Humans Are Always the Root of Every Problem

"Good heavens... is that...?"

Karen ignored Hangil's words beside him and sank into thought. The white mouse had certainly been fate — sent by the goddess to save the Saintess. Then was this a coincidence? That this girl resembled someone from his memories?

This is incredibly irritating.

The mood that Hangil's antics had managed to lift came crashing back down the moment he saw the girl. Not once since returning to Earth had he felt this genuinely foul, this viscerally annoyed.

Not when the Daehan Group had come barging in. Not even when that mad scientist had provoked him out of nowhere. None of it had been this bad.

Let's deal with this one first.

"So. What are you going to do?"

Karen could have opened it himself in an instant, but he deliberately tested Hangil. There wasn't even a key for this door — just a thick latch that could only be opened from the outside.

Clunk.

Hangil pulled the latch aside without a shred of hesitation and threw the locked door open.

"You sure you can just open that? The Church locked her in there, didn't they?"

At Karen's words, every trace of Hangil's earlier wavering vanished. He answered with unwavering eyes.

"There is not a single law or scripture in the Church that says a young child should be left in a condition like that."

A child could be suspected of heresy. A witch could, in theory, be wearing a disguise. But until that was confirmed, they at least deserved a minimum of dignity.

"And how, exactly, would a witch create an altar pouring out holy power like that?"

"You pass."

Whatever the goddess was doing, Hangil's action just now had been his own choice. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A god could set the table, but picking up the spoon and eating was a human's job.

He hasn't been completely jaded yet.

Karen walked through the door Hangil had opened and faced the Saintess.

She really does look like that child. But this girl knows nothing.

If it weren't for the color of her eyes, even he wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. Karen forcibly suppressed the tender affection welling up unbidden — and the hostility toward the goddess along with it.

"...Something big is coming."

The Saintess muttered something incomprehensible.

"...Something big?"

Karen's voice came out faintly weary. He'd rather fight all day than wrestle with his own emotions — that was several times harder. Despite his best efforts, a chill dripped from every word he spoke to the child.

"Lady Solari told me."

"I've thought this for a while, but your goddess is a peculiar one."

He was going to have a word with that goddess. As if reading Karen's mind, the Saintess pointed at the altar radiating holy power.

"She says you should touch that."

"Fine."

Karen strode past the Saintess and reached toward the altar. It wasn't a proper holy altar or relic, so it was a bit lacking — but it would be more than enough for a brief conversation.

Yes. This feeling.

A refreshing sensation, utterly unlike the filthy energy of a Gate — like a mint candy melting on his tongue — wrapped around Karen's body. And then, in an instant, he was sitting in a pure white room. He felt the plush cushion beneath him, and someone offered a greeting.

"Welcome!"

"...Saintess?"

"Bzzzt! Wrong! I'm the goddess you people talk about! I wanted to show you this appearance — she's my favorite child."

She looked exactly like the girl he'd just seen in the underground prison. But instead of rags, she wore a clean white T-shirt. Unlike the Saintess, she looked at him with a face full of mischief.

Despite the goddess's hospitality, Karen asked in a voice of ice.

"Did you deliberately make that child look like Adela?"

The biting question might have cowed anyone else, but the goddess kept her smile and answered.

"That was a coincidence. I got information about you from the gods over there and was shocked myself."

"A coincidence..."

"It's true. Gods can't lie."

"I wouldn't know about that."

"I'm telling you it's true! And I don't have that kind of power! I'm not as omnipotent as humans think."

"Hah..."

Karen rubbed his face with both hands and let out a long breath. Then he noticed his fingers... were rather small. Come to think of it, his field of vision had dropped as well.

"This space reverts you to your childhood self so we can talk more openly. Body and mind both. Not as a baby, of course. We wouldn't be able to talk then, would we?"

"I see."

Judging by his shrunken hands, he'd gone back to around third grade. What felt most real of all was his hair — black, the color it had been before a potion's side effect turned it silver.

Snap.

"Drink this and cheer up. I didn't know it would turn out like that either, okay?"

As expected of a goddess — she snapped her fingers, and Karen's favorite strawberry latte appeared in his hand. One sip through the straw, and it tasted exactly like Dandelion Cafe's. Truly a goddess.

"I'm really glad to meet you. How's Earth treating you?"

The goddess watched Karen's expression carefully as she asked. It was hard to be unkind to a smiling face — and that beaming little face was genuinely cute.

"It's nice, after nothing but hardship. But..."

"You had something you wanted to ask, right? I'll answer."

"Then I'd be grateful."

"Then let me ask you one question first, to make answering easier. Gates are fragments that broke off from other planets. What is a fragment?"

"Debris that broke away."

"Correct! Since they broke away from the main body that produces mana, World Fragments naturally perish over time. So they instinctively try to siphon mana."

Even an S-Rank Awakened was no more than a speck of dust from a fragment's perspective — they wouldn't even register its existence. But Karen's mana was so vast and exceptional that the whole incident had occurred. Even as a fragment, it retained a faint divinity, and within its own domain, its power was formidable.

"But when I returned to Earth, my mana came back."

"I fought the fragment and protected you in the passage! I held onto your power for a bit. Otherwise the fragment would've stolen it, you know? Pretty good, right?"

"That was well done."

But were gods originally this cheerful? Every god he'd met before had been solemn. Still, seeing her like this in the form of a little girl, it somehow suited her — no sense of disconnect at all.

"I helped you, so let me ask one favor, okay?"

"...What is it?"

A vague sense of foreboding made Karen's voice sharpen despite himself. He remembered what the Saintess had said. Something big is coming.

As expected, his ominous premonition hadn't been wrong. Something big had arrived — far too big.

"No. I don't owe you that much."

Karen refused coldly, without a moment's hesitation. Gratitude was gratitude, but he wanted nothing to do with that kind of work. Why had he come to Earth in the first place? He'd come specifically to avoid that.

"Just once, please? Okay? I'll tell you other things too! Okay?"

"I won't listen, and I won't do it."

"Tch! Fine. I'll just tell you anyway. This is about you."

"Then I'll listen gratefully."

You didn't refuse free information. He wasn't so weak-willed that it would sway him. And it was a goddess speaking — there was nothing to lose by hearing it.

"Then, question! What happens when a person goes to another world?"

The atmosphere shifted completely. The goddess put on round glasses and a child's suit, transforming into a quiz show host.

"Hellish hardship? Irritation? A massive pain?"

Karen dumped out every grievance he'd felt when he'd first fallen from Earth to Belial, completely unprepared.

"Bzzzt! Wrong! Don't you read fantasy novels? Or those comics they have these days?"

"I only watch TV and dramas. I'm too busy even for those."

"Really? Well, can't be helped. The answer is: you gain a new ability!"

Fireworks burst around them as the goddess spun a full circle on her right foot. She really was... an energetic goddess. Truly like a child.

"That... isekai high-schooler-goes-on-a-rampage kind of thing?"

It was the only term Karen knew from fantasy novels, which he never read. The middle schooler next door had been so impressed by those kinds of stories that he'd jumped from the third floor claiming he'd gained powers, and broken his leg. One of those memories that never faded, no matter how much time passed.

"Oh, come on! When was that even popular? You had an ability too, didn't you?"

"An ability? Immortality? That thing that was completely useless at first?"

Karen snapped with irritation. He'd thought he'd survived Belial through luck. Scratch that. He'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been spectacularly unlucky.

"Hiiing... why are you being so mean to me..."

"...I'm sorry."

Karen apologized when the goddess shrank back at his irritation. It wasn't this goddess's fault, after all... wait...

"I didn't send you there, okay? Don't get the wrong idea."

The goddess read the expression on Karen's face and waved her hands vigorously in denial.

"Anyway, when you cross into another world, that world's laws shake, and a random change occurs in the subject. And you weren't unlucky."

"Meaning it doesn't only grant good abilities."

"See, you're smart. Yeah — your appearance could turn grotesque... you could suddenly become a slime. Or your whole body could start rotting away."

The thought of dying without even knowing why sent a chill through Karen.

"Then... now that I've come back to Earth..."

"That's right. You're not immortal anymore. You were originally from Earth. You're ordinary again. Or wait — for someone like you, maybe immortality was the more ordinary state?"

"...I see."

It was an ability others would kill for, but Karen felt only relief. The clock that had stopped for him was ticking again. It felt more like he'd reclaimed his life.

"So now that you're not even immortal, don't you want to live your life to the fullest? If you just help once before extinction..."

"No."

So she did have an ulterior motive. Trying to dangle his newfound attachment to life as bait. When he refused coldly once more, the goddess looked faintly hurt. But no matter how pitiful her expression, Karen didn't budge. These days Samsaek had been acting up and throwing tantrums more and more — their faces overlapped.

"I feel like you just had a really blasphemous thought..."

"Must be your imagination. Please continue. And no matter what you say, I won't be swayed."

"Then at least hear why humanity's going extinct, okay?"

"I'll do you the favor of listening."

The goddess, delighted by Karen's magnanimous tone, continued eagerly. It was getting hard to tell who was the human and who was the god.

"I said Gates were fragments earlier, remember?"

"Of course. Then... wait a second..."

If fragments called Gates had appeared on Earth...

"See! I knew you'd get it instantly! The main bodies will be coming soon, right? They're searching for Earth even now. Those are like omens."

"...Don't you have a job to do? You're Earth's goddess. Do something about it."

Weariness mixed into Karen's voice. After everything it had taken to get here... he couldn't even flee back to Belial. Coming here had required the support of an entire continent and its mages. And even if he went back, another Opposer would appear, so it would be the same anyway.

"I'm not Earth's goddess."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm the goddess of humanity. I said humanity would go extinct, not that Earth would be destroyed. On Earth, humans are the only species intelligent enough to believe in a god."

"That's true enough."

He'd never really thought about it, so he hadn't realized. Earth didn't have such species... then a certain cat flashed through Karen's mind.

"What about Spiritual Beasts? They're smarter than most humans."

"There are too few of them. You need a large enough population to create a god."

True enough — Spiritual Beasts had already been scarce, and lately their numbers had dwindled even further.

"Anyway, so that's why you revealed yourself after the Cataclysm? Through the Saint?"

"It wasn't so much that I revealed myself — when humanity faced a crisis, humanity's will naturally created me. You people look for a god when things get hard, right? 'Oh my God!' like that. Even that has meaning."

The goddess raised both hands to the sky in an exaggerated imitation of humans and pressed on.

"Once I was born that way, I tried to create a focal point through the Church. Looking through your history, religion is the easiest way to gather people in one place during hard times. And I actually exist, too."

"Isn't that from the Middle Ages? And the religion you founded is already a complete mess."

When Karen spoke with a touch of self-mockery about everything he'd seen of the Church, the goddess suddenly bellowed.

"You people don't listen!"

Karen stared at her, dumbfounded, as fat teardrops rolled from the goddess's eyes.

A goddess... crying?

She looked like a child, sure, but she was still a goddess, wasn't she? Karen's common sense shattered as he scrambled to soothe the wailing goddess.

"Stop that! No, wait, that's not—"

"Leave her. It's fine. She'll stop in a bit."

Just then, an adult woman appeared behind the goddess and gathered her into an embrace. Karen recognized her identity at a glance.

"You're a goddess as well. So there are two of you?"

Blonde hair, and though slightly different, her delicate features were nearly identical. This was exactly what Ellie would look like as an adult.

"No. I'm an avatar, and this child is the original. She was so wounded she split her divinity."

"Wounded? Gods can be hurt?"

"We're the gods of humanity. Humans created us, so our natures are the same. We get hurt and we love. We hate, and we play favorites too."

The goddess finally stopped crying in the adult goddess's arms. Then she wailed bitterly.

"You're all mean! I worked so hard... you locked up the Saint! You ignored my warnings! And I went to so much trouble to send the Saintess, and you treated her like a witch!"

"Damn it..."

No matter where you went, humans were the problem. Karen deeply sympathized with the goddess's fury, but he was one of those humans himself, so he had nothing to say. Still, he couldn't let sympathy for her situation sway him. He should at least get her to stop crying, so he offered some half-hearted comfort.

"Then we just need to start preparing properly from now on."

"Really? Then you'll help? If you help, we can stop it. You're the best, after all!"

As if she'd never been throwing a tantrum, the goddess slipped from the avatar's arms and scampered over to Karen, looking up at him.

"As I already said: No. I. Won't."

"That's so cheap!"

"What's cheap about it? Just gather the humans and stop it yourselves."

"You people locked up the Saint! He's my eyes and ears! Humans can't see me directly unless they're as strong as you!"

With no solution in sight, their voices started rising. Normally Karen's emotions wouldn't flare this easily, but as the goddess had said, this room was making even his mind younger. It was only this contained because it was Karen — anyone else would have exploded long ago.

"Is that my responsibility? And what are you, a stalker instead of a goddess?"

"A goddess can't even do that much? And you have no responsibility? Aren't you human? Did you spend so long in Belial you turned into a Belial orc? Want me to introduce you to their orc god so you can go join them?"

"What's with the childishness? How long have I even been back on Earth? What have you been doing all this time?"

Where else would you witness a goddess and a man well over a hundred and sixty years old bickering like children? The goddess's avatar conjured a chair, sat down comfortably, and began watching the fight unfolding before her eyes.

"I've done plenty, okay? I even posted comments on the internet saying humanity was going extinct, okay?"

The goddess's last words brought back a conversation Karen had had with Samsaek while watching TV.

"That's exactly why nobody believes it!"

Karen bellowed. Even he had dismissed it as insane rambling — how would anyone else take it?

"Then have the Church say it!"

"The Saint said coming out with that from the start would make us look like a cult. There's still some time left, so we could say it later."

Karen felt that was the most logical and intelligent thing the goddess had said so far. From what he'd seen, the number one contributor to growing the Solari Church this far was definitely the Saint. Those internet comments were the goddess's handiwork.

"And that's not all, okay? I made the auction house and HunTube too!"

"You're saying you created the auction house and HunTube?"

That was actually surprising. No wonder the sites had never been hacked even once, and nobody had ever seen an administrator.

"I made them so people would buy and sell things, share information, and grow stronger together. But all that ever gets uploaded is weird videos! I even barely managed to create a secret organization with the Saint to manage it, without the Church knowing!"

"Then just tell that secret organization to handle it."

When Karen said this sullenly, the goddess's face flushed red and she stomped her feet, shouting.

"The secret organization only listens to the Saint! He's locked up, you idiot! They can't function without him!"

"Idiot? Excuse me — did I stop that conversation? I was in Belial the whole time, working myself to the bone!"

"That was the will of the gods! You came back that strong, so go save Earth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once!"

"Didn't you say you weren't that omnipotent? I ran away from Belial because I was sick of that. I came to Earth to rest — why should I work during my vacation? What are you, some kind of exploitative boss? You don't even pay a salary."

"Oh, now you're casually dropping the formal speech? Do I get a salary? I'll let the informal speech slide, so just save us once! Okay?"

"I don't care! Once becomes twice, twice becomes four times. And you said they, plural? Didn't you say gods can't lie?"

Oh... she walked right into that.

Crunch.

The goddess in the back, who had now created half-caramel, half-cheese popcorn and was even sipping cola, nodded in admiration at Karen's attack.

"...That's not a lie, I just didn't mention it! And if you don't protect humanity, you won't have a place to rest either, you know? If all the humans die, where are you going to rest?"

"If I die trying to stop it, I won't get to rest at all, will I? I've lived over a hundred and sixty years, so I'd rather rest a little more and then take a potion and die comfortably."

"I know you're not serious. You care about the people around you! They're still so young — what are you going to do about them?"

That's a counterattack from her side.

"...Since when do gods make threats? Are you even a real goddess?"

Karen, at a loss for words, looked at the goddess with contempt. But she was no easy opponent — she puffed out her chest without a care.

"The ones who made this goddess were you humans, you know?"

Grin. Grin.

Karen and the goddess had been shouting at each other for so long that they both ran out of breath, and the conversation broke off. They glared at each other, catching their breath.

No. This will never end if we keep going like this.

Reason flashing back, Karen composed his voice and mind for a moment, then spoke.

"Hah... O Goddess, let us negotiate."

"Hmph! What?"

"You just need the Church, right?"

"If we can just get the Church back to normal, we should be able to manage somehow?"

"Then I'll just — rescue that Saint. I'll storm in, wipe them all out, and say it was the will of the goddess. You won't bother me after that, right? After I save him, just make sure to tell the Saint clearly."

He'd seemed to have calmed down on the surface, but the words coming out of Karen's mouth were anything but. This wasn't empty bluster. In this mood, he genuinely looked ready to storm the Solari Church's headquarters right then and there.

"That's a bit difficult..."

"What now..."

"It's not like that. The Saint is as good as dead."

"What? You said he was imprisoned. If I just rescue him..."

"I phrased it that way, but he's barely clinging to life. That bastard of a Pope did something to him, and he collapsed — now they've put him in some strange coffin."

"...These human bastards."

The curse slipped from Karen's mouth on its own. Samsaek's favorite expression must have rubbed off on him.

"I'm the goddess of humanity, you know..."

"Don't pretend you weren't cursing them right along with me just now. So what do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we do now?"

"That's why I sent the Saintess. It's a long story, and once you leave here, all the information will go into your head. And I can't be active anymore."

"You have the Saintess, don't you?"

"I can't talk with the Saintess anymore either. I've already told her everything. I'm too busy hiding Earth from the ones invading. Designating a new Saintess while the Saint was still alive, and talking with you right now — both of those were enormous strains. Cough."

The goddess coughed theatrically, but Karen saw through the act immediately and paid it no mind.

"Don't play the pity card. Then we just need the Church to formally recognize the Saintess, right? Then she'll take the lead in stopping it herself."

"You can't kill them all, okay? Then there's no point! The Church needs to grow its influence and have people if it's going to stop this."

The goddess said this urgently.

Who does this goddess take me for, a murderer...

Karen looked at her, incredulous.

"I don't kill people unless I have to. Then until the Church is normalized, I'll have no choice but to stay with the Saintess..."

"That's right."

"Then grant me one last request."

"I don't have much power left... could it wait until later?"

"It's nothing major. And it won't be a bad thing for you either."

"Really? What is it?"

Upon hearing the contents of Karen's request, the goddess readily agreed. If anything, she looked at him with concern.

"That much I can do. I'll show you when you leave here. But are you really okay with that? Isn't it a painful memory?"

"I'll need it if I'm going to stay with the Saintess. A direct approach is cleaner."

"Alright. And I'll help you out once more later. Want to go now?"

"Let's."

The goddess snapped her fingers, and the space around Karen warped, sucking him in in an instant. In the now-empty pure white room, the goddess gazed at the spot where Karen had vanished with pitying eyes and murmured.