The teaching building was a striking white structure. Despite the opulent patterns adorning its exterior, it appeared surprisingly ordinary, yet it blended unexpectedly well with its surroundings. Watching it, I felt a sense of incongruous harmony.
“Dong—” A resonant chime echoed through the air. ‘Hmm,’ I pondered, ‘does that sound signify that I’m late?’
A shiver ran down my spine. Being late on the very first day of class surely spelled trouble. I immediately took off running.
A cool breeze brushed against my legs beneath the skirt. When I’d worn that embarrassing pink dress the day before, it had also been a skirt, but the white safety shorts underneath had prevented this sensation.
The only other dress I’d ever worn was much longer, so this short skirt, feeling almost as if I were wearing nothing at all, was quite….
Reaching the classroom door, I burst inside.
“Snap——————!”
I performed a spectacular face-plant, sprawling across the floor. Every student in the classroom simultaneously swiveled their heads to stare.
‘This is it,’ I thought. ‘My first class, and I’m already a laughingstock.’
“Hey, who’s that girl?”
“I don’t know, but she looks so cute falling like that!”
“Yeah, yeah! Should we go hug her? I just want to hold her tight. Hold her!”
A chorus of whispers filled the classroom. Their comments only deepened my humiliation, leaving me utterly unsure of what to do.
“Thud—!” On the podium, a book was slammed heavily onto the desk. A young woman with fiery red hair strode in from the doorway.
Seizing the moment while everyone’s attention shifted to the teacher, I quickly scrambled to my feet and slipped into the last row of seats. Yet, still, every so often, someone—or rather, some *god*—would glance my way with an expression reserved for spotting something incredibly adorable.
At the podium, the red-haired woman, tall and well-proportioned, was clad in a sharp business suit. She unceremoniously plopped onto the stool behind the lecturer’s desk, crossed her legs, and tossed a file folder onto the surface.
“Hello everyone, my name is Leixar,” she announced, as the three characters for ‘Leixar’ materialized on the blackboard. “Starting today, I will be your lecturer for the course: ‘The Self-Cultivation of a Goddess’.”
To be perfectly honest, the irony was overwhelming. Looking at her, I couldn’t discern even a sliver of ‘goddess-like self-cultivation.’
Leixar continued, dropping another bombshell. “Frankly, this course, ‘The Self-Cultivation of a Goddess,’ would be better named ‘How to Deceive Newbies’.”
She fiddled with her pen, a hint of boredom in her demeanor. “You’ll all learn Genesis in your second year, correct? In truth, most first-year courses are designed to prepare you for second-year Genesis. Our ‘Self-Cultivation’ course is no different.”
Hearing ‘Genesis,’ my spirits immediately lifted, and I leaned in, eager to hear her continue.
“Setting aside whether you can create a perfect world, even if you succeed, and even if civilization successfully emerges within that world, what good is it if you fail to establish faith?” She gestured towards us.
“Before this course was introduced, second-year students would repeatedly come to me in tears, lamenting that their creations—they didn’t believe they were their Creator God.”
Leixar sighed. “Then I asked her, ‘What happened?’ She replied, ‘After I descended, I went to their church and told them I was their Creator God, and they promptly kicked me out.'”
Leixar looked at us again. “Don’t you find that strange? Why wouldn’t they believe you’re their Creator God? And is it acceptable to use violence if they don’t believe you? Of course not.”
“The principle is quite simple, actually. Let me ask you a question: if I told you right now, ‘I am your mother,’ would you believe me? Probably not. So, if I then hit you and declared, ‘I am your mother,’ it’s hardly going to make you believe me, is it?”
A woman from the Dark God Race, with long, smooth, light purple hair, rose to her feet. “Then what other methods are there?”
Leixar nodded. “Indeed, what other methods are there? Look at the mythological texts from the lower worlds. Essentially, all deities are more or less the same.”
“While I’m not sure why, in their imaginations, we are generally portrayed as saints, radiating with benevolent smiles, glowing brightly, and constantly contemplating the well-being of all living beings. But we all know that, under normal circumstances, this is utter nonsense.”
“While everyone cares about the lives of their world’s inhabitants, the idea of constantly thinking about the people is pure fabrication.”
Leixar swept her gaze across all the deities in the classroom. “At least from what I can see, I don’t spot any of those idiotic types with perpetually benevolent smiles.”
A small snort escaped me. ‘Alright, I couldn’t help it.’ Leixar merely cast a fleeting glance my way, offering no further reaction.
“But unfortunately for us, they fall for that act. So, this ‘Self-Cultivation of a Deity’ course is precisely about teaching you how to deal with your believers—how to fool them.”
I was utterly petrified, completely frozen. Honestly, I had always believed goddesses were truly great beings, always smiling beautifully and treating everyone like their own family. Now…
Leixar opened the book she had previously used to silence the classroom. “Our course is roughly divided into three chapters. The first is about controlling your own temperament. The second is how to make your descension appear more sacred. And the third is how to add special effects to make yourself seem more imposing, fitting their image of a goddess.”
Leixar checked the time. “Today was our first lesson, and the information presented was quite substantial. Please go back, process it, and rest. That’s all for today. Class dismissed.”
I felt as though my heart had taken a massive blow. So, goddesses were all just putting on an act. So, so…
Just then, my terminal vibrated, signaling an incoming message.
[Your team’s application for the official arena match has successfully found an opponent. The match is scheduled for tomorrow at 3 PM.]
‘What is this? I don’t recall submitting any application!’ I’d intended to wait until I’d acquired sufficient combat skills before steadily climbing the ranks.
‘This has to be Lavishly Karafar’s doing!!!!!!!!!!’