Tina died. Then Hank entered an endless cycle of time loops, desperately trying to save his wife. Eventually, he discovered that the only way to preserve her life was to sacrifice his own. So Hank died, and Tina became the one trapped in the loop. She, too, learned that she could exchange her own life for her husband's.

And so, a loving couple was forced to lose each other over and over again, trapped in an endless cycle of grief until they eventually broke under the pain.

How vicious.

Su Lingyan pulled the pistol from her coat.

This time, a description appeared on the weapon as well.

The Witch's Wand: A wand frequently used by a witch. The witch disliked its original appearance and therefore granted it the ability to change forms. Nowadays, it has transformed into a pistol. Is this what they call the march of time?

It had changed into a pistol and gained all the functions of one.

That was more than just a change in appearance.

"Mm, this thing is a lot more practical than magic. Though I don't know how to use magic anyway," Su Lingyan remarked.

The nearby pedestrians looked at her in horror.

She smiled and holstered the pistol.

"Still, the hint couldn't be any more obvious. At this point, it's practically a direct answer."

Su Lingyan headed toward Tina's location and intercepted her before Saylor could meet her.

After waiting for some time without seeing Tina, Saylor realized something was wrong and began searching for her.

He couldn't find her anywhere.

Taking out his phone, he called Mr. Williams.

"Did they take the music box?"

"They just did. But only the wife. I didn't see the husband. Why?"

"Something's off. The wife appears to have been taken away. I never ran into her."

"Could it be that person has figured something out?"

Tina and Su Lingyan walked down the street together.

A short while earlier, Hank had called. Tina had asked for his location and planned to meet him.

"If I do as you say, can I really save my husband?" Tina asked anxiously.

From Tina's perspective, Su Lingyan had appeared in both the first and second loops. She seemed to know things she shouldn't, and she had correctly identified this as Tina's third loop.

So when Su Lingyan appeared and asked Tina to follow her instructions, Tina agreed.

Su Lingyan handed the music box to Tina.

Having a device capable of rewinding time gave Tina a tremendous sense of security.

"It should work. If anything unexpected happens, use the music box immediately. But be careful—it's almost out of power."

"Out of power?"

"It means it can't be used forever."

Neither Tina nor Hank knew how many loops they had already gone through.

The magic stored within the music box was likely nearing its limit.

"It's 11:31 now. Ten minutes left," Su Lingyan said.

"I know. You said Hank dies at 11:41. I didn't pay much attention to the time during the first two loops, but it does feel like it happened around then."

Tina nodded.

She trusted Su Lingyan.

"Thank you for trusting me. I hope your husband survives this time."

They soon found Hank.

Completely unaware of everything, he cheerfully waved at them.

"Honey, I went to the place we agreed to meet, but you weren't there. I was starting to worry. Luckily, you called soon after."

"I had something urgent come up, but it's been taken care of now."

Tina gently touched Hank's cheek before pulling him into a hug.

"You're trembling. Did something happen?" Hank asked worriedly.

"I just had a terrible dream."

Tina took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"This is my friend. I happened to run into her today, and I'd like to invite her over."

She introduced Su Lingyan to him.

"Hello. I'm Zerion," Su Lingyan said.

When it came to making excuses, Tina was far better than Hank.

"So, are we heading home now?" Hank asked.

"Yeah. Let's go home."

Hank found Tina's behavior strange, but decided to go along with it for now.

Su Lingyan followed behind them.

Come to think of it, she had never been to their house before.

After walking a short distance, she suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Tina asked nervously.

"I hear rapid footsteps."

Su Lingyan turned around.

Someone was sprinting toward them at full speed.

It was Saylor.

"Tina! If you don't want your husband to die, run!"

The moment Tina heard that, she grabbed Hank and bolted forward without hesitation, running as if she were competing in a hundred-meter dash.

"Wait, wait, wait! Why are we suddenly running so fast? What's happening? Did—"

"I'll explain later. Just run!"

Su Lingyan didn't move.

She wanted to try stopping Saylor.

"You're in such a hurry because 11:41 is almost—"

Before she could finish, Saile slammed into her shoulder and shoved her aside, continuing forward without slowing down.

Su Lingyan steadied herself and avoided falling.

"What a rude jerk! You're definitely the villain!"

She immediately raised her pistol.

Bang!

Saile clearly hadn't expected Su Lingyan to be armed.

Completely unprepared, he took a bullet to the calf.

I gave her the wand hoping she'd destroy the music box...

What a mistake.

But how did the wand turn into a pistol?

Saylor used magic to heal the wound.

Pedestrians screamed and fled.

Su Lingyan wore an expression that said, Just as I thought.

Saylor possessed a special identity.

He was a wizard.

Since this scenario already had a witch, having a wizard wasn't strange at all.

"The evil witch you've been talking about is me, isn't it?" Su Lingyan said.

"...So you've remembered."

Saile stared at her.

"Yeah. You and Mr. Williams kept trying to make me destroy the music box."

Both Saile and Mr. Williams had repeatedly claimed that the music box was cursed.

Every word they said implied the same thing:

If you wanted to solve the problem, the music box had to be destroyed.

But Su Lingyan had always been suspicious.

And after reading the music box's description, she became certain.

Neither of them were the good guys.