Just then, the lights that had gone out blazed back on. What was happening? Before I could figure it out, a song began echoing around me.

Though my first thought was an Organization K trap, I couldn’t bring myself to use my Time Ability to interrupt it.

A melancholic Japanese female voice wrapped around my ears. I stopped walking, drawn deep into a realm of light.

"Cold Creek." Strange—where was that voice from? Who was it calling? Right, Cold Creek was my name. My mother’s voice. I opened my eyes. A mature woman with raven-black hair stood before me, hand outstretched. "Xiao Xi, time to go home for dinner."

I gripped her hand instinctively. "Okay, Mom." Such warmth. She led me slowly toward home. "I made your favorite braised pork ribs today." My mouth watered. I jumped up excitedly. "Awesome! Mom’s the best!"

Back home, a handsome, stern-faced man nodded at us. "Get ready to eat now that you’re back."

At dinner, Mom piled large pieces of braised pork into my bowl. "Eat up, Xiao Xi. Grow big and strong." I tried giving a piece to her, but she placed it back. "Mom doesn’t like this. You eat it." Weird—why cook what she disliked? If she didn’t want it, I’d finish it all.

Mom patted my head gently. "Such a good boy, Xiao Xi. Not wasting food." Even Dad, who rarely smiled, gave a faint grin. I rushed to him, leaping into his arms. "Dad smiled! Hahaha!"

Dad lifted me up, his restrained smile blooming. "Haha, Xiao Xi really is my good son."

The blond man watching the monitor smiled faintly. "Intel said the target struggles against mental attacks. This leftover piece is proving useful."

In another isolated room, a barefoot girl in a white dress sang passionately into a mic. Her voice was beautiful yet sorrowful. Like a caged bird, she couldn’t control her fate.

She was Sakurako Namizumi, an Ability User who manipulated minds with sound. A soulful online singer, her single "Homecoming" had shot her to stardom. But months after its release, she vanished mysteriously.

Though still singing "Homecoming," Sakurako couldn’t channel that genuine homesickness anymore. A caged bird could never fly free.

Her voice had been system-modified to trap listeners deeper in illusions.

The blond man stared fervently at the screen. "I want to know his illusion." "Report! 'Canary’s body is overloading. 'Red List No. 1’ is rejecting the illusion!"

"What! Make 'Canary’ intensify her output!" His expression twisted as he barked the order coldly.

"But she’ll die, sir," the staffer hesitated. The blond man slammed the table. "Just a Canary! Even if she dies ten thousand times, securing one target is worth it! Increase the power!"

Major Laiwen was infamous for ruthlessness. No one dared disobey. "Yes!" The staffer sighed, boosting the power on Sakurako. Pity meant nothing—angering Laiwen meant death.

Laiwen glared, eyes wide. "You’re mine. No one takes you from me!"

"Xiao Xi, what’s wrong?" Mother stared in horror at Father’s bloodied body. "Why? He’s your father!"

I gave her a cold look. "Hahaha. I know you’re fake, but you stirred my darkest past. Those days were nauseating."

My Time Ability wasn’t innate. The memory of gaining it was blank—just those few months missing. I thought my parents would still love me. But that was just my delusion.

People called me a monster. I’d never hurt anyone; I’d even rewritten deaths with my power.

At first, my parents seemed off, but I ignored it. Until I used Time Reversal to resurrect Xiaomeng, my neighbor. My best friend. We’d promised I’d marry her when I grew up.

She died right before me—hit by a car rushing to meet me. I stared at her body, at her weeping parents. I’d reverse her time. I could see and manipulate all things’ time. I’d give her half of mine!

Xiaomeng revived. I was overjoyed. But strangers stormed my home, taking me for "research."

My parents never came. From blood tests to live dissections, I was sliced inch by inch, revived, killed again. I wanted to resist, but they threatened to kill my parents—permanently.

Two years of torture numbed me. Death felt like relief. Then, after one revival, I overheard: my parents had sold me. They got enough money to raise a new child—a lifetime’s fortune.

I understood why they never came. Why it all felt natural. Too numb for anger, an invisible hand pushed me. I’d kill them all. Not with blades—I’d plunder their time, erasing their existence.

My first Time Plunder took every life in that institute. I wouldn’t return home. I feared killing them too.

I left that heartbreak behind and came to Japan.

"Major, Canary’s at her limit. The illusion’s failing on Red List No. 1. It might collapse. Stop the output?" The staffer watched Sakurako, blood streaming from her eyes.

Laiwen roared, "Useless! We trained her for this. Let her die! Don’t stop!"

"Yes." To Laiwen, a useless piece deserved no existence.

"Xiao Xi, it’s me, Mom! Wake up!" The kind-faced mother reached out, guiding the lost child.

I walked over, plunging a knife into her chest. "Too fake. That acting won’t fool me, 'Mom'." Her unyielding eyes faded as the illusion shattered. I stood back in the metal-walled underground base.

Sakurako’s bleeding eyes turned black. She collapsed the moment I broke free. "Is it finally over? Can I sleep well now? That’s… great." She died without resentment, a faint smile on her lips.