How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game

Chapter 752: A Goddess’s Advice to Godhood 9

Déjà vu...

That was probably the best way I could describe what I was feeling right now.

Although I was a little surprised—and admittedly caught off guard—by Emilia suddenly almost undressing in front of me, it wasn’t actually the first time something like this had happened.

The only real difference was that the robes she wore now seemed a little more... provocative than the ones from before.

As if she was deliberately trying to make things harder for herself.

And me.

Squirming in place with her eyes tightly closed, Emilia was clearly too embarrassed to even look in my direction.

I could only sigh internally.

Junior... what exactly were you thinking?

No.

Knowing Emilia, she probably wasn’t the one who had come up with this herself.

It was most likely Vanessa’s influence.

Or perhaps even the Goddess’s.

Those two had a strange habit of making things unnecessarily troublesome whenever Emilia and I were involved

I was already aware that Emilia had a certain fondness for me.

No...

Calling it simple fondness at this point would probably be lying to myself.

She had a crush on me.

That much was obvious.

And the Goddess herself had practically given me permission to pursue a relationship with Emilia if that was what we both wanted.

There was nothing stopping me from doing so.

At least...

Nothing external.

The problem was me.

There were reasons I couldn’t simply walk forward and openly commit to a relationship with her.

The first was obvious.

My relationships with the other girls were already complicated enough.

Snow, Alice, Rose, Seo, Liyana...

There were already too many feelings, too many relationships, and too many things I had to consider. Adding Emilia into that mess without properly thinking about it would be irresponsible.

I wasn’t going to treat her feelings like something I could casually accept just because she liked me.

And then there was the second reason.

My own state of mind.

Right now, too many things were happening.

The future.

The Epilogue.

Liyana.

The people whose fates I was still trying to change.

Every day seemed to bring another problem that needed my attention, and I was already struggling to keep track of everything.

Adding Emilia into the middle of all of that...

Wouldn’t that just be selfish?

Even if I knew I could probably make her happy...

Even if accepting her feelings would make this moment easier...

Could I really give her the attention she deserved?

That was the question I couldn’t answer.

And until I could...

I didn’t want to make a promise to her simply because the moment felt right.

Because accepting someone wasn’t difficult.

Taking responsibility for that decision afterward was.

Still...

As I stood there looking at Emilia, her eyes closed as she nervously waited for me, I couldn’t deny one thing.

She trusted me.

And whatever decision I made from here...

I needed to make sure I didn’t hurt that trust.

Quietly, I approached Emilia.

She remained where she was, her eyes still closed and her face flushed with embarrassment. For someone who had been the one to suggest this ritual in the first place, she looked like she was barely holding herself together.

I reached out and gently tapped her shoulder.

"Junior."

"H-Hm?"

She opened her eyes slightly.

"Should I do it, or would you like to take the initiative?"

Since a kiss was required to start the ritual, I couldn’t exactly just lean in and do it without warning.

Especially not when Emilia was already this nervous.

There were too many ways something like that could be misunderstood.

"Huh?"

Emilia stared at me for a moment, clearly caught off guard by my question.

"Ah... eh..."

She looked away again, her cheeks becoming even redder.

"I-I mean..."

She took a small breath.

"If Senior would like to..."

Her voice became quieter.

"...You can take the initiative."

I nodded.

"Alright."

The casualness of my response seemed to surprise her even more.

Maybe she had expected me to be more nervous.

Or perhaps she had expected me to react differently after seeing how embarrassed she was.

But I couldn’t afford to give her the wrong idea.

Emilia already had feelings for me.

If I reacted too strongly now, she might interpret that as something more than what this ritual actually meant.

For her sake...

I needed to keep my head clear.

So I slowly leaned toward her.

Emilia’s face immediately turned bright red.

Her eyes closed again.

She stood completely still, trusting me to finish what we had agreed to do.

Since she was slightly shorter than me, I had to adjust my position a little before our lips briefly met.

At the same time, Emilia instinctively held onto me for balance.

The moment the ritual recognized the connection between us, the symbols surrounding the room suddenly began to shine.

A brilliant white light swallowed everything.

My vision disappeared.

The room.

The ritual circle.

Emilia.

Everything vanished beneath the light.

And then...

I heard a familiar chuckle.

"For a Goddess who is supposed to represent all that is good..."

My surroundings changed.

I found myself standing before an enormous white throne.

Sitting upon it was the Goddess of Light herself.

Eris.

She looked exactly as I remembered her, though there was a faint blush across her face as she rested her chin against one hand.

A small, knowing smirk appeared on her lips.

"...You certainly have some rather questionable habits."

I stared at her.

"..."

Then I sighed.

"Eris."

She smiled innocently.

"Fufu~"

Eris covered her mouth with one hand as she laughed, the faint blush on her face still there.

"I was simply blessed with such a wonderful sight, you see. A mother couldn’t help but be happy."

"..."

I stared at her.

Yeah.

Now I was almost certain she had something to do with Emilia acting like that.

At the very least, she had probably encouraged her to go through with the ritual instead of overthinking it.

Eris continued chuckling to herself, looking far too satisfied with whatever she had witnessed.

I couldn’t help but sigh.

Of course she was enjoying this.

She was a Goddess, yet sometimes she acted more like an overly excited mother watching her child finally take a step forward.

Eventually, Eris seemed satisfied enough and straightened herself.

The world around us immediately began to change.

The endless white space disappeared.

A gentle breeze swept across my face as a vast meadow appeared around us. White flowers covered the grass in every direction, swaying softly beneath the wind. The sky above was clear and peaceful, completely different from the strange space I had been standing in only moments ago.

A simple white table appeared between us.

Two chairs.

A set of white tea cups.

A freshly brewed pot of tea.

Eris sat down on one side as if we were simply meeting for an afternoon tea rather than standing inside the realm of a Goddess.

I took the seat opposite her.

For a moment, I simply looked at her.

She really was beautiful.

Radiant wasn’t even enough to describe her.

And yet...

There was something different this time.

I could see her more clearly.

Not just her appearance, but her presence itself.

The feeling surrounding her.

The countless layers of divine power that I hadn’t been able to properly perceive the last time I visited.

My divinity really has increased.

That realization made me slightly more cautious.

The first time I became a god, I hadn’t fully understood what that meant.

Back then, I had deliberately avoided asking Eris too many questions because of the restrictions surrounding my existence.

I had also assumed that whatever changes came with divinity would eventually become clear on their own.

That had clearly been a mistake.

I had grown stronger.

My understanding of reality had changed.

My Authority had developed.

And yet I still didn’t fully understand the power I now possessed.

Training could only take me so far if I didn’t even understand what I was training.

Eris calmly poured herself some tea.

"Well then..."

She looked at me with that familiar smile.

"Let’s get to the reason you came to my realm again."

"So you’re aware of why I’m here?"

"Partially."

She took a small sip.

"After all, I do check on your situation from time to time."

"I see."

That actually made things easier.

I didn’t have to waste time explaining everything that had happened since our last meeting.

I leaned back slightly.

"Then I’ll get straight to the point."

Eris raised an eyebrow.

"The Goddess of Light is listening."

I ignored her teasing tone.

"Eris..."

I paused before continuing.

"Can you tell me what divinity actually is?"

Her expression became slightly more serious.

"Or at least..."

I looked down at my hands.

"Can you give me some advice on how I’m supposed to properly wield this power?"

The question had been sitting in the back of my mind for a while.

The first time I became a god, I didn’t ask Eris much.

There were restrictions I had to consider, and honestly, I didn’t even understand how much I had changed at the time.

But things were different now.

My divinity had grown.

My Authority had grown with it.

And I was beginning to realize that simply becoming stronger wasn’t enough.

If I continued treating my divine power like an ordinary ability, eventually I’d reach a point where my lack of understanding would become a weakness.

I didn’t want that.