Elias froze. This wasn't a site for money. It was a marketplace for the one currency no one could print more of. He looked at his hands, then back at the screen. The "Glimpse" could save his failing business, or let him prevent the accident that had cost him so much.
He hovered his cursor over the 'Bid' button. As the timer hit zero, he realized the site wasn't just a shop—it was a trap for those who valued the future more than the present.
The screen didn't refresh; instead, the mechanical ticking of his own wristwatch began to accelerate. It grew louder, echoing against the café walls until it sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil. Suddenly, the webpage bloomed into a high-definition live feed of a vault. Inside, resting on a velvet cushion, was a timepiece that shouldn't exist: the Xrysoi Chronos .
According to legend, the Xrysoi series were twenty-four watches forged from a fallen meteor, each capable of manipulating small pockets of time. Number 022 was rumored to be the "Glimpse"—a watch that allowed the wearer to see exactly ten seconds into the future.
A chat box popped up on the side of the stream. “The auction for Object 022 begins now,” the text read. “Current bid: 40 years.”
The flickering neon sign of the "Golden Hour" café cast a rhythmic amber glow over Elias as he typed the address into his browser: .
