I woke up feeling unbelievably tired. I stopped asking questions after she told me about the second mode. I'm not a hero, I'm not someone special, I was just a regular dude with depression who was trying to get by, and now? Now I don't know. It's too much, it's way too much, and I'm not sure if I can handle this.

"Are you awake, mortal?"

Oh yes, the clingy eldritch goddess.

Why is she so attached to me anyway? Even though I am important given the rarity of my soul, she is way too attached to me.

"Ben, can I ask you a question?"

"You may, mortal."

"Why are you so attached to me? I know you've been watching me for months, but I barely know you."

"Isn't it obvious, mortal? I told you before, our souls are bound, we are soulmates now, and we will continue to be until one of us dies permanently."

...

Oh yes, that.

I don't know how to feel about that, so I'll ignore it for now, I have more pressing issues right now.

I try to get up, but I can't.

"Ben, can you please let me go?"

"Are you going to run away from me again, mortal?"

I sigh.

"No, Ben, but contrary to you, I experience hunger and I require food in order to survive."

"Mmmm I understand now. You can go and satisfy your mortal needs, I'll stay here so that my scent permeates your bed."

I don't even know how to respond to that, so I just left.

----

Thank God, no, thanks magic ball.

At least he was aware of my mortality and put food in the refrigerator.

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"This is really good..."

What's up with the food anyway? Even the coffee is amazing.

Done with my breakfast, I wander around the cafe, although it looks nice, it's rather empty. We should probably bring in a couple of tables so customers can relax.

"Done with your meal, mortal?"

"Done with your perversions, Ben?"

She's blushing, it's good to know she knows shame.

"I was just marking my territory, nothing more, mortal."

Again, I don't know how to answer to that, so I'll ignore it.

"How do I use the pods, Ben? I tried to use them, but nothing happened."

"It's because you must authorize their use, mortal. Come, I'll teach you."

She approached the office desk and sat down.

"First, simply touch the monitor, and it will activate, watch."

She touched the center of the monitor with her index finger, and the display activated, revealing a purple background with a series of icons.

"The first icon with the shape of a capsule represents the six pods you see."

She tapped the screen on the capsule, and a row of numbers appeared next to it.

"As you probably noticed, each capsule has a number; simply tap the number on the screen to habilitate the capsules."

Huh, touch screen, fancy.

"If you want to set a timer for their use, simply double-tap the number on the capsule, and a timer will appear."

"It's quite simple."

I commented offhandedly.

"Yes, we are the only ones who can use the screen, so there is no need for fanfare."

Pragmatic, I like that.

"Now the second icon with the shopping cart will be for your and the customers use; after a player creates an account, they will also be able to see this icon in their lobby. The difference is that you can customize which items you want to be visible for them."

"Neat, so we can buy in-game items there? Like skins and shit?"

She glared at me.

"Language, mortal, and no."

"Sorry, but if it's not for that, then what is it for?"

"So they can buy items of other worlds, what else?The players will need an incentive to do this, my master is aware of how fragile mortals are, and the tasks they must accomplish are daunting to say the least, so this will be our carrot. Who doesn't want to be more powerful after all?"

Ugh my stomach hurts, this is very fucking bad. Give ordinary folks incredible powers? I've read enough comics, and my faith in people is low enough to see how this could go wrong. You neighbor is annoying you? Smite him, that prick is looking you ugly? Throw a fireball at him, you don't want to follow the law? Throw lightning from your hands to the cops.

I'll probably be bald by 30, this is too much stress. Oh yes!

"I can customize the shopping list?"

"Yes, Why?"

"Nothing, nothing, I'm just asking, how do we buy these items?"

"Well, my master was inspired by the achievement system of your world's games, so this will be similar; players will earn achievement points in both modes based on their actions. With these points they can buy items in the in-game store.”

Oh, okay, so it's not going to be simple, nice to know.

"The next icon with the star displays the available games. In the same vein as the other icons, you can also manage which games the players may play."

She tapped the star, and two images appeared next to it, my eyes widened like saucers. The first image just said bioshock and the next was a lambda sign.

"Currently, only the first game is available because my master is having difficulties accessing the dimensions of the second. The man in the suit is quite bothersome, and we can't deal with him just yet."

I think I'm about to have a heart attack.

"You are having trouble with G-man?"

She looks at me.

"Is that his name? Yes, we are currently trying to reach an agreement with him so that we can use the worlds where his champion failed."

I'm not going to play half-life, I love the game more than anything in the world, but Ravenholm was pure nightmare stuff, and that's with graphics from a 2004 game, I'm not touching that game with a ten-foot pole.

"Anyway, the final icon will be the most important one for you, mortal, if you ever feel in danger and I'm not around, press the red button and I'll come save you."

"You are going to leave me Ben?"

That's great! And also very bad, I can barely fight, how am I supposed to defend myself if something happens?

"I don't want to leave you mortal, but I have duties to attend to, I will still come by from time to time, so don't worry!"

I don't want to be with her right now, I don't hate her per se, but right now I'm terribly scared of her. I try to pretend that those shining golden eyes are not there by looking at her chest which is nice, but that's not a solution. There is some sort of pressure emanating from them; even when I'm not looking at her, I can still feel them on the back of my head somehow. It's hard to breathe around her, and the constant feel of death is wearing me down.

But I don't wanna hurt her and I'm scared of saying that.

So I lied.

"I'm going to miss you, Ben."

She stood up and hugged me.

"Fear not, my beloved, if anyone tries to harm you, I will tear them apart in thousands of pieces and I will tear their souls asunder."

Yup. Eldritch goddess.

I think I pee myself a little.