The clock and a bad day

"Ugh, another day... Why is my life so predictable?"

Doram, an underpaid deliveryman, complained as he shuffled through his apartment hallway. The echo of his footsteps resonated in the silence, a perfect reflection of the monotony that had accompanied him for years. His routine was immutable: wake up, go to his boring job at the shipping sales company, come home, eat dinner alone, and sleep.

(Heavy sigh)

"I really wish something, anything, would change."

Upon reaching the door, he noticed an unusually large package resting on the threshold.

"What is this? I didn't order anything."

Reading the label, it revealed it came from his own company.

"A free gift? This is new."

With a mix of curiosity and skepticism, he opened the package in the living room.

(Tearing of adhesive tape, bubble wrap crinkling)

Inside, wrapped in a dark velvet cloth, lay an old-fashioned pocket watch, polished metal engraved with intricate patterns.

"What a strange piece."

That watch seemed to be from another era, something more worthy of an antique dealer than a corporate gift. However, upon instinctively pressing a small side button, he noticed how the world around him stopped.

Birds hung suspended in the air, dancing dust froze, and the ticking of his own wall clock abruptly ceased.

"What the... what the hell just happened?"

With his heart pounding and his eyes wide, he walked to the window, seeing the street, motionless.

"This... does this mean I've stopped time?"

The realization of his new power hit him like a wave, as a slow, malicious smile began to form on his lips, replacing the frustration that had previously inhabited his face.

"I could use this to... to help people."

At that moment, that virtuous thought briefly crossed his mind.

"No. I have a better idea."

Only to be quickly discarded at the thought of repeating such a boring life again, constrained by his moral code. Instead, his gaze turned to a much more primal desire, one he had repressed for too long.

"My carnal desires... I can finally unleash them!"

A low, sinister smile escaped his lips as he clutched the watch firmly in his hand and hid it in his pocket, feeling the monotony of his existence fade, replaced by a new and intoxicating sense of power.

This would not be the chapter of a hero, but that of an ordinary man who, faced with the temptation of unimaginable power, chooses to succumb to his deepest desires. Time had stopped, and with it, all the rules that once bound him.

.... However, what Doram didn't know at that moment was that his story would be extremely short and how this would be the worst day of his entire life.

"I gotta try this."

After his power's epiphany, the need to experiment was undeniable, he murmured with a spark of excitement in his eyes.

Leaving his apartment with the heavy pocket watch in his hand, he walked down the no-longer-so-monotonous street. Turning the corner, he spotted a convenience store with its lights on.

"The perfect place."

Doram entered the store and discreetly activated the watch.

(Click)

Instantly, he saw the cashier frozen mid-scan of a product, with the barcode halfway past, and a customer with a carton of milk in hand seemed frozen mid-step.

"This is incredible... all mine, with no consequences."

His eyes gleamed with a sense of euphoria as he walked through the aisles, grabbing soda cans, his favorite snacks, and wads of cash from the register.

(Click)

With his loot in hand, he exited the store, deactivating the watch just as he crossed the threshold.

"It definitely works."

He said as the cashier blinked, finishing scanning the product as if nothing had happened, smiling with satisfaction.

"Ooohh, but what do we have here?"

As he walked away down a side alley, his gaze fell upon a solitary figure at the end of the path. It was a delicate-looking "girl" with striking silver hair and white eyes, wearing a white ruffled dress that seemed out of place in that setting.

"Sniff... I hate this punishment... Ugh..."

She seemed out of place in that setting. She walked slowly, head bowed and eyes full of tears, lamenting softly as if talking to herself.

"A defenseless girl... and me with this power."

A dark idea crossed the man's mind, leading him to activate the watch with a despicable smile.

(Click)

Unaware that he had made his first mistake, he continued walking towards the "girl" with chilling confidence, ready to unleash his lowest desires.

"A pervert...?"

"Huh...?"

However, when he was just a few steps away, the girl lifted her head. Her eyes, still moist, looked at him with unexpected fury. To his astonishment, she was still moving.

"A suspicious man..."

The girl, with a grumpy look, narrowed her eyes.

"He's perfect for taking out my frustrations on!"

"What the...?"

Suddenly, from among the ruffles of her dress, she pulled out a metal frying pan, seemingly out of nowhere.

(Wham!)

Before the man could react, the frying pan impacted his head with a loud thud.

"Ugh!"

The pain dazed him, but the girl didn't stop.

(Wham! Wham! Wham!)

The blows continued, one after another, making him stumble until he fell to the ground. In the middle of the beating, the pocket watch flew out of his hand.

(Click)

And as it hit the ground, time returned to normal while the man screamed in pain, as the rain of frying pan blows continued, now in real-time.

(WHAM! WHAM!)

(Zzzzt!)

To add to his misery, the girl pulled an electric taser from her other pocket and activated it.

"AAAAARGH!!"

Electric shocks coursed through his body, intensifying the pain until darkness enveloped him.

"Haaa... Haaa... Haa..."

The "girl," slightly panting but with an expression of satisfaction on her face, put away the frying pan.

"Pathetic piece of trash."

The "girl" said with disdain, like a true delinquent, spitting on the unconscious man.

(Thump!)

Immediately after, she kicked him in the ribs before calmly walking away, leaving the man lying on the alley floor.

"Ugh! Oof...!"

Some time later, the man groaned, his head throbbing and every muscle in his body protesting as he awoke.

"What... what happened?"

His eyes slowly opened, and a bright, midday sun blinded him.

He got up with difficulty, feeling the cold alley floor. He remembered the watch, the power, the store... and then, the girl.

"H-heehee!"

At that moment, a shiver ran down his spine, but shame seemed to eclipse the memory of the pain.

"The watch..."

Remembering up to that point, he frantically patted his pockets until he found it.

"Here it is!"

He held it, the cold metal comforting in his hand. The humiliation of the beating was already beginning to blur, replaced by the persistent fascination of his new power. The idea that this small object could stop the world at his whim was too seductive to give up. The girl was, perhaps, an anomaly.

He needed another test, an undeniable one. Just then, the door of the convenience store he had "visited" before opened. An inexpressive maid emerged from it, dressed in an impeccable uniform and carrying a shopping bag. Her face was of a distant beauty, without any emotion.

"Perfect," the man thought, with a lecherous smile growing on his lips. He didn't remember the previous beating, only the power the watch conferred upon him.

(Click)

With an almost imperceptible click, time stopped again. The maid was frozen mid-step, the bag suspended in the air.

"This time, no one can stop me."

The man stood before her, reveling in the stillness of everything around him, laughing softly, a perverted laugh that echoed in the suspended silence. He extended a hand towards her, his eyes fixed on the static figure.

But just as his fingers were about to brush her, a monotonous, emotionless voice broke the silence.

"Sara only belongs to her master, so Sara will eliminate thieves."

The maid pronounced, without moving a single muscle on her face.

(SLAP!)

Before he could comprehend what he was hearing, a cold, strong hand rose and struck him with a slap that sent him flying.

(THUD!)

The world spun. He flew backward, his body brutally impacting the alley wall.

The blow was so forceful that it knocked him unconscious instantly.

(Click)

The watch, once again, slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Time resumed. The maid, impassive, continued on her way as if nothing had happened, with her shopping bag. The man lay on the ground, defeated for the second time, his "power" useless against beings who defied all logic.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

The man got up for the third time, his body a mosaic of aches and his mind in a fog of confusion.

What the hell was going on? Why did every attempt to use his power end in a brutal and humiliating beating? He stumbled out of the alley, slightly tripping, and realized that the sun had completely disappeared. Night had fallen.

The convenience store lights glowed in the darkness, a familiar beacon of his recent failures. But this time, something was different. A beautiful long-haired redhead woman with piercing eyes was leaving the store, locking up. She seemed to work there, her elegant figure under the faint glow of the streetlights.

"This can't be happening to me. The watch... it has to work!"

Despite the two previous experiences, a stubborn mix of disbelief and a distorted desire for power compelled him to try one more time.

Thinking desperately, he held the watch and activated it.

(Click)

The world froze. The redhead woman remained motionless, a perfect wax image under the streetlight.

"This time it will work... Surely."

With forced confidence, the man headed towards the store, his objective clear: the woman. This time, he made sure everything was truly stopped. There was no movement, no sound apart from the beat of his own heart.

(Thwack!)

"Aaaargh!!"

However, the instant he crossed the store's threshold, a metallic object whizzed through the air. A knife embedded deeply in his leg.

The pain was instant and agonizing. He fell to his knees, the watch still clutched in his hand.

Before he could even process what had happened, the redhead woman, who should have been motionless, appeared in front of him. Her hands closed around his neck, squeezing with inhuman strength.

"Ugh..."

The air escaped his lungs. He was immobilized, unable to move or scream, his muscles paralyzed under her touch.

The woman leaned in, a cruel smile adorning her face as her cold eyes stared fixedly at him. With agonizing slowness, she pulled the knife from his leg.

"Well, well, look what we have here."

(CRUNCH!)

Her voice was an icy whisper, filled with palpable cruelty, and then, with chilling precision, she buried the knife in his eye.

.... Doram had met Susie, and with her, his eternal torment had begun.