Chapter 62

Chapter 62

First of all, the creation myth.

She briefly recalled a myth she knew.

The primordial god appeared from light and darkness, then created the world. Soon she gave birth to nine gods who would help shape the world with her.

God of death, earth, sky, greed and conflict, neutrality, wisdom and ideals, justice and harmony, mischief and love, day and night.

Subsequently, the primordial god formed various living things through water and soil, and the nine gods began to decorate the world in which living things would live according to the will of the primordial god.

Under the protection of the primordial god, the world grew larger day by day. Many living things have come to live with their own characteristics. The nine gods also received their own powers to rule over living things.

Then one day, a human man, the weakest creature, succeeded in stealing one of the divine powers—fire—and ran away with it. By using fire, human civilization developed smoothly and transformed into the strongest in an instant.

But the human man did not stop his greed there.

He made a bet with the primordial god. If he wins the bet he asks to share the divine powers with humans. He, on the other hand, promised to return the fire to the primordial god if he lost.

The primordial god, who did not think that a mere living being, a human could win a bet with the primordial god, accepted the human man’s cheeky bet with the intention of taking the fire back.

The primordial god gave the human man three tasks. And then promised to share the divine power if the human man could solve all of this.

All the gods who watched this concluded that the human man was destined to fail.

Are mere living beings able to do a bet with the primordial god? They expected that the fire would be taken back without the human man being able to solve anything.

However, the human man solved all three tasks.

The primordial god was surprised, but the promise was absolute, so the primordial god imparted to men the divine power that was part of the primordial god.

Humans further developed civilization through magic, and when they gained power, they no longer served the gods.

Thus the primordial god and the nine gods departed from the humans who no longer needed them.

‘But in reality, the human man, Dean, didn’t solve the task alone. Anat, the god of wisdom and ideals, was with him.’

Andra, who looked at the disk, quickly closed her eyes. She had a headache from wrestling with letters all day. Suddenly, she fell into a deep sleep, holding the disc in her hand.

Andra realized that she was once again standing in an unknown place. Was she dreaming? Or was she in Anat’s memory? She looked around.

The interior of the splendid castle she had seen before was nowhere to be found. This time, it was a crude but neat white temple. In addition, she was dressed more simply than before, but she was less exposed and the only jewelry she had on was a metal ring on her wrist.

‘Where is this again… No, let’s keep it simple.’

Andra decided not to think too deeply about it. If this was a dream, it would be a lucid dream and it would be over when she woke up. If it wasn’t a dream, it would be in Anat’s memory, so she just had to peek at the memories as they flowed. It’s not too late to think about it after seeing all of the memories.

‘Is nobody there?’

The temple was quiet. Silence surrounded Andra as if there were nothing. Come to think of it, she was now barefoot. With every move she made, she felt the cold touch of the floor all over her soles. Trembling, Andra walked inside without realizing it. Something inside was pulling her strongly.

“…Fire?”

Upon entering, a wide corridor appeared. There was a large brazier in the middle of the corridor, and a pure blue fire was burning brightly in it. Andra approached as if possessed. Oddly enough, the fire felt familiar to her. Rather than being hot and dangerous, she felt cozy and safe.

As if she had known it for a very long time.

Meanwhile, looking at the fire, her feelings were complicated. She was neither sad nor angry. One thing she knew for sure was that she missed the fire, but she didn’t think it’s hers anymore.

But it was really difficult for her to take her eyes off the blue light. She even felt as if the fire was begging her not to let it go.

For that reason, Andra looked at the blue fire for a long time.

“Are you going to put out the fire again?”

After a while, a familiar voice came from behind. Andra knew who the owner of the voice was without looking behind her. The human man she saw in her previous memories.

She was strangely convinced. It was that man.

Dean, a man who looked at Anat affectionately and worshiped Anat.

Dean gradually approached Andra. The sound of his heavy footsteps was getting closer. Only as he approached right to Andra did she take her eyes off the blue light and look back at Dean. Again, it was the same face she had seen before.

“God.”

Dean’s face, reflected in the dynamic blue light, hardened and looked very angry. As if someone had been betrayed. He was like a whale swimming in the sea with a huge wound in his bosom. And Andra, who looked inside, found it funny, but she thought of herself as the sea.

Every time a whale wagged its tail, a large water jet rose, but the vast ocean was still.

Andra looked at the man indifferently. Then the man reached out and grabbed Andra’s arms tightly. He then opened his mouth again with a contorted face.

“Don’t look at me… with those eyes.”

“Dean.”

“God, when you look at me with those eyes, I really… don’t know what to do.”

The man shook his hand as if he was about to collapse. His voice seemed to be torn to shreds and split into several branches. That must be how much the man is suffering.

Andra suddenly found herself reflected in the man’s eyes.

Face colder than ever. There was not even a single hint of warmth. Its appearance, beautifully sculpted like a sculpture, was hard as if it was not human, so pale and lifeless in harmony. It was safe to say that she was a doll that was well made like a human. Will even a drop of blood come out if she was stabbed?

Even Andra herself felt a chill when she saw her reflection in his eyes.

She tried to put Dean’s hand down who was holding her arm. Then Dean persevered and grabbed her arm even more. Like a lifeline. If he let her go now, he felt that he would lose her forever.

“Dean, don’t do this.”

“No. You are not like this. Please…”

Andra couldn’t feel any pain, even as the man grabbed her arm so tightly that it was almost crushing. She gave up letting Dean’s hand down. Instead, she let out a sigh. With that sigh, her face cracked again. She could see his lips were dry.

“What should I do? How…”

“You know you can’t, Dean. It was nothing from the beginning. It was just a prank from God.”

“…Was it nothing? Was it just a prank?”

The man’s breathing became rough. He looked at Andra in disbelief.

“Dean.”

“How can you be so cruel? How…”

The man’s voice trembled violently. His body trembled badly. The trembling could be felt through her grasped arm. He was in confusion and sorrow. But Andra was different. She felt more calm than ever. Also, that fact makes Dean even sadder.

“The fire… I’ll return it. Instead, please tell me this is a lie. Don’t make me… miserable like this.”

“I’m not going to take the fire back. I can’t take it back anyway.”

“Then I… what do you want me to do?”

“I said it was nothing in the first place.”

Dean’s eyes fluttered at the firm voice. Gradually, the strength of his hand that was holding her arm was released.

“N, no, it’s not. That is not true. You and I…”

“I don’t love you, Dean.”

“No, don’t tell me… Don’t say it…”

“It’s not just you. I do not love anyone. Although I have affection for all living beings under my power—”

“Stop!”

Dean shouted. He couldn’t contain his anger. As Dean heard the words coming out of Andra’s mouth, he closed his eyes and shook his head as if he couldn’t hear more. In fact, he was desperate. He was also suffering.

Andra just felt sorry for Dean. It was sympathy.

“I didn’t mean to drag you into Basham’s pranks. For that reason, I will not hold you responsible for the fire.”

“Please, please don’t say this! I don’t want to hear it!”

“Dean, listen. This is reality. It’s something you have to face.”

“How, could you, say something like that… so easily…”

“Dean.”

“God, don’t do this to me. Please.”

Dean’s anger eventually turned to himself. He could never be angry with the being in front of him. He slid down. He knelt down on his knees, grabbed Andra’s wrist, and hung as if pleading.

“No, please. It’s a lie I, I… It’s all my fault. So, I…”

“…….”

“Please don’t say… you don’t love me… I was wrong. You were right… I shouldn’t have coveted the fire… Because I stole the fire… you…”

Dean was desperately hanging on. He blamed himself and appealed to Andra. He was like a man hanging from a cliff. A person who stands in a position of falling endlessly beneath Andra when she blows her breath. Dean took Andra’s hand, who was colder than ever, and begged.

“I will not be greedy for anything. anything… It doesn’t matter if I live uglier than before. All I need is you, all I need is you… So, don’t throw me away so coldly… Please…”

“Dean, this will not change anything. Get up.”

“Why, why… Don’t you feel something? I’m hanging on to you like this… Please love me even now… Please… Don’t throw me away, please…”

“I can’t love you. No god loves. Even Basham, the god of love and mischief, does not love.”

“It’s not like that. Clearly, Did… Didn’t you say you love me? So, didn’t you spend all those nights with me? If you leave me… like this…”

Andra said nothing. The man who was barely hanging on to her, blaming himself and spitting out shame, was just pitiful, so she didn’t know what to say. But she had to say it. She spoke slowly.

“I came to you today to set everything right. I will not see you after this. So get up, I want to say goodbye properly.”

The man’s movements stiffened. Andra took advantage of that pause to make Dean rise to his feet. Slightly lost, he just stared blankly at Andra. Dean. Andra called him.

“Sorry.”

At that one word, the man’s face shattered. He asked, as if he really had a gut feeling that this was the last time, suppressing his trembling voice as much as possible.

“I will ask you one thing, one thing. Please answer me.”

“Anything.”

“Did you really never love me?”

The man’s straight gaze descends. Andra couldn’t take her eyes off his gaze. There was no hesitation in her answer. She answered right away.

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