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"Alright, let’s set the record straight!”
The woman set down the tobacco pipe she had been gently holding in her mouth, exhaled some smoke, and licked her lips. She was a stunning woman with striking red, wavy hair; moreover, she was a goddess.
"So, what you desire is... an immortal body and infinite growth potential?"
"Yes!"
"Nope, out of the question. Go back to where you came from."
"Aw, don't be like that."
A 22-year-old woman named Kim Seo-yeon sat across the goddess at an antique desk. She was a brilliant yet unemployed woman in her late twenties, with a passion for fantasy novels and video games. Her days were often spent immersed in epic tales of magical realms and heroic quests, where she found escape and inspiration. Despite her exceptional intellect and creative ideas, she struggled to find a job that matched her talents, leaving her to navigate a world that often overlooked her unique abilities. Well, at least until she died.
After her death, she became a hero chosen by a deity. Or something like that.
"I still had a long life ahead of me but ended up dying prematurely. Don't you think that's a more than fair compensation for my unjust fate?"
"Jeez, novels these days have really spoiled your youngins' backbone. When I gave the spiel about granting second chances in the past, people would usually go 'yippee' or immediately yell, 'Deal!'"
"Well, times have changed," Kim Seo-yeon replied nonchalantly.
Although the goddess wanted to strike the human, she restrained herself. After all, she was the one who had gathered the souls of those who had died unfairly because she needed their help.
If this human were from my world, I would've just…
She was undeniably a goddess, but not one from Earth. Instead, she ruled over Heguroa, a place that differed in culture, history, size, and every other aspect compared to Earth.
So what drove her to bring souls from another world to hers? Well, there was a very sad, tear-jerking story behind it.
"Anyhow, the people in your world seem to be very cold-hearted.,” said Kim Seo-yeon. “As their god, you were ready to intervene and fix their problems, but they chose to run away because their own survival mattered more to them.”
"I’ll have you know that a lot of heroes have accepted my revelation! But...they all died in Heita."
Kim Seo-yeon instinctively gulped and asked, "... Is the place that dangerous?"
"Of course it is."
The goddess couldn't hide her bitterness as she gave the confirmation. She placed the tobacco pipe back into her mouth, feeling as though she would have sighed in front of the human otherwise.
The story went back to several decades ago. Heita, a great empire that thrived in the undergrounds of Heguroa, was met with a tragedy. The emperor Jissehanu sought immortality through forbidden black magic, but his recklessness led to an undead curse that afflicted the entire underground empire.
What was worse, the curse was spreading gradually and, if left unchecked, could consume the entire world.
The goddess, understanding the gravity of the situation, delivered a divine revelation to all humans and promised to grant a wish to the savior of the Empire.
Many heroic men came forward, but all of them failed. The curse deeply rooted in the Empire was strong, and the heroes who headed underground to save the Empire couldn't overcome the curse. Instead, they degenerated into undead beings themselves and became a part of the undead empire.
Only after that did the goddess demonstrate her power more broadly. She scattered and infused her power throughout the Empire to aid the heroes, but it proved ineffective. The influence of the Empire, which sought to lead all life to undeath, gradually increased, and it ended up consuming half of the continent...
And that was when the goddess, unable to endure any further, decided that she had to stop the Empire even if it meant dragging heroes in from other worlds. Kim Seo-yeon is one of them.
"Still, it’s impossible to grant you an immortal body. Ask for something else."
"Then please give me something similar."
"Listen, kid."
The goddess raised her tobacco pipe and pointed at Kim Seo-yeon's shabby soul.
"Tremendous power burdens the owner. An immortal body? Infinite growth potential? You won't be able to handle such power, and you'll just explode and die. So drop it and ask for something more realistic and appropriate."
"But with a realistic and appropriate power, I'll probably end up like those before me, dying without being able to do anything."
"..."
That struck a nerve in the goddess. Kim Seo-yeon was practically calling her struggles meaningless in her face.
Why should I listen to this nonsense from a mere candidate for a hero? Should I just kill her?
The goddess momentarily felt the impulse to do just that, but changed her mind upon seeing the human's defiant expression. This kid would have to go through hell before she would even understand her a little.
"Alright, I'll grant you your request."
"Yay!"
"Of course, it’s impossible to grant you true immortality. You won't die by ordinary means, but you may still be killed in deadly situations."
"What about infinite growth potential?"
"That's in your hand, but I'll make it so it's theoretically possible."
"Oh!"
"In exchange." The goddess flicked her tobacco pipe, and ash flew through the air. "You'll lose something very important. After all, your regular physical body can't accommodate that power."
"What exactly do you mean?”
"This is the best I can do. Now... Kim Seo-yeon. Are you going to do it or not?"
The goddess didn't answer her question. Under her spiteful, cold eyes, Kim Seo-yeon felt momentarily conflicted, but eventually, she nodded and voiced her agreement. Even if she had to lose something in return for her wishes, she was willing to take the risk!
"Alright, I'll do it!"
"Fine, then we have a contract."
The goddess put the pipe back into her mouth, while Kim Seo-yeon found herself enveloped in a bright light. The teleportation magic that would transport her soul to the Heita Empire had been activated.
"You'll be sent to the entrance of the Empire. Once you arrive, I won't be able to help you directly, but I'll send you quests. You know what quests are, right?"
"Yes."
"Good, remember to check your status first upon arrival. You must know who 'you' are."
"Ok...?"
It seemed as though the goddess was grinning and laughing wickedly when she put the tobacco pipe into her mouth, but Kim Seo-yeon was soon blinded by the bright light washing over her.
In the next moment, the light disappeared, and Kim Seo-yeon fell onto the cold floor. The transfer was done in the blink of an eye.
"Oof! She could have let me down a little more gently... hoo."
Kim Seo-yeon grumbled softly and stood up. She had been dumped into an enormous underground cave, as expected of an underground empire.
There was a passageway on each of her sides, and it felt eerie as if mummies would pop out at any minute from all directions. At least there weren't any enemies nearby.
"I was ready for this, but... this feels really serious... It's cold, too."
She felt cold. Was it because she didn’t have any clothes on? She stroked her skin to soothe the cold, but soon realized that something was off.
"Huh?"
Her body was hard. The hand that had touched her body was also really hard. When she raised her hand to see what was going on, what she saw was bones rather than a fleshy human hand.
"...Huh?"
Seo-yeon was so shocked that she went stiff for a while. She somehow got a hold of herself, and when she moved her hand, the bones shifted and bobbed instinctively. Her five skeletal fingers began to dance rhythmically in the air.
"Hahaha... no way. Haha, it can't be…"
It was such a surreal sight that she laughed despite herself. For the first time, Kim Seo-yeon looked down and observed her body, which was obviously all bones.
"..."
Her mind blanked.
What should I do? Is this by any chance a mistake on the goddess’s part? Did I perhaps fall victim to the Empire's curse as soon as I arrived, and became an undead?
Then she remembered what the goddess had said before their sudden parting.
"That's it. Status... She told me to check my status as soon as I arrived."
The moment Seo-yeon said the word ‘status’ in an attempt to grab onto the last strand of hope, a strange row of text emerged mid-air in front of her. It was similar to what she had often seen in games when she was alive. Yeah, even the content of the text...
[Kim Seo-yeon]
[Normal Skeleton Blessed by God]
[Lv - 1]
[Strength - 13, Agility - 13, Health - 13, Magic - 3]
[Passive skills - Invisible Heart Lv1]
[Active skills - Bone Reinforcement Lv1]
"..."
It only took around... 10 minutes for Kim Seo-yeon to figure out that this was neither the goddess’s mistake, nor the Empire's curse.