Prologue: Mis-Time

Being late is subjective.

No matter how strict the schedule, that timeline is just a reference. And if you cross that line, then yes—you’re late. But what if the clock is wrong? What if your phone didn’t sync with world time?

Is it really late? And for what, exactly?

If we agreed on a time to meet, it’s because we wanted something more than just to see each other. If we’re late, then… does it mean we can’t do what we intended to do?

What if we got the time wrong? What if it was supposed to be earlier?

I see people desperate to be on time, as if time itself were a god to be worshipped. A god that doesn’t forgive, doesn’t wait, doesn’t stop for anything or anyone.

Is it really worth worshipping?

I lost the most time when I wasn’t wasting it—and gained the most only when I forgot time existed.

When I overslept and missed the train that crashed in a head-on collision. When I left school late and met my best friend. Did I waste time with my ex-girlfriend, when we spent hours talking nonsense and missed the play… only to have our first kiss in the park instead?

I avoided the rush so much that being late became my way of life. It was in delay that life gifted me this path—the one that, by missing a game, let me see my grandfather one last time.

Stolen novel; please report.

But this time… This time, I’ll be early.

I don’t want to be late to the entrance ceremony. I promised my mother. And for her, I’ll break the unspoken vow I made to live only in the moment.

Today, I’ll be early. Just for her. And maybe… for the first time, that will change something.

"He’s still breathing! Get the stretcher!"

It only lasted a moment, but it was the longest moment of my life.

"Help me lift him!"

Dust clogged my eyes and lungs. I could barely breathe. I couldn’t feel anything.

"Hook him up to the machine! Stabilize him!"

A second stretched into a minute… and that minute became eternal.

With blurred vision, staring up at the sky, I realized my time was running out. And I couldn’t say to her… how thankful I was.

"Leave him! If we wait for ER, it’ll be too late! We can’t save him!"

Even though I lived every moment… That moment—the only one that mattered—never came.

I never told her how much I loved her.

Now, time has stopped.

"It’s no use. There’s nothing we can do."

And with me…

…

…

"Do you want to know… what fate had prepared for you?"

…

"Would you give everything… for just one more chance?"

…

"Tell me, please… do you want to live… a little longer?"

…

I want… to live… I want…

"Then… Welcome to Line Corrector!"

…

Her voice faded with my senses…

And time came to a halt.

I don’t know if it was a second… or a century.