CHAPTER 33: 33: THE SCENERY WE SEE

No answer.

The system said nothing, as usual, and Aria had no choice but to let it go.

She just needed to make sure the next Helper wasn’t someone who was dying or had a terminal illness.

She believed she could remember it.

Turning her attention away from the system, Aria stared outside.

The gray clouds and darkness were gone, but what surprised her was the sight of rainbow colors and clouds.

This... what a dreamy and lovable sight!

It was like cotton candy, soft and fluffy.

Aria felt her heart beat with childlike happiness as she glanced back at the obedient two brothers.

At first, when they arrived, all they could see was gray and darkness.

Aria knew that was the brothers’ look on life, probably because they were born under the Apocalypse.

With a dark and gloomy atmosphere surrounding them, unfortunately, pretty normal.

Nonetheless, Aria was glad enough that somehow both brothers had a new outlook on life this time.

Glancing toward Lolo, who was sitting across from the two brothers on the train, Aria noticed that the view outside behind him was not as gray as she had expected.

It looked different from anything she had seen before.

Rather it resembled dark water as if they were moving under the sea with no fish or any other sea life in sight.

"What... what is this Fluff Ball?"

"Emotions of the passengers."

"I already know that, but why are they different?"

Aria already knew this from previous experiences with the brothers and the three men, Gilbert and his team, but she had never seen a different scenery outside.

"Host, you’re the only one who can see the difference. The sight the children are seeing are the rainbow one, and the dark water on another side is the one own by the teenager."

"It’s different... so you mean Lolo and Lucas cannot see the same scenery outside? Is that what you’re saying?"

Aria turned to Lolo and Lucas and asked them what they were seeing outside, and both replied almost at the same time.

"Many colors...red, yellow...Sister Aria."

Lucas said, a look of confusion on his little face.

No one had told him what a rainbow should look like, and he had never seen one before.

That’s why Lucas could barely name its colors, wasn’t even aware of other colors, and didn’t know how to describe it or what to call it.

On the other side, Lolo had no voice and could only use anxious sign language.

He tried to describe it as darkness, like closing his eyes or even covering his whole face, as if he couldn’t see anything.

Aria understood it well enough, even without the full translation from the system next to hers.

Two different people were seeing entirely different scenery outside.

For now, she didn’t give them a full explanation, aside from saying that this was their current emotions according to each heart’s desire.

Lucas didn’t get it, so Aria explained it like she would to a five-year-old, using candy as an example.

"Imagine your favorite candy or food right now." Aria began, patient and not looking away from their eyes.

"When you see it, you feel happy and excited. That feeling is like what your heart wants the most right now."

Pausing, she glanced back at Lolo to make sure he understood as well.

"But if you don’t like the candy or food, you feel sad inside. And everyone’s heart wants something different, so everyone sees things in their own way."

Slowly, Lucas nodded.

When the young boy looked outside again, he still saw the same rainbow colors, and so did his little brother Carlos.

Lucas asked Aria if it was a good thing or not.

Aria gave him a gentle pat on the head and assured him it was a wonderful thing to have.

Seeing this scenery outside the train was something only children could have, a bright and hopeful childlike view.

Aria remembered that whenever she sat on the train back in her world, she would either stare outside blankly or sit tired from an exhausting day.

Having this kind of experience, with rainbows outside, felt quite good.

Silent and unmoving, Lolo fell into deep thought, perhaps feeling a bit worried for himself.

As he continued to overthink, the view outside behind him grew much darker.

Aria wanted to ask if he was alright, but she didn’t get the chance.

Little Carlos suddenly began asking questions, pulling her attention away.

"Sister, Sister, are we going to buy clothes at the store?"

Samantha had taught the two brothers what a store looked like and what it meant to buy clothes.

"We can do that if our little one likes it. Sister will buy you new ones as well."

Aria replied, unable to resist gently pinching his slightly chubby cheeks.

One of her weaknesses was cuteness, and Little Carlos had been irresistibly cute all this time.

"I wanna buy new shoes, new shoes!"

Turning around excitedly, Little Carlos ran to Lolo’s side, interrupting the teenager’s gloomy thoughts.

He grabbed both of the much larger hands than his own and declared his little heart’s bravery.

"Brother Lolo, Brother Lolo! You have to come with me! I’ll show you shiny things! New shoes! Look, I have cute shoes too, you can buy some!"

Stunned by the sudden approach, Lolo stared at the young kid for a long moment.

He knew the young kid had been cheerful since the first time they met, but he believed it was only because Aria was there.

Yet at this very moment, to be called to so directly, to be trusted despite being a mere stranger, and then to be included in everything sent a warm current through his chest.

It was a feeling he couldn’t deny, even though it made him want to cry once more.

For the first time that day, Lolo’s face eased from its woes, and a small, tender smile appeared on his beautiful face.

The view outside behind him slowly changed, as if a faint light was coming through.

Watching Little Carlos and Lolo interact, Aria felt amused at how the once-anxious boy was now full of bravery and a hint of arrogance.

"Host, Congratulations! You earned People’s Survival Points +10 and Survival Points +1000."

"Host, Congratulations! Your Main Mission World Survival Rate has increased by +0.2%."

"World Survival Current Rate: 0.3%."