Arc 0 - Chapter 1 - Dear Sister, Let's Play A Game

"Have you finished?" Lilith asked Satan while braiding Maria's hair.

Satan swapped his fingers through the holographic screen which appeared out of nowhere. "Yes, I'm done." He sighed in relief and looked at Lilith. "I'll take the explaining of this one." He didn't say out loud that he feared his partner would traumatize the little girl even further.

After all, he also wanted a functioning host.

Lilith gestured for him to go ahead with a flick of her slender hand.

Satan cleared his throat and looked at the little girl in front of him- she was still sitting in Lilith's lap and her big doe eyes could have passed her for an innocent little girl if there was no dark glint in them.

"Well let's start off by telling you what my and Lilith's roles are in the system. We are the passive party- working behind the scenes. My specific job is the technological part of the system, which covers- worlds, rewards, points, etc... although I don't decide on them, I'm the one who reviews them and set them up. For example- when you'll decide which world you want to go in from the selection available to you, it will be the system itself that will generate them for you - but I'll be the one presenting and explaining them to you.

Lilith's job, however, is to guide you through the worlds and advise you. Our system's focus is Seduction, Manipulation, and..." Seeing the 10-year-old looking at him curiously, he coughed awkwardly. "We can get to that later. But what you need to know is that Lilith is a master of seduction and manipulation, she will be able to guide you the best in your missions.

As you already know, your role will be 'The Player', you will go directly into these worlds and complete missions. Some of these worlds can be very dangerous, but even if we really want to help you physically- Lilith and me will not be able to since we will have no physical body there, there can't be more than one soul who belongs to our job in these planes with a physical body.

Now let's get to the interesting stuff- when you enter a Game World, you will have one main mission you will have to complete. If you complete this mission, you will get the main currency of the system- S points and will complete the world. If you don't complete or fail at it- you will be sent to a punishment world."

Maria hugged her arms tightly. "Punishment...?"

Lilith giggled. "They are just a highly difficult world that most people can't complete. Since they are as their name- a punishment for not completing a regular world, you will not get a second punishment world if you don't complete the first one. Since the higher-ups give such generous rewards for doing a job well done, they also have to punish a failure, no?" Lilith messed with Maria's braid. "I like to think of them as a novelty experience."

Satan wanted to berate Lilith for scaring Maria even more and distracting her, but he also wanted to finish today's work quickly. "Sub-missions are the less important form of the main mission, even though there are many of them and they give S points, if you don't complete them the world would not fail and you won't get sent to a punishment world. In addition to S points completing them can also give you various rewards.

In addition to the main currency- S points, we have two other currencies- Charm points and Poison points. The way to acquire those points is entirely different than S points, With Charm points you can get them by giving a good impression to someone you interact with, meaning these points depend on the individual. For example- you are a daughter who helps her mother with her groceries, the waiter who serves you thinks you are beautiful, etc... It's important to remember however that this is solely on the people you interact with. Let's say that a man who passes you on the street thinks you are gorgeous- this won't give you points if he didn't interact with you.

The number of points you get can also vary by how much you affected the individual. With the example of helping your mother- let's say she had a good day and she is in high spirits, thinking she can easily carry everything and yet you still surprise her and help- it will give you 5 Charm points. However, if she had a tiring day at work and her arms and shoulders are sore, when you go to help her and she is highly grateful- you will get 10 Charm points.

The other set of points has the same method of acquiring yet is on the opposite scale entirely- Poison points are acquired by leaving someone with a bad impression of you. For example- you have a friend who has a crush on a boy at school yet she finds out he likes you, you rudely reject a guy who confessed to you, etc..."

Maria nodded, thinking about it in her little head. "So, Poison points will come from people who dislike me and Charm points from those who like me."

Lilith laughed. "Well, usually this will be the case, but not always. Let's take Satan's example- your dear friend likes someone yet she finds out he likes you instead. Those negative feelings for you at that moment are what give you the poison points. Yet, maybe you are an important friend to her who she will feel a little resentful towards yet still love."

Maria nodded in understanding, Lilith pecked her cheek as a reward.

"The three currencies have a different general theme to the things you can buy with them. S points play a big role before you enter a world, you can buy the character you want to play with them and sometimes even design their appearance with additional S points. You can also buy very important objects with them from the Main System Store.

Charm points have their own category store inside the Main System Store which is called 'Rose', the things you can buy with the Charm points navigate towards the more light-hearted side, Mainly beauty products, various good benefits, clothing, and jewelry..."

"Can't I just buy the things in the rose store in the regular world?" Maria wondered.

Lilith laughed a rolling belly laugh which earned a snort from Satan. "Those things are not like the trash in your world, sweetie. It's not just 'Day cream' or 'Vanilla perfume' but more of an 'A cream that will make your skin forever have no blemishes or wrinkles, keeping it pale and white no matter how much you go into the sun' and 'A perfume that will make anyone want to give you money or help you the minute they smell it'," She winked. "Even if you go into a Game world full of magic you won't find better options than ours."

Satan's sweat dropped as his partner sounded like an experienced saleslady. "The store for Poison points is called 'Belladona', things there has a bit of a heavier taste. Weapons, curses, and overall something for the harm of others you'll find in plenty.

For the Charm and Poison points, there is another way to acquire things- 'The Fortune Wheel', you set the wheel to the category of Poison or Charm and it will get you a random object from each store, the wheel can also surprise you with an object from the Main System Store no matter which currency you choose. Yet using the wheel can also become a double edge sword because the cost is randomized each turn, if you already became addicted to the feeling of gambling and suddenly the number goes up from 100 Charm points to 1,000,000 it is a very unfortunate thing which can affect your gameplay inside the world."

"Yes, the last thing we want is for you to become frustrated with not being able to gamble with the wheel and going to gamble with the actual currency you have in the Game world," Lilith leaned her head on her hand and yawned. "Thus setting yourself up for failure."

Maria bit her lips and nodded determinedly. "Okay, I promise to not spend willfully!" She pouted slightly. "Even if I really want to..."

Lilith covered her mouth with black hearts appearing in her eyes. "Ah! So cute!" She pinched Maria's cheeks together.

Satan cleared his throat. "We are ready to start."

Maria looked up at Satan in startle, shaking a little and hugging herself. Wasn't that too fast?

... Can't they start tomorrow?

Lilith looked at Maria with mirth in her eyes. "Scared, little one?"

Maria hesitated, looking at Lilith's eyes that read right through her. She nodded tremblingly.

Lilith uttered one word between her red lips: "Good."

Maria's eyes widened and looked down in realization.

She can truly become the most despicable human being next to them, doesn't she? Such a thought was so liberating.

Maria looked back at Satan, no longer hiding her crippling fear of the situation. Yet when she wasn't even trying to calm her fear as most do in such stressful situations- it became a little sinister looking. "Let's start."

Satan nodded and pressed a few buttons on the holographic screen. When he finished, a holographic screen appeared next to Maria as well.

"Take a look- this is your status," Satan instructed her. "You can also see the status of other people."

Maria looked at the screen with wonder.

Name: Maria Albert

Age: 10

Occupation: Elementary Student

Danger Level: F

Titles: None

Powers: NR (not relevant)

Skills: Studying (low), Gaming (low)

Special Skills (System Only): 0

Likes: Computer Games, Fancy Items, Money, Attention, Parents, Lilith, Satan, Sister, Sweets, Presents.

Dislikes: Being ignored, Bitter foods, Yelling, Nathan, Sister, People Favoring Her Sister, Humiliation, Birthdays, Matcha Tea ice cream.

Role: Player

S Points (SO): 0

Charm Points (SO): 0

Poison Points (SO): 0

Game Worlds Completed (SO): 0

Punishment Worlds Completed (SO): 0

System Achievements (SO): 0

System Inventory (SO): NR

Maria stared at her status with absolute dread. "It can't be..."

Satan observed Maria, trying to understand what upset her. Lilith lowered her head, no one could see her dimmed red eyes.

"How can I love her...?" A furious expression twisted her childish face. "I hate her!!!"

"Can't it be both?" Lilith asked with no expression. "Can't we love and hate at the same time?"

"No!" Yelled Maria. She took her favorite pencil case and threw it at the wall, wanting to throw more- yet when her hand reached her keyboard - she hesitated.

Maria knelt on the ground with an empty expression yet tears wouldn't stop- betraying her by telling the world how she felt now. Her anger and resentment were kept in a genie bottle inside of her stomach, sucking away her life force the more she stuffed it full.

"Why don't you throw it?" Asked Lilith.

"Dad..." Mumbled Maria.

Before she could mumble more, Lilith cut her off: "Well, it's not as expensive as the other one," Lilith held her chin with a thoughtful expression. "So it should be alright."

Maria's ears buzzed when she heard it, her eyesight was blurry from the tears as she took the keyboard and threw it as hard as she can on the wall- breaking all of the keys with a loud bang.

Satan glanced at the door and nodded. "It's a good thing I put a silence spell in advance."

Maria looked at her precious keyboard and sobbed miserably, putting her arms in the air- as if asking to be picked up. She didn't want to cry alone.

As she started to lower her aching arms, two slender yet powerful hands picked her up gently. Lilith cradled her head on her bosom, letting her sight be on the keyboard which was magically fixed and was put into place alongside the pencil case.

"Why must you be satisfied with second best? Why is the person you love and look up to treating you badly?" Lilith hummed, the rumble of her soothing voice from her chest making Maria relax. "And why do you keep loving them so?"

Maria shook her head, not knowing.

Lilith chuckled. "Perhaps we will never know- and is that so important to ask: 'Why?'. What will it benefit you?" Lilith stroked the head of the relaxed girl, lulling her to sleep. "Won't it be so much more fun to just make people give you the best instead? Destroying the life of the person who treated you badly?

Or better yet- making them so in love and obsessed they are unable to live without you? and then abandoning them?"

Maria nodded and cuddled even more into Lilith.

Lilith chuckled warmly, yet her eyes were so painfully cold. "Sleep, darling." She kissed the crown of her head lovingly. "Tomorrow will be a better day."

She put Maria to sleep and looked outside the window at the darkening sky. When she and Satan heard footsteps, they looked at the door to see Maria's mother peeking in.

As she saw her daughter sleeping peacefully with the lights still on- she chuckled and turned them off, raising the blanket a little higher so she won't be cold and kissing the crown of her head.

Lilith looked at Maria's mother with scorn in her eyes. Satan closely watched her eyes until the mother exited the room. "You are too invested in this."

Lilith hummed approvingly. "Perhaps," She looked at the little girl sleeping peacefully. "She has a lot of potential. But, without the right tools, she would be completely gobbled up with no mercy in this world."

"Well, she is asleep now. It is the perfect opportunity to bring her consciousness into the system space for a visit."

Lilith gestured her hand forward. "Lead the way."

Maria opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the bright light. She felt like she hadn't slept at all, yet her body was so light and with no tension as if she slept peacefully for a whole night.

As her eyes finally adjusted to the bright light, she was surprised to see herself on a bed inside a magnificent styled bedroom. The bed was stationed right in the middle of the whole room, unlike her usual room where the bed is in the corner. The room itself had the shape of a hexagon with tall windows that revealed the forest outside, the walls made of warm-toned orange wood with a high ceiling that led to a hexagon-shaped glass right above the bed- giving the whole room the natural light of the sun.

As Maria got up in wonder, her bare feet touched the fluffy carpet. She rubbed her feet on it slightly and looked at how it stretched to the whole room, making it the perfect place to be barefooted without getting cold.

A knock was heard on the door. Maria raised her head in alarm- she relaxed as she saw Satan coming in.

"Do you like the bedroom?" He asked Maria. "Is the bed comfortable?"

Maria quickly nodded. Satan smiled in satisfaction and gestured with his head to go after him.

She followed after the child who was much shorter than her, yet walked as if he owned everything there. When he opened the door once again, Maria couldn't believe the beauty in front of her eyes.

They were in the middle of a large forest, the green color surrounded them. The room they just exited was a small cabin, they were many more cabins with the same shape in the way in front of them- sitting on top of a beautiful turquoise river that was not very large in size. To get from one cabin to the other all one has to do is walk the wooden bridge that connects them.

Satan and Maria entered a slightly larger hexagon cabin, as they entered it seemed to be a living room with a fireplace that was in the middle of two large windows that showed small waterfalls that gave water to the river beneath them. Cozy couches with a not-too-small coffee table were placed in front of the fireplace. Behind them was a small dining table for four next to a small kitchen. From the kitchen, came a slight medicinal smell- Maria looked over and saw dried herbs hanging on the wall.

"Hello, my little darling," Lilith smiled at the both of them from the couch. "What do you think of your new spiritual home?"

Maria was a little entranced by Lilith's appearance. She was not so well-put as she was beforehand with the elegant black dress and smoky yet subtle makeup, yet she was still so beautiful.

Lilith was wearing a dark red robe with no shoes, her well-maintained toes were painted hot red just like her nails. She was spread on the couch in a comfortable position to read the book in her hand, letting everybody see a tiny glimpse of her cleavage. Her dark hair was in a loose braid and a pair of reading glasses made her clean face from makeup have a different kind of seductiveness.

Lilith laughed and patted the spot next to her on the long couch, covering Maria with a warm blanket as she sat next to her with a bright blush. Satan took the seat on the singular couch and worked with his holographic screen- most likely adjusting a few things.

"Do you want to see the rest of the cabins?"

Maria nodded eagerly to Lilith's words.

Lilith brushed her messy-from-sleep hair with her long nails. "Do you even know what this place is when you are so eager?" She chuckled at Maria's embarrassed face. "Well, it's nice that you like new things- but don't be too blinded by them. Remember that you could always get better things than what you currently have.

This place is The System space. From here on out, on nights and the times between worlds, your soul will be here while your physical body is resting or when we need to prepare for a new world. Here you can rest, browse physically in the stores without the need for the holographic program, and learn."

Maria looked up at Lilith. "What am I learning?"

"All sorts of different things, but the most important ones we will focus on are- Manipulation and Seduction." Lilith clicked her fingers, rain being to pour with clouds darkening the sky. "Rain is the best sound and environment to study in. Now, let's get you a nice cup of hot chocolate and begin our lesson on the basics."

After the lesson was done, Lilith and Satan took Maria to the next cabin which had a floor bath with a massage table and all sorts of good oils and skincare- this place was for relaxation.

After that cabin, they entered a completely empty one which puzzled Maria.

"Why is this one empty?" She asked as she held Satan's hand, the former held her hand as she expressed earlier the fear of falling into the water.

"Well, this is the Possibility Cabin. This place has many possible different themes - yet only two are unlocked now. To unlock the others - you have to buy them with S points or be lucky with the wheel." A true-born saleslady said. "One of the themes is the library."

The holographic screen of the system appeared before Lilith, she choose the 'Library' option.

Maria's eyes widened as she saw the small cabin change into a vast library with spiral staircases. The place was made out of warm colored wood just like the rest of the cabins but had a majestic feeling to it with the humongous windows giving a view to the forest.

"In here I'll give you many study books and it will be easier to have our lessons here than in the living room," Lilith sighed. "But since we don't have much time every night to cover both the lessons and your self-study, you can copy any book you want here into a physical book in your world- only you will be able to see its spiritual contacts, others will only see the physical book."

Now Lilith pressed the other option on the holographic screen- 'Mirror Room'.

The huge library disappeared and instead of it was a hexagon-shaped room with mirrors instead of walls.

Maria looked at her reflection and lowered her head. "What's the purpose of this room?"

This time Satan answered her. "This is the 'Mirror Room', but truthfully- it's the decision-making room. Here we will decide on the next world from the selective pile the system chose is best for your level. In addition, you will pick your desired character here and even alter their appearance to your liking. Yet as I said briefly before- Altering your character's looks or choosing the more advantageous character will cost S points."

Maria looked at Satan in confusion. "But you said we will do missions in my own world first."

Lilith came behind the little girl and returned her avoiding gaze back to the mirror. "Yes, but this is not the reason I specifically brought you here." She grabbed her slim chin, pointing it at the mirror and moving her hair back. Letting Maria look into her own gray eyes. "The reason I brought you here is that you can play with your appearance freely here for practice."

Maria's eyes gleam yet darkened after a second. "But it won't affect me in the real world."

Lilith shook her head. "No, it won't. Right now, and even after you decided on a physical body and entered a game world- you won't be able to alter its appearance with the 'Mirror Room', only with items from the stores."

Maria couldn't look into her own eyes in the mirror. "So why bring me here?"

Lilith smirked, her dark eyes becoming red once again. "Motivation," She clicked her fingers.

Maria's reflection blurred as a new one emerged- a new little girl appeared in the mirror.

The girl had curly blond hair that reached her waist, with big blue doe eyes that couldn't even watch the littlest of grievances or they will tear. Extremely pale skin with a pouty mouth and a defined cupid-bow that made her all the lovelier. She was dressed in a fluffy light-blue dress that had pink bows with a cute white hair band that had the exact same pink bow on top of it.

Maria instinctively looked down at herself. Her eyes, which were still expecting to see her pajamas, were shocked when they saw the same blue dress and blond locks in the mirror. She felt the pampered skin on her palms and hands and couldn't believe the experience of being someone else.

"Can you guess who this cute girl is?" Lilith leaned on one of the mirrors.

Satan also watched closely, wanting to hear Maria's answer.

"Her parents or caretakers must be rich," She fiddled with the well-stiched bows, not used to the sweet-toned voice she had now. "According to her clothing, it's an old European world - she must be an aristocrat."

Satan nodded. "Not bad."

"What is her role?"

Maria turned her head to Lilith. "What?"

Lilith's smirk never left her face. "What do you think her role is in the game world she is from?"

Maria held her smooth skin and thought deeply. "Perhaps... since she is really young and cute... the female lead in her childhood from a romance novel...?"

Lilith clicked her tongue. "She is a minor villainess who tried to seduce the male lead by being the friend of the female lead."

Maria sighed.

Lilith once again clicked her fingers, this time Maria felt an odd feeling in her lower body.

As she looked in the mirror once again when it showed a clear picture, she almost fainted from a whole different kind of shock.

Maria was now in an adult female body who was completely naked. She was an enchanting beauty with large breasts from the waist up, but from the waist down you could see the purple-blueish tail that was adorned with pearls.

The experience of being in a fully-grown woman's body (even if it's half fish) with a child's mind was extremely confusing, giving Maria a sense of a lucid-like state.

"What about now? Can you guess her role?"

Maria racked her head in thought, not caring her private parts were exposed to the two people who were with her- even if now they felt real and a part of her body. Satan and Lilith did not look the least bit disturbed at her naked state.

Maria couldn't fathom almost anything about this character. "Well, she is definitely from a western fantasy novel."

Satan looked at the holographic screen. "This is the female protagonist of an erotic game where she has to escape the pirate king who is in love with her with the help of many strange men."

Maria looked at Satan in confusion. "What's the difference between a world based on a novel and a game?" She asked in her new sultry voice. "And why are they all called 'Game world' then?"

Satan rushed to explain: "These worlds are the physical manifestation of a certain plot. It can be from many other things except games and novels. As for why they are called this way- is because you are going to 'play' in them."

Lilith once again clicked her fingers.

When the mirror cleared this time Maria was already tired from being shocked.

She was back inside a body of a familiar yet slightly different little girl. The girl had smooth and flowing silky black hair, her eyes were curved charmingly, and had long eyelashes, a cute upturned nose with a pouty small mouth, white and smooth skin that was covered with a black childish dress.

Maria looked into those familiar gray eyes and wanted to cry. She was herself yet... so beautiful.

"This is just a little example of what you can achieve," Lilith's smirk returned as she saw the greedy look her little host had on her face. "You can alter your features even more, just touch the mirror."

Maria touched the mirror and played with her looks, just like she is used to designing a character in her favorite video game. Long minutes passed and she was still not done to beautifying herself- she was addicted.

Satan sneaked a glance at the evil glint in Lilith's eyes and silently prayed for the little girl. "You can achieve all of that with items," He tried to pull the girl out of her trance. "You just need to earn points in the real world."

Lilith clicked her fingers one last time.

As Maria saw the mirror blur again and couldn't play design anymore, she wanted to get angry and demand it back. But the vision in front of her didn't let any words come out of her mouth.

"Can you guess this one's role?" Lilith pushed her glasses back a bit. "I'll give you a hint- this one is a very mean sister."

Maria looked at Theresa who looked back at her in the mirror with utter despair, she didn't want to look down at the hands who steal all the things that should have been placed in her own set of hands- all the presents they open eagerly, all the games they play with other children, all the hugs they warp around their parents.

Curiosity killed the cat. Maria looked down at her hands, her eyes focusing on the familiar beauty mark on her right palm- the one mom always says that brings good fortune home thanks to an old superstition she believed from her grandma.

Those blessed and hateful hands...

Maria took the right 'lucky' hand, watching the mirror with honey-colored eyes as she slapped herself as hard as she could.

Satan's eyes widened as Lilith's red glint dimmed.

Maria stood still, watching the red handprint on her right cheek. Her mind is telling her she is stupid- she wasn't really Theresa right now, she wasn't hurting her even in the slightest. The real Theresa is sleeping peacefully on her large bed, facing the pink computer she never used. The only person she is hurting right now is herself.

Maria's mind knew so, yet her raging heart...

She slapped her other cheek with the same force.

Maria opened her eyes once again, her morning clock ringing loudly. She reached her hand to turn it off, and yet another one beat her to it.

"Good morning," Satan greeted her, behind him was Lilith dressed in a new deep-purple dress. "We have many things to get to today, so get ready."