October 1, 2023 | 3:30 PM | Nakhon Sawan, Thailand

  Inside a private karaoke room...

  The atmosphere was heavy with an oppressive silence.

  “What do we do now?” Linnea asked in a hollow voice. She had just realized she was forced to relive her life in her fifteen-year-old body all over again, a cycle she couldn't escape.

  “We have to kill Saito. No matter what,” Jia said with chilling finality. She was looking at the profile of ‘Kim Tae-pung,’ a fourteen-year-old honors student currently fighting for his life in the ICU after being brutally bullied by his classmates.

  Kim Tae-pung was the new pawn Saito had found to replace Mook. Though the timeline was delayed, this boy possessed a genius-level talent that rivaled Mook’s. In the original timeline’s future, he would wake from his coma with a heart filled with vengeance—especially since the bullies who nearly killed him grew up to be famous national idols—and invent GREM for Saito.

  “Why couldn't you handle Saito last time?” Meena turned to ask Jia.

  “The maids in that house... they all knew how to use guns,” Jia replied, her face contorting with fear as if the traumatic memory had happened only yesterday. “When I tried to slip in last time, I barely made it out alive.”

  “Then this time, we go together. We’ll book tickets to Korea before dealing with Mook. Once we hit Korea, we’ll book the next flight to Japan to deal with Tae-pung. From there, we finish Saito. Once the mission is complete, we hit the return button immediately,” Meena proposed a tighter, more calculated plan. Everyone nodded in grim agreement.

  ***

  November 13, 2030 | 7:10 PM | Phayao, Thailand

  Inside a van shrouded in darkness...

  Meena stabbed Mook repeatedly until she was certain he had drawn his last breath for the second time. She looked up at her friends with a solemn expression. “He’s dead. Set the GPS for the airport.”

  “I’m sorry...” Linnea whispered softly, reaching out to gently stroke the cheek of the lifeless Mook. The first time she killed him, she felt only a flicker of guilt. But this second time, the remorse was overwhelming and suffocating. She couldn't understand why her heart felt like it was being torn apart.

  ***

  November 16, 2030 | 5:00 PM | Gyeongsang, South Korea

  Inside a hospital recovery ward...

  Meena and Linnea disguised themselves as visitors, walking straight to the room where Kim Tae-pung lay unconscious in his hospital bed.

  Sshhh... Meena expertly injected a specific liquid into his IV line. They turned and exited the room immediately.

  Spasm! Within moments, Tae-pung’s body began to convulse violently.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Tae-pung! Tae-pung, my son!” His mother’s agonizing scream pierced the hallway as she walked in to find him. Soon, the heart monitor let out the long, flat tone—the final signal of death.

  “Let’s go!” Meena urged Linnea, who was lingering, staring back at the room with a soul-crushing sense of guilt.

  “Go... let's go,” Linnea muttered, following Meena out of the facility.

  ***

  November 19, 2030 | 10:00 PM | Tokyo, Japan

  At a grand, imposing mansion...

  The roar of handguns shattered the silence as Meena, Linnea, and Jia—fully geared in SWAT tactical suits—launched their assault. With Meena’s precision and combat experience, they neutralized the armed maids with clinical efficiency.

  BANG! BANG! BANG! Meena breached the underground panic room, shredding the door lock with submachine gun fire before kicking it open.

  BANG! BANG! Saito was ready, firing back instantly. The bullets slammed into Meena’s body armor, the force throwing her back. But through sheer grit, Meena forced herself up and returned fire.

  Thud. Saito’s body collapsed. Three rounds to the left chest.

  “Huff... huff...” Meena panted heavily. She stared at the ceiling and let out a breathless smile of relief. It was finally over.

  “Is he dead?” Jia ran in to confirm, checking Saito’s pulse.

  “He’s dead. Our mission is complete.” Meena looked at Jia and Linnea with a triumphant, weary smile.

  “Shall we go back?” Jia raised her wrist, looking at her two friends. They all nodded in unison. “Yes.”

  ***

  March 1, 2045 | 8:15 PM | A Deserted Island

  Inside a small, isolated wooden cabin...

  Meena, Jia, and Linnea were watching television, feeling more relaxed than they had in years. As memories from the two timelines began to merge and stabilize, they looked at each other.

  “We did it! We actually did it! And this time, we didn't even get caught!” Meena shouted with joy.

  “Don’t be so sure yet. Check everything,” Linnea cautioned, opening her laptop to scour the news and her own memories. She searched for any mention of ‘GREM.’

  “Find anything?” Jia leaned in, her heart racing.

  “Nothing... not a single thing,” Linnea shook her head with a smile of pure relief. They had successfully rewritten history.

  ***

  April 7, 2048 | 5:30 PM | On the Deserted Island

  “Breaking news! Today, men who aren't 'favored' by women no longer have to endure loneliness,” a news anchor’s voice in Mandarin drifted from the TV Jia was watching. “From now on, every man can build his dream harem for the low price of only 500 Yuan!”

  Clatter. The candy in Jia’s mouth fell to the floor. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropping in total shock.

  “What’s wrong, Jia?” Meena walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of hot soup, quickly putting on her translation earpiece. She looked from her friend to the screen, which was now displaying a device that looked terrifyingly similar to GREM.

  Ten minutes later, the three women sat in a tense, anxious circle. “Maybe it’s not as bad as Saito’s version,” Linnea tried to comfort them. Meena and Jia nodded, trying to convince themselves as they continued to live in hiding on the island, waiting for the statute of limitations on their crimes to expire.

  ***

  April 3, 2053 | 11:25 AM

  Today, the three women stared at the news in a state of catatonic shock. China had risen to become the world's undisputed number one superpower and had begun annexing other nations globally. No country had the technology to resist them.

  Furthermore, social media was flooded with reports of the ‘Grey Chinese’ syndicates openly engaging in human labor and organ trafficking...

  The world they had tried so hard to save had now fallen into a hell far greater and more vast than the one before.