Reality Quest: How I Accidentally Made a Harem of Villainesses Chapter 43: The Benefits of Winning

Nellie gave Dante a defeated look, and rightfully so. After all, the ga he wanted her to play was basically just another way to say suicide. "Survive the Night, yeah right, more like die a miserable death in a haunted asylum while so cosmic freak watches for fun." Nellie said in a sarcastic tone, it goes without saying she was not enjoying this one bit.

She didn’t even know if she could trust him on that part about "...not dying if she loses." Spirits lie all the ti. Contracts twist anings after all, Emilia was indeed right about that, and her contract with Dante was more of desperate escape born from being back in a corner. She wasn’t stupid, at least not anymore. Still, she also knew that if she did lose, so form of punishnt awaited her by the end of the ga. The only upside here, the only good news, was that if she sohow managed to win, she would not only survive but walk away with sothing in return, her freedom, and whatever mysterious reward Dante was hinting at. "Sigh, I have shitty luck."

It wasn’t like she had any other choice anyway.

No matter how much she tried to find a loophole, the deal was already sealed the mont he saved her from that crazy exorcist bitch.

He did keep his end of the bargain after all.

And in a world where the supernatural was as real as bullets, not keeping your promise to sothing like him usually ant disappearing from existence. Becoming their play things, or them taking away sothing precious, deals like these are never really good for the one making agreeing on them.

So she sighed...a deep, tired sigh, as if accepting whatever twisted fate was coming to her. Then she turned her head toward Dante and said quietly, "Before we start this ga, I have so questions... at the very least I hope you’ll answer them." Dante leaned back slightly, his creepy smirk never leaving his face, as his eyes drifted from the screen to her trembling fra. "Of course." He said casually. "Ask away, human."

Her lips twitched a bit at the human part, to her it was like he was looking done on her for being human, or atleast a variant of the species, but she didn’t bother arguing. Instead, she crossed her arms, though her voice was still uneasy. "If I beat this ga... will my freedom be mine again? No tricks or gas."

Dante nodded once. "Yes. Plus more."

"More?" She repeated, and Dante continued to speak, explaining how and why. "You heard the first ti." He said bluntly, resting his chin on his hand. "You’ll also carry ho your reward for completing the ga, if you complete it of course. And it goes without saying you’ll also fulfill your contract and leave with a gift from , sothing tangible you can use back in the real world if succeed in completing this ga of course."

Her eyes narrowed at the news. Weirdly enough she find herself a bit intrigued. So much so, her tone was bit calr now, as she asked. "And what exactly is that reward supposed to be?" Dante smiled, as scared a living creature can be, humans especially where one of the greediest, as such they where easy to win over, for that reason he made his reply short and simple. "Power of course." He said, as if the word itself tasted sweet. "If you win, you’ll get your own supernatural ability by spinning the Wheel of Dreams, basically you will get a fragnt of my power in so shape or form."

That caught her off guard. She blinked twice, unsure if she’d heard that right. "Hold up... power? As in like a personal self dependent Spirit Technique?" She asked genuinely curious now. And Dante chuckled at this. "Sothing like that. Though the origin differs. The Wheel of Dreams is basically a part of , however I don’t control what you get, and you don’t get, it is passive and a neutral chanism of myself that governs the reward of each complete gas. Think of it as a slot wheel with an infinite number of random abilities. So weak, so decent, so incredibly powerful. Others completely absurd.The point is, if you spin it, whatever you land on becos yours permanently, it is still my power but it’s becos yours, and I can’t even take it back from you. It is your until you die of course."

She leaned back slightly, her expression half disbelief, and the other half full of intrigue. "And that’s it? I just spin a magic wheel and suddenly I can do... what, shoot fire out of my hands?"

"Maybe." He said, shrugging. "Or maybe you’ll get sothing useless like the ability to change the taste of water. Luck decides it all in the end. That made her snort despite herself. "Of course it does."

"But." Dante continued, raising a finger, "... A fair warning to you, if you do end up winning my little ga, keep in mind that every ability that can be won here cos with a flaw in the form of a curse. The stronger the power, the heavier the curse. That is the balance of my abilities. And I need not remind you that victory only gives you the right to spin, not the right to choose, so don’t go bitching if you get a dud ability." Dante explained causing Nellie to frown at his words "So even winning cos with a risk."

He nodded. "Pretty much yeah." She sighed again, rubbing her temple. "This is insane. I’m talking about slot machines for powers with built-in curses. What the hell did I even get myself into? What even is this conversation? Sigh, I could really use so shrooms right now." Dante smiled faintly, his tone light, as sarcastically replied. "Into my world, of course."

She wanted to curse him out again, but there was no point. Every ti she looked at him, that feeling of unease crept in without end. It wasn’t just his presence; it was the way space itself seed to behave base on his emotions, what if get so angry a star explored and she was close to it.

Still, she forced herself to speak again, her voice a little quieter this ti. "Alright then... let us say I do lose. What happens to then?" He didn’t answer imdiately, why well just to fuck with her, but skin he replied. "Well human If you lose... you won’t die, that much I promise you. But you’ll be forced to beco my Player Avatar."

"Player Avatar?" She repeated, confusion flashing across her face.

He turned toward her again, his expression unreadable. "Yes.... As The Spirit of Administration, I see the world differently from everyone else. To , everything, your reality, your soul, even this interaction, functions on my own unique set of logic. Like a ga or a dream. I can’t physically exist or act freely in your world, so I need... interdiaries to do so. I do this via my avatar’s."

Her face tensed when she heard Dante explained this, as she continued by saying. "So basically... a vessel."

He smiled at that. "That is a crude but accurate description but yes. A vessel, a bridge, a representation of in your realm, it ans basically the sa thing in the end."

She exhaled slowly, processing this news, as she asked. "So I would basically be your puppet and slave if I lose this ga?" The worry in her voice was even more prominent now, but Dante response to this was as followed.

"Not exactly." He said. "You would keep your mind, your will, your body, and soul, alongside everything that makes you well you. I wouldn’t interfere with your personal life unless I had to. Think of it more as... partnership with conditions."

"Conditions?" She repeated warily. "Yes you would have to obey when I call upon you." Dante said simply. "When I need to interact with the real world, you would serve as my connection. My eyes and hands, if you will. Sotis I might possess you temporarily, or issue commands you must follow. But beyond that, you would live most of your tis freely."

"Yeah, that sounds a lot like being a damn puppet to ." He smirked. "Puppet, emissary, avatar, the words change, the bond remains. But there are benefits too. Becoming my Player Avatar would grant you access to power beyond your wildest dreams. aning, power beyond what humans can imagine, and power that operate under different logic, as such you alongside the others under are all rule breaking anomaly of your world."

Her eyes flickered, curiosity montarily overpowering fear. "Power, huh... And you ntioned other, are there other out there that is your official avatar?"

"Yes." He said, his tone lowering slightly. "You wouldn’t be the first, nor the last." Dante explained, but that aside Nellie sighed as she began to comnt. "Fine, let’s just get this over with, I am not going to lose easily, I just want you to know that."

"Hehhehe... we will see." Dante answered back, matching her energy.