The Nature of Possession

381 – EP.14 The Interest of Dangerous Beings-1

***

“I would like to express my gratitude to all the Dimensional Managers who attended the regular report despite their busy schedules.”

A woman standing on the platform with her white wings spread out spoke.

Her wings, which were noticeably different from others, indirectly represented the divine power she had achieved.

Because she was wearing a helmet that covered her eyes, only her lower body was visible, but judging by her straight-mouthed lips, she gave off a rather stern impression.

Unlike other dimension managers who wore flowing clothes, she wore chainmail armor.

Some might say that this was not appropriate attire for a regular report, but any dimensional manager who saw her often would agree that this was quite formal attire.

After a brief greeting, she led the regular report.

Athena, the first-class dimensional management deity. She was one of the dimensional management deities that existed from the beginning when God created the second dimension.

“…….”

Nivir, the second-class dimensional manager, shook his head as he measured the difference in rank between himself and Athena.

When will I be able to become a first-class person? Nivir thought.

It seems like it took a long time just to become a 2nd-grade Dimensional Manager, so how much soul experience do I need to accumulate to become a 1st-grade…

Nivir folded his fingers and lowered his head in thought. The road to the first level seemed so long.

As I was looking at Athena’s moving mouth and listening to what she was saying, one of Athena’s words caught my ear.

“Recently, there have been reports that the causality of the dimensions within the area has been slightly misaligned. It seems like a good idea for the 2nd-level dimensional management gods to directly visit the dimensions of the lower-level dimensional management gods and grasp the reality of dimensional management.”

‘Causality…’

In fact, there are many cases where causality is violated.

The human soul is born carrying its own destiny.

But just as bugs occur in well-designed systems, there are often beings who escape their fate.

Souls that have escaped their fates intervene in events, and errors accumulate in the system called dimensions.

When these errors accumulate, abnormal phenomena occur.

A person walking down the street suddenly dies,

A series of seemingly coincidental events intersect and turn into a huge disaster at exquisite timing, or

A person who was existing normally suddenly disappears,

Creatures and laws that were not set in the dimension suddenly appear or manifest.

Therefore, the Dimensional Management God observes and manages the dimensions in charge to ensure that the causality of the dimension is not disrupted, and allows those who have escaped their fate to live according to their fate.

“The reason why I emphasize direct visits is because there are cases where some inexperienced dimension managers omit reports or downplay or cover up incidents.”

Athena emphasized and re-emphasized that she would visit in person.

Nivir thought of Lanael.

After becoming a 3rd-grade Dimensional Management God, the image of my junior spreading his wings and smiling brightly flashed before my eyes.

Clearly, the causal discrepancy that Athena speaks of is the result of Lanael’s accident.

In the regular reports that had ended with [Nothing special] for several times, the words [Causality begins to break down] came out for the first time, and if you can’t remember that, then it was right to give up your qualification as a Dimensional Management God.

‘I wonder if mortal Imina is doing well?’

Nivir put away his thoughts of Lanael and thought of his contractee.

He was a graceful and calm soul. It would take a long time, but he would definitely catch up with Kang In-ho.

Nivir trusted his own vision.

However, I hope that Kang In-ho is brought in before it is too late.

***

“This concludes my regular report. Thank you for your time and attendance.”

After a long and drawn-out regular report, the Dimensional Managers rose and left the conference room.

Nivir watched the group of people leave, then stood up when the crowd began to thin out.

There was a lot to do when I got back. I had to check on the situation of the lower dimension managers as they had come out of the meeting, and I also had to check if Lanael had found out anything about Kang In-ho’s whereabouts.

“Nivir.”

As he was about to get up, thinking about the mountain of work he had to do, someone’s voice stopped Nivir.

“Ah, senior.”

Athena, who had been speaking on stage just a moment ago, suddenly approached her.

“What’s second-class life like?”

Nivir relaxed slightly at the slightly softer tone of voice, unlike during regular reports.

“I’m adjusting well.”

Athena nodded her head in satisfaction, as if she was satisfied with the standard answer.

“I know you’re struggling to get to level 2 so quickly, but it’s definitely harder than level 3.”

‘Yes, it was difficult.’

Nivir thought to himself, thinking of Lanael.

“If there is anything difficult to handle, you can ask a 2nd-class person, or you can ask a 1st-class person.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

As Nivir bowed his head, placing his hand on his chest, a faint smile appeared on Athena’s lips.

“It would be great if all 2nd-level Dimensional Managers were like you. These days, 2nd-level Dimensional Managers have such strong egos… When I was 2nd-level….”

“Ahahaha….”

As the senior continued to recall old memories and did not end the conversation, Nivir gave an awkward smile.

“Back then, there wasn’t a system like this. The management methods and guidelines were handed down in an old-fashioned manner… Hermes and Ares said they couldn’t go on like this and tried to give up their qualifications.”

“Ah, that’s what happened.”

Nivir mechanically countered.

Athena was so happy to see her partner that she had no intention of letting him go, and Nivir, sweating profusely, was released two hours after the meeting ended.

“Oh? You were here.”

Another first-class dimension manager stopped Athena from taking her to her own space.

A man with smiling eyes, a raised lip, and sharp features put his arm around Nivir’s shoulder.

“Loki? What’s going on here?”

As Athena tilted her head, Loki said.

“Oh, I was looking for Nivir. The star cluster in Nivir’s space was pretty, so I wanted to get some information.”

“I didn’t know you were interested in interior design.”

When Athena spoke as if nothing happened, Loki shrugged.

“I’ve been taking up a hobby lately. I was at a loss when I first started. That’s why I thought I’d get some help from my junior.”

“I see. It seems I held onto someone who had a prior engagement. I’m sorry, Nivir.”

“Oh, no, sir.”

Nivir answered, glancing sideways at Loki, who was still holding his arm around his shoulder.

“Okay, I’ll go. See you next time.”

After Athena left, only Loki and Nivir remained in the conference room.

“That senior? I think… you’ve made a mistake… there are no stars in my space.”

Nivir spoke cautiously to Loki, who was still holding his arm around his shoulder.

Then, Loki’s face, which had been looking at the door through which Athena had exited, turned to Nivir. His eyes were still smiling.

“I know. I just made it up to send Athena.”

“Oh, I see. Then, is there anything else you need to do…?”

“Well, recently, something really interesting happened on my level.”

Loki’s arm around his neck tightened. Nivir’s face pressed against Loki’s.

The eyes were still smiling. Nivir felt creepy for a moment.

“Oh, what’s going on?”

“The dimension I’m managing, you know. I’ve stopped for a moment because I have something to check?”

“Sorry, I’m sorry, but what does it mean to stop….”

“Well, it means that there will be no souls in the dimension for a while. To put it simply, there are no beings with souls in the dimension I manage.”

“Is that possible?”

“Well, it’s possible if you use various methods. It’s a shortcut, though.”

Loki opened one eye and winked. Nivir’s body froze as he met the bright yellow pupil.

“Anyway, you’re saying that in the dimension I manage, there are no mortals? There are only artificial intelligences managing the dying world.”

“…….”

Nivir’s heart sank.

“But then one day, a mortal soul suddenly appeared. And then it tried to travel through dimensions on some spaceship?”

“Oh, I see.”

“Well, it’s good to reduce the variables, so I blew up the entire spaceship. If I had just let it go, it would have been a big problem. Did I do a good job?”

Loki urged Nivir on, as if hoping for praise.

“Oh, yes… Okay, I think you did well.”

Nivir forced a smile.

“By the way, something really, really amazing happened. Do you want to hear it?”

Nivir didn’t want to hear it.

“What the hell is this mortal woman doing here via dimension shift?”

“…….”

Nivir, realizing Loki’s intentions, kept his mouth shut.

“I thought it was just wandering around for a bit, and then it suddenly went through another dimension shift. If I hadn’t been watching the dimensions closely, I wouldn’t have even noticed.”

That was a close call. Loki sighed in relief.

“Okay, so here’s the problem.”

Loki, uncrossing his shoulders, stood before Nivir.

Gulp, Nivir swallowed.

“Guess why I came to see you. It’s a question worth 100 points.”

Loki’s eyes were still smiling.