episode_0051

Humans have no free will.

What this means is that our thoughts are ultimately determined by external factors.

Every choice we make is already predetermined, and any free will we feel is an illusion.

As if it were fate.

What the hell are you talking about?

This has been one of the major debates in philosophy since ancient times.

Are our choices really ones that we have thought through and decided on?

Wasn’t it already a passive choice that was decided automatically, swayed by the surrounding environment?

Ancient philosophers and scientists questioned such things when they observed their own bodies acting unconsciously.

There was also one representative experiment conducted to test free will.

Rivet experiment.

The experimental method is simple.

In front of the subject is a ticking clock and a button.

And the subjects were told to look at their watches and when they felt like ‘I need to press a button’, they were told to press the button.

And the goal is to analyze the differences in brain waves before and after the behavior.

It was a simple experiment, but the results were surprising.

Normally, when you decide to ‘press the button’, you should see brain waves related to movement.

But the results of the experiment showed that movement-related brain waves appeared even before the person thought, ‘I have to press the button.’

What does this mean?

Before we even think about pressing the button, our muscles are already moving to press the button.

It’s truly amazing.

Naturally, this experiment sparked a huge debate about free will.

From the perspective of brain science, all human thoughts and actions are ultimately made up of brain waves.

And brain waves are made up of very faint electrical signals.

The exchange of ions that occurs in neurons generates electrical signals that move our bodies.

Fundamentally speaking, the driving force behind living things and machines is not much different.

Then we might make this hypothesis:

If we could analyze all of a person’s brain waves.

Wouldn’t it be possible to control people’s thoughts and actions like machines?

In fact, where I lived, on Earth, there were quite a few similar success stories.

Robot arms, word processors, drones, and more that are controlled by brain waves.

It is possible to move machines with just thoughts, but is the reverse really impossible?

A person’s will changes depending on the surrounding environment, the hormone ratio of the day, and the state of brain waves at that time.

The choices we thought we made entirely of our own free will are actually choices we are swayed by those around us.

Therefore, free will is an illusion.

Without even having to think, ‘Could it be that I actually have a common brain?’

We were already all living in a place that was no different from the common brain.

*

‘Well… I guess it’s because I don’t have anyone to talk to that I’m talking nonsense.’

I’ve been feeling like I’ve been thinking a lot lately.

Is it because I don’t have anyone to talk to openly? All kinds of things that need to be said have piled up in my mind.

To put it simply, it means being lonely.

There was no particular reason why I suddenly had such thoughts.

It’s just that… the people around me always show one-dimensional reactions because of the curse.

I just thought that maybe it would be right to view these guys as a programmed ‘phenomenon’.

This may not change the reactions of those around me, but at least it could reduce the psychological damage I received.

I feel much better when I think of the hateful remarks the other person spews as a result of being swept away by a curse.

Anyway, this was the first reason.

Another reason was because of the following Four Heavenly Kings.

‘Puppet Master Net.’

To put it simply, a puppet master.

This is the official name of the game, but it is known by another name among users.

A rather intuitive and cheap nickname.

The community’s reactions suddenly came to mind.

“Hey, can you stop coming in here, hypnosis app bastard?”

It’s a hypnosis app.

Although he was called a puppet, the doll he controlled was no ordinary doll.

It was a living thing.

The guy was a freak with supernatural powers since birth.

He can captivate dozens of people with a single voice, and move hundreds with a single gesture.

I knew this guy would do it since he was born.

I don’t know why that happens.

Like I said before, it could be controlling brain waves. It could be using magic to hypnotize the mind.

No one knows exactly how it is controlled.

A technique similar to magic, but applied under completely different rules.

That was the power.

The second Four Heavenly Kings is a puppet priest… My head is already spinning.

‘Why of all things···.’

Similar to the first Four Heavenly Kings, the order is fucked up.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as difficult as Chungwang.

Unlike Chungwang, this guy was someone who boasted a moderate level of difficulty regardless of the order in which he appeared.

There are just a few other problems.

The fact that the guy showed up a second time meant that it was the third or fourth time they showed up.

‘Iron Ridge and Eternity···.’

Both of them were bosses whose difficulty increased like crazy as they progressed. To the point where I would rather start a new game than deal with them.

By the way, if those two were left together in the latter half, I would have deleted the episode without hesitation.

But this time it happened like that.

In a round where you can’t even retry.

That wasn’t the only bad news.

Naturally, my ‘loyalty’ also became blocked.

He is a puppet master. He fights by manipulating living beings.

Of course, bugs were also living things, and naturally my strength was bound to decrease.

If I’m not careful, I might get eaten by the bugs I summoned, so I can’t use it with peace of mind.

In a word, it’s fucked.

I don’t know who planned it in which order, but it was really difficult.

I looked back and forth between the sky and the demon world with a resentful gaze. More precisely, towards the gigantic beings that were hiding within.

‘Who should I blame···.’

Is this also part of the contract?

Who originally planned the order of the Four Heavenly Kings?

Has the Goddess invested too much in the previous warriors, and has the initiative shifted to the Demon King?

I don’t know any of it.

After meeting Enen, I feel like my mind has become very complicated.

I don’t know if I should trust her at all, but I also don’t know if I should antagonize her because she has too much power.

To put it bluntly, if it weren’t for a contract or something, she could probably defeat the Demon King on her own. That’s how strong she is.

So I can’t be hostile. And whatever it was, she was on my side.

‘Ugh, I don’t know.’

After thinking about it for a while, I soon decided to give up.

Yeah. What’s the point of thinking like that? I already have something to do anyway.

Become stronger and cut off the Demon King’s head. While saving them all.

Even if my entire body is destroyed, I can be reincarnated into another body if I can just defeat the Demon King.

So, all we have to do is catch the Demon King. Just the Demon King.

Difficulty aside, the goal has become much simpler.

“Ugh, I’m bored. When will we get there?”

As I was making that pledge, I heard Lily whining next to me.

We were currently riding in a carriage to a remote city in a foreign country.

A messenger suddenly barged in, so I thought something had happened nearby, but it wasn’t like that.

He came from another country and ran for days and nights to get to me.

Due to the nature of the streets, we had no choice but to ride carriages for several days.

Even though it was a carriage that had been enhanced with magic, it was much faster than a normal carriage… but it was still boring.

I said a word to calm her down.

“Please be patient. We’re almost to the cloud city. We’ll be able to touch down on the ground soon. Of course, our destination is a bit further away, so we’ll have to ride for a few more hours······.”

“Huh?”

When I explain it that way, she makes a displeased expression.

“Oh my, why are you suddenly using formal language? Just use informal language like you did in the empire.”

“Hey, how could I do that?”

It seems he doesn’t like the chaos going on in the empire.

But since it was an expected Kusari, I was able to get over it with ease.

“By the way, the Demon King’s army attacked. Those guys are acting quite aggressively, perhaps because they lost the Four Heavenly Kings.”

“That’s right. I guess we should at least warn the Knights about this.”

Whether Lily whined or not, Adele and Camilla were having a constructive conversation.

Of all the Four Heavenly Kings, the puppet master was the one who invaded the human world the most.

Because the ability is like that, you have to constantly gather resources.

This raid was probably also led by the guy.

You’ll have to find out more details yourself, though.

So we continued on our way in the carriage.

We eat meals in between and chat occasionally.

Still, perhaps because they had captured one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the atmosphere at the party was much more relaxed than when they were inside Chunghoe Castle.

How many hours does that take?

“Haa~ Finally arrived!”

“You must be feeling a bit shaky after sitting for so long. Isn’t that right, Adele?”

“Well··· This level of waiting is part of my daily routine, so it’s not that boring.”

“··· That’s why the elves.”

We were finally able to arrive.

In the cloud city.