I looked away from where the tear had been, and focused on the more pressing issues.

  For one, there was a massive hole in the city wall again as whatever the faker had done made it rise up and fold like a chain link fence. It was going to need to be tore down and rebuilt. Again.

  Second, I didn't get a single bit of XP from that kill or the parasites! Though I wasn't really the one who killed him since it was that weird thing, and I also don't really want to level up right now.

  The third issue involved the 3 million sleeping gorilla people on my streets. 'Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't be messing with peoples brains like I did earlier. That's just a slippery slope waiting to happen.'

  When they showed up I could feel every negative emotion they were experiencing as my own and I, quite frankly, overreacted. Just because I can root around in someone's brain to edit their emotions or make them sleep, I really shouldn't do something like that. Pain and sadness are horrible things to experience, but it is not my place to force my will over someone just because I don't like the way they are currently feeling.

  "I would be no different from that crazy prick if I go down that path. I will never be like that guy." I mumbled to myself and to my shock I felt yet another oath take shape in my core.

  "Oh good. Another one. At least this one is totally not vague or anything." I sighed sarcastically, feeling the headache this might cause already.

  Before I could really mope about my new oath, I felt the familiar folding of space as the admins summoned me for a meeting. It was almost instant, but I still felt the loss of feeling anything with my senses for the briefest moment as I traveled through something not entirely based in reality.

  "What happened? Towards the end of your fight?" The voice of the 'boss admin' spoke as I plopped into their pocket dimension office space.

  "I don't really know. You guys were watching right? You tell me. It's obvious that I defeated the enemy with my awesome supreme power~!" I teased, putting both hands on my hips and posing.

  "What kind of power? Our view was censored because The System detected something too dangerous to view directly. An old signature rating with not much detail besides 'do not look at it', so we are in the dark." The boss admin asked curiously, and their black slimy face seemed to do their races version of a chin stroke.

  "The great magnificent power of~... opening the door." I said with a smile after a dramatic pause.

  "Some kind of black mass of tentacles knocked on reality asking to be let in, the faker said something about how it couldn't come in because of something he did, but I opened a tear in reality where I felt it and it came right on in. The faker freaked out and tried to run, but the tentacle thing just grabbed him. His body fell through the tentacles dead, but it looked like the tentacles were still holding something when it left. No idea what it was, but it seemed nice." I briefly described what had happened, and I noticed that all of the admins squirmed nervously from my retelling.

  "Do you feel alright? No bouts of madness or suicidal thoughts?" The boss admin who I had never learned the name of asked, but I'll call them Bongo for now.

  "No I feel perfectly fine. A little confused, but fine. What was that thing anyway? Do you know?" They had said something like an old marker popped up, maybe they know something.

  "It sounds like death. There are no physical descriptions we can match it to, but it matches the reports we have from those forbidden records. From the crazed researchers." A different voice from Bongo called out and the collection of admins started murmuring.

  "Yes, it does match that. Something from beyond coming to take away souls that we tried to resurrect perfectly. That is likely what you met Azurath, but what I find interesting is that you have not gone crazy from observing it directly." Bongo spoke and I tilted my head to the side as I listened.

  "Death huh... I didn't feel particularly disturbed when I saw it. It was pretty gross but perfectly comprehensible. Maybe I have a kind of mental defense against it?" I offered and got the vague sense of several nods from the collection of admins.

  "That would make sense. Your species is unique in that it can resurrect perfectly after death, perhaps that plays a role into it?" Bongo asked and I felt several gazes refocus on me as the murmuring died down.

  'Oh. I completely forgot about that. It's not going to come for my soul now right? Though since it hasn't already, I think I'm safe. But if souls are a very real thing, then I probably don't want to live forever. I would like to go to heaven if it's real after all.' My mind worked fast as I came up with something to say, to make sure whatever power I have doesn't make me truly immortal.

  "I think I heard something about humans only living until it is our time to move on. We can die, it's just when we meet our natural end." I threw some bullshit at the wall, hoping something good would stick. I just wouldn't mention the part where people 'naturally' die when our bodies take enough damage.

  "I see. There does seem to be a natural order of things for a soul to go through after death, so it makes sense you would not be exempt from such things. Otherwise your species would be completely against all nature. Haha!" Bongo chuckled and I joined them nervously.

  The admins, especially Bongo, seemed like such a serious species. So to see one chuckle and joke about something must mean they were more relieved than I thought to hear I can die.

  "What do you plan to do with the others in your city?" A different admin asked, and it seemed like everything was calming down now that it was over.

  "The gorilla guys were being forced to invade, so I'll probably send them back to wherever they came from. Which..." I trailed off as I realized something huge.

  'I can leave this universe now! I completely forgot, but that battle totally counted as helping right?!' I felt giddy at the thought of returning home finally, after months of doing random crap in this boring perfect universe with no problems to solve. But...

  "Which I will have to go and help them setup their world now that their leader is dead." My shoulders slumped as I knew I shouldn't shirk the responsibility I have to the people probably still sleeping in my streets.

  When I could feel their world through the breach, it was a hell hole. I could feel just how dead and horrible everything was. I couldn't even bring them to my city because it was nowhere near big enough to house billions of people. My best bet would be to go there and help them rebuild some kind of habitable planet. Or release them on my planet for a fresh start.

  "I suppose you are quite busy then, do you have a way to travel between universes?" Bongo asked and I looked up at them.

  "Yeah? I have for a while now." I said and it seemed to confuse them all.

  "So... you could have just left us alone with that 'faker' as you called him? You are truly kind. I thank you, on behalf of this universe." Bongo got all serious and bowed deeply, and the admins followed suit.

  "Ah there's no need for that. No thanks needed! Don't worry about it. Anyway, I am needed elsewhere. I have a whole planet to fix... and all that." I felt guilty as it was partially my fault he had shown up in the first place, so I avoided their grateful gazes.

  "Indeed. If you ever find yourself in this universe and want to talk, just ask. We'll be watching." Bongo said cryptically before I was whisked away again, back on my planet.

  "What a bunch of- nice people." I cut myself off from saying weirdos because they probably were watching me.

  Now I needed to figure out what I was going to do with a bunch of giant monkey ogres. I also needed to talk to my Guild, tell them that the fight was over.

  I opted to do that first since the goobers were still snoring loudly, making my city silent no more.

  ...

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  --------- Juk, Invading unit commander ---------

  My eyes opened slowly, sticky with boogers.

  "Whu' zis?" I mumbled as my hands rubbed the slime away.

  Looking around me, I saw not just my unit but the entire force sleeping. Panic began to creep in as my memories caught up to me.

  Working in the mines, the call to arms, the abrupt and painful reorganization of my status, and then the great master opening a way to our target. Then nothing else.

  To be sleeping like this is a great failure, the retribution would be slow and agonizing. So I clamped my eyes closed and covered my ears as I curled up into a ball, waiting for the worst to come.

  Only...

  Nothing happened.

  No usual searing pain from something deep within my stomach wiggling it's way out, no demands, no sensation of aches or wormy writhing under my skin. Reopening my eyes showed the same scene as before. A peaceful and only partially destroyed city block with my kin snoring on the street and just beyond the walls opening. Just a giant mass of sleeping bodies.

  As nothing continued to happen, I slowly stood up from the pile of sleeping Korlips. Eyeing the scene with a squint, bracing for any sort of pain to befall me, I began my slow walk around the strange place.

  Stepping over the piles of slumbering infantry, all showing no signs of any wounds whatsoever.

  It was so peaceful, and that made it dangerous. Life for us is not peaceful, it is pain and work. For this to be happening there must be something horrible brewing.

  "Oi... 'Ello?" I called out in almost a whisper, fighting between waking up my fellow men in arms or staying silent.

  My voice echoed softly around me, and causing a few Korlips to stir in their sleep. None woke up though.

  "Whu' is 'appening?" I muttered while shifting nervously, itching my chin with a finger.

  After a moment of stillness, I decided to wake up my people.

  "WAKE UP!" I roared while clapping my hands roughly, destroying the peace as dozens of Korlips woke up.

  That started a chain reaction of panicked screeches and hollers, most jumping up and fighting to stand after experiencing their first proper rest in years or for the first time.

  "Cap'on? Wha' happened?" One of my men asked after slapping themselves awake and looking around.

  "Hmph, I dunno bu-" I was cut off while helping our youngest to his feet.

  "Ah good, your waking up." A familiar voice spoke with unfamiliar tone.

  We all collectively froze up as our eyes looked to the source.

  A floating, lanky, bipedal thing with one giant golden eye looked down on us from above. It's skin was white with black square patches on it's chest and limbs.

  "No need to get so scared now, you are all safe. I will not harm you." It spoke with the masters voice, but the master never used such a tone with us.

  "Whu' are you? Where is our master?" I swallowed my fears and took a step forward, putting myself between my comrades and it.

  "Your master is dead. He can harm you no more." It spoke, and no one had a response to that.

  ...

  --------- Greg ---------

  I had been talking with my guild mates about the fight and just hanging out when I felt the gorilla guys start waking up.

  The reaction to being told that their old master was not what I expected. There was no cheering or anything really. They just looked at the instance of me that was talking to them.

  I was having multiple conversations with the victims, but they all ended up the same as the first. Silent staring and no real reactions.

  I was currently split between 972 instances, the max I could go, so I could more efficiently speak with the 3 million ogre like gorillas. All of whom were looking at some instance of me blank faced like they couldn't comprehend my words.

  "Bah, you 're a liar or ah fool. Da mazter cannot die." The first one to wake up spoke and I had to remind myself that this was a serious conversation, even if they sounded just like orks from Warhammer 40k.

  "He's really gone. How can I prove it to you?" I asked, considering just going full 'villain' mode and making them do what I want.

  "Sho' uz the body den!" The same gorilla called out, before being mirrored by multiple others throughout the 3 million horde to various instances of me.

  "I cannot, for I have completely obliterated the body." I responded mostly to the first one, since they all seemed to somehow follow the same conversation despite being a horde. I think I'll call him Chris Kringle.

  "So you are a liar!" Chris Kringle yelled, sounding almost coherent.

  The horde seemed to agree with him, and I quickly realized this was going nowhere. 'If I can't get them to work with me as a good guy, then I'll play the villain.' I formulated a plan and began my greatest display of bullshittery I could muster.

  "I am no liar!" I yelled back, using my limited control over reality to make my voice boom out.

  The horde fell silent and I felt their fear nearly triple in magnitude. It made me feel horrible for using their emotions like this, but I needed them to work with me.

  "As the victor of this battle, I lay claim to your planet! I claim all of your masters previous possessions! Such is the law of combat." I spoke, letting my voice carry some arrogant flair befitting a Power Ranger villain.

  They were still scared, but I could handle it. Once I get them self sufficient, I can leave them alone. I hated being a bully but they were so fearful of the faker that they did not respond well to kindness. Better to play a role they expect while doing what I was going to do in the first place.

  "Wha' happens now?" Chris Kringle asked in almost a mumble, perhaps seeing something like their master in me now.

  "Now? Now I take you back to your planet where I can do as I please." I swallowed the guilt and created a Gate that swallowed all of them, then followed quickly after.

  The planet was as I remembered it. An absolute shit hole.

  The billions of gorillas here were still sleeping, so my mind wasn't shut down like it was before but I still felt the strain of sensing that many sapient life forms at once. Thankfully my Environmental Adaptation Skill still worked or the effects were copied over, because that strain began to recede as I rapidly got used to it.

  Using my senses, I could feel many things wrong with this planet. Like the fact there was no life whatsoever besides the inhabitants.

  'What do they eat if there's no crops to grow? Oh no...' I got a horrible feeling, but decided to ask anyway.

  "You. Tell me, what is your species called and what do you eat on this barren rock?" I pointed at Chris Kringle while my other instances dismissed the horde.

  "We ar' Korlip, 'nd the mazter made it so we could not die so we don' 'eed to eat." Chris Kringle responded and I felt relieved at that.

  'So they don't eat each other, thank God. Wait, if that feeling came from inside the breach followed by the feeling of wrongness going away then... How many did I accidently kill?' I focused back on my senses, giving the planet another once over.

  The number of living people I could sense was half of what I remember, and the ones that remain have their brains modified so they don't feel hunger. I had turned it off when I sensed all of their negative emotions, not fully knowing what I was doing. I considered obliterating the corpses, but if they are someone's loved one then they should be buried.

  'Fuck. It's already coming to bite me in the ass. Not only did I accidently kill at least a couple billion people, I took away something important for survival. Not like I can just turn it back on when they have nothing to eat though.' I sighed, thankful that whatever blocks my negative emotion seems to be squashing whatever feelings I have about ending billions of sapient life.

  "Then again... It's not entirely my fault since they were being forced to live in agony when their souls were supposed to move on." I muttered, trying to find some way to accept my mistake and not dwell on it too much.

  "Whu'?" Chris Kringle asked while the horde of Korlips slowly started to disperse.

  "Don't worry about it. What would you like to eat?" I asked before I realized I had slipped out of character.

  "Meat." Chris Kringle didn't seem to notice and answered immediately.

  'I should've guessed that.' I thought dryly before something odd came to my senses. A floating castle in the clouds that hadn't seem weird until I realized it was there.

  "You can go for now. I'm going to scout my new property." I snapped my fingers dramatically and gated to the castle.

  Inside, I found more sleeping sapient life but they weren't Korplin. I should have known they were here already, but having billions of sapient minds, even sleeping, acts like a sort of noise or static that messes with signal strength.

  Giving the sleeping form a good long look, I resisted the urge to poke them. What was currently curled up on the floor, was a humanoid purple skinned cat person. It was hairless, bipedal, wearing fancy looking clothing that was a mix of butler attire and robes. Possibly East Asia style? I never was any good at fashion. I couldn't figure out it's height since it was curled up like a cat, but if I had to guess they were probably 12 feet tall?

  My senses told me there was multiple in this castle, and thankfully it seems I was able to remove all parasites from them when I had my little episode. I finished up my little stare session and left the sleeping alien alone as I explored the castle.

  The walls appeared to be made of marble, but with some kind of blue metal mixed into it. I couldn't identify it, since I'm such a pathetic little level 10 and everything cool is well into the hundreds, but Jimmy was able to tell me that it was Mithril.

  "What kind of person makes a castle in the clouds made out of marble and Mithril?" I muttered, ignoring the fact I made an entire city larger than New York out of Adamantium.

  My exploration led me to some kind of office, and I poked around a bit. It was pretty generic with bookshelves and a big desk and a purple chair. The chair upon closer inspection with my broken senses told me it was made out of purple skin, from the species I saw sleeping in the hall.

  I didn't really know what to think or do so I ended up just staring at the abomination against life and happiness.

  For a full 3 minutes.

  I tore it to shreds with my Telekinesis, rendering it nothing more then dust.

  Leaning onto the desk while looking around prompted a holographic window to show up, like a computer monitor. Looking it over and figuring out how to use it, I started digging through the files and functions. Because of course it wasn't locked.

  The contents told me that this was actually not just some kind of computer, but an entire System that controls this universe.

  "How the hell did that guy get his hands on something like this?" I muttered as I looked through it.

  This interface told me that there were many more universes that were under the fakers control, all of which seemed to be made specifically to torture any and all inhabitants he found there. Which meant I had a lot more work cut out for me before I could go home still.

  "I should have killed that motherfucker 400 billion times over. I hope his soul is rotting in hell right now." I sighed as I felt just a hint of true anger bubble up before being snuffed out once again.

  As I continued to fiddle with this universes System, something in the castle began to wake up.

  A feeling of pure terror flowing from it.

  "Time to play the villain again." I mumbled as I slipped into character.