December 6, 2026, 2:37 AM.
Mai Mingle lowered her head. The light from her phone screen flooded her eyes, filling her vision and her mind with a vast, snowy white. The world was deathly silent.
For a moment, she couldn't move.
It was as if by staring at the time, by monitoring it, she could make it freeze. Then she wouldn't have to think about the darkness quietly awaiting her at the end of her life.
2:38 AM. The time jumped forward a minute. It felt like it had landed on her nerves, jolting Mai Mingle with a sudden pang of pain.
Only 21 hours and 22 minutes remaining.
That was all the time Mai Mingle had left in this world.
She had only just managed to get a glimpse of this brand new, chaotic, indifferent, and bizarre world before she was to be swept into darkness forever, to cease to exist for all time.
Ivan hadn't lied, of course. He had no reason to.
