Azure felt an overwhelming fear overtake him. Before his sight, there were many red threads, resembling twisting vines, wrapping around a body in the middle, draining its energy and blood.
He staggered back, trembling, muttering as he stared upward, "What is this?"
The man stepped closer, looking up, and began explaining calmly, "This... is us." Azure stared at him for a moment.
The man smiled with a bitter sarcasm, "Those red threads are the reason we lost our memories and had our power sealed, basically. But it wasn't the one who made you lose all your memories, just some specific ones. Losing all memories was my doing."
"Why did you do that?"
The smile vanished from the man's face, replaced by a frown. He replied seriously and coldly, "To keep us alive. Even though we returned and our memories were sealed, our mental state wasn't at its best. In fact, we were on the verge of going completely insane. If that happened, we would've lost all our humanity and consciousness and transformed into something entirely different."
He took a deep breath to calm himself, speaking with less seriousness, "The emotions, memories, desires, and all the pain we felt were coming too fast. In less than a month, all those desires would've overtaken us and consumed us. There was no other choice but to seal them. Instead of them all coming at once like a waterfall, I thought it'd be better for them to come in small waves. In this case, they wouldn't fundamentally affect our personality and would be more like dreams."
Azure stared at the man, "And what do you gain from this?"
The man chuckled and shook his head sarcastically, "Isn't it obvious? When all the desires, emotions, and memories come together again, we'll unite to become one person once more. You could say that we are currently..."
He paused to think of the right word to describe what he meant, smiled, and snapped his fingers, "A reflection. You could say I'm currently your future reflection. It doesn't have to be me in the future, though I'm your 'future reflection,' but that was an old future. You could say it's the past... I remembered I'm not good at explaining. Never mind, I think you got the idea."
Azure blinked as he stared at the man. After a few moments of processing and understanding what the man said, he nodded, slowly holding his head, "Okay, let's say you're my future from... the past. First, how should I call you?"
"Hmm," the man closed one eye and held his chin, thinking. After a few moments of thought, he opened his eyes again, "You can call me Arthur."
Azure nodded, "I have a few questions. Can I ask them?"
Arthur nodded, "Remember two things: I don't have answers to all the questions. My memories are sealed with yours; I only remember bits and pieces here and there. Second, there are questions that, even if I know the answers, I won't tell you."
Azure frowned for a moment before nodding. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Okay, the first question: Who is Eve? And can I trust her?"
"Technically, those are two questions, not one, but the answer is the same. I don't know anything about Eve. Basically, I've never seen her in my life, and there's no memory of her. So, I can't say if she's trustworthy or not. All I can say is that she's 'dangerous.' She managed to deceive the 'System' and is even trying to hack it. That's not something any person or machine can do, especially since the 'System' is linked to Earth. No technology from the other world can do anything on 'Earth.'"
Azure was shocked by the warning, "What is the System?"
Arthur opened his mouth for a few seconds, then closed it again without replying. He let out a muffled laugh before answering, "I don't know. That's something... we haven't been able to figure out yet. All I know is that it has a connection between 'Earth' and 'the other world.' It's what allows people from Earth to enter and exit easily. Without it, no one could find the other world in the first place. So, you can see how terrifying Eve is. She has the ability to stop the System and save your life even on Earth. That's something the System can't do. The System loses all its power on Earth."
Azure looked at the ground, thinking of a new question. There was one that bothered him, "Why did the System appear suddenly? Or in other words, why was Earth connected to the other world?"
Arthur's face turned cold, "An experiment. Someone is trying to test something. They took 10 million citizens from across the planet and sent them to various places, trying to see if they could survive and adapt or perhaps to find out if Earth's people have any abilities. The bigger problem is that the System added a 'ranking' rule, which made it nearly impossible for those with low numbers—less than 10,000—to unite due to fear of betrayal. He brought them to a new world and made them wary of each other."
"By the way, about the 10 million, how can new people enter if it already has the full number?"
"Ordinary people can enter. They won't be under the System, and it doesn't care if they die or not. After all, people without the System can't remember what happened in the other world. They can't become stronger because they'd lose their bodies upon returning. For example, if a player under the System lost both arms and returned to Earth, they'd still have their hands on Earth, but if they went back to the other world, their hands would still be missing. But if a person without the System lost all parts of their body and was torn into a thousand pieces, if they entered again, it'd be like their first time in that world, physically and mentally. It's like a one-time account for them."
Azure thought for a moment, "What about me? Because of Eve, I don't have a System."
"Even without Eve, you'd still be different. As for entering and exiting, don't worry. Eve can get you in and out easily while preserving your memories. At the same time, she can protect you initially from any negative effects. As for the rest, you'll understand with time."
Azure was thinking of another question to ask, but there were two people he'd already forgotten, "What about the voices in my head?"
Arthur stared at him for a moment, "Voices? Oh, them. I won't say they're bad, nor will I say they're good. Try to figure it out yourself," he smiled as he looked at him.
Azure blinked, staring at him, "What a wonderful piece of advice."
Arthur let out a light laugh, "I don't have any info on them either. No one entered my mind in past cycles. You could say you're a 'special case.' Anyway, be careful with them."
Azure blinked irritably, trying to calm himself, "What about Diamond? Can I trust him?"
Arthur shrugged and raised his hand, "I don't know. I've never seen him in my life."
Azure stepped closer and hit Arthur on the shoulder, "You haven't given a good answer to any question!"
Arthur laughed, rubbing his shoulder and pretending to be in pain, "Ouch, that hurts. I can't give you answers to questions I don't know. Your current cycle is 180 degrees different from mine. One example is that I didn't have the problem of sealed desires and memories, or the red threads sealing me, or people inside my body. These are all things I didn't experience, and my start was different."
Arthur took a breath to calm down before continuing seriously, "I don't know any of the people you've met so far. Even on Earth, there are many differences. For example, there shouldn't even be a female named Clara! The clinic doctor was supposed to be a man, not a woman! The school wasn't that far from home in the first place; it was a 5-minute walk, not half an hour! And do you know the strangest thing? You're supposed to have a childhood friend, but I never saw him at school, even though he usually sat next to me!"
Azure's mouth fell open in shock at what he heard, not knowing what to say.
Arthur laughed sarcastically, angrily, "And that's not all. I don't even remember having a sister! I was a lone child. Your version is completely different from mine in every way."