Is This for Real?

"Is this for real?"

"Wait—wait, wait, wait a second! Why are you coming closer?!"

A group of burly men had been waiting for me outside the restaurant. With rigid faces, they began walking slowly toward me.

What on earth is going on right now?

I found myself backing away without thinking. No—more accurately, I had no choice but to back away.

Could you at least loosen up those expressions while you approach?

Even with plenty of people around, this atmosphere was a little terrifying. Especially after ending up in this body, my line of sight had dropped so low that… how should I put it? I felt a certain sense of threat from large adult men.

When the people closing in on you looked like they could easily take up twice my volume, it was impossible not to feel that silent pressure.

…

…

I scrambled backward as hard as I could, but my stride was simply too short compared to theirs. In the end, the men closed right in until they stood practically under my nose.

Surely this isn't what I think it is?

Dragging someone off first thing on a bright sunny morning to do something sinister… or maybe they'd learned some human-sacrifice magic?

Whether from the tension or not, I realized at some point that I was clutching Sol-i's hand tightly. I turned my head slightly to check her reaction.

"What's with that look?"

Sol-i's face held neither fear, nor dread, nor anxiety. Instead, she wore the same smile she'd had when she was teasing me that morning.

It wasn't even the "laughing while your team's losing" kind of smile—what was this? Her expression was so completely mismatched to the situation that I froze mid-step, my backward retreat grinding to a halt.

An awkward silence settled as we simply stared at each other. Then, at last, the other side made their move.

They quietly closed their eyes—

"They're bowing to me?"

—and without any warning, the men dropped into full bows before me. Watching me fail utterly to grasp the situation, Sol-i spoke up.

"Maybe they're praying to you the same way they did on the second floor?"

"Praying?"

"I don't know how it happened, but what you showed them on the second floor wasn't ordinary."

Sol-i reached into her bag and pulled out the little statue modeled after me once again.

Come to think of it, I did find that strange.

Wasn't climbing the tower supposed to mean going to entirely different dimensions? So how had Sol-i managed to find a statue carved in my likeness?

My questions never got the chance to run their full course—because Sol-i promptly started hustling me along.

"Seha, shouldn't you do something for those people?"

"Huh? Do what?"

"That's for you to figure out on your own."

"Um…"

I still didn't fully understand the situation, but the men who'd bowed to me were probably… worshipping me? The way they'd approached in silence must have simply been so they could offer their prayers with proper reverence—the same way religious believers worshipped their gods.

What do I do?! This is so embarrassing.

Before I knew it, other people had stopped on their way into the restaurant and were staring at us. It was, admittedly, quite the spectacle for first thing in the morning—a bunch of burly men on their knees, bowing to some little kid. Of course people would look.

If only to escape this situation as quickly as possible, I stepped toward them.

"Would this work?"

I quietly laid my hands on the backs they'd so thoroughly exposed while bowing to me, and began giving them light, gentle pats.

"Thank you!"

With every pat they received, the men offered their thanks and headed into the restaurant. And just like that, the sudden morning crisis that had thrown me into such a panic came to an end.

This isn't an idol fan-signing event. What even was that?

I was letting out a small sigh when the voices of the men who'd just bowed to me drifted back to my ears.

"Whoa, my stats actually went up!"

"I told you. From what I saw, she's a real goddess."

Stats went up?

Right on cue, a status window notification floated up before my eyes.

Was there a stat called Divinity?

I hurriedly pulled up my status window.

It's real!

A Divinity stat that hadn't existed before I escaped the second floor was now sitting right there on my status window. Thinking back, it might have been there even when the status window first recovered.

And if someone asked me what this Divinity stat actually was… there was only one place I could point to.

The World Tree seed I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠received from the elf!

Ivelin had explained the seed to me and mentioned it had a hidden function. At first I'd thought that just meant the World Tree's voice echoing in my heart—but apparently it had also awakened this brand-new stat called Divinity.

Come to think of it, I've had the World Tree's voice turned off this whole time.

I'd shut her out for being too noisy right before climbing into bed last night. I'd completely forgotten about it until now.

The moment I adjusted the mana in my heart and flipped the World Tree's power back on, her voice poured out as if she'd been waiting for exactly this.

…

Too noisy. I turned her off again. I'd switch her back on whenever I remembered.

What mattered right now wasn't any of that—it was breakfast with Sol-i.

"Looks like things have settled down. Shall we go eat? From the photos, the food looked incredible."

"More importantly—can you do it for me too?"

"Huh? You mean just now?"

"Yeah. That."

Did Sol-i want me to pat her back as well? Well, it wasn't like I couldn't.

Pat-pat—

I stepped up to her and gave her back a light tap. The first difference from before was that I was reaching up toward someone who was standing. Sol-i was taller than the average adult woman, so I had to stretch my hand quite a bit higher.

And the second difference was—

That's a bra strap!

The feel of undergarment fabric under my palm. I jerked my hand away in pure shock.

I've seen what kind of underwear Sol-i wears before, haven't I.

It was back when my room had been destroyed and I'd been sleeping in hers. Digging through a drawer looking for a towel, I'd accidentally stumbled across her underwear. I still remembered how flustered I'd been by designs so bold they clashed completely with her usual image.

Just thinking she might be wearing those right now makes this somehow…

My face flushed red as if I'd indulged in some needlessly embarrassing fantasy. Whether Sol-i could read those thoughts or not—

"Heh. Cute."

—she began gently stroking my hair.

"…"

If it was going to end up like this anyway, why even ask me to pat your back?

Maybe it was the embarrassing thoughts I'd just had, but her touch sent a full-body shiver through me. It was ticklish, and yet it left me restless in a strange, hard-to-pin-down way. Naturally my face went scarlet, and my gaze dropped helplessly to the ground.

"All right, let's go eat breakfast!"

"Okay…"

Having finished stroking my hair, Sol-i suggested we go eat. She was always the one leading me around, wasn't she? Just a moment ago I'd been the one to suggest we go get food first—and all I'd gotten in return was an embarrassing head-pat.

Was our human compatibility set up like this from the start?

For some reason, I had the feeling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this dynamic would last a lifetime.

"Whoa~"

Led by Sol-i's hand, we arrived at the restaurant. The interior far exceeded anything I'd been expecting. I'd figured a buffet, no matter how upgraded, could only go so far—but the place had been designed with the care of a fine-dining restaurant, right down to the interior. Even the quality of the food shattered the upper limits of my imagination.

"This is acorn noodles seared over glowing embers."

"Glowing embers?"

When I hear 'embers,' all I can think of are the buffs I've seen in games.

I swallowed that thought—Sol-i wouldn't relate—and took a bite of the acorn noodles.

"Wow~ Amazing!"

"See? I told you it'd be worth looking forward to."

The first thing that hit me the moment it entered my mouth was the sauce—smooth, yet richly fragrant. The more I chewed, the more the nutty aroma of acorn filled my nose.

Huh?

Before I knew it, every bowl on the table had been emptied. Had I been so overwhelmed by the refined flavors that I'd just wolfed everything down? Unlike my own plate, Sol-i's was completely clean.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, just watching you eat makes me happy."

Looking at how brightly Sol-i was smiling, it clearly wasn't an empty compliment. Even so, I still felt a little self-conscious and was about to get up for more food when Sol-i stopped me.

"You can order food with the call bell now, remember?"

"Oh, right!"

One of the changes that had come with the restaurant's renovation. Unlike the fully self-service buffet days, staff were now stationed throughout the place.

Ding—

I pressed the call bell, and a server appeared at once. No—a familiar face appeared in front of me.

"Miss Seha, ahead of tomorrow's meeting, would it be all right if I asked you about a certain rumor currently circulating?"

"Huh? A rumor?"

It was Yeo Jeong-hyeon, the man who served as our leader. What rumor was he talking about? Had people started spreading something weird after seeing what happened this morning? Something like a villainess nickname for making people bow just by locking eyes with them?

I'd just been standing there. This was deeply unfair.

Then, answering Yeo Jeong-hyeon's question in my place, Sol-i said—

"You mean the rumor that believing in Seha raises your stats, right?"

She dropped something utterly absurd.

Come to think of it, someone did say something like that earlier…

After bowing to me, they'd been happy about their stats going up, hadn't they? As if to prove my hunch, Sol-i immediately ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠added—

"Because I got a pep talk from Seha and my stats went up too."

Is this for real?

I was left completely speechless.