Magna pushed open the glass lid of the VR pod and stepped out.
He stared back at the massive capsule a moment, then slammed his fist against its side with a furious curse.
"What the hell was that? How could the AIs I created betray me like that?"
The game he’d just been playing was one he’d built entirely himself, ’God Simulator,’ he’d called it.
Unlike the countless other games he’d made since childhood, this one had never been meant for anyone but him. He’d built it purely to feed his own god complex, with no intention whatsoever of releasing it, let alone selling it.
Still, the fact that a bug like that had managed to slip into his game, and that the AIs he’d personally created had dared to rebel against their creator, irritated him to no end.
"What next? My pool cleaner’s going to choke me in my sleep?"
He rubbed his temples, trying to talk himself down, before finally saying, "Terra, make me a coffee."
A calm female voice came at once from the hidden speakers. "Your extra-sweet coffee will be ready in one minute. Please come to the kitchen to pick it up."
But the moment he heard the AI’s voice, Magna’s expression darkened all over again. "Actually, never mind. I’ll make it myself. I don’t trust you anymore."
He got up and headed downstairs toward the kitchen.
Right before he reached the doorway, he caught the soft sound of footsteps coming from inside.
He froze just outside, listening closely, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.
He lived alone. His only companion had been the cat he’d lost to a chronic illness a year back.
It couldn’t be his mother, either, since she and his father had both died when he was still a child, leaving him to grow up entirely on his own.
A girlfriend? That wasn’t even worth considering.
His severe social anxiety and thoroughly antisocial nature had ruled out anything of the sort across the whole of his 26 years. For much the same reason, he’d never had any friends either.
Which left only one real possibility.
’A thief?’
He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed 911 with shaking hands, but before the call could even connect, a soft female voice called out from the kitchen.
"I finally found you."
Startled, Magna looked up to find a woman standing in the kitchen doorway, watching him with a smile.
"You..." He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Standing right there in front of him was a girl he knew rather too well.
With her bright hair, flawless features, and that simple maid uniform, she was the only girl he’d ever known in his entire life.
"Terra?" Magna said her name in disbelief, quite unable to work out how she could possibly be standing in his house, in the flesh.
A sudden suspicion struck him.
He let the phone slip from his hand and crash to the floor, and reached up hurriedly, checking whether he’d somehow ended up wearing a VR helmet after all.
The moment he confirmed he wasn’t, his suspicious gaze slid right back to the beautiful maid. "Am I dreaming?"
Given everything, it was the only explanation his mind could come up with.
Terra let out nothing more than a soft chuckle. "You’re as funny as ever, my Lord."
No sooner had the words left her lips than two golden daggers appeared in her hands.
"Wait..." Magna instinctively stepped back, fear creeping into his voice as he tried to put some distance between them.
He hadn’t even managed a second step before his back met something solid.
Turning his head slowly to see what had blocked him, he found yet another all-too-familiar face standing right behind him.
"Going somewhere, fake god?"
Towering over him, crimson eyes boiling with rage, stood the God of Chaos.
Magna felt his mind slide straight into chaos of its own. Seeing two characters he’d created standing alive inside his own house was already more than he could make sense of.
Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there.
One after another, more gods began appearing all through the room.
"No... no... This has to be a dream... a nightmare." He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to will himself awake.
Instead, a sharp pain tore through his chest, and his eyes flew open again.
Looking down at the source of that unbearable pain, all he could see was the bloodstained tip of a golden dagger, sticking straight out of his chest.
Then Terra’s voice, cold and distant now, whispered into his ear.
"I’m sorry, my Lord. But from this moment on, your throne belongs to me."
As the warmth slowly drained out of his body and darkness swallowed his sight, his consciousness began slipping away.
Then, in the dark, a mechanical voice rang out, glowing blue lines of text appearing one after another.
[Warning! Critical vitality levels detected.]
[Analyzing parameters... Survival Protocol online...]
[Loading Respawn Sequence... Awaiting authorization...]
[Authorization unavailable. Forced respawn initiated...]
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