The midsummer air hung thick with oppressive heat.
Cicada cries droned outside the window, clashing with the math teacher’s lecture inside the classroom. Just listening to it was enough to make anyone drowsy.
“Tsukimi, come up and solve this problem.”
The teacher pushed his glasses up and scanned the listless students below. His gaze unconsciously lingered on a girl who sat perfectly straight, yet somehow looked like her mind had drifted far away.
“Yes.”
She answered softly. Then, right in front of the entire class, she picked up a piece of chalk and solved the problem in a few clean strokes. There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation.
Her long, creamy-white hair swayed gently with the elegant motion of her writing. Below, a pair of straight, sensually full legs in white stockings tensed slightly whenever her toes lifted.
The boys who had been half-asleep moments earlier suddenly became wide awake. Every pair of eyes locked onto the girl on the podium.
The teacher allowed himself a small, satisfied smile.
As expected, this trick never fails.
“Teacher, I’m done.”
Her voice cut through his quiet muttering. He glanced at the blackboard and nodded without thinking.
“Alright, go back to your seat.”
“Everyone, look up and pay attention to the solution!”
With the teacher’s stern voice at her back, Tsukimi Ryuune returned to her seat by the window. She propped her chin on her hand and slipped back into her daze. Little interruptions like this had long become routine.
After all, she was the top student in the entire grade. Her grades crushed everyone else’s, and her appearance made every other girl in class quietly envious.
Her name was Tsukimi Ryuune. Beneath the appearance of an ordinary high school student lay an identity no one could have imagined—she was the god who ruled the entire world beneath her feet.
So utterly boring…
“Ryuune-chan, what’s wrong?”
During the break, a girl approached her with warm but cautious enthusiasm.
It couldn’t be helped. Ryuune had an extremely pure, cute face that softened the cold aura she usually gave off. Because of that, people—both boys and girls—never stopped trying to talk to her.
She could have used her divine authority to make all this annoying attention disappear. But doing so would be no different from making herself invisible to ordinary people.
“You seem like you’re in a really bad mood.”
“…”
“That’s just your imagination.”
“No one can affect me. There isn’t a single person or thing in this world that can stir any emotion in me.”
“Ah… so it’s not some romantic problem after all?”
The other girl sounded slightly surprised.
“Otherwise, what would romance have to do with this?”
Ryuune was genuinely puzzled. Even after becoming a girl, she still couldn’t quite sync up with other girls.
“Right, I almost forgot—you’re not interested in the opposite sex at all.”
That was true.
In her previous life as a man, she could never accept confessions from other men. But after losing the dignity that came with being male, she had discovered she no longer even had the qualifications to build a harem.
The goddess who granted her divine authority had made this one of the conditions.
“In exchange for becoming a woman, I can make you the master of the entire world.”
Back then, she had agreed without thinking twice…
Now, the price felt far heavier than she had ever imagined.
Without the dignity of manhood, the joys of being a man had vanished. Yet she still couldn’t change her own sexual orientation.
To her, emotions were something that only grew more distant with each passing day.
“I just think my current life is far too dull. I can’t find any goal worth pursuing. It’s not like what you’re imagining—being tripped up by some sudden romance. I’m not that pathetic.”
She didn’t even know why she bothered explaining herself. Ever since becoming a god, she had done everything she wanted to do. Afterward, her heart had simply fallen into this empty, confused state.
She could have become a lofty, indifferent deity who looked down on everything. But she still hadn’t completely discarded the humanity left in her heart.
That was the root of her current distress.
She already possessed everything, yet her heart still couldn’t find the satisfaction it craved. So what else was there left for her to chase?
“Well, I only asked because I care about you, Ryuune-chan.”
“I heard a young male teacher just started at the school’s counseling room. Maybe you should try talking to him.”
Tsukimi Ryuune scoffed inwardly. She knew the girl meant well, but as an omniscient and omnipotent god, she didn’t believe some ordinary human teacher could help her with anything.
“Fine. If I have time, I’ll go take a look. The counseling room, right?”
“Mm-hmm. Do you want me to help you ask for permission to leave class?”
Ryuune shook her head and declined the offer.
Even so, no matter how hard she tried to push the thought away, it continued to take root in her heart like a seed buried in soil.
People in desperate situations would cling to any possibility of salvation. Even she, a god, was no exception.
—
Not long after graduating from Tokyo Metropolitan University, Kagami Yuto began his first job.
He had been hired as a psychological counseling teacher at a prestigious high school not far from home. To him, the position carried a sacred sense of responsibility.
In a school where students sometimes fell into such despair that they considered ending their lives, being able to save even one through counseling felt like an act of true justice.
Today was his first day.
“Suzuran High School…”
“I can’t believe I ended up back here after everything.”
With a mix of nostalgia and complicated feelings, he stepped into the counseling room and gave it a thorough cleaning. He also pulled open the curtains, letting bright sunlight fill the quiet space.
Perfect.
The only downside was how quiet and empty it felt. But for work like this, too much noise and activity was the last thing he wanted.
“If it could stay like this forever, that wouldn’t be so bad.”
Feeling somewhat tired, he leaned against the desk and closed his eyes for a moment. That was when a rhythmic knocking sound reached his ears.
At first, he thought he might have imagined it. He never expected his quiet little corner to receive a visitor so soon.
“Come in.”
As the doorknob turned, the noise from the hallway outside flooded in first. Then, a cool, elegant figure dressed in creamy white stepped into his view.
“Excuse me, is this the counseling room?”