Chapter 50 – Not Time, But a Moment

“Hmm…”

Back in the train station, I stood deep in thought, arms crossed.

I’d reviewed the afterimages’ conversations, but they hadn’t mentioned “time” directly.

“The only symbolic time I can think of is… something like 4:44.” Yuri grumbled, sprawling on the sofa, her hair fanned across the cushions.

Luna curled up on Yuri’s stomach like a small cat.

“Luna, you’re heavy~.” Yuri complained, but her hand absently stroked Luna’s hair.

Luna, seemingly enjoying the attention, murmured, “Hehe, this feels nice!”

“You two are remarkably relaxed.”

“More haste, less speed, right Luna?”

“Right! Tickle under my chin this time, Yuri!”

I smiled at the peaceful scene. Luna, nestled on Yuri, offered her chin. Yuri obliged, tickling gently with her fingertips.

“Like this?”

“Mmm, perfect!”

Their easy camaraderie brought a smile to my face. The descent had been fraught with tension and danger. This moment of quiet normalcy was a welcome respite.

I leaned against the sofa, watching them. “…I feel like the only one with a headache.”

“That’s your job, brainy. We’ll just trust and wait!”

“Is that how ‘trust and wait’ works…?” I sighed, returning to the puzzle of the clock.

Yuri, while still playing with Luna, looked up, a thoughtful expression replacing her earlier playfulness. “Noah,” she said,

“What if the ‘time’ we’re thinking of… isn’t numerical?”

I met her gaze. She continued stroking Luna, but her eyes were serious. This wasn’t a jest.

“What do you mean?”

Yuri sat up, facing me. “We’ve been focused on numbers. But who says time is only numbers?”

I fell silent. She had a point. A clock was simply a symbolic representation of time.

“What else do we call ‘time’?”

Yuri ticked off examples on her fingers. “Day and night, seasons, the sun’s position, sunset, sunrise…”

She folded her last finger. “Time isn’t just about numbers on a clock.”

Her words resonated. If time wasn’t purely numerical, then the clock face might not represent a specific time—

Luna looked up at me. “Then, Noah… the time we need to set…”

“Might be a specific moment,” I finished.

The “correct time” wasn’t a number, but a significant moment within the station or the Abyss itself.

Yuri stood up, dusting off her hands. “Exactly! It’s not a number—”

“—but a specific moment,” I concluded.

A significant moment in the station…

The afterimages, the records of those who remained, the events that transpired here…

What moment was the clock meant to mark?

Just then—

Poo-woo—

A familiar sound. I looked up instinctively.

“Wait, that’s…”

Yuri and Luna reacted simultaneously.

The train. Was it returning?

I hadn’t expected it back so soon.

But now—

“It’s back already?”

Was this a quirk of the Abyss? Or had we triggered something?

Poo-woo—

The train’s horn blared again, louder this time.

There was no time to hesitate.

“Yuri, Luna! To the platform!”

We sprinted down the hideout corridor, our footsteps echoing.

The train’s return, before we’d even set the clock—

This was no coincidence.

We raced toward the platform.

Bursting onto the platform, we were met with a familiar scene.

The train emerged from the mist, billowing white steam. The afterimages gathered before it—

blurred white silhouettes, silently queuing.

They moved toward the train, slowly but deliberately. The train doors stood open, faint light spilling out.

I scanned the platform, my gaze landing on a familiar figure leaning against a pillar—

“…Anemone.”

She was still there, leaning against the black pillar, a faint smile on her face as her violet eyes met ours.

“You’ve returned, Older brothers and sister.”

Anemone maintained her playful demeanor, shrugging with a mischievous smile. She wore the same damp uniform, water droplets clinging to her hair.

As though she’d just emerged from the sea.

“Why is that uniform always wet?” Yuri murmured.

Anemone chuckled. “Because this station is in the sea?”

“Is that supposed to be an answer?” Yuri frowned, but Anemone simply waved a dismissive hand.

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” She raised her hand and tapped the pillar—thunk. As if on cue, the water droplets clinging to her hair vanished, absorbed into the pillar’s surface.

Poo-woo— The train horn sounded again.

Anemone tilted her head. “The train has returned, Older brothers and sister.”

I looked at the train, now stationary at the platform. The afterimages filed silently toward it, their forms indistinct—passengers bound for an unknown destination.

But something was different this time.

This wasn’t the same as the first train.

Should we board this time?

Or was there another, undiscovered option?

“Did you bring your ticket, Oppa?” Her violet eyes gleamed. “Or will you be fare-dodging?”

As she spoke, the train doors began to open.

The train doors slid open, and the afterimages began to board, disappearing within.

I bit my lip. If we missed this opportunity, who knew when another would arise? Perhaps this quick return was an anomaly.

“Shouldn’t we just get on, even without a ticket?” Yuri’s voice was edged with anxiety.

But I hesitated.

I turned to Anemone. “When does the train depart?”

She shrugged playfully. “Who knows~?”

“What are you—”

“Trains usually run on a schedule.” She twirled a finger in the air, the platform’s air seeming to shimmer around her gesture. “But here… such things are a bit… fluid, wouldn’t you say?” She arched an eyebrow. “Perhaps it isn’t about time at all.”

In that instant, everything clicked. The pieces fell into place.

Luna’s words echoed in my mind. “Not time, but a specific moment.”

At the time, it had seemed like a mere possibility. Now, it was a certainty.

“…The moment the train arrives?”

I grabbed Yuri and Luna’s hands.

“Noah, what—”

“Come on! To the chamber!”

I ran, Yuri and Luna, momentarily startled, following close behind.

The train’s arrival wasn’t about a specific time—

it was the key itself.

We scrambled down the ladder, my mind racing.

“Noah! Explain yourself!” Yuri yelled, breathless.

Luna, struggling to keep pace, called out, “What are you thinking?”

I jumped from the last rung, landing on the chamber floor. The damp air, the dripping water, and—

the clock face in the center.

“Now! We have to place the hands!”

Yuri stared at me, panting. “What?”

“This clock… it’s not about the time, it’s about a specific moment!”

I pulled out the clock hands.

“And that moment is—”

I took a breath, then declared, “The moment the train arrives.”

I moved toward the clock face, hands outstretched.

Yuri, scratching her head, followed quickly. “If you’re right, this is one bizarre contraption. But how do we know the exact time?”

“We don’t need to, Yuri.” I reached for the hands. “Because—” I placed the minute hand in its groove. “—that moment is now.”

I set the second hand.

—Click.

A faint sound, and the clock face responded. The chamber vibrated subtly. And the lines of the clock began to glow brighter, as though acknowledging the correct “time.”