The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 51

51 – Cloud City (1)

Humans have no free will.

What does that mean? It means that our thoughts and actions are ultimately determined by external factors.

Every choice we make has already been determined, and the sense of free will we feel is nothing more than an illusion.

Just like fate.

What nonsense is this?

This has been one of the major debates in philosophy that has been going on for a long time.

Is it really true that our choices are entirely our own decisions that we made by thinking?

Weren’t they already influenced and swayed by the surrounding environment, making them passive choices that were decided automatically?

Ancient philosophers and scientists had doubts when they observed their own bodies acting unconsciously.

To examine free will, there was one representative experiment conducted.

The Libet experiment.

The method of the experiment was simple.

In front of the test subject, there was a ticking clock and a button.

And when the test subject felt the urge to push the button while looking at the clock, they were told to press the button.

Then, the before and after difference in brainwaves generated from that action was analyzed.

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

In the usual case, when you decide, “I should press the button,” brainwaves related to movement should appear.

However, the experimental results showed that brainwaves related to movement appeared before even thinking, “I should press the button.”

What does this mean?

Our muscles were already in motion to press the button before we even thought about wanting to press it.

Truly remarkable.

Naturally, this experiment has sparked significant controversy regarding free will.

From the perspective of neuroscience, all human thoughts and actions ultimately consist of brainwaves.

And these brainwaves are composed of very faint electrical signals.

The exchange of ions occurring within neurons generates these electrical signals, which move our bodies.

Fundamentally, whether it’s a living organism or a machine, the driving force behind movement is not all that different.

So, we can propose this hypothesis.

If we could analyze a person’s brainwaves comprehensively.

Would it be possible to control a human’s thoughts and actions, much like a machine?

In fact, on Earth, where I used to live, there were gradually emerging successful cases.

Robotic arms controlled by brainwaves, word processors, drones, and more.

If machines can be moved solely by thought, can the opposite be impossible?

People’s will changes depending on their surroundings, their hormone levels on a given day, and their brainwave states at that moment.

The choices we believed we made entirely by our will were, in fact, choices swayed by our environment.

Therefore, free will is an illusion.

Without pondering, “Could it be that I’m not my own brain’s master?”

We were all already living in a place where we were no different from controlled brains.

*

“Hmm… Maybe it’s because I have no one to talk to that I’m spewing such nonsense.”

Lately, I’ve been feeling quite contemplative.

Perhaps it’s because I lack someone to have a heart-to-heart conversation with. All the words I should say when I go outside have piled up in my mind.

In simpler terms, I’m feeling lonely.

There wasn’t any particular reason why I suddenly had such thoughts.

It’s just that the people around me always display one-dimensional responses due to the curse, it seems.

I thought of them as programmed “phenomena.”

Even though thinking like this wouldn’t change their reactions, at least I could reduce the mental damage I received.

The hateful remarks spat by my opponent, I found them easier to bear when I considered them as the results of a curse.

In any case, that was the first reason.

Another reason was the Four Heavenly Kings.

“Gweroesa (Puppeteer) Net.”

In simpler terms, a puppeteer magician.

That was the official name in the game, but among the players, it was known by another name.

A somewhat straightforward and cheap-sounding nickname.

Community responses suddenly came to mind.

“Ugh, can this hypnotism app guy stop messing around?”

That’s right, the hypnotism app.

Even though he carried the title of a puppeteer (Gweroe), the dolls he controlled weren’t ordinary dolls.

They were living beings.

From the moment he was born, he possessed extraordinary abilities.

With a single voice, he could captivate dozens of people, and with a single gesture, he could move hundreds of people.

He knew from the moment he was born that he could do that.

No one knows why he can do that.

He might manipulate brainwaves, as I mentioned earlier. He might use magic to induce hypnosis in people’s minds.

No one knows exactly how he controls it.

It’s a technology that is similar to magic but operates by completely different rules.

That was his special ability.

The second of the Four Heavenly Kings is a puppeteer… I already have a bad feeling about it.

“Why of all things…”

Just like the first of the Four Heavenly Kings, the order of appearance was messed up.

Thankfully, he wasn’t as difficult as the Wrath King.

Similar to the Wrath King, regardless of the order in which he appears, he presented a reasonable level of difficulty.

But there was another issue.

The fact that he appeared as the second meant that the third and fourth ones would also make their appearances.

“Cheolryeong (Iron Ruler) and Yeonggyeop (Eternal Grief)…”

Both of them were bosses with insane difficulty levels that skyrocketed as you progressed to the later stages. To the extent that it was more reasonable to start a new game than to face them.

By the way, if those two ended up in the later stages together, I didn’t hesitate to delete the run.

However, this is how it happened this time.

In a round where I couldn’t even retry.

The bad news wasn’t the only thing.

Naturally, my ‘chungsu’ also got blocked.

He is a monster controller. A person who controls organisms to fight.

Of course, bugs were also one of the organisms, so naturally my power had to decrease.

If I make a mistake, I could be devoured by the bugs I summoned. I can’t use them comfortably.

In short, it’s f*cked.

I don’t know who planned this, but it was laid out so difficultly.

I looked alternately at the sky and the direction of the Demon World with resentful eyes. Specifically, towards the giant beings that might be hiding there.

‘Who should I blame…’

Is this also part of the contract?

Who planned the order of the Four Emperors in the first place?

Did the goddess invest too much in the former great warrior and give the upper hand to the Demon King?

I don’t know at all.

After facing Eren, my mind became too complicated.

I don’t know if I should trust him as he is, but at the same time, her power is too overwhelming to be hostile.

Frankly, if it weren’t for the contract, it seemed like she could take on the Demon King alone. Her power is that strong.

So I can’t be hostile. And whatever happens, she is on the side that favors me.

“Sigh, I don’t know.”

After thinking for a while, I gave up.

Yeah. What’s the point of thinking like this? Anyway, my task is already set.

To become strong and kill the Demon King. While saving all of them.

Even if my body is completely destroyed, I can be reborn with another body.

So all I have to do is kill the Demon King. Just the Demon King.

Despite the difficulty, the goal has become incredibly simple.

“Ugh, how boring. When the hell are we going to arrive?”

While making that determination, I heard Lily’s whining voice from beside me.

We are currently riding a carriage on our way to a remote city in a neighboring country.

I thought a messenger suddenly rushed over because something happened nearby, but that wasn’t the case.

He arrived to me after running for several weeks from a different country.

Depending on the distance, we were only able to ride the carriage for several days.

Although the magically reinforced carriage was much faster than a regular carriage… it was still boring.

I said a word to calm her down.

“Just hold on a bit. We’re almost to Cloud City. We’ll be able to step on land soon. Of course, our destination is a bit further, so we’ll have to ride for a few more hours…”

“Huh?”

As I explained like that, she made a dissatisfied expression.

“Why are you suddenly using honorifics? Just speak casually like you did in the empire.”

“Well, how can I do that?”

It seems like she doesn’t like the formal tone from the empire.

But since I expected this situation, I was able to smoothly pass it off.

“By the way, an attack from the Demon King’s army, huh? They must be quite proactive after losing the Four Heavenly Kings.”

“Yes, that’s right. We should at least warn the Knights Order about this.”

While Lily was complaining or muttering, Adel and Camilla were engaged in a constructive conversation.

Among all the Four Heavenly Kings, it was Gweroisa who attacked the human world the most.

It seems that they have to consistently gather resources because of their abilities.

Perhaps this attack also happened under their command.

We’ll have to find out the details for ourselves.

So we continued riding the carriage.

Eating occasionally and engaging in sporadic conversations.

Even though we had captured one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the atmosphere of the party was much more relaxed compared to when we were in a hurry.

Just a few more hours.

“Sigh~ We’re finally here!”

“Might be because we’ve been sitting for a long time, but it feels sluggish, doesn’t it Adel?”

“Well… Waiting this long is kind of routine for me, so it’s not that boring.”

“…That’s why elves…”

Finally, we were able to arrive.

To Cloud City.