2026-10-07 12:57:20Ethan left the café with one thought running through his mind.
Find the betrayer before September 29. But there was a problem. He didn't know where to begin. In his first life, betrayal had looked like one event. Now that he had stepped back into the past, Ethan was beginning to understand that it had been a chain of events. One decision. One secret. One person influencing another. By the time he noticed the betrayal, it was already too late. This time, he would break the chain before it was completed. His phone vibrated. [Future System] [Primary Objective Updated.] [Identify the source of the September 29 betrayal.] [Reward: Unknown.] Ethan frowned. “Unknown?” The System didn't respond. He put the phone away. Then he noticed someone standing across the street. A young woman. She was holding a stack of books against her chest. Dark hair. Simple clothes. A quiet expression. Ethan recognized her immediately. Amelia Rose. His heart stopped for a moment. In his first life, Amelia had never been important to him. At least, that's what he had believed. He had seen her around university. He remembered her helping other students. He remembered hearing that she came from a wealthy family. But he had never taken the time to know her. Three years later, when the Rose family collapsed, he remembered seeing her name in an old article. Then she disappeared. He never knew where she went. Never asked. Never cared enough to find out. Now she was standing only a few meters away. Alive. Eighteen years old. And completely unaware of what her future held. Ethan looked at the System. Nothing. No warning. No prediction. No quest. That surprised him. “Why aren't you showing me anything?” The System remained silent. Amelia suddenly dropped one of her books. Ethan instinctively walked over and picked it up. “You dropped this.” She looked at him. “Oh.” She smiled. “Thank you.” Their eyes met. For some reason, Ethan felt strangely uncomfortable. Not because he knew her. Because he knew what she would lose. “Are you okay?” Amelia asked. Ethan realized he had been staring. “Yeah.” “You looked worried.” “Just thinking.” “About what?” Ethan smiled. “Someone's future.” Amelia laughed softly. “That sounds serious.” “It is.” She looked at the book in his hand. “You're Ethan Carter, right?” Ethan's expression changed. “You know me?” “Everyone in our department knows you.” “I didn't know that.” Amelia smiled. “You're not as invisible as you think.” She reached for the book. Their fingers briefly touched. Ethan stepped back. “Here.” “Thanks.” She looked at him for another moment. Then her phone rang. She glanced at the screen. Her expression changed. “I have to go.” “Everything okay?” “Yeah.” She answered the call and walked away. Ethan watched her. Something felt wrong. He didn't know what. But he had learned not to ignore that feeling. --- Twenty minutes later, Ethan was still thinking about Amelia when his phone vibrated. [Future Event detected.] [Subject: Amelia Rose.] [Danger probability: 63%.] Ethan's eyes narrowed. “So now you tell me?” [Event location: Unknown.] [Event time: Unknown.] [Cause: Unknown.] Ethan stared at the screen. This was different. The System couldn't predict the event properly. Why? Because Ethan's interaction with Amelia had changed something. He looked in the direction she had gone. Then he remembered something from his first life. The Rose family scandal. The missing shipment. The warehouse. The financial investigation. Amelia had disappeared shortly afterward. Maybe she hadn't simply disappeared. Maybe someone had made her disappear. Ethan immediately started walking. --- He found Amelia near the university parking area. She was standing beside a black sedan. A man was arguing with her. Ethan slowed down. He couldn't hear everything. But he heard one sentence. “You need to come with us.” Amelia shook her head. “No.” The man grabbed her wrist. Ethan's expression changed. He walked toward them. “Let her go.” The man turned. “Who are you?” “Someone telling you to let go.” The man laughed. “This doesn't concern you.” Amelia looked at Ethan. “Please leave.” Ethan noticed something in her eyes. Fear. Not ordinary fear. The kind of fear that came from knowing the person standing in front of you could actually hurt you. Ethan stepped closer. “She said no.” The man tightened his grip. Ethan grabbed his wrist. “Let her go.” The man's expression hardened. He swung his other hand. Ethan moved aside. The punch missed. Ethan pushed him backward. The second man inside the car immediately stepped out. Now there were two. Ethan looked around. Nobody nearby. Bad. Very bad. The first man reached into his jacket. Ethan reacted instantly. He kicked his hand away. Something metallic fell to the ground. A knife. Amelia gasped. Ethan stepped in front of her. “Run.” She didn't move. “Amelia!” She finally backed away. The second man attacked. Ethan blocked the first strike but stumbled backward. He wasn't a trained fighter. In his first life, he had learned to survive through business, not violence. The man attacked again. Ethan grabbed a nearby metal pole and blocked the strike. Then he struck the man's shoulder. The man fell. The first attacker recovered and rushed toward Ethan. Before he could reach him, a security guard appeared. The attacker immediately turned and ran. His partner followed. Ethan didn't chase them. He turned toward Amelia. “Are you hurt?” She shook her head. “No.” Her voice trembled. “Why did you help me?” Ethan looked at her. He almost said: Because I know what happens to your family. Instead, he said: “Because you needed help.” Amelia stared at him. For a few seconds, neither spoke. Then her eyes filled with tears. “I thought nobody would come.” Ethan's expression softened. “You're not alone.” The words came naturally. And somehow, he meant them. His phone vibrated. [Future Event altered.] [Amelia Rose's survival probability increased.] [Major deviation detected.] Ethan frowned. A second message appeared. [Reward: 10 Karma.] [Current Karma: 10.] He stared at the screen. Then something unexpected happened. A memory flashed through his mind. Amelia. Older. Standing alone outside a hospital. Crying. Ethan couldn't hear what she was saying. Then the vision disappeared. He grabbed his head. Amelia immediately stepped forward. “Ethan?” “I'm fine.” “You're not.” “It's nothing.” She looked worried. “You helped me. Let me help you.” Ethan looked at her. For the first time, he wondered if Amelia wasn't simply a person from his future. Maybe she was one of the reasons he had been given a second life. His phone vibrated again. [Warning.] [Major timeline deviation.] [Amelia Rose was not supposed to survive this event.] Ethan froze. He looked at Amelia. “What?” She frowned. “What happened?” Ethan slowly lowered his phone. “Nothing.” But his mind was racing. In his first life, Amelia had disappeared. Now he knew why. Someone had been trying to remove her from the timeline. And Ethan had just stopped them. Across the street, inside a parked black car, a man watched them. He raised his phone. “Target failed.” A voice answered. “Did Ethan interfere?” “Yes.” Silence. Then: “Then he's changing faster than expected.” The man looked at Ethan. “What should we do?” The voice replied: “Don't touch Ethan.” A pause. “Not yet.” The call ended. Inside the car, the man smiled. “Interesting.” Back on the street, Amelia looked at Ethan. “Can I ask you something?” “Sure.” “Why do I feel like I've met you before?” Ethan's heart skipped. He looked at her. He had no answer. Because in one life, they had barely known each other. But in another... perhaps they were supposed to matter. His phone vibrated one final time. [New Future Event unlocked.] [September 29 Betrayal.] [One possible betrayer has been removed from the timeline.] Ethan's eyes widened. He had just changed the future. But he had also created a new problem. If one possible betrayer had disappeared... someone else would have to take their place.
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Chapter 10: The Girl Who Wasn't Supposed to Exist
Ethan stared at the final message.And neither are you.His fingers tightened around the phone.“What does that mean?” Victor asked.Ethan didn't answer.Across the street, the man in the dark coat was still standing beside the black SUV.He wasn't running.He wasn't hiding.He was waiting.As if he wanted Ethan to see him.Then the man turned and got back into the SUV.“Victor.”“Yeah?”“Can you drive?”Victor nodded.“Then move.”They rushed outside.The SUV was already disappearing into traffic.Victor unlocked his car.Ethan got inside.“Where?”“Rose residence.”Victor started the engine.“You're serious?”“Amelia is in danger.”“So is everyone who gets close to her.”“Then we don't have time to argue.”Victor accelerated.For several minutes, neither spoke.Ethan kept looking at his phone.Amelia still wasn't answering.Then—A message appeared.Not from an unknown number.From Amelia.**I'm safe.**Ethan immediately called.No answer.He called again.Nothing.“That's strange,”
Chapter 9: What Amelia Remembers
Ethan's phone remained in his hand.[Amelia Rose's survival is now uncertain.]The words refused to disappear from his mind.He looked at Victor.“What does that mean?”Victor shook his head.“I don't know.”“You said you knew why someone wanted Amelia dead.”“I said I found records connected to her. I never said I understood everything.”Ethan's eyes hardened.“Then start understanding.”Victor glanced toward the shattered window.“We need to leave.”“Not yet.”“Ethan, whoever fired that shot knew exactly where we were.”“So?”“So they knew about our meeting.”Ethan looked around the café.The customers were gone.The waiter was hiding behind the counter.No police sirens yet.That bothered him.Someone had fired a gun in the middle of the city, and there was no immediate response.Either the shooter was extremely careful—or someone had made sure nobody would respond quickly.Ethan stood.“Where's Amelia?”Victor's expression changed.“I don't know.”Ethan immediately called her.No
Chapter 8: The Truth Victor Carried
Victor's message remained on Ethan's screen.I know what happened to Elena Vale.And I know why someone wants Amelia Rose dead.Ethan read it again.Then he deleted the notification.Not the message.Just the notification.If someone was watching his phone, he didn't want them to know how seriously he was taking it.Richard was still standing across the room.“Don't meet him,” his father said.Ethan looked up.“Why?”“Because if Victor knows about Elena, then someone else knows he knows.”“That doesn't make sense.”“It will.”Richard walked toward the window and looked outside.The black car was still there.“You see that car?”“Yes.”“It has been there for twenty minutes.”Ethan's eyes narrowed.“You noticed it?”“I notice things now.”Richard pulled the curtains closed.“Ethan, listen to me carefully. Whatever you're planning, don't go anywhere alone tonight.”Ethan almost laughed.His father had spent years telling him to stay away from danger.Now, for the first time, Richard soun
Chapter 7: The Man Who Remembered
The words on the photograph seemed to burn into Ethan's mind.I REMEMBER TOO, ETHAN.He read them again.Then a third time.His first thought was impossible.The System had told him that someone else might know about the future.But Ethan had never expected to see proof this soon.“Ethan?”Amelia's voice pulled him back.“What does it say?”Ethan turned the photograph over before she could see the writing.“Nothing important.”Amelia frowned.“You're lying.”“I need you to trust me.”“That isn't an answer.”Ethan looked at her.She wasn't afraid anymore.She was angry.Good.Angry people asked questions.Fear made people run.Before Ethan could respond, footsteps sounded from the hallway.The same footsteps from moments earlier.Someone was coming back.Ethan immediately pulled Amelia behind one of the tall bookshelves.“Stay here.”“What are you going to do?”“Find out who we're dealing with.”He stepped into the corridor.Empty.The emergency lights flickered above him.Ethan moved
Chapter 6: The Secret Richard Hid
Ethan couldn't take his eyes off his father.“Amelia Rose.”Richard had reacted to that name as if Ethan had mentioned a ghost.“Dad,” Ethan said quietly, “what does Amelia have to do with the warehouse fire?”Richard looked toward the window.For several seconds, he said nothing.Then he walked to the curtains and closed them.“Before I answer that, tell me something.”“What?”“How do you know Amelia?”Ethan hesitated.“I met her at university.”Richard turned around sharply.“Where?”“Near the parking area.”“What happened?”“Two men tried to force her into a car. I stopped them.”Richard's expression changed.“You stopped them?”“Yes.”“Why?”“She needed help.”Richard stared at him.“You don't understand.”“Then explain it to me.”Richard rubbed his forehead.“Those men weren't random criminals.”Ethan's attention sharpened.“How do you know?”“Because I've seen that method before.”“Where?”Richard didn't answer immediately.Then he said, “In 1996.”Ethan's stomach tightened.“We
Chapter 5: The Woman in the Photograph
Ethan stared at the photograph.Four faces.His father, Richard Carter.Marcus Rose.David Hayes.And the woman none of them had named.The photograph was old, its edges yellowed with time. Yet the woman’s face was surprisingly clear.She looked young—perhaps in her early twenties.There was something unsettling about her expression.She wasn't smiling.She wasn't afraid.She was looking directly at the camera as if she already knew whoever would eventually find the photograph.“Who is she?” Ethan asked.Richard didn't answer.“Dad.”Richard slowly took the photograph from his hand.“Some questions are dangerous because the answer doesn't stay buried.”Ethan stepped closer.“I've already seen what happens when things stay buried.”Richard's eyes narrowed.“What do you mean?”Ethan froze.He had said too much again.Richard studied him carefully.“You've changed.”The words hit harder than Ethan expected.“What?”“Your eyes.”Richard placed the photograph on the table.“You used to loo
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