Chương 33: C33: Doubts

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I will represent Dong Zhen's POV

Neil's comments and remarks will be specially mentioned.

There is a chance I can mess this interaction up in the POV shift. So kindly point it out in the comment if there is some messed up Interaction.

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Chapter start...

I have led Neil to move back up.

I thought, 'Let's find the two kids for some more clues.'

Likewise, I found them luckily fast enough this time. Now let's get some more clues.

As I continued talking to the two kids, I got another piece of news—

When Johnny was not sick. He often goes to the lighthouse on the cliff's edge.

Why will a sick person go to a lighthouse? It doesn't make sense for a sick person to do so. It takes a lot of effort to get there.

Did Johnny build his house in such a remote place just to be near that lighthouse? This could be one of the reasons, let's investigate it a bit more!

So, Neil decided to tag along with the kids toward the lighthouse.

On the way, we talked about all sorts of random topics, making the otherwise boring journey somewhat more entertaining. I like how these kids are a little mature for their age. Here is what we talked about.

Kid (boy): "Do you play role-playing games too?"

"Uh... I don't play...that genre" I said this to the stream

Kid (girl): "I see. You are not cool enough to play!" (￢з￢)? Neil's face

Neil: "There's nothing I can't do if I want to!" ᕙ(‾̀◡‾́)ᕗ

Just as Neil finished saying that, the kids spotted a squirrel sleeping peacefully on the trunk of the banyan tree and made an excited noise.

The kid (boy) pointed at the squirrel and exclaimed, "Look, a squirrel!"

At this point, I sarcastically remarked, "Oh no! Speak of the Devil!" ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭

Wait, what?

Dong Zhen was stunned, watching everything unfold on the screen in front of him.

Suddenly, an exciting BGM kicked in, The squirrel was on one side, while the two kids, and I were standing opposite to it as a rough RPG-style, turn-based battle interface popped up.

"Don't worry, kids, I'll protect you!" Neil exclaimed as he started rummaging through his pocket, from which he took out a ball.

He moved his hand backward in a parabolic way while his next arm moved forward, positioning it like a scope.

He looks ready to battle.

The two kids exchanged glances and shrugged, looking helpless while stifling with laughter, trying to suppress it as much as possible.

Meanwhile, the options for attacking and defending appeared on the screen interface for Dong Zhen.

"Seriously, a system like this? Why does this feel so weird? It is kinda amusing!" Dong Zhen muttered

"My God!"

Dong Zhen couldn't believe what he was seeing. The game's style had suddenly changed.

He clicked the attack button, and four skills appeared.

Volcano Jump Kick,

Whirlwind Palm,

Decisive Throw,

Shoes?

.·´¯`(>▂⁢)´¯`·.

What the...Fuk (ノಠൠಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ ? He is completely speechless, and he picks one at random.

Then, a new option appeared: Shout Volume. This is getting embarrassing.

There were three choices: Loud, Louder, and Loudest.

ɿ(｡･ɜ･)ɾ Ⓦⓗⓨ? ɿ(｡･ɜ･)ɾ Ⓦⓗⓐⓣ?

Are you kidding me?

What is this?

Dong Zhen was completely dumbfounded.

He went ahead and picked the "Loudest."

"Your turn is over, Squirrel!"

Dr. Neal shouted in his loudest voice. A chill crept over my neck as my face started to burn up.

At this time, the two children behind me stood up.

"Stop--! Or I'll tell my mom you're being cruel to little cute animals!" Kid(Boy) shouted

"Yes, she'll call the police and have you arrested!" Kid (girl) affirmed

The UI of the RPG disappeared immediately, and in the next moment, the squirrel glanced at Dr. Neal like he was a fool, then turned and ran away.

"What's going on? I was just getting into it! I was going to kill that Devil! Not only that, but I've been tricked! Tricked very poorly"

I finally understood. This is a reference to an RPG turn-based game being played within the game. Most RPGs develop similarly.

The barrage in the live broadcast room kept flying across the screen:

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(ノಠൠಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

"Fuck, I thought it was a turn-based RPG!"

"It's funnier when you get into it like that!"

=͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ﾍ ( ´ Д `)ﾉ

"Haha, I was wondering why the art style suddenly changed!"

"There is such a trick!"

"Chen Xu, you're so sneaky!"

(－_－) zzZ

" I think it's hilarious—this game is full of humor!"

"Haha, this is meant to be a funny game!"

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In the game, Dong Zhen proceeded step by step and arrived at the lighthouse by the sea. There was a tombstone in front of it. The name on the tombstone was River Wyles.

"The tomb of his wife."

Looking at the tomb, I remembered that earlier, the nanny had mentioned Johnny had a wife, but she had passed away. This must be her tomb, but why was it placed in front of the lighthouse? Does this lighthouse hold some special meaning for Johnny and his wife?

Still pondering, I entered the lighthouse and climbed to the top. Inside, I found another paper rabbit like the one in the basement, but this one was different. It was folded from two different colors of paper and was more complex, taking much longer to make.

This, too, seemed to be a key item, but I was left even more confused. After making such a big circle, none of my questions had been answered; instead, I had more of them.

Lighthouses and paper rabbits—what do they mean?

Filled with doubt, Neil returned to Johnny's room and prepared to turn on the machine with Dr. Eva. Johnny, the old man lying in bed, was about to have his life story unfold before me.

But just like before, to enter Johnny's memories, Neil needed a medium. The goal was to reach his childhood memories so that He could implant the dream of becoming an astronaut, a dream that Johnny would hold onto in his virtual memories. This way, he could live out a future where he became an astronaut and successfully landed on the moon, fulfilling his last wish.

To achieve this, he needed to gradually work backward, starting from Johnny's recent memories and journeying toward his childhood.

Before embarking on the journey, I found a sheet of music score—"For River"—in front of the old man's piano downstairs. The composer was Johnny, who wrote it for his wife.

Then the transition started~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I dropped at the back of the house.

At the back of the house, Dr. Neil found Johnny, but I discovered something very strange through the conversation. Dr. Neil curiously asked Johnny why he wanted to go to the moon. But even Johnny himself seemed confused.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know," Johnny said. "I just… want to go."

Looking at the confused Johnny in front of me, like many viewers who might have been following along in a live broadcast, I also felt puzzled. He didn't know why he wanted to go to the moon. Then why such a strong obsession?

"Could it be that the origin of the Moon Alien invasion of Earth is not right?" I wondered, full of curiosity. Wanting to understand more, I continued to advance in the game's plot. Using the Origami rabbit I had obtained from the lighthouse earlier, I initiated a memory transition, diving deeper into Johnny's memories.

Time moved backward, revealing Johnny's old age. The room was filled with paper rabbits sprawled all over the ground, and there sat Johnny, playing the piece he had written for his wife, River, over and over again. It was clear that by this time, River had passed away.

"Paper rabbits… what's the deeper meaning behind these paper bunnies?" I asked myself. By now, I was convinced that the paper rabbit had some connection to Johnny's wish to go to the moon. But what was the connection?

This part of the game was simple: I needed to find objects tied to Johnny's memories. After locating all of them, I played through a relatively easy jigsaw puzzle to keep advancing through Johnny's memories.

One thing was becoming clear as I played: To the Moon isn't about complex gameplay mechanics. It's a story-driven experience.