SNBF 03

Chapter 03

[Are you really not going to torment me?]
[Of course not! Everyone wants to meet Dorothy so badly!]
[Everyone…? Aren’t there just one god?]
[No. We are eight guardian gods of the empire.]

I remembered details from the novel that I had forgotten in all the confusion.
Agatha was the only god whose name appeared prominently, but it had been mentioned that there were other gods too.
Which meant… apart from Agatha, the other gods could be complete psychopaths, couldn’t they?
No matter how kind this one was, I couldn’t let my guard down against gods. Maybe only she was special. My mistrust had grown deep from past experiences.
What if I did something to annoy them and they cursed me?

Terrified, I fired off a barrage of questions.
[God… how much influence can you have over me? Like, could you possess my body or something?]
[It’s not impossible, but there’s really no need. It would be hard for us and hard for you too, Dorothy.]
[Then… could you make me fall, hurt me, or block all my paths? Is that possible?]
[Maybe for others it’s impossible, but for Dorothy… you’re asking strange questions. Do you… like pain?]

Damn it.
Hearing Agatha speak only made me more anxious. I regretted having spoken to her just a few minutes ago. I should’ve pretended not to know her.
I’d gotten too excited because a god was being nice for once.

“Since I already spoke to her, there’s no going back. I can’t ignore her now. On the bright side, she’s like a cheat key—one of eight I can rely on in this unfamiliar world.”

[God, what do you want?]

Of course, my discomfort was still strong, and I still didn’t like it. Gods were scary, after all.
But wouldn’t it be better to use what I could to my advantage than to live constantly fearing divine punishment for ignoring a god’s words—or worse, to die starving as a wanderer?
After all, before I died, I had even thought, “If I’m reborn, I’ll obediently accept divine possession,” so there was nothing I couldn’t do now.

[Oh, Dorothy, you’re really going to talk properly with us…! Thank goodness someone like you has appeared!]

Agatha’s voice trembled with emotion.

Finally, I could go to my room and place the tray on my desk.
[Um… God. Let’s eat first and then sort things out.]

Even Mount Geumgang is best seen after a meal.

I glanced over the tray.
There was something I could offer… one apple.

Offering a meal to the gods.
I hated doing it but had been forced to learn.
I couldn’t make it lavish due to lack of money, but as Mom said, gods liked it when offerings were given properly, and the more sincere, the more impressed they were.

Even in the original novel, there were several scenes of offering tributes.
Of course, the offerings weren’t just apples—they were human sacrifices, slaughtering cattle, anything living.
But that was impossible for me, so I hoped they would be satisfied with this small gesture and wiped the apple with my sleeve.

I placed the apple on one side of the desk, set up a candle, and lit it. I didn’t even know why you lit candles for gods, but I wanted to make it look proper.

[Um, God… I’m poor, so I can’t offer much right now…]
[…Yes?]
[Please, take this apple. It doesn’t seem bad.]

Agatha didn’t say anything.
Hungry, I took a spoonful of soup. It was warm and delicious.
“Tha… thank you.”

After a while, Agatha’s reply came.

It took a long time to talk with Agatha.
She explained the world and her circumstances, and I questioned why I had come here.

[Well… all I know is that Dorothy suddenly appeared. Your soul has a different hue from this world.]
[So you’re only sure that I’m not from here?]
[Yes. We don’t know where you came from or why. But we think of you as a gift.]
[Why a gift…?]

It was a somewhat embarrassing label.

[Until now, humans who communicated with us could only receive our oracle unilaterally. But Dorothy, you can talk with us! Your wavelength matches. It doesn’t seem like divine power… it’s strange!]

I had a guess.
This concept probably doesn’t exist in this world… a “vessel,” perhaps?
My body was a perfect vessel for spirits. The gates of my soul were wide open.
Especially when I was weak as a child, I was easily possessed, and Mom suffered daily.
Ghosts and gods were different in rank, but both were spiritual. How easy would it be to enter me?

This cursed body of mine… really…
Yes. It’s fine. I haven’t seen ghosts in this world yet. That’s something.

“Wait…”

I rubbed my eyes.
Outside the window, I saw the back of a woman walking leisurely.
The problem was, my room was on the second floor.

My mind froze, and goosebumps rose.

[Is… that a ghost?]
[What? A ghost?]
What did they call ghosts in the West?

[A ghost… um… oh, a spirit. Is that woman a spirit?]

I laughed nervously at my own formality toward a ghost.

[Oh, you can see it too, Dorothy? I thought you couldn’t because you didn’t react before. Humans who hear oracles usually can’t see ghosts, it’s amazing! Dorothy really is special—]

Agatha’s excited voice faded.
I pitied my former self who had been relieved not to see ghosts in this world.
Dorothy, even here, you’re perfectly suited to being a medium.

[Phew… anyway, Agatha, you still don’t know why I suddenly came here, right?]

I quickly recovered from my brief despair and returned to the conversation.
[Yes.]

Even gods who could read human hearts didn’t know. Agatha’s “I don’t know” meant they couldn’t determine the cause or solution for my possession in this world.

‘Then… let’s just give up quickly.’

I stopped pressing about the possession and listened to Agatha’s story.
Her explanation was similar to the novel, just with added details about the gods.

‘The temples are rotten, as expected.’

Bribes, manipulated oracles, having connections to enter the capital’s temples—the temples’ corruption had been going on for a long time.
As a result, human faith and sincerity no longer reached the heavens.
This weakened the gods’ power, which should have filled the world with abundance and peace.
Meanwhile, the emperor hated the gods.

‘I remember there was a scene where all the temples were destroyed.’

Honestly, I could understand why the emperor felt that way.
When he was young, the emperor had a cherished younger brother who one day fell ill with an infectious disease.
While top doctors and pharmacists came from across the empire, the former emperor and empress only prayed frantically in the temple.
They didn’t stay by their dying son’s side.
‘It was all because of the oracle.’

“The land that goes against the will of the gods shall be punished by divine retribution.”

Most people believed the plague was divine punishment from this oracle.
The citizens prayed desperately.
The plague spread, and eventually the main temple offered a solution:
“The gods want to see the devotion of those who repent. Offer tributes.”

Fathers offered their lives to save their daughters, children offered their lives to save their mothers. Gold and treasure poured into the temple.
The former emperor and empress did the same.
For the empire, for their son, they begged for forgiveness until they were skeletal.
It was ridiculous.

Soon, the mysterious plague disappeared for unknown reasons, just like it had appeared.
But the emperor’s younger brother died.
Thus, the emperor distrusted the temples and despised the gods.
He didn’t know where the oracle ended and temple manipulation began.
But even a temple couldn’t fabricate an oracle from nothing.
Whenever an oracle was issued, the candle at the top of every altar across the empire would turn blue.
So the oracle itself was real.

‘If only it hadn’t been then.’

If the god hadn’t issued that oracle, the former emperor would have investigated the plague and taken measures. He might have held his dying son’s hand one last time.

[Agatha… that oracle—was it manipulated by the temple?]

I cautiously interjected while Agatha continued explaining.
It was never made clear in the novel, only hinted.
Agatha could answer this.

[How did you know?]

Agatha asked, surprised.