323 The Reason
“Hey, do you know anything about reincarnating?”
Kairen looked at the man with a stupid found face.
“Reincarnating?”
What does that have to do with the issue here...
Still, he gave the man an answer.
“A little bit.”
Of course, as a veteran web novel and webtoon reader, he had a considerable amount of knowledge about reincarnation. Reincarnating in another world or going back in time or somehow ending up as different creatures... and sometimes as some other strange things... and a lot of other kinds of reincarnating.
Yet, he knew that he couldn’t mix those things with reality. He was in a serious talk after all. He couldn’t rely on fantasy in a situation like this.
“Reincarnation is a natural cycle of each soul. It’s one of the fundamental rules of the universe, an essential process for the world to keep itself ongoing, and a reason for life to keep going on.”
.....
The man started his explanations as soon as he heard Kairen’s words. Kairen nodded his head after hearing those explanations. So there really is a reincarnation!
“A reason...”
The man muttered.
“I really shouldn’t be doing this.”
And shook his head before closing his mouth shut. Kairen waited for him to keep talking, but he said nothing afterward.
“Um... What about your answer?”
Kairen had no choice but to ask the man to make him start talking again.
“I believe I gave you your answer.”
“Huh? When?”
Kairen thought about all the things that the man had said.
“You just said some stuff about you being lonely-”
“When did I ever say that?”
The man almost yelled.
“You not having friends whom you were comfortable around and all of the other things means you are lonely!”
Kairen yelled back, though in a lower voice.
“They are not the same!”
“They are!”
The man closed his mouth and another one of his usual nostalgic smiles formed on his lips.
‘What’s wrong with this dude!?’
Kairen couldn’t help but feel iffy every time the man looked at him with that kind of smile. He ignored the man’s expression, folded his arms, and continued to talk.
“And then you suddenly said some stuff about reincarnation...”
Kairen’s voice trailed off.
Reincarnation... and then he said he had given Kairen’s answer...
And he was giving him those... smiles and looks as if he had seen him before... and he talked as if he knows Kairen too well...
“No way!”
Kairen almost screamed.
“That’s not an answer!”
That feels so... fantasy-like and imaginary! What the hell! He is talking about reincarnation, does that mean Kairen was someone who had reincarnated? That was the only answer Kairen could think of, and that wasn’t a good answer! He expected anything but this! He even expected the man to say ‘Your grand grand grand father was someone I knew and he was so much like you!’, but not this!
“But that is the truth!”
The man shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t want such an answer! Reincarnation! Yeah, alright, next? Who had reincarnated, why, where, how did you know that person, what does it have to do with my current life, and why did you say I’ve gotten my power from you!”
Kairen listed all of his questions, as well as some additional ones, in his words.
“You got it from me in your previous life. I knew you somehow, and it affects your life for some reason...”
“What kind of answer is that?”
Can’t he really punch this man in the face? Just continue your damn flashbacks and give a proper answer! What happened to this man all of a sudden?
“You’ve saved me.”
Kairen calmed himself down.
“Something I never asked you to do.”
He pointed at the man with a finger.
“So you have to take responsibility for what you’ve done and answer everything properly.”
“....”
The man stared at him, heaved a sigh, and lowered his head.
“It’ll be dangerous.”
“What would be dangerous?”
“...You knowing about those secrets... And there is honestly no need for you to know. You can achieve your goals without knowing anything and live the rest of your life however you want. Knowing more will only bring more dangers.”
“That’s none of your business!”
Kairen didn’t really like the fact that he was quarreling with this dude... Who could like... Turn him into a crisp in a second... But he couldn’t sit there and watch a creepy man do creepy stuff while hiding almost everything that was related to Kairen from Kairen.
“You just have to give me my answers.”
Kairen leaned back a little bit.
“And I know you also want to talk about them.”
The man raised his head in a hasty movement.
“Yes?”
“You want to talk about them!”
Kairen shrugged his shoulders.
“You just said that you are a pathetic and lonely old man who has no one he can talk comfortably to.”
“WHAT?”
“But the way you are talking to me now doesn’t look like how someone would talk to a stranger or how you will talk when you are uncomfortable!”
“....”
The man slowly closed his dropped jaw.
“You were also about the say more when you suddenly stopped.”
Kairen hated when people talked halfway and didn’t end what they were about to say.
“So? I’m listening!”
He picked up the plate of food, placed it on his lap, leaned back, and stared at the man’s face, demanding an answer from him.
“Hah!”
The redhead chuckled.
“It might bring you danger... Knowing about you... I doubt you can live without getting into some accidents after knowing the truth.”
“I don’t live without getting into accidents even when I don’t know the truth.”
The man paused for a second.
“Right...”
And nodded his head. Closing his mouth once again, he stared at his fingers for a few minutes, as if contemplating something. Kairen waited for him to finish thinking while eating the food that was given to him, which was actually delicious. After a little while of silence, the man finally started to talk.
“Do you know about The Reason?”
Kairen shook his head almost immediately.
.....
“No.”
The redhead took a deep breath.
“Everything in this world, in every world, in this universe, and in all of the other universes that there are... They all have a reason. They all have a reason for their existence, and they are all a reason for another’s existence while being the result of another reason. A reason is a result, and a result is a reason, both having these connections to multiple results and reasons at the same time, creating huge and massive, worldwide connections of cause, the chair of reason and result which keeps the universe ongoing.”
Kairen stopped eating and only listened to the man, focusing on every single word he said.
“In simple words, everything that exists has a rule in the universe. It is linked to some things as their creator, and to some as their creation. This isn’t only about the living beings or the stuff, everything is included in this endless chain. Rules, shapes, lives, objects, words, worlds, a tiny spark of dust, a huge star... Everything is included.”
Kairen nodded his head. He felt like he was understanding what the man was saying. It was not too different from the lessons he had studied on earth, yet it was different.
He had also read something similar to these words before. It was when he was researching the suspicious religion. So he had some ideas about what the man was talking about.
“But where does this chain start from?”
The man asked, but continued to talk without waiting for an answer.
“We call it a circle, a cycle, an endless chain. But an endless chain can’t be created without a starting point. What was the first reason that created the very first result? The very first spark of creation, what was it?”
He raised his head to look at Kairen.
“Some say that the endless chain doesn’t need a start. Some say that there are no beginnings in a circle. And some say that we can never know about the very first reason.”
He shook his head.
“But that’s not impossible.”
Tap Tap Tap
He tapped on the ground with his finger before drawing a circle on it.
“The very first reason indeed exists. The reason that caused the very first result. In this circle...”
He finished drawing the circle.
“The very first reason is the very last result.”
He raised his head once again to look at Kairen.
“They call it a point. A beginning and an ending point. A reason of all, and a result of all. The supporter of the world and the sacrifice of the world. The creator of the whole. You guys tend to call it the God.”
He removed his hand from the imaginary circle on the ground.
“But we used to call it with another name. We called it The Reason. The Reason, as it was the reason of all.”
The man smiled at Kairen.
“That’s where everything begins, and where everything ends.”