Looking at the "Cheng Yu" before him, who looked exactly like him but was somewhat older and utterly numb,
Cheng Yu said this.
The world-weary Cheng Yu turned his dead-fish eyes toward his younger self, seemingly asking why.
Cheng Yu shook his head.
"Perhaps you don't believe me, but all of this is fake."
The world-weary Cheng Yu said nothing more. He merely raised his head slightly toward the faint light in the pitch-black sky, as though he could seize that light simply by reaching out, and everything could start over.
"Fake? Then what does my whole life amount to?"
His voice came out hoarse.
The young Cheng Yu thought for a moment before saying,
"A boring farce, I suppose. We had no choice but to come into this world, and in the end, we'll have no choice but to leave. It's like being forced to work overtime. There's no choice."
The world-weary Cheng Yu looked at the young Cheng Yu and said,
"Are you me?"
The young Cheng Yu shook his head.
"No. You're you, and I'm me."
The world-weary Cheng Yu said nothing, so the young Cheng Yu continued,
"Once your life's path diverged from mine, you stopped being anyone else. You're you, but I'm still me, too."
The world-weary Cheng Yu looked at the young Cheng Yu and said,
"I can tell your life must have been pretty smooth sailing. Only people like that have time to think about these things."
The young Cheng Yu did not deny it.
"True. Thinking it over, although I've experienced more than you have, I really haven't run into any major obstacles so far."
The world-weary Cheng Yu smiled.
"Is that so? But I'm not envious."
The young Cheng Yu smiled as well.
"I know, because that's the kind of person