Chapter 228: The Past and the Present (END)
A powerful yet subtle shock rippled through the world. Ordinary people felt it as nothing more than a sudden passing breeze, but those who carried memories all opened their eyes at the same time.
The worlds merged. Awakening followed.
Louis snapped his eyes open, as if guided by intuition, and looked toward the distance. Another unfamiliar memory erupted in his mind, making him sway and nearly lose his footing.
So this was... the previous life Joshua had mentioned?
The final crack was finally sealed. Luther held Joshua tightly and murmured, "Best friend."
Joshua smiled and nodded. "I was so scared, Luther. Take me with you..."
He muttered softly. At that moment, Henry also rushed over. Without hesitation, he scooped Joshua up in his arms and said gently, "Joshua, are you okay? Let’s go to the hospital."
Joshua’s entire face rested in the hollow of Henry’s neck. He shook his head. "I’m fine. I just need to sleep for a bit."
He wasn’t lying. He had truly exhausted himself mentally. As soon as he finished speaking, his body went limp, and he made no further sound.
Henry held Joshua tightly, his eyes turning red.
At last, the sense of reality arrived.
Two lifetimes. Everything was finally complete. They would live in peace now, in a beautiful world.
Joshua could chase his dreams, or do anything he wanted...
"You have to wake up soon, Joshua..."
...
An official announcement was released, stating that a haunted house collapse accident had forced the suspension of the game show that Joshua, Henry, and Luther had participated in. None of the staff inside the haunted house survived. Joshua and his two teammates were not in life-threatening danger, but were still required to rest and recuperate.
Fans were terrified in hindsight, crying and worrying endlessly.
Henry and Luther, meanwhile, were healthy to an almost absurd degree. Only Joshua remained asleep. From that day until now, three days had already passed.
After recovering her memories, Mrs. Adonis was nearly drowning in tears. Mr. Adonis and Louis were hardly in any better shape.
They had even regained memories from when they had become zombies—times when they had been utterly unable to control themselves. And after that... what had Joshua gone through? They were, in a sense, the very beginning of Joshua’s nightmare.
Henry only looked at them and said, "Joshua loves all of you the most. So if he wakes up and sees you like this, it’ll break his heart."
"He’s been asleep for far too long," Louis said softly.
Just then, Luther’s firm voice suddenly rang out. "He’ll definitely wake up."
That’s right. He would definitely wake up.
One after another, others came to visit Joshua. Another week passed. Until a very special guest arrived.
Arthur.
The past between them—things even Henry didn’t know about.
"I have a way to wake Joshua up, but you two need to wait outside," Arthur said bluntly.
Dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in a long time, and his eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.
Henry detected no weapons on Arthur.
With his current abilities, he could crush Arthur at any moment. He also didn’t want Arthur anywhere near Joshua, but at this point, they had little choice but to gamble.
Luther and Henry stood outside the door. Arthur didn’t pay them any attention. In his eyes, there was only the person lying on the bed.
Joshua lay there with his eyes closed, clean and peaceful. A hint of white showed at the roots of his hair—clearly, his new hair was white.
He lay there obediently, as if he were merely taking an afternoon nap and would soon open those watery, shimmering eyes again. The sight inevitably made Arthur recall their first meeting. Back then, Joshua had slept just like this, while countless people fought over him for a single title.
Arthur sat down beside Joshua’s bed and took his hand.
In his previous life, Arthur had been a renowned scientist. He devoted his entire life to medicine and science. When the pandemic erupted and the apocalypse arrived, he swore that he would create a vaccine capable of saving the entire world.
So when he learned of Life’s existence—Joshua—he made his decision almost without hesitation.
When he brought Joshua into the laboratory, he knew he didn’t want to. But he wanted humanity to survive even more. He wanted the world to be at peace. Perhaps Joshua would understand him—or even if he wouldn’t, Arthur would never turn back.
He had promised that if there were another life, he would return everything to Joshua.
Every day, watching new specimens being delivered, he knew they were taken from Joshua’s body. He knew that he himself was Joshua’s nightmare. On one hand, he pushed his research forward desperately, hoping to see the light at the end. On the other, he was tormented by memories of their once-beautiful past.
At night, he had asked himself countless times—was it worth it? Wouldn’t it have been good enough to simply wander the world together with Joshua? Life was so short. Why did he have to torture the both of them like this?!
But was there any way back now? There wasn’t.
When he heard the news that the laboratory had exploded, that everyone had been buried beneath it, Arthur laughed—then cried. That very night, the world’s great scientist died as well.
The world reaching its end felt like a cruel joke aimed at Arthur’s pain and torment.
In the end, he achieved nothing. He didn’t save the world, and he couldn’t save the person he loved.
"But now I have a chance to start over, Joshua."
"I’ll keep my promise. If there’s another life after this... could you care about me just a little?"
Arthur tightly held Joshua’s hand, lowered his head, and gently kissed it. Tears streamed down, soaking the back of Joshua’s hand.
At the same time, Arthur’s body began to turn transparent. Energy radiated outward, wrapping around Joshua and surging into his forehead.
At the very least, he had finally fulfilled his promise. Those nightmare-filled nights from his previous life... in those dreams, perhaps Joshua would finally turn back to look at him, instead of turning away and leaving.
Arthur’s vision grew blurrier and blurrier. In a fleeting instant, he seemed to see a pure white figure standing ahead.
Joshua gently brushed his long white hair back and smiled brightly at Arthur. "Ace, are you hurt again? Why do you always hide these things? Come here, hurry."
Arthur looked at the urging expression on the face before him. He was a little dazed. Then, at last, his expression slowly relaxed. He smiled—a real smile. Without hesitation, he ran forward and said softly, "Then I’ll leave it to you."
He would never hide anything from him again. No matter what it was.
"Are you crying?" Joshua blinked, looking at him in confusion.
"No, I’m very happy." After a brief pause, he added gently, "Joshua, from now on, call me Arthur."
In his previous life, before Joshua, he had been Ace—a face so ordinary, an esper just a little more special than the rest. Until Joshua was taken into the laboratory, he had never known that Ace was the one who had betrayed him.
Ace would forever be remembered as a leader who sacrificed himself for the entire team, a great and admirable person—not the beginning of Joshua’s nightmare.
But now, he could finally say it.
Joshua, from today on, call my name.
The two figures held hands and quickly disappeared into a sea of brilliant light, heading toward the place where they belonged. This time, nothing could ever separate them again.
Arthur’s body completely dissipated, everything happening so fast that no one had time to react.
A tear spilled from the corner of Joshua’s eye and rolled down his temple as he suddenly opened his eyes. He parted his lips and instinctively called out, "Ace..."
After a pause, he murmured softly, "Arthur..."
It felt as though he had seen Arthur, yet everything was hazy, like a dream.
At that moment, Henry’s and Luther’s faces suddenly appeared in his field of vision. The fragments of memory from the dream instantly dissolved like sea foam—just like any other dream, impossible to remember no matter how hard one tried.
Looking at the faces of Henry and Luther, filled with worry mixed with joy, Joshua suddenly laughed.
"I’m home."
Sunlight streamed in through the window, the scene warm and dreamlike. Yet this was the most beautiful reality Joshua could feel—because the him of today was exactly the form he had longed for in the past.
____END____
