開票者

In the webtoon Hellper, there is a character known as the "Counter of votes" (The Tallyman). This figure determines whether the standard of the entire universe becomes good or evil during the Cosmic Election. Spiritual entities—such as angels and demons—strive continuously to alter the Tallyman’s inclination in order to seize supreme power. The very standard of the universe changes depending on whether the Tallyman views the world through the lens of good or evil. It is a profoundly fascinating premise.

Is the world inherently good, or is it evil? Do those who live by inflicting harm upon others consider themselves wicked, or do they view their actions as entirely natural? When intellectuals fail to fulfill their responsibilities, should we call it wise, or should we call it cowardly? Do those who eventually become the very worst types of human beings they once read about in textbooks justify their existence, or are they tormented by guilt?

It has been an exhausting life. No matter how one looks at it, this world is hardly worth living in. When comparing the total sum of suffering against the total sum of joy, which one holds the upper hand? Some people live in a place where the total amount of joy is abundant, rendering them incapable of understanding suffering; conversely, those who grew up in suffering find it difficult to comprehend those living in a world of joy. What is certain is that if we were to weigh the absolute sums, between good and evil, between suffering and joy, the heavier portions would undoubtedly be evil and suffering.

Precisely because the human world is evil, that which is good stands out and is praised as astonishing. Because joy is so rare in the human world, people envy those who possess it and desire to strip that joy away from them. If the world were affluent and everyone lived in abundance, the act of giving would be easy. But in a world defined by scarcity, giving becomes a miracle.

If I were the Tallyman, what choice would I make? Would I choose good, or would I choose evil?

I would likely tear this world apart. What reason is there to desperately sustain a world like this? For what purpose must we live so ruthlessly, risking life and limb in a place so barren? If there exists a universe where I became God, it would either be a place of absolute tranquility and abundance, or a place of absolute nothingness. It would be one of those two worlds.