I tried to blink away the grogginess from my mind. Finding some success in that endeavor, I then focused on seeing my immediate surroundings. Huh? I was sitting on a simple wooden bench at my bus stop. From back in fourth grade.

Bark-bark!

I turned my head toward the sound, knowing exactly what I will see—a large golden retriever. "Come here, Old Yeller!" I waved at the dog.

The large animal, easily bigger and heavier than my young self, slowly approached me. Its tail wagged furiously.

When I knelt down and held out my hand, Old Yeller sniffed it and then started licking my hand with its rough tongue. I laughed as I scratched my old friend behind both of his ears.

The dog belonged to an old man named Harvey Dressler, who owned the old white stucco house directly across the street from the bus stop. The owner enjoyed watching shows on his old black-and-white TV, and the dog would go across the street to accompany people at the bus stop until the owner feed the dog lunch.

Speaking of the bus stop, why was I here? My mind started experiencing flashbacks of all the things that happened in my life. Suddenly, I remembered everything. I should not be here! I immediately stood up and yelled, "I know you're here Morpheus! Show yourself!"

The clear blue sky overhead abruptly turned cloudy. Flashes of lightning started to erupt amongst the clouds.

Finally, someone appeared before me—but it wasn't Morpheus. "Please forgive Pheus. I know not why he chose to take us to this part of your past memory," Lady Luck said. "But I assure you that you are under my protection."

"I thought we're going to the Dream Land. Why are we here in my past?" I asked her with a quizzical expression on my face.

"Only Pheus can answer that question. But we are indeed in the Dream Land," she confirmed. The goddess knelt down before Old Yeller.

The dog gave her his paw to shake.

"Good boy," she said as she shook his paw.

Old Yeller's tail wagged as if it was ringing an alarm bell.

Lady Luck returned to her feet and said, "I think Pheus wanted to bring you to a happy moment in your life."

"For what purpose?" I folded my arms. If Morpheus can read my memories, then surely he knew of my pain in the near future. Regardless, I was unhappy with the fact that a god was toying with my cherished memories in this manner. I was perfectly willing to go along and play games with these gods and their overseer. But I drew the line at any tampering with my memories because I believed that your past is a crucial part of who you are as a person, your very identity. To me, your personal identity was as sacred as freedom. Without a strong sense of self and, by implication an innate understanding and appreciation of your wants and desires that would naturally flow from your sense of self, then how can you take advantage of the freedom to pursue what makes you happy? To have freedom without an accompanying sense of self to serve as a compass in making choices that affect your future would render the notion of freedom meaningless. Furthermore, if my memories were actually rewritten by Morpheus, then it was tantamount to brainwashing me. I would not permit either to happen to me. Thus, I was seriously considering quitting this game entirely.

"Morpheus, please come down. We're making Lawrence angry now," the goddess warned.

"I’m here, milady," the demi-god appeared in a flash next to her, down on one knee again.

"Please fix this mess," Lady Luck ordered.

Morpheus got back up. He nodded slightly to me and snapped his fingers.

Our immediate surroundings changed. We stood in a light gray haze of nothingness.

"Where are we now?" I asked.

"We're still in the Dream Land," the god of dreams replied. "This is the natural state of my world. The previous surrounding was a mere illusion pulled from your memories," he explained while waving a hand at the landscape.

"Where is Amelica?" I demanded to know. As a follower of Lady Luck, the goddess wouldn't harm my girlfriend. But Morpheus, on the other hand, may not have such restraint, particularly if he felt the need to blackmail me into doing his bidding.

"She is elsewhere, but safe," he replied cautiously. Morpheus was fully aware of my distrust of him.

"Our discussion is for your ears only," Lady Luck explained. "Once our discussion is concluded, we will send her to join you here. Now please roll hold out your left arm," she requested.

When I obeyed, I felt an invisible hand grab my wrist. I saw that my robe and shirt sleeve were being rolled back to expose my inner forearm—and my brands.

"Oh no," I groaned aloud when I realized what the goddess planned to do. Why did every deity I met feel the need to mark me as one of his or her followers?

"You are being granted a great boon. You should be thankful, you insect," Morpheus scowled.

"Hush, Pheus!" Lady Luck scolded the demi-god. "It is quite appropriate for this player character to feel apprehensive considering that he had two prior experiences that terrified him," she empathized.

"That's two more than most people have experienced in their lifetime," Morpheus retorted.

Lady Luck raised her hand to quiet him. "I'm going to grant you my mark, Lawrence. Please hold still."

I watched as I felt a cold finger, imbued with dark brown colored divine energy, started tracing a brand on my forearm next to the mark from Lady Musa. And yes, the process was again very painful. By the time the branding was completed, I had accumulated enough "-3 Health" pop-ups to drain three-quarters of my current maximum of 40 Health points. Thankfully, after the branding was completed Lady Luck poured her divine energy into the brand and healed me. The ensuing pop-up read, "+30 Health." I looked at the red health bar on the upper left corner of my vision, and I confirmed that I was completely healed.

Once I was healed, my arm was no longer swollen and I was able to see the result more clearly. The brand was a replica of a six-sided die, and the face of the die showed snake eyes. I received a pop-up, which read "Marked by Lady Luck. +500 Reputation. +1,000 XP." I bowed deeply to the goddess. "Thank you," I said.

She nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "In addition, you have received a second boon from me. You can now use 'Reroll.' This is an ability that triggers automatically and allows you to reroll once per day. When the ability is triggered, the world will pause until you make your decision. You could decline the offer to reroll and instead, save it for another time," she explained.

I remembered the incident where Ebenthal tried to rob me on the street and we fought. During the fight, I made a Dexterity saving throw to avoid a fatal blow from him. If I fail a saving throw, I could now use reroll for another shot. This was potentially a life saver during a fight. Honestly, the ability was more valuable than the mark. "Thank you for these gifts." I bowed from my waist to show the goddess my deepest gratitude.

"So he knows how to be grateful," Morpheus smirked and earned another glare from the greater divinity.

"May I ask a question?" I asked.

"Go ahead," Lady Luck smiled.

"What's the purpose behind these brands? Am I giving up a piece of my soul for your protection?' I inquired. I was really concerned because I had no idea what they wanted from me aside from doing missions on their behalf.

"Not all of us are demons," the demi-god of dream sulked.

"Lawrence meant no insult by that remark. It's a misconception carried over from his home world," the goddess replied. Lady Luck turned to face me. "We're not asking for your soul," she laughed softly. "Of course, you have the freedom to offer your soul to a demon in exchange for power. But when you die, your immortal soul will be used by the demon for whatever purpose he wishes. Your soul could be bartered for goods, sacrificed for a chaotic spell, or even used to reanimate a skeleton or a dead body. And no one, not even the gamemaster, can cancel a soul pact once made. Most of the gods abhor the use of soul pacts, including Pheus here," she explained.

"So if I'm not engaging in soul pacts with you gods, what am I doing exactly?" I pressed. I was aware that the goddess was trying to misdirect the conversation to avoid answering my question.

The Asian woman pouted her lips for a moment in displeasure. And then she sighed. "You can think of us gods as symbionts. The brand is a bond through which we establish a deeper relationship with mortals. Furthermore, some of the gods have deep connections with the elements of water, fire, air, and earth, such as Lord Bane with fire for example. A mark from Bane would confer special resonance with fire, and thus any fire element spell that you cast will be more powerful due to this bond," she lectured. "These brands will be beneficial to you whenever you decide to change your profession to a spell caster," she added.

"If that's the case, then why isn't everyone branded by the gods?" I asked. If the marks would confer so much benefit, why doesn't every person in town carry a divine brand?

"What a dummy," Morpheus interrupted. "Isn't the answer obvious? What's the difference between you and everyone else you met in that backwater of a town called Tregome?"

Lady Luck scolded him again with her eyes.

I quickly understood what the irritable god was referring to. "It's because I'm NOT a native of this gaming world. I'm a player character," I answered easily.

Ding-ding-ding! A ringing school bell materialized from the thin air above us and then disappeared again.

"See? If you thought a bit more with your head, then you would have avoided asking us a stupid question and embarrassing yourself," Morpheus smirked.

"Please leave us," Lady Luck ordered quietly.

"Yes, mistress," the demi-god bowed and then he winked out of existence.

"Is he always this annoying?" I asked with my brows knotted.

"Please forgive his poor attitude. Pheus is a younger god. Only when a god exists for a few millennia will he mature enough to know how to treat mortals better," she explained. "He hasn't learned to control his emotions yet."

"I don't care if Morpheus is young or old for a god. All I care is whether he will act on his apparent animosity towards me. Do these brands ensure that he won't attack me?" I pressed Lady Luck while pointing at the marks on my forearm.

The goddess sighed. "As a god, Morpheus cannot act directly against you. Can he persuade a willing follower via his dream to attack you? I admit that is a possibility." The Asian woman sighed again.

Flabbergasted at the notion of making ANOTHER enemy, I threw my hands in the air. "What did I do to offend Morpheus?" I demanded to know.

Lady Luck pondered the question for a moment. "It's not that you did anything wrong in particular. I believe that in his own way, Pheus is jealous of you precisely because you are a player character. Your very nature as such allows you to change our gaming world in ways that a god may be less free to do so because of the restrictions handed down by the gamemaster," she surmised.

I slapped my hands on my thighs. "Well, I can't do anything about being a PC."

"No, you can't," the goddess offered a slight smile.

Stuck with no obvious solution to my inadvertent conflict with Morpheus, I turned my attention to another outstanding matter. "What mission do you have for me?" I asked bluntly.

Lady Luck shook her head. A frown appeared on her face. "I'm sorry that you have become so distrustful of the gods here. I don't have a mission for you. I granted you two boon because I have already acknowledged you as a follower of mine, and I wish you success in carrying out your twin missions for the Church and the dojo. I want nothing from you," she said.

I folded my arms as I stared at the goddess. While her face showed sincerity, I wasn't one hundred percent convinced that Lady Luck wanted nothing from me. Only time will tell if she was truly being honest with me. I looked up at the sky, knowing that the god of dreams was still observing us from high above. "If neither of you has further business with me, I would like to see Amelica again," I demanded in a loud voice.

In response, the gray mist surrounding me thickened until I was blinded.