Opening My Eyes
My head was throbbing. It was the classic symptom of a hangover—the brain stuck inside my skull swelling more than usual and flaunting its presence through pain. But I didn’t drink yesterday. Actually, I haven’t touched alcohol in quite a while. So why does my head hurt this much? Did I do something wrong?
Unexpectedly, an answer came.
“It’s out!”
“It’s done! It’s hereee!”
…That wasn’t an answer to my question.
“Ugh, ugh, ughhh……”
My head rang. Half of it was because of the clamor—voices that sounded oddly aged, fussing as if they’d pulled something incredible from a gacha or reroll game. The other half was the still-present pressure of my brain and cerebrospinal fluid pressing against my skull, even as it slowly subsided.
Still, there were people around. I might have passed out somewhere, but if I got up and looked around, I’d probably see friends or similar people sprawled out with me. Since my eyes weren’t opening well yet, I reached around for my phone, which should’ve been nearby.
Squelch.
Squelch?
“Ugh, grrr……”
The first sense to return was hearing. I’d heard the adults shouting about something appearing or being done, but hearing my own voice made me wake up more clearly. And it was a woman’s voice. Was that really my voice? This was that, wasn’t it? It had to be.
But the situation wasn’t one where I could afford to freak out over that realization. Next came touch. Something felt squishy, which wouldn’t happen on a normal floor after passing out drunk. It wasn’t a pleasant sensation either. It was squishy, but mixed with a slimy, sticky feeling? There were also tube-like things, round things, and hard, pointed things brushing against my fingertips.
Hopefully not some kind of tentacle. If things started like this, that’d be a problem. But hadn’t I heard people’s voices earlier? Was this some kind of cult ritual or dark something-or-other ceremony?
Next came smell. A fishy odor rushed in. Not exactly fish, but something stickier, more visceral, the kind that made you want to gag.
Next came sight—
“Now, don’t open your eyes just yet. Stay still, that’s it. Relax your body and lean into me. Come, I’ll take you somewhere safe.”
I felt someone’s hand cover my eyelids, which had been trembling as they tried to open. The touch felt like a warm grandmother’s hand, and the voice was aged, kind, and gentle. Maybe because I’d been put to sleep by a grandmother who adored her grandchildren when I was little, this temptation was something I couldn’t resist.
My nose tickled slightly, and that awful fishy smell vanished, replaced by a fragrance I’d never smelled before—probably some kind of herb—that filled my head. The pressure that had filled my skull eased considerably.
At this rate, I’d fall asleep in no time. I should try to stay conscious if possible……
……Hah!
I shot upright and opened my eyes. The surroundings were a rather antique yet refined white bedroom. The sheets were white, the walls were white, the furniture was white, and even the ceiling lights were white. But it wasn’t so overwhelmingly white that it felt like a psychiatric ward or some sterile time chamber. Each piece of furniture had subtle differences in saturation, making the colors distinguishable. If anything, it felt quite colorful.
“Have you awakened?”
Where was this? Who was I? As I tried to figure that out, I whipped my head around looking for a mirror. Among the furnishings, a pair of tall double doors—about 2.5 meters high, made of dark, luxurious hardwood—swung inward, and someone entered.
His expression was benevolent and dignified, and his robes were pristine priestly garments, but something about him felt empty. Like a design meant to be lavishly decorated, yet left strangely hollow.
“Uh, um, yes. I, I woke up…… sort of……”
Flinch. The voice that came out, stammering and hoarse with thirst, was still undeniably beautiful. Only then did I think to examine my own body. What I felt first was the smooth, high-quality fabric sliding under my fingertips. Silk, maybe? I couldn’t tell for sure. At my slightly raised nape, I felt a different kind of softness—delicate and fine—distinct from the fabric. Softness felt simultaneously at my nape and my fingertips.
What about lower down? As my hands and gaze traveled downward, I saw a body with considerable volume, and my hands confirmed it. Both sides vouched that this wasn’t an illusion or mistake.
“You must be confused. You have been newly born into that body as a god.”
A god? Me? I almost said “No, I’m not.” I was definitely not a god. I was just an ordinary young man you could find anywhere, someone who’d barely avoided unemployment thanks to a bit of luck. The kind of guy who browsed galleries, read web novels, played games, and always ended up ordering delivery food despite swearing he wouldn’t. But somehow, I had a strong, very strong feeling that denying being a god here wouldn’t end well. Just from the sensation when I first regained consciousness, that unidentified fishy smell still seemed to linger at the tip of my nose.
“My memories are a bit……”
“I understand. According to the scriptures, there have been those who never recovered their memories in the end.”
I’d been about to offer a cliché excuse that even I thought sounded flimsy, but before I could finish, the other side brought it up first. So that kind of thing had happened before. Thinking about it, it wasn’t that strange. If gods really existed and entered human bodies, it made sense there’d be side effects or repercussions. Even so, it seemed gods really did exist. The old man in front of me was clearly a priest, and the furniture around me gave off an oddly sacred feeling. This must be a church or temple.
“Well then, putting that aside, why did you call me into this body?”
I hadn’t intended to speak so curtly. My brain had just short-circuited for a moment and I couldn’t properly finish my sentence. To anyone watching, I probably looked like someone glancing around nervously with slightly hunched shoulders.
“Please, please become our saintess. Lead our brothers and sisters of faith onto the right path. Correct this world thrown into chaos by secular lords and monsters.”
Saintess? And what? Lead the faithful? Against secular lords and monsters? A few clues had emerged about the setting. A church that officially recognized saintesses, which naturally meant conflict with secular lords, and monsters on the opposing side. Fantasy. A typical medieval fantasy with magic, demon kings, and monsters. And the church was desperate enough to summon a god into a human body.
“What do I need to do? Yo.”
I needed to shake off this awkwardness quickly. In a situation where one wrong move could be disastrous, it was best to minimize any openings. That aside, I was handling this situation remarkably calmly. I could gather evidence and organize the situation efficiently. My head seemed sharper than usual.
“You will come to realize it yourself. The reason the higher being sent you is surely because you already possess the necessary abilities.”
There was a somewhat fatalistic undertone. The very fact that I’d been summoned or possessed like this meant the higher being had already prepared for what would follow. Honestly, I was very skeptical about that right now. Why me, of all people? If I were someone at the pinnacle of some field, maybe, but I clearly wasn’t. I might know a little about a lot of things, but even that wasn’t really true. Still, saying “I can’t do that here” or “I don’t have any abilities, so can’t you just send me back?” wouldn’t get me sent back politely with an apology. The problem was that once possessed, it was assumed this would all come to pass—meaning they’d pushed forward with this like some kind of rain dance even without certainty the possession would succeed. And it meant they were desperate enough to do it. Maybe, since the possession had succeeded once, they’d try to reuse it. If they did, would my mind or soul be able to return? I had to avoid the worst-case scenario when uncertain. My original body would at least keep breathing somehow, even with its soul missing. It wouldn’t be abandoned easily. Probably.
“Alright. But I don’t know anything about this place.”
So I needed to cooperate as much as possible—or at least give the impression of cooperating—while buying time to find a plausible excuse. Still, my head was working better than in my original body. I supposed that was fortunate.
“We have prepared the necessary study materials and curriculum……”
“No, that’s not it. That won’t do.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
This was only a way to buy time. To extend my lifeline, or at least hold out until I found a way back to my original world, I needed to produce some tangible results. At least once. To do that, I had to access information from as many diverse sources as possible. But this was a church—essentially a den of religious fanatics. I knew medieval churches filled administrative voids, but in the end, a church was still a church. All materials would be filtered through a religious lens. Relying solely on such biased sources while gathering information was something to avoid. There was no internet or video media here, so I’d have to go find the materials myself.
“You want me to guide the faithful against secular lords and monsters, right? Then I need to understand how those secular lords, monsters, and faithful think and what perspectives they hold. Or can your priests heal every injury and illness of every person?”
“I see. You are correct. There are limits to our divine power as well.”
Another keyword. Divine power had limits. Meaning there existed a power called divine power that could heal people. I didn’t know the details, but that power probably came from faith. So did just believing in a god work? But what exactly were the criteria for faith? Gods? They probably existed. No, they definitely did. The fact that I was here was proof. This wasn’t Earth, so at minimum some distant planet, or perhaps an entirely different universe or dimension where such interference was possible—meaning they were that powerful. No, they were definitely that powerful. Then, to manifest that power, did I just need to express faith? How?
As I thought that, I noticed a palm-sized cross beside me. Drawn to its golden gleam, I grabbed it.
“O-oh? Ooooooh!”
A pure white light burst forth. I’d only thought about using this power called divine power, whose mechanism, cause, and effects I still didn’t understand.
“I need the broadest knowledge possible. So please let me access as much knowledge as I can reach.”
“O-of course! We shall begin immediately!”