Reincarnated as a Mushroom?

Keyla, as it turned out, had no grand strategic motive for her intrusion last night. No secret orders. No subtle infiltration on behalf of Crystal. No impending threat to my neural sanctity. Just good old-fashioned boredom. Galaxy-class ennui.

Kimchi, now fully hollowed and humming with post-carnal tranquility, offered no protest. Not even a passive-aggressive flick of the eye. Once filled, she apparently accepted Keyla's continued presence like a cat begrudging a second dog in the house.

—

When I awoke the next morning, I was being smothered to death beneath a living gravity blanket. A familiar one. Blue. Slightly cool to the touch, with faint rumblings of psychic purring filtering down through my chest.

"Mmghh... morning, Sapphire," I groaned, yawning mid-sentence. My arms were currently trapped beneath her celestial girth, so I compromised by scratching her underbelly with tiny, pathetic wrist twitches.

The beast let out a low rumble of vague pleasure and broadcast her intent through our neural tether.

"Oh no, are you bored, sweetheart?" I cooed. "Well, no shit. There's hardly room for you to romp around in—"

I stopped mid-sentence. A thought occurred.

"Okay, off. Get off. Now back in the Mindspace, fluffmonger. I'll take you out for play-play. Right now."

Sapphire vanished without hesitation, slipping into my internal cosmos like a sponge sinking into water. The moment she entered, I felt her joy reverberate through the psychic latticework of my overclocked, overcrowded mind.

'Huh,' I mused. 'It's getting large enough to support another full bondage suite again. Might be time to evict Onyx's fat ass from the core loop.'

—

Shaking off the thought like dandruff, I slithered out of bed, grabbed the first pile of clothes that vaguely resembled civilization, and threw on my favorite black jacket—the one with a pocket universe stitched into the inner lining.

Downstairs I went, humming along to the elevator's smooth jazz with a kind of ironic sincerity. The lift took me to the old welcome chamber—the grand ballroom Sophia had used when I first arrived. It was now empty, save for dust motes and ghostly echoes.

"Sapphire!"

With a shimmer, the oversized psychic feline materialized next to me, tail already flicking with anticipation.

For the next hour, we played with manic abandon. Fetch, tag, tumbling psychokinetic wrestling. I channeled every ounce of guilt I had over ignoring her for the past... however long. Not that she'd noticed. She slept through most planetary rotations like a hibernating god.

One hour turned into two. I was mid-power-lift, holding the enormous creature above my head like an interstellar kettlebell, my muscles comically swollen from Origin-assisted exertion, when Sophia entered the room and immediately got blindsided by the sight.

"Ap—Apollo!" she sputtered, eyes glued to my sweat-glossed torso. "Sorry to interrupt, but Kathrine has arrived to discuss... potential employment."

I looked down at my currently shirtless state, flexing experimentally.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, chonk." I gently lowered Sapphire to the ground, who rewarded me with a full-body lick before curling into a ball and blinking back into Mindspace, presumably to nap beneath the pulsing crown of my Origin once more.

—

Once rearmored in something resembling dignity, I followed Sophia back up to her suite. Inside sat Kathrine—looking like a high-functioning corpse—nursing some luminous sludge that might've been a smoothie or just high-tier alchemical regret.

"Morning, soon-to-be boss!" I chirped.

Kathrine winced like I'd stabbed her with sunlight. "Not so loud, handsome. My hangovers don't rebound like they used to."

Turning to Sophia, I smirked. "Sweetheart, can you have Elias whip up some burgers? Something greasy and protein-heavy. Kathrine here looks like she's been living off mineral water and guilt."

Sophia lit up at the use of a public pet name. "Right away, my sweet. I'll be back soon."

The door slid shut behind her, leaving Kathrine blinking with something approaching gratitude.

"Thank you, dear. That was... kind."

"Don't mention it. Now, down to brass fangs."

I leaned forward.

"I heard from Sophia that certain mercenaries can get legal permits to use non-Spartari weaponry. I happen to possess a rather sentimental heirloom I'd like to bring along for the ride."

Her interest was piqued. "Defensive or offensive?"

"Both. It's a power armor suit. Grandad pulled it off a derelict starcruiser. Alien make."

She raised a sharp brow. "Alien tech's a licensing nightmare. But... given your Arcon status, I can invoke clause AT-4072—weapon testing clearance. And Code 06, legal alien integration."

She thumbed through her device's files like a death goddess shopping for sins. "I'll need to call in some favors, but I can have it by tomorrow."

"Perfect. Next: travel plans, quarters, and a mercenary rundown."

Kathrine closed her eyes, accessing internal records like a fleshbound supercomputer.

"You'll be paid generously," she said first, of course. "Psionics add a 50% premium. Personal request tacks on another 2%. Handsome tax? Ten percent. Mandatory."

She winked.

I didn't know if she was joking. I didn't ask.

"Travel will be via my personal driver," she continued. "Three days from now, he'll pick you up and deliver you to my family's private airbase. From there, we board The Thanatos—our primary mercenary cruiser."

I frowned. "These mercs—are they trustworthy? Or are we talking 'stab you for a bonus' tier?"

Kathrine snorted. "Please. The Scythes are basically my offshore accounts with guns. They run my darker financial markets. Their loyalty is existential. The other two ships are tied to Ecumenopolis One's nobility. Betrayal would be... unwise."

Just then, Sophia returned. Burgers in hand. Two for me, one for the queen of corrupt logistics.

"You know me too well," I said, kissing Sophia's cheek as she sat beside me.

Kathrine's eyes glinted with something ancient and sharp. The kind of delight that came not from joy, but from watching an old enemy show softness.

I wasn't imagining it.

That burger may as well have been a divine artifact. One bite and she let out a choked moan. "By the Empire, that's... orgasmic."

Mouth full, I held up a finger. "Told you."

—

The next two hours were hell.

Paperwork. Legalese. Contractual mindfuckery. Forms that needed to be filled out in quintuplicate. Sophia and Kathrine powered through it like twin engines of bureaucratic despair, while I slowly fossilized in my seat.

'Put me in a lab for twenty-four hours and I'll come out smiling,' I thought. 'But this? This is actual torture.'

Eventually, mercifully, it ended.

Kathrine stretched with a feline sigh, her blouse pulling up to reveal abs that could qualify as military assets. "Well then. That's that. Apollo, I'll see you in three days."

She shook hands with Sophia like a proper lady. Then, with theatrical flair, turned to me.

I offered my hand.

She ignored it.

She kissed my cheek.

And then turned to Sophia, locking eyes.

A challenge. A dare. A decade of power games compressed into one smug glance.

And then she was gone.

"Goddammit," I muttered, checking the mirror. "She got lipstick on me."

Sophia grabbed a cloth and approached. "Here, my sweet."

She dabbed carefully. I looped an arm around her waist and pulled her in. Kissed her softly. Our lips mingled with silent promises. She tasted like ozone and restraint.

"Listen," I whispered, fingers stroking her cheek. "For the next few days, I'll be focusing all my energy on taming Kimchi. She's... excitable. And I'd rather not return from a mission to find your penthouse scorched and a waiter impaled on a doorknob."

I brushed my thumb over her mouth. "When I get back... let me show you just how grateful I am."

Her breath caught. "Okay," she whispered.

—

The following days were a fever dream of velvet domination and psychic seduction. Kimchi was not broken—she was recalibrated. Conditioned. Loved so intensely it bent her predator's instincts into ribbons of docility.

When the time came, I sat exhausted on the couch, fully dressed and ready for departure. Kimchi lay curled around my leg, nuzzling my shin like a lioness who'd decided the hunt was over.

"So," I said softly, running a hand through her hair, "are you going to be a good girl while I'm away?"

"Yes, my love."

"And you'll be nice to Sophia? Help her if she needs anything?"

"Yes, my love."

With the feral princess tamed and temporarily declawed, I slung my pack over one shoulder, took a deep breath, and left the apartment behind.

Time for war.

Time for The Thanatos.

Time for everything to go horribly, gloriously wrong.

---

Author's Note: A Heartfelt Message from Me to You

Hey lovely reader,

Before you scroll away or dive into another story, I just want to take a moment to speak straight from my heart. If you made it this far into my story, then you are truly something special. Your time, your emotions, your thoughts and those few minutes you gave me mean more than I could ever explain. Writing is not just words on a page for me. It is a heartbeat. It is a dream. And seeing you here means I am not dreaming alone.

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So please, if you enjoyed even a single chapter or if you want to see where this story leads, drop a vote. I am not too proud to beg. I am literally down on my knees — in my imagination of course — holding out my hands like a character in a romantic drama and whispering with puppy eyes, Please vote.

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