After a full minute, Shang finally made his choice.
It wasn't an easy one, but Shang believed that it was correct.
"I choose…"
"19."
The jester's smile widened as he looked at Shang.
"Now, that is interesting," he said as he appeared directly in front of Shang, looking him deeply in the eyes.
For just a moment, Shang felt fear arise in his heart.
"Even though I blocked your thoughts from my perception, I was still very certain in being able to foresee your choice since I know everything about you."
"Yet, who would have guessed that I would be wrong?" the jester mused as he looked into Shang's eyes with a mad grin.
"I was sure you would choose 22."
"Tell me, why did you choose 19?" the jester asked without moving away.
Shang felt very uncomfortable with the jester so close to his face.
Shang took a deep breath to organize his thoughts.
"There are several reasons for my decision."
"Originally, I wanted to choose 22. After all, it is an increase in power for a sacrifice. This is exactly what I have been telling myself. I told myself that this is how I want to live my life."
The jester waited for the reasons.
"But, for now," Shang slowly said. "I don't want to commit to a path."
"Commit?" the jester asked with interest.
"Yes," Shang said. "You told me that I have already asked the question I want to ask before and that I should wait for the Commander Stage. This means that I will get the answer to my question."
"The answer to the question: What kind of attitude would be most effective on my journey?"
"Well," the jester said, "you phrased the question a bit differently, but it's essentially the same."
Shang nodded. "I have been stuck between two paths for the last two years. Do I help others, or do I hurt others?"
"However, it isn't that easy. If I help others, I will also receive their help, but at some point, the help others can provide me is worth less than what I give them, which will hamper my growth."
"This means that I can't fully commit to this path."
"If I hurt others, I gain many resources that increase my power, but on the other hand, I will also be under constant danger, and that danger might cost me my life. Danger is good for growth, but too much danger will kill me."
"This means that I also can't fully commit to that path."
"As the God of this world, you should know best what kind of attitude would work best for me, and until I have that answer, I won't commit to anything."
"Now, if I chose 22, I might have done something that could force me down one of the two paths."
At that moment, Shang looked at the jester.
"And wouldn't it be very entertaining to watch me hear about the correct path without being able to walk it?"
"Just like teacher heard about the free deaths in the trial after having already become too old to take advantage of it."
The jester only smiled.
"But that isn't my entire reason."
"Another reason is that I feel a bit bad for circumventing the rules of my Affinity. Of course, feeling a bit bad won't stop me from doing what I have to do to become powerful."
"I achieved these three points not with my power but by cheating. I don't want to get something handed to me if I don't deserve it."
"Of course, as I've said, I'm still willing to do it, but this reason also played a small role in my decision."
"And then there are two more reasons."
"Two more?" the jester asked with a smile. "You really thought a lot about this choice."
"These two reasons have to do with my impression of you," Shang said.
"What is your impression of me?" the jester asked.
Shang took a deep breath.
"Unstable, often illogical, mad, chaotic, playful," Shang said.
There was no reason to keep Shang's thoughts a secret. The God already knew what Shang thought of him.
Sure enough, the God didn't react.
"However, all of that doesn't matter. What you want is entertainment," Shang said. "For someone of your power, this is probably the only thing that interests you. There might not be a path forward anymore, which forces you to look down."
At that moment, the jester's smile vanished.
The entire atmosphere changed.
Earlier, Shang had felt like he was a plaything, but now, he felt like he had hurt the player.
Shang guessed that he had hit the nail on the head.
This was probably a sore spot for the God.
"You're lucky you're entertaining," the jester spoke with a deadpan tone.
This was the first time that Shang heard the God speak in such a tone, and it sent chills down his spine.
"And that's the thing," Shang said. "You want entertainment."
"I was certain that I would choose 22 at the beginning, and I thought that you also predicted I would choose 22."
"So, why not make this entertaining and circumvent your expectations?" Shang asked.
"Hahahaha!"
The jester laughed loudly.
Surprisingly, the jester laughed for quite a while.
"You have no idea how long it has been that I have been surprised like this!"
"I expected you to think of yourself while making this choice, but you were actually thinking of me, which completely changed your choice!"
"And in the end," the jester said with a mad grin. "By thinking of me, you suspect that you are automatically thinking of yourself by proxy, right?"
"Yes," Shang said with a nod. "I don't want to serve. I don't want to be your entertainment."
The jester didn't react.
"However, what I want isn't important. In front of you, it isn't important what I want. I don't have the power to defy you yet."
The God took note of the word "yet", but he didn't comment.
Seeing a toy begrudgingly comply while feeling resentment was fun.
"I don't like to bow to your whims, but if I want to achieve my goal, for the time being, I have to. Defying you will only send me to an early grave or worse."
"But there is one more reason."
The jester leaned on his hammer as he looked at Shang with a grin. "Tell me."
Shang furrowed his brows.
"This was the most important reason."
"You told me that I have the choice, and my future depends on which choice I make."
"However, what if it doesn't?"
The jester didn't react.
"What if my choice is actually meaningless?"
"You can change the rules whenever you want. Believing that these two choices are the only choices I have might be incorrect."
"It might be possible that it doesn't matter what I choose."
"But it might matter how I choose."
"The answer might not interest you. Maybe, you are only interested in the reasons for why I have chosen whatever I chose."
"And because of that, I chose 19."
"Because it is not something you expected."
Silence.
For around five seconds, no one said anything.
"How very interesting," the jester said.
"You know, I felt quite annoyed when you circumvented the drawback of using Entropy by abusing my power."
"But now, I feel even better than if you had gotten 22 points without relying on my power."
At that moment, the jester vanished into nothingness.
Something dark materialized about fifty meters away from Shang.
Shang immediately recognized the object.
It was the God's gigantic throne.
And on the throne sat the actual body of the God.
He was smirking as he leaned his head on one of his fists.
"You get your 22-point-reward without having to do anything you don't want."
"Well played."
