Business

"I both envy and feel sorry for the women you end up with in the future..." remarked Yoruichi, exhaling a fatigued but contented sigh as she reclined against Vahn in the bath attached to his room.

"No need to feel envious..." hummed Vahn, gently massaging Yoruichi's D-Cup breasts as he asserted, "Unless you're in a relationship with someone else, I'll pound your pussy whenever you please..."

"You're way too brash and cocky..." muttered Yoruichi, closing her eyes and entrusting her weight fully to Vahn. Part of her wanted to teach him a lesson for getting carried away, but as she had never had such passionate and satisfying sex before, she felt reluctant to get on his bad side.

"Only when I have private dealings with exceptional beauties..." countered Vahn, kissing the back of Yoruichi's head before plainly stating, "Though, I should warn you. I don't share. If you choose to get involved with me and I learn you're having sex with someone else, that's that...we would still be able to work together, but I don't do second chances..."

"Mmn...noted..." responded Yoruichi, followed by a lengthy but serene silence as she wasn't in the mood to chat or think deeply about anything. She still had many questions for Vahn, but at that exact moment, she just wanted to relax and enjoy the water's pleasant fragrance and comfortable temperature...

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"Hooo? Do our rooms and beds have a self-cleaning function? That's convenient," remarked Yoruichi, emerging from the bathroom wearing nothing but an oversized black turtleneck sweater and the dark purple lace panties Vahn had provided her as pajamas.

"Something like that," responded Vahn, unabashedly cupping Yoruichi's bottom with his middle finger gently caressing her slit as he asked, "You hungry?"

Crossing her arms and looking up and back at Vahn with narrowed eyes, Yoruichi looked like she wanted to lecture him before deciding against it. Instead, she responded with a curt, "I could eat..." before stepping away from him, her hips swaying as she meandered her way over to the dining table, sat down, and rested her left cheek on the knuckles of her left hand with closed eyes, making it clear she had no intention of lending a hand if he intended to cook.

After setting a Crimson Bapple in front of the dark-skinned beauty, Vahn sat down in the chair to Yoruichi's right, causing her to crack her eyes and gaze at the apple for several seconds before directing an unamused stare his way and asking, "Is this it...?"

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it..." responded Vahn. "Though, if there's a specific dish you want to eat, I have a wide variety available."

Rolling her eyes, Yoruichi grabbed the Crimson Bapple and took a bite, her slightly annoyed look disappearing and brows rising when its sweet juices suffused her mouth. She had thought it was an ordinary apple, but it was both delicious and revitalizing, alleviating her of the mental fog that had settled in her mind after enduring greater pleasure than she thought possible.

"What is this...?" asked Yoruichi, taking another loud, crunching bite of the exceptionally crisp fruit.

"It's called a Crimson Bapple," answered Vahn, sporting a relaxed smile as he explained, "It may resemble a perfectly ripe apple, but it's infused with a thread of spirituality, vesting it the power to alleviate hunger completely. It has a few additional benefits, but you can learn more about it and other specialty produce using the terminal in your room."

"Then I suppose, now that our other business is complete, we can get straight to business..." hummed Yoruichi, regaining her characteristically playful and self-assured smile as she sat back in her chair and asked, "Do you have any sway over who receives invitations to the Tower? If not, are you aware of the criteria the Administrator uses to send them out?"

"Yes and no to both..." responded Vahn, making a so-so gesture with his right hand as he clarified, "I was the one who decided to limit the first few rounds of invitations to heroic or generally influential figures who desire to incite positive change in their worlds. That's possible because each world has a predetermined but not fixed causal flow, commonly known as fate, karma, or destiny. The Administrator is able to perceive that flow, ensuring that no out-and-out villains receive an invitation."

"In other words, the Administrator possesses a degree of omniscience..." concluded Yoruichi, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"To a certain extent..." affirmed Vahn, nodding slowly before revealing, "But things kind of broke when we created the Tower. Now, the causality of countless worlds has been linked to the Tower, intertwined to form a singular thread. And the higher you ascend the Tower, the more unified that thread, granting those who manage to reach the upper Floors great influence over the fates of all linked worlds."

"Then, presuming someone could reach the Tower's zenith, they would become a God ruling over everything...or am I mistaken?" asked Yoruichi, her expression uncharacteristically serious.

"No, you're one hundred percent correct," confirmed Vahn. "The caveat is that, for someone to reach the Tower's zenith, they would already need to possess the power to rule over all of Creation. Reaching the peak doesn't grant you the power and right to rule. You need to obtain both to reach it."

"I see..." muttered Yoruichi, rhythmically tapping the dining table with her right index finger. She, like many from her world, believed it was best for no singular person or entity to stand at the pinnacle, but after witnessing the power of individuals like Saitama and Medaka and learning about the existence of a broader multiverse, she couldn't fathom the might needed to occupy or restrain someone in such a position...

Deciding to change topics, Yoruichi met Vahn's gaze and asked, "You can travel freely between the worlds linked to the Tower, correct?"

"Technically speaking, a world doesn't need to be linked to the Tower for those like myself to travel to it..." corrected Vahn, shaking his head before adding, "But there are very few of us and a functionally infinite number of worlds. You could argue the Tower was created to increase our numbers, but its true purpose is what I told you last night: helping people grow and network."

"Mmn...I'll take your word for it..." responded Yoruichi, exhaling from her nose. Based on their limited interactions, she could infer that Vahn wasn't evil; rather, he seemed extraordinarily simple and unpretentious. However, the laissez-faire attitude he and those like him seemed to hold toward the Tower was bound to invite innumerable problems...

Catching Vahn off guard and causing him to raise his right brow, Yoruichi, after several seconds of deliberation, proposed, "Let's make a deal. If you can arrange things so that no additional invitations are sent to individuals from my world without my foreknowledge or approval, I'll let you fuck me whenever the mood suits you..."

Shaking his head, Vahn asserted, "As tempting as that is, I can't agree to it. Not because I don't want to, but because—unless you or the other person who received an invitation invite someone or perish, no additional invitations will be sent. In other words, it's up to the two of you to decide who from your world is worthy of entering the Tower."

"You're a remarkably honest person..." remarked Yoruichi, narrowing her eyes and smiling playfully as she appended, "If you hadn't revealed that and simply agreed to my terms, you could have bedded me whenever you pleased."

Adopting a smile of his own, Vahn countered, "I'm reasonably certain this won't be the last time we hook up, but even if it is, I'm not exactly hurting for female companionship. That's another thing you should keep in mind if you decide to continue these trysts. I don't regard myself as a womanizer, but I get around and have multiple fiancees..."

"No surprises there..." remarked Yoruichi, exhaling a faintly huffy sigh from her nose before standing up, performing a protracted stretch, and adding, "Anyways, I'm exhausted. Let's hit the hay..."

"Sure," responded Vahn, rising and immediately following after the buxom, bronze-skinned beauty. He wasn't even a little tired, but he wasn't one to refuse spooning or cuddling with a beautiful woman. Fortunately, he could check his messages even with his eyes closed, so with Yoruichi serving as his little spoon, his bulge nestled between the cleft of her voluminous and extraordinarily toned ass cheeks, Vahn spent the rest of the early morning reviewing and responding to Tanya's wall of text before chatting with her, Nami, the eager-to-meet Roxanne, and many others...

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After parting ways with Yoruichi, who claimed she had some things she wanted to look into, Vahn made his way to the safe zone's lounge. As a courtesy to new Ascendees and to promote socialization, all food and drinks were free between 5 and 9 AM, so he planned to grab a bite and see who approached him.

Entering the lounge, Vahn was somewhat surprised to find it was mostly empty. However, as it was only the second day, he assumed most people were either exhausted from their first Dungeon exploration or unaware of the lounge's benefits.

"Oh, hey, if it isn't the big boss himself. Here to grab a bite to eat...?"

Turning to the person who had spoken, a teen or a young man with spiky, dark blue hair, light blue eyes, a medium build, and fairly modern clothes, consisting of an anime-themed t-shirt, a blue and white windbreaker, dark blue shorts, and predominately blue sneakers, Vahn briefly raised his right brow before smiling as he asked, "And you are...?"

"Hizutome Rakuro of SF-2439. Though, in all but a few situations, I prefer to go by my gaming handle, Sunraku," responded the youth, shifting the plate he was carrying to his left hand before extending his right for Vahn to shake.

Reciprocating the gesture with a nod, Vahn responded, "It's nice to meet you, Sunraku. Have you been enjoying your time in the Tower?"

"Are you kidding me, man? This place is next level compared to the other virtual worlds and trash games I've played," responded Sunraku, grinning as he asked, "But how did you or the company you work for pull this off? I don't even remember putting on a headset, and the graphical fidelity and tactile sims are absurd."

Blinking in surprise and tilting his head, Vahn asked, "You believe this is a virtual world...?"

"I mean, isn't that obvious...?" responded Sunraku, scratching his head as he reasoned, "It's not like spirit transmigration or traveling to other worlds is actually possible. And even if it were, how would you implement a game system in reality? That said, your UI could use some fine-tuning. It's easy to navigate and customize, but the HUD elements take up too much of the player's field of view. And the pain setting is way too intense with no way to adjust it. That's a violation of the Player Safety Act, so you need to fix it ASAP if you want to avoid a mountain of lawsuits."

"I appreciate the feedback, but this isn't a virtual world," asserted Vahn, avoiding a feeling of incongruency as he no longer regarded Invirtua as a purely virtual setting.

Raising his hands and shaking his head in mock exasperation, Sunraku, maintaining his smile, responded, "If you say so, man. Can't say I didn't warn you."

"Ah! I didn't expect you to be here...!" exclaimed a soft, child-like voice, unsurprisingly belonging to an inordinately short and bespectacled girl with pale green eyes, blonde pigtails, and a somewhat formfitting black, brown, and beige outfit that made her look like an archeologist or a cave explorer, complete with a beige-brown miner's helmet.

Adopting a friendly smile, Vahn greeted the girl by saying, "Good morning, Riko. Did you still have more questions you wanted to ask?"

Holding up her balled hands and nodding enthusiastically, Riko revealed, "I want to know everything there is to know about the Tower, how it was made, and the many unique plants and animals that inhabit it before I set out on my own journey back home! Please teach me...!"

"Certainly," responded Vahn, offering an affirming nod before turning to Sunraku and adding, "You think the way you do because the world you originate from has VR technology. The vast majority don't, so unless you believe everyone else here is an NPC, you'll need to come to terms with the fact this is reality. If you can't, the simplest way to ascertain the truth is to return home. Unless you believe we've simulated your entire life and programmed a bunch of NPCs to behave like everyone you know, you will quickly realize the truth once you confirm you have access to the Tower's System and functions even in your world of origin."

"That's a pretty persuasive argument..." conceded Sunraku, a slight frown marring his face. The truth was that he had already determined that what he was experiencing was real, but it was so inconceivable that he refused to accept it...

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