The Goddess Is Obsessed With Me

Miru, whom I hadn't seen for a while, suddenly stabbed something into my heart.

At the same time, my vision began to fade rapidly. It wasn’t like losing consciousness... more like something was covering my eyes, plunging me into darkness.

- ?!

Was I being pulled into some kind of abyss, sinking rapidly into the depths?

It was a strange, indescribable feeling.

Suffocating yet empty... as if I had fallen into an obscure place or trapped in a narrow space.

Whoosh -!

However, this sensation didn’t last long. After passing through a dark tunnel, a sudden flash of light ended the brief darkness.

"Ugh..."

Bang ―! Bang ―!

Then, familiar yet alien mechanical noises surrounded me.

"?! "

As my hearing returned, so did my sight. The scene unfolding before me was...

"Huh...?"

It was the landscape I had longed to return to.

The cityscape unfolded before my eyes, cars emitting fumes while waiting for the traffic lights, and people in completely different attire from mine, looking at their phones as they walked.

"Could it be... real...?"

An unbelievable reality... but there was no doubt.

The goal I had longed for... to escape from that world and return to my own.

"But why so suddenly...?"

I didn’t know what Miru did to me, but one thing was clear.

"I've returned to this place, haven't I?"

I had come back to the real world.

The sudden shift in reality was still too much to fully understand.

"What's with that guy...?"

"His outfit is so unique. Is he coming from a cosplay event or something?"

The murmurs from the people around forced me to confront the reality.

My current attire was what I usually wore in the game world, utterly out of place in this reality, drawing attention.

"?! "

I stood there, dazed, before finally managing to move.

I started running aimlessly, not knowing where to go, just trying to find a secluded place to hide. "Huff..."

Finally, I stopped walking when I was out of breath and checked that there were no people around. Only then did a semblance of calm start to return.

"This place is..."

Slowly surveying my surroundings, I recognized the familiar streets and began to piece together my memories.

Judging by the color of the sky, it seemed to be nighttime, a stark contrast to the world I had just left.

"This is definitely the park I know..."

I found myself in a well-maintained, expansive park – a place I was sure of.

This park was close to where my younger sister lived; if I followed the path correctly, I might be able to see her.

"Please be there..."

I started moving again, my legs propelling me forward. Though I was still unsure of what had happened, I knew I needed to share this situation with someone who could help me in my current state of having nothing.

Knock, knock, knock.

I arrived at a modest-looking mansion, reasonably equipped but obviously cheap due to its poor quality.

If my memory served me right, this was where my younger sister lived...

"Who is it~?"

"…!"

Thankfully, someone was inside, and the voice I had longed to hear responded to my knock.

"Yura? It's me, your brother Minjun. I need to talk to you about something urgent -"

Crash bang ―!

Before I could finish speaking, a commotion erupted inside, sounding alarmingly chaotic.

Thump, thump, thump!

Then, hurried footsteps approached from the other side of the door.

Click!

The front door opened, and a familiar face greeted me.

"Brother...?"

At first, she squinted in disbelief at my presence, but soon her eyes moistened, quickly wetting her cheeks.

"Brother...!!"

My sister, filled with a mix of emotions, called out to me.

"Is it really you, Brother?!"

Her face showed both overwhelming emotion and confusion at our sudden reunion.

"Yeah... it's hard to believe, but it's me..."

Crash!

As I nodded affirmatively to Yura's question about my identity, I felt her weight against me as she threw herself into my arms in an emotional embrace. "Where have you been?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! And what’s with these strange clothes? Do you know how much I've struggled?!"

Yura's barrage of questions mirrored my own curiosity and confusion.

"I understand, Yura. Let's go inside, and I'll explain everything slowly."

"Here's what happened from my perspective..."

Yura then shared everything about how events unfolded in the real world while I was absent.

In brief, I had been missing without a trace for several months.

The duration matched the time I spent in the game world.

One day, I just vanished, and despite the police’s efforts, they found no trace of me.

It was as if I had disappeared into thin air, with no evidence of my last whereabouts, not even on CCTV.

"It was really hell without you, brother..."

Yura had gone through a lot, trying to fill the void I left. She kept it a secret from our parents, pretending I was on a long business trip abroad. She struggled to pay for her tuition, living expenses, and the money I was supposed to send to our parents, working multiple jobs.

Her actions were admirable, yet it pained me to think of her hardship covering my absence.

"Now tell me about your situation. Where have you been all this time? And what’s with that armor-like outfit?"

Now that she had finished, it was my turn to respond.

"Yura, it might be hard to believe, but this is the truth... It sounds crazy, and I think so too, but it's not a lie."

I grasped her shoulders, emphasizing the seriousness of what I was about to say.

"Okay..."

She looked into my eyes with a serious expression, influenced by the gravity of my demeanor. "I actually... went to another world."

"What...?"

Hearing my words, Yura's expression turned skeptical, her brows furrowing. It seemed she couldn't trust what I just said, her face filling with disbelief as if I were playing a joke on her in such a serious moment.

"I told you it sounds unbelievable! But please, believe me, it's true!"

Despite her doubt, I insisted more forcefully, trying to convince her.

"Let's say, for the sake of argument, that's true. Then why did you go there, and how did you come back?"

Her probing question felt like it hit the mark. Honestly, those were the same questions I wanted to ask someone else.

"I don't know... but it's true..."

Eventually, I had to face my sister's incredulous expression, unable to defend myself convincingly. She remained silent for a while, overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all.

"Haah... fine, I'll believe you..."

Finally, she let out a sigh, seemingly full of understanding, and nodded.

"Huh?"

Her quick acceptance was surprising. I had thought she would never believe such a story.

"You really believe me?"

Even I found it hard to believe her reaction, but she responded similarly.

"Well, you wouldn't have come in such a realistic, yet obviously fake outfit otherwise... Besides, why would you make up such a story if there was a more plausible explanation?"

Since childhood, Yura and I had a close bond, unlike many siblings. She always followed and trusted me, and now I realized once again what a good person she was.

"Still, I'm just happy you're back, brother!"

Her usual positive attitude shone through as she smiled cheerfully.

"Thanks, Yura..."

Just for understanding, I expressed my gratitude, to which she gently shook her head.

"Hmm... No need to thank me... You're back now, and that's what matters. We can return to normal life."

Her words made me ponder.

The time I spent in the game world had also passed in the real world. "So... even when I was in the real world, time in the game world was still passing..."

I wondered about the state of the other world and its inhabitants. Did they realize I had disappeared?

Achieving my ultimate goal of returning to reality wasn't as joyous as I expected. Instead, it was confusing and worrisome, especially thinking about the women I left behind, particularly Eleona. What would happen if they knew I had vanished again?

My mind was a whirlpool of thoughts, unsure of what to do next.

However, all these concerns seemed futile as two weeks passed meaninglessly.

The time flew by too quickly...

A week was not enough to reacclimate to the real world and to organize my thoughts.

But life was unforgiving, and time pressed on me.

Initially, I worried about the other world and thought about showing my face there again. However, the tidal wave of real-world issues that came crashing down as I returned left no room to think about the other world.

The most pressing issue was financial...

Even though I hadn't willingly gone to the other world, my disappearance for several months meant I had lost my job. With immediate living expenses and the need to support my parents and sister, who was studying in college with loans, I faced unfair yet inevitable problems.

I needed to find a job right away...

Regardless of the other world, I had to stabilize my real-life situation first.

Then, during my job search, I received an unexpected offer from a company.

It was surprising to land a job so quickly...

The company that hired me was none other than the renowned Naile Group, a top corporation in South Korea and globally.

Despite knowing it was a long shot, I had applied on a whim, and incredibly, they offered me a position.

Was this really happening? It felt almost miraculous, like a fantasy.

They had bypassed the usual internships and small details, offering me a direct position, which made me wonder if this was another fantasy unfolding in the real world. "But such thoughts were short-lived... Driven by the need to earn money, I pushed aside my distractions and prepared for my new job.

Today, on my first day at the corporation...

I started having doubts about this company.

My memories were a bit hazy, but compared to my first day at my previous job, it was strangely easy here.

Even for a big corporation with good welfare, this level of comfort was almost unbelievable. I hardly had any work to do, like I was almost playing around.

Even when compared to other supervisors and new hires, the workload was incredibly light.

As I was about to leave after an unsettling day...

"Kim Minjun, the new recruit? Could you come up to the rooftop for a moment? Someone wants to see you..."

Following my superior's request, I took the elevator to the rooftop of the towering building.

And there, leaning casually against the railing at the edge of the rooftop, was a young girl.

She seemed like a high school student. As I approached, she started smiling enigmatically.

"Um, did you call me here? What do you want?"

Though it felt awkward, I initiated the conversation.

"How does it feel to live in your world again, Harold? Or should I call you Minjun now?"

At that moment, I doubted my ears.

"I don't think you realize how much I searched to piece together your current reality, Harold. But after all that effort, it's worth it."

She effortlessly used a name that no one else should know.

"What...?"

Who was she? How did she know that name?

Despite my bewildered questions, she seemed utterly relaxed, sipping juice from a disposable plastic cup.

"Hmm... Is it the difference in technology? The taste is far superior to the world I came from, but it lacks sincerity... It's quite subtle."

She spoke as if she were an alien from another world, and it felt ominous.

"What did you just say... Who are you?"

To my question, the girl just smiled meaningfully.

"I tried to make it as similar as possible... but is the appearance too different? And really, a human female body is quite inconvenient... too weak and fragile."

My unease gradually turned into certainty, and an unknown fear started to make me tremble. "You must be curious about many things, but we have plenty of time, so I'll explain slowly."

Then tell me quickly... starting with who you are...

"Tell me, who are you?"

"I think I've given enough hints by now... Haven't I? Well then..."

She flicked something upwards with her thumb, catching it and then beginning to attach it to her chest.

A badge on a black background, simple yet exuding a sense of opulence...

"This badge is only available to very high-ranking people in this company."

Still smiling, the enigmatic girl – or perhaps someone I already knew – continued.

"If back then we were a black dragon and a mortal, now are we the chairman and a mere company employee?"

Her words unraveled the mysteries piling up in my mind, and I started to feel a real sense of dread flooding my body.

"O2...?"

The mighty dragon, untouchable by anyone, now stood before me in the form of a slender girl.

"Is it really... you?"

Murmuring the name that came to my mind, she looked at me with a joy vastly different from before.

"This place is the prison I've created just for you, Harold. From now on, there will be no more interferences."

The entity once known as a dragon that devoured darkness in another world...

"Let's enjoy this reality together, Harold."