CHAPTER 1938 A SIMPLE QUESTION

Rui's laughter froze.

His stomach dropped as he recalled where they were standing.

In a room full of alien symbols, alien technology, and alien culture.

No sane person could possibly ignore that.

Kane certainly didn't.

The air grew heavy as his eyes bore into Rui's.

He could not hide his uncertainty.

"I have no idea how, but when I woke up, I found myself in the quarters I'd spent all my life living in after leaving my family." Kane's voice was mirthless. "I kinda figured your quarters to be the Quarrier Orphanage, since you've lived your entire life there, but this…"

He glanced around. "I'm not the most knowledgeable person, but I don't think there is any place on the Panama Continent that looks like this."

He turned to Rui. "Either this place made a mistake or…"

Rui closed his eyes. "It isn't."

At that moment, all the fascination and awe that he had been feeling for having beheld the Garden of Salvation dropped. All the relief for having survived what would have been absolute death disappeared. The curiosity that had been brimming in his mind was snuffed out in just a moment.

Kane stared at Rui with confusion and uncertainty.

It was understandable.

He had just learned that the home where Rui had spent the most time was not the Quarrier Orphanage.

To say that he was utterly shell-shocked to the very core of his being would be an understatement.

Kane had woken up earlier than Rui, mesmerized by the environment, yet when he found Rui's quarters beside his own, he was utterly paralyzed by what he saw inside. The idea that Rui had lived somewhere else even longer than then he had the Quarrier Orphanage.

It didn't even parse.

His heart palpitated when Rui denied it being a mistake.

In truth, he had already known that it probably wasn't. However, if Rui had just told him that it was all a mistake and he had no clue why his place looked so alien, then Kane would have taken him at his word, regardless of whether he was lying or not.

Yet, Rui affirmed that this was the truth.

Kane stared at him like he was a different person.

How could he not?

How could it not utterly alter the very foundations of who he had thought Rui was in the depths of his mind?

"I…consider it my deepest secret."

Rui's tone was severe.

The atmosphere grew taut, boiling with tension.

"I am a person from another world."

Kane's eyes widened.

"I was born, raised, and lived out a whole life in another world. I died in another world. And then…"

He opened his eyes, meeting Kane's shocked gaze. "…then I was reborn in this world."

Kane froze at that explanation.

"…What?"

Rui heaved a deep sigh. "I know it can be hard to acce-"

"Wait." Kane did a double take. "You're from another world? Doesn't that mean you're legitimately the Antithesis?"

Rui's expression darkened. "Don't bring that up."

"Damn…" Kane started laughing. "So that religious Master was right the whole time? You did her dirty."

Rui glared at him while Kane indulged himself, laughing at his friend's expense. "I can't believe you're so relaxed about this."

Kane stared at him silently.

Fear gripped Rui's heart.

Fear of rejection.

There weren't too many people who had such a sway over him.

Kane was one of them.

What if he shunned him for being an alien?

What if he shunned him for deceiving him their entire friendship?

What if–

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kane's voice broke him out of his daze.

He stared at Rui with clear eyes.

"We're friends, aren't we?" (C) content.

A simple question.

Yet, it slapped him in the face.

Rui stared at him for a moment before breaking into a smile.

"...Yeah, we're friends."

"I swear sometimes you forget the most basic shit." Kane snorted. "Besides, it all makes so much sense in hindsight."

Kane's eyes wandered around as he revisited old memories.

"Your composure and maturity, even when we were thirteen, were exactly what they are today. Almost as if you were an adult the entire time. Then there's the fact that you were extraordinarily knowledgeable. Your extreme affinity for thought even when we were kids. It's crazy, but it all makes sense."

He turned to Rui. "…What was your previous life like?"

Rui smiled wryly. "I'm sure you can figure that out."

"You're right. Let me guess, you were a famous Martial Artist obsessed with Martial Art and adaptive evolution or something. What Realm did you reach? Wait, did you just do a convincing job of fooling me that you were new to each Realm in this life?"

It appeared that the moment the initial shock subsided, Kane's curiosity had gotten the better of him.

Yet Rui shook his head. "There was neither Martial Art nor Martial Artists in my previous life. There were martial artists."

Rui uttered in English.

"Uh…what?"

"Basically, the concept of cultivating human potential Realm by Realm did not exist," Rui remarked. "You recall the foundational combat styles that the Academy taught to freshmen? That's the only thing we had."

Kane shook where he stood as he stared at Rui in disbelief. "What?! That's crazy! You lived in a world without Martial Art?!"

Rui heaved a sigh, nodding his head. "Though obsessed with combat sports, I was. I was a sports scholar and a specialist in mixed martial arts. A niche field within sports science of which I was the leading authority."

"I'm not even surprised. I literally can see it; it's so easy to believe."

"Also, you were correct about one thing."

"Oh?"

Rui smiled. "I was obsessed with adaptive evolution from the very start."

He gestured to a Bruce Lee poster on the wall. "That man there uttered a quote that would go on to become my life's greatest ambition and my Martial Path."

Kane's curiosity only grew. "You can't say all that and not tell me what he said."

Rui's smile widened. "He said, 'Be Water, my friend.'"

"Oh, he was your friend?"

"…No."

"Then—"

"That's not the part I was hoping you would focus on." Rui furrowed his eyebrows at him, earning a smirk.

The atmosphere lightened as the two of them bantered back and forth. The initial shock of the revelation had worn off even though Kane was far from processing everything he had heard.

Perhaps he was able to shake it off because it didn't change the bottom line.

Regardless of where Rui came from, he would pursue his Martial Path. And Kane would do his best not to be left behind by his friend.

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