'I should not... no. I will not allow him to get near her.'

Even though Marcus had been... confused... just a second ago, this new threat made everything super, crystal clear. He was not going to let this bastard anywhere near Lily ever again. Not now. Not tomorrow. Ever.

And just like that, the gears in his head started to turn. Click, whirr, clack!

They turned really, really fast.

And in less than a second, quicker than you could even blink, Marcus conjured up a plan. A master plan. It was brilliant. It was sneaky. It was a plan that was absolutely, positively, definitely going to work, no matter what.

His plan was actually super simple. And it was going to work tomorrow. He was totally, 100 percent sure about it.

A slow, tiny smile started to form on his face. It was a new kind of smile. Not a sad one. Not a scared one. It was a smug smile.

This new, weird little smile on Marcus's face made Alex, who was still leaning in the doorway, frown just a little bit. He looked... confused.

And seeing that little frown of confusion on Alex's handsome, punchable face?

Oh, that just made Marcus smile even more.

"Of course, of course," Marcus said, his voice suddenly sounding way too friendly and light. "You should absolutely come back tomorrow. You have to collect the rent, right?"

He even nodded, like he was agreeing with a very smart business decision.

"Yes, you should. Money is important, after all."

Alex just looked at the man for a long, long second. That weird, smug smile on Marcus's face. He just stared at it.

Then, Alex's own lips pulled back into a slow, mocking smile. It was a nasty smile, a smile that said, "Oh, you poor, dumb, little guy."

"Yeah, sure, I will do that," Alex said, his voice just dripping with fake-friendliness. "But... before you go to bed all happy about paying me back my 'rent' tomorrow, you should probably... you know... wash yourself, Marcus."

He didn't even point. He just flicked his eyes down, down, toward Marcus's pants.

"You have a little... something... right there on your trousers."

Wink.

And just like that, he left. Again. For real this time. The door clicked shut, leaving Marcus standing all alone in the sudden, heavy silence.

The smile on Marcus's face? It didn't just fade. It vanished. It was like someone had just slapped it right off his face, pow! Gone. Just as fast as it came.

One second ago, he was feeling so good! He was "reveling," all happy in his head, thinking he had the perfect counter-plan. A brilliant way to keep this home-wrecking bastard away from his wife for good.

And then, with just a few simple words, Alex reminded him. He just had to remind him of his own, awful, sick, twisted, shame. He had to point it out.

Of course he did.

A guy like Alex, with an ego that huge, was never going to let a weak man like Marcus "dog walk" him. No way. He was never going to let Marcus get the last word. That just didn't sit right with him at all. He had to get that one last, nasty, little dig in. He had to win.

Marcus let out another long, shaky sigh. His shoulders, which had been all puffed up with his master plan, suddenly slumped.

He slowly turned his head and looked at his wife again. Still completely and totally passed out.

"How... how is our relationship going to be from now on, wife?" he whispered, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

Because, obviously, from this moment on, his perfect, happy, simple little relationship was over. It was done. Finished.

It wasn't just "husband and wife" anymore. It wasn't just "Marcus and Lily" struggling together against the world, trying to pay rent and build a life.

Nope.

There was a third guy now. A third person was stuck right in the middle of their marriage.

And not just any guy. It was someone better than him. Better in every single, stupid way. Richer. Stronger. More muscular. More "manly." Just... better.

And if he, Marcus, wanted to keep his wife... if he really wanted to keep her all to himself... he was going to have to "maneuver."

He was going to have to play this new, dirty, awful game. He was going to have to walk right through all this... this shit... and somehow, somehow, not get completely smeared by it.

This was a mess. A huge, giant, unbelievable mess.

...

Meanwhile, Alex stepped out of the apartment building and right into the cool night air.

Ah. That felt good.

The street was bathed in a nice, warm, yellow glow. Big, tall street lamps high, high up were shining down, and all the little shops that were still open on the street had their own smaller, cozy lights on, too. It was actually... pretty.

Even at this time of night, the street was still somewhat crowded. It wasn't packed, like, shoulder-to-shoulder packed like it was in the morning, but there were still plenty of... well, people... walking around.

He watched them for a second. There were stout, bearded Dwarfs, and plenty of regular old humans. He saw a few huge, furry beastmen walking by, talking with some tall, super-graceful elves. And there were many more things he didn't even have a name for yet.

They were all just... casually enjoying their time. Hanging out with their families. Laughing with their friends.

A small smile bloomed on Alex's face. This new world was definitely... interesting.

He took a big, deep breath, letting all that cool, fresh air fill up his lungs, and then he let it all out in a long, slow sigh. Whoooosh.

Okay. Time for answers. Enough messing around.

'Hey system?' he thought, directing the question right into his own head.

A little voice, one that sounded like it was right inside his brain, answered him immediately.

[Boss?]

'Where exactly am I?'

It was time to get the basics right. That was a must. A total "must-need" thing right now.

He realized he had just been... idling. Just fooling around, doing whatever he wanted. He'd been spending all his time doing all kinds of... perverted stuff... with hot, juicy, stacked women.

And yeah, that was awesome. Really awesome.

But he'd been having so much fun that he didn't even care to know anything important about this new world.

That was a bad thing. A very, very bad thing. He couldn't plan his next move if he was totally in the dark.

[Super Earth, from the Archilach galaxy. Approximately 8 billion light years from your old world, boss.]

"..."

Alex just stood there. He didn't even move.

He slowly closed his eyes. He squeezed them shut as he heard that super robotic, super exact answer in his head.

He was a gooner, okay? A proud one. He was not a nerd.

And nerds, he swore on his own name, were way, way worse than gooners. That was just a fact.

'What the hell is an "8 billion light year"?' he thought, getting a little angry at the system. 'What the fuck is even one light year? How long is that? Is it a fast year? A slow one?'

He had absolutely no idea. And you know what? He didn't need to know that. It was stupid, useless, number-crap, that's what it was.

Just then, a little kid—who looked like... a cat-person... with actual gray-striped fur and a little tail and everything—ran right past him.

Zoom!

The little cat-kid was chasing a big, fat, squeaking street rat.

Alex quickly side-stepped, pulling his leg back so he wouldn't accidentally trip the little guy.

'Forget it,' he thought, shaking his head. That was a dumb question. 'Tell me about this world. The ground I'm standing on. Right here, right now.'

[This world is 4 billion years old, boss. But magical sentient life only formed about 50 million years ago.]

Alex paused.

Okay, he... he actually knew that math. Sort of. He knew that a "billion" was a lot bigger than a "million." Like, a THOUSAND times bigger.

So, to think that this whole, entire world was 4 billion years old... but life with magic and brains only started 50 million years ago... that was... weird. That was really, really weird.

'Why did it take so long?' he wondered. 'Was the world just... empty... for all that time? Billions and billions of years of nothing? What happened? And what does "magical sentient being" even mean?'

His brain was starting to connect some dots.

'Does that mean there are... non-magical beings, too? Wait. Is that just regular humans? Like me? Before I got all this system crap?'

'Ughh...' His head was starting to hurt.

'System... just... enlighten me. And use small words this time, please.'

[Sure, boss, buckle up for a history lesson.]

Alex sighed deeply, preparing himself for the lecture. The distance from his house to Lily's shop wa half a kilometre, so he plenty has time for this crap.

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