Chapter 37 – The Sleeping Clock
The office was silent even though morning had just begun. Papers scattered like the remnants of a storm never cleaned up.
Monitors glowed, but no hands typed.
The air smelled of stale coffee and the overworked air conditioner—an atmosphere of emptiness. Not passion. Only bodies working because time kept moving.
In the corner, at a messy desk, a young man scrolled through his phone.
His shirt was wrinkled. His face weary. His eyes swollen—not from fatigue, but from indifference.
His name was Rave.
A permanent employee who came when he wanted, left without saying goodbye. Bosses scolded, coworkers complained, but he remained like a broken clock—unable to be reset.
But today, something was different.
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The Astral Appears
Behind the shadows of the wall clock, an astral being watched—Tardig, an entity that manipulated the perception of time and responsibility.
Its body was formed from rusted gears, twisted clock hands, and small bells that never rang.
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The Meeting with Enver
As Rave yawned for the fourth time and lifted his feet onto the desk, the office lights suddenly went dark.
Not a blackout.
But time itself had stopped.
His colleagues froze in place.
Digital clocks turned into unreadable symbols.
And at the doorway stood Enver, cloaked in shadow, his gaze cutting deeper than office walls.
"You are stealing time, Rave," Enver said.
"But time is not yours. It belongs to those who wait, who are responsible, who hope the world keeps turning."
Rave chuckled. "Why should you care? It's my life. Let it rot, the world will still spin."
Tardig slithered onto his shoulder, clinging like a broken wristwatch. Rave shuddered but forced a mocking grin.
"Then why does your soul feel heavy?" Enver whispered.
"Why does every step you take feel like you're being dragged by time, instead of walking with it?"
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The Battle Begins
Tardig roared—not with sound, but with the echoes of every broken clock in existence.
The office warped into a corridor of twisted timelines, filled with flying clock hands and countless shadows of Rave, screaming within their own cycles.
Enver leapt into the air, his dark cloak flaring, summoning a Purificazione card inscribed:
"Time is not a right. It is a trust."
Tardig struck back with a storm of shattered gears. Clock hands rained down like steel spears, piercing the floor.
But Enver deflected them with his glowing palm, radiating muted light.
"You delay. You neglect. You rot in comfort," Enver said as he grasped the creature's core.
"Now, your time is up."
With a single breath and a burst of ash-golden light, the astral shattered.
Its gears dissolved into falling petals across the office floor.
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Purificazione of Rave
Rave collapsed, gasping.
For the first time, he felt that time no longer granted him indulgence.
His chest was heavy—not with great sins, but with the accumulation of countless small neglects.
Enver watched him silently, then placed a slip of paper on his desk.
No threat.
No lecture.
Only one sentence:
"Wake up earlier. The world is waiting for you."
And when time resumed, his coworkers noticed nothing.
But Rave knew.
He glanced at the clock on the wall.
Its second hand ticked slowly.
But this time… he wanted to walk with it.
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