The World Crevice.
Seated upon his Golden Divine Throne, he glanced down at the countless ordinary beings still struggling desperately within time.
As one of those placing bets,
the Jade Emperor looked toward Orsaga, who appeared quite content not far away, and, after a moment's thought, casually asked:
"Who do you think will win this game?"
At those words,
Orsaga paused briefly.
Then he answered with an easy smile:
"Why ask a question like that?"
"As one of the bettors, shouldn't you have a little faith in your own pieces?"
But the Jade Emperor merely shook his head calmly in denial:
"Faith?"
"That sort of thing doesn't matter at all."
"After all, those pieces were just things I picked on a whim. I don't have much hope or expectation for them in their own right."
Just as Orsaga paid little attention to winning or losing the game,
the Jade Emperor held much the same view of its final outcome.
He had vast holdings.
And with powerful backing behind him,
he was no lone-wolf player forced to fight every battle by himself.
His immense accumulated wealth and reserves meant he had no need to care about the negligible gains or losses this game might produce.
As for why he had joined the game,
for the most part,
it was simply because he was a little bored and wanted something to pass the time.
And because he wanted to take the opportunity to meet others on his level and expand his network.
Those were his two simple reasons.
Partway through speaking,
the Jade Emperor yawned, then shook his head with an indifferent expression:
"Besides, you seem to be thinking much the same way I am..."
"You started this game, yet you show no enthusiasm whatsoever for pursuing ultimate victory. You just sit