[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-esper-harem-in-the-apocalypse":3,"chapter-esper-harem-in-the-apocalypse-esper-harem-in-the-apocalypse-chapter-617":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Esper Harem in the Apocalypse",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1664457,2131,"Chapter 617 Jessica Jeopardy","esper-harem-in-the-apocalypse-chapter-617",617,"\u003Cp>\"As time passed, you began playing outside and making new friends. You met Eric, Erika, and Alice at pre-school and became close friends with them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then one day, you came home 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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My memories 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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked around, but no one knew anything. Most people had forgotten everything about Jessica. Some didn't remember a single thing about her, while some didn't even know that Jessica existed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked at Rudy with teary eyes and said, \"You were one of them. You were eight years old at that time, and when I asked you about Jessica, you replied with, 'who is that?'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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 me when I missed her. But… how could I expect you to comfort me about a person you don't know the existence of?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the hardest, saddest, and darkest time 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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I flipped the pages and stopped at the ninth chapter, which was empty for some reason. I was confused, but then I thought maybe I did something that changed the future, and I was punished for it. Perhaps, that's why Jessica died, so I could suffer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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 something mentioned in the diary's note— the first page—.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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 immediately. And then I read.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'You will meet her again. Keep patience and continue what you are best at.' It said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I blindly believed those words and put my faith in them. And… I am hoping to meet her again… soon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She smiled sadly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mom…\" Rudy held Rebecca's hand in his hands and squeezed it a little. \"I… I have something to tell you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Go ahead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have met Jessica again after she died.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wha…t?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was natural for Rebecca to be perplexed after hearing that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She is a ghost now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And she has lost her memories. She doesn't remember anything about you or the world. She didn't even remember her own name or who killed her. But I can attest that she is Jessica,\" Rudy asserted in a solemn voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where is she?\" Rebecca glanced around. \"And why can't I see her?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As I said, she is a ghost.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, but you can see her, right? So why did she never appear in front of me?\" She asked with a curious and confused look on her face. \"Sure, she lost her memories, but she appeared before you, so why not me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well…\" Rudy told her everything about the haunted tunnel incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rebecca bit her lips and muttered, \"Do you really think it was all a coincidence?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you think she would have appeared before me had I crossed the tunnel?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I… don't know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rudy wanted to know more about Angelica's murder, and he thought his case study was moving forward in a positive direction, but after time-traveling and hearing Rebecca's story, he realized that he had been wrong all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'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?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I have to get to the root of this case, and there is only one way to find out— which is to time-travel to the time when the incident occurred. However, I first need to learn to time-travel and master it perfectly.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The absolute power… time; the power that belongs to the first reality. If I can find the first reality, I can obtain the power of time. Asura wasted billions of billions of years in finding that, and he was more experienced than me in everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he couldn't do something, how can I? Still, no one can be certain, and I truly need the power of time. However, I am not going to dedicate my life in search of the first reality like Asura did. I am no fool. '\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>===\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks, @Damian_Tucker, and @Shadow4Player, for the gift!\u003C\u002Fp>",1100,"2026-06-06T12:42:22.556Z",1,"novelbin.me","eed3e42ec74f6ff3b2755f2d232ff26a66880f3e3df3101d71b9128decd98f15","esper-harem-in-the-apocalypse-chapter-618","esper-harem-in-the-apocalypse-chapter-616",1163,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fesper-harem-in-the-apocalypse-cover.jpg"]