"Huh?"

"What's going on?"

"Hey! Are you okay?!"

The cafeteria erupted in confusion as a man suddenly collapsed mid-step, his tray crashing to the floor. Dozens of eyes followed him, panic sparking like wildfire. Some rushed forward, but before they could even reach him, Jack's instincts screamed at him. He shot up from his seat, his eyes widening.

The man wasn't just unconscious. He was frozen.

His body had stopped in the exact posture he fell in, arms hovering stiffly around his torso, eyes locked wide open as though staring into eternity. A faint, eerie shimmer of time essence clung to his skin like frost.

"What the…?" Jack muttered, his stomach sinking.

"Jack!" Lune's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and urgent from across the room. "Tell them to stay away from that per—"

She didn't even finish. Another body collapsed with a sickening thud. Then another. And another. In mere seconds, a dozen survivors dropped like mannequins, each one locked in the same grotesque state.

"Help! My husband! He fell unconscious!!"

The cafeteria dissolved into chaos. Fearful cries echoed against the metal walls as loved ones swarmed the fallen, desperately shaking them, pleading for them to wake.

"Hey, can you hear me?!" one man cried, crouching beside a victim. His trembling hand reached forward, fingertips brushing against the frozen skin—

—CRACK.

"AAAAAAGH!"

The man screamed, jerking backward as if struck by lightning. He clutched his hand, thrashing in agony. Before everyone's horrified eyes, his skin drained of color. His fingers went limp, dangling uselessly.

"My hand! MY HAND! IT BURNS!" he shrieked, writhing on the floor.

Gasps rippled through the crowd, then came more screams. Across the cafeteria, those who touched the frozen victims fell one by one, clutching their arms and crying in raw pain.

"Get away from them!!" someone shouted in terror. "Don't touch them!"

Fear spread like a contagion. Survivors stumbled back, dragging their children, shielding their loved ones as soldiers burst into the cafeteria, weapons drawn, faces taut with alarm.

"Jack!" Lune's voice rang again, sharp and uncharacteristically panicked. "Stop them immediately! Nobody can touch those people at any cost!"

Jack's chest tightened. Lune's tone alone was enough to make his blood run cold. She had never sounded like that before—not once. Whatever this was, it was catastrophic.

"What is happening, Lune?" Jack barked.

"I'll explain later! Just move them away, now!"

He didn't hesitate. Jack surged toward the soldiers, intercepting them before they could get too close.

"Don't approach the fallen!" he ordered, voice hard as steel. "Move everyone back!"

The nearest soldier blinked, confused. "What the hell are you talk—"

"Do not question me." Jack's essence flared outward like a crushing wave, forcing the soldiers to stagger back. His eyes glinted with cold warning. "Move them back now, unless you want more bodies hitting the ground."

One soldier opened his mouth to argue, but another quickly grabbed his arm, hissing under his breath. "Shut up. Don't you know who that is? He's one of the Chronists here."

The words made the group hesitate.

"The General told us not to interfere with him," the soldier whispered harshly. "Get moving. Report this immediately. And get everyone out of here!"

Orders spread quickly. The soldiers turned to the frightened masses.

"Everyone, out! This area is dangerous! Evacuate immediately!"

"But my husband!" a woman sobbed, clutching at a frozen body.

"What happened to them?! We need answers!"

"Please, save my daughter!!"

Grief, panic, and desperation collided in the cafeteria, but Jack stepped forward, voice calm yet commanding.

"It's dangerous," he said evenly, his tone cutting through the hysteria. "Do you not see what happened to the ones who touched them? There is something wrong going on and we need to figure it out before anyone else gets harmed. Please, trust me. Leave this place."

The cries faltered. Survivors looked at one another, torn between despair and fear. Many recognized Jack—the one who risked everything to bring them back, the Chronist who fought monsters in the open world. Suspicion lingered in some eyes, but trust outweighed doubt. Slowly, people began to let go, retreating as the soldiers herded them out.

Minutes later, the cafeteria emptied, leaving behind only Jack, Lune, Evelyn, a few soldiers, and the victims locked in their horrific states. The silence that followed was suffocating.

"...What happened to them?" Evelyn whispered, her eyes darting nervously between the frozen bodies. "They were fine not that long ago…"

Lune stood still, her usual composure shaken, her eyes flickering with something between dread and revelation. "It… makes sense. Yes… it all makes sense now."

Jack's gaze snapped to her. "What are you talking about?"

"Look at them, Jack," she said, her voice low and grim. "Really look."

He frowned but did as told, scanning the victims. At first, it just seemed like chaos—random people collapsing without order. Random. Completely random.

Until it wasn't.

Jack's breath caught in his throat. Not random. Not at all.

Every single one of the victims… was someone he had personally rescued from the gymnasium.

His stomach dropped. He scanned them again, desperately searching for an exception. There was none.

'No way… No way this is coincidence…'

"You see it now," Lune murmured, her tone dark enough to chill him. "Now examine one of them. Don't touch—just watch."

Reluctantly, Jack approached a victim. He leaned down, scrutinizing the details. The man's body was stiff, eyes wide and lifeless… and yet…

Jack listened carefully. His heart was still beating. His lungs still moved. His body was alive—functioning. And yet that faint shimmer of essence clung to his entire form like an invisible prison.

Confusion gripped Jack. "Why does he have essence? He isn't a Chronist…"

"That's the key," Lune said quietly, almost bitterly. "He isn't. That shimmer… isn't true essence."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Then what is it?"

Her expression darkened. "Anti-Essence."

"…Anti… what?"

"This is the Anti-Essence Syndrome," she said, her voice sharp with certainty. "A disease that freezes its victim's body in time, denying their existence from the Clock itself."

Jack stared blankly. "...What?"

"It fits perfectly." Her tone turned cold, clinical. "Remember when I said there was a strong entity hidden in that college, one I couldn't pinpoint? That wasn't a monster. It was the Anti-Essence. Somehow, it seeped through from Aevum and infected these people."

Jack's blood ran cold. Her words sounded impossible, yet the evidence was right in front of him.

"These people…" He swallowed hard. "They're frozen in time? How does that even make sense?"

"Yes." She gestured at the victims. "That faint layer preserves their bodies in a world where time no longer moves. They are locked outside the Clock's flow. Touch them, and the same infection spreads—freezing whatever it touches. That's why those people's hands will never move again."

Evelyn gasped in horror, covering her mouth.

Jack's mind raced, his pulse hammering in his ears. Frozen in time… preserved… untouchable…

Then it hit him. His face blanched.

"Mom."

The word tore out of him like a gunshot. Without another thought, Jack spun on his heel and bolted from the cafeteria.

"Jack!" Evelyn shouted after him, panic rising as she chased him.

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