It was already past ten when Leon Li finally got off work and stepped out of the office tower.
He looked up.
Between the walls of steel and glass, the sky had been sliced down to a thin strip overhead. The sight left him strangely quiet.
This city did that to people.
For ordinary people, a place like this made you feel small—so small it was almost humiliating. Like an ant trying to survive in the cracks of something too massive to care whether you lived or died.
It was crushing.
Back when Leon had first graduated from college, he'd been different. Ambitious. Fired up. Certain he was meant for more. He had chosen to stay in this glittering financial capital without hesitation, convinced he could build something here, make a name for himself, ride the tide instead of getting swept under by it.
But that was before real life got its hands on him.
Once you stepped into the adult world, reality had a way of stripping you clean. It taught you the truth fast enough:
You weren't special.
You weren't the chosen one.
You were just another guy trying to make rent.
A city like this attracted the best and the boldest. The brilliant ones. The ruthless ones. The people with talent, connections, family money, or all three. The ones who'd been born with doors already open for them.
For them, this city was a playground.
For everyone else, it had teeth.
Tonight, Leon was in a bad mood.
Normally, he would've rushed straight for the subway station, sprinting for the last train before heading back to the cheap apartment he rented way out in the outer boroughs.
But not tonight.
Tonight, he just walked.
His face was blank, almost numb, as he moved down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets.
His thoughts were a mess.
He had graduated at twenty-three. He had been working for four years now.
In those four years, he had watched coworker after coworker walk into the company full of confidence, eyes bright, shoulders straight, ready to conquer the world.
And then he had watched those same people leave.
Not with promotions. Not with triumph.
Just quieter than before. More tired. More worn down.
One by one, they gave up, packed up, and went back to wherever they had come from.
This city devoured people.
And lately, Leon had started asking himself the same question.
Should he leave too?
Should he finally walk away from the place where his dream had begun... and where it had slowly, painfully fallen apart?
He didn't want to admit defeat.
That was the worst part.
He was still angry enough to want more, still foolish enough to imagine another version of his life if he just held on a little longer. A better job. A real apartment. A future that didn't feel borrowed. But wanting something and reaching it were two different things. The city had spent four years teaching him that effort alone wasn't always enough.
Maybe he could stay another year. Maybe two.
And then what?
More overtime. More bad coffee. More fluorescent lights. More nights stumbling home too tired to think and too restless to sleep.
Leon let out a breath and gave a bitter smile.
If he left now, he'd hate himself for quitting.
If he stayed, he wasn't sure what exactly he was still fighting for.
Then the sky split open.
Thunder rolled overhead.
A jagged flash of lightning tore across the clouds, followed by another deep, shaking boom that seemed to rattle the air itself.
A second later, the rain came down hard.
Not a drizzle. Not a warning.
A full sheet of rain crashed into the city, loud and sudden, drumming against pavement, cars, and awnings.
Leon hurried under the overhang of a nearby convenience store.
Around him, people scrambled for cover, clutching bags over their heads, swearing under their breath, running through the downpour in bursts of panic.
The rain kept falling.
Then it happened.
Without warning. Without noise. Without anyone noticing a thing.
Something changed inside Leon.
In each of his eyes, the faint image of a round clock appeared.
The hands were spinning.
Not at the same speed—but both moving, turning, ticking through time in ways he couldn't understand.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
A flood of strange, unreadable information poured into his mind.
It was too much, too fast, too bizarre to resist.
He didn't know how much time passed before it finally stopped.
When Leon came back to himself, the phantom clocks in his eyes were gone.
He stood frozen under the awning, breathing shallowly, his heart thudding in his chest.
Then he looked up at the people sheltering from the rain beside him.
His gaze landed on a middle-aged man holding a leather briefcase.
At once, a few lines of information appeared above the man's head.
Name: Charles Dawson
Age: 42
Remaining Lifespan: 31 years, 78 days, 12 hours, 56 minutes, 32 seconds
Leon's throat tightened.
He swallowed hard and turned to look at a young woman standing a few feet away, about his age, with delicate features and wet hair clinging to her cheeks.
More text appeared.
Name: Sophie Bennett
Age: 26
Remaining Lifespan: 9 years, 15 days, 3 hours, 47 minutes, 29 seconds
Leon stared at her.
Nine years?
That meant this woman—this perfectly healthy-looking young woman—would only live to thirty-five.
His mind reeled.
Then he looked farther down the awning at another man, heavyset, with a plain, honest face and rainwater darkening the shoulders of his shirt.
The moment Leon's eyes landed on him, the information surfaced.
Name: Frank Carter
Age: 36
Remaining Lifespan: 3 minutes, 23 seconds
Leon's eyes went wide.