Heavien went on again. "Why did you include me in the game?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Mm," she nodded. "Whatever your answer will be, I'll accept it."
First released her hands. It took him seconds before he answered. "It is to save you."
"What for?"
He stared directly at her, which made her keyed up. "This is the fourth tri-games. I've no idea what happened with the first and second tri-games because I was never part of them. I was one of the players in the third tri-games, and I am the winner of it."
What?! The tri-games we played today is the fourth time? And First was the third winner of it?!
She can't absorb what he's talking about.
"I know you won't believe it, but I won. I won the wealth, health, and stealth levels. We weren't rich then. That's right, we got richer because of what I won."
That explains his ridiculous wealth that his classmates and schoolmates witness in school.
He continued. "But the bad news is that my parents were already dead when I won the game. I asked Author if I could bring back the dead from claiming the 'health' prize, but it says I cannot. 'Health' could not bring back the dead but can only cure an illness of a living person. I also questioned Author if I could bring back my parents by 'time'. I recognized that I could go back in time and reunite with my family. Author mentioned that every event, incident, and accident that happened can be avoided, but cannot be escaped. So, if mom and dad die because of a plane crash, if I had stopped their flight, they would have lived, but maybe the next day, they would have died because of another kind of accident. That's the downside of it."
Heavien is devastated by his revelation. She had no idea that he had a difficult time, even though he was calm and cool at school. Maybe he doesn't want to tell his life story to others because he remembers what happened to his parents. It was too tragic that he didn't want to talk about anything about it.
"I'm sorry to hear that," was the only word that came out of her mouth.
"You don't have to... And so, when I won the game, I came back to Earth. I lived normally again with the prize. There are certain reminders about the game:" His last sentence caught her attention the most.
He continued. "The victor will lose their memories of entering and playing the game for 60 days. There's an object that you will receive as an acknowledgment gift from the game. And when you don't destroy that gift Author bestowed on you for 60 days, you cannot bring yourself back in the game.
In exchange for playing tri-games again, you shall sacrifice one of your prizes, which is the 'time'. And if you want absolute power that raises your level compared to an ordinary human, like having supernatural power, you must trade 'health' in exchange for the superhuman ability that Author will choose for you.
And because I cannot use 'health' and 'time' to bring back my parents securely, I only made use of money. While the two, I traded 'health' by wielding a superhuman ability. Author chose the 'death clock' for me. It is a pair of eyes in which I can see the life span of someone on their forehead."
Wait, is it because when she bumped into him, his eyes widened when he saw her forehead...
"Yes, I heard your mother and brother's conversation that you'll be having your vacation trip after the moving up ceremony."
"Heavien, after this ceremony, we're going on a month-long vacation on the beach and province."
She remembered that. Her mother and brother have planned a moving-up ceremony gift for her, and that is a month-long vacation with them in the countryside that she has longed to visit. They were too excited to tell her that they would go home immediately and pack their stuff for tomorrow's leave.
"But when I saw your life span…"
She gulped, remaining silent.
What did First see?
"You only have 2 days and 15 hours left. You will leave the town soon. I have no other choice but to let you play the game."
"I-I was going to die," she stuttered. "How? Why?"
This is distressing to know.
If he can see a person's life span and see her remaining time, she should be gone long before.
"That's why I dragged you into the garden. I don't know how you were going to die. All I can foresee is the exact time you'll die." He interlocked his fingers. "I traded 'time' in exchange for returning to the game. And that necklace that we grasped was the acknowledgment gift Author bestowed on me before leaving the game. It was just in time. The day of our ceremony marks the 59th day after I won the game. And the next day will be the 60th day. Before I completely forget about the game, I didn't waste any opportunity."
He did it all because of her. "I also lost my memories at the beginning of this fourth tri-games. I beg your forgiveness for telling you this late."
They are just the same. She just remembered him, too. They all lost their memories of the Earth and suddenly entered space.
He continued. "Actually, there's a consequence. I was the only one who was supposed to go back to the game to play again, but I included you in it. In exchange for it, the fourth tri-games became different from the third tri-games, the first one I played. My co-players, settings, mechanics, and strategies were all different from this one, making it more difficult to win again. But they have a certain pattern that can be played intuitively." He looked at her. "Letting you play the game is the only way for you to live."
She frowned. "Why did you do that? You don't have to save me from death because it's destined to happen."
She has a guilty conscience. He saved her, and she's here because of him. Why is he doing this? He doesn't have to be like this. She never requested him to do anything about it.
"It's because I already lost three members of my family. My mom, dad, and younger brother. I'm the only one who left. And I don't want to lose you, too."
So, that was his purpose. First wanted to save her. He was alone. She could not imagine the pain he was experiencing. He might be strong on the outside, but severely hurt on the inside. She is his classmate at school and partner in this game, yet she knows so little about him. He has a lot of things in him that she still doesn't know, and he doesn't want to show his emotions to her quickly. It took him a couple of moments to get to know her before sharing his sentiments with her.
He stopped speaking for a moment and resumed as if he remembered a bitter incident. "You remembered Eleventh?"
She nodded.
Eleventh was one of the first to die when Neinuko rushed. He was with Jecko, but Jecko stayed alive until now. She was shocked earlier when he raised Jecko's collar. She doesn't know if they know each other, or why he seems angry with Jecko. There must be something going on between them. She can't ask him about it yet because he seems furious.
"Why? Is there something with him?" she queried.
Before he could reveal it to her, his two eyebrows met. "He's my younger brother."