Chapter 79: Friendship Bonds Across Universe

At the hospital, after Craig finished telling them everything he knew, accompanied by photo evidence on his smartphone and the presence of women and girls from various non-human races, Lyra sat stunned. She stared at Craig as if seeing him for the very first time, her face pale with profound shock. Nate, lying in the adjacent bed, looked completely dazed with his head lowered, while Dana appeared visibly stressed, her expression making it clear she was questioning her own identity.

"So... my entire life with you... our life in that city... the release of the Pandora AI... watching you turn into a machine zombie... the pain I felt... all of it... was a lie?" Lyra asked, her voice trembling as she stared at Craig.

"I know everything I said is hard to accept, but it’s the truth. Once you’re able to leave the hospital, you’ll see it all for yourselves," Craig replied, keeping his head down.

"And you’re not actually who we thought you were? You’re something other than human, is that it?" Nate asked.

Craig didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced at the doctors and nurses rushing back and forth across the ward. Then, Craig stood up and walked over to the foot of Nate’s bed. Bending down, he grabbed the iron legs of the bed frame where Nate lay.

Clang.

Craig lifted the heavy iron bed, with Nate lying right on top of it, effortlessly, without showing a single strain of effort. Lyra and Dana gasped in utter shock, their eyes going wide as they clamped their hands over their mouths. Meanwhile, up on the bed, Nate panicked.

"Whoaah... what are you doing, bro... hey... put me down!" Nate yelled in a panic.

Craig then held the bed with just one hand and lowered it back down gently. "Boom!" the iron bed landed softly back onto the floor, leaving Nate panting heavily, clutching his chest with a pale face.

"I don’t need to answer your question, I’d rather just prove it," Craig said.

Nate stared at Craig in front of him, carefully scanning his friend’s face. Craig had fully expected his three friends to stop viewing him as a friend or even be terrified of him. Yet, to Craig’s utter surprise, Nate broke into a broad smile that reached his eyes.

"Dude, that’s insane... you’re freaking awesome, like Superman! I totally believe your story about this world being like a sci-fi manga or one of my favorite novels now... so cool!" Nate exclaimed, actually extending his hand out toward Craig.

"Huh... you’re not scared of me after seeing everything in this room?" Craig asked, bewildered.

"Scared? What are you, crazy? It actually gets me pumped! You know how our lives were just the same old thing, school, hanging out, walking around, studying together, going home... every day was so dangerously monotonic... I was bored out of my mind! That’s why I always escaped into games and novels whenever I was too lazy to hang out, remember?" Nate said.

"Hmm... he does have a point. He really is an idiot," Dana remarked, pointing at Nate with a subtle smile.

Seeing Nate’s weak yet enthusiastic wave, Craig reached out and gripped Nate’s hand firmly in midair, then pulled him in for a shoulder bump. Turning around, Craig looked at Lyra, who remained stunned. He braced himself, assuming Lyra would definitely want nothing more to do with him. But once again, he was proven wrong. Lyra forced herself to crawl forward, reaching out with both hands to grab Craig’s shirt, pulling his face down close to hers.

Craig was startled to see how deeply anxious, worried, and trembling Lyra looked as she stared at him, making him feel a slight sting of guilt.

"If what you’re saying is true... that all your siblings are like you and you’re fighting against giants... monsters, and even giant monsters using robots... you’re always going to be in danger... I don’t want that... I don’t want to lose you... why can’t you just stay with me and stop fighting?" Lyra said, her voice rising enough to make a few nurses turn their heads.

Hearing Lyra’s words, Craig flinched slightly. He remembered how his childhood friend had always worried about him whenever he got into fights or tangled with local gangs. Seeing that Lyra hadn’t changed at all, that she was still the exact same person from the simulation, as if this new reality meant nothing to her, a wide grin broke across Craig’s face. Letting his tears stream freely down his cheeks this time, he gently loosened Lyra’s grip on his shirt and wrapped his arms around her.

Lyra hugged him back fiercely, weeping tears of her own while whispering "idiot" into Craig’s ear over and over. Watching the two of them, Nate and Dana smiled while holding hands. At this moment, Craig felt truly relieved and grateful that his three friends were still the exact same people from the simulation, simply shifted into a real world that was far more terrifying. Once their emotions settled and calm returned to the ward, Nate spoke up.

"So... from what I gather, the farm simulations are like a multiverse with all kinds of different lives. And when we’re inside the simulation, we have no idea that we’re actually sleeping in pods at a farm in an apocalyptic world undergoing active war... right?" Nate asked.

"Yep... you could say that. My experience was different from Brother Clyde’s, and the same goes for Casca and Corie, my twin sisters. We all lived completely different lives in the simulation, almost like living in separate universes, and everything felt completely real. We felt heat, cold, pain, and joy inside it... so yeah... you would never know as long as you lived inside until you died," Craig explained.

"Man... that is totally insane," Nate remarked.

"And here you are smiling... clearly this world suits your wild fantasies, doesn’t it?" Dana said, shooting Nate a glance.

"Haha... sorry, but what fiction fan wouldn’t get hyped hearing and experiencing all of this?" Nate replied with a grin.

"Nate is definitely going to be Nate no matter what world he’s in," Dana said, shaking her head with a soft smile.

"Are you okay, Lyra?" Craig asked, turning to face her and holding her hand.

"I’m fine... I’m still trying to wrap my head around this reality... so I don’t really know what I’m supposed to feel... but one thing I do know is that I’m glad to see you again and be with you... so I need you to promise me something. No matter what happens, even if you have to go out and fight... please come back to me. Otherwise, I won’t have the strength to live in a world changed like this," Lyra said earnestly.

"Yeah... I promise. Don’t worry," Craig replied, stroking Lyra’s hair with a gentle smile.

"Alright... now here’s the question I’ve been wanting to ask forever, a cross-world... or cross-simulation question... whatever... are you two actually dating or what?" Nate asked, looking back and forth between Craig and Lyra.

"Gah... what a stupid cross-world question... you really are hopeless," Dana muttered, shaking her head in exhaustion.

At Nate’s question, both Craig and Lyra’s faces flushed bright red. They quickly looked away in opposite directions, though their hands remained tightly clasped together. Seeing their reaction, Nate smirked broadly.

"Aha... nothing’s changed! So even though we’re no longer in the simulation and have moved to the real world, some things remain exactly the same... in other words, no matter what multiverse it is, Craig and Lyra are going to act the exact same way. Ask them if they’re dating or not, and you won’t get an answer, just blushing, hahaha!" Nate teased, bursting into laughter.

"Shut up, man... we’re childhood friends," Craig muttered with an embarrassed grin, playfully shoving Nate’s shoulder.

"Still... it seems your twin younger sisters aren’t very friendly toward me, though your older brother and sister seem nice enough," Lyra noted, recalling Casca and Corie’s sharp attitudes.

"Ah... ever since we were little, those two have always clung to me... so yeah... it’s only natural if they’re a little jealous seeing me close to you and finding out you’re my childhood friend from the simulation, haha," Craig explained nervously.

"In that case, I’ll work hard and do my best to win them over," Lyra declared firmly.

"Huh... what do you mean?" Craig asked in confusion.

Craig stared at Lyra, who looked entirely determined to get close to Casca and Corie. Then he glanced over at Nate and Dana, who were smirking like fools while watching him and Lyra.

"Sigh, you guys really haven’t changed a bit," he muttered with a smile, running a hand through his crew-cut hair.

After that, they chatted casually and cheerfully, just as if they were back in school together, only their topic of conversation was quite different this time, even if their dynamic remained identical.

***

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, "achoo," Casca and Corie, who were eating together at the dining table with Clyde and Celes, sneezed simultaneously. Clyde shot a glance toward the two of them.

"Classic twins... you even manage to sneeze at the exact same time," Clyde teased.

"Mind your own business," Casca and Corie snapped in unison.

"Hahaha... you two are so cute, you really haven’t changed since we were little," Celes laughed merrily.