A Warm Rest and the Goddess's Gentle Revelation

"There you go... it feels good, and having you in my room feels good too."

Would her fans ever believe it?

That the girl who looked more powerful and confident than anyone on stage was sitting there right now, shy as a schoolgirl.

"Heh heh heh."

"What's with the laugh? You sound like an old man."

Da-min pouted her lips at me.

"I doubt any of your fans know our Da-min could be this adorable."

And so we talked for a long while, catching up on everything we'd been too busy to share properly — our everyday lives, our worries, and even how much we'd missed each other.

It was precious time, more precious than any we'd spent before.

"Da-min unnie!"

From outside the room came Mina's voice, calling for her.

"Oh, is it that time already..."

Da-min rose from my bed, where she'd been lying practically flat, with obvious reluctance.

"I should go. Sounds like Mina's finished her shower."

She headed toward the door, then paused for a moment and turned back to me.

"Good night, Da-min."

"You too."

The door closed quietly, and stillness settled over the room once more.

"Ah, so this is what living is all about."

Back when I was a hopeless single, someone once said that to me.

What's the big deal about dating a girl anyway? If it were him, he'd rather be born with my face — no girls, sure, but he'd want to be that good at soccer instead.

Back then I'd thought, Yeah, I suppose some people might want that more.

Bullshit. Just being next to Da-min feels better than scoring in the Champions League.

It was nothing more than the modest-seeming excuse of someone who already had it all.

I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and thought.

I had things I wanted to protect now.

For the first time, I'd felt the warmth of a real family. For the first time, I'd known true love.

And with every moment like this, the resolve in my heart hardened.

I would win the World Cup, no matter what it took.

When I first became Jung Tae-woo, I'd dismissed winning as complete fantasy and given up on it. All I thought about was accumulating Divine Points and escaping this world.

But looking at things coldly now, the current South Korean national team had a better shot at the title than any squad I'd ever been part of.

World-class forward Yoo Hee-sung. Target-man striker Lee Tae-yang. Seo-jun, a world-class midfielder recognized even in Europe. And me — a goalkeeper who didn't give up goals easily.

And we've got our adorable Seung-min, too.

The prodigy whose fate had changed when they met on Star Mission Big Operation.

Originally, he was destined to leave ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for Argentina this very year — but now, thanks to Ga-young's support, he was blossoming, letting his talent flower at Poongwol Elementary.

A genius who won the Golden Ball at a U-20 tournament at just sixteen and transferred to Real Madrid.

Young as he was, he would become a formidable weapon for our team at the World Cup.

A roster like this gathering in one place... maybe it's not a coincidence after all.

That was when it happened.

The Divine Letter from the Soccer Goddess, lying on my desk, began to glow with a soft light.

Is this the reward she said she'd give me after the Chelsea match?

I sat up in bed and unfolded the letter.

She'd put Seung-min on Star Mission Big Operation? She'd raised Lee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-yang's talent?

I had noticed that Tae-yang's skills were far beyond what the original novel I'd read described, and that the timing of Seung-min's appearance felt somehow unnatural...

"But why would you go that far? What's in it for you?"

No, honestly, it was strange.

She was a god.

The gods we usually imagine are omniscient and omnipotent, beings capable of anything...

So why would even a Soccer Goddess bend over backward for a mere mortal?

In web novels, the other gods who accidentally possessed or transmigrated humans were never this kind. Most of them just tossed their subjects aside with a "you're a veteran, figure it out yourself."

The word suspicion — the doubt that had been quietly building all this time — began to swell.

"No, that doesn't explain anything. If those Divine Points of yours are really that precious, why waste them on me?"

What if Divine Points were to them what money was to us?

Why pour them into me, of all people...

Like showering a fortune in gifts on someone without a second thought.

She'd been like this from the very start.

She'd given me my memories so I wouldn't be uncomfortable. She'd merged Kim Chan-ki's abilities with Jung Tae-woo's, gifting me outright-cheat-level skill.

"...You definitely said you'd give me a gift after the Chelsea match. I don't need anything else — just tell me the truth."

It was the first time.

First time she, who always answered instantly, hadn't replied right away.

It felt serious — none of her usual playful emoticons or teasing tone.

Now I was certain.

She was hiding something.

"Yeah, I want to know. Why you possessed me. Why, after possessing me, you've taken care of me the way you have."

"Then why did you put me into this novel — no, this world? In the body of Jung Tae-woo?"

She'd clearly said, at first, that possessing me had been a mistake...

But judging by her reaction now, she had known all along that it was me.

The "I didn't know" had been nothing but an excuse...

"What is that supposed to mean? I clearly—"

I'd been reading a novel, and then suddenly I became Jung Tae-woo.

And this wasn't possession?

Do you have any idea how much I...

Every day since the possession, a dull ache had lodged itself in a corner of my chest.

I was not the son my mother had raised and loved — just someone carrying her son's memories.

I was not the childhood friend Da-min had grown up with and loved — just someone carrying his memories.

That word, someone, had gouged my heart open more times than I could count.

And in a way, I'd envied him.

Envied Jung Tae-woo, who had such warm parents, such a sister, such friends.

Sometimes I'd comforted myself, telling myself I could simply accept that I was Jung Tae-woo and get on with living.

But that corner of my chest had always stayed hollow.

Every night before I fell asleep,

I suffered, feeling like an actor playing a son in front of the family I loved,

and every time I met Da-min's clear, guileless eyes, guilt squeezed the air from my lungs.

I wasn't the real Jung Tae-woo — I was a thief, living in his stolen place — and the thought had me breaking into cold sweat night after night...

And now, after all that, she tells me it wasn't possession?

"Then... then what the hell is it, if not possession!"

My voice shook.

Some emotion — whether ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rage, or perhaps relief — coiled around my whole body.

At some point, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even the emoticons the Soccer God had always kept up were gone.

A silence heavier than any before hung in the air.

"Am I... Jung Tae-woo? Kim Chan-ki? Or Jung Tae-woo with Kim Chan-ki's memories?"

My voice trembled.

"Fine~ Then just answer me this one thing. It's really not possession, right?"

"Hahaha..."

Drop- drop-

All the guilt and remorse I'd piled up inside me spilled down my face as tears.

"Thank you... for telling me... Goddess."

I wanted to resent her for keeping it hidden, but the relief flooding through me right now was simply too great.

And so I fell asleep more peacefully than I ever had in my life.

And the moment I drifted off, the Soccer Goddess's letter changed one more time.

"Ah, oppa! Not like that~ You're supposed to fold your hands more, like you're actually placing a crown!"

Mina's exasperated voice rang out.

Just yesterday I'd received the Soccer Goddess's letter and washed away all those years of guilt...

So what on earth was I doing right now?

"Ugh, I'm losing my mind. Why is an athlete's body creaking like this?"

Mina let out an irritated sigh.

Why was I, the moment I'd woken up — before I'd even showered — dancing First Crown with Jung Mi-na and Da-min?