The Serious Side of the Goddess
Eden recalled the face he'd grown all too familiar with, one that didn't suit him at all. A goddess's face, compact and petite—smaller than his fist—with every delicate feature perfectly packed in, overflowing with whimsy. Last time, she'd pulled a prank with fireworks, so there was no guarantee she wouldn't try something similar now.
Knock knock.
Eden wanted nothing more than to ignore the knock. He was busy on the computer, lost in nostalgia for his homeland. But remembering that this mental world was born from Neb's power, he figured it was best to play along with her antics to some extent.
Knock knock knock…
"Coming, coming," he said, his speech more modern guy than barbarian as he headed to the front door. Last time it was fireworks, so maybe a cream cake this round. That wouldn't be so bad.
He strolled leisurely toward the entrance, one hand bracing against the wall above the door before ducking to turn the knob. Even in the modern world, his barbarian bulk was a hassle.
Ding-a-ling. The lock clicked open with a mechanical chime, and the door swung slowly ajar.
"…?"
Eden furrowed his brow at the sight. Beyond the door stretched pure darkness. No simple one-room hallway, no flickering old bulb, not even the goddess holding a cake. It was darkness cleaved precisely at the doorframe.
The window wasn't like this.
This time, he had no urge to reach out. It looked like the bottom of the deep sea.
Hm, better shut it.
His decision was swift. If this was all Neb's prank, closing the door would trigger whatever came next. Eden yanked the handle to pull it shut.
And then—a pair of ghostly white arms shot from the darkness, coiling tightly around his neck.
He braced to resist being dragged, but it wasn't that simple. In an instant, his vision shifted.
015.
An unfitting Eden calmly surveyed his surroundings. An unfamiliar place. The air was thick with the scent of books. Library or study came to mind first. Sunlight poured warmly through a glass ceiling, shelves crammed with tomes on all sides.
A bit dazed, Eden clenched his fist. Moments ago he'd been at the front door; now he sat in a wooden chair. All in the blink of an eye.
Obviously, the culprit behind this prank was that immature goddess.
"Pleased to meet you."
An familiar woman's voice rang out. Eden sensed something off in its normalcy.
"…?"
She looked exactly like Neb. But unlike Neb's usual wild hair, hers was neatly tied back in a ponytail. Most tellingly, her eyes were a different color—violet irises fixed on him.
"'Pleased to meet you'… is that the right greeting?"
The woman adjusted her round glasses on her nose bridge and smiled leisurely. Eden couldn't hide his surprise. Just a shift in speech and demeanor, yet she felt like an entirely different person.
She looks completely normal.
He tapped the chair's armrest idly as that thought crossed his mind.
"What's this prank now?"
"Prank?"
The woman—Neb or not—gazed at him from the center of the study. Pat pat. She lifted the teapot from the desk and poured. Suddenly, a teacup was in his hand. Hot steam rose, warmth seeping through his palm.
Eden took a sip.
"…Bitter."
"Not a fan of black tea, I see."
He could've played along with the act, but instinct told him otherwise. The being before him was distinctly not the usual Neb—someone entirely different.
"Hm… no, that's not it. Fundamentally, we're all one and the same."
Neb(?) continued as she sipped her tea.
"Just slightly different facets. A bit calmer, a bit more serious."
"What, like dissociative identity disorder?"
"Kuhuhu, that's a pretty good joke."
Not a joke. Her laugh didn't match her serious expression. She tapped the teacup's rim with her teaspoon.
"Simply put, it's the result of absorbing relic power. We're still in human flesh, and a human body can't fully handle a god's authority."
"So finding more relics means this'll happen again?"
"Correct."
His head was already spinning. Eden shot her an incredulous look. Neb shrugged lightly.
"Can't be helped. 'I' am incomplete. Like I said before—if 'I' were omnipotent, there'd be no reason to lose power in the first place."
That had been a chat with the ditzy Neb. They didn't feel like the same person at all. Her violet eyes turned to him.
"But it won't always be the same. Don't worry about that."
"Meaning?"
"You won't end up with dozens of 'Nebs' like me."
"…Please, no."
Eden leaned back in the chair. Creak. The wood groaned but held the barbarian's weight.
This wasn't just for chit-chat, he sensed.
"So why'd you call me? Uh…"
"You can call me Neb like always."
"Right. Serious Neb."
"…I like that your manners haven't changed."
She seemed oddly pleased by his casual tone. Serious Neb sipped her tea, gathering her thoughts before speaking slowly.
"Well, 'I' wanted to meet you once."
"Hm?"
Serious Neb pressed on.
"The 'me' outside is a bit off, right? The speech, the childish behavior."
"…."
He didn't deny it. He'd thought the same plenty of times. As if reading his mind, Serious Neb sighed with a blank face.
"What can you do? That's 'my' most fragile side. Thoughts and actions have to match. Heh. But you don't think she's cute…?"
Then—a massive thud from behind.
Bam!
Bam!!
It sounded like the door was about to shatter.
"Hey!!"
Eden turned toward the noise. The same voice as Neb's, but weirdly familiar. Serious Neb sipped her tea impassively, as if deaf to the pounding.
"Her speech is a bit odd, but bear with it. She can't project authority through actions, so she tries with words. 'She' wants to impress you too."
Bam bam bam!!
"…Sounds like she's calling from over there."
"It's the same 'me' anyway."
That side sounded more like UFC. Serious Neb reached for the sugar jar beside her cup. As she lightly unscrewed the lid, the study ceiling popped open like a bottle cap. Utterly defying physics.
Eden glanced up naturally. There, gazing down with an odd glint—Serious Neb's face, serious no more. She pointed a gigantic teaspoon at him.
"So, try not to tease her too much."
Countless sugar lumps rained from the sky.
This really feels like a dream.
Serious Neb waved at him.
"That's it for today. See you next time."
"…Aren't you all the same person?"
"Kuhuhu…."
Her blank laugh faded to black. When Eden opened his eyes, a crackling campfire greeted him. He'd woken.
The sky was still dark. A quiet wind filled the silence.
"…!!"
Neb, lying beside him, lifted her head. Eden confirmed her position and calmed his surprise.
We definitely had the fire between us.
Now she was close enough to feel her breath.
"…."
"…."
A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Neb casually grabbed her cloak and stood, trudging back to her original spot as if nothing happened.
Watching her, Eden grasped what Serious Neb had meant.
"No matter how I look at it, the dream version seems more godlike."
He chuckled idly. Whatever—it's all her, right? No big deal.
But his laugh didn't last. His face hardened again.
Dogshit medieval world, fucked-up dark fantasy.
Eden hefted an axe and hurled it into the trees.
Whoosh!
The blade screamed through the air like it would shred everything, followed by a short shriek shattering the quiet.
"Gaaah!!"
Good thing he'd been warned ahead—could've been a disaster. He'd thrown one axe, but another remained, massive enough for two normal hands.
"…Fuck, you were sleeping?!"
"How the hell should I know!"
"Shut up! Didn't you see the woman next to him? Top-shelf stuff—we gotta risk it! Sell her off, we'll get ten gold easy."
"K-Kevin's dead?"
"Then fuck off!!"
Five—no, four now, with one dead. Human traffickers this close to the city. A stark reminder of medieval lawlessness. Or maybe precisely because of the city.
Not Eden's problem. Axe in hand, he trudged toward them.
"Barbarian incoming!"
"H-Hey! Shoot the arrows already!"
"Shut up and wait!"
A weak arrow flew—barely enough to fell a wild boar. It wouldn't scratch his skin, but his clothes were another story. Eden snatched it midair and dropped it.
"F-Felt like it hit?"
"Why's he fine?!"
Amateurs, from the chatter—no formal training. Probably peasants turned looters from war.
He swatted the incoming spear—or farm pitchfork—with one hand. The stumbling bandit pitched forward on his own momentum. No finesse in the fight, but no hesitation either. Not their first raid.
Eden swung back the other way. A light tap, but his transcendent strength made it devastating. Teeth scattered as the jaw flew.
"K-Kill him!!"
Two charged with club and sword. No need for the axe on his shoulder.
"H-Hiiik!!"
Eden finished cleanup by hurling his axe at the last fleeing archer. Mercy might bite back—he'd seen it too often.
"Tch, nothing worth taking."
He wiped blood from the blade while rummaging the corpses. Ehh, broke asses.
Retrieving his first axe took longer than killing them.
Wish I had a boomerang axe that comes back.
Ah.
Eden shook his head. These two axes had been with him since the game began—true companions. Bad thought.
He apologized to them inwardly.
Anyway. Back at camp after his midnight stroll, Neb slept peacefully as if nothing occurred.
"…Hmnya."
Eden smirked at the sight.
Yeah. No matter how you sliced it, she didn't look like a goddess.