"Th-then show me! Show me the knowledge of a world beyond my own!"
"......."
My brain short-circuited, unable to process the situation unfolding before me.
"Why... why are you just standing there? Didn’t you say you’d remove my shackles?"
Ah... right. Shackles.
Yes, I did promise that.
Drip. Drip.
A transparent liquid slowly dripped from the tip of the long rod protruding downward.
My mind went blank.
Right. This was lust.
It made sense now.
Sloth had rendered Ren inert for centuries.
Wrath had prevented the Magitech Engineer from completing his experiments.
Pride had turned the Demon God into little more than a brute.
So Lust had twisted the Goddess of Wisdom into... this.
"Why do you keep looking down there...?"
The Goddess of Wisdom followed my gaze downward.
"......."
The atmosphere grew awkward as something shifted at her lower half.
Thud.
A peculiar pink object, shaped like a rod, fell from beneath her and landed with an audible clatter.
Its distinct fragrance began to waft through the air.
"KYAAAA!"
With a puff of smoke, the Goddess of Wisdom disappeared.
A moment later, her voice returned.
"You didn’t see anything."
"Excuse me?"
"You saw nothing! Absolutely nothing! Do you understand?"
She leaned in terrifyingly close, her face inches from mine.
"Y-yes, I understand!"
I couldn’t help but respond instinctively to her intensity.
"Ugh... If I could, I’d erase your memories myself, but my authority doesn’t extend that far... Haah."
She muttered to herself, her voice low and difficult to hear.
But I still couldn’t read her thoughts.
Not even when her true self was standing before me.
Was it because she was the Goddess of Wisdom?
"Anyway, you said you’d remove my shackles."
"Yes, that’s correct."
The fact that she called it a shackle meant she recognized how the "Lustful" descriptor was oppressing her.
Though honestly, it wasn’t hard to notice when her desires interrupted her mid-conversation.
"This shackle, which even I cannot break... How do you intend to free me from it?"
"Let me first explain how I’ve addressed sins in the past."
I recounted the tales of Ren, the Goddess of Sacrifice who overcame sloth; the Magitech Engineer, who cast off wrath; and the Demon God, who subdued her pride.
"Fascinating. Healing through a game. Truly remarkable."
The Goddess of Wisdom expressed admiration, her tone and expression serious.
But after the earlier incident, I couldn’t help but see her as an overly chatty younger sister.
"Do you know this? As the Goddess of Wisdom, I can know all things on this continent. It is both my authority and the curse of knowledge that binds me."
The ability to know everything... It was a power befitting a deity of wisdom.
But calling it a curse? Did she mean it forced her to know even what she didn’t want to?
Like embarrassing details or... worse.
"But," she continued, "I do not know anything about your game."
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"...Excuse me?"
Her face lit up with elation.
"I can know everything on this continent! It’s impossible for me not to know something! And yet I know nothing about you!"
"What does that mean...?"
"I don’t know why, but it’s clear: only you can free me from this curse of knowledge!"
She seemed genuinely thrilled at the idea of not knowing something.
"Which is why!"
Before I could react, she lunged at me, pinning me beneath her.
"STOP! STOP IIIIIT!"
She clutched her head and writhed in agony.
"Enough! ENOUUUUGH!"
The voices seemed to bind her, much like the chains she sought to escape.
A moment later, the voices subsided, and the Goddess of Wisdom regained her composure.
"Ahem... I apologize. That was unbecoming of me."
"Is this... the curse?"
This wasn’t what I’d imagined.
If she were afflicted by sin, the voices would be driving her into uncontrollable lust, not this... whatever this was.
It didn’t feel like the voice of sin.
"I’m sorry," she said. "As you’ve likely realized, I am not influenced by the sin of lust."
"Then that means..."
"The voices you heard, the chains that bind me... are a curse that clung to me when I ascended to godhood."
...So that’s how it was.
If she wasn’t tainted by sin like our investors, it explained why I couldn’t read her thoughts.
Could it be that the "Lustful" part of her title wasn’t born of corruption but was intrinsic to her being?
"The ones who created this curse have long since turned to dust, yet their creation remains, binding me still."
The Goddess of Wisdom’s expression grew somber.
"I’m sorry, Your Grace. I thought I might be able to remove your curse, but...."
It wasn’t the "lust" part that was the problem—it was something beyond my ability to resolve.
"No. On the contrary, only you can break it."
"...What?"
"I told you before: only someone unknown to me can shatter this curse."
Her eyes burned with a restrained excitement, tempered but still alight.
"The curse grows stronger the more I know. But you... you are an anomaly. You are beyond my knowledge. Only you can pierce through this curse."
She knew everything in this world but not me.
Perhaps it was because I came from Earth, not this world.
"Please," she begged, her voice filled with longing. "End this curse and free me."
Her desperate tone carried the weight of centuries of torment.
For a moment, she reminded me of someone from my past life.
I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
"Relax your body," I instructed.
"Understood."
The Goddess lay down, closing her eyes as I placed my hands on her head, my power infused with the authority of dreams.
"As you know, dreams allow access to the subconscious mind."
Whatever her curse was, the authority of dreams was the only tool I had to free her.
Unlike the Magitech Engineer, whose memories I could read directly, I needed her cooperation to explore her past through her dreams.
"I am aware. During sleep, a portion of the brain remains active, replaying internal data."
"Yes, that’s correct. However, the process may evoke unpleasant memories."
Unlike Monica, who was human and whose subconscious was easy to access, the Goddess’s memories required me to venture into her dream directly.
"When that happens, do not succumb to the negative emotions within the dream."
Judging by the voices earlier, the memories tied to her curse were bound to be unpleasant. If she lost herself in them, I could become trapped as well.
It had happened to me once before—a situation I never wanted to relive.
"Do not worry. I trust you. If this curse can be broken, I have no reason to fear. I will not falter."
Her confident tone reassured me.
She was a god, after all—this should be fine.
"Alright, then."
I touched her silken hair, marveling at its texture. It was hard to believe she had been confined to this domain for so long.
"Let’s begin."
Woong.
Ripples radiated from the crown of her head, distorting the space around us.
The world of dreams engulfed me.
As I sank into her subconscious, the darkness around me gave way to rising gray smoke, gradually forming humanoid shapes.
A massive laboratory appeared, staffed by dozens of researchers in white coats.
Behind them stood ten large tanks, each containing a naked young girl.
Clack. Clack.
The door opened, and a masked man entered, flanked by several researchers.
The staff lined up at attention as he nodded toward them.
"Report on Specimen Muria-13."
An elderly researcher stepped forward.
"All ten specimens successfully underwent knowledge-transfer enchantment. Potions to enhance cognitive retention and intelligence were administered via cerebral blood vessels."
"And their reactions?"
"Some exhibited minor resistance, but nothing extreme. We deemed it safe to proceed with the experiment."
"Good."
The masked man closed the report and handed it to an assistant.
"Let’s see the results."
Woong.
Magic waves radiated from his hands, activating the specimens’ latent abilities.
"Specimen Muria-13-01! Brain death due to cerebral hemorrhage!"
"Specimen Muria-13-02! Shock from accelerated brain activity!"
"Specimen Muria-13-04! Rejected potion, vital functions ceased!"
One by one, the girls vomited blood, their life signs disappearing from the monitors.
Beeeeep.
The flatline tone echoed, marking their deaths.
"Failure, then."
The man clicked his tongue.
"Dispose of them. Prepare Muria-14."
"Understood!"
The researchers scrambled to obey.
Beep... Beep... Beep.
"Specimen Muria-13-07! Vital signs detected! Accelerated brain growth successful!"
"Hooh..."
One girl had survived, despite coughing up blood.
The masked man approached her tank, his eyes gleaming with interest.
"Move this specimen to Sector 1. I’ll oversee her personally."
A sinister smile spread across his face.
"Even trash lineage can have its uses."
The girl, labeled Muria-13-07...
I stared at her, realizing she was the Goddess of Wisdom in her mortal life.
This dream wouldn’t be resolved easily.