Chapter 33: Full of Questions

Continuing his conversation with the two Boy Kids, Dr. Neil received another piece of news: when Johnny wasn't ill, he often went to a lighthouse on the edge of a cliff.

And Johnny built his house in such a remote place just to guard that lighthouse? Clearly, there was something going on!

So Dong Zhen also followed the two Boy Kids, walking towards the lighthouse.

On the way to the lighthouse, everyone discussed various random topics, which added some fun to the boring journey.

Boy Kid: 'Do you play role-playing games too?'

Dr. Neil: 'Uh... I don't...'

Girl Kid: 'He's not cool enough to play!'

Dr. Neil: 'If I want to, there's nothing I can't do!'

As his words fell, the two Boy Kids spotted a sleeping squirrel, and exclaimed in surprise.

'Look, a squirrel!'

At this moment, Dr. Neil was fully ready for battle: 'Oh no! A terrifying Squirrel Monster!'

What?

In front of his computer, Dong Zhen, who was playing the game, had a bewildered expression.

The next moment, an impassioned BGM started playing, and the squirrel, Dr. Neil, and the two children stood opposed to each other, as a crude RPG turn-based UI interface appeared.

'Don't be afraid, children, I'll protect you!'

The two Boy Kids behind him exchanged glances and shrugged, showing helpless expressions.

At the same time, options for 'Attack' and 'Defense' appeared on the screen.

'What the heck, there's a system like this too? Why does it feel so weird?!'

'Oh my goodness!'

Looking at the game whose art style had suddenly changed, Dong Zhen was completely stunned.

Clicking the 'Attack' button, four skills appeared.

'Volcanic Jump Kick, Whirlwind Palm, Fist of Decisive Battle, Shoes?'

Dong Zhen, bewildered, randomly chose one.

Then a new option appeared: Shouting Volume.

There were three options: Loud, Louder, Loudest.

Are you kidding me?!

What even are these?

Dong Zhen was completely dumbfounded.

He decisively chose Loudest.

'Your turn is over, Squirrel Monster!'

Dr. Neil shouted at the top of his lungs.

At this moment, the two Boy Kids behind him stepped forward.

'Stop it—! Or I'll tell Mom you're abusing animals!'

'Yeah, she'll call the police to arrest you!'

The next moment, the RPG UI disappeared directly, and the squirrel glanced at Dr. Neil as if he were an idiot, then turned and ran away.

'What the heck kind of development is this, I was just getting into it! I got trolled!'

At this point, Dong Zhen also understood that this was clearly a meme of turn-based RPGs being played out in the game.

Because most RPGs have a similar progression.

The bullet comments in the live stream room were continuously flooding the screen.

'Damn it, I actually thought it was a turn-based RPG!'

'I just got into it and now I'm out!'

'Haha, I knew it, why did the art style suddenly change?'

'Damn it, I got trolled!'

'Chen Xu is such a mischievous guy!'

'23333333, I actually find it quite interesting, isn't this probably a comedy game?'

'Haha, I think so too, it's been full of humor from the start!'

In the game, Dong Zhen steadily advanced, arriving at the lighthouse by the sea.

In front of the lighthouse, there was a tombstone.

The name on the tombstone was: Liva.

'The old man's wife's grave.'

Looking at the grave in front of him, Dong Zhen also recalled that earlier in the mansion, the nanny had said Johnny had a wife, but she had passed away long ago.

Clearly, this was the old man's wife's grave, but why was she buried in front of the lighthouse?

Did this lighthouse hold any special meaning for the old man and his wife?

With a bit of doubt, Dong Zhen entered the lighthouse and climbed to the top.

Here, there were paper bunnies just like in the basement before, but one of them was different.

Because it was folded from a mix of two different colored papers, that would take a long time, making it harder than a regular paper bunny.

This could also be collected, and seemed to be a key item.

But Dong Zhen had even more questions in his heart.

After going around in such a big circle, it seemed no questions had been answered; instead, he had a belly full of new ones.

The lighthouse and the paper bunnies, what exactly was their meaning?

Full of questions, he returned to Johnny's room and started the machine with Dr. Eva, who was already prepared.

Johnny, the old man lying on the bed, his entire life was about to be revealed to everyone.

But just like before, to enter Johnny's memories, a medium was needed.

The purpose was to access the old man's childhood memories, so that the dream of becoming an astronaut could be implanted in him, and through the machine, this dream would become a persistent goal in the old man's virtual memories.

This way, in the end, the old man could construct a future for himself, a future where he became an astronaut and successfully landed on the moon, and thus, it would be considered fulfilling the old man's last wish.

Therefore, to achieve this goal, they needed to slowly progress from the old man's recent memories, gradually moving towards his childhood memories.

Before embarking on their journey, in front of the piano downstairs in the old man's house, they found a piece of sheet music — To Liva (for river).

And the composer was Johnny; clearly, he had written it for his wife.

Behind the mansion, the two doctors found Johnny, but through their conversation, they discovered something very strange.

Dr. Neil curiously asked Johnny why he wanted to go to the moon.

But even Johnny himself was very confused.

'I'm sorry, but I really don't know.'

'I just... want to go.'

Looking at the confused Johnny in front of him, Dong Zhen, like many viewers in the live stream room, was also a bit bewildered.

He didn't even know why he wanted to go to the moon?

Then why such a strong obsession?

'Could it be the origin of an alien invasion of Earth? No, that doesn't seem right either.'

Dong Zhen was utterly puzzled, full of curiosity. He continued to advance the game's plot, using the bunny obtained from the lighthouse earlier to perform a Memory Jump, moving backward into Johnny's earlier memories.

As time progressed, the memories in the game were of Johnny's elderly years.

The room was filled with paper bunnies, and old Johnny simply sat at the piano, playing the song he had written for his wife, Liva, over and over again.

Clearly, by this time, Liva had already passed away.

'Paper bunnies, what deep meaning do these paper bunnies actually hold?'

Dong Zhen was absolutely certain at this moment that these paper bunnies must have some connection to Johnny's wish to go to the moon.

But what was the key connection?

This segment of the game was also very simple: it involved finding memory objects related to Johnny.

After finding them all, completing a not-too-difficult puzzle game would allow them to continue progressing through Johnny's memories.

One thing that could be understood so far was that To the Moon was not a game rich in Gameplay.

It was purely a Story-driven game.

(End of Chapter) <>