Chapter 184: The Descent of the Goddess

Day 541 in the Otherworld – 1,001,414 points

Two weeks have passed since the meeting with Seira and the others.

It’s been a year and a half since I was transferred to this world along with my home, and today finally marks the time for the descent of the goddess.

I remember discussing a while back about “the goddess possibly being the true final boss,” so I’ve perfectly adjusted my faith points as a precaution for that.

<Goddess Descent: 1,000,000 points>

<Maintenance of Manifestation: 1,000 points>

With the remaining points set to less than 1,000, she should be returned to the divine realm within a day at the earliest, or two days at the latest. It may seem disrespectful as one who receives blessings, but I considered it as one possibility.

There could be sudden changes after some time, but there’s no end to thinking about such possibilities. For now, once the goddess descends, I plan to see if I can exchange for rewards.

Currently, only Tsubaki and I are at home. Due to certain circumstances, I’ve ordered all other members to wait outside.

“Tsubaki, I’ve exchanged the points. Any changes on your end?”

“No, not at the moment. Um… Are you sure she’ll really come out from here?”

“Yeah, that’s what the goddess herself said. Apparently, she can only come out from here during the first descent.”

We’ve just finished exchanging points in the living room. I’m telepathically communicating with Tsubaki, who’s waiting in front of the refrigerator.

“Is that so…”

“Maybe she wants to come out without being seen by anyone.”

By the way, the “certain circumstances” I mentioned earlier refer to this. If someone were to witness a woman crawling out of the refrigerator instead of a well, it would certainly undermine the dignity of the goddess.

(I should go there once. But if I’m not here, I can’t test the point exchange…)

While thinking about that, Tsubaki suddenly…

“Wouldn’t you need to open the door for this to work?”

“Oh, like opening the curtain? I’m not sure, but can you try opening them all for now?”

“Got it. Here I go—aaaaah!”

“Hey, what happened?! Are you okay?!”

“I-I’m fine… Um, it’s just that… the goddess… has descended…”

I’m curious about what happened, but first, I need to test if I can exchange points. Once I confirm that there’s no problem, I quickly head to the kitchen.

◇◇◇

When I arrive in the living room, Nanasia-sama is standing in front of the refrigerator. Next to her is Tsubaki, who seems to have lost her composure and is sitting on the floor.

According to her, as soon as she opened the refrigerator, she saw the face of the goddess staring at her… and witnessed the entire process of her crawling out of the refrigerator.

Although Tsubaki was taken aback, she quickly regained her composure and ran towards me. It might just be a façade, but her expression is as usual. She still has her usual composure in such situations.

“I am Nanasia. Keisuke, thank you for releasing me.”

“Huh? Why the sudden formal tone?”

“…Thank you for releasing me.”

(I see, so this is part of the protocol…)

“It is with utmost joy that I welcome the arrival of Nanasia-sama. Thank you for gracing us with your presence.”

“Yes. Let us celebrate your achievements and bestow upon you a new blessing.”

“Yes, I gratefully accept.”

I’m not sure what kind of blessing it is, but apparently, this is all part of the process. After that, she returned to her usual tone.

“I’m really happy. Keisuke-san, and Tsubaki-san too. Thank you both.”

“That’s great. Um, so does this mean you’ve officially become a goddess?”

“Yes, at least in this world. The ultimate goal is to go to Japan.”

“Um, can we call the others who are outside? I’d like them to hear about this too, including the discussions about that.”

“Of course. Why don’t we take everyone to the divine realm? Oh, don’t worry. I’m not the final boss.”

It seems that now that she’s become a full-fledged goddess, anyone can go. Nanasia-sama says with a smile. From now on, it seems that faith points required for the stay will not be consumed. Also, although there’s no basis for it, I have a conviction that the goddess is not an evil deity.

With the goddess’s permission granted, I go to call the waiting members, and together, we move to the divine realm. Present here are myself, Tsubaki, Sakura, Touya, Natsuki, Haruka, and Akiho — all veterans who have been with me since the beginning.

After everyone finishes their greetings, we finally get to the main topic. There’s so much I want to ask, but for now, we decide to listen to the goddess’s story.

“Well then, let me start by telling you about myself. Until now, I was what you might call a demigoddess, but…”

The content that follows is about the role of goddesses in this world and their ultimate purpose.

– By the faith of the people living in this world (including the Japanese), when they descend into the mortal realm, they become “present gods.” They have no concept of life and death, nor are they human. It seems that there’s a slight nuance difference from the concept of present human gods in Japan. They don’t cause supernatural phenomena or possess tremendous power.

It’s quite outrageous, such as the blessings from the goddess and the dimensional gate, but let’s put that aside for now.

– The role of goddesses in this world is to maintain the world and the survival of species. However, direct interference is not allowed.

I already knew about this. I still remember the two divine beings who became thought forms after causing various incidents.

– When becoming a present god, two restrictions are lifted: direct interference with the object of worship and travel to Earth, which in this case is going to Japan. And this is related to the goddess’s purpose.

– The ultimate goal of the goddess is to be recognized as a deity on Earth. It seems that this can be achieved by being recognized and gathering faith over there. By doing so, it appears that they can ascend to even higher beings.

Many demigods in otherworlds also have this as their ultimate goal.

– Those who summon gods in other worlds and successfully return to Earth, utilizing the abilities they acquired… eventually become heroes. Whether it’s unifying the world, individual prowess, or inventions that transform society, the contents vary, but it’s said that behind it all lies the existence of present gods.

“Goddess, wouldn’t becoming famous on Earth after returning have nothing to do with faith in the gods? There are certainly stories in history about Untara achieved by the protection of gods, but there are also many heroes who aren’t like that, right?”

Indeed, there are tales of heroes aided by guardian gods, but to be honest, there aren’t that many. Would that level of recognition be enough for ascension?

“That’s right. It’s hard to put into words, but… it’s okay if the name of the god doesn’t become widely known directly.”

“Does that mean achievements of apostles are also considered for points?”

“Considered for points…? That expression is close. All achievements of those who are believers will be reflected, not just apostles.”

(Does this mean that as long as the organization delivers results collectively, it’s fine? Well, it’s quite common not to know the name of the CEO even though you know the company name.)

Starting with my words, the others also begin to ask questions one after another. Questions about Nobunaga and famous inventors arise—of course, some are completely irrelevant, but it turns out there are surprisingly many cases of people with experience in other worlds.

“Um, Goddess. As I’ve been listening to the conversation, it seems like everyone who is summoned to other worlds is like Earthlings… Why is that?”

As we’re getting excited about stories of past great figures, Natsuki brings up such a question…

Now that it’s mentioned, that does seem to be the case. Why are they only summoned from Earth?

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