What Goes Around Comes Around

Solari bit her lip as she looked at the cluster of Dimension Management Gods floating in the sky.

After becoming a Dimension Management God, she felt emotions she thought she had forgotten resurface.

Fear.

Her teeth chattered, making a pitiful sound. She gritted her teeth, trying to calm her trembling eyes.

She felt miserable, realizing she had become the protagonist of a situation she had never imagined since becoming a Dimension Management God.

“Raise your head.”

At the voice from above, Solari slowly lifted her face.

She didn’t want to appear disrespectful and risk adding to her charges.

Solari looked at Gabriel floating in front of her.

Ever since arriving in the Unique Dimension, Gabriel had maintained a consistently expressionless face.

Solari recalled the epithet attached to her name.

The one closest to God.

The first Dimension Management God.

The Judge.

She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry.

“Solari.”

Someone grabbed her hand and called her name, making Solari jump and turn.

Nibir was holding her hand.

“Senior.”

“I’m sorry, Solari. I’m so sorry you have to go through this because of me. I’ll do anything to save you….”

Nibir looked distraught.

Seeing the guilt etched on her face, Solari felt the tension in her body slowly ease.

“It’s okay. In the end, I made the choice.”

“How was it your choice? I said I would handle it….”

“No. It’s not your fault.”

Solari smiled, placing her hand over Nibir’s.

“Solari… I’m really sorry….”

Nibir’s face twisted with guilt.

“Silence.”

The first Dimension Management God interrupted their conversation.

“After questioning the accused, I will deliver the verdict.”

“Gabriel. I have something to say.”

Nibir stepped forward as soon as Gabriel finished speaking.

“…Is that necessary in this situation?”

Gabriel asked, seemingly displeased with the delay.

“It’s something I can only say now.”

Seeing Nibir’s crumpled face, Gabriel nodded.

“The punishment for the 4th Class Dimension Management God should be given to me.”

Seeing the approval, Nibir quickly continued.

“S-Senior?”

Solari, startled, spoke to Nibir, but she only responded by squeezing Solari’s hand tightly.

“The reason?”

“Solari is a 4th Class Dimension Management God. When she learned about Kang In-ho’s Dimension Entry, she consulted me about it. Knowing that there was a noble soul wandering the dimensions, I told her to stay still. As a 2nd Class Dimension Management God, my words would have inevitably been followed by the 4th Class Dimension Management God. Considering this, I request that the punishment to be imposed on her be transferred to me.”

Despite Nibir’s desperate plea, Gabriel’s face remained unchanged.

“Assuming there is nothing more to say, we will proceed.”

“4th Class Dimension Management God Solari.”

“Yes.”

“You knew that a noble soul had entered a dimension but did not report it. Do you admit this?”

Gabriel’s question, which saw through everything, was a mere formality.

Unlike the trials of mortals, where legal battles rage, the trials of Dimension Management Gods consist only of formal questions, confirmations, and punishments.

“I admit it.”

“Were you pressured by the 2nd Class Dimension Management God to not report it?”

“No.”

“Understood. I pronounce the sentence. 4th Class Dimension Management God Solari. Confinement for 24 years. The time is based on the time of the sinner. From this moment on, all dimensions under your management will be transferred to other Dimension Management Gods.”

“…Understood.”

Solari bowed her head. Confinement for 24 years was a very light punishment.

She could see Nibir’s face brighten slightly beside her.

“Next, 2nd Class Dimension Management God Nibir.”

“Do you admit that you concealed the fact that a noble soul had entered a dimension due to personal feelings, and that you made a contract with a mortal soul to track it?”

“…I admit it.”

Nibir’s eyes briefly turned to Ranael.

“Do you also admit that the mortal who made the contract traveled through dimensions, devouring many souls and carrying their remnants, causing a disruption in causality?”

“I admit it.”

Nibir lowered her head.

“Understood. I pronounce the sentence. 2nd Class Dimension Management God Nibir. A portion of your rank will be used to correct the distorted causality.”

“G-Gabriel. I know that even using all of my rank would not be enough to correct the current distorted causality. May I ask why only a portion is being used?”

“That is because the rank of another is being used.”

Gabriel’s eyes briefly turned to the mud tomb where Kang In-ho was.

“Using a portion of your rank will make you a 4th Class Dimension Management God.”

“…Yes.”

“Are you disappointed to lose your rank?”

Nibir shook her head vigorously at Gabriel’s question.

“No. I am grateful for your lenient sentence.”

“Next, 1st Class Dimension Management God Loki.”

At Gabriel’s call, Loki stepped forward.

A faint smile lingered on his face.

“……..”

Gabriel paused for a moment.

“I admit it.”

It was Loki who broke the silence. He answered without receiving any questions.

“I have not yet stated the charges.”

A slight annoyance flickered across Gabriel’s face.

“I said I admit it because I know what you are going to say. Respected Judge.”

“…Did you hate having the eyes to read fate that much?”

“Knowing the ending of everything in advance made everything boring.”

“So you caused this to give it up?”

Loki simply smiled.

“Hoo….”

Gabriel took a deep breath and parted her lips twice.

“I pronounce the sentence. 1st Class Dimension Management God Loki… All of your rank will be revoked. You are no longer a Dimension Management God, and the moment you lose your rank, you will be annihilated.”

“Please convey my gratitude for understanding my heart.”

Loki gave an exaggerated bow.

“There could have been a more moderate way.”

“Yes, but I chose this method because it was the fastest.”

“Understood.”

“Finally, 3rd Class Dimension Management God Ranael.”

“Y-Yes, yes… Yes!”

“You are the cause of all this chaos, and you have committed unspeakable crimes against the noble soul. Do you admit it?”

“B-But….”

Ranael shouted reflexively, and Nibir covered her face with her hands.

“But?”

Gabriel asked, as if not expecting a rebuttal.

“The soul of the mortal uttered insulting words to a Dimension Management God….”

Ranael’s voice grew smaller and smaller as she mustered her courage.

Gabriel tilted her head.

“Is it right to make someone wander through dozens of dimensions because they utter insulting words?”

“B-But!!”

Ranael raised her voice as if feeling wronged, but Gabriel raised her hand, indicating that she would not listen further.

“There is no need to hear more.”

“I pronounce the sentence….”

“Ugh… Where am I…?”

The place she woke up in was dark and damp. The first thing she recognized as soon as she regained consciousness was the stench.

A musty, stale smell, a smell she hadn’t smelled in hundreds of years, assaulted her nose.

“W-What.”

A voice as rough as sandpaper escaped her throat.

Dry lips, parched body.

Before she could even grasp the situation, she lifted her face at the presence in front of her.

“Ah! You’re awake.”

“Who… Who are you?”

She frowned as she saw a skinny man covered in acne in front of her.

The man’s face hardened, as if he knew that she hated him.

“R-Ranael… Why do you have that look on your face? Why… Why that look? You used to smile at me… But why…..”

Ranael wanted to move. But she couldn’t.

Her body was tied to a chair.

A man with crazy eyes raised a kitchen knife.

The events of just moments ago flashed through her mind as she slowly regained consciousness.

[I pronounce the sentence. 3rd Class Dimension Management God Ranael. You will experience the same suffering as the soul you caused to suffer.]

[As a form of punishment, you will experience possession 77 times more severe than what the noble soul Kang In-ho experienced.]