Day after day, Walter sat down at his computer, addicted to his escapism. When he didn't play games, he argued with other anonymous nobodies. If he got bored of that, then he browsed the abundant porn, free for the taking, looking up the kinkier stuff since he grew bored of vanilla some time ago.

"May I share with you one of my observations, my lord?"

When Walter didn't answer, the Duke of the Rotting Garden interpreted it as agreement.

"Gaia is considered the goddess of order, and Ouroboros represents chaos. I always found that odd. They're twins, and, according to the original texts, they both steward the same theme, 'Life.' One nurtures it, and one is the nature of it, like raising a child versus Darwinism. It is self-evident they stole the additional identification. Goddesses are greedy, after all. I think your curse should prove that much." The Duke of the Rotting Garden cleared his throat, "However, I'm undead, so don't mistake me as an expert on the living. Isn't it highly coincidental that an agent of Ouroboros attempts to kidnap you, and a devout follower of Gaia is on her way to claim you?"

"It's just another game," Walter muttered under his breath, "a waste of time."

"Did you feel like you were wasting your time in a previous life, my lord?"

"Yeah," Walter admitted, "I wasted it here, too. The one impactful thing I did was possibly immoral, and, at best, a grey area."

"Which? The killing, or taking that woman?" the Duke asked.

"[Monsters] are just objects, nothing more," Walter fixed his stare at the nosferatu, "They live to die, for entertainment."

The Duke of the Rotting Garden burst out with laughter. "Quite right! All monsters should aspire to your level of philosophy."

"Right now, I'm the princess to be rescued."

After a bow, the Duke backed out of the room to confront Elin.

Walter reviewed his status. MP was still zero. He was always nothing, and now he proved it.

----------------------------------------

"What are you saying?" Elin asked, "Explain it to me in a way I can understand."

"[Dimensional Portal] is impossible," Walter reported. [Charm Person] still compelled him to obey Elin, and the answer slipped out of his mouth. Even without the magical compulsion, he would have answered her honestly. "It always had been."

"Then how did the [Heroes] get here? How did you?"

"The original still exists, back in my world."

The darkened mirror behind Walter cleared up, like a parting cloud. As always, he played video games at his desk, read stories, and perused pornography.

The video played a man and a woman in bed, and she caressed his manhood with her thighs. His idea of intimacy originated here. Elin's mana pool zeroed when she learned this, and all she could do was stare and struggle not to cry. The act looked vulgar and fake. She felt disgraced having been made to perform this.

It was nothing more than a union of organs, and not of man and woman. Walter had used her to fulfill a fantasy.

"That's me," Walter admitted, a twinge of sadness in his voice, "Right now. What you're seeing is one of those things I told you about. A computer. You can see the date on the screen, and it matches today's date. I should have understood teleporting to another world was ridiculous. No technology or magic in my world exists to allow a connection, it doesn't matter how much I want it. I'm sorry you had to see this."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She shook her head in anger and banished the image from her mind.

When she opened her eyes, her mouth dropped with realization, and she turned and stared at the Duke of the Rotten Garden with such intense hatred he blinked. Walter watched as her MP values rapidly refilled.

Elin turned a soft look to Walter, stepped forward, then froze. Going forward too quickly upset him. "Don't worry about the divination. I've read stories, myself, that were less than innocent, this is just... more advanced. It's natural to feel this way, I suppose. But, you're right here. I pulled you through the [Dimensional Portal] myself."

"I'm here the same way a [Monster] is here, spawned. You pulled me from Ouroboros, the Mother of Monsters, as a Dungeon Heart created this copy. It wasn't a portal, but a window, an illusion cast by the liches. This explains the [Ouroboros Modification] on my version of the [Scales of Love and Lust]. The only thing Ouroboros cares about is the survival of the fittest. She creates evolutionary pressure with the dungeons. Gaia, on the other hand, is more about child-rearing. You ended up with the [Gaia Modification], and so you've been sapping me of my mana and experience. A goddess of motherhood favors a woman who might become a mother, at the expense of the man."

"How did you even learn this?" Elin said, slipping in another step.

"The Duke of the Rotting Garden filled in most of the blanks."

"And you believe him? He's a monster, he's lying." Elin attempted another step, and Walter's face screwed up, so she kept her place.

"It's not just him," Walter continued, "I have another source of information that corroborates his claims."

"Which is?"

"Aratron's Grimoire."

"You have it?" Elin blinked, "I'm a devout believer, Walter, but it's just a myth. The book doesn't exist, it's a metaphor."

Walter struggled not to speak, and he visibly bit his tongue several times. "It's not physical. [HUD] was mistranslated a second time. I am the book, a thing. You might call it an 'isekai cheat,' and it's so powerful gods and goddesses handicapped it beyond use."

"That's horrible," Elin knelt between his knees and looked up to his face, "You're not an object, you're Walter. You bumble about, and you lack common sense, but you're still you."

"I'm just a copy of Walter," he said, "I'm an illusion of a person."

Elin smiled, "Can I show you something? Stand up."

Walter did as he was bid, and Elin hugged him.

"We should do this more often," she mentioned, and, while embracing him, spun the two so he faced the mirror. "Face yourself, Walter. Stare at it, right at the back of your head. Burn the image into your eyes. Don't avert until I tell you to, don't even blink. I liked it when you took the lead, you know. You should be a little more forceful. I don't hate it." She spun them again. "Did you burn the image into your mind? What do you see now?"

Walter's eyebrows knitted in confusion as he studied The Duke of the Rotting Garden. Then he started shaking as he fought the [Charm Person] curse, the anger evident across his face.

"Walter, [Monsters] are spawned sexless," she whispered, "How could you be so stupid to believe you were one of them? You're too important to me for me to let you believe that."

MP: 1/1.

She continued, "I want to go on more adventures with you. You have to carry the money from now on, though. It's customary the man carries it, and it bothers me you think I should."

MP: 2/2.

"We need to find a private residence. It's embarrassing doing those things where someone might hear us. Let's get our own place and our own bed. Show me other things you learned, alright?"

MP: 4/4.

"I can see you had a really lonely life. You don't know how to talk to girls, so you need to learn, or I'll stay miffed at you. Don't say stupid things like you're a 'thing' again. You don't have to tell me why your mana was always zero, Walter, I just figured it out. I'm sorry it took so long."

By that time, Walter's MP kept doubling without further encouragement from Elin. When they started to slow, the number was in the thousands.

Elin hugged him tighter, "When [Charm Person] passes, can you show me how you felt?"

"Oh, I see things are getting interesting, now," the Duke said. With a wave of his hand, the sealing enchantment appeared over the only exit. "Applying the 'After Image' trick, right under my nose, was clever. But, it seems the time for politeness has finally passed."