcome to the broken side of time, Number 13."
---
In that instant, everything stopped.
The rain froze in midair,
the city's breath halted,
even the echo of footsteps vanished.
Before his eyes, a strange sight unfolded —
the sky split open to reveal a colossal clock turning backward,
and dozens of glowing eyes watched him from within its gears.
> [System initialization complete.]
[Welcome, Timebound.]
Everything around him shattered like glass.
The city dissolved, the people faded into air,
and he found himself in an endless gray void
where gears and suspended clocks drifted through space.
Then he heard the voice again —
clearer now, more real:
> [You have been registered as Temporal Subject #13.]
[Primary ability unlocked: "Minute Reversal."]
[Each use will cost one memory.]
---
He looked up —
and before him stood his reflection,
a perfect copy of himself, staring with empty eyes.
It spoke with a voice devoid of emotion:
> "How many times will you die before you learn that time cannot be rewound?"
Then the reflection crumbled into dust made of light,
leaving behind a small silver clock in his hand.
> [Item obtained: Clock of Echoes.]
[Effect: Stores up to 60 seconds of reversed time.]
---
When he opened his eyes again,
he was standing on the same street where he had died just minutes ago.
People moved, the rain fell,
everything seemed normal —
except for one thing.
His mother's face… he couldn't remember it anymore.
Yet deep in his mind,
he felt something smiling at him —
as if time itself was watching.
> "The game has begun… prisoner of time."