Chapter 1

Imagine a child who will one day destroy the world.
Is it right or wrong to punish a child for crimes they haven’t yet committed?
You can argue that life cannot be weighed, but the expected answer is obvious.
Maybe I, too, would have reluctantly sided with preserving the world over preserving a single life — if that wronged child’s fate had not been my own.

“Just you wait — I’ll smash everything to pieces!”

It sounds like the kind of line a cowardly villain would shout while running away, but so what.
From where they stand now thinking about me, I’m probably not that different.

“Elaiya, I did my best to give you a comfortable life here.”

The voice of the highest god, Jupiter, echoed loudly through the great temple.

“Fine, then live like that — why don’t you try living that way yourself!”

Even if my breath was coming in ragged gasps, I had to say that.
This isolated mansion where I didn’t even know whether the sun rose or set — wasn’t Jupiter the one who had shoved me into that motionless place?

“You… that’s such a bad habit! I’ve told you over and over to keep your dignity as a god.”

A hollow laugh escaped me even as my side ached from running.
Yes, I was born a god. So what if that’s all I was? They treated me like a tumor to be cut out, not like a god to be honored.
Rueta — the legendary floating island of the sky — was said to be the residence of the eight gods who oversaw Rodea, the land of humans.
I was a newly born twin goddess who had come into being around two hundred years ago, and I should have been working toward the mission bestowed upon me.
But that blasted mission was the problem. All gods are born as-needed and given a mission to fulfill.

‘The era is waning; everything will follow the natural order.’
Because the mission given to me sounded ominous, I was already infamous in Rodea as a wicked god.
Truth be told, the gods themselves were even more terrified than humans.
Because of the gods’ panic, I was trapped for two hundred years.
I kicked with all my strength at the floor that rose with a chilling cold.
Since this was my first time actually running, I didn’t know whether I was fast or slow.
Among the gods who loudly declared the need to dispose of ominous omens, I knew that confining and watching me was the greatest courtesy Jupiter could offer.
At first I was simply grateful to be alive.
But then — ten years, fifty years, a hundred and twenty years, two hundred years…
I was locked in solitary, living the same looped day over and over, subsisting on the meals I was given.
At some point I began to feel like one of the furnishings that made up my cell.
It was a repetition of those days.
Is it something to be grateful for that I merely kept breathing while my life replayed like a broken record?
A doubt arose.
And as doubt grew, anger rose against everything I had been grateful for.
How could I, a god of plants, ever destroy the world? Would I weaponize plants to seize the world? Ridiculous.
My deep, dark green hair swayed like a thick grove.
Only when I reached the temple’s entrance, the edge of Rueta, did I stop running.
Below, the human world lay clustered with dim lights.
Rodea spread out directly beneath.

“Even the stars that shine in the sky won’t be this bright.”

The deeper the night, the more luminous and beautiful their little world looked; I wanted to stare at it forever if I could.
An unnameable feeling swelled in me and tears welled up for no reason.

“Pip, we’re going there now. Stay close.”
“Pippo!”

I held out my hand carefully so Pip could see Rodea.
Hearing Pip’s excited voice made me smile at last.

“That’s right, Pip. We’re getting out of this damned place.”

My only friend, made over eighty years by condensing my divine power — Pip was composed of pale green leaves and several stems. He pointed at Rodea with a tiny thumblike tip, urging me on.

“It’s disgustingly high…”

Facing the dizzying height, my legs froze and wouldn’t move.
I took a deep breath; hurried footsteps that had followed me paused at a reasonable distance.

“Elaiya, if you come back on your own feet right now, I’ll make this commotion never have happened.”

When I turned around, Jupiter glared at me, holding a huge spear of flame in one hand.
Jupiter’s flame, said to burn even souls, flickered fiercely.
Behind Jupiter the great columns that supported the temple’s entrance and roof came into view.
Columns carved with the full figures of the seven gods looked ahead with stately expressions.
There was nowhere for me in that sight.
See? When did they ever treat me as a god? The boiling anger in me sank coldly.
My legs, which had been paralyzed by the dizzying height, moved gently.
I let my dark green hair fly however it liked and looked at Jupiter.

“Jupiter.”

Thinking I had given up, relief spread across Jupiter’s face.

“…Yes, that’s a good decision. Let’s go inside quickly. If this escalates here, I won’t be able to protect you from the other gods either.”
“Is living like this any different from being dead?”
“Elaiya, I’ll punish Pulgor harshly myself, so—”
“This isn’t because of Pulgor.”
“…….”
“You didn’t think I’d be grateful for living like this, did you?”

Jupiter’s face hardened as if struck in a vulnerable spot. I carefully cupped my hands around Pip so he wouldn’t slip away. Then —

“I’m really going to live now, down there.”

While facing Jupiter, I took a large step backward.
Jupiter bit his lip hard and raised the hand holding the flaming spear, but did not throw it; then, as if losing his balance, my body fell rapidly downward.
I turned my head away as Rueta receded in an instant.
Far below I could clearly see Rodea’s symbol: the world tree’s column of light connecting to the sky.

It was rare for the gods living on Rueta to descend to Rodea.
You could say it hardly ever happened.
The gods simply weren’t strongly interested, and the constraints on incarnation were strict.

‘Once you jump, quickly find a body, got it?’

Like my twin sister Titia had said, gods could not incarnate in Rodea unless they had been summoned by humans.

“Show me something so I know which body to find!”

If I’d known this would happen, I would have jumped straight ahead.
Because I had fallen backward trying to look impressive, my body spun in midair and my view was a blur.
I could have wandered about as a spirit and searched, but with gods potentially chasing me, I couldn’t afford that leisure.
How nice it would be if I could slip into any body.
But unfortunately, I couldn’t enter a body that already housed a soul.
Dead bodies without souls were possible, but that didn’t appeal to me.
A fetus that hadn’t yet had a soul settle into it would be ideal.
Ah, and if it had even a basic divine affinity, that would help.
Divine affinity was necessary to use divine power, but unless it was outstanding, you couldn’t know until you possessed the body — which was frustrating.
I barely steadied myself and scanned everything within sight.

‘Found it!’

While searching for a suitable vessel, my eyes landed on a huge mansion.
Even at a glance the interior decorations looked elegant and luxurious; there didn’t seem to be another place like it.
Although I’d never lived as a human before, I’d had plenty of indirect experience.
Titia fretted that living as a human would be difficult, but I wasn’t afraid at all. I’d consumed Rodea’s plays, musicals and countless otherworldly dramas; what I needed was practice.

“Get ready, Pip. I’ll pamper you now. We’ll go see lots of nice places.”

To live well in the human world, status, honor, and wealth come first.

“I’ll finally do all the things I couldn’t enjoy before.”

Something like possession overtook me — the thought that I could have everything I had only watched on screens filled my chest with excitement.

“Pippo—Pip?”

Are you really going to destroy everything? Pip asked with worry.
Even without a subject, I understood immediately.
The gods — the ones who had imprisoned me.
Thinking of killing them still stoked a flame in my chest.
But even if I took revenge on them, I doubted I would feel great joy. What good would obsessing over the past do me? Clinging to the past drags you into a dreary life.
Although I had yelled in the heat of the moment that I would smash everything, that was just talk. Besides —

“Pi—Pip.”
“Right, Titia is also a god of Rueta.”

There was no way I would ever harm her.

“I only said those things because I was so angry, Pip. Don’t worry.”
“Pippi.”
“Who has time to worry about them? Life is too short to only do painful things; I’d rather only do enjoyable ones.”

Was it necessary to walk into the inferno myself?
Many works had already shown the harms of revenge.
I’d run away to do the things I wanted; now I should just do them all.
I spoke each word as if making a vow.

“I’ll live in luxury, eating and living in style. I’ll do all the things I wanted.”
“Pip.”

What should I do? What kind of life should I live, whom would I meet? I’d make friends, travel, and fall in love. Maybe meet someone like the wealthy heirs on dramas — or a prince, in this world.
Already a path of flowers seemed to lay out before me. A confident smile touched my lips.
In a large, neatly arranged room many people had gathered, circling the center. Beside them a wailing woman, stunned onlookers, and medical staff. A heavy grief lay over the scene — but what of it? By the time I was born here that grief would have faded.
My urgency increased and I pushed forward faster. I aimed toward the fetus I needed and shot into the mansion. The moment I entered —

KWAANG!
As if the sky collapsed, the night brightened like day. Thunder and lightning roared, sounding like a monstrous cry.

“Piip!”
“Eek, Pip!”

Startled, my hand shot up