Chapter 46: Because it’s a surprise.

Wednesday. 

The final day of the academy’s midterm exams.  

To be precise, only the written exams were concluding, with practical exams scheduled at different times depending on the course. 

Regardless, it was exam season, so many students were frantically studying, though some were undeniably indifferent.  

One such person had been consumed by distractions until the day before.  

“…So, what’s the difference between these, exactly?”  

Sephine stood with her arms crossed, lingering in front of a display case of gaming consoles. 

A store clerk nearby was smiling and explaining the features, but her words went in one ear and out the other.  

“This one has great graphics, this one has a lot of exclusive software, this one’s portable… Ugh, they’re all good!”  

Just moments ago, she’d chosen a bezel-encrusted smartwatch without a second thought.  

But now, at the gaming console section, she’d been deliberating for 15 minutes.  

No, to be honest, she’d been on this third floor for over 40 minutes already.  

“He said he likes this kind of stuff…”  

Sephine Alabard let out a sigh and carefully pulled a folded piece of paper from her bag.  

It was a note written by an acquaintance—a game enthusiast auntie.  

The note listed various gaming consoles, detailing their specs and public perception. 

In tiny handwriting at the bottom, it read:  

– If possible, buy something for two-player games (console games are the trend these days!)  

– If you keep hesitating, you’ll never get close to them! (LOL)  

The message was as nosy as the Pacific Ocean.  

Sephine clenched her fist and muttered, 

“…I don’t know if this is a hint or a curse, but I need to choose well.”  

Three gaming consoles stood before her.  

One boasted cutting-edge graphics, another had a retro vibe, and the third was optimized for portability.  

To her, a casual gamer at best, they all seemed pretty similar.  

If it were for herself, she’d have just picked one and been done with it. 

But this was different.  

This was a moment that demanded utmost care.  

“If I miss this chance, when will I ever get to give a gift so naturally again?”  

It was a grand operation—complete with the pretext of a birthday gift, a crafted plan, and the cooperation of their group project teammates.  

The single gift she chose would determine the success of this entire endeavor.  

“Hmm, to give off that ‘I bought this to play with you’ vibe…”  

Maybe a two-player game would be best.  

Since it was a birthday gift, going for the sleek, new model seemed fitting.  

Imagining playing games with Shin Yuseong on the gifted console made her cheeks flush.  

“Calm down, calm down. I’m not ready to be a mother yet.”  

Muttering to herself, she shook her head.  

It was time to end the deliberation.  

At her feet were three shopping bags, set down while she agonized in front of the display.  

Her gaze dropped to them, then rose again.  

She mentally reviewed the consoles one by one.  

Cost-effectiveness? Nah. 

Compatibility? Well, he probably has a TV at home, right?  

After all her pondering, the final criterion was simple:  

Something that would make him happy when he received it.  

After much thought, she trusted her gut and reached out, eyes squeezed shut.  

“This one, please!”  

The clerk nodded with a bright smile.  

“Excellent choice. Would you like it gift-wrapped?”  

“Yes, it’s for a close friend’s birthday, so please wrap it very carefully.”  

Sephine straightened her back and nodded, her expression resolute.  

***

The clerk, observing this unusually serious customer choosing wrapping paper, thought to herself:  

Everyone’s buying gifts with such grave faces these days.  

If it were for themselves, they probably wouldn’t bother with wrapping.  

Just moments ago, a group had come through with an equally tense vibe, getting a console wrapped.  

The clerk, briefly puzzled, shrugged it off and meticulously wrapped the gift.  

***

“It’s been reported that Sephine Alabard just purchased the new Nintendo Special WiiA.”  

“She bought other gifts earlier, but after much deliberation, it seems she’s settled on a gaming console like us.”  

“While it’s important that the gift suits the recipient’s taste, it’s also crucial to avoid awkwardness within the group’s dynamic.”  

Members of the Jeilyeongrak Church’s intelligence division whispered among themselves as they selected birthday gifts.  

For starters, they ruled out the new Nintendo Special WiiA that Sephine had chosen.  

Even if it was the top choice to please the recipient, they had to avoid the embarrassment of duplicate gifts.  

Getting closer to the target was great, but maintaining harmony was paramount.  

“Hmm, Nintendo Rich… Rich… Are we really going with Rich?”  

“Instead of giving another gaming console, wouldn’t pivoting to a smartwatch be better?”  

“But Sephine Alabard bought one of those too, didn’t she?”  

“We don’t know for sure if she’s giving it as a gift.”  

“Since our church takes a broader view of things, why don’t we keep it as a lower priority and decide later?”  

“Or just bring a bunch of gifts like she did and decide on the spot?”  

Imir, the Guardian Lion, stroked her chin as she reviewed the matter.  

This operation required adaptability, but for a seasoned tactician like her, it was no issue.  

Even if the recipient was a monster, they didn’t seem sensitive enough to care about her swapping items mid-plan.  

“Alright, we’ll bring three items and decide on the spot.”  

With the gifts settled, the next step was timing.  

The place and time had already been discussed to some extent among the dungeon party members, excluding Shin Yuseong.  

Handing over a gift in the middle of exam week might catch him off guard.  

So, they planned to call him out after all classes were done for a surprise party vibe.  

Yes, the plan itself was clean and solid.  

The only concern was that the team preparing this birthday party wasn’t small.  

Each member’s strong personality introduced a lot of variables, and Imir felt a subtle unease.  

***

Wednesday morning.  

The final day of the midterm exam period had arrived.  

Starting with Professor Shin Arin’s Combat Theory and Practice, followed by world history featuring Joan of Arc, a female King Arthur, and the legendary warrior Genghis Khan, and finally, the mandatory liberal arts course 

Understanding General Society.  

Three exams in one day.  

Back in his hazy high school days, he’d handled up to four exams in a day, but that was a regular high school. 

This was a different beast.  

This was an academy for the world’s ultra-elite, after all.  

If you didn’t study with the intent to ace, you were likely to end up at the bottom.  

‘I can’t stand being last.’  

Even if it was expected, it felt awful when it happened.  

To avoid that fate, he’d been studying extra with Seol Yeonhwa over the past few days.  

Not aiming too high or too low—just hoping to land squarely in the middle.  

The goddess seemed to be keeping her promise, as her chatter had drastically reduced while he studied.  

‘Hello? Goddess?’  

Even today, she was silent.  

Was she on a business trip or something?  

She usually responded promptly, no matter what, so this was unusual.  

It felt like she’d zipped up either her mouth or her divine power to keep her vow.  

It had been decades since they’d gone this long without talking.  

They’d always been together, after all.  

Feeling a mix of emptiness and curiosity, I gazed at the sky outside and shook my head.  

There was no way anything dangerous could happen to my goddess, so there was no need to let it distract me.  

For now, I had to focus on the exams.  

Snapping myself back to attention, I glared at the test paper with determination.  

***

“Whew, it’s finally over!”  

“Is this exam difficulty even real?”  

“Looking for party members to take down the professor.”  

“How do you plan to kill a high-ranker, idiot?”  

As the academy’s midterm exams concluded, the campus buzzed with students’ complaints and cheers.  

Some wore sly, triumphant smiles, while others were too distracted by other matters to focus.  

And then, there was an entity that wasn’t even human.  

“No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t add up.”  

For a god to descend to the mortal realm, an immense offering or an equivalent amount of divine power was required.  

This wasn’t just a toll for a transcendent being to visit the earth—it was more like a penalty for breaking the laws of causality.  

If a god who ruled the world could descend and act freely, nothing would be impossible for them.  

That would throw everything out of balance.  

Transcendent beings belonged to their own realm, and mortals to theirs. 

Only then could the world’s balance be maintained.  

In terms of cost, descending to another world was actually cheaper.  

Of course, that required the permission of the god managing that world, making it practically impossible.  

What god would casually allow another to wreak havoc in their domain?  

“Ugh, this really doesn’t add up.”  

But if the gods had been close friends for a very long time—say, climbing the divine ranks together since their mortal days—the story changed.  

The goddess ruling the Reversed Earth muttered with a displeased expression.  

“Even if I owe her a bit, this much of a loss is ridiculous.”  

[‘Balance of Order and Causality’ asks why she’s whining so unladylike.]  

“What a pain in the neck. Does she even realize how much divine power I’m losing here?”  

[‘Balance of Order and Causality’ blinks and says she’s also taking on a burden.]  

“Of course you are! You’re going to see your hero, so naturally you’d bear it!”  

After venting her frustration, the goddess of Reversed Earth sighed and said, 

“Whatever, it’s already decided, so let’s wrap this up quickly.”  

With promises already made to others, she had to complete the ritual and hurry.  

A pink-haired schoolgirl in a uniform stepped onto a pre-drawn summoning circle.  

The preparations were minimal: a simple offering and the immense divine power of two gods.  

The ritual couldn’t fail.  

It wasn’t a full divine descent but more like possessing the body of an apostle.  

Hwaaa—  

As the transcendent divine power was invoked, the summoning circle erupted with white brilliance and crimson flames.  

A collaborative masterpiece blending the auras of the Holy God and the Dragon God.  

The ritual itself would succeed.  

The only issue was that this body, infused with divine energy, would inevitably undergo changes.  

When a body born with a shaman’s spiritual power and draconic bloodline was further imbued with a fragment of divinity, transformation was unavoidable.  

“Yurseus, you jerk. If you do anything weird to my apostle or my world, I won’t forgive you.”  

With the final murmur of the Dragon God of Reversed Earth, a fierce burst of white and red light engulfed her body, more intense than before.  

Though the aftershocks were suppressed to avoid detection, crackling white currents sparked across her form.  

“Ha, have I been managing this reversed world for so long that my mouth’s gotten this coarse?”  

She casually reined in the power leaking from her body and glanced at a mirror in the corner of the room.  

Brushing back her waist-length pink hair, she flashed a playful smile.  

A radiant, beautiful smile.  

Maybe it was because the base body was already good-looking, but her smile was quite striking.  

“No, it’s probably because I’m just naturally charming.”  

The Balance of Order and Causality.  

The goddess grinned and packed a pre-prepared gift into her bag.  

It would be a surprise in many ways, but it wouldn’t inconvenience anyone, so it should be fine.  

Though the hero might be shocked to see a familiar face and body.  

“That’s what makes it a surprise.”  

And so, the goddess descended.  

Possessing the body of Maho, the shaman and apostle of the Dragon God, the goddess left the room with a lively spring in her step.  

***

Author’s Note  

Goddess Yurseus (Possession)  

To be continued…