692: Everything Is Real

Everything Is Real

Zeke immediately tried to calm himself. He suspected that his old illness had relapsed again.1

The first few times he entered the simulations and encountered ones which closely mirrored the real world, he had not been able to differentiate whether he had returned to reality or was still trapped inside the system. As such, he had come up with an alternative way. 

In the house he woke up in, he had placed something that was very personal to him. It was a letter that was personally written by him and there was no second person in the world who knew its content. Hence, every time he awoke, he would first check if the letter was still present. If it did, then it meant he had returned to reality because there was no way this little piece of detail would be copied into the simulator, and vice versa.

It had already become a routine by now. This time, too, as soon as he woke up, the first thing he did was to check if the letter was still present. And it did.

Alright, so he was back in reality. 

Zeke breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he had no idea how, he decided to shelve the doubt to the back of his mind for the time being. There was nothing more important than being back in his original body.

This house – which the King had prepared for him – was actually quite luxurious. It would pose no problem at all for him to stay for a few nights, at least until the snowstorm subsided, before he returned to the Imperial Palace and reported to the King that he was still alive. However, Zeke could not get rid of the nagging suspicion in his mind that something was off with his current situation. He had no idea why he was so restless either, but… he really wanted to go back to the Imperial Palace right now!

He knew that it was very silly of him, but he just could not help himself. He told himself that he was just going to check the situation out. If it turned out that everything was still as serene and peaceful, then so be it. It meant that he had been too paranoid. But if his suspicion was right…

Zeke stopped himself before he could go down that line of thought. He barely hesitated to wear his jacket and rushed to the hover car outside then drove out to the desolate street. 

Automatic navigation would be much riskier in such weather for there was a chance that the car would stray off the path, and thus Zeke opted to drive manually by himself. It was hands down the most dangerous trip he had ever taken. The visibility in front of him was severely reduced and there were a few times when he nearly crashed into a building. At least, he was fortunate that the street was completely deserted right now and nobody was there to witness his wild driving skill.

As soon as the Imperial Palace entered his sight, the restlessness in his heart surged to a new peak. 

Instead of entering, Zeke opted to park near the vicinity instead. Usually, there would be guards who would come out to inquire and welcome him back. They were the ones responsible for guarding the front gate. But he waited and waited… nobody came out at all.

For a split second, Zeke had the notion that everyone in the world had disappeared and only he alone remained…

He shook his head to disperse the ridiculous thought. What the hell are you thinking about, Zeke? The simulation must have messed with your mind! 

He had no idea how long he stayed in the car, gripping the wheels tight with pale knuckles. In the end, he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. In an instant, harsh wind and snow slapped his face, and the air carried to him a familiar stench of blood that was so thick that it could not be ignored. 

Dazed, Zeke took one step after another as he trudged through the thick snow toward the front gate of the Palace. The melted snowflakes drenched him in a blink of an eye and the chill seeped into his flesh and bones, yet Zeke could not find it in himself to care. Not right now.

His eyes were transfixed on the sight in front of him. Blood… there were splashes of dried blood on the ground as well as… the guards' dead bodies. He could not be more familiar with those faces as well as the clean bullet wound on their foreheads, because he had seen them just a few hours ago.

— As a little cat.

It was as if something had snapped inside his mind and he staggered backward, almost falling straight on his butt. Colors drained from his face. His eyes were wide in shock, jaws hanging open. He had even forgotten to breathe. There was no use to take even one more step because… he already knew what he would find inside.

Zeke had no memories of the next few minutes. He did not even know how he returned to the hover car. He sat on the driver's seat, stunned, as he let this cruel reality seep into his mind.

So everything was real…

The dead bodies in the Imperial Palace, the blood that soaked the front gate, the King whose body was pierced by tens of bullets and also… the blonde-haired assassin. 

A wretched laugh escape Zeke's throat. He tried to hold it in to no avail. His shoulders shook and he threw his head back and laughed out loud. Fucking hell... so it was real. Everything was real!!

The more he thought about it, the more he felt like this should be a plot in some third-rate broken movie with obscure plot twist – ironic and ridiculous. He had clearly entered the simulator to go through the regular lessons prepared by the King, yet through some twists and turns, he was stranded into a stray cat's body and witnessed the royal assassination with his own eyes. Not only that, he had also been brought home by the assassin himself…

— That's right, the stupid assassin!

If he was back in his original body, then what about the kitten? Had it died? Then… what happened to the assassin? He was clearly so sick that he could not even move himself to bed. What if he froze himself to death without Zeke there to slap him awake?!

As soon as the thought entered his mind, Zeke was stunned.

Of all the things which he could have thought of, he did not expect that… he would concern himself over the assassin first. For God's sake, that person had killed his entire family! Zeke had known that his feelings toward his family were not deep – it could even be considered very shallow – but it utterly caught him off guard how easily he accepted the reality in front of him!

And much to his bewilderment, all he could think of right now was the assassin's expressionless face when tears were falling from his silver eyes.

"Argh!" Zeke suddenly grabbed his hair and tugged on it, frustrated. "Why the hell do I keep thinking about him?!" 

No matter what, the stupid assassin had saved him when he was on the brink of death, he had even tolerated his violent behavior and heated the milk for him twice. Zeke could not just ignore this fact. If not for the assassin… if not for his timely help, then Zeke would have froze to death in that frail kitten's body. And worse, he would have assumed that it was merely a simulation! Was there a worse way to die than this?!

In the first place, how the hell did he end up in that kitten's body?!

"I should call for help for him first," Zeke muttered to himself. "His fever is so high. If he stays there all night, then he will get pneumonia and die!" 

However, there was one main problem.

Zeke had no idea where the assassin had taken him — which planet it was, what kind of appearance the cabin had, what landmark was there in the vicinity, he had no idea at all! In his hazy consciousness, he only registered that the assassin had gotten into a space shuttle. As to where its destination was, he was totally clueless from there on! If that was the case, how the hell was he supposed to call for help?!

Zeke bit his nails anxiously.

To begin with, he had not thought too much of his position as the Crown Prince. He had amassed quite a huge amount of wealth in a separate account, enough for him to live the rest of his life comfortably in case he had to escape from the Imperial Palace one day. Zeke quickly accepted his status as a fugitive. It was actually not very different from the plan he had made for himself in the future. He had even prepared a destination where he was certain that nobody could find him.

It's just that… there was an additional person that was not included in his plan.

And now, Zeke was annoyed to discover that he could not ignore that person just like that! 

Just what was wrong with him?!

And thus, after a lot of contemplation, he finally decided to drive the hover car away from the Imperial Palace and went straight to the research institute. If he had questions to ask for, no one would be more suitable than the people who had created the system.

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