Five minutes before Brian arrived…
Agatha walked along the beach as moonlight shimmered across the waves, heading toward the temple. She was overflowing with joy—the negotiations with the Governor had been a success. She couldn't have asked for a more perfect birthday.
So excited that she whispered to herself:
Agatha: —"I can't wait to tell Lissa… the orphanage construction was approved."
When she finally neared the temple, she noticed a group of altar boys running in terror, screaming in panic.
—"We need to find adventurers!"
—"No, mercenaries!"
—"Soldiers!"
—"It doesn't matter—find anything that can kill that damn monster!"
Agatha was horrified by such claims. A monster inside the temple of the Goddess was unacceptable. She demanded an explanation.
The altar boys explained that several of them had gone into the city to buy more oil for the lamps. When the first group returned and entered the temple, they screamed "monster"—and never came back out.
Others who went in to investigate met the same fate. They screamed… and never returned.
After hearing their testimonies, Agatha tried to calm them.
Agatha: —"I'll go in and investigate."
—"No, Your Grace! Don't throw your life away!"
Agatha: —"Calm yourselves. I am under the Goddess's protection. No monster will harm me."
The young priestess took a deep breath and walked into the temple.
Inside, everything was dark—only faint moonlight filtered through the skylight. As her eyes adjusted, she suddenly bumped into something.
She worried she might have damaged part of the décor, but once her vision cleared, she realized it was a statue.
She looked around.
More statues. Dozens of silhouettes.
Uneasy, with a growing sense of dread, she continued forward through the darkness. She could hear something massive moving between the pillars.
She turned her head, thinking she glimpsed the thick tail of a serpent.
Then, from a shadowed corner, a familiar voice spoke.
—"Agatha… my friend?"
Agatha's breath nearly stopped. Terror seized her.
Agatha: "—M-Melissa?"
Melissa's face revealed itself for a brief instant.
Agatha screamed.
That was all.
The only thing the altar boys heard was the most horrifying cry they had ever known.
And so they ran through the city, shouting that a monster had appeared in the Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom.
***
Back to the present.
I asked the crowd gathered outside the temple what had happened.
They told me there was a monster inside.
I knew immediately.
It was Melissa.
I had arrived too late.
I took a deep breath. My heart pounded with a thousand emotions colliding—helplessness, outrage, fury, grief.
Without hesitating for even a second, I entered the temple, ignoring all warnings from the crowd.
Even knowing the danger, I had to see her.
I had to know whether Melissa was truly… already destroyed.
As I walked inside, I could hear something massive dragging itself across the floor. The temple was dark, illuminated only by faint moonlight—not by the lamps.
My nerves got the better of me, and I collided with a statue.
From the floor, I saw it was a man holding a weapon.
I stood up quickly—and then I saw more.
Several men, petrified.
I was terrified… but convinced that Melissa was not an evil monster.
Then I heard something slither closer to my position.
A figure emerged, lit by the pale glow of the full moon.
A body rising from the shadows.
From the thighs down, it was a massive serpent.
From the hips up, a woman.
Her toga was torn—obviously from what had happened, and from the transformation itself. Even so, the tattered fabric barely covered her most intimate parts.
I could clearly see the curves of her hips—perfect, like an acoustic guitar. Her skin tone had darkened, becoming more bronze.
Her eyes glowed intensely green in the darkness.
From the shadows, she spoke.
Melissa: —"Stay away, Sam… I don't want to hurt anyone anymore… I don't want to hurt you."
—You would never hurt me.
Melissa: —"Didn't you see them? Did you see what they became?… Just by looking at me… I LOST MY BEST FRIEND BECAUSE OF ME!"
She pointed toward a statue in the distance, petrified with an expression of pure terror.
I knew instantly—from the face, from the pearl necklace.
Agatha...
I inhaled… and answered without hesitation.
—Yes. I saw them… but they brought it on themselves for not helping you. You didn't kill Agatha. Your goddess did.
Melissa's voice broke.
Melissa: —"You don't understand… now I'm a… MONSTER!!"
Her tone was so frightening my skin prickled.
Then I heard her sobbing.
My heart burned—but I said:
—"No. You're not… you don't even have the darkness of one."
She wasn't listening. She was overwhelmed.
I understood her.
Hell—I understood her perfectly.
Melissa was traumatized.
Melissa: —"I'm horrible now, Sam."
—"No. You're beautiful. What they did to you was what's horrible."
Melissa: —"You know that?"
—Yes. I know.
Melissa: —"Then you also know… you can't do anything about it…" (No one can.)
At that moment, I made a decision in my heart.
—"You're wrong… I'll make blood run in the heavens if I have to."
Melissa: —"That's impossible, Sam… you're challenging gods. Gods!"
—I don't care who they are. I don't believe in gods like that.
Melissa: —"Is this because I looked like your mother?"
—No… it's because I see something in you that I am… and I recognized it the moment I saw you.
Melissa: —"Maybe it's nothing… maybe you saw an illusion." (What could you have seen in me?)
—Talent recognizes talent. Beauty recognizes beauty. My heart didn't lie when it saw you.
Melissa: —"I don't even know… if you'll be able to look at me."
—Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me.
She finally stepped fully into the moonlight.
Her beautiful dark hair had become a nest of writhing vipers.
Her face was still beautiful—but it no longer resembled my mother's.
Suddenly, I felt my body begin to stiffen.
A loud cracking sensation spread through me.
Seeing my petrification advance, Melissa burst into tears.
I thought I was about to turn into stone.
That this was the end.
Then three messages appeared before my eyes.
[Basic Skill «Absolute Resistance» resists Athena's curse]
[Basic Skill «Transcendental Eyes» pierces Athena's curse]
[Passive Skill «Karmic Luck» grants temporary immunity to Athena's curse]
When Melissa saw the petrification stop—when she saw I hadn't turned into stone—her eyes widened, her voice trembling.
Melissa: —"Y-you… you didn't… you didn't turn to stone?"
—I told you. You'd never hurt me.
She hugged me.
I didn't care that she was a monster now, or that her hair was made of serpents. Even though having those snakes so close was unsettling and eerie.
It didn't matter.
Melissa's beauty had always been in her heart.
Clinging to me, she cried bitterly.
Melissa: —"Why, Sam? What did I do to the heavens for this to happen to me?"
I comforted her.
—"It wasn't your fault to be born beautiful… life is just cruel to what is beautiful."
Melissa: —"I lost everything… EVERYTHING!"
—That's not true. You still have Nana. And you have me.
Melissa: —"Nana is gone."
—What!?
Melissa: —"After you left, she said she wanted to rest. I took her to her room… but when I went back with something to drink, she wasn't breathing. She never woke up… desperate, I came to the temple to beg the goddess to give her back to me… and then this happened."
After she finished, I couldn't help but think:
"I don't know who wrote or programmed this scenario… but whoever it was is a sick bastard."
"An idiot who abused that power to create a tragedy for someone who never deserved it."
I looked straight at Melissa.
—I'm taking you somewhere safe.
Melissa: —"But how? There are people outside. I'm afraid I'll hurt them."
—Don't worry. I'll take you to a nearby cave.
Melissa: —"But what about Nana? She deserves a proper funeral."
—I'll take care of everything. Don't worry.
Melissa: —"Alright… I'll trust your judgment."
—Hold on tight.
Melissa: —"How? You'd have to carry me… I'm big and heavy now."
—Relax. I'm a strong kid.
Melissa: —"Don't take advantage of the situation, okay?"
—I never would.
She said that because her clothes were completely torn, barely covering her chest and between her legs. She was afraid I might touch her improperly while carrying her.
According to Quincy, this body grew ten centimeters when I first assigned my stats.
Melissa held onto me, and I began to leave the temple—after first finding something to cover her face.
I grabbed decorative cloths and wrapped them around her head so the mob wouldn't be turned to stone.
The moment we stepped outside, people saw the massive serpent tail and panicked.
—"Kid! Get away from that monster!"
I shouted back, full of fury, not caring if they lived or died.
—SHUT UP IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!
Despite those horrible words, Melissa whispered in my ear.
Melissa: —"Don't say that… they're just scared."
When she said that, I knew her heart was still intact.
But I also knew what would have happened to her if I hadn't met her.
And that filled me with rage.
The mob kept yelling at me to get away from her.
Then a golden screen appeared before my eyes.
What shocked me was that Melissa could see it.
And so could the entire crowd.
It made no sense.
NPCs were never supposed to know about the system.
They were never aware they were part of a game.
Confused, I asked her:
—Melissa… what does this mean?
Melissa: —"It's the goddess… this screen appeared when I became this."
—Quincy, do you have information?
Melissa: —"Who are you talking to?"
—My assistant.
[Yes, Master. Divine beings and legendary figures can communicate this way with mortals and players to express interest or sponsorship.]
—Why such a convoluted function?
[Because divine beings and mythological figures are special NPCs with special scenarios. This is how they communicate. Address the screen—it will respond.]
I looked back at the golden message.
[«The Lover of Wisdom and Strategy»: She does not understand why you are still alive. She demands an explanation.]
—Oh? You want an explanation?
[«The Lover of Wisdom and Strategy»: Nods.]
I stared at the Temple of Ataxia and asked Melissa:
—Is anyone alive inside?
Melissa: —"No… there was no one when I arrived. I accidentally turned some altar boys to stone—I just wanted them to help me. After that, no one came close. The men you saw were the ones who tried to kill me."
—Good.
—Quincy, you know what to do.
[Adjusting to maximum.]
***
The sky darkened. The moon vanished behind clouds. Torches and pitchforks burned as the crowd fell silent, staring at the message from the heavens.
In an instant, Brian—still carrying Melissa in his right arm—threw a punch with his left toward the temple.
Then he returned to his original position.
The world reacted.
The sand beneath his feet crystallized into glass and collapsed into a crater.
The impact obliterated marble, gold, and fabric in an instant.
The entire temple was erased down to its foundations in seconds.
The intercontinental sea behind it split in two.
The seabed and creatures never before seen were annihilated by the shockwaves.
Even the clouds were torn apart, as if the sky itself had been cleaved.
The destructive waves surged higher—into the stratosphere.
And then something broke.
Something that made the world tremble.
Something that alerted the gods.
The nearby crowd fell into shock. Everyone on the beach dropped to their knees in terror.
Even Melissa felt fear at the gaze of the boy carrying her.
Then Athena's message appeared.
[«The Lover of Wisdom and Strategy»: DEMANDS TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE.]
—I'm the glitch of this world.
[«The Lover of Wisdom and Strategy»: Says you will pay dearly for your offense.]
—You're the one who'll pay dearly for your stupidity.
[«The Lover of Wisdom and Strategy»: Says no mortal has ever reached where she stands.]
—Whether in heaven or hell, I will punish you.
[«The Lover of Wisdom and Strategy»: Laughs.]
—Just wait.