The morning air in Tokinomachi always felt cold—not because of the weather, but because of the pressure of time hanging like an invisible fog.
Zetsu sat on a metal bench in the city park—a park without trees, only a giant hourglass standing in the center. Around him, dozens of people passed by silently, each with a glowing blue timeband on their wrist. All of them looked anxious, as if every step drained a second from their lives.
Zetsu looked at his band.
[83:21:47]Eighty-three hours, twenty-one minutes, and forty-seven seconds.
That was how much time he had left to live.
"If I do nothing… I'll be dead in three days," he muttered softly.
Footsteps approached from behind. A little girl with silver-blonde hair came near. She wore a worn-out uniform and a pair of tattered sandals. But her eyes were sharp—far too sharp for a child her age.
"If you just sit here, you're wasting time," she said. "An hour of idling can cost you a whole day of life if you don't have passive income."
Zetsu said nothing. The girl sat beside him without asking.
"I'm Lifa. You're new here, aren't you?"
"…Yeah. Zetsu," he replied briefly.
"I've been here two months," she said proudly. "I've survived this long because I'm smart. Most of the people who came in with me… already turned to ash at the Execution Center."
Zetsu frowned. "Execution Center?"
Lifa turned to him, surprised he hadn't heard of it.
"That's where people go when their time runs out. Some explode when their counter hits zero. Others… slowly fade away. But the worst are the ones taken by the Shokutai."
Zetsu took a deep breath.
Shokutai. Mysterious beings in black, with cracked hourglass masks. They didn't speak. They only came when someone's time hit zero—and erased them from existence.
Lifa continued with a strangely cheerful tone, despite the grim subject.
"But you're in luck. There's a time auction today. If you're smart, you can buy yourself a few extra minutes. But of course, you'll have to work first."
"Time auction?"
"Yup. The leftover time of the dead is auctioned to the public. But it's expensive. That's why you need to take a shift at the Time Factory. They pay you by the second."
Zetsu stood slowly. "Which way?"
Lifa pointed toward a massive building with a giant hourglass chimney on the edge of the city.
"Follow me. I work there too."
The Time Factory.
The air reeked of metal and lubricant. The sound of gears and clinking machines echoed endlessly. Zetsu stood in a long line of newcomers, each holding a digital work form issued by Tokinomachi's system.
"Name?""Zetsu."
"Skills?"
Zetsu hesitated. He thought hard. "I… studied a bit of design."
The clerk glanced at the holographic screen. "Not relevant."
PRANG!
His timeband blinked red.
[82:59:11]
He had lost one hour just signing up.
The clerk handed him a helmet and directed him into the Level C work corridor.
Inside, it was quieter—but heavier.
Each person sat at a production panel, assembling tiny parts into massive clock structures that looked like old wall clocks. Zetsu's task was simple: place a single gear into position, then slide it onto the conveyor belt.
One gear = 0.5 seconds.100 gears = 50 seconds.To earn a single hour of life, he'd have to work almost nonstop.
Zetsu carried out the task silently. His hands stiff, eyes heavy. But his mind spun with a single thought: Who built this world? Who controls it?
A man beside him suddenly spoke without turning.
"If you only work like this, you'll die poor."
Zetsu turned. The man wore a different timeband—purple instead of blue.
"I was like you once. Hardworking. Straightforward. But this world doesn't reward that."
"Then what should I do?" Zetsu asked quietly.
The man gave a faint smile. "You need to learn the system. This world was designed like a game. And every game… can be cheated, if you know the loopholes."
Evening fell. Zetsu's band showed:
[84:02:17]
He had gained just over an hour through a long shift and high efficiency—but his body was thoroughly exhausted.
When he stepped out of the factory, Lifa was already waiting.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
Zetsu gave a weary smile. "I'm still alive."
Lifa checked her own band. "And now you have enough time… to join tonight's auction."
Zetsu turned to her.
Lifa's eyes sparkled beneath the city lights.
"If you really want to live here, Zetsu…then tonight, you take your first step—not as a victim,but as a player."