The SSS Beast King: Rebirth of the Legendary Predator
Chapter 42: The Illusion of Choice

Chapter 42: The Illusion of Choice

Is life just a line? A straight path, or one curved by our actions? Is it even you who is in control of this endless road, do you even control your own thoughts? Is fate really not a divinity, but just a human who is playing a game?

Just as we have our own video games where we control our characters’ decisions, their line, why do we put down the theory that we are one of these mindless creatures? Is it because it’s against our code?

And those who question their existence, or end their own life without the player doing so, are those so-called bugs? If that’s so, what character would I be?

A side character who is just there to make the players laugh from time to time. The antagonist is the one who is hated the most. Or the protagonist, the character actually played by this so-called divinity who in reality is just a normal human.

You could say I’m wrong, by justifying it with the outrageous complexity of our world, and how it was practically impossible to achieve conscience for every character.

But that’s looking at it through our eyes. Whenever you play a game, and inside that game is another game the character plays, the game itself lacks depth, just a simple shooter or guessing game.

But the characters who play these games we consider boring, think of them as the best they have seen. So by the reasoning from earlier, wouldn’t that just make us the same as them?

But let’s just forget that theory entirely for now and go back for a second. What even is the line? Does it grow with you, or does it have an end as soon as it’s born? Is it a higher power?

For the longest time, I’ve thought that fate is the one guiding this line, or at least some of it. So I wonder, now that I can defy fate, am I not part of that line anymore? Has another opened to me?... But wouldn’t it be the same?

If I am walking down the path ruled by fate, and another appears to save me from its reign wouldn’t it constantly control my actions to defy the other? Does the original line curve adapt to the sudden change?

Are we bound to be pawns in the game of these two divinities? Does something like free will even exist? I could go and steal candy from a baby, that was free will, right? However, there is no way for me to know if fate had already written this incident on the line.

If that’s the case, they might as well give me an award for my acting, I mean, if we’re just actors following a script, is defying fate just improvisation?

Which one of these paths is better, that’s the question. Though it’s not that easy to answer.

It’s like asking a slave what master it wants and only giving people with a terrible background.

Personally, I think the path of defying this deity called fate is the better option. Even if in reality your free will is nonexistent, at least it feels like it is, like you are a butterfly flying through a calm wind.

It is also the path that saved my life. Because of it, I was able to change my answers which had been chosen by fate, and dodged the tiebreaker last second. And in turn, escaped death as the tiebreaker was one where there was no winner.

A simple game, choose between heads and tails. The ones who chose tails lost their limbs, making it most probably impossible to survive the next games. And for those who chose heads, well, by what happened its counterpart I think it’s clear.

I know I was saved by my last-minute decision, not just because of what I said earlier, but because I would have chosen heads too.

It’s a weird feeling, to escape death. Your life doesn’t flash between your eyes like some people say, but it feels like your body breaks down, not your mind. I started to sweat and fell to the ground because of my legs which had suddenly boiled like spaghetti. My eyes couldn’t sit in one place, they trembled like they were being shocked. Well, they were, but not in the same context.

I should be happy, as I survived, but there’s still a lingering feeling in my chest, the paranoia catching up to me. Crawling up my limbs and entering my body to cause chaos.

[The next round will start in ten seconds]

Ten seconds? More like ten minutes. With how many thoughts were coming to mind in this vulnerable state, my passive was working on over time, and with its ability, I had already been here for over one hour, in my own mind, talking to myself.

Most would have gone crazy, so my performance of being able to keep up for so long would be impressive. But to go crazy you have to be sane first. And I had lost my sanity the day when I was abandoned by my mother.

However, with my sudden escape, I can’t help but wonder how many other paths exist. Is love and another also part of this line? If it is, then the word soulmate gets a whole new meaning.

But then again, how does fate create each of these parts? Why does it have the right to judge if the person is going to have a good life, or is going to be sent down to hell?

...

[The second round has started, good luck!]

Does luck even exist? If everything is planned out by fate on a clear sheet of paper, then why do we always bring up luck? Is it just a word to make us feel even more free? That we have free will. If it is, then were absolutely pathetic.

Even the force we created to prove our free will, is something we cannot control.