Normally, the garden atop the clouds where the gods resided should have been bustling with noise.

  The gods sat at the four corners of the central stone board as usual, but...

  **「「「「......」」」**

  All four were engrossed in reading.

  To be precise, they were reading manga from another world, brought in by Kefri, the Goddess of Wisdom from the southern region.

  If Libertà were to gnce at the covers, it would be immediately obvious which god was reading what.

  Occasionally, their eyes flickered away to gnce at the board, but they quickly returned to their respective manga.

  They weren’t neglecting their duties in managing the world—just allocating all their remaining resources to the manga.

  **"Southern one, next."** **"It’s over there. Take it yourself."**

  The northern god, Akam, finished reading and asked for the next volume, but Kefri didn’t even look up, simply pointing at the bookshelf she had prepared as a manga storage area.

  There had been nothing like this before.

  But ever since she had recommended a certain manga to Meitel, the Goddess of Duels, as a way to kill time, a trend of otherworldly manga had taken root in this space.

  Right now, Akam was reading a fighting manga about the youngest underground arena champion and their parent.

  Or rather, Akam’s tastes had recently skewed toward this kind of combat-focused manga.

  **"Kefri, when is the next volume of this series coming out?"** **"Depends on the author’s health. Be patient."**

  In that sense, Meitel had simir tastes.

  The first manga she had been introduced to was a certain famous story about dragon balls, so it was only natural that she’d grown fond of other series from the same magazine.

  Right now, Meitel was holding a well-known manga notorious for its frequent hiatuses.

  **"Tch... if only I could interfere with that world, I’d send them an Elixir."** **"Sending divine medicine? The Goddess of Duels has fallen deep, hasn’t she?"** **"Eastern one, you should look at your own pile before criticizing me."** **"It can’t be helped! This story simply refuses to release its grip on me!"**

  She was already on her fourth reread.

  Seeing the goddess like this, the slightly plump eastern god, Goldos, let out a wry smile—but as Meitel pointed out, his own hands were equally buried under a stack of manga.

  Currently, he was reading a story about a wolf girl and a traveling merchant.

  One might assume that, being the God of Commerce, he’d lean toward such themes—but in reality, he voraciously consumed all genres, from battle-focused to slice-of-life, horror, and comedy.

  **"Did you think I wouldn’t notice? The heroines are all quite simir, aren’t they? Long, brown-haired girls who love teasing the protagonist."** **"Th-that’s not it at all!! It’s just a coincidence that the heroines in these stories happen to be like that!"** **"Sure, sure. ‘The truth comes out when you talk too much,’ as they say. Are you sure you’re alright? If you get this obsessed, it might interfere with managing the world."** **"There’s no problem. I’d never neglect my duties to that extent."**

  Flustered after being called out for his bias toward certain heroines, Goldos vehemently denied it.

  The goddess, exasperated at how deeply engrossed he was, worried about the world’s management—but they were still gods.

  Even if they were lost in stories, they still allocated enough resources to world management, ensuring they could handle any issues without trouble.

  **"If anything, shouldn’t we be more concerned about you? You’ve been meddling in various pces, haven’t you?"** **"Ah, I wanted to say that too. Can you stop interfering with my side? It’s really annoying."**

  However, those "troubles" were strictly reted to system management.

  They merely punished those who disrupted the world’s systems, ensuring everything ran smoothly.

  Beyond that—specifically, the influence of the heroes the gods had chosen—they remained hands-off.

  **"......Well then, I suppose I’ll read this next."** **"You’re dodging the question."** **"I am dodging, indeed."**

  The current problem was the hero of the western continent.

  He raised the banner of justice, decring he would bring peace to the world—actions befitting a hero. But his ideology had grown increasingly extreme, and he was beginning to spiral out of control.

  There were opposing factions trying to stop him, but the hero’s honeyed words slipped effortlessly into people’s hearts.

  Gradually, the opposition weakened, and the restraints holding the hero back were loosening.

  As a result, his actions were growing more aggressive.

  Even Meitel felt a sense of crisis and had secretly issued a single divine oracle.

  She had instructed a certain influential saintess to guide the hero and curb his rampage.

  The seed had been pnted, but it would take time to bear fruit.

  Knowing this, she picked up a manga about a yellow octopus working as a teacher—partly as an escape from reality.

  **"......"**

  Meanwhile, Kefri, the Goddess of Wisdom, listened in on their conversation while also reading manga.

  A brief gnce at the board revealed that the hero she had pced in the southern continent was beginning to show signs of change.

  He had been active and growing stronger, but now, influenced by his surroundings, he had started restraining himself—stagnating.

  From Kefri’s perspective, this loss of time was far from ideal.

  But even if she wanted to issue a divine oracle now, there was no suitable candidate.

  Those who worshipped the Goddess of Wisdom were mostly found in pces of learning—researchers and the like.

  Thus, such individuals tended to cluster in specific locations.

  **"Hm?"** **"Something wrong, Kefri?"** **"......"** **"You definitely reacted just now, right?"** **"Indeed, she did."**

  Lost in thought while alternating between reading and checking the board, Kefri had inadvertently reacted to a change on the board.

  **"Did something happen in the south?"** **"Just some adventurer from the west causing trouble."** **"Indeed, nothing more than that."** **"That’s hardly worth reacting to, Kefri."** **"True."** **"Then what could it—"**

  A single boy was challenging a grown woman to a fight.

  The development itself was a positive change, but Kefri didn’t want the other three gods to see what would happen next.

  **"Hmm... nothing’s happening."** **"Nothing at all."** **"Then what did you react to?"**

  The only stroke of luck was that the boy and woman had temporarily separated, buying some time.

  Kefri quickly considered whether she could use this brief window to act—but after reflecting on her own actions, she concluded that doing nothing was the best course. Anything else would backfire.

  Since she had sown the seeds herself, she could only grit her teeth and focus on the manga in her hands—a story about a blue golem and a bespectacled boy.

  The three gods stared intently at the board.

  But nothing caught their attention.

  **"Huh? It’s rare to see her in a pce like this."** **"Akam, what’s rare?"**

  For a moment, it seemed they wouldn’t notice—but then Akam spotted the woman, not the boy.

  **"Yeah, this girl is one of the strongest among my believers. She usually stays in the central region. Even when she travels, it’s usually to train under other powerful figures. Seeing her in the southern capital is unusual."**

  Naturally, even gods remembered a few standout believers.

  For Akam, that was Cudia.

  **"Her name is... right, Cudia! She beats monsters to a pulp with her fists, just like in this manga. I really like her!"** **"If you praise her that much, she must be incredibly strong. Stronger than a hero?"** **"For now, yes. Eventually, they might surpass her, but among humans, she’s undoubtedly powerful."** **"Hmm, a former candidate, was it? Why was she excluded?"** **"She prays to me and respects me, but she never asks for anything. Not once have I heard her pray for blessings. It’s always, ‘Watch me do this!’ If I tried to grant her power, she’d probably refuse. That’s why I took her off the list."**

  Once attention was drawn to her, that was it.

  Akam proudly began expining Cudia’s background, and Meitel and Goldos grew interested.

  A former hero candidate.

  Even among the gods, selecting who to empower was a difficult decision.

  That was why they chose multiple candidates and refined the selection from there.

  For Akam, Cudia had been capable but unsuitable due to her personality.

  **"Northern one. So, she was a woman who could have become a hero, correct?"** **"Yes, eastern one. I personally selected her as a candidate. Her strength is undeniable."** **"Then, northern one, what do you think about that child challenging her?"** **"I’d normally call him an idiot, but..."**

  A lone boy, spear in hand, was preparing to fight Cudia.

  From a pure power difference standpoint, the God of Battle should have dismissed it as foolish—but...

  **"Maybe... just maybe?"**

  The fact that Kefri, the Goddess of Wisdom, had reacted made him hesitate.

  As the God of Battle, he sensed something in the flow of this fight.

  **"For you to say that..."** **"Western one, what do you think?"** **"Strangely, I don’t think it’s reckless."** **"Oh ho? Then perhaps this will be interesting. Well, southern one?"**

  Even Meitel, the Goddess of Duels, judged that this fight wasn’t foolish.

  Goldos, sensing something, turned his gaze to the silent goddess—

  **"Judge as you will."**

  Resigned, as if she had already given her answer, Kefri returned to her manga, anticipating the coming events.

  **"Whoa, what is this?"** **"Could it be...?"** **"He’s doing it. There’s no mistaking it."**

  Following her words, the three gods watched the battle between the boy and the woman unfold.

  By all accounts, the boy’s combat abilities defied logic.

  At a "normal" level of growth, he should have been utterly outmatched—yet the result was a fight so close that even the gods found it impressive.

  **"Kefri, don’t tell me you—"** **"I broke no rules. I taught him nothing."** **"Then how does this kid know about this world’s systems?! This is the main god’s design! We *can’t teach* this—it’s beyond human understanding!"** **"I told you. I only gave him a sandbox."**

  Strength beyond expected limits.

  Realizing the source of this power, Akam accused Kefri of cheating—but if she had, she would have been punished the moment this was discovered, forever losing her chance at becoming the chief god.

  Yet Kefri, smirking as she closed her book, remained seated.

  **"A sandbox... don’t tell me!?"** **"Goldos, did you figure something out?"** **"This! This is it! Kefri, you couldn’t have... used the budget for this?!"** **"Yes. That’s exactly right."**

  Realizing what Kefri had done, Goldos pulled out one of his manga—a story about people trapped in a death game within a virtual world.

  **"I made it possible to experience this world. I contacted Earth, an otherworld with revolutionary gaming technology. It drained my budget, and I had no resources left to choose a proper reincarnator. So I set only one condition: they had to be a sandbox veteran. That’s why they started with nothing—no status, wealth, or power. The weakest possible beginning."**

  Since it would have been discovered eventually, Kefri saw no point in hiding it.

  **"There’s no way that would be approved—"** **"It was. Easily. The cost was high, but I deemed it worth the price. That’s why I paid without hesitation and entered this battle."**

  At Goldos’ deduction, Kefri grinned and confirmed it.

  **"The people of Earth were exceptional. Once they saw it as a harmless game, they became obsessed, striving to uncover the sandbox world’s truths. Their outndish actions, possible only in fiction, were beyond this world’s norms. And they freely shared information, creating new knowledge from it. Ah, as the Goddess of Wisdom, I couldn’t have been more delighted."**

  Her stalling ended here.

  **"Thanks to them, I’ve gathered more knowledge about this world than ever before. In a way, that alone made this endeavor worthwhile."**

  There was no running or hiding now.

  **"I had pnned to stall longer with this manga, but I suppose this much is enough."**

  The real battle began now.

  Realizing this, Kefri picked up the manga she had been flipping through and—

  **"Well then, the stalling is over. I’ll be taking this manga back now."**

  **"「「「Hold on just a moment.」」」**

  The three gods stopped her from putting it away.