I never really believed that gods existed. How could a homunculus, created solely to assist her previous master, even fathom such supreme beings? And yet.

"Look over there. It’s Beod, the God of Order. I heard he stopped by for some simple business, but he looks as handsome as ever today."

"What are you talking about when Behel, the God of Light, is right there? Look at that stunning beauty. Even as a woman myself, I feel like I could fall for her instantly."

Here, such deities could be seen everywhere. The surrounding angels blushed, stealing glances at them. Outwardly, they looked just like humans, but they were undoubtedly divine. As I stared blankly at the sight, Taehyun approached them with a nonchalant expression.

"Perfect timing. Is Excellia inside by any chance?"

He gasped. "What are you doing here all of a sudden? I heard you were dispatched on a quest."

"Things got a bit annoying, so I came to complain. Why, got a problem with that?"

He cleared his throat. "It’s nothing. If it’s Excellia you’re looking for, she’s inside. Hurry up and go in!"

The handsome man with striking purple hair waved his hands, visibly appalled. It was clearly Beod, known as the God of Order, but for some reason, he seemed terrified of Taehyun. But it wasn’t just him; the surrounding angels showed the exact same reaction.

"I-It’s the Demonic King, Taehyun. I heard he got mad last time and destroyed an entire dimension."

"That’s not all. He’s been casually causing scandals with the goddesses, too."

"Eek! We just made eye contact. What do I do? I’m dead!"

The bustling street instantly fell silent. The angels hastily took to the sky, and Beod quickly turned down another path. With that, only three people remained, myself included. Just what kind of things had Taehyun been doing around here? As he walked toward me, my doubts only deepened.

"Ah, wait a moment. Taehyun."

"Huh? Behel is here, too. What’s up?"

"Umm. It’s nothing in particular..."

The silver-haired woman draped in a resplendent white robe hesitated for a moment. Like Beod, she was likely the one called the God of Light, Behel. She dropped her head, merely twiddling her thumbs.

"If it’s nothing, never mind. I’m busy right now, so I’m off. Let’s go, Arin."

"...Understood."

As we walked away, I caught sight of Behel’s pitiful gaze. It seemed like she wanted to say something, or was it just my imagination? For some reason, I felt a lingering sense of unease.

---

Our next destination was the largest temple in the center of the city. Upon entering, the angels we had seen on the streets were nowhere to be found; instead, the place was packed with humans similar to Taehyun. And one of them approached us.

"Dragging another woman around, I see. You must have a lot of free time, Taehyun."

"Free time, my ass. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Well, since I became a Dimension Traveler thanks to your recommendation, I’m doing my best. I actually just came here to pick up a quest. However..."

His strangely narrow, slit-like eyes turned toward me. He was a young man whose inner thoughts were impossible to read. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling, I quickly bowed my head. Only then did Taehyun gesture toward me and introduce us.

"This is Arin, who recently became my Supporter. Say hi."

"Nice to meet you. I’m Seonghwi, someone you could consider Taehyun’s junior. I look forward to working with you."

"Someone you could consider? You wanna die?"

"Hahaha. I’d rather not die just yet."

The young man waving his hands with a playful expression—no, Seonghwi—seemed to be a Dimension Traveler, just like Taehyun. He gave off a relatively gentle impression, but I maintained my distance for now. I quietly stood there watching them converse.

"What the, is that the Tyrant, Taehyun?"

"Is he really one of the top five strongest?"

"Seeing him in person, he doesn’t look like much. Is he really a top-tier expert?"

Just like before, gazes began to gather on us. Taehyun and Seonghwi, standing in front, seemed to notice and shrugged.

"It’ll be annoying if things get troublesome, so I’m heading up."

"Let’s meet again next time. Oh, by the way, it seems your next quest has already been scheduled. Have you checked it?"

"What? What kind of chaotic dimensional storm are they trying to suck me into this time?"

"I took a quick look, and it said it’s a closed dimension where the gods aren’t allowed to enter, just like Tainworth. It seems to be a quest that requires a Dimension Traveler to intervene personally."

Quests, Tainworth, closed dimensions...the conversation was full of things I didn’t understand. If I hadn’t come with Taehyun, I probably would have left this temple a long time ago. Whether he knew how I felt or not, Taehyun frowned and scratched his head.

Then, belatedly brightening his expression, he threw an arm around Seonghwi’s shoulders. ’Whispering?’ The two of them whispered to each other for quite a while. It seemed like they were discussing something important. However, Seonghwi must have been very dissatisfied, as he quickly swatted Taehyun’s arm away.

"Why is the conversation suddenly turning to that?"

"Come on. I told you I’ll pay you handsomely. I’ll even throw in a bonus."

"I don’t believe you. I’d rather have a contract...No, wait. Anyway, I’m not doing it."

"Hah. Fine. Then let’s make the contract in front of Morpina. How about that?"

Was he tempted for a moment? Seonghwi, who had been adamantly refusing, slowly nodded.

"Alright. Then let’s do it. But on the condition that you don’t try to pull a scam even in front of her."

"Hey. When have I ever gone around scamming people?"

"Absolutely not. Scams absolutely won’t work on me. Got it? Especially when it comes to contracts!"

"I said I got it, geez."

It seemed some sort of deal had been struck. Of course, Seonghwi maintained a wary look until the end, but Taehyun did not. After parting ways with him and heading up to the second floor, a long line came into view. Everyone seemed to be waiting to enter the room at the end of the long corridor, but Taehyun paid them no mind.

"Heh. Move aside. That is, unless you want to die."

"W-What the. Who do you think you are, cutting in line? Do you know who I am?!"

"I don’t know, punk."

"I am the Absolute Guardian Leganho—urgh!"

The large man who had been protesting was slammed straight into the wall. It was an alien energy, not mana. Taehyun dusted his hands off as he retracted the golden energy floating in the air.

"Legan-chump, you said?"

Someone gasped. "It’s the Tyrant, Taehyun."

"I-I knew he had an incredible amount of Divine Power. Let’s just back off."

In an instant, the crowd began to scatter to the sides. Seeing them pressed flat against the walls and trembling reminded me of people facing a monster, but I avoided eye contact as much as possible and quietly followed Taehyun. When we finally reached our destination, the door opened naturally, revealing an endless garden before our eyes.

She sighed. "Don’t you think you’re being a bit too rowdy?"

"It’s not like it’s my first time. Anyway, I came to complain. Creator Excellia."

A woman with red hair slowly walked out from among the flowers. I turned my head, wondering if I had misheard, but...

"You’ve aged terribly in such a short time. Must’ve been busy?"

Excellia remained silent.

It seemed I hadn’t misheard.

---

My first impression was simply that she was a woman of unapproachable beauty. No, in fact, it was probably impossible to even evaluate her. After all, she was the Creator. Since I, too, was created by someone, I fully understood just how incredible of an existence she was. But even in front of such a being, one person remained completely at ease.

"Listen to me carefully. If you’re going to send me on a quest, you should at least unlock some of my abilities. Unless you’re crazy, how am I supposed to investigate anything with only one summon a day!"

In fact, he was aggressively pushing his demands. Excellia sat at the table with a serious expression, rubbing her temples.

"It’s an A-rank hero, you know. How am I supposed to stop them with a C-rank dungeon while under a curse?"

"Ah, child. Please, pause for a moment."

"No, I even found a rift. Do I look like I’m going to stop talking?!"

"...S-Stop."

Oh my god. The Creator was suffering. Was Taehyun’s voice really that agonizing? Watching from afar, it was impossible for me to judge. Eventually, Excellia loudly flipped the table over and stood up.

"A-Alright. I understand, so please stop. If I listen to any more of this, my head is going to split open."

"You should have done that from the start. Honestly, it’s not like I was wrong. Right?"

She panted. "The system that Nikunbel left behind in the first place...It’s been wandering around various dimensions, which is why I sent you, but for it to be a dungeon of all things..."

"Shh. Enough about that. Just hurry up and tell me what you’re going to do for me."

Suddenly, Taehyun’s gaze turned toward me. But he quickly turned his head back and focused on the conversation again. ’...What was that just now?’ For a moment, it felt like he was checking my reaction, but I couldn’t be sure.

Meanwhile, Excellia pulled out a piece of paper, scribbled something down, and handed it to Taehyun with an exhausted expression. He looked extremely satisfied. It seemed his demands had been met.

"Phew. So, are you making good use of the dimension I gave you? If you brought back all the soldiers who returned to the game back then, the Divine Power consumed must have been quite substantial."

"I turned it into Balak Land and they’re living well now. Well, I did have to take out a tiny loan from Morpina, though."

"That’s a relief, then. By the way, that homunculus..."

Suddenly, a cold gaze was directed at me. For some reason, I felt like I had committed a sin. At that moment, the entire garden began to shake.

"Excellia, watch your mouth. It’s Arin. To be precise, my Supporter, Arin."

"Hmm. Certainly, a human..."

"Hey."

An ominous energy constricted my entire body. Before I knew it, the garden was dyed black, and even the flowers were withering. It was a vicious aura I had never seen before. Taehyun was issuing a warning with a chilling expression he had never shown in front of me.

"...I understand. Stop it."

"Remember this well. The only reason I’m working as a Dimension Traveler like this, even though I hate dealing with you all, is because I made a contract to do so in the first place. Never forget that."

Excellia was too stunned to speak.

Having forced the Creator to shut her mouth with an aura completely unlike his usual self, Taehyun immediately grabbed my hand and walked out the door.

"Let’s go, Arin."

After those final words, Taehyun didn’t say another thing the entire time we were leaving the Divine Realm. He just silently held my hand as we returned to the dungeon. He didn’t say anything more, and amidst the awkward silence, my vision blurred for some unknown reason. ’Supporter Arin.’ That day, for the first time, I embraced my own emotions.