There’s something that people often call instinct—a hunch.

Sometimes, when standing at a crossroads, you feel an unsettling sensation that makes you avoid a certain choice, an almost predictive intuition.

It’s a warning based on countless experiences accumulated over a lifetime.

Right now, I instinctively knew.

“Is it you? The one who sent me to that other world?”

I knew that this woman was the one who had placed me in Youngest Son of the Hwang Family.

“Yes.”

“Yes?! You just threw me into another world without permission!”

“I’m sorry, but it wasn’t entirely without reason.”

The woman had a slightly apologetic expression but defended herself as if it wasn’t entirely her fault.

“If I remember correctly, didn’t you once say you wanted to live in a world where you could just draw comics, Sunwoo Hyuk?”

I couldn’t argue with her.

At that time, feeling utterly defeated, I had been desperate enough to wish for a second chance, no matter how slim.

“Even so, how do you explain controlling me to draw those comics?”

“I’m sincerely sorry about that, but it wasn’t exactly control.”

I questioned the sense of unease I’d felt for a long time.

Without any excuses, the woman—no, the goddess—apologized.

“I can only observe the world indirectly; I can’t interfere directly. At most, I nudged the direction of your passion for comics.”

“Fine, let’s say that’s true. But why did you have to use me?”

“Well…”

 

The goddess Gaia had been ready to create a new world.

—The time has come for you to create your own world.

She had trained for thousands of years in the Pantheon to earn the title of creator.

Finally, having passed the Creator’s Qualification Exam, she brimmed with confidence.

‘Mixing in popular high-dimensional culture is the trend these days!’

Gaia had heard from her seniors about their methods for world creation, which involved referencing the culture of higher dimensions.

The higher planes, the first worlds to come into existence, were culturally rich.

Among these, Earth’s movies and comics were extremely popular, even among the gods.

Thus, it became trendy among gods to incorporate elements from Earth’s culture into their own creations.

Gaia, following this trend, decided to add a few elements from popular Earth works into her world.

‘I definitely need to include this! It’s a masterpiece. Wait, should I add this too? Yeah, I can’t leave that out.’

However, Gaia ended up overdoing it, pouring in far too much of Earth’s culture.

Her desire to fill her world with exciting, compelling settings had spiraled out of control, creating an oddly blended world, a mishmash she only realized later.

At first, it didn’t seem to be a problem, but as time passed, issues began emerging from the Earth culture she’d mindlessly incorporated, making her increasingly anxious.

‘At this rate, things are going to get really bad.’

She wanted to fix the settings before it was too late, but the problem was that even as a creator, she couldn’t directly interfere in a world that was already made.

She tried to mitigate the crisis by sending indirect messages through her followers, but that could only go so far.

Desperate, she finally devised a plan.

“So… that’s how the web novel came into play?”

“Yes…”

Her plan was to write about her world in a web novel back on Earth, hoping to find solutions from there.

Disguised as a human, Gaia wrote the story of her world as a web novel, reflecting the trend at the time.

“I hoped to gain influence from people’s comments and reactions.”

“Influence?”

“Yes, Earth is the highest dimension in the universe, and it has a significant impact on lower dimensions! So, there’s a concept of influence….”

Gaia eagerly explained her plan, but it was filled with so much technical jargon about higher and lower dimensions that I barely understood.

What I did grasp was this:

“So, for your plan to work, Youngest Son of the Hwang Family had to become a major hit, but it didn’t, so you failed?”

“Yes… My plan was to achieve the success of Max-Level Returner or The Conqueror Returns to the Mortal Realm, but…”

Is she insane?

I couldn’t help thinking to myself.

“Oh! Did you just have an irreverent thought?”

“N-No.”

“You definitely did, didn’t you?”

She was surprisingly perceptive, even if she seemed a bit crazy.

“Anyway, just when I was feeling disappointed by my lack of influence, I heard Sunwoo Hyuk’s earnest wish!”

“No way…”

“Yes, so I used all the influence I’d accumulated to send you to my world!”

“Die, you demon!!!”

Watching the goddess beam with pride was more than I could bear.

Before I knew it, my fist was raised.

However—

“I understand why you’d be angry, but could you please hear me out?”

“…Fine.”

She gently pressed a finger against my incoming fist.

From the touch of her finger, I could sense her immense power.

Realizing that, I let my fist drop, feeling awkward as she continued.

“Sunwoo Hyuk, I truly appreciate that you lived so earnestly in the world I created, even though it was almost like you were dragged there against your will.”

“Well… that’s…”

After learning why she’d sent me to another world, my anger subsided slightly. Although I was outraged at first, I had some fond memories.

More importantly, I now had precious people in my life.

“To show my gratitude, I’ve used the last of my influence to bestow a small blessing upon you.”

“A blessing?”

“Yes, I’d meant to give it to you much sooner, but I was too preoccupied with solving the problems plaguing the world.”

A blessing from a goddess.

Honestly, I felt that Rupert’s artistic talent was already a cheat in itself, but if I were to receive a blessing on top of that, it could hardly be a bad thing.

“What kind of blessing is it?”

“It’s not particularly grand…”

I wasn’t too concerned. Since I wasn’t the protagonist fighting enemies directly, typical otherworldly perks wouldn’t be of much help to me.

‘Maybe a blessing that provides endless energy without side effects?’

With my increasingly packed schedule, I barely had time to draw comics. I would have appreciated something like an energy potion.

“From now on, even if you stay up all night drawing comics, you’ll be fully restored after just ten minutes of sleep. Plus, you won’t get sick until the end of your life, and you won’t feel tired using your new magical pen.”

The goddess added various explanations, perhaps worried that her blessing wasn’t impressive enough.

This is exactly what I needed—a complete package!

For me, it was the most perfect gift imaginable.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more, but I’ve exhausted all my influence.”

“No, this is an amazing blessing!”

The goddess sighed in relief, seeing my genuine happiness.

“I don’t entirely understand what influence is, but is it really okay for you to use it all on me?”

Concerned, I asked her.

It would be absurd if the world plunged into danger because of my blessing.

“Fortunately, there won’t be any world-threatening events for a while.”

“This was the last one?”

“Yes, the crises that arise in the world are like a butterfly effect; small incidents lead to bigger ones. Thanks to you, we were able to prevent many of those.”

As I looked at the goddess, who repeatedly expressed her gratitude, I felt my anger dissipating.

Not only because of the blessing but because I could feel her genuine desire to protect the world she’d created.

Seeing how much had changed due to the comics I’d drawn—the reckless Crown Prince who became the Steel Prince, the Scarlet Witch Ignicia, now Zenia, Yustaf’s disciple—I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.

The goddess had mentioned that if I hadn’t drawn Van Helsing, Rupert’s brother Richard would likely have lost his life.

She’d also told me some of the people around me might one day trigger a massive war on the continent.

“Revolutionary leader Dumas and Black Prince Adrian…”

In the goddess’s vision of the original future, Dumas had been the leader of a rebellious faction, raising the red flag and waging war against the Empire, while Adrian, consumed by darkness, was attacking the Empire.

“Now, Sunwoo Hyuk, live as you wish.”

“As I wish?”

“Yes. Influencing the world through you required a lot of influence, so I won’t be able to intervene anymore.”

Her words gave me peace of mind.

It could have been a lie, but somehow, it felt like the truth.

Regardless of her motives, I had no desire to be manipulated by anyone.

What do I want?

With true freedom finally granted, I felt uncertain about what to do next.

Up to now, I’d been driven by the goal of restoring the family or spreading comics throughout the world.

But now, those goals were more or less achieved.

I was still pondering my next steps when—

“It’s time for you to return.”

“…Alright.”

“Are you unsure of what to do?”

“What?”

“This time, give it a proper ending. Honestly, the way you ended that webtoon last time was a bit, well…”

“Hey, that’s—!”

This time, I hope for a happy ending.

Before I could argue, my room and the goddess faded away.

And with a flash of light, I opened my eyes.