Are you a Goddess?

The cramped crowd parted. A pair of middle-aged security guards marched forward, their faces tight with displeasure after being pulled from their post.

Tonight, the train station is crowded with people boarding, and security must be ensured for everyone's safety.

However, somebody's making a scene, and whoever it might be is practically begging for a serious scolding.

As they walked closer, their sharp gazes easily landed on the familiar Warrior's badge and the innocent-looking high school girl beside him. Their expressions changed instantly.

"What's going on here?" The male guard demanded, his gaze flicking between the nervous middle-aged woman opposite the Warrior, the goddess-like high school girl and her Warrior, and Maria Eine, who was standing in the middle of the scene. Well, this was something she did not wish to be at.

"Madam, what seems to be the issue?" The female guard asked, friendly and gentle, trying to ease everyone's tension.

The middle-aged woman scoffed and crossed her arms. "Why don't you ask this girl and her so-called Warrior what they have done? They think they can just cut ahead of everyone because they're so important now!"

Her voice rose as she glared back, feeling brave because of the guards' presence.

The high school girl stepped forward in front of her Warrior, her tone shifting from the earlier smug and proud to fragile innocence.

"We've done nothing wrong." She began softly, her eyes looking as though they might fill with tears at any second. "As a Goddess, it's my right to go first. My Warrior and I are on our way to Headquarters, and I'm afraid of being late, you see... Then I was shocked when this old lady has come at me shouting and acting like a crazy person. I couldn't help but feel scared."

"What are you saying—and who are you calling an old lady!" She's just twenty-nine years old, not even thirty yet!

"My Warrior is just helping me. This old lady is really scary, shouting like a crazy woman." The high school girl cried out, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, making sure the middle-aged woman couldn't speak.

The male security guard nodded grimly, his voice calm yet firm. "Madam, if that's the issue, you should know the government recently announced that Goddesses and their Warriors have priority in public lines, just like children and the disabled. I hope you understand."

"What—what nonsense is that!" The older woman's voice rose, anger pushing it from deep in her chest, her eyes widening.

"This little girl is cutting the line! So what if she's a Goddess? She's not the only one!" She pointed her finger at someone, startling Maria Eine. She had been quietly minding her own business, waiting for the line to progress. 

"What about her? Look at this young woman! For sure, she's a Goddess too. Look at her, following the public rules properly like a good citizen!"

The crowd's attention quickly shifted to Maria Eine.

Warmth crept up her face as countless eyes swept over her, scrutinizing her from head to toe.

Maria Eine's fingers tightened around her bag, her heart pounding anxiously. Why had she been dragged into this? Wasn't she just being quiet here?

"Miss, are you also a Goddess?" The female guard's gaze swept over Maria Eine's body, filled with a mixture of curiosity. She looked for any familiar signs of a Goddess's identity—but found nothing.

"I... I am not." Maria Eine replied, her voice barely above a whisper. Feeling these people hadn't heard her clearly, she voiced out again. "I am not, not a Goddess."

Maria Eine gave an awkward smile after that, wishing the ground would swallow her whole—perhaps being teleported straight into her bedroom would be even better. It was really not easy to go home tonight.

Getting the center of attention away from her, the high school girl-Goddess glanced over, crossing her arms. Her eyes briefly shot Maria a look of silent disdain—weak yet calculated, ensuring no one else would notice. "She is not one of us."

Leaning slightly closer to Maria Eine, the other's two big teary eyes bore into her with a look that was equal parts smug and pitying, though carefully concealed.

"She is not one of us." She repeated emphatically. "She's just an ordinary auntie. I cannot see any aura or magic surrounding her."

An eye twitched as Maria Eine fought the urge to stay calm. Did this little girl, who hadn't even finished her studies yet, just call her "Auntie"?

She? AUNTIE!?

Does her face look like an auntie now!? And please—she had clearly seen that glint of arrogance on this little girl's face as she stared at her earlier.

The older woman was correct, this person had no manners.

"I already said that I'm not a Goddess." Maria Eine said calmly, her voice unwavering and cold. But who could explain why this high school girl not only refused to leave her alone but also leaned in even closer, just to get on her nerves.

"Boring." Seeing the response she didn't want, the other said dismissively, then turned to face the two security guards with a sweet smile. "Can you please help me and my Warrior pass first? I think we're getting late."

The two security guards looked at each other for a while. The female guard ensured the middle-aged woman returned to her line, while the other escorted the high school girl and her Warrior past the line and through the entrance, getting ahead of everyone.

Maria Eine was left standing in silence. A sigh escaped her lips as her gaze wandered aimlessly.

When she reached the ticket gate, her mind was no longer focused on getting home.

The card balance remained unchanged with a soft beep, and she moved toward the escalator without hurry, her thoughts drifting back to three months ago.

Goddesses.

Warriors.

These two identities had turned the world she once knew upside down, as if it were no longer her world. Everything had changed.

It began with the unknown floating objects—silent, glowing shapes in the night sky that defied logic.

They shifted between spheres, cubes, and triangles, their very presence a mystery that left even the world's brightest minds baffled.

Governments tried to approach them, but every attempt ended in catastrophe, with tragic events such as military jets being incinerated mid-air and countless lives lost.

Videos of these failed missions spread online, fueling panic and wild speculation. Were the objects alien technology, divine messengers, or something else entirely?

Whatever it could be, the day the world screamed in fear was the moment millions of women lost consciousness and those unknown flying objects disappeared.

Hospitals, government facilities, social media, and news outlets were flooded with desperate demands for explanation that no one could provide. 

What if some intelligent species were now attacking them? They needed answers!

When the women finally woke up, the unknown flying objects returned, but this time they no longer glowed or moved.

However, the world's attention quickly shifted to something far more startling—some of the women who had fallen into a deep unconsciousness were no longer ordinary.

They had emerged with superpowers.

Non-human abilities that were once confined to fantasy fiction were now a reality. Some could heal wounds, levitate, control the elements, and more.

On the other hand, before the media could dub them future superheroes, one woman declared herself a divine incarnation on live television, calling herself a Goddess.

Even so, the Goddess identity didn't come alone. An anomaly occurred around the world as some men began to experience strange trances, later claiming they had discovered they were bound to serve these Goddesses as their Warriors.

This revelation reshaped society overnight.

Maria Eine, too, had been one of the women who fainted during the initial incident.

She remembered waking up disoriented, as if she had just come from a long dream, yet she couldn't remember much of it. The people around her were excited, eager, and expectant, convinced that her Warrior would show up any day.

But a week passed, then a month, two months—now, three months had gone by—with no sign of any Warrior, except for that young man earlier.

Maria Eine rode the escalator, her blurred reflection in the polished stainless steel catching her eye.

'She is not one of us.'

'No aura.'

'No magic.'

She is no goddess. That's right, she thought. That little girl was right. She wasn't one of these goddesses. She was just an ordinary corporate worker, nothing more.