“Is this it?”
“Yes, it is.”
I was near a mansion.
A large house surrounded by an idyllic environment, with only trees and grass in sight.
That was going to be the home for my family.
It clearly looked like it had taken a lot of effort to build. I hadn’t checked the inside yet, but I was already smitten.
Liam seemed satisfied, nodding his head repeatedly before speaking up.
“Hey guys, what do you think?”
At Dad’s question, the girls and boy had different reactions.
“The air is fresh! The mana is rich!”
Erina cheerfully replied as she bounced around, as usual.
“……”
Ibailla quietly looked around with wide eyes.
Meanwhile, Rohan, who had just started to say simple words a few weeks ago, gave an unrelated answer.
“Mommy!”
The little one stretched out his hands while calling me, and his bright smile naturally made me break into a ‘mommy smile.’
“I’m right here, Rohan.”
I pinched the cheek of the youngest, nestled in Liam’s arms. Rohan’s smile deepened even more.
But Liam’s expression twisted slightly.
“Why are you calling for Mommy when I’m holding you?”
“Maybe because you like me more. And besides, you still can’t say ‘Dad,’ can you?”
“…That’s just too unfair. I took care of you when you were sick.”
Grumbling for no reason, Liam headed toward the mansion. Erina and Ibailla hurriedly followed behind.
Watching the most precious family in the world walk side by side brought warmth to my heart.
I hoped they would all stay healthy and pain-free for a long time.
After engraving that wish in my mind, I draped my arm over the shoulder of the person next to me.
“Seo-yoon, please help me out.”
“…Okay.”
Seo-yoon took my hand and led me slowly forward.
Cautiously.
I moved carefully, paying close attention. My legs showed no signs of healing whatsoever.
It seemed I was destined to live in pain for the rest of my life.
Still, it was lighter than the constant headaches that would persist until death as a price for descending the goddess to the ground.
“Hey, sister.”
While we walked with a limp, Seo-yoon softly spoke.
“Is it really okay for me to live with you? I’m not a real family member, just a close younger sister, you know?”
She had said the same thing before coming here.
I had persuaded her for a long time to accept it, but she still seemed worried.
And justifiably so. If the roles were reversed, I’d feel uncomfortable too.
However, this time, I decided to push my own opinion without respecting Seo-yoon’s feelings. I had my reasons.
“Why are you saying such sad things again?”
I feigned a smile and paused for a moment.
At such times, there’s no need for fancy logic or serious atmosphere.
What mattered was emotion.
I had to express my feelings and true feelings as they were.
“I consider you family, but do you think of me as a stranger?”
“…It’s just that I feel burdened.”
“I understand. Still, I want to live together.”
“Why is that?”
I forced a wry smile and looked up.
The sun shone brightly in the sky, just like any other day.
“Honestly, I had no intention of returning to this world. I was going to live my whole life on the other side.”
But.
Suddenly, I changed my mind before I returned.
It was because of the issue surrounding our goddess and the former Sun Goddess.
“Do you remember the past stories I told you while you cared for me over the last four months?”
“Yes. You said you crossed over to the world of the Apostate Saint and went through various experiences, right? Thanks to that sister, you resolved the curse.”
Another me, who named me ‘Eluke,’ and ‘Clitia.’
Thanks to her, I could reach a turning point in my life. She held a special meaning for me.
And that was still true today.
“To tell the truth… our goddess is that person.”
“……”
Seo-yoon’s mouth dropped open.
Perhaps she was too shocked.
Her face froze solid. Meanwhile, her eyes kept darting around.
I placed my hand on the back of my astonished sister and revealed the truth again.
“The Apostate Saint reached heaven in human form. To put it simply, another me became a goddess.”
“…So, you’re serving the sister from the parallel world as the goddess?”
“In a way, yes.”
“……”
Silence.
Seo-yoon, still stuck in shock, slowly looked up at the sky after a while.
With caution, she opened her mouth.
“Um, sister. I mean, goddess. It wouldn’t be polite to speak casually, right?”
A laugh couldn’t help but escape at that.
“A little while ago, she asked me to tell you that it’s okay to speak informally.”
“…I’d rather be respectful.”
“Very well.”
Ultimately, she’ll end up speaking casually soon enough. A time for us to talk one-on-one is being planned, after all.
Unlike me, who uses polite language due to automatic corrections, the goddess retains her tone from the time of ‘Park Si-woo.’
So, as we exchange a few words, it will naturally lead to easier conversations. Even if not, we’d likely grow closer than before.
“So, why did you change your mind?”
Snapped from my short reverie by Seo-yoon’s question, I continued the explanation I had started earlier.
“After gaining divinity, the goddess, who crossed over to the world I lived in, expelled the rude former Sun Goddess and became the new sun of our Order.”
“…Did the members protest?”
“At first, yes.”
Naturally.
It wasn’t readily accepted at first. Especially the deeply devout members like Kelaout opposed it vehemently.
They protested by withholding prayers, rejecting faith, and discarding the Doctrine Book.
At that time, I nearly lost my position as the Pope. I was the only one supporting the ‘new Sun Goddess.’
Then, after about a month, the atmosphere turned around.
The ultimate goal our goddess pursued was far more specific and noble than the ideals of the former Sun Goddess, gradually easing the opposition.
“She even tidied up various corruptions and bad habits that had plagued the Order, quickly gaining immense popularity.”
There was no problem up to that point.
Afterward, everything flowed smoothly until the former Sun Goddess, whom we had forcibly retired, reappeared.
“Suddenly, the ex-Sun Goddess appeared and began to scorch the ground. She then said, ‘If you offer the Pope’s neck, I will leave quietly.'”
It was an obvious act of spite.
She must have wanted revenge on me for abandoning her, without considering how much she had tormented me.
Being a god who had raised herself up far too high, it could be imagined she felt no guilt while blaming me for all problems. A wicked heart that a mere human could never dare to resist.
“Unfortunately, the goddess was busy with various matters and couldn’t assist me. So, I was prepared to offer my life.”
Fortunately, in the midst of life-threatening danger, a good idea suddenly struck me.
“That’s when I thought of crossing over to the world I used to live in.”
“So you came over immediately?”
“To be precise, after long deliberation, I made my decision once I thought of your face.”
If not.
If Seo-yoon hadn’t been there, I might have chosen death, leaving Liam and the kids behind. Because there was only one precious person to me in this world.
This place held no meaning for me.
The only fond memory I had was playing [Apollis Tales].
The only reason I was able to muster the courage to return to this world was because of Seo-yoon’s presence.
“So thank you so much for recognizing me right away.”
“…….”
“You are like the driving force behind my life as a Returnee. So, I hope you’ll live with our family. Let’s just call you close family or something.”
Letting out what I wanted to say brought me relief.
I smiled pleasantly and began to take steps forward again. The good sister matched my pace.
Then, with a sigh, she spoke.
“Okay. Let’s live together.”
Really, those were the words I had been waiting for.
“But if I get married later, I’ll live separately?”
“Understood. But if a guy you want to marry comes along, make sure to bring him in front of me.”
“Are you going to oppose if you don’t like him?”
“To take my Seo-yoon, he’ll need to pass 12 rigorous tests. If he can’t clear that, there’s no way I’ll accept him.”
“…Because of you, I might end up single forever.”
Seo-yoon and I headed towards the mansion, chuckling together.
As if the goddess was blessing our path, the warm sunshine beamed down on us.
*
“The day has finally come. Let’s watch together.”
After a deep breath, I played the iTube video. It was a recording of a live stream from a popular streamer.
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The space was shrouded in dark shadows.
The only thing visible on the screen was the characters of various streamers. Other than that, there was nothing but darkness.
Then, shortly after.
A beautiful priestess appeared from one side of the wall, radiant in pink light. It was a familiar face.
-“Wow, our Pope’s beauty recreated just like that?”
As the streamer said, the ‘Pope Eluke’ implemented in [Solar Scepter] looked almost identical to me. Extremely beautiful, indeed.
Moreover, the difficulty was not to be underestimated.
The strongest boss yet. Despite a party of streamers with near million-dollar investments struggling at phase 1, they couldn’t make headway.
“Whew, nice.”
As I nodded, the chat started buzzing.
-It’s too hard, no matter what
-Isn’t the difficulty insane?
-It’ll probably get nerfed soon
-What were they thinking releasing this?
-Is this even right?
-LOL, it might be a case of too much realism
The viewers seemed to have many complaints, but I was very pleased.
I smiled contentedly and clasped my hands together.
“Sun, grant me the strength to delay the clear as long as possible.”
I faced jeers for praying about such things, but I didn’t care.
-Shouldn’t we bestow blessings of flattery to the developers?
The sun would always be with me, no matter what I said or did.
Therefore.
I would continue to live a life full of happiness.
I believed without a doubt that I could do that.
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