Yetao stared at the broken pearl pendant, then raised his eyes to study his doppelganger's face. A chill ran down his spine as the pieces began to connect in his mind.
"Are you perhaps... the original Hu Yetao?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
The memories he'd experienced inside the game had felt too real—too visceral—to belong to anyone else. Yet here stood his mirror image, wearing a face identical to his own.
The other Yetao approached with deliberate steps, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "You're half right and half wrong," he said, stopping mere inches from Yetao's face.
"I don't understand," Yetao replied, taking a half-step back.
"To make it clearer," the doppelganger explained, "we're actually one. But our soul got split into two during our first life."
"First life?" Yetao's eyes narrowed in disbelief.
The other Yetao sighed, as if explaining to a child. "The memories I gave you in this play, are from your first life. And the play you've experienced now, is your second life." His smirk deepened. "Although you probably don't know this, since you've already been reincarnated and were living your third life."
Yetao's mind reeled from the implications. He's the one who gave me that purple orb? But what does he mean about a third life? Does that mean the game I got transmigrated into is my third life?
The doppelganger suddenly burst into laughter, startling Yetao.
"Game? Is that how you perceive this?" the other Yetao asked, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Yetao froze. He can read my thoughts?
"Of course I can. This is my space. Remember?" the doppelganger replied with a cunning smile. "The 'third life' I mentioned... is the reality from which you entered this so-called GAME."
Yetao felt as if the ground had disappeared beneath his feet. His mind went blank, unable to process this revelation.
"And where do you think I come from?" Yetao finally asked, suspicion lacing his words.
The other Yetao closed his eyes, his expression becoming distant. "Hmmmm... I see strange things. Enormous structures... people wearing bizarre clothing... and what is this? People use strange artifacts to travel?" His eyes snapped open. "No one possesses spiritual energy. So everyone in your world is mortal?"
Yetao blinked several times before the implication hit him. "So you're saying I got transmigrated into my own previous life?"
The other Yetao nodded with a casual shrug.
"Just tell me you're an NPC with a bug, and I'll believe it," Yetao said through gritted teeth.
The doppelganger's lips curved into a smile. He took Yetao's hand and pressed it against his chest. "Do you really think so? Ask your heart." His eyes looking directly into his soul.
Yetao thought deeply. Everything had felt so real from the beginning—his love, his friendships, even his death. But he couldn't bring himself to trust the entity standing before him.
The other Yetao sensed his hesitation and sighed. "I don't really need you to believe or understand everything. All I need is your body."
Yetao immediately crossed his arms over his chest defensively, mentally cursing the doppelganger as a pervert.
"Just what kind of life have you lived in that other world that makes your mind go in such directions?" the other Yetao asked irritably.
Yetao averted his gaze, unwilling to answer.
"My soul is incomplete," the doppelganger continued, his voice growing solemn. "I need your life force to exist so that I can accomplish my goal and finally dissipate in peace."
Yetao remembered the doppelganger's earlier words about wanting Bambam dead. He tensed, taking a defensive stance. "And your goal is to kill Bambam?"
The other Yetao's expression hardened. "Why? You want to protect him even now? Even after how he killed everyone in your first life?"
"What do you mean by that?" Yetao demanded.
The doppelganger scoffed. "Did you not see it in the memory?"
Yetao recalled how the final moments of the memory had become hazy and unclear.
"You didn't see?" the other Yetao asked in disbelief. When Yetao shook his head, a sinister smile spread across the doppelganger's face. "No worries. I'll show it to you right now."
He materialized a purple orb in his palm—the same one that had shown Yetao the memories of his past life. Dark, malevolent energy swirled within it before the orb shot toward Yetao's forehead.
The world around Yetao dissolved as he was plunged back into memories not fully his own.
He watched in horror as his uncle and aunt were slaughtered by tainted monsters after they left to protect the mountain. He saw Bambam become corrupted by the same curse, transforming into a monstrous being that slaughtered all five clan lords without mercy.
Zihao, who had bravely tried to stop Bambam's rampage, was cut down without hesitation.
Yetao's legs gave out beneath him as he witnessed these atrocities unfold. His breath came in ragged gasps, tears streaming down his face.
In the memory, he saw his past self—consumed by grief and rage—flying toward the corrupted Bambam, screaming, "I would rather die than live by your side!" Before taking his own life.
When the vision ended, Yetao found himself back in the mysterious subspace, collapsed on his knees. His body trembled uncontrollably, cold sweat covering his skin as he hyperventilated.
The other Yetao crouched beside him, fury etched in his face. "At the end of this life, Zihao sacrificed himself to revert the world back. Now do you understand why Bambam doesn't deserve to live?"
Yetao couldn't respond, still traumatized by the horrific images seared into his mind.
"I just showed you bits and pieces," the doppelganger said with calculated cruelty. "See how you're trembling?" His voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "He doesn't deserve a simple death. He needs to experience what we went through. He should be killed by the person he loves most, and the last fragment of his soul should be sealed away, condemning him to an eternity of loneliness."
Despite his trembling body, Yetao managed to look up, struggling to steady his breathing.
"It's true that he kept things from me," Yetao finally said, his voice weak but resolute. "And yes, he let many people die. But I don't want to kill him."
"In the second life, I died before the curse could taint him", Yetao's voice managed to reach out but he still trembled.
The other Yetao's expression twisted with fury. "You think so? Do you know what happened after your death?"
With a swift motion of his hand, the space around them transformed. They were back at the ocean scene where Yetao had sacrificed himself, dying in Bambam's arms.
But this time, they would witness what came after.
Yetao watched in horror as the scene unfolded before him—the devastating aftermath of his sacrifice.
Bambam, consumed by unbearable grief, lost control of his demonic energy. Dark power erupted from his body in violent waves, creating a catastrophic blast that expanded in all directions. The sea boiled, the sky darkened, and everything within the blast radius turned to ash.
No life survived the cataclysm. The lush forests withered, creatures great and small perished, and the once-vibrant world transformed into a desolate wasteland.
Yetao's entire body went rigid with shock, unable to process the scale of destruction caused by his death. His mind struggled between the Bambam he loved and the harbinger of such apocalyptic devastation.
The other Yetao waved his hand, returning them to the subspace and its solitary throne.
"Did you see?" the doppelganger demanded, fury blazing in his eyes. "What do you say now?"
"What did everyone do?", the doppelganger was furious. "What did my Zihao do?"
The other Yetao's eyes burned crimson with rage remembering Zihao. "He clearly had the ability to heal," he screamed, veins bulging at his temples. "But he sacrificed his life force to revert the world back. For whom do you think he did that? FOR US!"
Tears streamed down Yetao's face as images of Thio's innocent smile flashed through his mind, along with memories of everyone who had shown him nothing but kindness in the life he'd experienced. Yet he couldn't forget the love he and Bambam had shared across two lifetimes—a love so profound it had transcended death itself.
The conflicting emotions tore through him like physical pain. His head felt as though it would split open from the pressure of contradictory truths. Unable to bear it any longer, Yetao screamed, the sound echoing in the empty subspace.
The other Yetao's expression shifted, his rage giving way to cold calculation. "You're still unable to make a decision?" he said, his voice suddenly calm and measured. "I don't blame you. Take your time." His lips curled into a cruel smile. "But I don't have enough time."
Before Yetao could react, the doppelganger lunged forward, placing his palm over Yetao's mouth. A searing pain shot through Yetao's body as he felt his life energy being forcibly extracted—pulled from his core without his consent.
When the other Yetao finally withdrew his hand, Yetao collapsed to the ground, barely able to move. His vision blurred at the edges as weakness consumed him.
"If you don't want to help me," the doppelganger said, looking down at Yetao's crumpled form, "then I'll simply replace you. It's good that you're experiencing the first life again. I'll end things where it started"
With those words, he vanished, leaving Yetao imprisoned in the subspace, too weak to even stand.
As consciousness began to slip away from him, Yetao's thoughts turned to the one being who had needed him most. "Thio..." he whispered, a final tear sliding down his cheek before his eyes started to close. As his last vision, he saw an emerald light flashing from an unfamiliar bracelet in his hand. But too weak to even raise his hands, he closed his eyes and darkness claimed him.
In the physical world, within the grand chambers of the Black Dragon Palace, the doppelganger opened Yetao's eyes. He remained perfectly still for a moment, feeling Bambam's desperate attempts to rouse him.
"Taotao! Taotao, please wake up!" Bambam pleaded, shaking him gently.
The false Yetao turned his gaze toward Bambam, his eyes devoid of the warmth and love that had always characterized the real Yetao's expression. For a moment, his face was a perfect mask—emotionless and cold.
Bambam didn't notice. He immediately pulled Yetao into a tight embrace, his body trembling with relief. "Taotao..." he whispered, his voice breaking.
The impostor returned the embrace, forcing his lips into a convincing smile. "Don't worry," he said softly. "I'll not leave you."
In the privacy of his thoughts, he added: Not until I watch you beg for your demise.
A fleeting smirk crossed his face—so brief that almost everyone missed it.
Everyone except Lucas.
Something about Yetao's expression sent a chill down his spine—an expression he had never seen on his friend's face in all their years together.
Did he pick this up from whatever happened to us after we got sucked in to the phantom? Lucas wondered, struggling to make sense of what he was seeing. The recent experience of being pulled into another life had left him questioning what was real and what wasn't.
As he watched Bambam embrace Yetao, something deep within Lucas's heart was trampled. But without understanding what had truly happened to them, he could only clench his fists and remain silent.
For now, he would wait for his turn patiently to hear from his friend directly.
Meanwhile, consciousness returned to Yetao who was imprisoned in the subspace slowly, like a boat drifting to shore through thick fog. He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling with strange luminescent patterns that cast a soft blue glow across the room.
When he tried to sit up, his body betrayed him. His limbs felt like lead, drained of the vitality that had once coursed through them. The doppelganger had stolen most of his life force, leaving him a hollow shell of his former self.
"Please don't strain yourself. Your life force is too weak now," a gentle voice cautioned.
Yetao turned his head with effort, his vision taking a moment to focus on the stranger sitting beside his bed. A man, with sharp features softened by kind eyes that reminded him of someone.
"Who are you?" Yetao's voice came out as a rasp.
"I'm Dorn. Yuchen's elder brother," the man replied with a smile that quickly faltered. "Do you... know Yuchen now?" he added hesitantly.
Yetao's heart leapt at the familiar name. "Yuchen... he's here?", Hope fluttered weakly in his chest like a wounded bird.
But Dorn slowly shook his head.
The fragile hope shattered. Fresh tears welled in Yetao's already swollen, reddened eyes, carving hot paths down his cheeks. He'd cried so much that it seemed impossible he had any tears left to shed.
"Everything's my fault," he whispered, his voice breaking. "Why did I have to fall in love with a stupid demon who couldn't control his temper? Why did Thio and Zihao have to die for me?" His voice rose with each question, desperation seeping into every word. "Why the hell does this world have curses that could end everything? Couldn't that love-sick girl target only me and my father? Why should everyone else suffer for my sake?"
He tried to push himself up again, ignoring the screaming protest of his weakened muscles.
"I'd better die now and return to my world or the afterworld for all I care," he sobbed. "I can't bear any more trauma!"
Dorn panicked at Yetao's sudden outburst. He looked around frantically, clearly unprepared for this emotional deluge. Spotting a towel nearby, he grabbed it and, in a bizarre attempt to stop the crying, pressed it against Yetao's face.
Yetao's tears only intensified, but now he also couldn't breathe. He thrashed weakly, his limbs flailing as he struggled for air.
Realizing his mistake, Dorn quickly removed the towel. Without missing a beat, he summoned shimmering threads of magic that wrapped around Yetao's wrists and ankles, binding him securely to the bed.
"Why are you not letting me die?" Yetao demanded, rage temporarily overwhelming his grief. "I'm the reason your younger brother died! You want to imprison me? No need. I'll die by myself. Let me go!"he screamed.
Dorn's eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean Yuchen died? He's alive and well." His brow furrowed in confusion. "Did you forget that you created a barrier around the island? Both Yuchen and Thio are safe."
Yetao froze, the words striking him like a physical blow.
Alive? They're alive?
His exhausted heart lightened, the crushing weight of guilt lifting ever so slightly. A faint smile appeared on his tear-stained face.
"Then where are they?" he asked eagerly, suddenly desperate to see them.
Dorn sighed, crossing his arms. "You should be the one to tell me that. They went searching for you in some other world, and we lost contact for years." His gaze dropped to Yetao's wrist. "Now you're wearing the bracelet I gave Yuchen to protect himself. Why do you have it?"
Yetao glanced down at the bracelet he hadn't noticed before. He recalled seeing it on Yuchen's wrist during their time on the island, but had no memory of how it had come into his possession.
"Yuchen often creates problems," Dorn explained when Yetao remained silent. "So I gave him this protection bracelet, which I crafted myself, disguised as a communication device. It senses when the wearer's life force depletes, and I get teleported to their location immediately."
Yetao looked up, remembering that he saw a faint emerald light to glow when he was about to close his eyes in the subspace.
"But it drained much of my spiritual energy to reach you," Dorn continued, his expression growing serious. "Just where were you imprisoned?"
Yetao clenched his teeth as he remembered the doppelganger's vow to kill Bambam. The subspace. The twin soul. The stolen life force. The thought of his other self walking among his loved ones with murderous intent made his blood run cold.
What do I do now? The question echoed in his mind as he struggled to make sense of his fragmented reality. Nothing seemed certain anymore.
Would the doppelganger really kill Bambam? Should Yetao try to save him? Or had his own rage at learning the truth consumed him too?
As his mind raced through possibilities, one thing became suddenly, terrifyingly clear—somewhere out there, wearing his face and speaking with his voice, was an entity bent on revenge. And no one, not even those closest to him, would see the danger until it was too late.