Chapter 217
Alex blinked in confusion.
"I'm sorry-what did you say, Master?"
The old man smirked.
"You heard me, boy. This so-called 'world' is a grand fake but. A cheap illusion. Have you ever bothered to question why you're alive? What's the purpose of life? Where do you go after death-and do you really believe you'll live again once you're dead?"
A chill seized Alex's spine. "Master, are you talking about reincarnation? We die, then return... but with a new life, right?"
The old man's laughter rasped through the room like a rusted nail scraping metal.
"Don't flatter yourself, kid. Who says you get a fresh start each time? What if, after you keel over, you snap right back to day one in the same tired script? Over and over. Like some glitchy video loop that never stops replaying because you're too blind and clueless to notice."
Alex swallowed hard. "That's... horrifying."
"Horrifying?" The master's lip curled, contempt dripping off every syllable.
"What's really scary is that you're alive right now and know absolutely nothing about what that means. You stumble around in a daze, clueless, day after day. Do you even realize how pitiful that is?"
Alex clenched his fists but said nothing.
"Get it through your thick skull, Alex." The master shifted, then swung the staff
with surprising force, smacking the top of Alex's head.
"Find your way out before you waste another eternity."
A flash of pain shot through Alex's skull-and then, darkness.
When he finally opened his eyes, the stark fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, and he realized he was hunched over a steel table in a modern research lab.
were scattered everywhere, leftover food containers stacked in
old man's scoffing voice and the crack of that blunt staff
his head, half-expecting
it had felt far too real. Far too vicious to be
quick glance around the lab, the computer screens blinking like a silent
on his scalp. "I don't know what you were trying to show
of it. There was no time to dwell on dreams about reincarna or looping
Chapter 217
One Week Later
her phone when it buzzed for
this better be good," she snapped, the toll of sleepless nights making
Kelly's excitement crackled through
what, Jas? Alex pulled it off-he actually synthesized the Emerald Elixir!" "You're kidding." Jasmine
real. I've got it in front of me," Kelly said breathlessly "We even tested a sample. You
sparked in Jasmine's chest. "On my way. Don't you dare
racing through the pristine corridors of Hilton
enough to split her face. She held up a small glass container, heart
uncorking it. Inside lay a single emerald-green pill that
drive?" Kelly teased,
hard. "I...
pill into her mouth, half-expecting a bitter
refreshing, like the
flooded her limbs, chasing off the
as if her
a small mirror on a
as if she'd just had a top-tier
under her eyes? Gone. Her skin
her cheek in wonder. "If this is how a single dose works, I can't imagine the impact on
eyes practically dancing. "All thanks to that
that root, but it's paying off big time. We can keep producing this for
lip, a grin slowly curving. "He did it. That genius actually did it." All her worries-about Jericho Kane, about the pressure from corporate, about looming deadlines-briefly vanished. Hope
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