Chapter 2: System Initialization
The room atmosphere felt different, warmer and unfamiliar, but Cole didn’t notice the atmosphere.
He sat bolt upright in a bed that felt too soft, his hands immediately flying to his chest, then his throat, then his lap.
"No, no, no!" he hissed, his voice cracking. He slammed his fist into the mattress, the frustration boiling over until he actually started thumping the side of his head with his palm. "You absolute idiot! You pathetic, useless fool!"
The image of Shelly the raven hair, the way she had gripped him, the intensity of that backroom was scorched into his mind. He had been seconds away.
Seconds from finally shedding the skin of the "reserved kid" who never got picked, he was like a person with an attractive face but his aura was less than being unattractive.
"Was it the heart? The disease?" he muttered, his breath hitching. He’d always known his health was a ticking time bomb, but to explode then? Was too sudden and unplanned. "I died a virgin in a club closet. That’s my legacy. That’s my whole damn life, I have to go back, what if I kill myself will I go back to that same room?"
He curled into a ball, devastated, the weight of his own failure crushing him. But as he lay there, the "unfamiliarity" of the room started to seep through his grief. This wasn’t a hospital. These weren’t hospital sheets.
Suddenly, a massive surge of memories slammed into his brain. It wasn’t a gentle slide; it was a high-speed collision. He wasn’t just Cole anymore. He was Lucien.
His now self was very handsome, his hair was grey and long, his eyes hollow one was red and the other was greenish blue, he has a ethereal chiseled face, very handsome.
He gasped, clutching the silk sheets as his mind mapped out a new world, ranks magic. He saw himself in his mind’s eye, a mid-stage rank ’True Priest’ within the ’Priest rank’. A pure soul. But he was always bullied of being weak, this guy named Lucien wasn’t powerful.
"Reincarnation?" he whispered, his eyes widening.
"Fantasy? I’m... I’m a true-ranking priest?" With his knowledge he knew what the rank was, "He was even bullied of being in this rank, then what kind of useless reincarnation got to me, fate decided bad this time around."
"Would killing myself be impossible now?" Just as his mind was in chaos, he heard a voice that sounded neither like a man or a woman.
[Initialization sequence complete. Harem System is now online.]
"What the—? Who’s there?" Lucien jumped, eyes darting around the empty stone room.
*Calm yourself, Host. I am your Harem System. My purpose is simple: You conquer, you consume. Every woman you ’bond’ with grants you her essence, stealing her magical powers for your own, selfish but you will start making them to rank up when your rank is higher than theirs.*
Lucien’s jaw dropped. He stared at the air as if he could see the ungender voice. "A harem system? You’re telling me I get stronger by... by doing what I died trying to do?" A slow, disbelieving grin began to tug at the corner of his lips. "What the hell are you?"
*I am your greatest desire made manifest,* the voice purred. *Currently, you are Harem Acolyte Level 1. Because of your true Priest rank, I have granted you three initial Lecherous Skills: ’Incubus Gaze’, ’Scent of Compulsion’, and ’Silken Touch’.*
"Incubus Gaze? Silken Touch? Care to explain that?"
*Incubus Gaze: When you look at a girl in the eye, you’re basically hacking her brain. It forces her body to dump and want you all to herself, she will feel an invisible magnetic pull towards you unless you don’t want that.
Silken Touch: your hands are like magnets now. One touch sends a shiver through a girl that makes her brain go foggy and her body go sensitive. It makes it almost impossible for them to pull away from you and they will think about things with you that will make them feel something in-between their legs.
Scent of Compulsion: You smell like whatever a girl craves most. If you’re standing near them, they start losing their willpower without even knowing why and they will think of nothing but you. All these skills are deactivated unless you activate them yourself.*
Lucien barked out a laugh. "Those sound like something out of a smut novel. Do they actually work?"
*As of now, they only affect those who lack the will to resist your temptation. As you grow, so does your influence. But don’t get too cocky, Host. Your first mission is active: Steal the abilities of one woman within 24 hours. Failure will result in a rapid depletion of your HP. You will wither away and die. Again.*
"Wait, what?!" Lucien’s grin vanished. "Where am I supposed to find a woman in the next twenty-four hours? I don’t even know where the bathroom is!"
*Look closer, Host. You have two prime candidates under this very roof. A mother and her daughter. Your step-family. They are ripe for the taking. In this world, magic is everything. Steal their skills, and they will be yours to command.*
Lucien felt a jolt of electricity run down his spine. He wasn’t a saint. He was a guy who had just died from blue-balls and a bad heart. If the world wanted to play dirty, he was more than happy to join in.
Just then, the heavy door burst open. "Lucien! You’re awake!"
A girl in a blue and white academy uniform came charging in, hair green and eyes a clear emerald. She was his age, but her uniform was struggling violently to contain a pair of breasts so large they seemed to defy the laws of physics. This was his step-sister, Adeline.
*Holy...* Lucien’s thoughts derailed. *Who is this goddess? I’ve never seen anything that big in my life.*
Before he could say a word, she launched herself at him. "Oh, brother! We were so worried!"
She slammed into him, burying his face directly between those massive, soft mounds.
Lucien’s muffled protests died in his throat as he was smothered by the scent of peaches and warm skin. He was stuck, his nose pressed into the cleavage of his dreams, thinking, *Maybe this world isn’t so bad after all.*
She pulled back just enough to pepper his face with wet, frantic kisses everywhere except his lips. "Mom! Mom, he’s up! Lucien is awake!"
A moment later, a woman rushed in, she wasn’t actually a woman because she almost looked younger than her daughter.
She carried an elegance that made his pulse jump, her blonde hair cascading below her shoulder level, her blue eyes staring at him with sadness, she was so young. This was his step-mother. She threw her arms around him, hot tears hitting his shoulder.
"We thought we lost you, Lucien... the fever wouldn’t break..." Her big breast, big like her daughter buried his head in-between.
Lucien looked at the two of them, his heart softening for a split second before the System’s warning flickered in his mind.
"I’m fine, Mom," he said, trying to sound cool. "As you can see. No need to be so dramatic."
Adeline wiped her eyes, her chest heaving with every breath. "You have to hurry! Today is the Academy Entrance Exam. If we don’t leave now, you’ll miss the exams! Get dressed, now!"
"Okay, we’ll leave you to change, sorry it’s too sudden but you are running late today is the exam for the divine academy." The mother named Aurora said.
The two women hurried out to let him change. Lucien stood there, his hands trembling as he grabbed a pair of shorts. "System," he muttered. "I think you’ll have to wait. The exam comes first."
*Your time is ticking, Host.*
A sharp knock sounded at the door. He’d only managed to get his boxers on, his lean, toned chest still bare.
He opened the door to find Adeline standing there. Her uniform was tight, the buttons straining over her chest as she looked at him with wide, shimmering eyes.
"Can I... can I come in?" she whispered, her face flushing. "I want to help you get ready." Lucien looked at her, then thought about the 24-hour deadline and the "skills" he’d just been gifted.
A devilish, predatory grin spread across his face. "Actually," Lucien said, stepping back to let her in. "I think I’ll take back what I said before."
He closed the door behind her with a soft click. *
Sorry Former Lucien but she’s not myself sister.* Cole or rather Lucien thought in his head.*
