Asahi's eyes flickered open.
His breath—shaky.His body—heavy.
A dull ache pulsed in his skull. His fingers twitched as he slowly turned his head toward the desk.And there it was.
The clock.
The time—8:00
But no… something was wrong.
The numbers didn't change.The seconds didn't move.
It was just—8.
A single, unmoving 8.
A cold whisper left his lips.
"Huh…?"
A strange, crawling sensation gripped his spine.
Was this… referring to something?
His gut twisted.A creeping thought entered his mind.
But before he could process it—
He forced himself up.
His body—failing.His muscles—burning.His bones—screaming.
Yet still—he walked.
Each step—painful.Each breath—shallow.
But still—he reached for the door.
His trembling fingers wrapped around the handle.His heartbeat pounded against his ribs.
And then—
—PAIN.
A sharp, unimaginable pain exploded inside his skull.
His vision darkened.His ears rang.The world twisted.
Then—
LOOP RESET.
GASP!
Asahi's eyes snapped open.His breath hitched.His entire body jolted awake.
His hands gripped the bedsheets, his mind screaming.
His first instinct—
Look at the clock.
His head turned.His pupils shrank.
9.
His breath—shaking.His chest—tightening.
Not 8.
9.
Asahi's lips parted.
"…No way…"
His entire body—cold.
Something is wrong.
He clenched his fists.
His muscles screamed.His bones ached.
But still, he forced himself up.
Step by step, he staggered toward the door.
His vision blurred.His heartbeat pounded against his skull.
His voice—hoarse.
"I have to get out…"
His trembling fingers reached for the handle.
A deep breath—
And then—
He pulled it open.
—PAIN.
A suffocating, crushing force slammed into his skull.
His vision spiraled.The floor beneath him vanished.
Darkness swallowed him whole—
LOOP RESET.
GASP!
His eyes flew open.
His body jerked as if waking from a nightmare.His hands clawed at the sheets.
He was back—again.
His first instinct—
Look at the clock.
His head turned.
10.
His breath hitched.
"Again…"
Not 8.Not 9.
Now—10.
His breathing quickened.
"D… Did I just loop?"
His fingers twitched.
His body ached—but this wasn't the exhaustion of waking up after sleep.
No.
Something was wrong.
His heart pounded against his ribs.His breath—shallow, uneven.
"But… I didn't even sleep."
His mind raced.This wasn't normal.
This wasn't like the other loops.
He gritted his teeth, forcing his mind to focus.
Then—
Realization hit him like a truck.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Oh… it's because of him."
His hands trembled.His head slowly turned toward the door.
The Black Man.
He was the only thing different this time.
Asahi's breathing quickened.His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
His voice—low, dark.
"When he entered… he put a hole in it."
The image of the Black Man tearing through the Dimensional Dream flashed in his mind.
Ripping it apart.Breaking through a space that wasn't meant to be touched.
That was it.
That was the glitch.
"He broke the loop mechanism."
The time loops were never meant to work this way.And now… they were unstable.
He shouldn't be looping right now.
He should still be awake.Still be in that fight.
But here he was.
Reset.
His mind spun.
"Which means… FA is the only one who can fix it."
FA was the only one left inside the Dimensional Dream.The only one who could stabilize the loop.
But—
"In this loop… FA doesn't know yet."
Because the FA in this timeline hadn't experienced what just happened.
The glitched loop…
was something only Asahi remembered.
And if FA didn't realize the loop was broken—
Then the Black Man must've spawned somewhere else.
Asahi felt his chest tighten.
This was bad.
No—
This was worse than bad.
He had no idea where the Black Man was now.No way to predict his next move.
And—
His head throbbed.
His body swayed.
"…Shit…"
His vision blurred.His muscles screamed.His body felt heavier than before.
"Looks like… I have to wait."
But—
Waiting meant standing still.
And standing still meant—
His mind would start cracking apart.
His eyes darted to the clock.
12.
Twelve loops.
Twelve times he's reset.
And he hadn't slept for days.
If he wasn't careful…If he let his guard down for even a second—
He'd fall asleep.
And if he slept now, while the loop was glitched—
Would he even wake up?
His fingers dug into his palm.
His voice—low, determined.
"I need something to distract me…"
His eyes burned.His body ached.
But he had no choice.
If he wanted to fix this…If he wanted to survive this loop…
He had to stay awake.
No matter what.
Asahi's breathing—slow.
Too slow.
His chest barely moved.
His eyes locked onto the clock.
12 ➝ 13
His breath hitched.
"W… what?"
Again.
13 ➝ 14
A cold chill shot through his spine.
His heart skipped a beat.
Something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong.
And in that moment—
His body felt heavier.His chest—tighter.His breath—shaky.
His mind screamed at him.
He was getting weaker.
Every time the number increased…
His body lost more strength.
And then—
The numbers on the clock blurred.
Then—
They changed.
50 ➝ 51
Asahi couldn't even flinch.
He just stared.
At the ceiling.At the nothingness above him.At the emptiness that mirrored his own.
And yet—
A single thought remained.
A single, desperate hope.
"FA… help me…"
The clock ticked on.
Relentless.
Unforgiving.
57 ➝ 58 ➝ 59
And then—
—A pause.
The first mistake in the pattern.
57… 57… 57…
A glitch.
A flicker.
And then—
The numbers jumped.
57 ➝ 67
Asahi: (His body… it's heavier…)
His fingers twitched. His arms wouldn't move.
The numbers surged forward.
67 ➝ 77
His lungs burned.
His vision—darker.
77 ➝ 89
Asahi: (I can't… feel anything anymore…)
His mind was fading.
His body—shutting down.
Yet somehow—
His eyes were still open.
Still watching.
Still waiting.
For what?
For someone.
For FA.
89 ➝ 99
His body—numb.
His heartbeat—slowing.
His thoughts—nothing but static.
And then—
100.
His eyelids fell.
His mind collapsed.
His consciousness sank.
—
SILENCE.
—
A sound.
A crack.
A voice.
???
"YES!"
A spark.
A ripple in the void.
???
"FINALLY! I'VE REPAIRED IT!"
Light—blinding.
The suffocating weight lifted.
Asahi: (Breath—returning. Eyes—opening.)
The darkness was gone.
He blinked.
The white walls.
The endless nothingness.
The only place where he could still exist.
The Dimensional Dream.
And then—
A face.
A face he had been dying to see.
A face he thought he might never see again.
Asahi's breath hitched.
His body shook.
His vision—blurring, but not from exhaustion.
From something else.
Something deeper.
Something called relief.
FA stood there. Smirking. Arms crossed.
FA:
"Welcome back, dumbass."
Asahi stared.
His throat tightened.
His chest ached.
His lips trembled.
Then—
A small, broken smile.
He survived.