Chapter 165: The Second Eden

The chanting didn’t stop. It grew louder with every passing second, rolling across the ruined landscape like a stadium filled with millions of people calling for the same name. Eden could feel the sound inside his chest. It wasn’t merely noise anymore. Every time the voices screamed his name, the duplicate standing across from him became more solid. His shoes touched the ground, his clothes settled against his body, and even the tiny scar beneath his chin appeared. It was like watching reality print another copy of him.

Eden stared at the duplicate. The other Eden smiled and asked if he looked disappointed. Eden admitted that he was and said he had been hoping for something more original. The duplicate laughed, and for a moment the tension broke. Then Eden noticed something unsettling. The duplicate wasn’t breathing. His chest never moved. Eden’s smile disappeared as he pointed out that the other man wasn’t alive. The duplicate tilted his head and replied that neither was Eden, though he knew that wasn’t what Eden meant.

The thing stepped forward slowly, explaining that he didn’t have to breathe, sleep, get tired, scared, or forget. Eden watched him carefully before remarking that he sounded like everything Eden wasn’t. The duplicate smiled and corrected him, claiming he was everything Eden wished he could be. Eden almost laughed at that and challenged him to prove how well he knew him. Without hesitation, the duplicate answered Eden’s question about his favorite memory. He described a morning in a kitchen where Eden’s daughter stole a piece of toast and ran away laughing while Luna pretended not to notice. Eden froze. Nobody else knew that memory. It had been buried so deeply that even he had forgotten it until now.

The duplicate smiled and reminded him that he remembered everything. Eden struggled to accept it, insisting that it wasn’t possible and that the duplicate wasn’t really him. The other man agreed that he wasn’t Eden but pointed toward Eden’s chest and explained that everything Eden had forgotten had ended up inside him instead. A chill ran through Eden. Luna stepped beside him and told him not to listen. The duplicate looked at her and greeted her by name. She froze as he calmly said that he remembered her too.

Luna’s expression hardened as she insisted he didn’t know her. The duplicate ignored the denial and looked back at Eden, revealing that Luna had been his first love and the woman he couldn’t save. Eden’s eyes widened while Luna looked away. The duplicate continued, describing how Eden had been there when she died and how he had held her hand and promised to bring her back. Eden stared at Luna and asked if it was true. She whispered that it was. The duplicate laughed and added that Eden had actually succeeded.

Confused, Eden demanded an explanation. Luna immediately denied it, but the duplicate stepped closer and revealed the truth. Luna hadn’t been created after Eden’s death. She had been the first person he resurrected. Eden’s face went pale. The claim sounded impossible, yet Luna’s silence gave him his answer. The world seemed to tilt around him as long-buried memories surfaced. He remembered a laboratory filled with machines and blood. He remembered Luna lying motionless on a table while a black substance moved through her veins. He remembered screaming for someone to bring her back and hearing a voice promise that it could be done.

The memory continued unfolding. A machine activated, Luna’s body arched, and her eyes opened. They were completely black. Eden remembered crying with relief and embracing her. Then everything became distorted. The laboratory dissolved into a forest, then a house, then a hospital, then a childhood bedroom. Every world and memory he had known had been built on top of that moment. Realization hit him hard. He whispered that he hadn’t created Luna. The duplicate nodded and confirmed that he had resurrected her instead.

Eden asked why he had forgotten. The duplicate looked toward the sky and explained that Luna had never been supposed to return. Luna stepped forward and demanded that he stop, but he ignored her. He revealed that she had been the first thing to break the rules. Eden turned toward her and asked who she really was. She admitted that she no longer knew. Before he could press further, the black sky above them pulsed. The enormous creature watching from beyond the world shifted, and its many eyes opened wider.

The chanting returned, louder than before, repeating Eden’s name again and again. The duplicate looked up and announced that they had chosen. Eden frowned and asked who had chosen what. The duplicate explained that they were voting. Across the sky appeared enormous words: EDEN ONE. Beneath it came EDEN TWO. Then a final line appeared beneath them both: CHOOSE.

Eden stared at the message and called it ridiculous. The duplicate laughed and asked whether he really thought the audience cared about fairness. Eden answered that they probably didn’t. The duplicate replied that they only wanted entertainment. Eden looked at him and calmly said they would be disappointed because he wasn’t going to fight. The duplicate’s smile vanished. Eden repeated that he didn’t care which version of them got chosen. When the duplicate warned that one of them would disappear, Eden shrugged and said it could be him.

The statement silenced everyone. Luna grabbed his arm and begged him not to say that. Eden asked why. She answered that it was exactly what the audience wanted. Even the duplicate agreed. He admitted that he wanted Eden to fight, prove he was real, and kill him. Eden listened and then simply refused. Turning toward the sky, he raised his voice and addressed whatever was watching. The chanting stopped immediately. Eden declared that he didn’t care which version of him was real, who was chosen, whether the story ended, or even if he disappeared. He wasn’t going to fight himself for someone else’s entertainment.

The sky trembled. The duplicate suddenly exploded with rage. He screamed that Eden didn’t get to make that choice and rushed forward. His fist slammed into Eden’s face and sent him crashing to the ground. Luna screamed as the duplicate grabbed Eden by the shirt and hauled him upright. He shouted that they were watching and that Eden was supposed to fight, struggle, and make them care. Another punch followed, then another. Blood filled Eden’s mouth. Finally, Eden caught the duplicate’s wrist and whispered that they already cared. Before the duplicate could react, Eden slammed his forehead into his face.

The duplicate stumbled backward. Eden wiped the blood from his mouth and stared at him. For the first time, uncertainty appeared in the duplicate’s eyes. Eden walked forward and reminded him that if he truly remembered everything, then he remembered what happened after Luna came back. He remembered the laboratory, the first world, Aria, his daughter, and how she died. Each accusation made the duplicate more agitated. When Eden demanded that he remember who had actually made the first choice, the duplicate finally screamed for him to stop.

Eden grabbed him by the collar and ordered him to say it. The duplicate refused. Eden shouted again. This time something changed. A thin black fracture appeared across the duplicate’s cheek. Another spread over his forehead. Eden stepped back in shock. The duplicate touched his face and stared at the black ink on his fingers. More cracks appeared. His entire body began breaking apart. The chanting vanished. The enormous creature overhead recoiled. Luna whispered a frightened question while Eden stared at the collapsing figure.

Understanding suddenly dawned on him. He realized the thing in front of him wasn’t another Eden at all. It was pretending. The duplicate denied it and screamed that he was Eden, but his body continued splitting apart. Black cracks spread everywhere. Then something emerged from inside him. A small hand pushed through his chest, followed by another. Luna pulled Eden back as the duplicate fell to his knees and tore open completely.

From inside emerged a small child. He looked about six years old with black hair, pitch-black eyes, and the same face Eden had seen beneath the tree. This time, however, the boy wasn’t smiling. He looked terrified. Eden crouched in front of him and asked who he was. The child apologized and admitted that he had lied. When Eden asked what he had lied about, the boy explained that he wasn’t the first Eden. Eden’s heart pounded as he demanded the truth. The child looked toward the sky and then back at him before whispering that he was actually the first Reader.

The black sky vanished instantly. It didn’t crack or shatter. It simply ceased to exist. Beyond it was something Eden had never seen before: an ordinary room with a desk, a chair, and a lamp. Sitting behind the desk was a figure holding a book. Eden couldn’t see their face, but he knew what the book was. It contained his story. The figure slowly turned a page and looked directly at him. For the first time, Eden heard the Reader speak clearly. The Reader called his name, smiled, and told him it was finally time for them to talk. Then the book began turning its pages backward, all the way to the beginning, and Eden realized that this time he was going to see what happened before he was ever created.