Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Little Goddess
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When I stepped out of the atelier, I honestly had no clue where to head next.
Even in an open-world game with tons of freedom, they wouldn't have bothered modeling some nameless studio buried deep in the mountains.
That said, I couldn't just wander off blindly either.
This place had been occupied by those insane anomalous artists for ages. Who knew what kind of anomalous entities might be lurking in the surrounding peaks?
One wrong move, and I'd end up as some monster's evening snack. No doubt about it.
"Haa..."
Stranded in these remote mountains, with the sun dipping low. The temperature dropping by the minute. In this hopeless situation, things just kept getting worse.
That's when it happened—a half-ruined statue amid the ruins twitched to life.
The head of the partially shattered wooden statue turned toward me. Its carelessly painted eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
"H-kyaa!?"
I yelped like a little girl, too startled to care.
But I didn't have time to dwell on it.
The moment I jumped in shock, eyes wide, a blue window popped up right in front of me.
Creator: Anomalous Artist
Name: Abandoned Failure by the Artist
Trait: Very fast and very sturdy
Status: The abandoned statue is lonely. The lonely statue needs your attention. If you ignore the statue, if you don't look at me, I will devour you and we will become one.
"...Hic."
I collapsed onto the ground, staring blankly at the statue.
The cold dirt chilled my bare skin where it touched, and hiccups kept bubbling up unbidden.
Those emotionless painted eyes terrified me, but I couldn't tear my gaze away.
My instincts were screaming.
The instant I looked away, I'd be dead.
Drag... drag...
Blood and guts spilling from its wooden shell, it crept closer.
My frozen body refused to budge.
"Why... of all times...!"
I'd grinded through every grindfest out there.
Me, a Marine who'd supposedly exorcised ghosts.
Normally, a freak like this wouldn't faze me one bit.
But... why was my body acting up like this?
Name: Ab■andoned Fai■ ■■ure by the Ar■■
Trait: ■■ry fas■ an■ ve■y stu■■■
The anomaly hit right then.
Something whooshed out of me, and the statue toppled over with a crash.
"He...?"
Its information began eroding away.
The statue dropped to its knees, clutching its head, red paint streaming from its eyes like tears as it wailed at the sky.
It kept smashing its half-broken head, but the lost info didn't come back.
Once the status window went pitch black, the creature's desperate struggles ceased.
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
All that remained was a lifeless statue.
New information overlaid it.
"The Goddess's will...?"
I mumbled in a daze, and the statue slowly nodded, gazing at me.
Its indifferent painted eyes were still creepy... but somehow, softer than before.
Only then did I grasp what that mad artist had meant by "goddess."
"The artists' god... yeah, that's what he said."
Artworks are creations of artists.
Artworks revere their artists as masters.
But my body was a god born from the artists' "faith."
The artists revered me as their master.
So it made perfect sense that anomalous artists' "artworks" couldn't defy my commands.
After all, it was an order from the master's master, right?
With that in mind, I spoke cautiously to the statue kneeling before me.
"Um... could you hold my hand...?"
Creak...
Stiff doll joints ground as it extended a crude hand model. The blood-smeared hand offered politely felt oddly out of place.
But this wasn't the time to nitpick. I grabbed it without hesitation and stood.
"Do you happen to know the nearest city?"
The statue nodded slowly. Small mercy, I thought, scanning our surroundings.
Management Bureau agents wouldn't arrive until tomorrow at earliest.
With the entire Mobile Special Task Force wiped out, they'd need time for intel gathering and reinforcements before deploying.
So we should head out before nightfall...
"Ugh, why do I feel so uneasy...?"
Couldn't save anyone? No, that final suicide blast was beyond me.
Maybe some survivors? Nah, how could anyone have made it out of there?
No signs of life lingered in the atelier's rubble.
So what was it, then?
As I pondered, glancing at the wooden statue, I noticed the trailing blood and guts.
That's when I pinpointed the nagging discomfort weighing on me.
"Ah..."
Right.
These statues... they used to be people.
Maybe some still clung to their sanity... leaving them trapped in cold stone shells felt cruel.
Come tomorrow, the Bureau would lock them in isolation cells, doomed to eternal torment.
"Hold on, wait here."
I approached the ruined atelier once more.
I still didn't know the full extent of my powers.
Just that they were godlike to anomalous artists.
I had no clue how vast they were. Even gods start weak at birth—that's the setup in Anomaly Management Bureau.
But one thing I knew for sure.
"Art exists for people's happiness."
My lifelong creed as an artist.
Murmuring softly, I raised my hand. Something welled up inside me and poured out, filling the ruins with beautiful starlight.
"That's why I can't accept works like this."
This reaffirmed my beliefs.
Goddess of anomalous artists. Even with power to reshape the world at will, I'd never harm the innocent. My personal vow.
"Rise, all of you."
Groooan... Bones grated as the surviving statues—about seven—stirred. Their twisted forms grotesque.
Status: Killmekillmekillmekillmekillmekillmekillmekillmekillme...
Status: It hurts. Hurts so much. I can't hurt alone. Share the pain and it might lessen? Come join me in hell...
Status: ....
Status: M...om...
Status: It's so cramped here let me out please someone get me out
"Eek...!?"
A wave of viscous obsession crashed over me. I flinched but focused to stay conscious.
Once more, the wooden statue's change repeated. Information eroded, hatred overwritten, all dropping to their knees.
Seeing their improved states, I whispered softly.
"...Sorry. Rest easy now."
Crush. I clenched my raised fist, and they crumbled to dust, scattering away. Their final expressions strangely serene.
Then I turned to the statue that had stood guard beside me.
"Once we reach the city... I'll set you free too."
After that, I followed the statue through the mountains.
Its back looked surprisingly reliable, smashing blocking trees, skirting potential anomaly spots, guiding me to a vantage overlooking the city.
Thanks to it, I caught the sunset over the town.
Countless buildings against a crimson sea.
Cars zipping by, crowds bustling—a vibrant city alive with energy.
A first-time visit, yet familiar from countless hours in Anomaly Management Control Department.
"Gangneung...?"
One of the game's main hubs.
Home to the hidden Gangwon Branch of the Management Bureau—a place I'd roamed endlessly, so I even knew its exact location.
Gathering power in my hand, I looked at the statue.
"Thank you so much. I'll send you off peacefully."
But its response was unexpected.
It slowly shook its head, as if not ready to die yet.
Status: The abandoned statue was lonely. Until the Goddess's will joined it, that is.
Status: The abandoned statue is no longer lonely.
"Ah?"
I released the gathered power. Starlight dispersed into the dark, and the statue's will floated over its status.
Not lonely anymore. It wasn't hard to get. Thanks to me, no more pain.
"You wanna keep living like this?"
It nodded at my question. Couldn't just kill it if it preferred this, so I pondered.
"Hmm..."
Couldn't take a statue like that around—way too conspicuous.
But ditching it felt wrong. I wasn't cold enough to abandon someone who'd said they were lonely.
Plus, it'd be handy to have along.
I wasn't god to all anomalies. Against non-art ones, I'd be as vulnerable as any civilian.
A sturdy backup would help.
"I do wanna keep you, but..."
How?
The thought hit, and suddenly power drained from me.
The statue—head and shoulders taller than me—began shrinking. Smaller and smaller, until it fit in my palm like a miniature.
Up close, its broken parts were mended too. Cloaked in starlight, the wooden statue felt elevated, otherworldly.
Pocket-sized mini. Didn't notice when it was huge, but with that oversized head like an SD illustration, it looked kinda cute.
Yeah, like...
"Peanut... you look just like a peanut?"
After mulling it over, I tucked the statue into my ragged clothes and whispered.
"Yeah, from now on... your name is Peanut."
Peanut.
The name of my first companion in this world.
The Republic of Korea's government consists of 19 official ministries.
Yet one building stayed lit long after the others clocked out.
Anomaly Management Control Department
In a world teeming with monsters and superpowers, this 20th ministry protected normals from the chaos, controlling information flow.
That's why the Management Bureau's entrance is always concealed. Tucked in Gangneung's dense urban sprawl, in an alley so creepy no one would dare enter.
Unauthorized folks can't get in.
Even stumbling into the alley, the unaware wouldn't notice it.
For non-Bureau personnel to enter? Impossible.
"Uh..."
It should be.
But the blood-soaked Management Bureau was filled with marble statues.