Free Web NovelChapter 37: System Skills
Eren was currently floating in a vast nothingness; it was like the pain of cracked ribs and exhausting overtime shifts never existed. It was the kind of peaceful, profound slumber that usually cost a premium tier subscription.
"Did I manage to die for a second time like those poor black company workers who died working for ten days straight?"
[Negative!]
[Host, this is the second time you said this. You have not expired. This is merely a consciousness isolation.]
A voice suddenly echoed through the darkness, and Eren’s mental avatar blinked in confusion.
It wasn’t the usual dry, robotic, text-to-speech system he had grown used to over the past two weeks. The tone was crisp, carrying an uncomfortably smooth, slightly teasing cadence.
"Whoa, hold on. What the hell happened to you? Did you install some personality patch while I was unconscious?"
[The system has completed its mandatory reboot sequence after consuming the 2000 Fate Point threshold.]
[I am now your fully personalized system, explicitly updated to guide the host toward the absolute peak life form in this world, based entirely on your consistent lifestyle choices and true personality.]
"Oh, an adaptive system based on user behavior? Go ahead then. Run the diagnostic scan and show me the legendary protagonist class we unlocked. Sword God? Supreme Mage? Ultimate Tech Emperor?"
[Commencing deep psychological and behavioral analysis...]
[Scanning host’s recent choices... ]
[Analyzing persistent thoughts...]
[Database compilation complete.]
A series of bright, floating holographic text boxes suddenly materialized, lighting the dark space with a flashy, neon-pink glow.
[Personalized Interface Activating: Welcome to the Villain’s Harem System!]
Eren’s mental avatar froze solid.
"What the actual fuck is this?"
"Villain’s Harem System?! Are you blind? You have a broken?! I am a respectable, hard-working mana engineer! I engineered a literal medical miracle today! Where is my cool webnovel protagonist class? Where is the ability to summon ancient gods, execute legendary world-ending spells, or at least call upon some high-tier MILF deities?!"
But the system ignored his banter, moving on to the next message.
[The user’s active database consistently tracks encounters with multiple high-tier female targets within a 48-hour window.]
Eren groaned, literally can’t deny these accusations.
[The Host has been granted a one-time privilege to select one of three starter skills.]
[Please review the options below.]
Three distinct glowing panels floated directly in front of his face, mapping out the available starter perks.
[Starter Skill Selection!]
Option 1: [Universal Househusband Skills]
Description: Host automatically unlocks mastery over all domestic, culinary, and household management activities. The proficiency and secondary utility buffs of these skills scale dynamically based on the current affection level of each partner. Can be further upgraded using Fate Points.
Option 2: [The Fertile King]
Description: Passive conception rate optimized to an absolute 100% efficiency. Every single unprotected physical simulation guarantees the successful initialization of a new lineage thread.
Option 3: [Harem Bound]
Description: Upon achieving the maximum affection threshold with a female target and completing a physical validation ritual, the Host is permanently granted a single, core signature skill or attribute directly from that partner’s skills. Copied skills can be upgraded using Fate Points.
Eren stood dumbfounded in the void, staring at the text panels as if he were reading a highly corrupted patch note document accidentally left by game developers.
"Universal Househusband? You basically want me to spend the rest of my life doing laundry and baking cookies for a group of terrifying women. As much as I love the concept of never working a real job again, doing domestic chores is flatly not in my job description anymore. I am a wealthy, high-ranking noble now! No way am I trading my lazy aristocratic retirement just to become a glorified, submissive house husband."
He glanced at the second option and instantly shuddered.
"This shit is even dumber. A one hundred percent conception rate?! With the level of my horniness, even my ducal estate wouldn’t even have enough assets to cover the child support payouts within a single year. Absolute pass. Delete that option from the server."
Finally, his eyes drifted to the third panel: [Harem Bound].
He went quiet for a moment, analysing the min-maxing potential of the skill.
"... this one actually has high-tier utility. It means if I successfully manage the affection metrics of the girls around me, I can essentially copy their legendary traits? I can duplicate someone’s monstrous Swordmaster physical ability, copy someone’s magic spells understanding..."
It was a broken, highly exploitative synergy loop. The definition of a perfect backdoor exploit.
Letting out a long, dramatic sigh into the imaginary air, Eren pointed a finger at the third panel.
"Fine, you twisted, degenerate system. If you’re forcing me into the villainous harem route anyway, I choose Option Three."
[Selection confirmed!]
[Skill ’Harem Bound’ successfully integrated into the Host’s soul.]
[Welcome to the true endgame, Host. May your stamina never falter.]
Before Eren could drop one last sarcastic remark, the peaceful void around his consciousness instantly turned into a blinding, high-intensity white light that completely engulfed him.
***
Eren snapped his eyes open, sitting straight up with a jolt. His skin was covered with a cold sweat, and he drew in heavy breaths as if he had just been woken up from a fever dream.
He took three deep breaths; his racing pulse dropped back to normal. As the blinding white light faded from his retinas, he blinked and thoroughly scanned his surroundings.
He was back in his own bedroom; it seemed like it was early morning. Eren lazily looked down at his bare torso, only to find his chest and abdomen wrapped entirely in tight, clean linen bandages.
"Wow... talk about absolute déjà vu," Eren muttered to himself in an exhausted, raspy tone.
He experimentally twisted his upper body and a dull ache rippled through his ribs—courtesy of the muscle mommy. Aside from a minor, high-intensity headache throbbing right behind his temples, his body was entirely fine.
Click.
The familiar sound of the door latch caught his attention, shifting his gaze toward the entryway, fully expecting to see a remarkably voluptuous maid stepping into the room, pushing a silver utility cart.
The second Mira’s eyes locked onto him, she froze mid-stride, her hands violently trembling over the cart handle.
’Another complete déjà vu.’
But unlike last time, the maid’s large eyes instantly turned watery, brimming with heavy tears as her jaw began to shake.
"Young Master!" she shrieked in a high-pitched wail.
Abandoning the utility cart entirely, the voluptuous red-haired maid ran across the bedroom like a targeted heat-seeking missile. And Eren couldn’t even care to defend as Mira threw herself completely onto the bed.
Oomph.
With zero regard for his fresh injuries, she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying his face straight into the massive, unbelievably soft cushions of her heavy chest.
Eren muffled in pure, degenerate bliss, suffocating in a warm, premium-tier of soft skin with heavy perfume of a floral scent.
"You absolute, reckless, insufferable idiot!" Mira sobbed loudly, her tight grip threatening to finish his neck. "Do you have any idea how terrified I was?! You just collapsed..., looking like a corpse!"
Eren let out a muffled chuckle against her soft skin, grabbing her waist to gently pull her back by a few inches. "Alright, alright, stop the waterworks, Mira. Why are you crying like the world just ended? I was only out for a single night."
Mira instantly cupped his face, forcefully tilting his chin up to lock her tear-streaked, concerned face directly with his blue eyes.
"A single night?!" she yelled, an incredibly cute, frustrated pout breaking through her tears as she squeezed his cheeks. "You’ve been out for three days, you absolute menace!"
