Haruto froze, his heart pounding against his ribs as a cold sweat broke out. His mind raced through the possibilities: Was she an Earthling too? Had she been summoned just like him? The once-peaceful atmosphere of the garden shifted instantly as the sun dipped lower, casting long, eerie shadows that made Lilith appear genuinely creepy.
She remained seated on the bench, a calm but unsettling smile playing on her lips.
"That question must be screaming in your head right now," she said, her voice dropping to a low, chilling tone.
"'Is she from Earth too?'"
She leaned back, her eyes locking onto his back. "The answer is yes. But I don't remember much of it. I arrived here when I was only three years old."
Haruto stood paralyzed as she continued her story. "All I remember is seeing a shooting star and making a wish. When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't in my bed—I was in the heavens, standing before the Goddess of Beauty herself."
Lilith flashed an appealing smile and gestured for Haruto to sit back down beside her. Haruto complied, his mind racing as he realized they had both been brought to this world through a similar process involving a star's wish.
Lilith's expression then turned solemn. "That event happened 308 years ago," she revealed.
Haruto flinched in shock, but Lilith quickly anticipated his thoughts.
"I know what you're thinking—that I'm an old woman. But when I arrived at level 0, I had one goal: to reach level 99. It took me 250 years of grinding and hard work to finally get there."
"How is that possible?" Haruto stammered. "How did you live for 250 years as a human?"
"Reincarnations have incredibly long lifespans," Lilith explained calmly.
"They don't die naturally until they reach the level of their respective god."
Haruto stared at her, his usual "game" persona slipping.
"So, how much do you actually know about me?" he asked.
Lilith leaned in, her gaze intense.
"Hold on. If you're coming closer to me, you need to hear my full story first. But in exchange, I'll be learning yours".
Haruto looked at her, skeptical. "What is this?".
"Well, you have to know about me, don't you, my future husband?"
she replied with a smirk. Internally, Lilith was calculating her next move; she knew that sharing a secret is the easiest way to manipulate someone into revealing their own information. She wanted to gather as much data on him as possible without ever revealing her true weaknesses.
"When I was three years old on Earth, I was with my parents," Lilith began.
"I don't remember the name of my city, or my parents' names, or even their faces. But I remember seeing a model one day and being so stubborn about wanting to be beautiful. That night, I saw a shooting star and made a wish: I wanted to become the Goddess of Beauty". She gave a small, self-deprecating laugh.
"A childish wish, right? Nothing happened at first, and I just went to sleep. But when I woke up the next day, I was in this world—in the Heavens".
Haruto interrupted her. "Wait a second. 'Heavens' is the name of Layer 99, isn't it?".
Lilith looked impressed.
"Oh, you have that much knowledge already? Fine, then listen to the rest".
Lilith leaned closer, her voice growing cold as she continued her story. She explained that after her wish, she was given a new body and look by the Goddess of Beauty herself, who raised her with the belief that beauty was the only thing that mattered in the world.
Despite being a "Goddess's Child," her start wasn't royal. She revealed that she was sent into the basic world not as a princess, but as someone with nothing—no family, just a few credits and two sets of clothes. She spent 250 years training and enhancing her magic through pure grinding until she finally hit Level 99.
When Haruto, stunned by the timeline, asked what her current level is, Lilith just smirked. "Oh, that's still a secret... especially from you," she teased before continuing her tale.
Lilith's voice dropped to a cold, hard whisper as she continued her story.
"Listen to what happened next," she said, her eyes narrowing.
"Once I finally reached Level 99, the Goddess of Beauty appeared before me. She told me that my entire existence—all those 250 years of training and every bit of power I had gathered—was nothing more than a tool. I was created solely to cleanse and purify her own aura and soul. She told me my job was done and that I should now accept death as my final goal".
She gripped the edge of the bench, her knuckles turning white.
"My mind just snapped. My whole life, my grueling training, my absolute peak of power... all of it was just to satisfy a Goddess's whims? I refused to be a disposable file in her system".
Lilith's laughter echoed through the darkening garden, a sound that sent a chill down Haruto's spine. The playful, immature girl who teased him about matching clothes was gone, replaced by the shadow of a being who had committed deicide.
"I had almost given up," Lilith continued, her eyes gleaming with a manic intensity.
"But then a thought struck me—my level was equal to hers. If we were on the same level, I could fight. I poured every ounce of my power, every year of that 250-year grind, into one final struggle. And in the end? I killed the Goddess of Beauty and absorbed her."
Haruto stepped back instinctively. He realized that her "childish" personality was likely just a mask or a byproduct of her new life, hiding a core of pure, ruthless ambition.
"Once I absorbed her," she said, leaning forward,
"I broke past the Level 99 limit. I reached almost Level 100—more powerful than any single god in the Heavens. But the other gods... they couldn't let that stand. They joined together and cursed me."
She looked down at her hands, which were glowing faintly with that unique pink aura.
"The curse forced me to be reborn. I was reincarnated yet again as the 'Goddess's Child,' but they made a mistake: I kept all my memories. So yes, I look young, and my level was reset, but I have the soul of a god-slayer. This time, I've decided to ignore their 'system.' I'm going to enjoy this life. I'm going to live a normal life on my own terms."
Haruto looked at her, trying to process the sheer scale of what she was describing. "I'm having a hard time comparing that level of power. How strong were you, exactly?"
Lilith leaned back, her eyes reflecting the fading light.
"For a comparison... imagine a single girl standing alone against millions of gods, all of them wanting her dead."
"But why?" Haruto asked, his voice low.
"Because no god wants a mortal to reach Level 100," Lilith replied.
"It breaks the hierarchy they've built."
Haruto stood there, imagining the scene. The image of a lone warrior defying the entire heavens resonated with his own philosophy. He suddenly found Lilith much more interesting than before—she wasn't just a "heroine" or a "princess," she was a veteran of a war he hadn't even known existed.
"Wait, I just remembered something," Haruto said, his brow furrowed.
"People in this world say that humans can't go past Level 60. But you reached Level 99? That means everyone is wrong."
Lilith gave a small, knowing smile.
"People aren't exactly 'wrong,' Haruto. It's just that their information is incomplete. They don't have the full picture of how the system actually works."
Haruto looked confused, struggling to understand how such a massive piece of information could be hidden from the entire world.
Haruto asked with a puzzled expression why the world is so misinformed about the true level caps. Lilith explained that it is because the powerful have never shown their true form to the public. She then looked at him knowingly and said,
"It's a simple rule, one I believe you follow as well: hide your true power from the people."
Haruto admitted that he does exactly that, but he pressed her on the "why." Lilith's expression grew serious as she explained that no god wants a reincarnation other than their own to be successful.
"If you stay in the spotlight for too long," she warned, "the gods themselves will find you and kill you."
The realization hit Haruto instantly. He finally understood why Ivory always insisted that he keep his true abilities hidden.
"Why are we hiding then?" Haruto asked.
"There are thousands of gods and thousands of reincarnations," Lilith replied. "Everyone is hiding. No one truly knows who is a reincarnation of whom."
Haruto pointed out the obvious flaw in her logic. "But the entire city knows you are the reincarnation of the Goddess of Beauty."
Lilith winked at him and gave a small, confident smile. "They don't know the truth—that the Goddess of Beauty is already dead because I killed her. Since she's gone, I'm no longer a threat to the other gods' hierarchy. That's exa
ctly why I can finally stop hiding and just enjoy this life."