Armand just stared at him, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes that usually sparkled now vacant with confusion.
He tried to process those words, as if translating a foreign language he had never heard before.
After a silence that felt interminable, his voice finally emerged, hoarse and laden with disbelief.
"What... do you mean you're not Philippe?" He narrowed his eyes, demanding a sensible explanation.
Philippe opened his mouth, then closed it again. He turned his face briefly toward the window, gazing at the darkness of the city adorned with points of lantern light.
"As I said," he murmured softly, his voice heavy with gravity.
"I am not Philippe."
He looked straight back into Armand's eyes, which remained fixed on him.
"My real name... it doesn't matter. What's important is that I'm not from this world. I come from a place called Earth."
"I don't know why I ended up in this body. It all just happened." Philippe paused, drawing a deep breath. "It started... do you remember when I was gravely wounded in the rifthound attack? Not the recent one."
Armand didn't respond, only nodding slowly, his face still etched with profound bewilderment.
A small, bitter smile tugged at Philippe's lips. "At that time, when I woke up with my body covered in wounds, I had no memory whatsoever of that battle. All that filled my head were memories of my life on Earth. The ordinary life of an office worker." As he uttered the last sentence, an unmistakable note of longing crept into his voice.
"I have a theory," he continued. "But you might not like hearing it. Are you sure you want to know?"
Armand regarded him seriously, then nodded again.
"I think... the real Philippe was already gone by then."
Armand's face tightened, genuine sorrow radiating from his eyes. "That...."
"I believe my soul entered this body right after his departed. Perhaps our memories were supposed to merge, sharing the same vessel. But that didn't happen. Maybe because... he had already left first, leaving behind this empty shell for me to inhabit."
Philippe leaned forward, his gaze sharpening.
"Can you accept this? The fact that the friend you've known all this time is actually a stranger occupying his body?" he asked, his voice weighted with burden.
"I need your answer."
Armand didn't reply immediately. Without a word, he rose from his chair, walked toward the window, and stared outside.
A tense silence filled the cluttered room. After what felt like an eternity, a smile slowly formed on his face.
"The view of this city is beautiful, isn't it?"
Philippe was stunned. That response was completely unrelated to his question. But precisely because of that, he understood.
The weight pressing on his chest seemed to lift. A genuine smile finally appeared on his face.
"Yes," he replied. "Very beautiful."
***
"By the way, there's one more thing special about me."
Armand turned from the window. "Now you're being narcissistic?"
Philippe chuckled. "You could say that." He paused for a moment. "But this is real. There's something only I can see."
Hearing that, Armand narrowed his eyes again. "Are you serious?"
"Yes," Philippe answered. "Want to see?"
Curiosity won out over everything!
Armand pulled his chair closer, sliding it nearer to Philippe.
Philippe then opened his palm. The air above his hand began to shimmer, particles of dust dancing before gathering to form a warm orb of light.
Soon after, from within the light, a small wooden cube emerged and landed gently in his palm. In the center of the cube, a question mark symbol (?) was engraved.
This was a reward from completing quests during his self-healing after being kidnapped and surrounded by rifthounds!
And he had completed 10 quests.
That meant he had 10 "?"-marked chests in his inventory!
All this time, he had saved them, waiting for the right moment. Now, with Madeleine lying between life and death, he felt this was the time.
He needed something—anything—that could heal her!
"What is that?" Armand asked, his eyes gleaming, his body leaning forward.
"Honestly, I don't know either. I've never opened one before."
Suddenly, the small chest in Philippe's palm floated into the air and shone so brightly it was blinding.
After a few seconds, the light dimmed, and the chest descended as softly as a feather back into his hand.
[ RARE CRATE ]
UNLOCKING THIS CRATE WILL GIVE YOU RANDOM REWARDS
[ ITEM, SKILL, EFFECT, SKILL POINT, EXP, QUEST ]
"Now what?" Armand asked, a mix of awe and fear that the chest might explode.
Philippe shrugged. "It should...." He pointed his index finger at the chest.
Sure enough, the chest glowed again, forcing them to close their eyes.
When the light vanished, an object had replaced the chest in Philippe's palm.
An armband made from thin bronze plates combined with aged leather. On its surface, ancient symbols were etched, seemingly pulsing with a faint light.
"What is this?" Armand whispered.
Philippe stared at the object, then shifted his gaze to the empty air in front of him, reading the description that appeared.
Item Name: Featherlight Band
Description: Makes the wearer as light as a feather. Allows the user to float or move with ease, enhancing agility, speed, and jumping ability. Eliminates all fall damage from heights.
A thin smile, tinged with slight disappointment, appeared on his face. "An item that can make your body incredibly light. You can move more agilely, faster, even possibly float."
He fell silent for a moment. Then he sighed.
This was clearly not the healing item he had hoped for.
"This is for you," he said, handing the armband to Armand. "I don't need it."
"Are you sure?" Armand hesitated, but his eyes couldn't tear away from the shimmering object. He finally took it.
Who wouldn't want free stuff?
Don't turn down good fortune!
Philippe nodded. "This isn't the item I'm looking for."
***
A/N: If you want to read the 7 advanced chapters with a faster update frequency than the webnovel, you can read it on my patreon whose link is below:
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