Ero Saint: I Created An Ero Massage Parlor In Another World Chapter 3: Realization

"I’m Althea, the Goddess of Lust and Love."

"Goddess of Lust and Love..." I echoed the title absentmindedly.

Almost imdiately, I wanted to respond in the sa manner. "I’m Kratos, the God of War, then."

Thankfully, I bit my tongue just in ti and was able to keep my funny thoughts to myself.

Still, I found her introduction, especially her title, utterly absurd.

’Goddess? What’s she talking about? Is she roleplaying?’

Althea suddenly smiled and suggested. "Why don’t you take a good look around?"

’Take a look around?’

Her suggestion surprised , yet on second thought, I felt like there was a deeper aning behind her words, as if it might lead to answers I’ve been dying to know.

Her words also made realize how much I had been neglecting my surroundings.

I had been so preoccupied with my own situation that I had barely paid attention to where I was. As I finally took a mont to observe the room I was in, I realized I was sitting on a queen-sized bed, surrounded by red roses, giving the impression of a bed prepared for a newly married couple to consummate their first night. Though, in this instance, I was alone - well, not entirely alone, as there was a cute doll beside .

The room had no ceiling and was exposed directly to the night sky above.

To my shock, I saw them. One... two... three... four... five... six... seven.

Seven colossal, moon-like objects, each a different color: red, green, blue, yellow, brown, cyan, and silver. They were suspended in the sky.

I rubbed my eyes hard, but nothing changed. They were still there.

’What on earth are those? Are those planets?’

I frowned, unable to understand how there could be seven moons in the sky. In my experience, I have never heard of anything like that before.

Just then, Althea’s voice sounded in my ear. "Don’t look at them for too long."

There was a warning in her tone.

I turned my gaze away and shifted my focus back to the surroundings.

I wanted to ask about the seven planet-like objects, but decided against it. There were more urgent things I needed to figure out first.

Aside from the bed I was lying on, there was only a single wall behind it. Everything else was wide open, exposed to the outdoors.

Outside of the room stretched a sea of flowers, a gently flowing river with crystal-clear water, and a small white castle in the distance. The view looked exactly like sothing out of a painting. It was too perfect to be real.

The sight stole my breath.

After a few monts of silence, I finally managed to say one word: "Beautiful."

Indeed, it was beautiful.

I felt there might be more eloquent ways to describe it, but sadly, I’m no poet. My speaking abilities are fairly average.

A soft breeze drifted through the flowers, stirring them gently and carrying with it a sweet, unfamiliar scent. I breathed it in, and my body instinctively began to relax.

I was then reminded about my situation. I quickly asked.

"Where am I actually?" this ti, my voice didn’t carry the casual, unconvincing tone it had before.

"My Divine Kingdom. What do you think? Isn’t it beautiful?"

"Divine Kingdom... are you really a goddess? Like, an actual deity?"

"Yes,"

I took a sharp, deep breath.

Even though she’d already said it twice, I was still struggling to believe it.

I grew up as soone who doesn’t believe in the existence of gods. And now here I was, standing in front of a figure claiming to be one.

’Could it be that I was drugged? Maybe I’m just high and hallucinating all of this. But... would I even be able to think this clearly if I were actually high?’

I was full of doubt. However, I couldn’t deny that a part of wanted to believe it was all real, especially since I had been reading many novels with reincarnations as the main tropes, and protagonists are often summoned by god-like beings.

For a mont, I was torn, unsure which side of my brain to trust.

But eventually, I ca to a conclusion: this had to be real.

If I had been drugged, my thoughts wouldn’t be this lucid.

Now that I had dismissed the idea of hallucinations, that made only one conclusion remained.

The person standing before was an actual deity!

’Shit... what are the odds sothing out of a novel actually happens in real life?’

I couldn’t tell if eting Althea ant I was lucky or incredibly unlucky.

Either way, that left with a new problem: how the hell was I supposed to react in front of a literal goddess? Was I supposed to kneel like so servant before a king? Or keep it cool and casual, like this was just another Tuesday?

In nowadays novels, gods are often portrayed as pretty chill. So were lazy, laid-back, even goofy. One story even had the protagonist manage to drag a goddess into another world with him.

But those were just stories. Fiction. A world inside novels. It’s completely different from my situation.

I wasn’t in a novel. This was a reality.

It didn’t make sense for to use them as a basis or guide for my actions.

In the end, it’s better to rely on my own judgnt, acting based on real feedback.

And from what I’ve seen so far, Althea doesn’t co off as distant, aloof, or overly divine. If anything, she acts more like a beautiful, down-to-earth older sister figure next door than a goddess.

After mulling it over for a mont, I spoke earnestly, "I’m sorry... this is all happening way too fast. Can you slow down a bit and explain things clearly? First, am I really dead? Was it because I got hit by that truck?"

I had a multitude of questions swirling in my mind and was eager for answers. But knowing I was dealing with a deity-like figure, I realized that bombarding her with too many questions at once might not be the smartest move. Just because she appeared casual didn’t an I could treat her casually.

After all, only god knows what’s on a god’s mind...

Althea smiled. "Just as I thought. Anyway, let’s start with your first question."

"Yes, you’re already dead."

"But... I can feel my heartbeat." I argued and pressed a hand to my chest to prove it.

"Are you sure? Check again." I followed her advice and checked once more

To my astonishnt, I found no heartbeat this ti.

A cold dread washed over . I quickly checked my pulse, and it was the sa — nothing!

’What is happening?’

"How is this possible? I could clearly feel them before!" I was in shock.

"Because I made it seem that way to prevent you from panicking. Right now, you’re just a soul. Your physical body is no longer here."

The information was just too much for to handle. For a brief mont, I had a difficult ti believing her words.

"If you’re still not convinced, just imagine yourself flying or floating, or whatever works. As a soul, you naturally can do that."

"Flying?"

The suggestion sounded absurd until I rembered I was conversing with a talking doll, who claid to be a goddess.

Ultimately, I decided to give it a try. I closed my eyes and pictured myself floating like Superman.

To my shock, I felt my feet lift off the ground. I hurriedly snapped my eyes open and saw I was suspended mid-air, hovering a couple of ters up. I willed myself forward, and sure enough, I flew exactly where I wanted to go.

"What? That’s it? It’s... that easy?"

The mont I said that, I froze in realization.

’It’s real... She was telling the truth. I’m already dead. How else could I possibly do this?’

Upon the discovery, any excitent I had about flying vanished. I no longer felt like testing this new ability.

However, I quickly suppressed my feelings. This wasn’t the right ti and place to drown in sorrow.

I quickly landed back on the ground, my head full of questions.

Althea gave a curious look. "That was fast. You’ve sorted through your emotions already? You should’ve seen your face just now. You went through about five different expressions in a second. It was kind of fascinating."

I subconsciously touched my face, then decided not to reveal my true feelings to her. "Yes."

Before she could respond, I asked, "So, was it the truck that killed ?"

"Yes. By the way, was it painful? It’s my first attempt. Do you have any feedback about the experience you’d like to share with ? I’ve been observing the human world for a while and noticed that many people use trucks as the replacent of grim reapers for reincarnation stories."

"Initially, I wanted to use the thod of the previous Goddess of Love and Lust, which involved entering soone’s dream and made an illusion passionately making love with them until their life energy was fully drained. But that seed outdated and not at all unique. I quickly changed my mind when I saw how many stories involved trucks. So, I couldn’t resist trying it out. Why not, after all?"

I was completely stunned by her long explanation.

My initial reaction was, ’Ma’am, I actually liked and preferred the outdated, uniqueless thod than getting hit by a truck!’

Then, I contemplate her words more deeply.

’So, from what she said, I was probably her first victim? And hold on, does that an the truck wasn’t an accident at all, but sothing she planned from the start?

’I was actually killed... by the goddess!’

The information struck like a bolt of lightning, clearing up all the doubts I had before.

I had been baffled about how such a large truck could have ended up in the middle of the park. It seed impossible for it to have driven there, as the park was located far uptown with no roads wide enough to accommodate a large vehicle leading to it.

Now it made perfect sense.

She made it happen.

And yet... even after knowing that, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel or react.

Angry? What for? I was already dead. Getting mad wouldn’t bring back. It wouldn’t change what happened.

Screaming at her? That sounded like a great way of courting death.

Strangely, I found myself ultimately accepting it. Not out of peace or understanding, but because I knew exactly how powerless I was. I wasn’t dealing with so ordinary person. Althea was a Goddess. A divine being.

Sure, I could’ve confronted her. Told her I wasn’t okay with how things played out. Let her know I wasn’t just so pushover. But what would that accomplish?

I didn’t know much about her.

What if I said the wrong thing? What if I pushed her too far?

What then? Would she kill a second ti, this ti for good?

That was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.

As much as I hated it, I was still "alive" in so way. My consciousness, my soul, whatever this was, it was still here. I didn’t know her motives yet, but for now, that was enough. I’d take what I could get.

Sadness? Maybe a little. I an, it sucks being dead. But it’s not like I had anything I was deeply attached to back then. I guess... I’ll miss the internet? Yeah, I’ll definitely miss that.

And then it hit .

There was no one else to bla but myself.

It’s likely that if I choose not to accept her offer, I won’t be here.

As I thought about this, I hurriedly asked, "Say... if I had refused your offer back then, would I still be here?"