Lewd Wisdom (3)
“Th-then show me! Show me the knowledge from worlds outside that even I don't know!”
“……”
I froze, my brain short-circuiting as I failed to process the sudden turn of events.
“……Wh-why are you just staring like that! Didn't you say you'd free me from my chains!”
Ah… chains, right.
Yeah, that's right.
We agreed to remove them.
Drip. Drip.
Transparent liquid fell drop by drop from the long rod below.
My mind went blank.
Well, yeah, it's lust.
This is just par for the course.
Sloth kept Ren from doing anything for centuries,
wrath blocked the magitech engineer from succeeding in experiments,
pride turned the demon god into a brute with nothing but raw power—
'So lust twisted the goddess of wisdom into this.'
“Why do you keep looking down there…”
The goddess of Wisdom glanced downward.
“……”
In the suddenly awkward silence, things loosened below, and a uniquely shaped pink rod dropped from her lower body. A lewd fragrance spread sharply from it.
“Kyaaack!”
Poof!
Smoke burst out, and the goddess of Wisdom vanished.
A moment later.
“You didn't see anything.”
“Pardon?”
“You saw nothing! Absolutely nothing! Got it?!”
The goddess of Wisdom thrust her face right up to mine, terrifyingly close.
“Y-yes, got it…!”
I answered reflexively under the force of her presence.
“Hoo… I want to reach into your head and erase your memories, but my powers can't touch you… haa.”
She muttered something under her breath.
But her voice was too soft to make out clearly.
More importantly, I still couldn't read her thoughts.
Even though this was her true self. Why couldn't I read her mind?
Was it because she was the goddess of Wisdom?
“Anyway, you said you'd free me from my chains.”
“Yes, that's right.”
Calling it chains meant she was aware that this 'lewd' label was binding her.
…Honestly, it was weird that she hadn't noticed herself pleasuring herself mid-conversation.
“How do you plan to break these chains that even I can't escape?”
“First, let me tell you about the sins I've resolved so far.”
I explained everything from Ren, the goddess of Sacrifice who overcame sloth, to the magitech engineer who shed wrath, and the demon god who conquered pride.
“Hoo. Therapy through a game. Impressive.”
The goddess marveled.
She had a serious expression and tone, but maybe because of that earlier incident, she felt like a chatty little sister bouncing around next to me.
“Do you know this? I know and can know everything on the Raipania Continent. This is the authority I possess as the god of wisdom—and the curse of knowledge that binds me.”
The power to know everything. A perfect authority for a god symbolizing wisdom.
Calling it a curse of knowledge… probably because she learns things she doesn't want to know?
Like grandma's or grandpa's… or poop!
“But I don't know about your game.”
“……Pardon?”
The goddess continued with an expression of ecstatic delight.
“I know everything on this continent! I have to know it! But I can't know about you!”
“What does that…”
“I don't know why, but I don't know you! Only you can pull me from this curse of knowledge!”
It was as if the very fact of unknown information excited her.
“So!”
Just as she lunged at me and straddled on top—
The pinnacle of wisdom must not act rashly.
The sum of human civilization must not be swayed by emotion.
Dozens of voices echoed through the space, overlapping like a chorus.
“Stop! Stoooop!”
She clutched her head tightly, writhing in agony.
“Stoooop iiiit!”
As if these voices were the chains imprisoning her.
A moment later.
The voices faded, and the goddess of Wisdom calmed down.
“Ahem… sorry. You saw an unsightly side of me.”
“This is… the curse?”
It was nothing like what I'd imagined.
If she were bound by sin, I'd expect voices inciting uncontrollable sexual urges, not this.
This felt less like a sin's voice and more like…
“Sorry. As you saw, I'm not influenced by the sin of lust.”
“You mean…”
“These voices, these chains binding me, attached themselves when I ascended to godhood.”
……So that's how it was.
If the goddess of Wisdom, unlike our investors, wasn't affected by sin, that explained why I couldn't read her thoughts.
Did that mean the 'lewd' part wasn't from sin corruption, but something innate?
“The ones who created this curse have all returned to dust, yet I still can't escape it.”
The goddess continued with a wistful expression.
“I'm sorry, Goddess. I thought I could break your curse, but…”
It wasn't the 'lewd' issue at all. It was something else.
A problem I couldn't solve.
“No. Only you can solve it.”
“……Pardon?”
“I told you earlier. Only the one thing I don't know can break this curse.”
Her eyes still burned with excitement, though less intensely than before.
“The curse etched into me grows stronger the more I know. But I don't know you. Only you can pierce through my curse.”
She knows everything in this world, but not me.
Maybe because I came from Earth, not this world.
“So, won't you end this painful curse for me?”
The goddess pleaded with pitiable eyes.
Her desperate voice carried the exhaustion of centuries of torment.
She reminded me of her past-life self.
I couldn't bring myself to tell her I wasn't confident.
“Relax your body completely.”
“Got it.”
I gathered the power of dreams in both hands and placed them on the head of the reclining goddess with closed eyes.
“As you know, dreams connect to the unconscious.”
Whatever her curse was, the only tool I had to free her was dream authority.
To liberate her through the game, I needed to know her.
Unlike with the demon god, I couldn't directly read her past memories or thoughts, so I needed her cooperation to access her history.
“I know. It means part of the brain awakens during sleep, replaying internal information.”
“Uh… yes, exactly. So you might recall unpleasant memories as dreams.”
In Monica's case, as a human, calling her to the mental world let me read her unconscious directly. But since dream powers didn't work on the goddess, she had to dream it again, and I'd enter.
“Don't yield to negative memories inside.”
Judging by the curse voices, they were bad ones. If she got consumed by the dream, I might get trapped too.
It happened once before… ugh, didn't want to relive that.
“Understood. Don't worry. I trust you. If it means ending this curse, I fear nothing. I won't yield.”
The goddess spoke with confident assurance.
Well, even if it was trauma from her human days, she's a god now—she'd be fine.
“Alright, then.”
My hands touched her silky hair.
Incredible texture, hard to believe she'd been holed up in this realm for ages.
“Beginning now.”
Hummm.
Ripples emanated from the crown of her head, distorting space.
The dream world soon engulfed me.
Fwoosh.
The goddess's unconscious sank deep.
Gray smoke rose one by one in the pitch-black space, forming human shapes.
A massive lab with dozens of robed magitech researchers standing at attention.
Behind them loomed ten large tanks.
Inside each, a naked young girl floated.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The lab door opened. A masked man entered, trailed by several researchers.
They stood at his flanks, hands behind backs, securing positions.
He took center stage and nodded curtly.
“Report the current status of test subject Muryria-13 batch.”
An elderly researcher, seemingly the highest-ranked, stepped forward.
“Enchantment for knowledge transfer succeeded in all ten subjects. We've injected a potion for knowledge preservation and intelligence enhancement into their cerebral blood vessels.”
“……”
The masked man took a report board from beside him and flipped through pages.
“Rejection reactions?”
“Some subjects show reactions, but nothing extreme. We judge continued testing feasible.”
“……Good.”
The man closed the report and handed it back.
“Let's see some results.”
Mana Amplification
Vrrrm.
Mana waves shot from his outstretched hands toward the subjects.
His mana swept every corner of their bodies, and the potions inside went berserk.
“Muryria-13-01! Brain death from cerebral hemorrhage!”
“Muryria-13-02! Shock from unable to endure accelerated brain processing!”
“Muryria-13-04! Drug rejection! Vital signs stopped!”
As subjects vomited blood one by one, their vitals faded on the magitech monitors.
Beeeep.
Flatlining heartbeats blared from speakers, signaling all subjects' deaths.
“……Failure.”
The man clicked his tongue.
“Useless trash. Incinerate and dispose of them all. Prepare Muryria-14 batch.”
“Yes, sir!”
As researchers bustled at his command—
Beep… beep… beep…
“M-Muryria-13-07! Vitals confirmed! Brain acceleration growth via mana—success!”
“……Hoo.”
Just one.
Despite vomiting blood, she still lived.
The man approached her tank, eyes gleaming.
“Transfer this subject to Sector 1. I'll manage her personally.”
He grinned wickedly.
“Even trash bloodlines have their uses.”
The girl called Muryria-13-07.
Gazing at the goddess of Wisdom in her human days, I dimly sensed this dream wouldn't resolve easily.