Tabitha, a shut-in game dev who's about to be dragged into a 3-D fantasy

What were the odds of any of this? Finding the ring outside would be a one in one million opportunity for anybody, but it was even stranger for me! I was the type that barely ever goes outside. I'm the kind of sun-deprived ghoul that lives on the internet and never leaves her apartment, except for emergency situations. I even order my groceries online. I do bathe and stuff, but only because I have conference calls with my co-workers. If I could shed my physical shell and live on the net, I surely would! This pale, pudgy body of mine is good for nothing besides embarrassing me when I look in the mirror. My dull, gray-black eyes almost necessitate goth make-up just from the bags I get from my online sessions and I have to squint any time I'm in the sunlight. I wear glasses. People tell me my smile is creepy. I have manifold reasons not to go outside, so I usually don't.

All of that is to say: the very fact that I was outside on a run to the corner otaku hobby shop to even have that chance encounter with the ring on the sidewalk was a miracle. The fact that I coincidentally turned my squinty, bleary, straining eyes down towards that ring was yet another miracle. The fact that I disregarded the glares of whoever might be watching me shamble around like a zombie in the mid-day sun and picked up the ring? Nothing less than fate! Dreamers like myself have to believe in fate. It's what keeps us going.

I don't exactly have ring-suited fingers. That is to say : I've got some fat fingers. They give me trouble typing and I do an awful lot of that. I wouldn't normally slip on some random ring, but I was the benefeciary of two coincidences. The first: the new role-playing game I'd purchased at the corner shop had an install time like it thought it was a AAA game, so I had some time to kill. The second: that I'm the kind of thirsty child of the internet age that has read enough dirty, fantasy-minded literature to think, "wow, what would it be like if I put this ring on and turned into some kind of sexy, magic super-heroine?"

I was a little off the mark, but this was even better! It seemed like I'd summoned my own personal genie! Oh, as a bonus? Regina is fucking hooooot. I couldn't help but look between her ridiculous, hourglass figure, clad only in chains wrapping her at strategic places like she was a character in one of those anime that makes a teen boy embarrassed to show his mom what he's watching. If she bounces just right, I think I'll see her nips through the chains! If she turns around, that glorious, round ass will be framed by chains that won't hide a thing!

"Ahem," Regina coughed into one fist, watching my beady eyes shamelessly travel over her body. "I guess the ring isn't going to have to do much in terms of converting you into a lesbian, hm? You seem to be well down that road. Also, I'm not really a genie... but if that's what you'd like to call me, I won't object."

I nodded, affirming that astute observation. If my behavior hadn't made it obvious enough, the piles of anime girl pillows, rows of anime girl figures, and walls covered in anime girl wall-scrolls would be a good hint. Still, it was interesting to learn that the ring would have made me a lesbian if I wasn't already. What a thing! "Maybe I should put the ring on somebody else, huh? Wait, wouldn't that be bad? This ring is bad!" I exclaimed in succession, suddenly regarding the ring in horror. "Y-You can't just turn people into lesbians! Don't you have any decency?!"

"I really don't," the white-haired spirit of the ring smirked, gesturing with a sweeping motion of her hands down from her breasts to her thighs. "Listen, sweetie, you weren't exactly 'chosen' by the ring, but there isn't a single aspect of this that's fit to negotiate. You may not want to create an army of lesbians yet, but we'll get you there. Besides, I'm taking a look around your room, and-- what was your name again?"

"Tabitha Small."

"Small, hm?" Regina asked, looking over my chubby body and ungirlish height with an annoying smile. "Yes, I'm looking around your room and noticing the reading library by your bed. A few excerpts..." I watched in awe as the woman pointed her fingers and began to levitate print doujin-- unofficial comics created by fans and fan-circles, for you non-otaku-- material in front of my face. "They're in Japanese, but I believe I can translate. 'My Hypnotized Sister is a Public Toilet for the Women's Soccer Team.' 'A Bare-Naked Adventure in Another World with All of My Female Coworkers Who Had Their Minds Erased.' 'I Didn't Like My Teacher, So I Transformed Her Into a Pig-Woman-'"

I desperately snatched the doujins out of the air, trying hard not to crumple them with the of the swipe. "These are all 2-D girls! 2-D girls are different than 3-D, right?! Do you know enough about otaku culture to understand that?" I questioned Regina, squinting angrily. I felt my eyes twitching, like observing her splendid, ivory goddess body was going to cause my eyes to melt out of my head if I opened them all the way. "Fantasies like transforming people into lesbians, controlling their minds, and changing their bodies belong in the 2-D world! If you try it in the 3-D realm, things get super yabai!"

The chain-clad beauty placed one hand upon her hip and flipped through one of my magazines idly. "Resist if you want, but remember: I said carnal lust. You may have survived off of 2-D fantasies up to this point, but you're about to feel a strong craving for red meat," the genie giggled, licking her finger before turning another free-floating page. She'd only licked it to show how little she cares for my pristine collection of 2-D fap material! "I suggest you get your affairs in order and prepare to transition into that life."

"W-Wait!" I clamored, falling to my knees and clasping my hands together. I pleaded with the troublesome being who, by her own account, wanted nothing other than to serve me and observe me. "I have a job as a game developer with co-workers that I have to talk to on Boom meetings! I have a mom! What are these people going to do if they learn I've been building a lesbian harem?! My mom doesn't even know I'm a lesbian! I think..."

Regina looked down upon me for one moment, before turning a doujin book mid-air and allowing a fold-out spread of a naked elf being eaten out by a female orc to fall free. "Then make your mom a lesbian! Or erase her mind. I don't care which. You're really dwelling too much on the consequences part. If something happens to you, I'll just find a new Ringmaster. It's fine!"

"What do you mean by that?!" I questioned, crawling closer and grabbing hold of her curving, bare legs. "What happened to the last wielder of the ring?!"

"Was he the one who converted his construction site into a sexual amusement park without installing safety rails, or the one who hypnotized a famous female sharpshooter and then asked to see her greatest skill in bed? Doesn't matter," Regina responded, whistling innocently. "My point is, there's plenty of ways to cover your tracks, as long as you aren't a complete airhead. Judging by all of your sketchbooks and things, I judge you're probably a creative girl, Tabitha. I'm sure you could come up with a lot of fun, creative ways to use the ring. Think! There has to be some way you can use the ring that doesn't offend your oh-so-delicate sensibilities, right? How about... a girl that you think has a crush on you, but she's too shy to admit it?"

"... I wish there was a girl like that," I sobbed, dabbing at my chubby cheeks with the sleeves of my long, black sweater as I tried to hide my tears and adjust to the predicament in front of me.

"Hmmm... How about modifying your own body? Is there anything you'd change?"

"... I actually have a Hex Maniac cosplay session coming up, so I don't want to be thinner. At least not yet! We'll leave that one on the table." I declined the offer, but I had to admit, that one was an appealing option for the future. "Oh! Can I control you to throw the ring into some volcano!? I'd be a world hero, even if nobody knows it!"

"Not unless you want me to take your finger with it. Plus, the ring wouldn't be destroyed anyway and I'd be contractually obligated to retrieve it. I'd rather not take a lava-bath, if that's okay with you."

With the image of Regina taking a bath in my head, I tried not to give into my intense desire to ogle her massive bosom as I pondered my options. Regina did have a good point: I could feel myself slowly losing my mind a bit. Not in a supernatural way, exactly, but more like the way that someone who's read way too many "absolute power corrupts absolutely" stories might recognize certain vulnerabilities in themselves. I needed an anchor! That's it... If I could just think of a way to use this ring to enact positive change in the world and stick to that mission, then even if I become a slobbering sleaze-ball, I'll still be on a good path! The fact that I'm planning on using my power responsibly instead of letting some doujin-protag bastard have it makes me a good person! My soul will still enter heaven! Not that I believe in Christian heaven, but I want to imagine there are pretty lady angels out there somewhere.

"Aaagh!" I cried out, scratching at my bushy, black hair with both hands. "I'm supposed to be working right now! Game development is not easy! Do you understand that people have lives and you can't just disrupt them with your fucked-up fantasy ring without throwing everything out of whack?! If you only knew about what bitches my coworkers can be, you wouldn't have me wasting my productive hours! These are some mean ladies! They'll eat me alive if they realize I haven't been on my computer all day! I've been cutting you a lot of slack because you're a s-smoking hot fantasy character with reeeally good thighs and big boobs and a perfectly symmetrical face and silver hair like an elf and a ridiculously nice ass, but I'm in real danger!"

"Quite the compliment sandwich there, thank you. Problems at work, hm? Mean ladies?" Regina questioned, giving a coquettish, unsympathetic smile. "If only you had a special ring that worked magic against 'mean ladies' without them realizing a thing. Wouldn't you like them to be nicer to you? How about... a lot nicer?"

...

The genie had a pretty good point.

Maybe I could arrange something?