You Could Become a God. Or...

"Wait, a god?" Reader repeated.

"Yes. Um... Look, I could throw around terms like 'nine dimensional fractal lattice' but the short version is that your soul is a lot bigger than it might have seemed. You were interacting with a very small part of a very big universe, and most souls do that to learn. But you're at a level now where you could... start interacting in a bigger way. You'd get your own empty universe to experiment with to start. The first one would be just planet-sized, but as you learned the knack of it you could do a whole lot more, eventually".

"And you don't want me to do that?"

"No. I'd rather you become a very strong human than a very weak god. See, we're kind of... at war. We were winning for a long time - "

"Were?! And with whom?" Reader interjected, more than a little disturbed by this revalation.

"We call them demons," The goddess answered patiently. "They're similar to us in terms of power, but they don't make new worlds - they just show up and wreck stuff, pervert our creations... and not the fun way" she added with a hint of a pout.

"How can a human help in that?" Reader asked, still unnerved.

"There are rules of engagement" she answered quickly. "Agreements made between the sides to ensure none of the outcomes neither of us want. Humans fighting demons - or alongside demons if they manage to corrupt one - is a key part of that dynamic. You're familiar with the 'Isekai' genre of fiction from your last life, right?"

Reader nodded, suddenly recognising the format - the allegedly heroic, if meaningless, ****; the blank room; the flirtatious goddess...

"That's an accurate picture of where I hope you'll choose to go" she said. "You'd get some goodies and a one-way trip to a world that's in danger of being overrun. You'll need to rally people to your cause and kill the demon kings or queens. We really need more experienced humans right now, there are way too many first-timers and they're easiest to corrupt."

"First timers?"

"Souls on their first time as a human. Your own world was a great example. All those species going extinct while the human population increased a thousandfold in a few centuries. Even in a low magic world, all it took was a few 'cubi in the right positions to send things spiralling."

"Is that why my love life was so-"

"yes. The victorians had good divinators, they saw what was coming. Did their best to get a grip on the problem, but it didn't help. Complete breakdown in the dynamic between men and women, parents and children. Awful. Most worlds it's less subtle than that, yours kind of flew under the radar until that population explosion."

The goddess shakes her head. "Anyway, that's the long and short of it. We need heroic humans, and you qualify. Or you could become a god and make your own world. Will you help us?"

As Reader began to answer she interjected, "Before you say anything, I promise that if you go the hero route, your sex life will be whatever you want it to be".