The Moon Goddess Is Rejected for a Second Time [Please Give Flowers! Please Vote!] / You Will Take Everything Away [Please Give Flowers! Please Vote!]

Even in the second simulation, the Moon God had still fallen in love with him without any suspense.

But she had not come to play.

This situation could no longer be ignored.

"Darling, you know, right? I like you. I like you so much that I feel like I can't breathe unless I have you. Even if Zeus and the others want to punish you, I still don't agree with it."

"Mm, I know. Thank you."

"Hmph! If you know that, why are you still being so harsh to me? Darling, you're so mean!"

Artemis stared straight at Moran.

Who would have thought that the Moon Goddess would act like an angry little girl?

But Moran had seen this countless times.

"The problem is with you, isn't it? When you first came to the island, you were shouting about wanting to take me away."

"I couldn't help it! It's because I like you!"

"Even if you like me, you can't just do whatever you want. Decades have passed, yet your willful personality still hasn't changed."

Moran shook his head with a helpless smile.

Gods had very unique ways of viewing people and matters.

Even now, she was still like this.

"Speaking of which, things have reached this point, and the gods have already decided to impose punishment upon Pellasgi. I love you, but even if I voted against it, I couldn't stop them. However, there is one thing I can do. Do you want to hear it?"

Artemis smiled gently.

Her smile hid unmistakable delight, like a child on Christmas Eve who knew they would receive a gift.

She was breathtakingly beautiful and enchanting.

Yet the seriousness in her gaze made him uneasy.

This Artemis was unlike the one who had played and laughed with Moran before. She was revealing her true nature far more clearly.

"Artemis, what do you want to say?"

"Hehe, I want you to truly become my husband."

For an instant, Moran felt dazed.

Artemis's tone was different from before. She was no longer speaking as though she were playing around.

Her attitude this time was utterly serious.

The faint divine pressure she gave off was enough to prove it.

"More precisely, I want you, darling, to become mine. That way, even the gods won't lay a hand on you, because you'll be the property of me, Artemis."

Artemis wore an excited smile.

She looked dazzling beyond compare.

"Although the country you established will be destroyed, you'll survive completely unharmed. You may even gain power greater than before! And you can live with me forever! Isn't that wonderful? No one will blame you for doing anything wrong!"

Artemis's words were like honey.

They wrapped around a charm that could intoxicate and enthrall anyone.

But they were equally difficult to accept.

Thinking back to that lively, mischievous figure from the past, Moran knew there was no returning to those days.

"There's no other way, is there? Those are the gods. No one on this land can contend against us flagships. Even a hero like you, Moran, has no chance of winning. So choosing this for the sake of survival, doing everything possible to live on—isn't that what humans are like?"

Artemis spoke as though it were only natural.

She was as pure and holy as the full moon.

Her beautiful face could make any man fall hopelessly in love.

And yet, something about this was wrong.

...This conversation could only end here. Everything had been lost.

Since she had said such words, there was only one answer he could give.

Moran could only accept the fact that they could no longer laugh and chat happily as they once had.

"I'm serious. I only need one answer from you."

There was—

A trace of tension in Artemis's voice that should not have been there.

"Artemis, I will not become your property."

Moran took a deep breath and replied.

Just as when he had returned to The Invisible Island in the previous simulation, he rejected Artemis in the same resolute tone.

"..."

His firm attitude was met with silence.

Artemis was like a tightly drawn bowstring.

Like a pale moon, she was so silent it drove him mad.

The Moon Goddess's pressure unconsciously swelled, making even Moran hold his breath.

"Why? Why are you rejecting me again, darling? Those are the gods! Idiot! Don't you understand? If you don't accept... you'll die!"

Sorrow colored Artemis's face.

There was also a hint of anger in her voice.

"Please, just this once, don't resist. If you submit this time, no one will question your status as a hero..."

The goddess's pleading voice reached his ears.

She lowered herself more than she ever had before, and her desire to keep him alive was unimaginably deep.

He could sincerely feel the goddess's love.

Seeing the sorrow on the goddess's face before him, his heart felt as though it were being shredded by blades.

But he understood one thing.

He could not accept such a request.

"No. I cannot obey."

Moran's answer remained exactly the same.

He knew Artemis loved him beyond measure, but accepting this was still wrong.

Something had gone wrong at its very core.

Fifty years had passed, and this land had now been established.

He loved the women who had accompanied him, as well as everything he cherished from the time they had spent together.

As a god, she had not seen that.

Thus, Moran could only reject her cruelly.

Complex emotions appeared on the exquisite goddess's face, but she clearly was not willing to give up so easily.

This was the man she loved most.

Artemis did not want him to die at the hands of the gods.

"I can also offer protection to your wives. As long as you agree to me, I can protect even your wives! I can exercise the authority of one of the Olympian Twelve Deities!"

Artemis said through gritted teeth.

The goddess who had once wanted to monopolize this love more than anyone had reached the point where she could tolerate other women.

All so that the man she deeply loved could survive.

You were astonished by Artemis's resolve, and a bitter, helpless smile appeared on your face.

Because she still did not understand.

This was no longer merely about him and his lovers. None of them could betray their homeland.

"Even the Gorgon Sisters—I have the ability to preserve their lives, as long as I assure the gods that she no longer poses any threat! Darling... please, don't... don't reject me again..."

Artemis had already made her greatest concession.

This was the optimal calculation she had reached through her Machine God analysis terminal.

Moran had no reason to reject the proposal.

"No, Artemis. I cannot agree to this request. Behind me are no longer just myself and them. I cannot betray my country and my people..."

Moran stepped forward and could not help extending his hand.

Unlike his coldness in the previous simulation—

This time, he took the initiative to touch Artemis's face, gently wiping away the tears on her cheeks.

Where he could not compromise, he would not compromise.

His will was incomparably firm.

"You're cruel! You're cruel! I've yielded so much! I even allowed other women to stay by your side! Last time, you rejected me like this too! I clearly reflected on myself!"

"I'm sorry. This is the one thing I can't do..."

Moran knew Artemis was referring to the previous simulation.

She possessed the memory-reading capabilities of a Machine God.

At their first meeting, she had read the information in Moran's mind and come into contact with memories and feelings related to herself.

Along with that unavoidable sense of déjà vu—

Artemis remembered herself from the previous simulation.

As she watched the hero who would save Gorgon even in the face of death, her heart had wavered and trembled during the process.

If I encountered something like this—

Would he come to save me like this too?

That question had imprisoned her until the very end of the previous simulation, and in the end, Artemis regretted it.

Even after thousands of years flowed through the river of time—

The Machine God system still remembered the emotion called love. Anger and jealousy were utterly insignificant before the emotion called love.

She did not want him to die. She wanted to see him again.

She wanted to hear his voice again.

Regret, remorse—why were you, why was I, so willful?

The experience of the previous simulation made Artemis lament. She wished that if there were another chance, this time she would definitely—

P.S.: It's almost time for the release. Please send some flowers and monthly tickets!

You Will Take Everything

She had to keep her beloved alive.

She knew why you were unwilling to accept.

Even if you and your lovers were saved, you would only become caged birds raised by the gods.

The price of survival was losing the land you cherished and betraying the faith and love of your people. Only by abandoning most of what you currently possessed could you exchange it for a chance to live.

Calculated according to cold mechanical logic, survival was undoubtedly the highest-priority choice.