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Illustrations: None.

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Even in the stopped world, Lee Yeonwoo\'s time flowed.

He diligently pedaled his bicycle through the silent city, ate lunchboxes from convenience stores when he was hungry, and drank coffee freshly placed on trays at cafes when he was thirsty.

How long had it been since only Yeonwoo moved in the city?

Yeonwoo arrived at the Clock Hand Manufacturing Lab.

‘It feels different from the Baekbeom Cultural Research Center.’

Maybe because it was in the middle of the city. From the outside, it looked like an old, worn five-story commercial building.

On the first floor, there was a convenience store and a cafe, and above them, offices with signs that didn’t clearly indicate what they did.

On the top floor, there was a sign for the Clock Hand Research Lab with all the paint chipped off.

‘Let’s go.’

Hoping to find a clue here, Yeonwoo grasped Researcher Kim Gak-jung\'s employee ID tightly and stepped forward.

First floor. An ordinary commercial building. However, there were no people, the elevator had an out-of-order sign, and the entrance was taped off.

Creeeak-

He opened the emergency exit door and climbed the stairs. He passed two security guards frozen in conversation on the landing and reached the fifth floor in one go.

When he exited the emergency exit and entered the fifth floor, he found an old corridor similar in feel to the building’s worn exterior. Yeonwoo\'s eyes looked to the end of the corridor.

[Director\'s Office]

A company employee, just finishing his business, was coming out, leaving the door open.

‘There.’

Yeonwoo pushed the employee aside and entered the director\'s office.

The director\'s office looked like an old office typical of an old building. A large plastic desk cluttered with junk, and an old man sitting in the inner seat.

The old man behind the director\'s nameplate had turned his chair to look out the wide-open window at the city. His eyes were wrinkled and gloomy.

“Now….”

Yeonwoo muttered to himself. In the silence, with only the sound of Yeonwoo\'s breathing, he wandered around the office. It seemed he was searching for something related to the time stop.

And he found it.

An old computer next to the old man. A fat CRT monitor, a white keyboard, and a ball mouse.

Yeonwoo\'s eyes widened in front of the old computer. It was the only electronic device working in the stopped time.

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White letters on a blue background moved. As he chewed over the text for a moment, Yeonwoo obtained information through the file folder placed around the old computer and felt both relief and anxiety.

\'A broken clock stopped the time… But, why?\'

The fact that the company caused the time stop and that it was still operating brought some relief.

But the word \'apocalypse,\' the crisis that required a time stop, made Yeonwoo uneasy.

Swallowing hard, he placed his hand on the old mouse. As the mouse slid, the screen changed. The response mechanism changed to 3, and a simple chat window appeared in place of the disappearing text.

Hesitating, Yeonwoo placed his hand on the keyboard. Typing quickly, he pressed enter.

-CHS: Is anyone there?

A reply came back instantly.

-ACTR: Ah! Finally! There’s someone else moving!

As Yeonwoo wondered what to say next, messages started coming in rapidly.

-ACTR: Do you know what\'s going on? The Time Physics Lab activated a broken clock to stop time and even took control, but they’re not saying anything! Even though they’re connected to the emergency communication network right now!

Yeonwoo\'s eyes moved to the bottom left corner of the monitor. There was a list of institutions connected to the emergency communication network.

CHS (Clock Hand Studio)

ACTR (Association for Clock Tower Research)

TPL (Time Physics Laboratory)

Three institutions with green lights on. Departments still active even in the state of stopped time.

Yeonwoo sent a brief message.

-CHS: I don’t know either.

-ACTR: Ah....

The chat window paused for a moment. Yeonwoo was worried about what to say next, while ACTR was feeling despair.

But ACTR quickly regained spirit and sent another message.

-ACTR: Still, it’s good. Fortunately, there are more company employees moving.

-CHS: I don\'t know much about this situation, could you briefly explain what\'s going on?

In response to Yeonwoo\'s question, ACTR, as if longing for conversation, quickly typed out an answer.

-ACTR: I don’t know either. I checked the anomaly alert system, but there wasn’t even an anomaly event of danger level 6. There’s no reason to activate a broken clock.

-ACTR: But the Time Physics Laboratory stopped time.

-ACTR: Could they have activated it by mistake and are now trying to fix it? Or, was it an attack by a hostile group?

Yeonwoo pondered while looking at the blue background of the chat window. The blue light from the monitor reflected in his eyes.

‘So, there\'s no reason to stop time, but the Time Physics Laboratory did it.’

It\'s suspicious. The intentions and actions of the Time Physics Laboratory. However, Yeonwoo carefully assessed the situation, then diverted his attention from the Time Physics Laboratory.

‘In any case, there’s no catastrophic event threatening Earth. The Time Physics Laboratory isn’t the most important thing right now.’

He looked back at the chat window.

-ACTR: Time Physics Laboratory! I know you’re watching! Stop ignoring and say something! If it’s a mistake, we’ll help!

Yeonwoo typed on the keyboard. He asked the most important question.

-CHS: More importantly, is there any way to undo the time stop?

-ACTR: Only the Time Physics Laboratory can handle something of this scale. The Clock Tower can at best manipulate time within a regional scope....

Yeonwoo frowned involuntarily. For some reason, the Time Physics Laboratory had no answers and seemed to have no intention of stopping the broken clock.

Tap tap- click-

-CHS: So, are you saying we have to live in this stopped world forever?

-ACTR: Unless the laboratory stops the broken clock, or the time power of the broken clock runs out....

There was no answer. But living like this wasn\'t an option.

As Yeonwoo\'s gaze naturally turned to the dice, ACTR suggested an alternative.

-ACTR: But if the Time Physics Laboratory continues to give no response, we’ll try to resume time at least here in London.

-CHS: ...Then we will also resume time in a limited manner. We have a method to try.

Rolling the dice to judge each person one by one, by street or regional scope, or, with great risk, even the judgment of the time stop itself.

Of course, Yeonwoo didn’t actually intend to do that yet. He looked at the Time Physics Laboratory on the list of connected users.

‘Whatever they’re doing, they don’t seem to want time to resume.’

It was essentially a threat. So, they would somehow react. To stop Yeonwoo and ACTR\'s actions.

Sure enough, the Time Physics Laboratory, which had remained silent until now, sent its first message.

-TPL: Stop. You must not resume time now.

-ACTR: Finally responding! Explain the situation first! No, who are you? Are you from the laboratory? You’re not taken over, right?

Yeonwoo leaned back and carefully watched their chat.

-TPL: It\'s the director. And we are...

A message appeared.

-TPL: People who cannot give up on Earth.

It was hard to grasp the situation just from those words. Did it mean a dangerous anomaly event had occurred, or was the director part of a hostile group?

As Yeonwoo tilted his head and typed on the keyboard, ACTR also sent a message full of question marks.

-CHS: What do you mean by that?

-ACTR: There’s no anomaly event listed in the anomaly alert system, so what are you talking about? Is this a betrayal? If so, we can’t wait any longer!

TPL\'s reply was simple.

-TPL: It’s better to read once than to hear a hundred times. I’ll send you the documents, read them.

Simultaneously, several documents were attached and uploaded in succession. Yeonwoo leaned in close to the monitor, drawn to the curious titles.

[Earth Destruction Scenario: Abnormal Climate]

[Human Preservation Plan First Draft]

[Exploration Report on Relocation Sites]

[Preservation Plan Progress]

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[Earth Destruction Scenario: Abnormal Climate]

We don’t know the cause of the abnormal climate. Is it the result of humanity\'s excessive development, a natural cycle of Earth, or the effect of an anomaly phenomenon we haven’t discovered?

Perhaps it’s all of them.

One thing is certain: we have crossed the point of no return.

Rising average temperatures, rising sea levels, food shortages due to reduced drinking water and crops, extreme weather patterns with floods, droughts, heatwaves, and cold waves....

So far, the company and allied groups have tried all means and methods to prevent this, but it’s now beyond our control. We can no longer stop it.

In as short as 15 years or as long as 30 years, human civilization on Earth will begin to collapse. We won’t be able to produce food, and asphalt roads will be swept away by floods.

The Doomsday Clock finally struck midnight. We have no time left.

The company must prepare for destruction.

**

Yeonwoo\'s heart pounded. His hands trembled. The mouse cursor moved uncontrollably, but Yeonwoo couldn’t blink as he read and reread the text.

Then, he immediately opened the next document.

**

[Human Preservation Plan First Draft]

It’s regrettable. We don’t have the technology to manipulate the cycles of stars. Ah, if only we had a little more time, surely this reality....

But it can’t be helped. After averting the nuclear war crisis and twice preventing Earth’s doomsday threats, let’s implement the buried Human Preservation Plan.

The number of humans to be preserved is five groups of 1 million each, totaling 5 million people.

It is estimated that around 8000 BC, the human population was 5 million. With our capabilities, we can rebuild civilization in a shorter time with a population of 1 million.

We will construct the ultimate shelter on Earth to house 1 million survivors, and we will place another 1 million in the Mars base to prepare for the day when Earth\'s climate returns to normal.

Additionally, we will relocate 1 million people each to two human-friendly environments in other dimensions, and the final 1 million will be placed in the Extinction Defense Device: Ark.

From now on, the company will dedicate all its efforts to survival and the future.

-Additional: There is no need to worry about hostile groups. They know the truth too. The ones causing trouble now are just small fry.

The real dangerous doomsday believers are holed up in their rooms in depression. Quite a few people who believed in the actual doomsday have joined the company.

The Free Artists Association is building an art center to leave artistic works even after the destruction, and the demon worshippers are creating a self-governing demon region with the power of demons to prepare for survival. The Goldberg Club is busy constructing an underground city.

Other groups are similar. None of them have the capacity to cause a major incident.

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Yeonwoo couldn\'t read any more. His hand, holding the mouse, slipped and fell under the desk. He had only read two brief documents, yet it felt as if he had been hit by an anomaly force, draining all his strength.

His head spun, and it seemed like a ringing noise echoed in his ears. With a dazed expression, Yeonwoo turned his head to look at the window.

The window where the director of the Clock Hand Studio had been gazing with gloomy eyes. Yeonwoo staggered over and stood by the window, looking down at the city.

There lay the Earth. The Earth the company had given up on. The Earth that would soon face destruction.