Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy – Chapter 124

People often have instincts, a gut feeling that nudges them away from choices at critical crossroads, warning them of impending danger.

As I navigated through life, this instinct, built upon numerous accumulated experiences, served as a reliable alarm system.

Right now, I inherently knew.

“Is it you? The one who sent me to another world?”

It dawned on me that this woman was the very individual responsible for tossing me into the world of The Youngest Son of the Royal Family.

“Yes.”

“Yes? You can’t just drop a person like that!”

“I apologize, but it wasn’t exactly willy-nilly,” the woman retorted, feigning a hint of remorse, insisting it wasn’t entirely her fault.

“Didn’t you clearly say you wanted to live in a world where you could only draw comics?”

I had to concede the point; indeed, back then I had wallowed in despair, praying for just one more chance because I believed my life was utterly ruined.

“Still, how do you explain manipulating me into drawing comics?”

“I truly apologize for that. However, it wasn’t exactly manipulation.”

I brought up the subtle discomfort I had been feeling.

The woman, no, the goddess, kept apologizing without offering excuses.

“I can only observe the world indirectly and can’t intervene directly. If anything, I merely guided the passion you had for comics a little.”

“Ah… well, I see that, but why did you have to use me?”

“That’s….”

*

Goddess Gaia felt confident while creating a new world.

[You, too, have reached the time to create your world.]

After millennia of training to become a creator, she finally passed her creator qualification certification exam and felt invincible.

“Mixing trending cultures from higher dimensions is all the rage these days!”

She had learned the methods her seniors used to create worlds, which involved referencing cultures from higher dimensions.

The first world, the upper dimension, had seen a flourishing of various cultures, and Earth’s movies and comics were especially popular among the gods.

Hence, it became fashionable among the gods to incorporate Earth’s cultural elements into their created worlds.

Gaia, conforming to the trend, intended to sprinkle a few elements from trending works of Earth into her world.

“This one must go in! This is a masterpiece. Wait, can I fit this in too? Yeah, I can’t leave this out.”

However, she got carried away and added an excessive amount of Earth’s culture, leading to the bizarre hybrid world she had inadvertently created, something she realized much too late.

Initially, there were no significant issues, but as time passed, the cultures she haphazardly mixed began to cause problems. She grew anxious.

“This could turn into a real disaster.”

Feeling a sense of crisis, she wanted to correct the settings, but there was a catch: no matter how much of a creator she was, she couldn’t directly intervene in a world that was already created.

Thus, she attempted to resolve the world’s crises indirectly through prophecies given to her followers of the church, but there were limits to that as well.

In her moment of desperation, she ultimately devised a plan.

“That was a web novel?” (Rupert)

“Yes….” (Goddess)

That plan involved writing the story of her world directly, borrowing elements from Earth.

To do this, disguised as a human, Gaia crafted a narrative about the world she created in the popular format of a web novel.

“And through the reactions of people like comments, I was trying to gain influence.” (Goddess)

“Influence?” (Rupert)

“Yes, Earth is considered the highest dimension in the universe, which grants immense influence over lower dimensions! Hence, I sought influence…” (Goddess)

As Gaia excitedly spoke about her plans, complexity surrounding higher and lower dimensions flew over my head.

However, I did grasp one crucial point.

“So, your plan failed because the ‘The Youngest Son of the Royal Family’ you wrote didn’t become a massive hit, right?” (Rupert)

“Yes… Ideally, if it had achieved success like One Piece or other works, there wouldn’t have been a problem…” (Goddess)

‘Is she out of her mind?’

I couldn’t help but think inwardly, baffled at what I was hearing.

“Hey! You just had an irreverent thought, didn’t you?”

“Uh… no, I didn’t.”

“I think you did!”

Though my mind felt a little foggy, this goddess seemed surprisingly perceptive.

“Anyway, while I was quite disappointed that I hadn’t accumulated as much influence as I’d hoped, I could hear your heartfelt wish!” (Goddess)

“Wait… what?” (Rupert)

“Yes, I ended up all-in with every bit of influence I had collected up until then and sent you to my world!”

“Damn you, you demon!!!”

Seeing the goddess beam with pride, I could no longer contain my frustration.

I instinctively swung my fist.

Yet,

“Of course, you must be angry, but could you spare a moment to hear me out?”

“…Alright.”

The goddess lightly placed her finger against my fist.

Suddenly, I felt her overwhelming energy through that point of contact.

As I briefly hesitated, taken aback by her divine aura, she continued speaking.

“Sunwoo-hyuk, I genuinely appreciate your efforts in living well for the world I created, considering you were more or less dragged here because of me.”

“Well… that’s true.”

Once I understood the reason behind my reincarnation into another world, I felt absurdity wash over me and anger flicker, but there were fond memories I couldn’t dismiss entirely.

Most importantly, I had gained precious people in my life.

“To repay you, I used my last bit of influence to grant you a small blessing.”

“A blessing?”

“Yes, to be honest, it was something I wanted to give you a while ago. But I was too busy resolving the issues that faced the world.”

A blessing from a goddess.

I already felt like Rupert’s artistic talent alone was a cheat, so anything more wouldn’t hurt.

“I’ll make sure you can stay up all night drawing without feeling tired. You’ll just need 10 minutes of sleep to recover. Plus, even when you age, you won’t suffer from ailments until your natural lifespan is up, and you won’t tire even with that magic pen you just acquired.”

The goddess added various explanations as if the blessing felt insufficient.

‘What? This is a complete survival kit for me!’

Yet, this was the most perfect gift I could have hoped for.

“I am sorry for only being able to offer you this pitiful blessing due to my lack of influence.”

“No, really! This is an excellent blessing!”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Seeing my genuine delight, the goddess let out a sigh of relief.

“But I’m not exactly sure what influence is, but is it okay for me to expend all of it for your sake?”

Worried about the possibility of the world being endangered because I was receiving blessings, I couldn’t help but ask.

“If anything, there won’t be any upcoming threats to the world for a while.”

“This was the last time?”

“Yes, the crises in the world often arise like a butterfly effect from small incidents, so preventing those was key. It was all thanks to you, Sunwoo-hyuk.”

Watching the goddess continuously express her gratitude toward me allowed my resentment to melt away to a degree.

Part of it was due to the blessing I received, but I could feel her genuine desire to protect the world she created.

Just by observing the changes triggered by the comics I had drawn, so many things had transformed.

For instance, Alex, who transitioned from a reckless character to the Steel Crown Prince, or Ignicia, the Witch of Flames, becoming Yustaf’s disciple, Jenia.

Furthermore, the evil organizations threatening the continent were wiped out before they could even try anything, saving countless people from potential harm made me swell with pride.

I had once casually asked the goddess if I hadn’t drawn Van Helsing this time, Rupert’s older brother Richard would likely have lost his life.

I was told that there were individuals among those gathered around me who would later instigate a great war in the continent.

“Revolutionary Duma and Black Prince Adrian, huh?”

In the original future she slightly revealed, Duma was leading a rebellion against the empire, brandishing a red flag and waging war.

Meanwhile, the once good-hearted Adrian had turned dark, planning to invade the empire.

“You can now live however you wish, Sunwoo-hyuk.”

“How I wish?”

“Yes. Truly, influencing the world through you takes quite a bit of influence, and now I can no longer get involved.”

Hearing the goddess’s words, I felt some relief wash over me.

Of course, it might be a lie, but for some reason, it felt true.

No matter how noble the cause, being controlled by another always felt uncomfortable.

‘This is what I want.’

Now that I was granted true freedom, I was at a loss about what to do.

Thus far, I had goals to rebuild the family or spread my comics in the world.

Now, those were mostly accomplished.

So now, what was I supposed to do as I pondered this when she said,

“Alright, it’s time to send you back.”

“…Okay.”

“Are you wondering what to do next?”

“What?”

“This time, please wrap things up properly. Honestly, the webtoon you drew last time was a bit lacking, wasn’t it?”

“No, that’s—”

– This time, I hope for a happy ending.

Before I could offer a rebuttal, my room and the goddess faded away into the ether.

And with a flash of light, I opened my eyes.