Before this, Shiroyasha had always considered herself quite clever.
Among the Three Great Problem Children, she wasn't unhinged like Algol, nor was she foul-tempered like the Halloween Queen. She might have been a bit of a pervert, but since she herself was a beautiful girl, it was fine.
In short, she had always prided herself on being a combination of both wisdom and beauty.
It was only after being repeatedly questioned by Su Mo with the simplest of inquiries that she finally shattered the filter of her own self-perception and realized a very serious problem.
Could it be... that I'm actually an idiot?
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" the white-haired loli shook her head.
It was true that she couldn't refute Su Mo's words, but what she had previously considered common knowledge was, in fact, the accepted truth in the world of Little Garden.
If her understanding was wrong, wouldn't that mean that all the Asuras, gods, and buddhas of Little Garden were also wrong?
How could that be possible?!
While she was having her existential crisis, the other group members witnessed her entire reaction.
Kanae: "You don't have to put yourself down like that. There aren't many people who can keep up with Lord Su Mo's train of thought."
She tried to comfort the newcomer, lest she suffer too great a blow and do something rash.
March 7th: "That's right! In front of Lord Su Mo, we're all idiots, so there's no need to feel inferior!"
The pink-haired girl was quite empathetic.
But her words threw everyone under the bus and were definitely not going to be well-received.
Rin Tohsaka: "No, no, no, even idiots have different levels. Don't lump everyone together."
Madoka: "I feel like Big Sis Rin is praising herself!"
Rin Tohsaka: "No, I'm not!"
Seeing the lively chat, Shiroyasha felt a slight sense of relief, but the questions in her heart were far from resolved.
After a moment's thought, she asked.
Shiroyasha: "Su Mo... um, could I ask one more question?"
After being thoroughly bested by Su Mo, her attitude had become noticeably more polite.
Su Mo: "Go ahead."
Shiroyasha: "What are your thoughts on the greatest paradox of our world, Little Garden: Creationism vs. Anthropogenesis?"
Shiroyasha carefully posed the question.
There was a fundamental, unresolved paradox in the world of Little Garden: were the world and humanity created by the gods, or were the gods created by humanity?
Similar to the "chicken or the egg" paradox, this was a fundamental "Paradox Game" in her world.
Those who could solve this problem, who were qualified to participate in this game, were called "Candidates of Origin."
The Candidates of Origin on the side of the gods supported Creationism, while those on the side of humanity supported Anthropogenesis.
In the outside world, this might just be a thought experiment where the answer itself wasn't important. But in Little Garden, it was an incredibly serious issue that directly determined the relationship between humans and gods.
The victory of either side would lead to the corresponding existence gaining absolute dominance.
Anthropogenesis argued that humans came first, and their faith gave birth to the gods. The gods then guided humanity forward, making them more prosperous, leading to the world as it is today.
Creationism, on the other hand, argued that the gods came first. They created humanity and the world, and to continue guiding them, the world developed to its current state.
In most other worlds, or rather, in worlds where the power of the gods was weaker, this paradox wasn't even a problem. Most gods couldn't actually perform creation, nor did they have the power to create humanity. They knew their power came from humans, and their myths were written by humans.
But in worlds where the gods were exceedingly powerful, the truth wasn't so clear.
Take the Star Rail world, for example, where the power of the Aeons was great enough to transcend timelines. Their existence was overestimated to an infinite degree. Though they were born from faith, because they demonstrated the power to traverse time, they were believed to be capable of existing without it.
In other words, even if Anthropogenesis was the truth, that truth could be twisted by the power to transcend time itself.
In Little Garden, there was plenty of evidence to support Anthropogenesis. One only needed to look at the close ties between the gods and human history to reach that conclusion.
However, Creationism also had decisive evidence, such as Little Garden itself, the home of the Asuras, gods, and buddhas.
It was a standard, god-created universe, with no necessary connection to human observation—an independent, third-party observation point.
The pantheons of Little Garden also contained numerous Three-Digit and even Two-Digit beings.
If not for the omnipotence paradox, an ordinary Three-Digit being would be capable of creating a world on their own. Even with the current restrictions, a Two-Digit Full Authority Domain powerhouse could easily create god-made Gifts.
Therefore, in Little Garden, where the divine factions thrived, Creationism was the mainstream view. It was just that there had never been decisive evidence to end the paradox.
Shiroyasha asked this question for two reasons. First, the previous discussion had made her doubt the Asuras, gods, and buddhas of her world. What if they hadn't simply failed to consider this point, but had been intentionally deceiving her?
Second, she had a premonition that, given Su Mo's style, he could give her an unexpectedly savage answer.
And sure enough—
Su Mo: "Why are you asking such an obvious question?"
Su Mo: "The gods are born from the wishes of humanity. The pantheons in your world were all born to answer the desires of humans, without exception."
Without any hesitation, he gave a direct answer, completely denying the possibility of Creationism.
At least, that was how it was in the world of Little Garden.
Reading his words, Shiroyasha's heart began to pound. She had a feeling her worldview was about to be refreshed once more.
Shiroyasha: "Why do you say that?"
Su Mo: "A god who is truly capable of creating a world would never care about mere humans. They would also never doubt whether they created humanity or if humanity created them."
The answer Su Mo gave was simple and powerful.
He believed that there might truly be worlds in the multiverse that were purely the product of Creationism, but he also believed that the infinite parallel universes represented by Little Garden were definitely not among them.
As for the reasoning? The evidence?
As a creator, the very fact that you are still seeking such things proves that you are not a true creator.
Just as a mother would never doubt that her child gave birth to her, the fact that they would even question whether they created humans or humans created them was proof in itself that they could never be true creators.
Jibril: "Concise and powerful! As expected of the Master!"
Such simple reasoning seemed flawless, even based on intuition alone.
However, in terms of theoretical persuasiveness, it was still lacking a bit.
Shiroyasha: "Is there any kind of definitive evidence?"
In the realm of personal philosophical debate, Occam's razor—"do not multiply entities without necessity"—might be practical enough. Even scientists often used this technique in their conceptualizations.
But in the realm of argumentation, this technique wasn't very persuasive. It could only show that the simpler explanation was better; it couldn't prove that the more complex one was worse.
Just like Einstein's cosmological constant, which he repeatedly added and removed, who was to say what was "necessary"?
What if the gods of Little Garden were just overly sentimental and prone to self-doubt?
As ridiculous as it sounded, that possibility couldn't be completely ignored.
Su Mo, of course, understood this point.
So he immediately gave his answer.
Su Mo: "The so-called evidence is also very simple. Take a look at your world, Little Garden, the so-called god-created universe. Is its model a truly new universe created by the gods, or is it an observable universe modeled after the template of human observation?"
The universe itself could have been created by either humans or gods.
But that wasn't important.
What was important was, from whose perspective was the so-called god-created universe presented?
Often, the angle from which you view things is more important than the thing itself.
Shiroyasha: "..."
Shiroyasha: "I don't need to look. I'm a Solar Spirit myself. I know the distribution of the stars in the sky very well. The observable universe of Little Garden is the same as the outside world's—it's based on the template of human observation."
The moment Su Mo asked that question, Shiroyasha knew the paradox was meaningless.
The center of Little Garden's universe was the planet they stood on, a planet with a surface area comparable to a star. The gods had been smug about this achievement for who knows how many years, calling themselves the creators of Little Garden.
But after Su Mo had pointed it out, Shiroyasha realized that the so-called "surface area comparable to a star" was just a gimmick to hide the problem.
The so-called god-created universe wasn't created by a god splitting the heavens and the earth, as in the myths. It was a complete copy of the world as observed by humanity today.
Shiroyasha had vaguely believed in Creationism before because Little Garden was a genuine god-created universe, and she had always thought that was proof enough.
But now, she realized that the so-called "creation" was actually just plagiarism.
After connecting to a practically infinite number of parallel universes, they had merely copied an identical stage and then declared that all those parallel universes were created by the gods.
Looking back on it now, such an act seemed utterly ridiculous.
Su Mo: "If the similarity between the so-called god-created universe and the human-observable universe isn't enough to settle the issue, then we can also analyze the problem from the divine status and mythology of the gods."
In the field of mythology, Su Mo was a complete expert, even in Little Garden, the paradise of Asuras, gods, and buddhas.
Su Mo: "Whether it's punishing evil and promoting good, preaching faith, hope, and love, or advocating for enlightenment and liberation, those are all concepts intrinsically linked to the suffering of humanity itself."
Su Mo: "You say the Divine Spirit race is the strongest, ruling over eras and concepts. But the Asuras, gods, and buddhas of Little Garden—once you strip away the wishes of humanity, what do they have left?"
Su Mo: "If Creationism were true, then before creating humanity, the gods should have possessed their own essence."
Su Mo: "But why is it that after stripping away everything related to human history, all the myriad gods and buddhas are left with nothing but an empty shell?"
This series of sharp questions not only shook Shiroyasha, but also affected those around her.
Erica: "Hearing the Master put it that way, my reverence for the gods has suddenly diminished quite a bit."
Kanae: "Lord Su Mo is a god himself, but after listening to him, I'm almost becoming an atheist..."
March 7th: "I don't really get it, but let me guess... Lord Su Mo is saying we humans have to rely on ourselves?"
March 7th: "That sounds a lot like our Trailblazer beliefs!"