I can't believe I was just dreaming all of that. I woke up again, but not in a fantasy world this time—with a goat, which I misunderstood as a lady in my dream and tried to kiss. Gross, gross, gross! What was I thinking? At that moment, I remembered something and checked my pockets, and there it was—the smartphone was still there.

The open area around us stretched endlessly, with nothing but a winding road leading off into the distance, disappearing into the horizon. A gentle, cold breeze swept across the plains, rustling the grass. On one side, a small forest stood—its trees casting long, eerie shadows as the sun sank lower in the sky. Well, I said "us," but it was only me and the goat, which I thought was my wife.

"So, if that was a dream, then how is it still on me? It doesn't make any sense."

Suddenly, the phone started ringing again. Everything was the same as in my dream, and yes, it was from a person called God. So I followed the process, and voilà, the call connected.

"Hello, hello, Alex, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can, but what is this? Can you explain how I saw all of this in my dream?"

"About that... As I told you before, I made a mistake and sent you to the wrong world. So, to fix it, I made everything normal again, and now you don’t have to stay in that dangerous world anymore," Marin said very proudly.

"Wait, wait, wait... That wasn’t a dream? That means everything was real? Being a god, in other words?"

"Yes, that wasn’t a dream. Everything you saw was real," Marin replied again in a very proud manner.

"YOU STUPID GODDESS! DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU JUST DID? I WAS HAVING A GREAT LIFE IN THAT WORLD, AND YOU RUINED EVERYTHING FOR ME. I WAS A GOD IN THAT WORLD!"

Marin started crying and said, "But I thought you didn’t want to go to that world, so I thought, why don’t I do it again and send you to the world you desired and asked for?"

Hearing that made me even angrier. "SEND ME TO THAT WORLD IMMEDIATELY, OR... OR... OR I WILL COMMIT SUICIDE AND WRITE YOUR NAME IN MY FINAL NOTE AS MY MURDERER! SEND ME BACK—THAT WON’T BE A PROBLEM, RIGHT? RIGHT? YOU’RE A GOD, SO IT’S NOTHING FOR YOU!"

"I can’t do that anymore," Marin said in a very low voice. Then, I heard someone else’s voice through the phone, and the call got disconnected.

I screamed again, "YOU STUPID GODDESS!" Out of nowhere, a portal opened in front of me, and then something happened that I didn’t expect—Marin just kicked a chubby-looking girl out of it.

She was a very beautiful girl with long silver hair styled in an intricate updo, adorned with a golden crown embedded with ruby-red jewels. She was short compared to me but not by much. She was wearing a white princess dress with a matching necklace, also embedded with red gemstones.

After landing, she immediately started crying. I was looking at her, confused, and also felt a little pity. What did she do to get kicked by Marin?

In her crying state, she started babbling, "I’m sorry! I’m so sorry about all of that. First, I killed you in your old world and sent you to another world where you’d be comfortable, but I made you despair there too. I’m sorry..."

Wait, why is she apologizing to me? I looked toward Marin, confused.

"Don’t say it. I’m not the one you talked to earlier. She was the one, and she was just pretending to be me. Everything that happened to you—yeah, she’s responsible for that."

I looked toward the girl. She was still sitting on her knees and crying.

"Not only did she make a mistake, but she also deceived me. So here’s the deal for you, kid—you have to stay in this world now."

The girl once again said sorry to me.

"Sorry, my ass," I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud. Instead, I said very awkwardly, "No problem. At least I have my god powers, and I can still do all of it in this world too."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

I don’t know why, but that made her cry even more than before. It was getting very annoying and out of my hands. I had no clue what to say.

In her crying state, she said, "Ah-Actually, you don’t have any god powers because that was just my mistake, so I fixed it this time too."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" I screamed like there was no tomorrow. I got on my knees for a moment, thinking about what I’d lost because of this stupid goddess.

"Wait, wait, before this escalates more, hear me out, kid. Because my apprentice made this mistake, I’ll give you one wish of your choice and some things that will definitely come in handy," Marin said intensely.

"Do I have the choice of going back to that old world with my old powers?" I asked.

"Nope."

"Can I—"

"Nope."

I didn’t even finish my question. I was furious.

"I don’t have time for your rambling, kid. Here’s the deal—it’s permanent, or I could just kill you right here, and no one would know anything."

"Okay, don’t."

"Is the stupid author jealous of me or something?" I said out loud, looking toward the sky.

"Who is this author again?" Marin asked.

"That’s a good question. I don’t actually know."

"Poor kid. Did you get hit by something when you died?"

"Yes, I accidentally hit him with super lightning," the girl said, wiping her tears.

"I see. That might have affected his brain. Never mind."

Wait, did she just imply I’m mad?

"No, I didn’t say that," Marin said.

"Did I say that out loud? My bad."

"No, you idiot, I can read your mind."

"Anyway, so you’re staying in this world then?"

"So here’s the deal—I want you to do something for me. That’s why I’m giving you two extra things. They will be helpful in your adventure."

That’s why I thought she felt sorry for me, but she was just making me work for her by bribing me.

"I can read your mind, stupid."

"Sorry," I said awkwardly.

"The first thing I’m giving you is the smartphone."

"Wait, what’s so special about that? And wait, it was given to me by the girl, not by you," I said, protesting.

"Who do you think she works for? So that means I gave it to you."

"Now for the basics—you can check your level on that smartphone and also do some cool things with it. You’ll learn soon."

"What level? So basically, it’s like games from my old world. You level up and get stronger. That’s the gist of it."

"And now for the second thing—I’m giving you Pia as your assistant."

"Who is this Pia?" I asked, confused.

"She is," Marin pointed toward the weeping girl who was sitting there, crying.

Hearing that shocked her. For a moment, she just sat there. I think she even forgot to breathe. Wait, do goddesses need to breathe, though?

"Never mind that... wait, what? No!" I said.

"Oh, you don't want her?" Marin asked awkwardly.

"But I thought you’d want to take her and get your revenge for killing you and then doing those things to you."

"No! What do you think of me? I’m not that petty," I replied. But in my mind, I was actually thinking of the outcomes where I could take my revenge on her.

"Ah-ha, got that—I can hear that clearly."

"Oh shit, she can read my thoughts."

"No, you can’t do that to me!" Pia came running toward Marin with a bratty, rebellious look, puffing her nonexistent chest and pouting.

"You made the mistake, and now you have to take responsibility. Now mute."

Marin made a hand gesture toward Pia, and I looked on, shocked, as a zipper appeared out of nowhere and shut Pia’s mouth.

She tried to say something, but no sound came out.

"And now, for your wish, I’m giving you one day to think about what you want. It can’t be for many wishes, though—that’s the only exception," Marin shrugged.

"I know, I know," I said.

"Now for your task—I’ll notify you about that in time. For now, level up and have fun. You’re in another world!" she said as she suddenly poofed out of existence, leaving me with a mouth-zipped Pia.

Poof

Her mouth finally opened, and I regretted why it did. She came running to me, grabbed my shirt, started wiggling me while wailing, and said, "Please do something! I’m a goddess—I can’t live here!"

I shrugged and turned my gaze toward the other side.

She started crying frantically and practically began climbing me.

"Hey! Don’t do that!" I yelled.

But she didn’t stop.

Out of nowhere, I started hearing some chattering in a foreign language that I couldn’t understand. With every second, it became louder and louder until three women came into view.

They looked at me, then at crying Pia, who was still clinging to me. Their expressions changed in an instant.

"Dammit! It’s a misunderstanding—I can explain, ladies," I raised my hands, palms outward, desperate to diffuse the situation, but their expressions darkened.

"+-+"-+//"?!" ;:!? *! ;&"

They said something, but obviously, I couldn’t understand it. And that meant they couldn’t understand what I was saying either.

This was dangerous. They were probably thinking I was some kind of thug trying to do something bad to Pia. As she was short and wearing a dress just like a princess or a noble, they would think I had kidnapped her from somewhere.

No, no, this can’t be happening to me! Stop that, I said once again, but she didn’t even listen to me and continued her desperate clinging without even noticing the women.

They gave me a look of pure disgust, so I was sure nothing good could come out of this.

"Hi, Mr. Author, what did I do to you? I don’t deserve this kind of treatment," I said, looking toward the sky, knowing this misunderstanding would only go further.

To be continued.....