The Truth of Everything

The person in the car accident wasn't Johnny—it was his twin brother, Joey.

Likewise, Joey wasn't some grandfather's name at all. After Johnny's mother ran over and killed Joey, her mind fractured, and she began treating Johnny as Joey.

The beta-blockers were given to Johnny at that very time.

Everything before this was now explained.

Why Johnny always slept in a double bed.

Why Johnny's mother called him Joey.

Even the comics Johnny liked to read, the pickled olives he ate—these were all things his brother Joey had loved.

After the accident, Johnny's mother, overcome with grief, raised Johnny as if he were Joey.

But one question remained: what about Liva?

Did the wish to go to the moon have anything to do with her at all?

As the game continued, the story moved back to a time before Joey had died.

As an older brother, Joey deeply cherished his younger brother Johnny.

Once, the two of them took part in a contest at the amusement park.

Joey won a Little Train Toy, while Johnny only got a Platypus toy.

Johnny said he wanted one too, but his mother stopped him.

Joey, however, said they could play with the little train together.

From this, it was clear that their mother seemed to favor Joey a little more.

Feeling a bit down, Johnny trudged gloomily toward the Back Hill of the amusement park, still holding the platypus he'd won.

At this moment, Dong Zhen's entire spirit sharpened.

Yes—that platypus!

The platypus that belonged to Liva had actually been won by Johnny at the amusement park.

Did this mean...

The next scene confirmed the guess in his heart.

Arriving at the Back Hill, Johnny looked up at the star-filled sky. His earlier gloom seemed to lift as he found a good spot.

A Wooden Stump shaped like a bench—sitting there, he could see the scattered stars in the distance.

And just then, a little girl appeared on the screen.

It was Liva as a child!

A chill ran through his scalp. In that instant, Dong Zhen felt as if he'd connected something.

This was the first time Johnny and Liva had ever met.

Not in high school!

Seeing Liva arrive, Johnny greeted her cheerfully, but instinctively she tried to leave.

Johnny called out to stop her.

After a brief exchange, he asked if she'd like to watch the stars with him.

Accompanied by a gentle piano and violin in the background.

Beneath the vast starry sky, Johnny and Liva sat on the Wooden Stump, gazing at the distant heavens.

The scene shifted to a close-up.

Green grass on the lush lawn swayed gently in the breeze.

'Look over there...'

'You know, there are countless lamps up in the sky!'

Johnny tried to start a conversation.

'Mm.'

Liva's reaction was just like it had been back in high school.

'Uh... yeah, me too.' Johnny was a little flustered, but he kept searching for things to say.

'You said this was your spot, right?'

'I only come here during the Carnival.'

'You don't like crowded places?... Yeah, me neither.' Johnny pressed on. 'See, you still haven't told me your name!'

'I won't tell you. Everyone at school makes fun of me because of it.'

'Why?'

'They say hearing my name makes them want to go to the bathroom.'

'Oh... well, but... let's put it this way—it can't be worse than "Johnny," right? I mean, almost anywhere in the world, there's someone named Johnny.'

"So what?"

"Hmm?"

"So what if there's a name everyone shares? I just think—like the stars in the sky, from here they all look about the same, but that doesn't make them any less beautiful."

"Yeah, I think so too. Then what do you think those stars are?"

"My dad says the stars in the sky are huge balls burning fuel inside."

Johnny chatted a bit with Liva, when Liva asked, "Have you ever tried making an Easter bunny out of the stars?"

"Like finding constellations in the sky?"

"Yeah."

"I've looked for other things, but never a rabbit."

"Want to try?"

"Yeah! We'll definitely find the best rabbit constellation! Then let's race to see who finds it first!"

With the countdown from three, two, one, Liva beside him immediately spoke up: "I found it!"

"Uh, where?" Johnny was a bit stunned.

The camera slowly panned up to the sky, focusing on the full moon.

"In the sky!"

"Where in the sky?"

"Think big, everything else is big!"

"I can't find it... wait... wait, I see it!"

"Tell me what you see!"

"Over there, right? That's two ears and a head." Johnny's finger pointed at the moon.

"And then?"

"And then there... those are two feet!"

"Exactly right! And then?"

"And then... and then the moon! The moon is its round, chubby belly!"

Simple lines in the frame sketched out the stars in the sky.

Forming a—rabbit.

A rabbit with a yellow belly!

At that moment, the game's earlier content flashed before Dong Zhen's eyes.

Why, after Johnny and Liva finished talking about their first meeting, did she start folding paper rabbits like crazy?

Why, countless times in her life, did Liva ask Johnny what that yellow-bellied paper rabbit really was?

Why had Johnny's answers never satisfied Liva?

Now, finally, Dong Zhen understood!

It was Liva's way of reminding Johnny, in her own way.

Reminding him that, many years ago under the starry sky and the moon, that was their first meeting!

As Johnny and Liva's conversation continued, Dong Zhen learned from Liva that she had always believed the stars in the sky were lighthouses.

She thought those lighthouses wanted to communicate with others but couldn't manage it, so all they could do was keep shining on others—that was the only thing they could do.

Everything was explained.

Why Liva cared so much about Anya!

Then a scene that moved countless people appeared.

With her mother's call, Johnny had to go home.

And before leaving, he gave his platypus to Liva.

"This is the prize I won, I'm giving it to you!"

So that's how the platypus that had always been by Liva's side came to be!

"You... will you come back next year?" Holding the platypus, Liva asked Johnny on her own.

"Of course! And you?"

"I will."

"Same time? Same place?"

"Yeah!"

Having gotten her answer, Johnny was about to head home very happily, when Liva asked.

"But what if you get lost, or forget?"

'Then we'll always meet on the moon, you fool.'

With that one line from Johnny, countless players currently immersed in this game suddenly felt an involuntary sting in their eyes.

The game screen before them blurred without warning.

Every doubt.

Here, at last, found its answer.