Esper Harem in the Apocalypse Chapter 617 Jessica Jeopardy

"As ti passed, you began playing outside and making new friends. You t Eric, Erika, and Alice at pre-school and beca close friends with them.

Then one day, you ca ho and asked who your father was… and I didn't know how to answer that. Obviously, I could tell you the truth— which you would later say to your friends— who would think you were a delusional person.

So I decided to lie to you and tell you about my father, who had apparently died in an accident according to the letter I had received soon after I adopted you.

I will skip most of the things and fast forward to the end, at how Jessica died. I already answered and said I don't know, and I truly don't know. But that's not what you think I am trying to say.

My mories of Jessica from before she died are missing. I don't know anything related to Jessica. One day… I just found myself in front of her newly made grave with a wallet in my hand with a family picture in it.

I asked around, but no one knew anything. Most people had forgotten everything about Jessica. So didn't rember a single thing about her, while so didn't even know that Jessica existed."

She looked at Rudy with teary eyes and said, "You were one of them. You were eight years old at that ti, and when I asked you about Jessica, you replied with, 'who is that?'

I tried to tell you everything about Jessica, but you couldn't even recall how she looked, so I decided to show you her photo. Imagine my surprise when she had disappeared from all of her pictures.

There were no records of her. That was heartbreaking, honestly. She and you were the only ones in my life, and… after her death, I hoped you would be there to comfort when I missed her. But… how could I expect you to comfort about a person you don't know the existence of?

That was the hardest, saddest, and darkest ti of my life, and I was close to a breaking point. And you know what's ironic? She died on my birthday… on our birthday. I had turned twenty, and you had turned eight.

That was also the day when I was supposed to read the ninth chapter of the diary. Of course, I had no motivation to do anything, but I knew I had to read, or the shadow could appear again.

I flipped the pages and stopped at the ninth chapter, which was empty for so reason. I was confused, but then I thought maybe I did sothing that changed the future, and I was punished for it. Perhaps, that's why Jessica died, so I could suffer.

And… I eventually had a breakdown. I cried for hours, locked in my room while you were having a sleepover at Eric and Erika's house— and also celebrating your birthday there.

I asked many questions and tried to call out the shadow, but nothing happened. However, I knew a way to summon the shadow, and that was to do sothing ntioned in the diary's note— the first page—.

I decided to read the tenth chapter with my teary eyes and blurry vision. I knew if I did that, the shadow would appear again. I wanted to ask questions even though I already knew that the shadow would never respond to my question albeit being present there.

Still, I wanted to ask the questions. But just as I was about to flip the page to go from the ninth chapter to the tenth, words started appearing in the ninth chapter. I couldn't read because of my vision, so I rubbed my eyes and wiped my tears imdiately. And then I read.

'You will et her again. Keep patience and continue what you are best at.' It said.

I blindly believed those words and put my faith in them. And… I am hoping to et her again… soon."

She smiled sadly.

Rudy lowered his gaze and inwardly uttered, 'I wasn't planning to reveal Angelica's identity to mom before finding out her killer, but I can't see mom sad.'

"Mom…" Rudy held Rebecca's hand in his hands and squeezed it a little. "I… I have sothing to tell you."

"Go ahead."

"I have t Jessica again after she died."

"Wha…t?"

It was natural for Rebecca to be perplexed after hearing that.

"She is a ghost now."

"...!"

"And she has lost her mories. She doesn't rember anything about you or the world. She didn't even rember her own na or who killed her. But I can attest that she is Jessica," Rudy asserted in a solemn voice.

"Where is she?" Rebecca glanced around. "And why can't I see her?"

"As I said, she is a ghost."

"Yes, but you can see her, right? So why did she never appear in front of ?" She asked with a curious and confused look on her face. "Sure, she lost her mories, but she appeared before you, so why not ?"

"Well…" Rudy told her everything about the haunted tunnel incident.

Rebecca bit her lips and muttered, "Do you really think it was all a coincidence?"

"Huh?"

"Do you think she would have appeared before had I crossed the tunnel?"

"I… don't know."

Rudy wanted to know more about Angelica's murder, and he thought his case study was moving forward in a positive direction, but after ti-traveling and hearing Rebecca's story, he realized that he had been wrong all along.

'Angelica wasn't murdered by her classmates, a murderer, a serial killer, or a psycho… She was killed in a supernatural incident. Otherwise, why else did everyone forget about Jessica?

I have to get to the root of this case, and there is only one way to find out— which is to ti-travel to the ti when the incident occurred. However, I first need to learn to ti-travel and master it perfectly.'

The absolute power… ti; the power that belongs to the first reality. If I can find the first reality, I can obtain the power of ti. Asura wasted billions of billions of years in finding that, and he was more experienced than in everything.

If he couldn't do sothing, how can I? Still, no one can be certain, and I truly need the power of ti. However, I am not going to dedicate my life in search of the first reality like Asura did. I am no fool. '

===

Thanks, @Damian_Tucker, and @Shadow4Player, for the gift!