36: The Truth About to Be Revealed
As the game continued, Eric was starting to feel worse and worse inside.
But Dr. Neil and Dr. Eva were still working, trying to help Johnny become an astronaut and land on the moon.
After all, they'd already signed the contract in the real world.
No matter what, they had to help Johnny achieve his dream.
Time moved forward again, now showing Johnny in high school. That's when they learn from Johnny himself why he liked River.
It was because Johnny thought River was different.
At this point, Johnny came off a little selfish—even his best friend Nicholas called him out on it.
"Feeling sad for River right now."
"Suddenly, Johnny's kinda annoying!"
"+1, selfish jerk!"
"But something feels off... maybe there's a twist coming later?"
The chat in Eric's stream was full of comments and guesses.
But right now, Eric wasn't paying any attention to them. He was fully pulled into the story.
It really did seem like Johnny was acting selfish, maybe even a bit unlikeable.
But Eric couldn't shake the feeling that something deeper was going on.
Sure, this helped explain why River kept folding paper rabbits.
But to Eric, it still felt like something was missing. Something didn't quite add up.
Time kept moving back, and now we saw Johnny as a kid.
At home, when Johnny left for school, his mom didn't call him Johnny—she called him Joey.
With soccer as a way in, Neil and Eva pushed forward again.
But everything that came next... was completely different.
In front of his computer, Eric leaned in a little, eyes wide open.
The screen showed a white, foggy scene. In that memory, even Neil and Eva said they could smell the stench of a dead animal.
Before they could enter the next part of Johnny's memory, there was nothing but emptiness.
That meant some of Johnny's childhood memories were damaged.
And from the look—and smell—of things, those missing parts involved something bloody and the death of an animal.
Since they couldn't move forward, Neil and Eva decided to stick to their original plan.
By planting the dream of becoming an astronaut in Johnny's mind, the machine could guide him to keep moving toward that goal.
But players clearly weren't happy with how Eva and Neil were going about it.
"What the hell?! They messed up the memory—Johnny's childhood memories aren't even clear yet!"
"Why are they doing things like this?"
Eric looked annoyed. Compared to the whole "go to the moon" thing, he was more curious about the hidden story behind it.
And judging from how the game was going, he had a strong feeling that all the answers were buried in Johnny's childhood.
But seriously, these two doctors were just cutting corners to get the job done. Was this all just for show?
Then, unexpectedly, something went wrong.
No matter how much Neil and Eva tried to guide Johnny or drop hints—
They added astronomy classes in elementary and middle school, swapped out the movies he watched for space-related ones—
Everything pointed toward becoming an astronaut.
But none of it worked. Johnny's later memories didn't change at all.
He wasn't even interested in going to the moon.
It wasn't just the two doctors—players were just as confused.
In Johnny's subconscious, there wasn't even a trace of a desire to go to the moon.
So why would someone like him make that his final wish before dying?
What was it about the moon that drew him in?
There wasn't much time left—Johnny's body was getting weaker and weaker.
If they really wanted to make Johnny's wish come true, his broken childhood memory was probably the key.
Dr. Neil contacted the company to ask why this was happening.
Dr. Eva kept digging into why planting memories didn't change Johnny's desire.
Assuming the machine wasn't broken, then going to the moon wasn't Johnny's main goal.
There had to be something deeper behind his wish.
And River played an important part in his life.
They'd been together since high school.
But what was it exactly that changed Johnny's desires so much?
While Watts was still thinking, Neil finally got the answer.
Johnny's memory loss was caused by the large amount of beta-blockers he took as a child.
Propranolol, a type of beta-blocker, is thought to stop the brain from storing memories the usual way.
So Johnny's missing childhood memories were likely due to heavy use of beta-blockers when he was young.
But that didn't mean the memories were completely wiped—they were just hidden.
To use the machine to dig into Johnny's childhood, they needed something to trigger them.
That's when Eric thought of something.
"The smell of blood? Rotting flesh? Wait! Didn't the doctor run over a squirrel in the beginning!? What if the smell of the squirrel could be used as a trigger?"
Looking at the clue in the game, Eric suddenly understood.
It was all part of the setup from the very beginning!
"So that's it. That squirrel from the start really had a purpose!"
"You could say it died for a good cause. It was meant to die! Huge thanks to that squirrel for its contribution."
Eric said as he moved the character to the side of the road to collect the squirrel's scent.
Meanwhile, the chat exploded with comments like:
"Squirrel: Wow, thanks a lot!"
"One of the most tragic characters: the squirrel!"
But aside from some jokes in the chat, most people felt the same way as Eric.
They were curious and excited to see what Johnny's childhood memories would look like.
As the chat kept urging him on,
Eric used the scent as the memory link and successfully entered one of Johnny's more chaotic memories.
This one was all jumbled up, with different points in time overlapping.
So on the street, you could see many little versions of Johnny running around.
One of them caught Eric's attention—Johnny playing with a soccer ball.
That ball was one of the memory links from earlier.
The two doctors searched all over the town but couldn't find anything useful.
At the same time, Johnny's mom had just finished talking with someone and was about to start the car and drive off.
But no one noticed that "little Johnny" was chasing his soccer ball and had ended up behind the car.
The engine started. Bang. The little boy was hit and fell to the ground.
What just happened? Did little Johnny get hit by the car?
Is that the reason for the missing memories?
But wasn't it because of too many beta-blockers?
Eric was confused, just like the two doctors in the game. They all thought the kid who got hit was Johnny.
But in the next moment, the real Johnny showed up.
And suddenly, the confusion started to clear up.
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37: The Whole Truth
The boy who got hit wasn't Johnny—it was his twin brother, Joey.
And Joey wasn't some grandfather's name, either. After the accident, Johnny's mom had a mental breakdown and started treating Johnny as if he were Joey.
That's also when Johnny was given the beta-blockers.
Everything from before finally made sense.
Why Johnny always slept in a double bed.
Why his mom kept calling him Joey.
Even things like his favorite comics or pickled olives—they weren't actually his favorites. They were Joey's.
After the car accident, his mom, crushed by grief, raised Johnny as if he were Joey.
But there was still one more mystery: what about River?
What does Johnny's wish to go to the moon have to do with River?
As the story moved forward, it reached a time before Joey's death.
Joey, as the older brother, really cared for Johnny.
Once, the two of them entered a contest at an amusement park.
Joey won a toy train, while Johnny only got a platypus plushie.
Johnny said he wanted the train too, but his mom wouldn't let him have it.
Then Joey said they could play with the toy train together.
From this, it seemed like their mom might be a little more fond of Joey.
Feeling a bit down, Johnny walked toward the back hill of the amusement park, holding the platypus he had just won.
At that moment, Eric suddenly became alert.
Yes, that platypus!
The same platypus that belonged to River—it turned out Johnny had won it at the amusement park.
Could this mean…?
The next scene confirmed what he was thinking.
Johnny looked up at the starry sky on the back hill. His bad mood seemed to lift a bit—he had found a nice spot.
A tree stump, just like a bench, where you could sit and look out at the stars in the distance.
And just then, a little girl appeared on the screen.
It was River as a child!
Eric felt a chill run down his spine. In that moment, something clicked in his mind.
This was the first time Johnny and River met.
Not in high school like they had thought!
When Johnny saw River, he greeted her happily, but River instinctively turned to leave.
Johnny quickly called out to her.
After a short conversation, he asked if she wanted to sit and watch the stars with him.
Soft piano and violin music played in the background.
Under the starry sky, Johnny and River sat on the tree stump, looking into the distance.
The camera cut to a closer view.
The green grass on the lawn swayed gently in the breeze.
"Look over there…"
"Did you know? There are so many lights in the sky!"
Johnny tried to start a conversation.
"Mm."
River replied the same way she did back in high school.
"Uh… yeah, me too." Johnny looked a little awkward but kept trying to talk.
"You said this is your spot, right?"
"I only come here during the carnival."
"You don't like crowded places?... Yeah, I don't like them either." Johnny went on, "You know, you still haven't told me your name!"
"I won't tell you. People at school make fun of me because of it."
"Why?"
"They say my name makes them want to go to the bathroom."
"Hmm, well… I mean, it can't be worse than 'Johnny,' right? Like, there are people called Johnny pretty much everywhere in the world."
"So what?"
"Huh?"
"What's so special about having a name that everyone else has? I just hope… like the stars in the sky, they might all look the same from here, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful."
"Yeah, I think so too. So, what do you think stars are?"
"My dad says stars are huge balls burning from the inside."
Johnny and River kept chatting. Then River asked, "Have you ever tried making Easter Bunnies out of stars?"
"Like making constellations in the sky?"
"Yeah."
"I've looked for others before, but never for a rabbit."
"Do you want to try?"
"Yeah! I'm sure we can find the best rabbit constellation! Let's see who finds it first!"
As they counted down—three, two, one—River suddenly said, "I found it!"
"Uh, where?" Johnny looked confused.
The scene slowly shifted up toward the sky, focusing on the full moon.
"In the sky!"
"Where in the sky?"
"Think big—everything else is big!"
"I can't see it… wait… wait, I see it!"
"Tell me what you see!"
"There, right? That's the ears and the head." Johnny pointed at the moon.
"And?"
"And over there… those are the legs!"
"Exactly! What else?"
"And… and the moon! The moon is its big round belly!"
Simple lines appeared on the screen, outlining the stars in the sky.
It formed a—rabbit.
A rabbit with a yellow belly!
In that moment, scenes from the game flashed in front of Eric.
Why did River start folding so many paper rabbits after Johnny told her about their first meeting?
Why did River ask over and over throughout her life what that yellow-bellied rabbit meant?
Why did none of Johnny's answers ever satisfy her?
Now Eric finally understood!
River had been trying to remind Johnny in her own way.
Reminding him that this—under the stars and the moon—was their true first meeting.
While talking with Johnny, River had once said she always thought the stars in the sky were lighthouses.
She believed those lighthouses wanted to talk to others but couldn't.
All they could do was shine their light—that was all they had.
Everything finally made sense.
Why did River care so much about Anya?
Then came the scene that touched so many people.
As his mom called him home, Johnny had to leave.
But before he went, he gave his platypus to River.
"This was my prize—I'm giving it to you!"
That's how the platypus that stayed with River all those years came to be.
"Will… will you come back next year?" River asked Johnny, hugging the platypus.
"Of course! And you?"
"I will."
"Same time? Same place?"
"Yeah!"
Hearing that, Johnny happily got ready to go home—but just then, River asked something.
"But what if you get lost or forget?"
"Then we'll meet on the moon, silly."
As Johnny said those words, countless players who were playing the game at that moment suddenly felt their eyes sting.
The game screen in front of them started to blur.
All the confusion—
Was finally answered here.
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38: What "Going to the Moon" Really Meant
Why did Johnny want to go to the moon?
Because even though his childhood memories had been clouded by beta blockers,
Even though he had forgotten that he had already met River before—
He still remembered that promise.
"If you get lost or forget..."
"Then let's meet on the moon."
After River left Johnny, this thought slowly surfaced from deep in his memory.
He had forgotten everything—how he met River, what they talked about.
But the one thing he remembered was that he had to go to the moon,
Because River had gone missing from his life,
And he needed to go to the moon to find her.
Why did River keep folding paper rabbits throughout her life?
Because from what Johnny said, River realized he couldn't remember the first time they met.
So she kept folding paper rabbits, trying to remind Johnny in her own way
That they had already met long ago.
She was even willing to sacrifice her own health to build that house,
Just to help Johnny remember.
Because when they first met, River had opened her heart to Johnny,
Saying the stars were like lighthouses, shining toward one another.
And Johnny felt there was something special about her—
Something he needed.
It was all because they had met before.
Every mystery had finally been solved.
Johnny didn't really want to go to the moon.
He wanted to be with River.
"I can't say what's in my heart, But I'll spend my whole life trying to help you remember. Like a lighthouse shining for you. It's a kind of obsession, A kind that no one else understands. Even if I've forgotten you, I've never forgotten the promise That we'd meet again on the moon."
River, holding the platypus in her hands, stared at the moon in the distance.
In that moment, every player's eyes started to blur.
"Damn, what kind of game is this? I can't even see the screen anymore!"
"Can't see the screen +1."
"Sh\*t, my eyes are burning! Must've been watching the stream too long!"
"Thought the game was kind of boring earlier, but now I just want to say—why?!"
"I'm crying my eyes out! I just can't hold it in!"
"Real men cry—look at the streamer, even his eyes are red."
"What does 'tough guys cry too' mean? This. This is it."
"This hurts. I seriously can't take it anymore."
The game used reverse storytelling,
Starting with the mystery of going to the moon,
Pulling at the players' curiosity and emotions—
And slowly, piece by piece, revealed the final truth.
Combined with the background music,
It moved countless players to tears.
Some emotional players couldn't help but cry once everything was revealed.
Men or women—it didn't matter.
They were all deeply moved by the story between River and Johnny.
"Damn it, I never thought this game would wreck me like this!" Eric grabbed a napkin to blow his nose, his eyes red from holding back tears.
But to everyone's surprise, the game didn't end there.
As Neil and Dr. Eva talked, everyone suddenly remembered—
This was still inside Johnny's memories.
There was also the contract Johnny signed: to go to the moon.
Neil: "What if they really got lost?... Wait, does this mean—?"
Eva: "Don't tell me you didn't see it coming."
Neil: "I thought this was going to be an uplifting fairy tale…"
Eva: "I should've known a certain little girl would turn it into a mess… I think now we finally know how to send him to the moon."
Neil: "Wait, you're not seriously thinking of doing that, are you?"
Eva: "It's our job, Neil… It's what the contract says we must do."
Neil: "Damn it… Watts, hold on!"
As the two of them argued, Eva disappeared into Johnny's childhood memories.
Neil ran after her.
Eric, sitting in front of the computer, suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"Wait, what's this lady doctor trying to do?"
Back in the memories, Neil found Eva during their high school years.
At the same time, the background music turned intense, and the screen took on an old yellow filter, like an old photo.
Neil: "I know what you're about to do!"
Eva: "Look, the contract says we have to get him to the moon. The only way to do that is to give Johnny a reason to want to go."
Neil: "So that means removing River? But if you do that, what's the point of the moon? The whole reason he wanted to go was because River was gone."
Eva: "I understand, but we're bound by contract—especially…"
Neil: "Screw the damn contract! I didn't take this job to make people more miserable! Eva! I don't know about you, but I do this so those old folks can leave this world with a smile! What about you?"
As their conversation went on, Eric's bad feeling was confirmed.
That lady doctor really was going to remove River!
Even if she had a solid reason.
There was no law or rule that forced this choice.
But after spending hours getting to know the story between Johnny and River, the players just couldn't accept it.
"She's seriously that coldhearted?!"
"Why is she so damn rigid?!"
"Damn it, I can't take this anymore!"
If people were touched by Johnny and River's story earlier…
Then now they were just as furious.
Eric slammed the table during the livestream.
And the chat exploded.
Clearly, no one could accept this.
What the hell was this?!
Screw the contract, screw the rules!
Johnny didn't want to go to the moon—he just wanted River!
And now, this woman is trying to erase River? Seriously, how can anyone accept that?
But neither the viewers watching the stream, nor players like Eric, nor even Neil inside the game, could do anything to stop it.
Eva, who had higher control over the machine, kept deleting River from every corner of Johnny's memory, changing everything.
Along the way, she even set up traps to block Neil.
(End of Chapter)