feotakahari

The entire novel in one scene:

Villain: “Does‌ ‌it‌ ‌hurt‌ ‌when‌ ‌your‌ ‌head‌ ‌is‌ ‌smashed‌ ‌against‌ ‌the‌ ‌wall? [slam] Does it hurt? [slam] Does it hurt?”

Hero: “It hurts.”

Villain: “You‌ ‌foolish‌ ‌child,‌ ‌if‌ ‌it‌ ‌hurts‌, ‌why‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌you‌ ‌turn‌ ‌back?‌ ‌Did‌ ‌you‌ ‌think‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌keep‌ ‌slamming,‌ ‌keep‌ ‌smashing,‌ ‌the‌ ‌wall‌ ‌will‌ ‌fall‌ ‌down‌ ‌on‌ ‌its‌ ‌own?‌ ‌Why‌ ‌don’t‌ ‌you‌ ‌change‌ ‌your‌ ‌own‌ ‌course‌ ‌of‌ ‌direction?”‌

Hero: “I won’t turn back.”

When I first read this story, the hero’s mannerisms and overall behavior reminded me a lot of the main character from Kamen Rider OOO. But OOO’s main character is void-themed, because he’s essentially a happiness pump--he no longer has any desires beyond helping other people achieve what they desire. I’m not sure how to explain what this book’s hero is, but he’s definitely not a void.

I'm reading Heaven Official's Blessing. Some stories are against Utilitarianism on a moral level. This one, at least at the point I've reached, is against it on a metaphysical level.

One of the characters phrases the question this way: if you have two men who're dying of thirst, and one cup of water, who do you give it to? The main character's answer is "get another cup." The point that keeps getting hammered home is that just because he wants another cup doesn't mean the universe is obligated to give him one. He keeps getting into situations that could have been resolved cleanly with another cup, except there was no other cup, and his attempt to find or make one achieved nothing. One character straight-up tells him that there is never such a thing as making more happiness in the world, only moving happiness around, and one person's Omelas-like suffering cannot be fixed without inflicting it on another.

But the point is ALSO made that the people who keep saying there is no other cup are the people who have enough cups for themselves. And at least one of them was clearly in the wrong when he avoided suffering by inflicting it on those around him. So I'm really curious how this is going to play out.