Parvati's words hung in the cosmic air, but they offered little comfort to Radha's aching heart. "He'll be back," she had said. "He always comes back."
Radha's divine sigh was heavy with the weight of eons. "A necessary step? He has forgotten that even the highest purpose requires divine partnership." Her hands clenched at her sides, the very air around her crackling with a divine energy that was not born of raw rage, but of an indignant love and a fierce, wounded possessiveness. "He chooses to face the world's problems alone, and in doing so, he has left me with no divine work to share by his side."
A flicker of divine resolve, hot and fierce, ignited in her eyes. "If he seeks to reawaken his divinity through mortal trials, then I shall follow him. Not out of anger," she clarified, her voice ringing with the clarity of a temple bell, "but out of eternal partnership. He will not face his trials alone. He may have descended to understand mortality, but I will descend to remind him of divinity—and of the bond he cannot truly forsake. And perhaps," she added, a sharp, dangerous glint in her eye, "I'll have a word or two with him about his 'packing' habits."
With a silent, resolute will that bent the cosmic fabric around her, Radha turned her back on the cosmic elders. The divine realm, once her sanctuary, now felt like a cold, empty palace without Krishna there to undertake his grand tasks with her. Her love for him was an ocean, and that ocean now held a potent, swirling current of divine frustration.
She would follow. She would find him. And she would remind him that even in his trials, he was never, ever alone.
***
*(Back in the classroom...)*
The potent, divine feeling that had momentarily surrounded Radha faded, retreating deep within her. Her expression settled into a calm, placid mask, but a dangerous, knowing smile played on her lips. It was a smile that Krishna, despite his own confusion, could feel was laced with a power that sent a shiver down his spine. It was the smile of someone who was angry, and who knew something he didn't.
Beside her, Krishna finally forced himself to close the System interface in his mind. He had asked his questions, and the System, for now, seemed satisfied. But the impossible reading from his Golden Eye—that overwhelming, absolute "100"—remained, a constant, thrumming reminder that his life had shattered into a thousand unrecognizable pieces.
He was just about to try and force his attention back to the mundane reality of the classroom—the worn desks, the droning teacher—when a new alert popped up in his head, bright and impossible to ignore.
**[System Alert: New Task.]**
Krishna's heart leaped into his throat. *Another one? Already? What now?* He braced himself, a sense of dread coiling in his stomach. With a reluctant mental command, he thought, *"Show Task."*
**[SYSTEM: NEW TASK]**
* **Task:** Kiss Radha for five continuous minutes.
* **Deadline:** Complete within the next three days.
* **Reward:** 1 Divine Skill, 100 Karmic Points.
* **Penalty for Failure:** Host will be permanently unable to have children.
Krishna stared, his mind going completely blank. *What the hell?* Kiss her for FIVE minutes straight? The words swam before his eyes. He read it again, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs.
*"Are you kidding me?!"* Krishna's mind screamed at the System, a silent, furious shout. *"This isn't fair! How am I supposed to do that? She doesn't even know me! This isn't a System task, this is… this is insane!"*
**[System Direct Reply to Host: Your protest is noted. However, the parameters are set. Radha possesses a 100+ affection level towards the Host. She is guaranteed to be your future wife. Therefore, do not hesitate. Furthermore, this System is also jealous of the Host for acquiring a bride with such high affection. Proceed.]**
Krishna felt a hot flush creep up his neck. *What? She's guaranteed to be my wife? And the System is JEALOUS?* He couldn't even begin to process that. But the more urgent problem was right beside him. Radha was looking at the board, completely unaware of the insane demand the System had just placed on him. How could he possibly just… kiss her for five minutes? And what if he failed? The penalty was brutal.
Five minutes. Continuous. And the penalty… permanent inability to have children. The thought was terrifying, a cold dread that eclipsed even the promise of the reward. This wasn't just a game. The System was playing with his life, his future, forcing him into something deeply personal and utterly mortifying.
He looked back at the task, then at Radha. What was he supposed to do? His heart pounded. The deadline loomed. The penalty haunted him.
Krishna buried his head in his hands, his knuckles pressing hard against his temples as a wave of pure frustration washed over him. How was he supposed to kiss Radha for five whole minutes? Where would he even start? Try to corner her after school? Find some private spot during class? The thought of initiating something so intimate, so prolonged, with someone who had no idea what was happening felt like a nightmare.
His mind raced, cycling through a thousand awkward scenarios, each one ending in disaster. He would fail, and then what? A future without the possibility of children? It was a future he couldn't, and wouldn't, accept.
Then, a sliver of the System's message broke through his panic: *Radha possesses a 100+ affection level towards the Host. She is guaranteed to be your future wife.*
The words echoed in the silence of his mind. If she was that loyal, that devoted… would she really hate him for kissing her? Would she scream? Would she slap him?
He sent a quick, desperate query to the System. *"System, if I kiss her, will she hate me? Will she… kill me?"*
**[System Reply to Host: Negative. With a 100+ affection level, there is a high probability she will not hate you. This System guarantees she is your future wife.]**
Hearing the System's "guarantee," a tiny sliver of calm finally pierced through Krishna's anxiety. Okay. So, maybe it wouldn't be a complete disaster. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't end with him being thrown out a window.
He lifted his head, his gaze inevitably drawn back to Radha. She sat beside him, one hand resting elegantly on her cheek, her attention seemingly focused on the blackboard. But Krishna could see it now—the subtle, divine aura that clung to her like a second skin, the unconscious grace in her every small movement.
Her posture, relaxed yet attentive; the way her dark hair fell like a soft curtain around her face; the faint, intoxicating scent of jasmine that somehow filled his senses—it all combined to draw him in, to pull at something deep within his soul. He found himself mesmerized all over again, a foolish, teenage heat creeping up his neck. She was just… breathtaking.
He looked at her, truly seeing her impossible beauty, her divine presence, and the daunting task that lay before him. Five minutes. It was still a massive, terrifying undertaking. But for the first time since the task appeared, the System's insane request felt… maybe not possible, but at least not an immediate death sentence.
*To be continued.*