***Author's Note***

I want to reiterate that this chapter is me enjoying the chance to be extra silly. I had originally planned on this lasting for 3 days, but I used the time I wasn't writing today to think about what I want next... and I was so excited that I couldn't wait. And I think y'all would go crazy if I lingered here too long xD. So it was all condensed into one chapter.

Again, the motivations in this chapter are a bit tenuous. But I wanted to write these things. Hopefully you get a few laughs out of it.

I think for the future, my chapters will be shorter again, and I will try and do 1 or 2 a day. We will see. But regularly scheduled programming will resume tomorrow, so stay tuned.

As a last note, this chapter is partially a tribute to my favorite manga ever. Kudos to anyone who knows what it is.

Happy reading~

Day 23

I blinked, looking around. A teen sat near me, chatting on her cellphone. I was in a small park in a city that seemed vaguely familiar. An Suv drove by, through a puddle, splashing a pedestrian. The man cursed, waving his briefcase.

-Hum. Other me, where are all these words coming from?

-Who do you think? That remnant is practically salivating over in his corner.

-Then this is the human world? It seems slightly…

I looked around, noticing cigarette butts everywhere in the park.

-...dingy, I agree. But why were we here? Also, I an unable to access the mana pool.

-Oh, didn’t we enter the portal and go to the 2nd Flo-

*****

I blinked, sitting up. I was in a dark room, surrounded by slumbering bodies on faded purple pads.

A frog looking man hurried over to me, tufts of red hair sticking out of his ears. I grabbed my cudgel on reflex, then released it slowly.

“Oh dear. Never have I seen someone who woke up so quickly on the 2nd Floor. Well, congratulations, you pass. It was a mental test, and you made it with flying colors.

“Hmm… the portal upwards won’t open for three days… So just relax….?”

He turned away, about to wander off, but then I asked “...can I go back in?”

*****

He had agreed, and soon I once more found myself in the park, watching “cars” drive by. His only stipulation that I try and refrain from using my skills too much, because it would break the other dreamers’ immersion.

-Kukuku. Of course we won’t.

I leapt 20 meters in the air, grabbing onto a granite building and crawling up like a bug, intent on getting a better look at the location I was in. I appreciated how incredibly dense a human city was. So many people fit into such a small space.

When I reached the top, there was a strange fence. Idly wondering why someone would fence the TOP of a building, I ripped the fence off it’s foundation, throwing it off behind me.

Ignoring the strange screeching of tires below, transfixed by the figure in front of me.

A short girl with long blonde hair in a hospital gown was pointing directly at me. “You broke it.”

Nodding slowly, I backed away. Aside from her, the roof was deserted. “Sorry, I’ll just be going-”

“No you can’t!” She rushed over to me, tripped, and tumbled forward. After a moment, she pulled herself up on my jeans,

-I was wondering what these annoying tight pants were called.

Panting. “If they come up and find the fence broken and just me here, they will say I did it.”

Reluctantly I nodded. That seemed reasonable.

-There really is no one else here.

“What do you want me to do then?”

She rubbed her nose, still breathing heavily. “Can you get the part you ripped off back?”

We both walked to the edge of the roof and peered over. Below, I could see that a bunch of police cars with flashing lights were surrounding the spot where the fence fell. Some of them began pointing up towards us.

“Ah!”

The blonde girl overbalanced, falling off the edge, and I deftly used Air Affinity to pull her back to safety. She looked around for the source of the touch, then looked up at me.

“Mister, are you a genie?”

I shrugged.

-None of this is real anyway. I’m practically a dream genie.

“If I don’t tell them you broke the fence, will you grant me three wishes?”

I pondered it.

-Seems like a fair request.

Nodding, I gestured flamboyantly for her to continue.

She patted her stomach. “I’m hungry.”

*****

“So they just bring you whatever food you ask for?” I asked, fascinated. We were currently sitting inside of a restaurant, waiting for a server to come over. I had picked up the girl and leapt from roof to roof, basically wandering around until we found some food place she recognized. It took a while.

-This girl has an extremely poor sense of direction.

-Yes well, she is quite short. It’s hard for her to see over the tall buildings.

“Yep. Just pick whatever you want.”

“Just one?”

The girl considered this, swinging her legs under the table. “...I don’t think so..? But if you pick more than one, one of them has to be an appetizer.”

“Ohhhh, I see.” I turned to the appetizer section. Everything sounded very good.

-You literally don’t recognize a single thing.

-And in my short life, I haven’t found a single thing I didn’t like eating.

-Touche

A waitress walked up to our table. “Hey, can I get you started with some drinks?”

I looked questioningly at the girl. She nodded authoritatively. “Yes, you get that too. What do you like to drink?”

After thinking about it for a bit, there really was only one thing that I had drank on a daily basis these past 3 weeks. “Blood mostly.”

The girl eyed me skeptically. The waitress smiled awkwardly, unsure what sort of joke she was missing.

The girl shook her head. “No, they don’t have that. Are you a vampire genie?” She turned to the waitress. “He will have diet coke. Adults love diet coke.”

I shrugged.

*****

Although the waitress had given me an odd look when I told her to bring me all of the appetizers, when the plates came out, I was delighted with the variety and color of the dishes.

I ate everything. When the girl had stopped eating and just pushed around her food on her plate, I turned to her. “Can I eat that?”

She gave me a shocked look. “You don’t mind?”

Shaking my head, I picked up her plate and shoved the remaining mac and cheese into my mouth.

Tapping her cheek, the girl said. “That’s so strange, adults usually hate when I don’t eat all my food.”

“They must have tiny stomachs,” I commented.

*****

“I’ll just leave the check here for whenever you are ready.” The waitress placed a black object on the table in front of me. Then she walked away, carefully avoiding eye contact.

-Yea, I don’t know. Aura of the Predator is definitely off, but she seems strangely disturbed by us.

-Perhaps we ordered the wrong amount of appetizers?

-Damn, that must be it. We never should have trusted the child.

-Well, she did bring us to food. The least we can do is help her with her other wishes. And she definitely has more experience with this world…

-Still, if this is all there is here, I would rather spend the time training than just wandering around here.

-How about this. Let’s go test to see if we can level skills here. If so, then we can just train in here.

-Hum, agreed.

Abruptly, I stood up. The girl pointed to a far corner of the building. “Bathroom is there. Good, I need to go too.”

She stood up and grabbed my hand, which was strange. But then she lead me through the strange series of tables. My eyes went wide as we walked. Did ALL of the tables have food?

The girl looked around. “You can probably come into the women’s bathroom with me if you want. Just stand off to the side.”

Dutifully, I followed her in. A woman who was exiting opening her mouth to say something, but the blonde girl simply said, “he’s with me,” and the woman backed off. The girl went into one of the stalls.

I considered the wall. Easiest skill to level… probably Wind Blade?

-Still level 1. Low mana consumption. Pretty much ideal.

I summoned 100 wind blades and slammed them into the wall, blowing a hole out through the plaster and brick, revealing a parking lot.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, your skill has changed to “Wind Blade Lvl 2”. Mana cost slightly decreased. Cutting power of the blade increased.

-Well that’s reassuring. This won’t be a waste after all.

The girl walked out of the stall and glared at me. “Did you break something again.”

I shrugged.

-You do that a lot.

“Aren’t we done here anyways? Let’s go. I want to see more things.”

The girl hesitated. “I don’t have to wash my hands?”

I gave her a strange look. “Why would you?”

*****

Next, she took me to her house. It was a squat, white looking building surrounded by dozens of others that looked exactly the same.

-How can she fail to find food, yet locate her own house in such a labyrinth?

As we approached the door, and old woman waved at us as we passed. The girl tried the doorknob, then frowned “It’s locked. Mommy and Daddy must not be home.”

After picking up the girl and setting her back several feet, I punched the door, shattering it.

“You need to stop breaking things,” The girl scolded, but she skipped over the debris and went inside.

*****

-Ufufu, human’s truly know leisure.

While other me practiced Wind Blade, I was introduced to the refrigerator and pantry by the girl. I devoured everything, burping in satisfaction. Then she showed me pictures of her recently deceased dog, her parents, and her friends from school.

I fell asleep on the couch during that last bit, having bittersweet flashbacks of my lovely bed. The girl woke me up by patting face. My immediate reaction was to reach out and snap her arm, but I restrained that impulse.

-She knows where more food is.

-I wish families had more than one refrigerator.

“I want to surprise Mommy and Daddy by having everything clean. My second wish, vampire genie, is that you clean the house.

“That includes,” She said with a glare. “Refilling the refrigerator. You can’t just eat everything and not put anything back.”

“Oh, there are places to refill the refrigerator?”

“Yep.” She nodded, pleased with herself. “They are called supermarkets. There is one at the end of the street.”

-Cleaning huh…

-Usually we would just leave such things to Jerry…

Standing slowly, I stretched. The little girl frowned at me. I waved my hand. “I’ll be right back. Just need to fetch cleaning supplies.”

*****

The old woman waved at me again as I walked towards her. I activated Aura of the Predator, watching as her kindly expression changed to horror in a moment. She managed a brief shout before she keeled over, dead.

-The human world certainly is simple.

-No wonder they are so weak.

I reanimated the woman.

90 mana used to revive the corpses. Because of the level of the skill and the freshness of the corpse, it possesses 70% of their stats from life. Due to the low initial stats, corpse will degrade over time. Your high processing power results in the corpse retaining its memories.

Deactivating the aura and gestured for the woman to follow me. She did so, groaning. When we entered the house, the girl bobbed her head at the woman.

“Hi Mrs. Sanders.”

The woman smiled sweetly, or tried, only the left side of her mouth moving. I looked at the ceiling.

-Yes well. No one can hop across the line between life and death without side effects.

“Good Afternoon Sami. I see a friend is staying over with you, the darklord of my life and eternal object of worship. And whatever happened to your door?”

The girl, Sami, glared at me. I coughed into my hand, ignoring it.

-Sami is a good name.

-Simple names are best.

Turning to the woman, I said. “How many people do you need to clean the house in the next few hours.”

“Oh, I don’t know. About 6. But I will always do my best to accomplish your will, whatever the circumstances.”

Nodding, I summoned 6 skeleton archers. They were the most intelligent of my base minions, and would follow directions well enough. I indicated the old woman. “Follow her instructions. Do not damage anything within the house.”

Sami was looking at me with wide eyes when I turned back to her. “How come you can make skeletons.”

“Luck,” I answered honestly, Summoning 6 more skeleton archers, I instructed them to retrieve the fridge. When they didn’t seem able to accomplish it, I summoned two Skeleton Bears who ripped it out of the wall almost instantly, cracking the tile floor and causing a bit of the ceiling to collapse. The old woman appeared, sighing reproving, accompanied by 6 skeletons in aprons. They came like a whirlwind, sweeping up the rubble into dustbins and carrying it away.

While bowing to me, the old woman said. “We are going to need money to fix this. A lot, if we want it done today.”

-It really does look rather messy.

-Modern interior design is immensely confusing to me…

Sami stomped on my toes, which I wouldn’t have noticed if not for other me commenting on that. “Why did you rip out the fridge!”

“To take it to the supermarket and get it filled back up, obviously.” She stomped on my foot three more times.

“No, No, No! You bring the food to the refigerator! Everything is ruined. Mommy and Daddy are going to HATE me for this. It’s all your fault!” Sami ran upstairs. I could hear her sobs.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

-Children.

-But we did promise.

I looked at the old woman. “Can you handle things here?” She nodded.

“I’ll send one of the dears up to cheer her up. They are quite amusing when you get to know them.”

As if on cue, one of the skeletons sat down, removed his feet and hands, and attached them in the opposite way, now walking on its hands and trying to dust with its feet. The old woman began laughting in a very creepy manner.

“Hurrhurr, hurrhurr.”

-...anyways….

-So we need money and food.

“Where do you get money?”

“The bank.” The old woman answered immediately. But then she frowned. “But opening an account is a little complicated…”

I shook my head. “I’ll figure it out. You two!” I pointed at the two skeleton bears, who were gnawing on the legs of the dining room table. When I pointed at them, they dropped the legs in a guilty manner and rolled around on the ground, acting casual. “Go to the supermarket and bring back food. Preferably meat. You have a sense of smell, right?”

They nodded. “Good, it’s right down the street. Find stuff that smells good. I’ll handle the bank personally.”

***POV Change***

Jinka set a carton of eggs into his cart, then held his head, feeling slightly dizzy. Today was so strange. Some inner voice was screaming at him that something was off, but everything was so fuzzy-

Someone at the front of the supermarket screamed. Then dozens of people started screaming.

Instincts that Jinka didn’t know he had took over, and he rolled to the side, finding cover behind an olive station. He peaked over the edge. What he saw left him slack jawed. Even the strange voice inside of him was silenced.

A giant skeleton, seemingly of a bear, was pawing at the base of a baked bean display. It suddenly knocked out enough cans, and the entire thing tumbled to the ground. The bear hopped backwards, shocked. When all the cans settled, it walked up to one that had split open and sniffed it. It growled to the other bear.

Both skeleton bears began filling a car with the cans of baked beans, often accidentally slicing them open in the process.

They made a very large mess, and then calmly used their snouts to shove the cart out the front door.

***POV Change***

“Thank you for your patience. How can I help you today?”

“I… think I’d like to start an account?”

“Oh, excellent, right this way.” A short man lead me off to the side, showing me to a private cubicle. I sat down in a very comfy looking seat.

-Humans truly have the most advanced resting technology.

“Ah.” The man seemed to hesitate. “That’s my seat, sir. If you could sit over here…”

I frowned mildly at him. “I prefer this one.”

Several seconds of him opening and closing his mouth followed. Then he scratched his neck. “...I suppose it’s fine. You came to open an account?”

I nodded. “And I want to get as much money as possible from this account.”

“Uh, what? Accounts are for you to store YOUR money in sir. If you want a loan-”

“A loan?” The term was familiar. My frown deepened. “No, I don’t believe I will be giving the money back. Don’t banks have money?”

“They do, but…” The man peered strangely at the desk in front of me. When I followed his gaze, I noticed a button on the underside of the desk.

“What’s this?” I pressed the button.

***POV Change***

Jinka was trying to explain what he saw to the police when the bears came back.

“They were just… skeletons. Of bears.”

The police officers shared a tired look. Jinka froze, seeing the bears waiting for the sliding glass doors to open. One growled at the other, then batted at the door, curious. The glass and metal shattered with a huge crash. The policemen spun around, their eyes widening.

“What the fuck?!?!”

They drew their weapons, which drew the attention of the bears, who stomped over.

“REMOVE THE HEADPIECE OF YOUR COSTUMES AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!”

The bears kept walking forward, 400 lbs of bone.

“GET ON THE GROUND. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING. WE WILL SHOOT.”

Jinka wanted to say that he doubted the bears understood English.

The policemen opened fire. The bullets sparked off the bones of the bears, accomplishing nothing else. Almost in a bored manner, the bear bounded closer and smashed them both with its paws. Blood sprayed out of their wounds, and the policemen fell to the ground, likely dead.

Jinka was trembling. Not of fear, but because he felt so close to realizing something. Why was his head so foggy…?

One bear sniffed a dying policeman, growling at the other. Without another noise, the two bears put the bodies in the cart and took them away.

***POV Change***

“You really shouldn’t have done that. The police are coming. I’m going to be in so much trouble.”

-...humans…

-Thank god I gave away my connections to such a petty race.

I reached up and ripped out the man’s heart. His scream was sudden and tortured, then stopped just as abruptly, as his strength failed him and he died. I immediately reanimated him. I dismissed the notification without even looking at it.

“Let’s try this again. Where is the money”

“In the vault,” He responded in a monotone.

I smiled. “Finally.”

***POV Change***

Jinka waited to leave the supermarket until the screams died down. As he peered out the window, he saw that the bears had killed so many spectators and arriving police that they had too many to only use one cart. Eventually, they filled up two, about 8 bodies in each. They pushed the carts down the street.

Jinka shivered. That was the neighborhood his house was in. Still, no matter what he claimed had happened, his wife would be very displeased if he returned home without stopping at the bank.

***POV Change***

Several security personnel converged on the cubicle we were in as I was standing, intent on heading towards the vault.

“Sir, we are going to have to ask you- OH MY GOD. Alan’s dead!” The female security guard looked at the gaping hole where the man’s heart used to be.

“No he’s not.” I was annoyed enough already, there was no need to allow these people to sully my good name.

“No, I’m not,” Alan repeated in a monotone voice, blood dribbling out of the hole in his chest. As discreetly as I could, I dropped the heart held behind my back and then kicked it off to the side.

“Ah! He just dropped his heart, everything is fine. Let’s just put it back.” I tried my best to use my body to cover the trail of blood from the heart leading to the spot behind my pack, picked it up, generously wiped most of the gore off on my shirt, and offered it to Alan.

Alan mechanically stuffed the heart back into the hole in his body, producing a wet sound.

The two security guards just stared at Alan, eye bulging.

“Well if that’s all, I need to go to the vault.” I heard sirens growing louder in the distance.

“Not so fast.” One of the security guards seemed to have maintained his cool, and gripping my arm. “You need to come with- Hey, stop, dammit, help me Alice.”

The female security guard grabbed me from behind. I yawned, walking forward at a constant speed, dragging the two people behind me. “Oh, Alan, you come too. I don’t want to have to carry any of this “money”.”

I walked forward, kicking in part of the counter so I didn’t have to walk along to the edge. Unfortunately, someone was hiding in the exact spot, and exploded in a cloud of gore, the force of my kick shattering their skull. Everyone began screaming.

Rubbing my temples, I activated Aura of the Predator.

Everything became silent. The two guards who had been holding me fell away, looking at me with wide eyes and barely breathing.

Then they collapsed, senseless. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I reached the vault. I punched once, my fist piercing a foot or so, but unable to get all the way through.

I frowned mildly. I settled back into Thunder Stance, surging forward, smashing my fists time and time against the vault door. The metal twisted and warped, groaning. Roaring, I punched once more, finally making a hole all the way through to the inside. Then I began grabbing and bending the metal, enlarging it enough for me to walk through.

Just as I was about to hop in, strange canisters burst through the windows, spraying gas everywhere. I ignored it, climbing in, enlarging the hole further, gesturing for Alan to follow.

“Grab as much money as you can carry. Then let’s leave this place.” He did as he was bid, and we clambered out of the vault.

“Freeze! Put the money on the ground!”

“Get on the ground!”

“Hands up! On the ground!”

A group of individuals in black gear ran towards us, holding their guns trained on us.

-All this yelling is so tiresome.

-I’m tired of trying things the human way.

I raised a hand and snapped, summoning 20 wind blades, shooting them forward. The men were eviscerated, arms, guns, gear, torsos, waists, everything sheared cleanly in multiple pieces. They toppled to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut. The bank once more fell silent. We walked forward, stepping around the ever growing pool of blood.

Much to my surprised, another group was waiting outside, ready for my departure. A long range bullet zoomed towards my head. My pupils dilated, then shrank back to a dot. Another, closer, individual was unloading a shotgun blast towards my chest.

I was just glad they hadn’t waited for Alan to walk out. If he was injured, I would have to carry everything myself.

Smiling, I looked towards the distance sniper. I splurged a bit, using the extra mana costing Air Affinity to crush his spine from afar. His bullet ricocheted off the extremely durable teeth of my smile. I allowed the shotgun blast to hit me, surprised that I had to take a half step backwards. The damage was minimal, and Pain Tolerance made it feel like nothing more than tickling.

Wind blades howled in a torrent of slaughter, dicing the nearby individuals to small cubes. Then I cut up their vans and cars, smashing and slicing until the lights and sirens stopped. An unnatural quiet descended over the street as I walked forward.

***POV Change***

Jinka looked at his bank with wide eyes. A police van, seemingly ripped to pieces, blocked most of the street. Hesitantly, he walked towards the front doors. What he could only describe as meat piles were lying on either side of the entrance way, flies buzzing around. That inner sense was screaming at him now, giving a headache.

But…

Jinka just sighed. His wife was going to be so mad.

***POV Change***

I looked with approval at the large pile of bodies and other random food items that the Skeleton Bears must have brought from the Supermarket. Then I noticed that the two bears were currently farther down the street, rumbling with pleasure, taking turns riding in a grocery cart, the metal thing barely holding together.

“Ahem.” They scrambled at my noise, crushing the cart to nothing. “Get to work. Do you want someone to steal our food? Take it out back.”

I ripped a strip of flesh from a woman’s arm and walked into the house. The debris from the door was cleared, which was a good sign. But in the kitchen, the old woman was arguing with a strange man wearing a tool belt.

“Ah here he is with the money now. It will be worth your while, I promise.”

The man gave me a dismissive look. Behind the man, the pantry door stood ajar, and I could see two skeletons peering out. “Fine. You have cash?”

I turned to Alan, took a stack of bills from his arms, and offered them to the man. The man’s eyes went wide. Then he gave me a longer look, calculating.

“...this isn’t enough. This is good for the work, but… Based on how much cash you have, you probably want me to stay silent about the whole ordeal. So another stack please. I bet y’all have a lot of skeletons in these closets.”

The pantry behind him closed with an audible snap. The man turned, missing my smile as I reached for his heart. “More than you know.”

*****

After reanimating him, and ordering him to call in favors to bring the people we needed, everything was settled. The only hitch was when one of the contractors arrived before the Skeleton Bears had completely moved the bodies from the front yard into the back, making it necessary for me to kill him and reanimate him.

I slaughtered him with a wind blade, focusing it into a needle. I received a pleasing notification.

Congratulations! Due to your actions, your skill has changed to “Wind Blade Lvl 3”. Degree of control improved. Amount of damage dealt slightly improved.

Other than that, the next few hours passed in a blur as I continued to summon undead, keeping them corralled in the back yard, and experimenting with Wind Blades.

My ears twitched; I heard a voice I didn’t recognize from the front of the house. “What’s going on? Why are all these vans here?”

I ordered the undead in the backyard to continue raiding the house abutting Sami’s for food, and then walked into the kitchen from the back patio. The work wasn’t complete, but it looked good, fresh paneling installed, the ceiling painted a new color to cover up the fresh addition to cover up the hole the bears had made. I shook my head.

-Our lot in life is to be cursed by inept subordinates.

A woman walked into the kitchen, looking at the 8 men, myself, and the old woman. “Oh… I had no idea Tim was doing such a big project-”

My voice was ominous. “...Tim…?”

The woman blinked at me, her eyes going wide.

-Whoops

I hurriedly deactivated Aura of the Predator. Everyone alive in the kitchen let out a collective sigh they didn’t realize they had been holding. The woman gave me another look, nodding uncertainly. “Yes, my husband Tim. He is who hired you, correct?”

I opened my mouth, but the old woman spoke first. “Of course, that’s why they are here. I used my spare key to let them in, they seemed to be in such a hurry to get to work, I couldn’t bear to see them wait any longer.”

“Oh, Mrs. Sanders. I didn’t even notice you. Well, thank you.” The woman rubbed the new paneling admiringly. “I really like this wood and varnish. It’s beautiful. But the paint….”

“You can always paint over it.” Mrs. Sanders said reassuringly.

I looked at the floor. I had picked out that color.

-Modern interior design is a fool’s game. All about energy and ugly art. Don’t let it get to you, other me.

“Mommy?” Sami was at the entrance of the kitchen, barefoot and still in her hospital gown, riding one of the Bear Skeletons. The woman spun around.

“Sami? Why are you- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT.”

Sami patted the skeletons head. It almost purred. “It’s my new cat. I named him Rose, because his claws are red for some reason.”

The woman blinked several times, swaying, unable to compute the bear. I gestured, and one of my reanimated contractors brought her a chair. Mrs. Sanders glided over, holding a glass full of amber liquid.

“Okay, setting that aside,” The woman tried to look everywhere but at the skeleton bear. “You should get down off of its back. It’s not safe. And why aren’t you at the hospital? Isn’t your surgery today?”

Sami shook her head forcefully. “I hate it there. And you never visit like you promised you would.”

“But Sami-” The sound of footsteps from the front of the house caught everyone’s attention.

“Is that my baby’s voice I heard, but why- Sami, what is that you are sitting on? Why aren’t you at the hospital?” A man’s voice from down the hall.

-An interloper Tim.

-I don’t trust him.

The bear she was riding rose up onto its hind legs, unable to turn around while it was on 4 legs. Sami giggled, holding onto his shoulders. Unfortunately, the 9-foot tall bear was too tall for the hallway, and his head ripped a new hole in the ceiling. Two skeletons wearing aprons came out of the pantry, sweeping up the plaster that fell on the ground. Then they returned to the pantry.

Sami’s mother and father watched the watched everything with dull eyes. Mrs. Sanders filled up the glass in Sami’s mother’s hand. The woman downed it in a single gulp.

The bear shook his head, settling back down on four legs, facing the man cursed by the name Tim. Sami continued to giggle. As if the bear settling had broken the spell, the man and woman stood up and walked towards Sami seemingly intent on getting her away from the bear.

“Sami, you have to go back to the hospital. If you miss this surgery, you will get even more sick! And Mommy and Daddy…”

“No! What does it matter. You don’t want me anyway. You just leave me there. No one ever comes to see me. The vampire genie is the first person who came to visit me in weeks.”

“Sami…” The father Tim spoke now. “Your surgery costs a lot of money. And although it’s hard, Mommy and Daddy need to work a lot in order to pay for things. But after today-”

“That’s what you always say! Always you are going to visit next week. Things will be better tomorrow. But I want now, and-!” Sami began to cough violently, then she vomited, green and yellow and red swirling together on the floor.

“Sami.”

“Enough.” I stepped forward, crossing the distance to Sami’s side in a second. “I owe this child a debt. After I pay it, I will return her to you. For now, she is my minion.” I picked her up, and before either of the parents could react, carried her out the back door.

*****

For whatever reason, I returned to the park where I woke up in this world, right below the hospital of Sami’s. We sat on a park bench and watched cars drive by, their headlights flickering on as night descended. I opened my mouth to speak, but the small blonde child sitting next to me beat me to it.

“I think I’m going to die. Every moment I feel worse and worse.”

I frowned. “You should struggle.”

She shook her head sadly. “It’s too late. And I’ve done that for so long, it’s only made me sadder and sadder. Mommy and Daddy… I think it makes them sad too. That I am a sick child, while all the neighbors had healthy kids.”

-Well, healthy until the skeletons you dispatched for addition food slaughtered them to silence their screams.

-Shush, other me.

“So…” I scratched my cheek. “What do you want for your final wish?”

Mimicking me, Sami scratched her cheek. “I don’t know.”

“Money? To see a specific place? Jewels?”

-What do people even wish for?

-Power. But I do not know how to give it to her.

-Perhaps you could let her kill skeletons, leveling her.

But Sami was nodding slowly. “I do want a jewel. The biggest one ever: the earth. Give me this world.”

I tilted my head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Can you…” Sami seemed flummoxed too. “Can you make me president of the world? So I can do whatever I want before I die?”

I considered it. Then I shook my head. “Based on what I know, it is possible, but I will be here for a short amount of time. Too short to make you president.”

She nodded sadly. The she brightened. “Could you destroy it? Make it so the world dies with me.”

“For that…” I shook my head again. “Physically, I don’t I could do that; It is much too big. Additionally, your world is a dream to trick humans who are climbing the tower. It doesn’t really existence.”

Sami nodded, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. “What is the tower?”

“Complicated. And I don’t really know, either.”

We sat, watching street lights come on and flies begin to gather around them. When Sami finally spoke, her question caught me completely by surprise.

“Are dreams like nightmares?”

“I think nightmares are a kind of dreams.”

Laughing, Sami clapped her hands. “Mommy says that nightmares disappear and go away when you wake up, so it might be the same for dreams. So can you just wake up everyone who is dreaming? That would destroy it.”

I thought about it for a long time. Then I smiled.

***POV Change***

Jinka sighed, tuning out his wife’s complaints while flipping through television channels. Everything felt so fake. Everything seemed so shallow.

‘Is this really all there is to life…?’

***POV Change***

“Why here?” Sami asked curiously. We were standing up on the roof of her hospital, the place where we had met less than ten hours in the past.

I spread my arms out wide. “So we have a good view. I have an idea.”

Walking up to the edge of the building, I closed my eyes and focused inward, feeling the cool liquid within me that was mana. Then I pressed deeper, finding something bright and burning. I stopped at the edge, wind caressing me, seducing me to jump. Which would undoubtedly be enjoyable, but for now, I wanted to grant this strange little girl her wish. I wanted to destroy this dream world for her.

I felt the 15 essence I held within me. It just so happened that the cost to summon a skeleton drudge had decreased to 15 when I reached Lvl 5 in summon lesser dead.

Use Essence to summon Skeleton Drudge?

I felt a strange strength drain from me, leaving me surprisingly tired.

All Essence used at once! Max essence +1.Due to the fabric of the dream world, the effectiveness of spells cast with Essence increased by 5000%. You have summoned a “Greater Infernal”. Please wait a small amount of time for your minion to arrive.

I coughed awkwardly, disappointed that there wasn’t bigger fanfare.

-Still, the max Essence increase is useful. So we really just need to spend it all at once.

-We will have to monitor the regeneration rate then, so-

-...what’s that?”

A small earthquake was shaking the city. A huge crack in the earth appeared nearby, swallowing an entire city block. A smoldering red hand came up out of the crack, gripping the ground for support.

***POV Change***

Zinka’s glazed eyes snapped back into focus as the game show abruptly changed. A disheveled new reporter adjusted his mic, and then looked at the camera with frantic eyes.

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to report that an earthquake has struck New York City, leveling several city blocks. And then, as you can see behind me, from a hole in the earth, a giant monster that can only be described as a demon ascended. Multiple religious figures have claimed that the apocalypse is upon us-”

The screaming in Zinka’s head grew more insistent. His head felt like it was about to split apart. He cradled it in his hands, tears forming in his eyes.

“No…” he whispered.

***POV Change***

Sami watched with wide eyes as the giant flaming skeleton methodically leveled the entire city. Breathing fire and ash, snuffing out human life easier than she had ever witnessed before. The plumes of flame, brighter than any stars, more wondrous than any rainbow. In that dark night, the movements of the Infernal were deeply burned into her retinas.

The building on which we were watching the show shuddered. Not from structural damage, but as if the reception of an old TV was becoming fuzzy. The scenery around us began to buzz, shaking. Then it snapped back into focus.

“Mr Vampire Genie?”

I looked at her. Her gaze didn’t leave the Greater Infernal.

“Thank you.”

***POV Change***

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

Jinka looked up at the concerned face of his wife and that wall within him cracked, his expression twisting with grief.

“That’s why its been so hard... It’s because I wanted to forget. I watched you die, love. Slaughter for no reason. This… this is a dream.”

Jinka looked at the TV “I’m in the Great Tower, climbing it. And I will succeed.” Jinka’s eyes narrowed. “Then I will tear it down.”

***POV Change***

New copters circled like flies, spreading the images all across the world. Military jets screamed past, shooting missiles ineffectually at it. The buzzing was constant now. The dream world was collapsing.

Sami reached up and grabbed my hand. She coughed mutely, the sound lost as all sound fell away from the dream world.

Then she spoke, and although I couldn’t hear it, I could read her lips. Her eyes never looked away from the Greater Infernal.

“It’s so pretty. Like a sunrise.”

-Agreed.

The dream world blinked out of existence.

***POV Change***

“Dammit…” The operator of the second floor of The Great Tower watched with exasperation as everyone woke up. He would need to open the portal a day early, sending them up tomorrow. He had warned the one who went back in not to use his powers too much.

“I guess it doesn’t even matter… most of them will die on the next floor anyway…. Dammit… I just wanted a day off...."