I am one of the rare humans in this world who is very pleased with his daily life routine. What? I'm the weirdo? Hey, having a routine is excellent for your life, you know. One of the benefits is that you'll become a more productive person, believe it or not. I will not mention the other benefits one by one because this will be a tedious narration for you. Technology has become more advanced; just look by yourself on the internet. But seriously, why do most people hate their routine?

Funnily enough, for some… 'Real People'... Hatred from their daily routine is a gateway to a new life. If you like reading novels or playing a fantasy-adventure genre game, you'll often find the main character feeling bored with his/her daily life in the prologue. And, poof, the next day, they went to another world, riding a dragon to save that world from a demon attack. Interesting, isn't it? Unfortunately, I, Grey, am just a boring college student who likes his routine, and of course, I’m not the main character in an action-packed adventure story.

This Friday, it’s another day that I woke up very early, beating my alarm clock. It's been a few weeks since my alarm has been a loafer. I guess I don't need it anymore. By the way, I feel less stressed if I wake up without that lunatic ring of bells.

After waking up, my body will automatically do the routine without having to think about it. Make the bed, take a warm shower, and then prepare breakfast, in that exact order. If I woke up earlier, like this morning, I would take the time to read an article on the internet while sipping hot sweet tea and eating my lovely white chocolate jam toast. I should be able to relax for a bit, and I’ve also been wearing appropriate clothes to go to college. So after reading an article or two, I can get going.

First I will look for some news. Let's see what happened in the world this beautiful morning.

Boo. Boring. Nothing is interesting. It's not that nothing is interesting; it’s just me. Honestly, I'm not really a news person. I just did it to impress you.

So, I searched for non-news articles randomly. It was a much different experience than before; my eyes sparkled when I saw the diversity of the titles. Starting from the creatures of the deep sea, the benefits of doing a morning routine (you should read it), to the top 10 fast-food restaurants with super sexy waiters, all of them interest me.

Just before I click on an article that I find the most useful, my eyes fall on the article with a picture of a pocket watch entitled 'Chronostasis'. The article is precisely what you would call a lousy article; the article is aged, viewers are far less than average, unrated, and, worst, is written by people who don't want to be responsible for their writing, aka anonymous writer. But seeing a term that I know nothing about is enough to beat my interest in reading an article with a fast food restaurant thumbnail. I'm sorry ladies.

'Do you think that 24 hours in a day is not enough? Have you ever thought about stopping time? Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you had Doctor Strange's power to stop the time? What would you do? I hope you stay away from terrible things.

Come to think of it, how would we live if time stopped? According to some research I read and science lessons I studied in high school, if time stopped, nothing would move (duh). I mean, EVERYTHING WOULDN'T MOVE. The photons wouldn't move, meaning the world would be in pitch-black. The air molecules will also not move; we will suffocate to death instead of enjoying the still time.

It sounds really horrible, but what I'm about to explain after this is different from the science bullshit earlier.

I can stop time.

Nah, I'm not Stephen Strange. But time is in my grasp. So are you. All of us can stop time. And it's not even as bad as what I described earlier.

Wanna try? Don't worry, it's safe to try at home. All you need is an analog clock without the ticking sound. Just that. Keep eyes on a point somewhere away from the clock, then quickly fix your gaze on the face of the clock. Repeat several times, and it'll take a little bit, but you may notice that the clock seems to have paused; the second hand seemed to take longer to jump to the following number as if a second is not a second. This is known as the phenomenon of 'Chronostasis', an illusion that distorts one’s perception of time due to rapid eye movements.'

I remember the days when I was a second-year high schooler. At that time, I wanted to hurry home, free myself from the boring math class. Because of this, I often look at the clock on the wall directly above the whiteboard, and every time I look at it, a second seems longer. Despite the concept of time perception, that is a pretty interesting optical illusion. I thought it was weird because I had never heard of that term, 'Chronostasis', in the two years of studying psychology.

I thought the article had stopped because after that there was only blank space. But it's too absurd; this space continues until the very end of the page, even though the author doesn't need to give dozens of lines of space just to finish his writing. Therefore, with my fingertip, I 'press', ‘hold’, and ‘drag’, selecting the empty space. The blue color when I selected the empty space reveals a new narrative. Was he on purpose and wanted to tell us a secret? Who knows. Let's see what you got, nameless writer.

'I've been talking about illusions. However, what I will tell you below is reality without tricks, illusions-less.

I can stop time. This time, for sure.

One day, my watch stopped moving. I thought, 'ah, at most this is that damn illusion'. But it seems that my watch literally stopped. 'There seems to be a problem with the battery, and to be fair, I haven't changed my watch battery in a long time'.

I was so fixated on my watch that I didn't even notice my surroundings had stopped moving as well. The water stopped flowing from the faucet when someone was using it to wash their face. Sparrows can not fly, stopped at the moment it was about to take off. The little boy's ice cream didn't melt after I waited for a few minutes.

Only I who can move at that time. Only I that… 'alive'.

My surroundings are monochromatic black and white, just as if you were using a grayscale filter on your photo. However, I and the things I touch will have color and seem to be working perfectly (excluding my watch). I'm experimenting with my cell phone. It stops working if I put it on the ground and then turns grayish. As soon as I took it back, it had its color back, and I could use it, even though there was no signal.

I was also speculating with myself, what color is that woman's underwear? It's really unfortunate that the skirt blew when the time is stopped. From the angle where I stood, I couldn't see it clearly; I had to turn around to get a good view.

Unlucky. It was grayed too. I don't even know if it's colored, red, blue, or purple. I dare not experiment with touching it. It would be terrible if she could move because I touched her. I might be branded as an impudent masher.

Hey, don't blame me, okay? The wind was not on my will and the time stopped without my permission.

… Okay, maybe my fault for having a perverted brain.

After playing with the surroundings (maybe for about 15 minutes? I don't know; my watch was dead and I drowned in the adventure), suddenly all objects and living things were alive again. 'Time' and color returned to normal. I don't know what caused it, but it wasn't a dream. I've pinched several times in several parts of my body. I wasn't daydreaming.

I looked back at my watch, and it was operating normally. Sigh, luckily, I don't have to spend a dime.

Note: if this happens to you one day, do good things, okay?!

Braggart. I changed my mind about this article. I only appreciate this article for up to its half page. After that, it's all just the anonymous writer's absurdity. The white ink on this section is just like when it's not selected; nothing, empty meaning, and complete nonsense. I hope most readers close the page after the first part.

But... Even though I felt the writing was just the author's gibberish and imagination, for some reason I enjoyed my time reading it.

Time?

Oh, shoot! What time is it? I have a General Psychology course at nine with a time-sensitive professor.

I’m quickly rolling up my purple sweater's sleeve, revealing the TickBit I'd been wearing earlier. Immediately grabbing my backpack and running towards the door, and I press my TickBit screen, wishing the bless of the God. Dang, I didn't expect to invest my morning reading that article.

Weird. As far as I recall, my TickBit never broke. But right now, the face only shows a blank white screen, just like if a smartphone hangs. I stand frozen in front of the door, ready to tinker with my watch.

Uh, wait a minute. It turns out that the screen shows something with a flickering number. It's not showing a clock as usual; it's like a timer.

'NEXT DEPARTURE'

'8 HOURS 30 MINUTES'

Huh?

I get thunderstruck. Was my watch hacked? Is it possible? Today's people are getting more sophisticated... Even a smart-timepiece can become a victim. But after I pressed the screen for seven times, it came back to its typical face.

That was so odd. But I guess I shouldn’t worry too much about it; I better quickly open that door and get out of my apartment.

"Ma, I'm off to college!" I said goodbye to Mama in a hurry. No response, as per usual. And now, how the heck do I get to class in 30 minutes?

***

14:00, after class.

The heavy lectures are finally over, gosh. To be honest, I couldn't concentrate for the entire day. During class, I found myself daydreaming most of the time. Thinking of what, you might ask, none other than the article I read this morning.

I wonder what I could and would do if time stopped like the writer's fantasy. Maybe I'll visit my girlfriend who currently lives in a different city. But I can do that any time I wish. Or maybe, I'll go around the city, looking for people who are having a hard time in every corner of the city and save their day. It seems like a fun idea to be a hero to people.

Uh… See? I’m daydreaming again.

The whole class is empty as I wake up. I’m giggling because it felt like time had stopped. I put books and stationery in my backpack and startle by a loud tap on my shoulder.

"Whaddup, brother! You finally awake from your dirty thought?" it turns out that Johann, my best friend, has been watching me all this time. "Instead of thinking about woman's stuff, you better think about how you’ll do the task that Mr. Enzo has given you."

No matter how hard I try, I won't be able to make it to class in half an hour. As a result, I was late for about 15 minutes. The good news is that he didn’t scold me because I'm one of the top students in my class. The bad news, I was given additional assignments by the killer professor. Honestly, it's better that way.

“How did you know about the punishment? Were you skipped Research Methodology class and peeked into my class again? I told you several times, there are no chic women in my class! And stop your bad habit of ditching!"

Johann shrugs and whistles. “After all, research methodology is not needed in my career as a professional athlete!”

“Johann, if you had an ability... Let's say to stop the time, what would you do?” Ignoring what Johann said, I spontaneously asked him that. Weirdly, I can't help myself thinking about time and stuff ever since reading that article.

"What? Are you Socrates? What's the deal with that philosophical thinking?” He scratches his head. No wonder why he's so confused. "Could it be that you were thinking about before?"

He sits on the chair in front of me, leans his body against the wall, and fixes his eyes on the classroom ceiling. "If time stopped... Huh... Of course I will-"

His words suddenly stop, and he falls silent like a statue. I called his name several times and he didn’t answer. After looking closely, he isn’t even breathing. It is as if time had stopped.

Wait... Could it be...

No, my surroundings are not monochrome. With that in mind…

"I know you're messing around with me, just stop!" I aggressively attacking Johann's sensitive part, his ear.

"Hahaha! W-Wait, I beg your mercy! Sorry! Geez." He’s trying to strike me back, but I swiftly dodge his hand. For someone who can be called a geek, I'm quite agile, you know. “You'd better use the time you spend thinking about the things you don't need to think about, to do the things you have to do, right? Wait, I can say all of that without twisting my tongue? That's crazy. Anyway, did your first late in history really bother you?”

“Yeah, yeah, I understand that… I was just lost in my thoughts.” I said as I put my signature pen into the backpack. Johann has his point though, it's 14:15. I won't let my brain wander too far which can lead us to miss the train. Better be hurry.

During the walk to the station, which is not far from the campus, to be honest, I'm still thinking about what would happen if time stopped. Johann next to me was always telling me his silly stories, but nothing entered my head. It seems that this morning's article was engraved in my brain. The journey to the train station that usually took us 10 minutes felt only like a minute.

“Hey Genius-san, whose current hobby is daydreaming, I'll call you later! Don't forget, War is Hell tonight! See you in the game."

I nod, smiling at him.

Johann is about to turn around and ready himself to run to the platform where his train is. But then, he turns back. “If I could, I would do what I love and be happy in that possibly short time. But even if I can't stop time, I will still be. What matters is, I'm happy. You should be like that too, Grey.”

“Johann… You…” I'm pretty taken aback by his words. I know some of his cheerful, humorous, and positive traits, but I didn't expect him to have such a view and want to share it. All this time, I thought he just ignored that question. He's my best friend, indeed. Well, even though he might quote it from the manga he reads, but I'll take it to heart.

"You thought you were cool, didn't you?"

“S-Shush your mouth! That's all I can say, later! The chef boss will be in rage mode if I'm late!” Johann runs as fast as he hears the train operator's whistles, signaling his train is about to leave.

After seeing Johann's figure being carried away, I looked at my TickBit. It's 14:30, and I’m late again. This time I'm late for the train. But, I won't complain. As my besty’s says, I’ll just enjoy my time and do fun things while waiting for the next scheduled departure at 15:10.

I did a few delightful things, ate ice cream, read mangas at the little bookstore across from the station, and fed the pigeons with seeds in the station park. Now I just sit and relax, enjoying the breeze of wind in the park.

It is 14:55 currently. I thought I had swept that article out of my mind. Not all of them are coming back, but there is one specific thing that really bothers me. It's not related to the article. Perhaps it is? It's about something that popped up on the TickBit this morning. I haven't tried pressing the screen seven times again, so now I'll give it a go.

'NEXT DEPARTURE'

'4 MINUTES 30 SECONDS'

Hmm. Does this screen show my train departure? Did I accidentally install the station official app? These questions keep spinning in my head, and by the timer reaches 35 seconds, I’m haunted by the thought, 'What will happen if this timer reaches 0?'

It's thirty-three seconds remaining. For some reason, my heart is pounding fast. Is this a time bomb's timer somewhere? Is there a terrorist who hijacked my TickBit and is providing clues for me?

Thirty-two seconds remaining. God, whatever will come next, just don’t be a horrible thing. I start to close my eyes. I don't know why I'm doing this even though it's not crystal clear what will happen.

Thirty-one seconds remaining, my heart pulsates even harder.

Thirty seconds remaining. I open my eyes. Everything is monochromatic black and white, just as if you were using a grayscale filter on your photo.