[STATUS SCREEN]
Na: Eiden
Gender: Male
Level: 1
EXP: 10
Height: 5.8 ft
Strength: 15
Speed: 17
Intelligence: 22
Charm: 7 (Assimilation: 3/3 complete)
Status Points: 3
Skills: None
Harem Count:0
The mirror didn’t show much. Sa dark hair. Sa face I’d gotten used to frowning at in the reflection for years. A little sharper now, maybe. Like soone had taken a file to the edges of my features and thought, "Eh, good enough." I leaned in closer. "Still . Just... shinier ." There was a new subtlety to my expression like confidence was considering moving in, but hadn’t signed the lease yet.
"Congratulations, Host. You are now officially slightly above average."
I squinted at my reflection again. "Slightly above average. That’s the bar? "Statistically speaking, above average appearance correlates to increased approachability and social success. You may begin to notice subtle differences in perception. Blushes. Pauses. Awkward hesitations. Please utilize these changes responsibly." I rubbed my jaw. "Responsibly, huh." The phrase ’weaponized attractiveness’ floated into my brain. I smirked and flicked at my reflection. Then my thoughts stalled. A slow crawl of curiosity pulled inward. There was a beat of silence. Eiden just stood and stared at his own reflection and admired the changes .He thought " i look like this at charm 7 " " i wonder how i would look at 8 "? Three months. I let that sink in, not days, not weeks and not a cool-down bar I could tap away with enough EXP. Three entire months. I groaned and dropped back onto the bed. "So I’m stuck with 7 for a quarter of the damn year? "Affirmative. Answered system chan without a mont of hesitation as if it was waiting for that particular question.
Eiden stared at the ceiling. "For good or bad my life is turning around" ,"but is it a good thing" ? The system went quiet. Eiden pulled the pillow over his face and scread into it quietly. Just enough to relieve the itch under the skin that ca from waiting. Always waiting. The ceiling didn’t judge, so he let his mind roll. Three months. Long enough for soone else to build a harem and buy matching jackets. Long enough for Ruel to reinforce his grip on Lyra, maybe even drag another girl in. That smug, pretty-boy aura of his probably had no restrictions. But ? I had rules, cooldowns, tirs. Like my life had turned into one of those gas that throws "You must wait 7 hours to harvest again" into your face after five minutes of progress. He scrolled the ntal status window again. Three Status Points just sitting there. It felt like leaving cash in my pocket and refusing to spend it just to prove a point. But spending it now... wouldn’t do anything for my Charm.
And Charm was the only currency that mattered in this twisted ga. He tapped the edge of the ntal display. "Fine. Let’s think."
Strength and Speed were tempting. They’d help if I ever got into a fight or a chase. But they had a 2-day lock-in period before benefits started to show. Not worth it yet.
Intelligence? That one kicked in imdiately. Hmmm "This might be the most useful for now as i need intelligence to pry open the hearts of the girls and even think of strategies,also make decisions that are for the best . Nahh, No upgrades for now.
A faint ding echoed in his head. Not System-chan. Sothing... quieter. I sat up. No notification. No popup. Just a weird feeling.
Like sothing in the air had shifted around , subtly acknowledging that I had reached so internal threshold. I checked the mirror again. Still . But... not quite. If I smiled just a small one it looked like it belonged there now. Less forced. Less practice, more instinct.
He exhaled."You’re getting dangerous," I muttered to myself. But dangerous to whom?
To Ruel? To Lyra? Or maybe... to the guy I used to be before all this. The knock on the door broke his chains of thought. Not loud. Just sharp and fast. "Eiden! You in there?" Sasha’s voice. I stood up. Let the system screen dissolve. One step, two, then I paused. My reflection caught my eye again. A flicker of sothing in my gaze. Determination? Calculation? I didn’t know yet. But I’d find out. "Yeah," I called. "Coming." Sasha noticing his subtle charm changes and teasing about skincare Saturday, no school Eiden decides to go out And thought maybe its a good idea to upgrade my intelligence, " ya it is never a bad idea to be smarter , this he asked the system to use all his points on the intellignt . Assimilation is instant (as it’s not physical), with no visible changes
" Ding boost your mory and thinking speed " Eiden determined to earn points as it was interesting and most of all he wanted to change . The door opened with a gentle creak, revealing Sasha holding a steaming mug and a suspicious squint. She gave a once-over. "You... look different." I raised a brow. "Define different." She tilted her head. "Your skin. It’s... clearer? And your face looks less like soone who lost an argunt with a fan. "Thanks," I muttered. She leaned closer, peering like a detective with a magnifying glass. "You wearing sothing? Moisturizer? Face serum? Don’t tell you’re finally using that green tea cleanser I gave you two years ago." I blinked. "Uh. Yeah. Sure. I... dug it out of the drawer." She narrowed her eyes. "Which one?" I opened my mouth. Closed it. "The... green one." She snorted. "They were all green."I shrugged, sidestepping the trap. "Maybe I’m just glowing from inner peace. "You look like you slept through a facial appointnt," she mumbled as she walked past , mug in hand. "Saturday miracle." Right. Saturday.
No classes. No system-assigned escort missions. Which ant... I was free to move. Think. Hunt. I walked to the window, watching the sun stretch long over the pavent below. My phone buzzed once probably a from Sasha’s weird cat group. I ignored it.
What I needed was movent. Stimulation.
"Park," I muttered. Sowhere public. Sowhere I could observe. Think. Maybe run into a new target. Maybe spot another harem I could dismantle brick by emotional brick. The streets were already alive when I stepped out. Vendors. Students on late breakfast runs. Occasional joggers pretending they liked cardio. He walked slow, hands in pockets, blending in with the weekend rhythm. Then He saw it.Sleek. Black. Probably German. A car that didn’t belong in this part of the neighborhood the kind with tinted windows and silent engines that cost more than my tuition. It rolled past like a shadow, and through the slightly lowered window, I caught sight of them:
Three girls. Laughing. Perfect hair. Designer sunglasses. One of them leaned forward, tapping on her phone, while another tossed her head back at sothing the third said.
I didn’t even look at the guy driving. I didn’t need to. Money. It hit like a cold glass of logic to the face. I could get girls without money, sure. That was what the system was for. But with money? It was just easier. Smoother. Automatic. Like having a cheat code before you even triggered the tutorial.
My jaw tightened. My hand clenched around the phone in my pocket. This system this stupidly specific, rules-heavy, morality-dodging system wanted to take girls from harems. Not the world. Not the environnt. Not the system itself. So I needed leverage. I needed options. And that ant intelligence.
Real intelligence. Not just the 25 I was sitting on.I opened my Status Screen in my mind.
[Status Points Available: 0]
No hesitation."I should invest everything on intelligence for now ." I waited a second.
"Reminder," System-chan chirped helpfully. "For noticeable enhancents to cognitive perception, a minimum of 15 Intelligence Points must be assimilated at once. Current upgrade: baseline expansion only."
So no superbrain. Not yet. I clicked my tongue. "Figures."Still. I wasn’t disappointed.
Twenty-five Intelligence wasn’t nothing. It would help plan. Spot openings. Recognize patterns. And more importantly, it was laying the groundwork for sothing bigger. Because now, I had a new goal.
Get smart fast .
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