The Nebula’s Civilization

Aldin thought, 'But as long as the game has an element of luck to it, there's a chance Nebula could lose. There's no guarantee that I will definitely lose.'

With this thought, Aldin felt somewhat relieved. Aldin knew Sung-Woon. Sung-Woon would never resort to cowardly tactics.

In a self-constructed imagery world, one would typically create favorable conditions for oneself. However, since her opponent was Sung-Woon and this was a game, Aldin was confident that Sung-Woon wouldn't do so.

'Even if I'm told all the hacks, bugs, and cheats, Nebula would still prefer to win through fair play.'

Aldin realized this might be Sung-Woon’s weakness.

"Alright… Playing poker? What are the rules?"

Sung-Woon proposed a set of universally known rules and divided the chips for the game.

In the early stages of the game, Aldin realized her hands were surprisingly good. Sung-Woon didn't get easily flustered, but when Aldin won the high card battle in the fourth round, she struggled to hide her excitement.

'I can win this.'

After establishing a certain lead in chips, Aldin aimed to secure her victory with conservative tactics. But then the game changed.

Following the same routine, Sung-Woon calmly checked his hand and then pushed all his chips forward. "All in."

Aldin checked her hand. It definitely wasn’t bad and promised a reasonable chance of winning.

'Besides, even if I accept the all-in and lose, the loss won't be that significant.'

Yet due to the uncertainty of the upcoming cards, Aldin couldn't easily accept the all-in.

"...Fold."

Sung-Woon retrieved the chips he had pushed forward.

Aldin lost only about the amount of the initial blind bet at the start of the game.

'Was it really a good hand? Good enough for me to fold? Probably not. It's likely a strategy to break the flow. I didn't expect to win easily anyway.'

While Aldin was gathering her thoughts, the next game started.

When Aldin bet the minimum chips, Sung-Woon, on his turn, checked his hand and reached for the chips. "All in."

Aldin remembered she had a habit of clenching her fist in uncomfortable situations and struggled not to make that gesture. Seeing her hand wasn't good, Aldin quickly folded.

And as expected, in the next game, Sung-Woon said, "All in."

Aldin knew this was one of the strategies in poker, but the chips at stake here were not just of simple value. In this imagery world, where causality ensured a fair game, the bet of granting one wish to each other would undoubtedly be fulfilled.

Aldin naturally planned to take Sung-Woon's life, and she thought Sung-Woon would aim for hers as well.

Sung-Woon had already risked his life three times on hands that didn't guarantee a perfect victory. No, Sung-Woon's defeat would also mean the defeat of the Pantheon. The fate of the Pantheon, and hence the fate of countless beings living in Avartin, hung on those two cards in Sung-Woon's hand.

'Crazy bastard.'

Aldin folded. She checked her chips and was relieved to see she still had more.

Repeatedly going all-in could psychologically pressure the opponent, but it became meaningless when the opponent really got a good hand. With more chips, Aldin could be confident of victory as long as she won just once with a strong hand, even if Sung-Woon continued to go all-in.

As expected, Sung-Woon kept going all-in. Aldin slowly lost chips, and eventually, Sung-Woon's chips surpassed Aldin's.

Aldin struggled to contain her anger.

'Why aren't I getting good hands?'

Aldin knew that this could happen in a game entirely by chance. Sometimes, it was just bad luck. Specifically, someone could be lucky at the beginning of a game, but as the game progressed, the variance in luck decreased. Luckily, after losing more chips, Aldin finally got the hand she wanted.

'This is it. With this hand...'

Aldin, showing no sign of her good hand, bet chips the same way as before, anticipating Sung-Woon's all-in.

Then Sung-Woon said, "Fold."

Aldin barely restrained herself from slamming the table with her fist. She believed she had controlled her actions well. There was no way Sung-Woon could know, especially since she was wearing a mask.

Despite knowing Sung-Woon so well, Aldin even wondered if Sung-Woon was using some trickery for the first time to win.

'I don't know at all.'

With this realization, Aldin could no longer focus on the game. If Sung-Woon was using trickery unknown to Aldin and even deceiving causality, then Aldin had only one option left.

'I'll have to use the gun.'

There was no significant issue for Aldin in using such a weapon. Rather, given its essence as the Returner’s staff, Aldin herself would be surprised at how adeptly she could operate it.

Causality also tended to favor the intruder more than the creator of the imagery world because the creator could always create conditions favorable to themselves.

'Alright, then...'

The moment Aldin made up her mind, she was dealt a hand with the highest winning probability. It was a hand good enough to go all-in with even in a typical game.

Aldin said first on her turn, "All in."

Aldin thought it wouldn't matter if Sung-Woon folded, but surprisingly, Sung-Woon matched Aldin's bet. Aldin felt strange. Statistically, she had a very high chance of winning, yet she felt completely uncertain.

Aldin's devastating prediction came true. As the community cards were revealed one by one, Aldin's hand became disjointed. No strong hand was formed.

Finally, Aldin's hand, independent of the community cards, became the best possible hand. Meanwhile, Sung-Woon also revealed his hand. It was beautifully completed, combining his hand and the community cards.

Sung-Woon took all of Aldin's chips, saying, "I've won."

Before Sung-Woon could sweep all the chips, Aldin reached under the table.

Aldin, to distract, asked, "What do you want?"

Aldin's hand moved to lift the hem on the left side.

Sung-Woon resplied, "Take off your mask."

Aldin brought her hand back to the table and said, "You're joking, right?"

Sung-Woon didn’t repeat himself. He didn't need to. Once Sung-Woon had all the chips, causality took effect. Sung-Woon had won.

Aldin felt an urge to resist causality but also wanted to know why Sung-Woon made such a choice, so she complied and removed her mask.

"When I saw your face after I defeated the evil gods, I thought it was strange," Sung-Woon said, looking into Aldin's eyes. "Why do you have the same face as my sister?"

Aldin remained silent, not responding.

A white crow appeared from somewhere, flying into the gaming hall and landing on the green table.

-Returner, it's because they share the same soul.

Mazdari said,

-The external space has its limits, but the inner space is infinite. Death is just a facet of external space. We are beings with infinite souls, as many as the number of infinite worlds. Reconstructing the severed facets makes our souls immortal.

Sung-Woon asked, "Aldin, is that really true?"

"...."

"You have my sister’s soul, and I..."

Sung-Woon also took off his mask. It was a face Aldin knew well. It wasn't just the face. The voice, physique, even the minute details, Aldin knew Sung-Woon and the Returner shared similarities. Just as much as she resembled Sung-Woon's sister, who was known as Choi Ji-Woo.

"Do I have the soul of the Returner? Does that mean I am the Returner?"

And the external appearance was only a part of the internal aspects. Sung-Woon possessed the Returner's talents, shared the Returner's habits, and thought in the same way as the Returner. It was just that because of different lived experiences, Sung-Woon didn’t become the same entity as the Returner.

Mazdari agreed,

-Yes, you are indeed the Returner.

Aldin, looking down at the table, said, "No. You are not the Returner. Just as I am not your sister."

A black lizard crawled up from behind Sung-Woon's neck.

-O Night Sky, that is true. You are not the Returner.

Mazdari glared at Kyle Lak Orazen. Kyle paid no attention to Mazdari's gaze.

-Scientifically, the soul does not exist. What Mazdari refers to as the soul is simply a continuous personality. If souls truly existed, they would be observed even in places without the system, when people die. But that does not happen. It's a proven fact.

-Kyle! You do not understand the secrets!

-Mazdari, I understand the secrets. The true secret is not that souls exist, but that souls do not exist.

Kyle continued,

-With as many infinite possible worlds as there are, the number of continuous personalities is also infinite. Therefore, the number of identical continuous personalities is also infinite. Countless worlds exist, and somewhere there are beings like you, me, and Mazdari living in different or almost identical worlds.

-That is the immortality of the soul.

-You can think that way. But Mazdari, you know as well that to maintain continuity, two conditions are necessary. The first is memory.

Mazdari, seemingly angry, lightly grabbed and then pushed over a pile of chips. The chips clunked and rattled against each other.

-Memory! I have found much of the Returner's memory in the depths of the Demon World. I can even restore the Returner's memory right now… If the Returner so wishes.

-The second is more important.

Kyle looked up at Sung-Woon and said,

-Belief in the existence of the soul. Night Sky, you come from a land where magic does not exist and have lived a life never deceived by Wizards who claim to prove the existence of souls through mystical means. Night Sky, since you do not believe in souls, no.

Kyle concluded,

-You cannot be the Returner.

Sung-Woon neither denied nor accepted this. It wasn’t that he was thinking about Kyle's words, but rather because they were just a superficial listing of facts.

Falsehoods needed to be denied, but there was no need to affirm the obvious truth.

"So, Aldin, we are not bound by any fate to each other, is that right?"

Aldin replied, “That’s right."

"You chose me intentionally."

"Yes. I created this fate myself."

"Do you believe in the existence of souls?"

"No." Tears formed in Aldin's eyes. She struggled to hold them back and therefore closed her eyes tightly, but the tears, already formed, trickled down her cheeks. "I tried to believe."