For the first time in the game, the background music changed from instrumental to a song with lyrics.
"Everything's Alright."
It felt like the song was singing out River's feelings.
With the sad music playing, River was slowly removed from Johnny's life.
At the stairs where Johnny thought he met River for the first time, the platypus and River were both gone. Only a book about the lighthouse was left, flipping in the wind with a rustling sound.
Johnny's close friend Nicholas walked down the hallway.
At the library counter, River was gone. Joey had taken her place. The two brothers chatted about Transformers and space.
River's favorite book, The Emperor's New Clothes, was covered in dust.
Outside the movie theater where Johnny and River once watched a film together, now it was just Johnny and his brother Joey, laughing as they walked in.
Yes, River had been erased.
Eva changed Johnny's memories, replacing River with his brother Joey.
She kept planting hints and guiding Johnny's dream—becoming an astronaut.
Without River, but with Joey by his side, Johnny's future completely changed.
The horse ranch where Johnny once rode with River was now empty.
In front of the lighthouse named Anya, there was only overgrown grass. The couple from before were no longer there.
Even the dead rabbit from the wedding day was gone.
In Johnny's memory, his future had taken a whole new path.
Through constant training and study,
Johnny finally got an offer from the space agency and went there for a visit.
His goal was right in front of him.
"Go to the moon"—this goal now seemed only a matter of time.
What Eva had done seemed to be working.
But every player and viewer was silent.
Yes, Johnny was about to go to the moon.
Eva and Neil were also about to finish their mission.
But was this really what Johnny wanted?
Going to the moon, but without River.
Did that even mean anything?
In Johnny's imagined future, he arrived at the space agency.
At this point, Eric and all the players who had made it here
were just going through the motions, moving the character forward.
There was only one feeling—pain.
But as Eva and Neil reached the space agency and toured it with Johnny,
"She's not here either…"
"What are you talking about?"
"Let's just go."
As Neil and Eva talked, Eric seemed to notice something different.
"Wait! That old lady!"
"She looks like she's searching for something!"
In the waiting room, thinking back on what just happened and what Eva had said, Eric suddenly had a bold guess—one he really hoped was right.
But before he could even say it on stream,
the sad background music suddenly went silent, replaced by the sound of a heartbeat.
Then cheerful music started playing.
A girl with an orange-red ponytail appeared at the door.
"Ah! You must be the new recruit, River, right? Glad you could make it," said the unnamed head of the space agency.
"Hi, I'm Johnny," Johnny stepped forward and greeted her, just like the first time.
At the same time, the last memory piece was finally collected.
Eva, standing by the window, let out a big sigh of relief.
"Phew! I really thought she was gone."
"What the hell, Eva! But you… deleted her!" Neil said in disbelief.
"No, like I told you—I only moved her. What she chooses to do with her life is still up to… her."
"This new world was built from public data and Johnny's personal wishes. Since River was someone personal to him, her data wouldn't have been stored in the public system."
As Eva explained, Neil finally understood: "So… all of this came from Johnny…"
Yes, River still came!
Even though their lives had changed, even though Johnny and River had no connection in that version of their past—
In this imagined world, Johnny still remembered that promise.
"What if we get separated? Then we'll meet again on the moon, silly!"
Yes, in the end, they did meet again—on the moon.
Eric's tears, which he had forced back earlier, were coming up again.
At the space center, the music playing now wasn't For River anymore.
It had a new name: To the Moon.
In the main hall, watching Johnny play the piano, River softly said from the audience:
"I like that name."
...
In Johnny's imagined memories, the two of them spent years training and getting ready.
Finally, the rocket was almost ready to launch.
Neil and Eva also invited Lily, the caretaker, along with Johnny's doctor and others, to witness this moment.
At sunset, many people stood on the long bridge over the river, watching the rocket launch site in the distance.
With a loud rumble, the rocket lifted off.
At the same time, the sound of a heartbeat echoed—
a heavy, muffled heartbeat.
It was Johnny's real heartbeat—
he didn't have much time left.
As the piano piece To the Moon played, the rocket soared into the sky.
Ahead of them was their destination: the moon.
Inside the rocket, Johnny and River looked at each other at the same time.
Then, gently, their hands came together.
[Then we'll meet again on the moon, silly!]
As the moon appeared, the screen faded to black.
And then, one by one, Johnny's past memories flashed by like a reel of film.
Looking at these memories and thinking about Johnny and River's story in the game,
Eric finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He covered his face with both hands and grabbed a napkin from the side.
But he didn't wipe his nose—he wiped his eyes.
"Damn! A grown man cried again!"
"This wrecked me, man!"
"Can't even see the screen through my tears!"
"If you really get lost, then we'll meet on the moon, you silly!"
"If you really get lost, then we'll meet on the moon, you silly!"
As the credits started rolling at the end of the game,
Eric's livestream chat was slowly taken over by that same line.
In that moment, everyone was touched by the story.
They even forgot—
That this game was actually part of a sci-fi game jam.
No one even cared anymore whether it counted as science fiction or not.
Everyone was completely caught up in Johnny and River's story.
(End of The Chapter)
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