No one in the universe could save Cheng Shi now. The only one who could was himself.
Co to think of it, this wasn't his first ti facing a choice. Back on the day the gods descended and bestowed the Faith Ga upon the world — in that pristine white Path Starting Point — he had faced a dilemma as well.
But back then, at least Brother Mouth had been there to "guide" him, telling him to choose the Dice of Fate.
And now?
Who would remind Cheng Shi now?
No one. Not a single soul!
But Cheng Shi would remind himself. He told himself that the greedy always win in the end. From the mont he grabbed both the Mask and the Dice at the Path Starting Point, the Greed Lord had proven his na!
The Clown never chooses. The Clown wants it all!
That's right — Cheng Shi had made his decision long ago.
He didn't want to bow to the Origin's oppression. He didn't want to let Deceit and the Fear Faction's lifework be in vain. And he didn't want to lose his friends, drifting off alone with the world. So he chose to launch the cycle experint AND grant the universe that god-free future — simultaneously!
He wanted two futures to arrive at the sa ti!
Was that possible?
It wasn't impossible. If the universe had two "Origins," each could handle one side. But where would a second "Origin" co from?
He actually had one!
Perhaps even Cheng Shi himself hadn't anticipated it — when Shadow Chengshi separated from him and beca an independent being, a new choice appeared in the despair before the era's curtain fell.
Whether this was a contingency Deceit had planted or a foreshadowing Fate had laid — who could say? But when Deceit and Fate split apart, both worlds gained their own "hope."
Watching Shadow Chengshi slowly peel away from his body and stand before him, Cheng Shi looked at that pitch-black version of himself, his smile laced with bitterness.
"This is the 'best' ending I can think of. I'll give everyone an answer — except you. I'm sorry."
Shadow Chengshi smiled, lips curving faintly. "I am you. Turned around, what you're saying is: I can't give YOU an answer."
"I don't need an answer."
"I only need a 'future.'"
"Then — here's the question."
"A lonely future, or a despairing reunion — which do you choose?"
"I'd guess..."
"Deceit would choose the reunion."
"Then Fate chooses the 'future.'"
"Will we be reunited?"
"Yes. Because that IS our future."
The mont the words fell, both "Origins" moved at once. Infinite iridescent divine power erupted from the Container, sweeping across the universe, tearing Void from Reality. From this mont forward, the Void was permanently severed from the real.
The Deceit "Origin" gathered the Void and returned to Dolgod, producing the raw materials he had prepared, and began planning the next experint.
The Fate "Origin" organized Reality, observing the drip-timing of "Origin" Divinity within the "Origin" Container. He needed to find the right mont to notify Ti — who existed beyond the world — through the Pointer, so that the imminent upheaval in the Real Universe could create the perfect window for the world's separation.
Both sides were preparing. But the difficulty couldn't have been more different.
At the experint's outset, the Deceit "Origin" faced a tangle of a thousand threads.
He revisited the Origin's true intent. After all, Ti hadn't only hinted at the existence of the "mont of negligence" before departing — He had also conveyed a deeper aning through His eyes to the Doctor: "The folding and accumulation of ti will always collapse."
The Doctor had interpreted this as "the graveyard of ti must eventually overflow." And it was precisely this insight that had sparked Cheng Shi's wild idea of launching a new experint.
If the Origin's experint simply continued as a futile progression, then aside from reuniting with friends in each cycle only to share in the despair anew, there would be no aning at all.
Reunion was bliss, certainly. But going through the despair again might not be what anyone wanted.
So Cheng Shi kept thinking: if the Origin was simply another version of himself existing outside the Creator's experint, then the fact that It willingly entered this cycle of despair — did that an It, too, believed that within this ever-knotting ti, so endpoint could eventually be reached?
Was It accumulating Its own despair in order to touch that impossible possibility?
The bewildered Cheng Shi looked up into the infinite Void. He dearly wanted to pierce through that impenetrable world barrier and ask the Origin — ask "himself" — that sa question:
"Can I trust you, Origin?"
Cheng Shi's turmoil didn't last long. He knew the universe's ti was running out too. Without them by his side, pointless ti shouldn't be prolonged. So he quickly steeled his resolve.
"I have no road left. I can only carve one myself!
If this experint truly has no end, then let despair consu us both, and let us fall into eternal Void.
At least within that vortex of despair, I can still find you.
I'm sorry...
I shouldn't be making you endure despair and fear again. But I am a selfish, greedy Clown. Even for the sake of that epheral hope — for the sake of the self that can't let go — this ti, I want to be just a little greedier.
At least the future you hoped for has truly arrived. If I can still rember, I'll tell you — Fixed Destiny did not betray the fear. He gave the universe a future."
After delivering his answer to his friends, Cheng Shi lowered his eyes to the experint gradually taking shape in his hands.
In that mont, every Truth experint he had ever known flashed through his mind, each becoming theoretical bedrock for this experint.
Slices, faith, puppets, gods... The experint seed simple on the surface — as if transplanting everything he'd experienced would suffice. But the mont he actually began designing it, he discovered that the Creator's experint was far from a simple copy of mories.
Cheng Shi had to acknowledge the Changes within the experint. He couldn't rely solely on the nebulous belief of "trust yourself, trust the Origin."
He had to consider the possibility that everything happening now was rely a "script" the Creator had crafted for him — the "purpose" of his existence as a Variable. What if Its goal was to trick him into believing "the Origin is Fixed Destiny"? Then what?!
So he had to pay attention to the experint's details. This was, after all, his original intent — and it could very well beco his source of inspiration for resisting the Origin.
He needed the Cheng Shi within the experint to resemble himself — yet he also needed the experint to contain enough Change.
Pure mory replication wouldn't work. mories stained with subjectivity would make the experint's "Cheng Shi" inherently himself...
He realized he had to be neutral. In other words, he had to be as much like the Origin within the Creator's experint as possible!
He had to recognize his own role within the experint. He must not use personal will to control the experint's "Cheng Shi." He had to put away his goodness, discard his malice, suppress his desires, rein in his emotions, and never develop any feelings toward "Cheng Shi" and his friends that he shouldn't have...
He had to be an outsider. He was rely an Observer.
Wait!
Why did all of this feel so familiar?
When Cheng Shi reached this thought, he froze. Then his consciousness began to roar, and countless mories flooded his mind.
He rembered once more — in that false curtain call, Deceit, playing the role of the Outer God, had also given him two choices.
...
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