Chapter 15 : Mismatch

Eden recalled a face that had now become familiar.

A goddess’s face full of whimsy, with delicate, perfectly balanced features all fitting within a size smaller than his fist.

She had played a prank with fireworks last time, so there was no guarantee she wouldn’t pull a similar stunt again.

Knock, knock.

Eden felt like ignoring the knock.

He was busy on his computer, feeling nostalgic for his hometown.

Still…

Considering this mental realm was created by Neb’s power, it might be better to play along with her antics to some extent.

Knock knock knock…

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming.”

He spoke in a tone more modern than barbarian, and headed toward the front door.

Last time it was fireworks—maybe this time it’d be a whipped cream cake or something.

‘That wouldn’t be too bad.’

He walked leisurely toward the door.

With one hand, he braced himself against the wall above the door, then bent down and turned the doorknob.

Even in the modern world, the barbarian’s large frame still caused him plenty of inconvenience.

Ding, the mechanical sound of the lock disengaging echoed, and the door slowly opened.

Eden frowned at the sight before him.

Beyond the door, there was only darkness.

There was no simple one-room hallway, no flickering, worn-out lightbulb, not even a goddess holding a cake.

Just darkness, perfectly delineated by the doorframe.

‘The window didn’t look like this.’

This time, he didn’t even think about reaching out.

It looked like the depths of the deep sea.

‘Hmm, I should just close it.’

He decided quickly.

If this was all Neb’s prank, something would react the moment he shut the door.

Eden pulled the doorknob toward him.

And then—

A pair of pure white arms shot out from the darkness and tightly wrapped around his neck.

Eden tried to resist being pulled in, but it wasn’t something as simple as that.

In an instant, his vision changed.

015. Out of Place

Eden calmly looked around.

It was a place he’d never seen before.

The air was thick with the scent of books.

The words “library” or “study” came to mind first.

Sunlight streamed warmly through a glass ceiling, and bookshelves lined every wall.

Still a bit dazed, Eden clenched his fists.

Just a moment ago, he’d been standing at the front door—and now, he was sitting on a wooden chair.

In the blink of an eye.

Naturally, the only possible culprit for such a prank was the childish goddess.

“Nice to meet you.”

A familiar woman’s voice rang out.

Eden felt something off about the way she spoke so normally.

“…?”

She looked exactly like Neb.

But unlike the hairstyle Neb usually wore, this woman had her hair neatly tied back.

Most notably, her eye color was different.

Her purple eyes were locked onto him.

“‘Nice to meet you’… is the right phrase, I suppose?”

She adjusted her round glasses on the bridge of her nose and smiled leisurely.

Eden couldn’t hide his surprise.

It was just a change in tone and demeanor, yet she felt like a completely different person.

‘She looks… completely normal.’

As he mulled over those thoughts, Eden idly tapped the armrest of the chair.

“What kind of prank is this now?”

“Prank?”

The woman—whether she was Neb or not—stood at the center of the study, looking at Eden.

With a soft clink, she picked up a teapot from the desk and poured tea.

And at some point, a teacup had appeared in Eden’s hand.

Warm steam rose, and the heat from the tea seeped through his palm.

He took a sip.

“…Bitter.”

“Guess you don’t like black tea.”

Eden could play along with the act as much as he wanted, but his instincts told him clearly—

The being before him was distinctly different from the usual Neb.

“Mm… That’s not quite right. At the core, we’re all the same being,”

‘Neb’ continued, sipping her tea.

“Just a slightly different facet. A little calmer, a little more serious.”

“So, what, are you saying this is some kind of dissociative identity disorder?”

“Kuhuhu, that joke’s actually pretty funny.”

It wasn’t a joke.

Despite her laugh, her expression remained serious.

She lightly tapped the rim of her teacup with the teaspoon in her hand.

“Well, simply put, it’s the result of absorbing the power of a relic. We’re still in human bodies, and human vessels aren’t built to fully contain divine authority.”

“So you’re saying that if we find more relics, stuff like this might happen again.”

“Correct.”

Eden was already starting to feel dizzy.

He gave her an incredulous look.

Neb just shrugged lightly.

“It can’t be helped. ‘I’ am still an incomplete being. I told you before, didn’t I? If ‘I’ were truly omniscient and omnipotent, there’d be no reason for me to have lost my power in the first place.”

That conversation had been with the more foolish version of Neb.

There was no way this woman could be the same person.

Her purple eyes met Eden’s.

“Still, don’t worry—just because I reclaim a relic’s power doesn’t mean the same thing will always happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you won’t have to deal with dozens of versions of me running around.”

“…Please don’t.”

Eden leaned back in the chair.

Creaaak—the wooden chair groaned like it might snap, but held firm under the barbarian’s weight.

It didn’t seem like she’d brought him here just for small talk.

“So, why did you call me? Was it for that—”

“You can just call me Neb, like always.”

“Fine. Serious Neb.”

“…I like that you’re still treating me the same.”

She seemed even happier to be spoken to so casually.

Serious Neb took another sip of tea and opened her mouth slowly, as if gathering her thoughts.

“Well… I just wanted to meet you once.”

“Huh?”

She continued.

“The ‘me’ out there is a bit strange, right? Her tone, her clumsy behavior…”

Eden didn’t deny it.

He’d had those thoughts plenty of times.

As if reading his mind, Serious Neb sighed with a blank expression.

“What can you do. That’s the weakest part of ‘me.’ Naturally, the thoughts and actions reflect that. Heh. But still… don’t you think she’s kind of cute?”

THUD! THUD!!

A loud noise echoed from behind.

It sounded like someone was trying to break the door down.

— of!!

Eden turned his head, straining to hear the voice coming from behind.

It sounded exactly like Neb’s—but strangely, it felt more familiar.

Serious Neb remained calm, sipping her tea as if she heard nothing at all.

“She talks oddly, but please try to understand. Since her actions don’t inspire much authority, she has to compensate through her words. ‘I’ just want to make a good impression on you, after all.”

THUD THUD THUD!!

“…Sounds like she’s calling for me.”

“Well, she’s still me.”

That may be so, but the vibe back there felt more like a UFC fight.

Serious Neb reached for a jar of sugar next to the teacup.

“How could I not like the white knight on a horse who saved ‘me’ in that moment of time? That’s why the feelings of the body… are like an entertaining eternity.”

When she lightly opened the sugar jar’s lid, the ceiling of the study also popped open like a jar lid.

It was an utterly surreal, physics-defying sight.

Eden naturally looked up.

There, peering down at him with a curious expression, was a serious-faced Neb.

She held a massive teaspoon, which pointed directly at Eden.

“So, I hope you’ll go easy on her.”

Countless sugar cubes began raining down from the sky.

Now this felt like a dream.

Serious Neb waved at Eden.

“Well then, that’s all for today. Until next time.”

“…Even though it’s all you anyway?”

“Kuhuhu…”

With her expressionless chuckle, his vision faded to black.

When Eden finally opened his eyes, he saw the flickering campfire.

It seemed he had just woken from sleep.

The sky was still dark.

The quiet sound of wind filled the stillness.

Neb, who had been lying beside him, lifted her head.

Eden checked where she was lying and calmed his startled heart.

‘I’m sure we were on opposite sides of the fire…’

But now, they were close enough for their breaths to touch.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Neb picked up her cloak and stood up as if nothing had happened.

She trudged back to where she’d originally been lying.

Watching her, Eden thought he finally understood the meaning behind the serious words she’d said earlier.

“The dream still feels more like a god to me.”

Eden let out a small, hollow laugh.

Well, if they’re all her anyway, maybe it doesn’t matter.

But the laughter didn’t last long.

His face soon returned to a blank expression.

‘This damn medieval world. This fucked-up dark fantasy setting.’

Eden picked up the axe next to him and threw it into the trees.

Whoosh!

The axe flew with a vicious sound, like it could tear through anything—and then came a short scream that shattered the silence.

“Aaargh!!”

Could’ve been a hell of a wake-up call if he’d been a little later.

Maybe she knew something and woke him up just in time.

He’d thrown one axe, but he still had another left.

And this one was so large, normal people would need both hands to lift it.

“…The fuck, weren’t you sleeping?!”

“How should I know?!”

“Shut up! Didn’t you see the woman next to him? That’s high-end merchandise. We take the risk, we get the gold—ten coins easy if we sell her!”

“B-But Kevin’s dead!”

“Then you can fuck off too!!”

Five of them—well, four now.

Trying to traffic people right on the outskirts of a city?

Told you—medieval times were fucked.

Then again, maybe they were doing it because the city was so close.

Not that Eden gave a damn.

He hefted his axe and walked slowly toward them.

“Shit! The barbarian’s coming!”

“Hey! Why aren’t you shooting?!”

“Shut it and wait!”

An arrow came flying—not nearly strong enough to take down a boar.

Even if it hit, his skin wouldn’t get scratched.

But holes in clothing? That’s a different problem.

Eden caught the arrow mid-air and dropped it to the ground.

“I-I think I hit him?”

“Then why does he look totally fine?!”

From the way they talked, they clearly weren’t trained fighters.

Probably farmers who learned looting during wartime.

A pitchfork—not even a real spear—came flying at him.

Eden swatted it aside with one hand.

The attacker, losing balance, stumbled forward.

Their skills were amateurish, but their actions showed no hesitation.

This wasn’t their first time ambushing people.

Eden swung the same arm in the opposite direction.

It was a light blow, but with his inhuman strength, the result wasn’t light at all.

Teeth flew as the man’s jaw went with them.

“D-Die!!”

Two others charged at once, one with a club and the other with a sword.

Eden didn’t even need to swing twice.

“H-Heeeek!!”

The last one turned and ran with a bow.

Eden ended it by hurling his axe.

He could have let that one go—probably wouldn’t have mattered.

But he’d seen too many times what mercy could cost.

“Tch. Nothing worth taking.”

He wiped the blood off his axe and rummaged through their bodies.

Nothing but junk.

It took him longer to retrieve the first axe than it had to kill them all.

‘Wish I had a magic axe that came back when I threw it.’

Ah—Eden quickly shook his head.

These two axes had been with him since the moment he first entered this game-world.

What a disrespectful thought.

He silently apologized to them.

Anyway.

After that sudden midnight stroll, he returned to camp.

Neb was already lying down again, sleeping peacefully, as if nothing had happened.

“…Hrmnya.”

Eden looked at her and let out a small laugh.

As expected.

No matter how he thought about it…

She didn’t look like a god at all.