Infinite Mage - Chapter 771
[771] Question of the ball (1)
You have arrived at Corona Kingdom.
‘This is how it feels.’
Maybe after returning from the mission, I felt comfortable as if I was back in my hometown even in the cold scenery that was still unfamiliar to me.
“Let’s go eat something. What do you do when you become a star? I’m so busy I don’t even have time to eat.”
I entered the White Inn where Sirone was staying.
“welcome. oh?”
A middle-aged woman’s eyes lit up at the sight of Sirone and Minerva entering side by side.
“You have become very friendly. if…?”
“It’s business. He’s also a bigot.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
The middle-aged woman looked disappointed.
“Something that can be easily eaten.”
As Minerva showed signs of being busy, the middle-aged woman entered the restaurant without a word.
Sirone sat down and looked at the table in the corner.
“….”
The four people who were playing the card game at the time were still turning their hands in the same arrangement.
‘Couldn’t it be?’
Perhaps they had gone home and coincidentally all four of them were wearing the same clothes as they did back then.
After checking Sirone’s expression, Minerva turned her head to the four of them and asked.
“Who is winning?”
The bald old man replied.
“Everyone is losing. When the game is over, there is no winner or loser. Winning is just a game.”
Sirone listened to the old man’s words.
‘Winning is a game.’
It seemed to represent the current situation of the world where Yahweh and Buddha are in confrontation.
“How long are you going to do it?”
“…until the game is over.”
Minerva, rummaging in her bosom, took out the bond she had received from South Eymond and shook it.
“Can I have a bite too?”
All four of them stopped their hands at the same time.
“What are you doing?”
Sirone tried to stop him from gambling, but Minerva was already moving with her chair.
“I will formally introduce myself. These are ‘card game people’. It is the specialty of the ivory tower. It is also a famous place for tourists to take photos.”
The owner shouted from the kitchen.
“It’s a specialty of the White Inn!”
Minerva checked the tide of the card game.
“Fourteen years ago, four of the best gamblers in the world entered the ivory tower of gambling madmen. And I made a bet. Who will win the game?”
“Which game is it?”
“It doesn’t matter what the test life is. However, the preferences of the participants are different. Those who must take away, those who must give, those who want to end the game, and those who want to keep the game.”
Sirone took another look at the ‘card players’.
“Who do you think will win?”
“Of course, the one who wants to steal it…”
Sirone shook her head.
“No one wins.”
“Isn’t it ironic? But this is life. For the game to end, one side must be out of balance.”
said Minerva, placing the bonds on the table.
“I will guess the winner of this round. If you lose, you can keep all this money.”
the bald old man asked.
“…what if you win?”
“Then stop playing. There are no more ‘card players’ in this world.”
The man with the red beard who was sitting across from me said.
“good. Who will win this round?”
“Hmm, let’s see…”
Sirone gulped as he watched Minerva carefully examining her hand.
‘It breaks the balance.’
If someone intervenes and causes a rift in the game that is perfectly meshed with good and evil.
‘Who will be the winner?’
Minerva, who had been examining the cards the four people were holding for a long time, scratched her head.
“I have no idea. I’m not good at gambling. Feeling is the best at times like this. Who wants to keep the game?”
philanthropy or sirone.
“grow.”
said the man, skinny as a skeleton.
“good. I will bet on which side you win.”
‘People who play card games’ are the best Servants in the world, and those who win in any game.
Chess, where thinking power is everything, even card games of probability, and even winning and losing sports games where emotions work.
Minerva entered a new variable into the simulation run by those four people for 14 years.
‘How will things change now?’
If Minerva wins, the game is destroyed.
‘It’s definitely complicated.’
Whoever wants to end the game will take the lead with Minerva winning.
‘That’s how a chain reaction happens. Everyone’s thinking will change.’
“Let’s start.”
Starting with the words of the man whose eyes were dark like ink, the four hands moved busily.
Each person draws a card, puts it down on the floor, and takes a card from their hand on the floor.
‘What rules are so complicated?’
The speed was so fast that I didn’t even know how the game was going, but it took more than 3 minutes.
“The results came out.”
Minerva looked at the table with interest, and Sirone rose from her seat as well.
“The winner of this round is…”
The bald old man turned his gaze to the red-bearded man.
“You are Gudio.”
The one who wants to steal it is atrocious.
“…”
It was just a game, but the people who developed the game were people who reached the pinnacle of action and reaction.
“Ha, not worth it. I could have won.”
When Minerva clicked her tongue and returned to her seat, Sirone looked at her with an absurd expression.
“Are you saying that now? What about that money?”
“It can’t be helped. That’s what gambling is. If we win, we eat it all, and if we lose, we give it all.”
“No, from the beginning…”
“Let’s go. I have work to do in Taesan, so what are you doing after eating?”
As Minerva took the jet and left, Sirone turned to the ‘card players’.
All four of them were reviewing this edition with their heads down, not even paying attention to bonds.
Sirone shook his head.
“I really don’t understand.”
As Sirone followed Minerva outside, the owner belatedly brought food.
“Oh, are you already gone?”
The bald old man raised his gaze and asked.
“Do you agree?”
All agreed.
“It is very subtle. I didn’t think it would affect it, but this will make a slight difference?”
Gudio said.
“If we continue like this, the game is over.”
That meant that someone’s stake ran out right before they could be revived.
“Who is the final winner?”
Since you are not playing the role of 4 people by yourself, you have to actually turn the board to see the results.
“Let’s begin.”
The bonds fell to the floor as the cards shuttled as the four hands crossed at breakneck speed.
The owner, who watched the scene for a while, muttered as he dipped his finger into the soup and tasted it.
“It’s a pity, so what? I can’t throw it away.”
* * *
After saying goodbye to Minerva in the Ivory Tower, Sirone arrived at the Temple of Earth, where Taeseong resides.
“You look tired.”
Taesung welcomed him with a smile as if he knew well.
“You are such a difficult person, Mr. Minerva.”
“I heard about it. I’m asking because I still need your confirmation, but are you really going to list < Slaughter >?”
“yes. I want to use some.”
If Sirone was the master, Taeseong could not win.
“all right. And…”
Her voice grew cold.
“I have something to say about the rule of apostasy.”
Thinking that what was to come had come, Sirone silently waited for the words to follow.
“As you may have already heard, apostasy is dangerous.”
“Is it because it invades the upper system?”
Taeseong put on a sad expression.
“I don’t want to hear Sirone say that. As I said before, nothing is set. All the lives of the stars are just living according to their will.”
“Then what is the problem?”
“It is not because we are in a particular system, but because we create the system.”
Taeseong pointed to the ground.
“Human beings live according to their own will, but when that will is gathered, a certain pattern will arise. It’s a system and it allows us to imagine that maybe we’re part of a program. However, strictly speaking, it is an imagination in which cause and effect are reversed.”
Of course, that imagination may be correct.
“The reason why apostasy is not tolerated is not that someone has decided not to do it. Because that itself threatens the system we created.”
When Taeseong spread his arms, countless stars were born in the shape of a fan.
“The natural world exists in the background of the universe, and the living world was born from that natural world. Humans are at some point in the biosphere.”
A star exploded, leaving a hole in the universe.
“The most powerful force in the natural world pierces a hole in the upper system, the universe. This is called apostasy.”
“Then, by human standards…”
“Yes. It must be powerful enough to destroy the natural world at the location of the biological world. The most powerful magic you could use before reaching the realm of Yahweh was God’s Punishment. But even that never reaches the apostasy.”
The star where Sirone lives rises as an illusion, flickering small lights like fireflies.
“Any magic is the same. Typhoon Volcanic Eruption? It is a star that is not affected by any natural disaster. It’s not even destroyed by the slightest asteroid impact. Even if your god’s punishment fell 10,000 feet, it would scar the surface of the planet. As a human being, it’s just about tearing your skin.”
It is their civilization, not the stars, that will be destroyed even if all the resources of mankind around the world are mobilized.
“It wasn’t something that someone decided to do, but it became a system because it was born that way. But you broke that rule.”
Sirone can destroy stars.
“That’s the fallacy.”
“Of course I can withstand your power, but Terraforce is different. Unlike the natural world, it is the mind that governs the living world. If you decide to do that, you see the possibility that the star can be destroyed.”
“Are you Ymir?”
Taeseong nodded.
“Even Ankera does not tolerate apostasy. That’s a violation of the game, so to speak. Think about it, if a being with a will can destroy a star…”
If you destroy the upper system at will.
“Who would want to live here?”
The value, reason, and purpose of existence loses its meaning in front of those who have the power to abolish it.
“There is controversy.”
Taeseong returned.
“Terraforce is a being that far transcends the human mind. They think there should be no foul play in this fight. Because it is meaningless to divide winners and losers if it is not a fair confrontation.”
Taeseong raised his index finger.
“That’s why it’s ten thousand. limits of the biological system. Sirone is beyond that. In terms of the cosmic caste system, you are not a creature. It is a kind of nature.”
Anyone who knew what Sirone could do had no choice but to nod.
“Then what should I do now?”
“nothing. You have transcended the bay by your will. However, what I want to say is that there are also those who regard it as foul play.”
“Terraforce.”
“yes. Their council will judge. Terraforce’s Supreme Court seems to be using power, but it doesn’t seem easy. Stay in the ivory tower for a while and watch the progress.”
“What if it gets rejected?”
Taeseong looked back at Sirone.
“Nothing will change. But if you disobey the verdict until the end…”
Her eyes were colder than ever before.
“Terraforce will cut you out of the system to protect the users of this planet.”
—————————————