Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: The First Interaction
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I faced Erin's innocent face and lightly reflected on what had just happened.
Truly.
It was truly an astonishing experience.
The comic I'd checked via the link had cut off right at the point saying "this is just the beginning," so without much thought, I'd turned my gaze to the game window that had popped up—
Suddenly, familiar characters stepped out from a small house.
"Huh?"
I easily recognized who those characters were.
Even though they were tiny—depicted in chibi style, no less.
One beautiful girl in vulgar saintess attire with platinum blonde hair.
And one ripe beauty with golden blonde hair, perfectly accented by a tiara perched atop her head like a strawberry on a cake, dressed in an elegant gown.
I was certain.
That's—Erin and Eirene, right?
No matter how deformed the art style, I could tell at a glance.
How many times had I held appreciation sessions for their illustrations?
I naturally moved the mouse cursor over Erin.
A tooltip appeared right away, easily proving my guess was correct.
[Erin / (Saintess / Faith and affection levels not displayed) / Human / ♰]
The note about affection not being displayed... did that mean other characters showed theirs?
As I casually moved the cursor around, it landed on an orange-haired elf walking from a short distance away.
[Pibiola / Recent Pilgrim (✟✞✞✞✞) / ♥♡♡♡♡ / Elf / ⚑]
"Wow, that's wild."
Having played a fair share of games over the years, I had a pretty good idea what the crosses and hearts meant without any extra explanation.
The crosses represented faith. The more filled in, the more strongly they believed in me. Pibiola had suffered so much from the Dtamuk Thinking Army until recently that it made sense her faith was relatively low even after witnessing various miracles and turning into a fanatic.
The heart icons for affection were the same.
Sure, I'd done this and that for Pibiola—but my motivations were pure pity, nothing like my heart racing at the sight of her.
Even if she liked me, it was only as a "god" she believed in, relied on, and followed—so high affection wouldn't be weird.
And the flag next to the elf race name... considering Erin had a cool cross symbol there—
"Probably means she's the leader of the elves."
Not certain, but it seemed reasonable.
I could just ask Author-chan later.
"...Hold on."
If faith and affection were laid bare like this, then my wife...
"What does Eirene... think of me?"
I'd been insisting she was "my wife" unilaterally until now, but honestly, it had just been the feeling of simping for a comic character.
No real interaction, so no pressure.
But now that affection was quantified and visible...
"..."
With my heart pounding for no reason, I cautiously... moved the cursor toward my tiara-wearing wife.
And what appeared was—
[Eirene von Ainsberg / God's Woman (✟✟✟✟✟ + ♥) / ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ / Human / ♕]
...Kuhum!
I cleared my throat repeatedly.
No...
Eirene's affection had not only infiltrated her faith section—it was bursting out of the tooltip box like it was protesting the limits.
For Pibiola, five seemed like the max...
"What is this heavy love...!"
Her love was one thing—
But do you know the most surprising—no, in a way, the funniest fact here?
"..."
It was that my own heart was pounding like it might explode after seeing her affection directly.
Thump, thump, thump...
My heartbeat was devouring my world bit by bit.
"Eirene-chan... how much do you like me...!!!"
When reading the comic, it was all the author's content, so I'd enjoyed it with vibes like "Igugwoden~~~! Seeeeeeex haaaaair~~~~!!"—
But facing her feelings toward me quantified and displayed as a tooltip was definitely a different experience.
Ha... I love it too much.
I love Eirene so much. I love my wife so much.
How can a character like this exist? How can there be such a perfect woman?
At this point, isn't it only right to marry her across dimensions?
She's my ideal on the other side of the screen—and she loves me this much?
Judging purely by affection, wouldn't Eirene agree with me?
Marry Eirene, have enough kids for a soccer team—isn't that best for everyone? Right?
I chugged some cold water to calm my heated insides.
"Calm down..."
...No.
I've never tried it, so I wouldn't know.
But with the comic turning into a game, it feels like we're actually flirting...
"This is dangerous... for real."
Not to brag, but I'm an internet ghost.
Wandering the net, I've seen superhumans cross rivers no human should.
People blurring the thin line between reality and fiction—immersing in virtual beings and loving them for real.
You know that guy across the sea who legally married a famous female character, took wedding photos with her 1:1 scale figure?
I've been called a bit of an otaku myself—
But whenever I saw that, I'd marvel at how the "real" ones moved differently.
Characters were just characters.
Grab one that caught my eye, simp until bored, then drop—living like your average otaku.
But... not anymore.
I was starting to like Eirene dangerously too much.
No matter that the author made a game, I can't forget this is still virtual.
The moment I do... I'll cross it! That "river" with no return!
Anyway, with my mind settled, I looked back at the game screen.
By now, Eirene, Erin, and Pibiola had gathered in one spot, chatting.
I had no idea what they were saying... but watching the tiny characters chirp away among themselves was healing in itself.
[ Igugwoden : Finished the comic lololol it's fun ]
[ Igugwoden : Characters popping out right after the end is such a nice detail fr how'd you make this?? So cool ]
[ Please Donate : As I mentioned, I didn't create anything—it's just applying the observation method that showed this world ]
[ Please Donate : I'm truly sorry I can't explain in detail ]
[ Igugwoden : lololol no no it's fine it's fine ]
[ Igugwoden : Anyway it's cute and I love it just watching them toddle around is fun ]
I was satisfied—but honestly, even polite words couldn't call the game's quality top-tier.
The map graphics were near-dot style, characters were tiny chibis, and tooltips on select few was it.
No menus for me to do anything—just watching them toddle.
Felt more like a cyber mini-garden diorama than a game.
Still—what's wrong with a mini-garden?
Creating what looked like a game linked to the comic in just two short days was impressive.
So as I thought to show my own appreciation for their effort—
[ Please Donate : If you've finished observing, I have something to say ]
[ Igugwoden : Yeah?? What? ]
—The author whispered to me again.
[ Please Donate : So... ]
[ Please Donate : It seems Igugwoden-nim can perform simple 'interactions' by directly doing a 'click' ]
[ Igugwoden : Whwhat ]
[ Igugwoden : What??? ]
[ Igugwoden : Interaction??? ]
[ Please Donate : Since we just built the observation system, only Saintess Erin is possible right now... ]
[ Please Donate : I need to check before I can say more ]
[ Please Donate : For now, why not try 'clicking' on Erin? ]
I immediately clicked on the tiny Erin.
And what appeared—a big screen.
The UI was crude, like a notepad on an old OS—but the info displayed was staggering.
There was Erin's face, with suspiciously superior graphics.
And at the same time—
[ Please Donate : xawz.wo.to ]
[ Please Donate : Check the observation content here ]
So I clicked the link the author sent while Erin's face stayed up—
* * *
—And that's how checking the additional comic they sent brought us to now.
"Whew..."
I looked at Erin's face.
I knew it was a game... but seeing the heroine I'd only known from comics blinking at me straight-on—
It definitely felt different.
Making my earlier resolve look foolish.
Yeah.
The author was whispering to me again.
—Hey. You still not crossing the river? Brutal, brutal!
With that unheard authorial voice echoing in my ears—
I cautiously voiced the message under Erin's face again.
"What would you like to do...?"
...Uh, so.
What... can I do?
No.
To be honest.
I had a pretty good idea what I could do. The UI was rough, but this kind of interaction was common in the mobile otaku games I'd played when bored.
Touch here and there for dialogue—standard in character-simp sales games.
So, probably stroking her head like this...
I clicked Erin's platinum blonde hair.
《Ah...》
—Pat pat.
A message and light sound effect played as Erin slightly closed her eyes.
Then... blushing, she looked back at me with half-lidded eyes.
At the same time—the message box rose below.
《I feel Igugwoden-nim's touch... so warm.》
《As expected... you were there...?》
"Huh...!"
Sure.
No voice acting, just text... but ticklish.
Something inside me tickled mercilessly, and a voice slipped out unbidden.
Her cute motion naturally brought a smile to my lips.
"This... this is no joke."
You could say I'm overreacting to touching a game character, but I had my say.
No matter how immersed I get, if I could've petted her head from the start, it wouldn't feel this strangely.
This was possible because of the epic saga I'd built with the author and their comic characters up to this moment.
As the author said, while sponsoring and reading the comic, I became a god. Their sole god, overlooking the world.
I'd spent no short time as a god with Erin. Untouchable, unreachable... but just seeing their world improve with my sponsorship filled me to bursting.
That's why the interaction felt so special.
Erin—who believed in me as god but could never reach—had come to me for the first time!
And that's why—
"......!!"
Inevitably, I faced a dilemma.
In games with this interaction style, recalling what I'd always done thoughtlessly without care.
I cautiously checked Erin's form.
Her upper body filled the window.
Yeah.
Not just her face... her upper body.
Lower my eyes a bit, and there it was.
Proven by scripture as holier than any nun.
The Divine Power Pouch with such overwhelming presence it couldn't be ignored—
Her violently swollen chest, ready to rip the saintess robe I'd made her at any moment.
I slowly lowered the mouse cursor, swallowing dryly again.
The mere text on screen still asked me—
What would you like to do?
And I realized.
I, Igugwoden—believed by Erin, loved by Eirene, revered by humans and elves, trembled in fear by the Dtamuk Thinking Army—
—Right now, for the first time as a god, stood at the crossroads of a once-in-a-lifetime choice.