Kabanata 3: Chapter 3 – The First Test Performance
The wind in the purple ancient forest fell completely silent,
as though the Time Layer itself was preparing a stage meant only for two people.
The silver-haired girl gently placed the gear-shaped music box on a stone altar.
Tick…tick…
Clock sounds echoed in the air—even though she hadn't opened the box yet.
> "This is the true test of the Art of Time,"
she said with a gentle smile — half innocent, half abyssal.
"In this Epoch, physical strength means nothing.
What matters is whether you can hear…
which sound belongs to Time, and which one belongs to the human heart."
Ren shifted one foot back.
He already knew this wasn't a normal opponent.
This was a musician of the Time Layer.
Ting—
The music box started playing by itself.
Every note it produced caused the trees to "return to saplings"… then immediately die again, over and over.
> Every sound… accelerates the flow of time…
Ren gritted his teeth.
He drew the Thread of Fate into the air—
and the moment the thread touched the melody, it broke apart and vanished.
The girl raised a finger to her lips.
> "In this Epoch… if you touch the Sound of Time with your power,
the sound will become a reverse condition and force your own time to reach its final moment."
Ren halted instantly.
This was a mind game.
If he attacked directly, his own life span would be pushed to its limit.
> "…Which means…
I need to inject my power into another sound and make the real Sound of Time separate itself…"
His eyes narrowed.
Ren stretched out a hand—
and instead of attacking… he snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The sharp sound pierced the air.
It became a new sound—not part of the Epoch.
In that instant, a faint black wave separated itself from the music box's melody.
That was the Sound of Time.
> "Found it."
Golden light flashed from his pocket watch.
The Thread of Fate shot forward—
SLASH—!!
The Sound of Time was cut.
Immediately, the melody stopped.
The music box shattered into small gears.
The silver-haired girl looked up at Ren… and smiled softly.
> "You have passed… the First Test Performance of Epoch Two."
A single hidden bell tone rang out behind her.
A purple gear-shaped door appeared amid the trees.
> "But be warned… the one waiting behind that door doesn't bind time with sound.
He twists it—layer by layer—until its meaning breaks."
Ren narrowed his eyes.
> "If this Epoch tested my ability to listen…
I guess the next one will test… my mind."
The girl did not answer.
She slowly dissolved into thin air—as if she had been nothing more than a sound all along.
Ren pressed the glowing pocket watch to his chest
and stepped through the gear-shaped gate
—without looking back even once.
The real performance… had only just begun.
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