Max finished his breakfast and went outside to sit down. It had only been two days since he had come into this new body, and now, with John's soul in it, he had managed to gain good control over it. He had absorbed some information about this world, and Max had started to feel a bit of strength within him, but he was still using a wheelchair. While exercising, he had been running, but to others, it seemed like he was just walking on the ground. He also managed to do some push-ups, but it was very tiring for him, and he was sweating as well. "I am very weak; my stamina is not enough. I need to improve my stamina," he thought while sitting in the garden, with Tom beside him.
Max hesitated a bit and asked Tom, "Tom, I don't remember anything from before. Can you tell me about my friends?"
"I know that you don't remember anything young Master, " Tom replied.
"Oh, how do you know?" Max asked, shocked.
"You used to hesitate in everything and always spoke without confidence. You were very afraid to talk to me and to Madam( Helen ). That's why I guess you don't remember anything from the past, which is why your behavior has changed. Now you speak without fear or hesitation, and you don't seem afraid to talk to Madam," Tom explained, recalling past memories.
"Was Max that cowardly? Whatever, I'm not like that now," Max thought to himself as he said to Tom, "So, how many friends do I have?"
" Master. I don't know about your other friends,I only know about Jameson and you used to laugh and talk only with Jameson at home. I never saw you laughing," Tom said, looking worried since Helen had told him not to remind Max of any tragic past memories. But Tom felt that if Max's past memories returned, he might behave the same way as before, although he was surprised to see that Max's face showed no fear and he spoke with confidence. Tom felt good about the current Max.
Just then, a 20-21-year-old boy came running toward Max and Tom, his face showing an expression of happiness. He looked handsome and stylish with white hair. Max thought to himself, "Wow, he looks like an anime character."
As soon as Jameson got close, he hugged Max and said, "Buddy, I've missed you so much over these five years. Whenever I came to see you, my heart always regrets why I wasn't there with you that day. If I had been, you wouldn't have ended up in this condition." Jameson said while hugging Max.
"Oh, good friend, let me go, or I might faint from this pressure, and my bones are hurting!" Max exclaimed in his mind.
"Ahh... T...O...M," Max gestured to Tom to intervene. Tom understood and said, "Jameson, if you don't let go of the young master soon, I can send you to jail for assaulting him."
"Hey... I came here to meet my friend; you can't threaten me like this..." Jameson was saying to Tom when he realized he was hugging too tightly.
"Sorry... Sorry, buddy, I didn't mean to," he apologized and stepped back, looking at Max, who seemed to be in pain.
"Thank God he let go. I thought it was time to explore another planet," Max thought, taking a breath.
"Are you okay, buddy?" Jammy asked with concern.
"Huff... yeah, I'm fine," Max replied, catching his breath.
"You two chat; I have something to attend to," Tom said, leaving the two of them to talk.
"Alright," Max said, settling into his wheelchair, and Jammy took the seat next to him.
"Jammy, I don't remember anything from the past," Max said upfront, hoping that by being clear, Jammy would explain more about his past.
"Yeah, I know," Jammy said, understanding Max's condition. "Aunt Helen told me when I came to your house and couldn't find you, she mentioned you'd be in the garden."
"And don't worry; I'm here. If you want to remember any old things, just ask me, and I'll tell you," Jammy assured him, making it clear that Max shouldn't stress.
"Good to hear that, Jammy," Max said, a bit surprised.
"So, tell me, what do you want to ask?" Jammy asked, curious. To him, Max now seemed like a growing child who'd believe anything he told him. Jammy thought of it as a big responsibility, almost like raising this big kid, and he felt happy thinking about it.
"So, how many friends do we have?" Max asked.
"Not many, just four," Jammy replied.
"Oh... only four? Wow... Old Max wasn't great at making friends," Max thought.
Jammy continued, "There's Alex, Rox, Me, and Lisa." When Max heard the last name, a mix of joy, sadness, pain, and regret washed over him. These were the old Max's emotions, which, even though they didn't belong to him now, suddenly erupted, leaving the current Max (John's soul) confused by the sudden flood of feelings.
Max didn't say anything, just listening as Jammy's story wasn't over yet.
"In these five years, Alex has become really famous. He's so busy now that he barely has time to take my calls," Jammy said, and Max, curious, interrupted, "Why is that?"
Noticing Max's expression, Jammy replied, "I'm explaining, buddy. Just sit back and listen. I'll fill you in on everything, okay?"
"Hot-headed friend," Max thought to himself, assessing Jammy.
"It's always been Alex's dream to become a top actor, an S-rated one. His dream is close to becoming a reality. Right now, Alex is an A-rated actor, and I heard he signed onto an upcoming movie with Brax, the top S-rated director. Everyone in the News Guild says that if this movie releases successfully, he'll finally get his S-rating certificate."
"So, one of my friends has made a great career. That's good; I might get free movie tickets because of him. Ahh… crap, why am I still thinking with this poor mindset? Here I am, a millionaire, yet I'm focused on free tickets. I really need to start thinking like someone who's wealthy," Max thought, embarrassed by his instinctive reaction to think about freebies. In his previous life, he always dreamed of knowing a famous actor or someone influential who'd let him watch movies for free, but that was just an idle fantasy. Shaking off those thoughts, he turned his attention back to Jammy's story.
"Then there's Roxson—yeah, that guy's turned into a middle-class billionaire over these five years. He's now an A-rated singer with a massive fan base. His fans even gave him the name 'Angel Voice.' Sounds like a girl's name, right? I thought so too and laughed my head off about it! Hahaha… still cracks me up. And this guy barely has time to pick up the phone. As for me, I'm just a D-rated director, starting from scratch. I work as an assistant director to a C-rated director, and life's pretty busy. I'd get one day off a month, and that's when I'd come to visit you and share what's going on," Jammy shared, talking about his own journey.
Max listened in shock, feeling unexpectedly moved by Jammy's words.
After finishing his own story, Jammy started talking about their fourth friend. "And lastly, there's Lisa. Man, what can I even say? She's completely out of our league now! Over these five years, she's become everyone's crush, a huge star, and an S-rated actress and heroine. We can't even hope to meet her anymore. Lisa's fanbase is so massive that if she were to pick up a broken sandal off the street, that broken sandal would become a fashion trend! Her fans would turn it into a brand; she's gotten that famous."
Jammy laughed while talking about Lisa's rise, amused by the fact that their friend had become such a major celebrity. Meanwhile, Max was listening with a confused expression. Hearing about Lisa stirred up all kinds of feelings within him that he couldn't quite understand, leaving him tangled in a web of emotions and uncertainty.