1st Day of Solitude:
The 10-month punishment of solitude began.
Avasyu woke up at 6 a.m. and refreshed himself. He then picked up the punishment notice and read it once more. Feeling uncertain about how to spend the next 10 months improving his physical and mental health, he decided to focus on enhancing his overall well-being. His first step was clear—
Exercise.
And so, he began his workout.
He completed 50 squats, 20 sit-ups, and 15 push-ups.
After his workout, he felt exhausted and lay down to rest for a while. However, he wasn't allowed to sleep. The guard noticed immediately and woke him with the sound of an alarm.
They weren't allowed to communicate with each other, and the guard couldn't speak to him directly. Instead, he used the alarm to wake Avasyu up. The guards typically remained silent unless absolutely necessary, as strict rules governed everyone inside The Observation Home.
The guard then placed an alarm clock on the table, which was positioned to the right of the room's entrance. Behind the table was Avasyu's bed, situated near a small book sack containing only two books. The room itself was compact, consisting of a single bedroom and a small washroom.
Avasyu drank some water, feeling hungry but unsure when the food would arrive. Afterward, he did nothing. He didn't feel like reading the books, nor had he ever thought about them before. Yet, curiosity sparked in his eyes as he wondered why there were only two books. But he did nothing.
After a few hours, the food finally arrived. It looked quite delicious—
Rice, Chicken curry, and some vegetable salad.
Being hungry, "Crunch!" , Avasyu ate it all quickly, "Munch!" ,feeling full to the brim.
"Champ! Chomp!"
He sat quietly afterward, trying to rest for a while. Though he knew he couldn't sleep, he attempted to do so, hoping the guards wouldn't notice.
He was right—the guards didn't notice. But the alarm did, even though he hadn't set it.
The alarm was no ordinary device. It was a special kind of technology, a product of golden eyes infused with magic, capable of sensing sleep. It detected when Avasyu drifted off and promptly woke him up.
Avasyu woke up abruptly.
He glanced at the window—it had grown dark outside.
Each room in the Observation Home had a small window, offering a view of the day and night cycle. With no clocks inside the rooms, it was difficult for anyone to guess the timing of meals or when they were expected to sleep.
Experiencing all of this, Avasyu understood the nature of his punishment. It was a type of punishment more mental than physical.
Avasyu didn't want to work out, as it made him even hungrier. So, he did nothing and lay on his bed. His mind wandered back to a day with his friends, recalling the horrific sight of their lifeless bodies hanging. The memory pierced his heart, filling him with sadness.
As time passed, dinner arrived. Avasyu appeared depressed, barely touching his food.
After a moment, he went to sleep.
He was overwhelmed by the weight of his depression. It was too much for his mind to bear.
Before it could consume him further, his eyes closed, and he drifted into sleep.
And the first day of his Solitude punishment ended.
The 2nd day of Solitude:
Avasyu woke up to the sound of the alarm, feeling tired and restless. He hadn't dreamed this time either.
He yawned deeply. "Hooaah!"
As he stretched, it dawned on him that the alarm hadn't rung when he had fallen asleep the previous night, but now it had gone off in the morning. This meant it was 6 a.m.
The alarm had a clock, but it wasn't functioning properly. However, when Avasyu glanced at it, he saw that it was indeed 6 a.m. He quickly checked the back of the alarm, but there were no tools or controls to adjust the time.
"If the time can't be modified by outside forces, then the alarm must have updated itself,"
he murmured to himself.
An idea began to form in his mind—
He could use the alarm clock to calculate the time.
He quickly freshened up and returned to his
room, feeling hungry. He hadn't eaten
properly the night before, so he drank a lot
of water to ease the hunger.
Afterward, he sat on his bed and gazed out
of the window, lost in thought. His heart
ached as memories of his friends flooded
his mind. Anger simmered within him--his
mind urged him to take revenge on the
terrorists responsible. But they had already
been captured, and there was nothing he
could do. Still, the rage burned within him.
He wanted to kill all of the terrorists.
He was lost in his thoughts, when the lunch arrived. He ate quickly, as the food was the same—delicious as before. He felt full to the neck. Knowing he couldn't sleep now, he simply sat in silence, letting the time pass.
He did nothing until evening, lost in
thought. He wondered what he could do to
pass the time over the next 10 months. But
more than anything, his mind was
consumed with a darker thought-
how to kill all the terrorists?
While lost in his thoughts, he suddenly remembered the alarm. Curious, he got up and checked its time. To his shock, the clock displayed 5 p.m.
The alarm hadn't displayed any time during the day, but now, in the evening, it showed the time clearly. However, something felt off. Glancing at the window, Avasyu thought, It doesn't look like 5 p.m. outside.
"The time shouldn't be 5 p.m. It should be closer to 7 or 8 p.m.,"
He thought, puzzled.
Curious, he decided to wait for an hour. When he checked the alarm again, it showed 4 p.m. Confused, he waited another hour, only to find the alarm now displayed 3 p.m.
It was then he understood—
the alarm clock wasn't moving forward. It was counting backward.
After his night meal, Avasyu decided to wait until the alarm clock displayed 12 a.m. As soon as it did, he noticed something strange
—the clock started moving forward again.
It was in that moment he understood the secret of the alarm clock.
The alarm clock, he realized, did indeed work correctly—
but in its own peculiar way.
It showed the correct time only between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. After that, the clock ceased functioning as a standard timekeeper and focused solely on sensing sleep.
The evening, however, was more complicated.
Starting at 6 p.m., the clock began counting backward until it reached 12 a.m. again. This meant the time had to be calculated differently,
For instance, 7 p.m. in real life appeared as 5 p.m. on the clock, and so on.
Avasyu now understood how to interpret the clock's unconventional behavior.
The second day, filled with waiting and observing the alarm clock, had left Avasyu utterly exhausted. His body was weary, and his mind felt blank. His eyes grew heavy, and he could no longer fight the overwhelming fatigue.
Before he realized it, he had fallen asleep, still holding the alarm clock in his hands.