She's standing there offering herself—this impossibly beautiful goddess—offering to do anything I want. Every teenage fantasy, every porn video I've watched, every thought I've had while staring at girls on the train or creating Luna with those sliders.
All of it. She's offering all of it.
Just for completing one mission.
"I..." I start, my voice rough. I swallow hard. "I..."
Yes. Every cell in my body is screaming yes. Take the offer. Complete the mission. Get the reward.
But then I bite down on my tongue. Hard.
I feel... nothing.
No pain.
Right. I'm dead. This is some kind of soul form or whatever. I can't feel pain here.
Focus.
I force myself to think past the arousal, past the temptation. If this goddess is offering this much for just one mission, what does that mean? How impossible must the missions be?
How desperate is she to get someone to play?
This feels like a trap. A beautiful, seductive trap, but a trap nonetheless.
"I..." I take a breath. "I appreciate the offer. Really. But no. I saw that game. I died five times trying to complete just the first mission. There's no way I can do this."
Her smile doesn't falter. If anything, it widens.
"What if I sweetened the deal?" she says.
Oh god. There's more?
"If you complete all the missions," she says, stepping even closer, "if you save my world, I will do something special for you."
"Save your world?" I say. "What, is it in danger or something?"
She ignores the question.
"I will speak to the god of Earth," she says. "I will have you reincarnated there as a handsome billionaire. Perfect genetics. Perfect face. Perfect body. Unlimited wealth. No struggles. No pain. No loneliness. You'll have everything you've ever wanted. Women will throw themselves at you. You'll live a life of pure pleasure and luxury until you die of old age, happy and satisfied."
I stare at her.
That's... that's everything. That's literally everything I could ever want.
A life where I'm not a mediocre loner. Where I don't have to stare at girls from afar. Where I'm not pathetic.
A perfect life.
All I have to do is complete her missions. However many there are. However impossible they might be.
I think about Luna. About the rats. The shopkeeper's knife. The bandits' arrows. The prostitute's dagger. The rabbit's fangs.
I think about dying over and over. Losing pieces of myself each time. My heart. My brain. My senses. My memories.
I think about that final death. Driven to madness. Existing as a broken shell.
And I realize something.
She's trying too hard.
If the missions were actually possible, why would she need to offer so much?
Why dangle everything I've ever wanted in front of me unless she knows I'll never actually achieve it?
This isn't an opportunity.
It's a trap.
A beautiful, tempting, perfectly crafted trap designed to lure in desperate idiots like me and turn them into playthings for her amusement.
"No," I say.
Her smile freezes.
"No?" she repeats.
"No," I say more firmly. "I'm not doing it. Send me back to Earth. Reincarnate me as an ant. I don't care. Just let me go."
For a long moment, she doesn't move. Doesn't speak. Just stares at me with those golden eyes.
And then, for the first time since I've met her, she smiles.
Really smiles.
It's not a seductive smile. Not a cold smile. It's genuine. Happy, almost.
And it terrifies me more than anything else she's done.
"That's not possible," she says simply.
Before I can react, she's behind me.
I didn't see her move. One moment she was in front of me, the next she's right behind me, her breath warm against my ear.
"Good luck, Kaito," she whispers.
And she pushes me.
It's not a hard push. Just a light touch against my back.
But the clouds beneath my feet give way instantly.
I'm falling.
The sky rushes past. The golden light fades to blue, then to gray. Wind screams in my ears. I try to scream too, but no sound comes out.
I see her face above me, getting smaller and smaller. Still smiling that terrible, genuine smile.
She was never going to let me go.
This was never a choice.
And then everything goes dark.