When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 377: Chapter 285 Jacob’s Research Chapter 377: Chapter 285 Jacob’s Research “…Resurrected Undead?”

Aiwass was somewhat startled.

For he was a bona fide Priest—a third Energy Level Priest, a rank slightly weaker than that of a bishop.

He couldn’t possibly fail to distinguish between the Undead and the living.

In Aiwass’s field of vision, whether it was the Dwarf Magnet Hammer or Old William, they were all bona fide living people.

And according to their accounts, they all entered Eagle Cape Village from the swampland, all of them the “resurrectees” referred to by the elders.

“It is indeed so.”

The elderly man nodded slowly, his one eye fixed on Aiwass.

“I am telling you this secret because…

you are the heir chosen by Jacob.

And Jacob has bestowed upon us a debt of gratitude that we can never repay.”

“I have come here to seek the inheritance of my grandfather.”

Aiwass stated bluntly, “Therefore, I need more knowledge, more truth—so please tell me more about what’s real.”

“It should be so…”

The elderly man said softly.

Using his cane to support himself, he slowly rose to his feet.

With each shaky step, he moved toward the windowsill with the help of Aiwass, gazing toward The Sun that had somehow risen high in the sky without their notice.

“I have a question for you, Aiwass…

you are a city dweller and a university student.

Certainly, your mind is more agile than us old folks.”

“Please ask,” Aiwass replied politely.

“Imagine there’s a person…

After their death, no one saw their corpse, no one knew of their demise, and their body was consumed by a swampland somewhere.

“And then, connected to this swampland, another swampland spewed out an identical person.

This person’s knowledge, memory, personality, abilities were all exactly like the deceased’s, the body was also human’s—injuries and birthmarks included.

The only thing missing was the memory of death.

Upon waking…

they would simply think they had fainted and were then picked up by someone.

“In that case, do you think such a person counts as an Undead summoned with the remains of the former?”

The country gentleman said slowly.

Aiwass had understood everything by halfway through.

—This was a classic thought experiment.

It’s called the “Swampman Paradox.”

Suppose at someone’s death, due to an extremely coincidental reaction, a replica is born that is atomically identical to the former, possessing almost all of the former’s memories and knowledge, save for the memory of the moment of death…

And this person, upon waking up, immediately resumes the dead person’s life, continues reading the book they hadn’t finished, goes to work the next day just as usual.

Is this person the same as the one who died?

This reminded Aiwass of the “Egg People” in the game EVE—when a pilot is about to die, the capsule system will instantly kill them and use a strong scan powerful enough to destroy brain tissue to save all memories and knowledge, then transmit the information to another location at faster-than-light speeds, to “resurrect” them using a clone.

So, is a person resurrected in this way still themselves?

Or are they a new version of themselves?

Aiwass felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

—Because he then immediately thought of himself.

If the “Egg People” or “Swampman” aren’t truly themselves, then…

what about him?

He was partly Aiwass Moriarty, yet partly not.

He had awoken to past life memories for some unknown reason, but was that “past life” really him?

If only the memories transferred over, was he still the same person from the past?

And if it was the soul that came over, was he still Aiwass?

The past Aiwass had always avoided this question.

But now, the question had come looking for him.

“…I cannot answer this question.”

After a long silence, Aiwass could only shake his head honestly.

He truly couldn’t provide a definite answer—because this question had touched upon himself.

Even if Aiwass gave an answer, it would surely be one that hadn’t been thought out carefully, tending toward a dismissive one.

Even so, Aiwass didn’t want to give such a deceitful answer.@@novelbin@@

Because he didn’t want to treat himself so arbitrarily.

“You don’t know, neither do we.”

The country gentleman sighed, “But that is how they came here.

“The first outsider to enter Eagle Cape Village through this path was William Inspection.

And the person who created this special resurrection ritual and threw him in through it…

“Was your grandfather, Jacob.”

—In that moment, Aiwass suddenly recalled the promotion ceremony that had not long ended.

In that inn, a younger Jacob had come into contact with William Inspection.

And now it seemed, there was little change in the appearance of William Inspection from back then…

If this was indeed a reality that had really occurred, with only the dream part altered by the Great Sage…

It meant that the real William was probably already dead.

Without Aiwass’s Shepherd’s Nurturing Skill, an Incubus about to hatch couldn’t be eliminated.

Not to mention there was an Earthbound Spirit guarding there…

It was already surprising for Aiwass that Jacob could escape and live long enough to have children.

The William Inspection didn’t seem very strong.

He most likely died there.

Perhaps because they had fought side by side…

or because he had obtained permission, Jacob decided to experiment with his body to see if he could be resurrected.

But the resurrected William had lost the memories of his acquaintance with Jacob.

So in his own words, his first meeting with Jacob was after he entered Eagle Cape Village.

“After the first time I entered the village, Jacob brought us new residents.

Those outsiders who entered the village through his resurrection ritual brought some vitality to our village.

It never truly froze in the chilling wind.”

The old man recalled the past, speaking slowly, “And after he returned to the village for the second time…

he seemed to be busy with something.”

“I don’t know what ritual he was preparing, nor do I know what he did.

But it was since that time—children began to be born in the village.

That was probably over twenty years ago.”

In this village, isolated and frozen in time, the first pregnant native appeared.

As if the completely frozen time had started to move again…

Although still sluggish, the ice-bound water wheel had finally begun to turn slowly.

“…So that’s why there are no young people over thirty in the village?”

Aiwass suddenly realized.

It was not because all the young people of that age had died or left the village.

But rather, before that, no one had become pregnant.

Following that, Aiwass also realized something else, “Doesn’t that also mean that not many people have died?”

Without newcomers or newborns, the population could only decline, quickly turning into a complete ghost village.

Yet the village had clearly existed for a long time.

And there were still quite a few middle-aged people on the streets…

“…Or is it that the villagers have only been infertile for a short time?”

Aiwass asked tentatively.

If the village had been sealed off forty years ago, that would make sense.

Time had stood still for forty years, and then it began to flow again…

People under twenty would now be in their forties, which would match up.

Yet the old man simply shook his head and did not say much, “It hasn’t been that short.

“We are the Amber People who have sold our souls for protection; we are the remnants already forgotten by the hourglass.

To continue living is already the limit…

how could we participate in the ritual of ‘rebirth’.

“Childbearing is an extremely sacred grand ritual.

It signifies the birth of new souls and is the result of the collective action of the nine Paths.

That is not something those of us who have already lost even our names are worthy of.”

Aiwass frowned deeply.

Outsiders.

Newborns.

What exactly do they have in common…

Grandfather’s experiments here, what is it all for…

He pondered for a long time, but in the end, it was Lily who slightly widened her eyes, realizing something.

She gently tugged at Aiwass, whispering something into his ear.

Aiwass’s expression froze, and he drew in a breath of cold air.

He realized the most outrageous possibility—but even more outrageous was that it was the most likely possibility.

“Old sir,” Aiwass suddenly asked, “those outsiders ‘resurrected’ from the swamp…

do they have souls?”

——The paradox of the Swampfolk, it turns out, has a solution.

Because on Earth, there are no ‘souls.’ Precisely because there are no souls, matter or thought can become the solution to the philosophical question of ‘what am I.’

But it is different in this world.

This world does indeed have souls—not only do they exist, but in some sense, there is even ‘reincarnation’ and an afterlife.

Though it is not a direct one-to-one transformation of a person after death into another person.

Instead, it’s more like a recycling machine, returning to the world and then new infants being born from the world…

But a unique ‘soul’ does exist indeed.

It’s so unique that it can even create undead to prevent the other party from reincarnating or reaching the afterlife.

Conversely, if that person becomes an Angel Envoy after death, you also can’t turn that person into undead.

Because that one unique soul has already been taken away.

Unless…

Aiwass suddenly linked it to why he, as a Priest, could not recognize whether the other party was undead.

——What exactly is the Priest’s standard for judging someone as undead?

He had never pondered this question.

But now, the answer that came almost involuntarily sent shivers down his spine.

If time here stands still, with no exits or entries.

——Then where do the ‘extra’ souls of outsiders and newborns come from?

The local gentry fell silent.

He slowly turned his head back, his dimly lit one eye focusing on Aiwass.

“They have them.”

The old man answered, “They all have complete souls, identical to the souls they had in life.

“But in the abyss of the swamp, another soul is stored.

That is their soul from their lifetime.”

Aiwass finally confirmed what Grandfather Jacob had been secretly researching in Eagle Cape Village, and why the Noble Red desired his research manuscripts so fervently…

——He was attempting to duplicate the human soul.