"By the way, we've been standing outside for quite some time. Don't you think the neighbors might get interested in our affairs?" Joe grinned.

"Let 'em continue getting interested. Like you've said, this is our affair," Gwen lightly scoffed before chuckling. She then gently pushed Joe away from her.

"Let's go inside. I'm hungry," Gwen's voice was flat as she walked past Joe, leaving him arching his brows in surprise.

"Women," he muttered under his breath while shaking his head before following her.

"Your house looks more tidy than usual. It's almost unbelievable. What possessed our Joe?" Gwen exclaimed in exaggeration as she examined the sparkling apartment. 'Did he hire some maid to do home service?'

"Last time I checked, you were the type to never bother with your living environment. What happened to you?" Gwen turned her head to face Joe.

"Things change. People change. Guess I'm a new Joe Petersen," Joe lazily replied.

"I ain't buying that bullshit, but I'll still take it. It's a good change nonetheless." Gwen flashed him a one-sided smirk.

"Whatever suits you, Miss Health Inspector," Joe said with a shrug as he moved toward the fridge. He opened it and removed a can of Smirnoff. It was cold to the touch, just the perfect feeling.

Gwen noticed what Joe was holding and her eyes widened in surprise. Unconsciously, she began heading towards him.

"Well, well, when did you start taking alcohol?" Gwen curiously asked.

Joe uncorked the top and took a mighty gulp of the cold drink, some of the liquid trickling down his chin.

"That hits the spot," he sighed contentedly, gazing at Gwen in slight confusion. "I thought you were going to stop me from drinking this intoxicant made from Dionysius' grace," he added humorously.

Gwen clicked her tongue, a mocking smile on her face. "You're simply unbelievable, Joe. Even Dionysius doesn't deal with low-quality stuff like that."

All the humor evaporated from Joe's face at Gwen's blatant mockery. Her reply felt like an arrow straight to his heart.

'How can she say that I bought some cheap stuff? That's not cool, girlie,' Joe thought but let it slide.

"Joe, you're an adult so I can't stop you from drinking," Gwen casually said as she leaned into the fridge. The movement brought focus to her perfectly-endowed buttocks and exquisite long limbs.

Joe sipped his Smirnoff, his gaze lingering on Gwen's high-quality 'assets' in gentlemanly appreciation. There was no lust, no dirty thoughts, just admiring the perfect art before anything else. Or maybe it was a lie. There was little lust, and it was more biological.

"Oh, you remembered to stock up? That's commendable. Now I can make anything for us," Gwen said hurriedly, her face hidden by the fridge's door.

"Now can you please stop that 'step-sister pose'? Ugh, I've been dying to say that," Joe quipped as he took one last swig before throwing the can into the bin. It was a perfect throw without looking.

"For Christ's sake, Joe, never thought your mind was in the gutters that much," Gwen cursed out as she straightened her posture before giving Joe a stinky eye—more like an assassination eye.

"Step-sister, why don't you get stuck in the fridge?" Joe laughed heartily.

"Childish. It's not even funny." Gwen pouted and deliberately tried to elbow Joe, but the latter effortlessly evaded her.

"It's funny to me though."

"That's a you problem," Gwen rolled her eyes before sighing. "You do realize that I'm the only person capable of handling your shit, right?"

"Um, yeah. That's why you're the best, Gwen," Joe replied sincerely.

Gwen just smiled in satisfaction at that answer before she started sorting out the ingredients for their meal.

"You know what? I am curious about your rapid healing. What's the story around that? Um, you don't have to tell me if you don't feel like it," she said softly as she washed some thick and juicy tomatoes in the sink.

"Uh, oh, so you are curious about that?" Joe showed a thin smile.

"I think it's better if it remains a secret...for now at least. It's something that you are gonna know soon." Joe didn't feel comfortable telling Gwen about the Medpod 3000 at the moment. Some things were just better not known.

'If I tell Gwen about Med-Pod 3000, she will be curious about its origin, and that's when things get complicated. I don't want a connection between the Super USB Drive and the items I'm going to instantiate in the future to be made.'

"Hmmm, I can roll with that. You can tell whenever you feel comfortable." Gwen's tone was cool and understanding. She silently continued with her cooking session, acting like nothing had happened.

Joe pursed his lips in slight frustration. Secrets were poisonous, but sometimes they were pretty important. And the most important secret that an outlier like him couldn't let slip like ever was his reincarnation status. But could his situation even be called a reincarnation? Has he always been Joe Petersen throughout? Or should he call himself Joe Prime if there exists an innumerable amount of his parallel selves?

"Gwen, what are you cooking?" Joe asked casually to lighten the mood.

"Food," she replied without as much as giving him a look.

"C'mon Gwen..." Joe whined as he playfully leaned his chin close to her nape, making her instinctively tense. She paused mixing the contents of the large bowl before sighing in annoyance.

"Meatballs and spaghetti. So, if you value your life, please stop disturbing me," Gwen warned harshly. "Just leave my space."

"Too cold, too cold. But I'm not leaving," Joe nonchalantly brushed her warning away. "I like seeing you cook. It's always breathtaking." Joe pecked her soft cheek before quickly moving away.

"Why did you do that?" Gwen's voice caught in her throat as a flush crept up her neck. Her hand trembled slightly as it touched the place Joe's lips had grazed her cheek.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Do what?" Joe pretended to be stupid as he deftly picked a freshly washed tomato and munched on it.

"Hmph, just don't do that while I'm in the middle of cooking." She rolled her eyes at him before returning to her duty, a cute smile spreading on her face. It was a smile that Joe wasn't supposed to see, or else, he was going to continuously pester her.

...

"By the way, it's been long since you yapped about your relationships, Joe," Gwen suddenly said over the meal.

"Whaddya mean?" Joe stuffed a huge roll of succulent spaghetti soaked with sauce into his mouth.

"You're not seeing anybody in particular these days, are you?" Gwen reiterated her question while playing around with her fork.

"Seeing anyone, as in dating or cohabitating? No, not really," Joe answered truthfully, a thoughtful look on his face.

"But I'm open to suggestions," he then showed her a playful smirk while wiggling his brows.

"I could never. Even Lord Kronos would reverse the hell out of that unholy union!" Gwen held her chest in fake pain, pretending to vomit.

Joe chuckled at her exaggerated theatrics. "The fuck is Lord Kronos involved in this? Is that whom you pray to during exams?"

"You betcha. Many night owls in our major pray to him especially during the finals."

"How did you arrive at such demographics?"

"I don't know. It's something that I overheard some of my classmates talking about. Don't you miss school?

"Oh, Gwen..." Joe's tone shifted to a serious one. Gwen narrowed her eyes, wondering what Joe was up to.

"Rule #1 of truants: Never miss school."

Gwen nearly facepalmed herself. "All that seriousness, man."

"Anyway, do you plan on returning after summer break?"

"Hmm, maybe to get my degree or something," Joe touched his chin.

"You are not joking right?" Gwen winged her brows.

"Nope. I could get a bachelor's or master's at any moment. I'm thinking about putting my college life on hold for a moment," Joe declared confidently.

Gwen stared at Joe, her expression one of utter befuddlement. After an uncomfortable pause, she awkwardly laughed it off. "That's the weirdest thing I've heard tonight, Joe."

"It will only get weirder, darling."

The two continued to talk nonsense for the rest of the meal before Joe offered her a side job. Gwen couldn't refuse some summer earnings on Joe's fervent insistence. Acting as Joe's nanny couldn't be that bad, right?

Also, there was something else Joe needed Gwen's help with. It was about the game he was going to develop on that day.

....

Before even thinking about developing a simple game like Candy Crush Saga, Joe had already done some research regarding the gaming demographics. The mobile gaming market wasn't as good as the PC, but that didn't mean that PC gaming in this universe was necessarily better. It lacked flavor, memorability, and the 'addiction' element. There was a severe lack of games capable of inducing the cult effect.

In his previous life, Joe knew how gaming fans were crazy about the games they liked. It was pretty toxic, but that toxicity was something Joe wanted to see. The gaming community of Marvel required a storm. And he, Joe Petersen, would be the storm that would sweep the world!

Since a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, Candy Crush Saga would be his first step in breaking out of anonymity.

Joe already had the game's entire conceptualization in mind. Of course, it was not the power of originality but it didn't matter. Copyright infringement was a myth for reincarnates and the whole gang.

With his custom-built gaming developmental tools, Joe put his excellent coding skills into play. Working from the ground up using C++, Joe designed the gameplay mechanics, level progression, and game physics. The first step had to be the outline, in short, the prototype. Making the candies and smooth level-up systems wasn't that difficult. Of all the steps he enjoyed, then it would be the part where he started working on the audio and visual aesthetics. From his perspective, Joe enjoyed the music and animation more than the rush of leveling up. What made some bosses memorable was their OSTs, right?

Joe didn't sleep on the sound design and put his all into creating something unforgettable. Sound design was effortlessly a vital aspect of a good gaming experience.

With Gwen dutifully handling his meals and keeping him company during the development process, it only took three days for Joe to finish it all. They were days filled with furious keyboard clicks, the scent of coffee, casual banter, and just having fun.

Also, within three days he had personally tested the games for bugs and glitches via Gwen. However, that didn't mean that bugs could be tackled in just three days. Joe rectified what was to be rectified, the rest could be dealt with from the player's feedback. All in all, he had been meticulous in refining the game so the bugs were almost nonexistent. On the fourth day, Joe 'gently' hacked the billboards to showcase the game, released several bots in gaming forums, and manipulated YouTube's algorithm to expose the game's short ad to as many people as possible. The video got a million views in under an hour. That was all part of his small strategic marketing. Joe was subtle in his approach. No lives were hurt in the process.

On the fifth day, Candy Crush Saga started making waves in the public, especially on social media before its release. Believing that there was no need to withhold the sweet tooth addiction to only Gwen, Joe released Candy Crush Saga to the world. And true to its title, the cross-platform game crushed everything in its path!

...

[Word Count 1965]