1 Becoming the User of the Harem System
This story is about me. My name is Rio Finns, and I am a 19 years old college student, who grew up in a middle-class home with strict yet caring parents, a 14 years old little sister, and a 9 years old little brother.
I had a girlfriend, but we broke up. After we graduated high school, we attended different colleges in different cities. We were not confident with a long-distance relationship, hence the break-up. I am single now.
Speaking of my appearance, I have an exotic and above-average look, thanks to my mixed genes. My father is Caucasian while my mother is Orient. I have black hair, green eyes, and a fit build. My height, 177 cm. Lastly, I am a proud Otaku, or is it called Weeb? Whatever. You can call me whatever you want.
"See you tomorrow!"
"Yeah! See you tomorrow!"
My friend bid his farewell, to which I replied with a friendly grin and a wave of my hand. We have walked out of the college building side by side, though we separate to our respective destination.
After we got separated, I head for my apartment, leaving the college area. There is a busy road with vehicles passing by. I walk on the busy roadside and make my way to my destination, minding my own business. I live in a cheap apartment near the college area since my first day I was accepted into this college.
Five minutes later, I enter an alleyway to get into my destination. Not long after I entered the alleyway, I hear a shout.
"Outta my way!"
I turn at the source of the shout and see a man wearing a black jumper, black jeans, a pair of sneakers, and a helm covering his face. The suspicious-looking man is holding a butcher knife in one hand. His other hand is holding a purse.
'Robbery?! Wait! I'm on his way!'
After I realized what is happening, I decided to get out of the robber's way, but I slip off because of a small pebble behind me. Losing my balance, I fall away, and my arms flail helplessly. Soon, my head hits the old fence behind me. It is an old fence, which has been chipped by rain and other elements.
I am unlucky because my head hits the sharp, chipped edge.
The last thing I remember before the darkness swallows me is the sharp pain on the back of my head.
.
.
I am in a dark place, floating here—wherever here is. Time seems nonexistent in this place. I name this place the "void".
I am feeling numb, and it makes me feel empty. The empty feeling helped me accept my death rather easily. I can't feel my body, so I assume I didn't have one. Moreover, I realized that there is nothing to do in this creepy place.
Is this void the afterlife? I once asked that question to myself. But, there was no answer to my question. I assumed I was in the afterlife.
And I am certain of a single truth. This void sucks!
After an indeterminable time passed, something happens. A cobalt blue screen pops up in my field of vision.
[New User, found. Requesting, would you like to be the User of the Harem System? Y/N]
The appearance of the screen, the situation that I found myself in, and everything else reminds me of my favorite fiction and fanfiction: the ones with the protagonist who obtained a system after dying.
It is when I feel something again after an indeterminable time passed by in this crappy place. I feel a powerful desire to leave this void.
Although the empty sensation in me helped me endure the nothingness of this void, I prefer the more alive and vibrant place. This void is deader than dead. Nothing can exist in this void. For an unknown reason, I am the exception to this.
So, the system is called the Harem System, huh? I mused wordlessly.
To be honest, I won't mind having a harem. As a self-proclaimed man of culture in my old life, I had once dreamed of having a harem as one of my adolescent's fantasies. Thus, I pick up the "Y" option easily.
[Alert: Successfully become the new User of the Harem System. Access your status screen by simply desiring it out.]
I follow the instruction on the screen and then see another screen popping up in my field of vision.
— — —
User Name - Rio Finns
Race - Spirit
Origin - Void
Tier - F
EP - 10/10
Vitality - N/A
Acuity - F
Strength - N/A
Energy - F
Tantric Points - 0
Skill - [Mental Protection - SSS], [Lovemaking Mastery - SSS], [Mind of Void - SSS], [View Affection - F], [Inspect Status - F], [Self-Healing - F], [EP Recovery - F]
[(Status)] [Storage] [Shop] [Companions] [Records]
— — —
The content of the status is little, but I don't mind the simplicity. The attributes use alphabetical letters, instead of numbers like what often appeared in this type of fiction and fanfiction.
I concentrate on the "Tier" attribute and mentally request for an explanation or whatever that can help me understand it better. Within moments, a small screen pops up.
[Hint: Tier - this attribute displays the rank of your existence. There are nine ranks in total: from the lowest to the highest, they are as follows: F → E → D → C → B → A → S → SS → SSS.]
There is still more, and I find that the explanation is exasperatingly long. Luckily, my numbness helps me go through the whole deal apathetically. I will sum it up.
There will be a qualitative increase in my statistic attributes after I upgraded my Tier. By the way, statistic attributes use the same ranks with Tier: 9 ranks from F to SSS.
F is roughly around the average prowess of a male human. Then, within "Tier - F", E rank statistic attributes are equal to 2x of the average prowess of a male human, D rank is 3x, and so on until SSS at 9x of the average prowess of a male human.
Although F ranked stats at "Tier - E" is equal to 10x, E ranked stats at "Tier - E" is equal to 20x instead of 11x. The value will be multiplied by ten times after the "Tier" attribute got upgraded. That multiplier is stacked. After quick math, SSS rank stats' value at "Tier - SSS" is equal to 9,000,000x of the average prowess of a male human.
What does it mean? If the sprinting speed of an average man is roughly 32 km/h, at the highest stats of the highest Tier, I have the potential to move with the speed at roughly 288,000,000 km/h. Perhaps, with a skill that augments my speed, I can surpass the speed of light!
I dismiss the screens and return to my status screen. I concentrate on the next attribute.
[Hint: EP - it is an abbreviation of Energy Pool. This attribute displays the quantified reserve of your inner energy. It depends on Energy statistic.]
After I became certain that focusing on an attribute of my status will display its information, I decided to check out the detail of other attributes one by one.
[Hint: Vitality - this attribute displays the quantified maximum potential of vitality and stamina.]
[Hint: Acuity - this attribute displays the quantified maximum potential of mental acuity. It also affects control over inner energy.]
[Hint: Strength - this attribute displays the quantified maximum potential of physical strength.]
[Hint: Energy - this attribute displays the quantified maximum potential of energy production. F rank Energy at Tier - F = 10 EP. When Tier got upgraded, the amount of EP will multiply by ten times. The 10x multiplier is in effect with each increase of Tier.]
[Hint: Tantric Points - You will be rewarded with Tantric Points when the sexual partner obtained orgasm. This points can be used for upgrading stats and Tier, purchasing something in the Shop function, etc.]
[Hint: Skill - this attribute displays acquired skills and their rank.]
With the detail of status behind me, I check out the detail of each skill next…
— — —
[Mental Protection - SSS]
This skill protects the User's mind from all attempts of mind reading or mind control.
Consumption: - (Passive)
Rank UP: - (Max)
— — —
— — —
[Lovemaking Mastery - SSS]
This skill grants an intuitive understanding of how to pleasure the User's sexual partner.
Consumption: - (Passive)
Rank UP: - (Max)
— — —
— — —
[Mind of Void - SSS]
This skill grants an absolute control over emotions and a perfect memory recall.
Consumption: - (Passive)
Rank UP: - (Max)
— — —
— — —
[View Affection - F]
This allows the user to see the affection of the skill's target in many shades of pink color. The darker shade means negative affection, and the lighter shade means positive affection. Because of this skill's rank, this skill can only affect "Tier - F" targets.
Consumption: 1EP
Rank UP: According to Tier
— — —
— — —
[Inspect Status - F]
This skill allows the user to see the status of the skill's target or information of an object. Because of this skill's rank, this skill can only affect "Tier - F" targets.
Consumption: 1EP
Rank UP: According to Tier
— — —
— — —
[Self-Healing - F]
This skill increases the User's vitality and stamina recovery speed. It activates automatically when the User is resting, relaxing, or meditating.
Consumption: - (Passive)
Rank Up: According to Tier
— — —
— — —
[EP Recovery - F]
This skill grants (10% of Max EP)/min recovery. It activates automatically when the User is resting, relaxing, or meditating.
Consumption: - (Passive)
Rank Up: According to Tier
— — —
Mental Protection and Mind of Void is OP! And I can see how useful Lovemaking Mastery will be when I need to farm Tantric Points. Granted, they are SSS rank skills. The rest is at F rank, though their rank will rise following the increase of my Tier.
With the Status function behind me, I check out other functions of the system and discover their functions.
The Storage function is like an Inventory function in RPG. There are 10 slots at "Tier - F", and each slot has a 10x10x10 m dimension without the weight limit. Alas, it seems I can't keep a living creature in the Storage function. Not even plant unless that plant is dead.
Some plants are considered dead if I clean up the root, but there are some plants that are still alive without roots. I guess I will think about it deeply later. At the very least, anything put inside it is frozen in stasis. It is useful for keeping perishable.
The size and the amount of the slot of the Storage function will increase after I upgraded my Tier. The size will increase by ten times, and ten new slots will appear after my Tier got upgraded.
The Shop function has many things, and I discover something interesting after I skimmed the bookmarked items.
Why do things from anime and manga exist there? I asked the system.
[Hint: They are items bookmarked by the previous User.]
After I read that, I am curious about my predecessor before me. What happened to my predecessor? I asked the system.
[Hint: He was exterminated.]
You mean dead?
[Hint: Affirmative.]
How in the hell had he died?
[Hint:…]
From the system's long explanation, I discover that my predecessor before me had chewed more than what he could do. I didn't know nor did I care about his reason for doing so, but he had r4ped a goddess from an unknown immortal cultivation Record. The goddess's friends and relatives discovered what happened and hunted him down. In the end, they killed him.
Personally, I believed that he had reaped what he had sown. I will never claim myself as the paragon of justice and the epitome of righteousness, but I dislike action that harms other people without proper justification. I am a strong believer in karma; with every good deed that I have done, it will be rewarded, and the bad deeds that I committed will be punished.
I will not mind fighting back—and perhaps kill—someone who attacks or attempts to kill me. But, I will not go out killing others for no reason. Although I obtained this Harem System, I will not go out mind-controlling all attractive women whom I fancy. I will only push them down after I got their consent. It is the basic decency, after all.
I inspect the Companions function next. It looks like a party function in RPG. To register a new Companion, I must pay some Tantric Points. The price is according to the Tier of the candidate.
There are no limits to how much I can have Companions, though the system advises me to use this function only for my harem. And speaking of a harem… I am not going to create an outrageous harem like the Emperor of Ancient China. Perhaps, six women at most? At the very least, that is the plan. I do not know what will happen in the future and let the future version of myself deal with it.
Lastly, I check out the Records function, which displays the list of the other worlds that I can visit. Most of the worlds bookmarked in the list are fictional worlds of anime, manga, and novels. My predecessor was really an Otaku of Japan pop-subculture and some Xianxia stories.
After I completed my inspection, I decided to focus on the next matter. It looks like I am going to resurrect in one of the worlds listed in the Records function. Apparently, the first 'jump' to my destination is free. After that, I need to spend my Tantric Points. The price is according to the Tier of the Record.
I think about my decision carefully. I need a destination that can help me farming Tantric Points easily, meaning that a world with easy girls and women. I am tempted to pick up a world based on a Hentai fiction, but I quickly banish that thought. I want to have a romantic bond with my "Dual Cultivation" partner if I must collect Tantric Points through coitus.
My contemplation and search resulted in the Sekirei Record. This Record is designated as "Tier - F~E". Meaning that there are no lifeforms at "Tier - D". Other than that, I pick it up because Sekirei is easy to fall in love with and immediately becomes loyal and devoted to their Ashikabi after their "emergence".
["Sekirei Record" is set as your first destination. Do you want to proceed? Y/N]
I choose the "Y" option without a second thought. I'm certain about my choice.
[The destination is set. The cost is 0TP. You will be sent to your destination in "10"…]
It looks like I need to wait for 10 seconds. Until the countdown hits zero, I make myself comfortable.
Finally, the countdown becomes "0", and my second life begins!
