Esther hands me the the white cube device. I hold it and feel... curious.

It’s a perfectly generic object. The epitome of being not special at all.

And yet, the fact that little Esther has gifted it to me signals in a very clear way that it’s among the most special items in all of existence.

“It’s a Portable Portal,” she says. “A portalble, Maman wanted me to call it. But I think that’s a bad name.”

“It’s a bad name,” Julie says.

“I dunno, I kinda like it,” The Goddess says.

Julie stares at her.

“What does it do?” I ask.

“It can let you access the Deity Domain at any time,” she says. “The wielder can continue to live and exist as a mortal being in quasi-linear time, but they can also cross through worlds and solve any issues in the multiverse as they arise.” She smiles. “Neat, isn’t it?”

The Goddess shakes her head. “I can’t believe we’re renaming it Deity Domain... Shucks.”

“So you’re saying I could use this device to guard this multiverse cluster with all my powers without forsaking my friends and family?”

She nods. “It’s not perfect, and you lack the training necessary to maintain things on a cosmic timescale. But I’m pretty confident it’ll help maintain the balance until I’m ready to take the mantle.”

Ah, yes.

As essentially anyone with working cognitive functions could already have surmised by this point, Esther Rafati is the born-and-true successor-in-waiting to The Goddess’s powers. Her immaculate, Destiny-infused conception likely fulfilled many obscure prophecies across various worlds, and the timing was nearly perfect, although not quite, for Esther to replace the former deity once she was murdered in cold circuitry.

However, she’s unable to take the position for now. After all, she’s hardly two years old!

So for now...

“I’ll take responsibility,” I say. “I’ll guard the multiverse with all my might, as the multiverse’s only S-Rank Hero.”

“For now,” Julie says.

“For now.”

Her aura expands, and the threat level exuding from her is massive. She seems friendly at the moment, yet I know it is inevitable that someday we will come to blows over something, somewhere. And despite our current major gap in levels, I don’t know who would come out on top.

It’s a skill issue. And I don’t know the answer.

As for The Goddess...

“I’m taking off with Pablo,” she says. “We’re going on a honeymoon. Gonna take it slow as molasses.”

“Where will you go?”

“Backpacking around the planet,” she says. “Meeting the local folks, learning the customs. I spent so long making the damn universe, so I might as well see how it turned out.”

“I’m proud of you for that,” I say. “You have done an excellent service. And, as always, I apologize for the way my sibling Rare tricked you into your own demise.”

“Ah, ain’t nothing of it. Sure wish they’d have apologized to my face, but whatever.”

“Indeed. Rare is not the type to admit their failures so readily to the face of their victims. Relaying it through me may already be the limit.”

“As for before the honeymoon starts, I’m thinking about taking an RPG system of my own,” The Goddess adds. “Which do you recommend?”

In these months since the war for the multiverse ended, systems from other worlds have proliferated across Earth, a rare world without any RPG system to call its own. People love to try out whichever ones are the latest fad, and there’s growing fandoms around each of them. The more dangerous and life-consuming ones like the Destiny Deck System are not wholly embraced, although those pressed into forced service by the U.S. during the war have largely stuck to their systems, rather than voluntarily getting rid of them like one would expect. Lava World’s system is apparently very popular these days thanks to a certain viral challenge on Vine.

Sadly, nobody likes the Balloon System, including its most prominent user Delta. We have no idea how to remove it from her, unfortunately; it completely counteracts Thalia’s Warring Core machine.

I’m keeping my system, obviously, but I appreciate the increased diversity all across the world.

Now, for the Portable Portal...

I activate its singular ability and enter the Deity Domain.

Stark white background, and some computer displays that pop up whenever I think about trying to access something. Gee, thought-based computer systems that activate simply because I’m holding a perfectly generic cube. What wondrous technology that has yet to be explored whatsoever.

As the temporary protector of the multiverse, thanks to Esther’s gift, I have a lot of work to do.