Darkness.
Not the emptiness of the void, but a deep, restorative darkness. Alex floated in it, no longer a panicked soul on an altar, but something… integrated. The raw, screaming panic of the gender-swap had receded, replaced by a strange, humming equilibrium. It was like the aftermath of a system crash, followed by a successful reboot into a completely new, terrifyingly unfamiliar operating system.
He could feel her.
Not as a separate presence in his head, but as a background process, a co-processor running at half-capacity. Her ancient loneliness, her galactic-scale rage, her newfound, terrifyingly intense affection for him—they were all there, but they were now 'his' too, refracted through the lens of his own mortal stubbornness.
He could access her knowledge, her instincts, like searching a database he now owned.
But now wasn't time for exploration.
After the merging of their souls, the place where the altar used to be started to destabilize. Cracks of pure white light appeared in the cosmic floor. The swirling nebulae above boiled violently.
The goddess's form, shattered into a billion shards of starlight, flowed into Alex's soul.
Then he resumed the prearranged journey the office lady goddess set for him.
...
"Ugh..."
The first thing Alex felt was a terrible, head-splitting headache. The second was the feeling of lying on something very soft and very comfortable.
He tried to force his eyes open, but it seemed they were sealed shut.
[Don't force it], a familiar but faint voice echoed inside his head. [Your new body is trying to adjust to the merger. Let the systems reboot at their own pace.]
Alex took a deep breath and tried to relax. He could feel it. A warmth spread through his new body, like a gentle stream flowing into a parched riverbed. His senses slowly came online one by one.
After some time, his eyes slowly opened on their own.
The world came into focus. And the first thing he saw was a white ceiling. He was in a bed. A very big and comfortable bed. The room was also white, with familiar and unfamiliar objects placed around it.
He was in a hospital.
'What a cliché,' Alex couldn't help but think. 'I thought this world was a fantasy one with magic and shit.'
[It is.] the goddess's inner voice replied. [But even a world full of magic has healers and infirmaries. This seems to be one of them.]
Alex slowly sat up; his body was screaming at him in protest.
He looked down at himself. He was wearing a simple white gown, and he could see that he was... small.
"!!!" Alex's blood ran cold again as he recalled something he had completely forgotten during the cosmic merge.
His hands shot down between his legs, through the thin fabric of the hospital gown. He hesitated for a second, terrified of what he would find.
Then, he felt it.
He felt something.
"Phew... it's back." Alex sighed in relief. "It's back!"
[Of course it's back, you idiot] The goddess's inner voice said, but there was a hint of amusement in it. [Why would you stay as a woman? The merger is complete. That was just the necessary port for the initial data transfer. You are a man again.]
"Data transfer? Port?" Alex muttered, still feeling a bit dizzy. "You make it sound like we were connecting two computers with a cable."
[In a way, we were,] she replied. [Your body was the 'hardware,' and your soul was the 'software'. I had to 'install' myself into your system. And the 'port' was the most efficient way to do it.]
"Ugh... stop using computer analogies," Alex complained. "It's weird coming from an ancient being like you."
[I learned from the best,] she said, and Alex could feel her smugness through their shared consciousness.
"What's your name, by the way?" he suddenly asked. "I can't keep calling you 'the goddess' in my head."
[I can't tell you my true name,] she replied, her tone turning serious for a moment. [If you accidentally spoke it out loud, it would have... unintended consequences. That bitch will definitely notice us, so let's avoid that at all costs.]
"So what should I call you?" Alex asked.
[You can call me... Lily.] she said after a moment of hesitation. [It's a name I used a long, long time ago. Before I was... me.]
"Lily," Alex repeated the name, testing it out. "It's a nice name."
[I'm glad you like it.] Lily replied. [Now, we need to figure out our current situation.] You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
"Right." Alex nodded, his programmer mind kicking in. "First, let's check our stats. If this is a fantasy world, there should be some kind of 'system' or 'status' screen, and I need to see if the three curses have changed as you promised."
[Concentrate.] Lily instructed him. [Think 'Status'.]
Alex closed his eyes and focused.
'Status,' he thought.
A blue screen appeared in front of him, just like the one that showed him the curses. But this one was different. It was... more detailed.
Ding!
...
[STATUS SCREEN]
[Name: Alex]
[Race: Human/ Succubus]
[Class: None]
[Level: 1]
[Experience: 0/100]
[HP: 100/100]
[Stamina: 250/250]
[Life Force: 9 Days, 16 Hours, 42 Minutes]
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 10 | Agility: 14 | Vitality: 12
Intelligence: 18 | Wisdom: 15 | Charisma: 60
[STATUS EFFECTS / CURSES]
[Curse of the Withering Soul]
[Curse of the Forgotten Hero]
[Curse of Absolute Affection]
[SKILLS]
[Essence Drain (Active - Lv. 1)]
[Seductive Aura (Passive - Lv. 1)]
[RACIAL TRAITS]
[Lesser Succubus Physiology] [Succubus Charm]
...
Alex stared at the screen for a solid five seconds.
Then he slowly dragged a hand down his face.
"...Lily. What the fuck."
[What?] Her voice sounded far too innocent. [I told you the merger would have side effects. You're welcome, by the way. Your Charisma went through the roof.]
"I'm looking at my race, Lily! Race! That's usually a pretty fundamental piece of a person's identity!" he whisper-shouted, careful not to alert the outside world. "It says Human/Succubus! Half a demon! A sex demon, specifically!"
[Of course,] she replied, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. [I'm a succubus goddess. What did you expect? My essence had to manifest somehow. It was either that or turn you, and I go... Poof.]
"I thought you said I was going to be a man again! A 'Human/Succubus' isn't just a man; it's a literal sex demon!" he whispered furiously.
[Hey! Watch your phrasing,] Lily huffed, her pride clearly wounded. She literally manifested before him in her naked form, her hands on her hips.
[You are a man. Structurally speaking, everything is exactly where it belongs. It's just... well... you're a sexier version of a man now. The succubus part is... me. My nature leaked into your soul architecture. Think of it as a very enthusiastic software patch.]
"Software patch!!!" Alex felt a migraine brewing. He glanced down at the hospital gown, as if expecting to see a tail or horns sprout at any second. He didn't, but the simple fact that the possibility was on the table was enough to make him want to scream into a pillow.
[Let's focus on the positives.] Lily said, her tone shifting from defensive to managerial. [My patch fixed the curses. Look at 'Absolute Hostility.' It's now 'Absolute Affection.' Flip the polarity. I told you.] Get faster updates on novelping . com.
He reread the line. Curse of Absolute Affection. It didn't sound any less dangerous. In fact, it sounded worse. Hatred was straightforward. People tried to kill you. Love… love was complicated.
"Sigh..." he let out a long, weary breath and clicked on the curse name for more details. A new window popped up.
...
[Curse of the Withering Soul
Rank: Divine Curse
"Mana has been forever denied to you. Let your very existence become the fuel for your ambition."
Description: All spells, skills, and active abilities shall no longer draw from the gentle river of mana.
Instead, they will consume your very life force — your vitality, your years, your soul's flame.
New: You can absorb essence to replenish your Life Force.
Warning: "Every spell you cast shortens your life."]
...
[Curse of the Forgotten Hero
Rank: Divine Curse
"No matter how hard you struggle, your growth shall forever crawl behind the chosen."
Description: All experience gained from slaying monsters, beasts, or any foe shall be reduced by 99%. What others claim in days, you will earn in decades. What takes them weeks will take you lifetimes. Even if you bathe the world in blood, true power will forever remain just beyond your grasp.
New: As a succubus you can harvest experience from others through intimate acts.
Warning: This curse cannot be bypassed through blessings, titles, artifacts, or skills.]
...
[Curse of Absolute Affection
Rank: Divine Curse
"May the world itself adore your existence."
Description: Your soul has been branded with the ultimate divine obsession, projecting an invisible aura of irresistible affection. Upon first contact, all living beings—whether human, beast, or monster—will experience instant, absolute affection toward you. Their emotions will rapidly spiral into possessiveness and obsession, compelling them to claim, protect, or monopolize your existence, regardless of morality, logic, or consequence.
Warning: "You shall never know freedom. Every meeting begins with an obsession that only ends in tragedy."]
...
"..."
Alex stared at the glowing curse windows, his mouth slightly open in disbelief. The clinical blue text made everything feel too real, too permanent.
"...This is so much worse," he groaned. "Absolute Affection? Are you kidding me? People aren't going to try to kill me on sight anymore. They're going to try to own me. That's not an upgrade, Lily, that's a yandere factory!"
[Yandere? What an... wonderfully specific term. But accurate.] Lily's inner voice was laced with a dry humor that only made Alex's mood worse. [I flipped a death sentence into desire. Most mortals would thank me on their knees. Literally.]
"Clothes!" Alex immediately looked away, face burning. "Put on clothes! I'm not ready for naked goddess mode while I'm wearing a hospital gown!"
Lily rolled her eyes but complied. A swirl of dark rose petals later, she wore a barely-there black dress that somehow made her look even more dangerous. She sat on the edge of his bed, crossing her long legs.
"Better?" she asked sweetly, now fully vocal. Their shared consciousness let her speak directly into the room, a spectral form only he could perceive.
"Marginally." Alex risked a glance. Bad idea. His new Charisma stat and her presence were doing terrible things to his focus. "Look, I appreciate the curse surgery. Really. The Life Force absorption thing is huge. But this Absolute Affection curse… It's going to cause chaos. People are going to lose their minds around me."
"Exactly," Lily replied, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from his face with surprising gentleness. Her touch sent a pleasant spark through his skin. "It makes essence collection easier. When they adore you, they'll want to be closer. They'll want to give you everything. Their energy. Their devotion. Their very life force. It's the perfect hunting ground."
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