Chapter 194: 194 | A Protagonist’s Build
〘 The Host appears to have resolved his hesitation. Does he wish to proceed with the trait reconfiguration? 〙
"Walk me through it. I want to see the final configuration before I commit."
〘 Acknowledged. Proposed reconfiguration follows. 〙
The display shifted.
〘 REMOVING: 〙
Boundless Stamina (Epic)
Sexercise (Common)
〘 INSTALLING: 〙
Ecchi Logic (Epic)
Devotion’s Echo (Legendary)
〘 ACTIVE SKILL ADDITION: 〙
Usurper (Legendary)
〘 FINAL CONFIGURATION: 〙
ACTIVE SKILLS (4/4):
Spectral Reach (Rare)
Blitz (Rare)
Lightning Cloak (Epic)
Usurper (Legendary)
PASSIVE TRAITS (6/6):
Sadism (Epic)
False Data (Uncommon)
Demigod (Legendary)
Ecchi Logic (Epic)
Musk (Uncommon)
Devotion’s Echo (Legendary)
I stared at the configuration.
Four active skills including an ability that could steal pieces of other people’s powers. Six passive traits including one that would bend reality toward romantic comedy scenarios and another that permanently linked my emotional awareness to Sloane.
This was the toolkit of someone who intended to win at any cost while building a harem on the side.
The System had finally given me exactly what it wanted me to have all along.
〘 The Host should note that this configuration maximizes combat flexibility and social optimization simultaneously. Active skills cover movement, defense, offense, and opponent capability reduction. Passive traits cover physical enhancement, detection evasion, situational manipulation, presence effects, and relationship maintenance. The architecture is comprehensive. 〙
"It’s a build designed for a protagonist in a story where the protagonist gets everything he wants."
〘 The Host is the protagonist of this story. The System sees no contradiction. 〙
"Confirm the reconfiguration."
〘 Reconfiguration initiated. 〙
The sensation was immediate and deeply uncomfortable.
Something in my chest shifted. Not pain exactly, but absence. Like a piece of furniture had been removed from a room I’d been living in so long I’d forgotten it was there. Boundless Stamina had been part of my baseline operating parameters since the first week of the System’s activation. Losing it felt like losing the ability to feel tired, except I could still feel tired, I just couldn’t ignore it the way I’d been ignoring it for months.
Except I could.
Demigod’s recovery rate kicked in like a secondary heartbeat. The fatigue I’d been carrying from the afternoon’s activities with Sloane began draining away at a rate that was visible if I paid attention. Not instant recovery. Just accelerated recovery. Fast enough that the difference between Boundless Stamina and not having it would be measured in minutes rather than hours.
Sexercise went next.
That one felt like nothing at all. The ability had been so passive, so integrated into my baseline response to intimate contact, that losing it was like losing a smell I’d stopped noticing. The absence registered intellectually without registering physically.
〘 Boundless Stamina removed. Sexercise removed. Installing Ecchi Logic. 〙
The new ability didn’t install.
It activated.
Reality shifted around me in ways I couldn’t quite see but could absolutely feel. The light through the window changed angles slightly. The shadows on the wall rearranged themselves in patterns that were technically random but felt designed. The ambient sounds from the common room below took on a different quality, as though the acoustic properties of the building had been subtly altered to make certain sounds more likely to reach my ears.
Women’s voices. Specifically.
The laughter of someone I didn’t recognize drifted up through the floor. The clatter of someone moving through the kitchen. The distant sound of a door opening and closing on the floor above me.
None of it was different enough to be suspicious. All of it was different enough to notice.
〘 Ecchi Logic installed. The Host now operates under modified probability parameters in all contexts involving registered heroines. Environmental factors will tend toward scenarios creating romantic tension, physical proximity, and compromising situations. This effect is permanent and cannot be consciously controlled. 〙
"I noticed."
〘 Installing Devotion’s Echo. 〙
The bond to Sloane had already existed since her Gauge hit one hundred percent. But this made it something else. Something more.
The warmth at the edge of my awareness sharpened into focus. I could feel her. Not her thoughts, not her specific emotions, but the general texture of her emotional state. Right now she was tired in a satisfied way. Content. Thinking about something that made her feel proud of herself.
Training, probably. She’d gone back to training after I left. Because of course she had.
The bond didn’t give me words or images. It gave me impressions. The feeling of her feelings, filtered through whatever mechanism the System used to translate emotional states into sensory data. Close enough to know when something was wrong. Not close enough to invade her privacy in any meaningful way.
It felt like standing next to a campfire.
Warm enough to notice. Not hot enough to burn.
〘 Devotion’s Echo installed. The Host now maintains permanent emotional awareness of Sloane Fitzgerald regardless of distance. This bond scales with proximity, providing more detailed emotional data when within fifty meters. 〙
"And Usurper?"
〘 Installing Usurper. 〙
This one hurt.
Not a lot. Just enough to remind me that I was adding something to myself that wasn’t supposed to be there. The ability settled into my active skill slots like a blade sliding into a sheath. Sharp. Waiting. Ready to be drawn when I decided someone deserved to lose a piece of themselves.
The sensation faded.
The display updated.
〘 Status 〙
Name: Lukas Belmont
(DP) 0
(SP) 10,432
[ Attributes ]
〘 STR: 100 | AGI: 100 | DEX: 100 〙
〘 INT: 100 | END: 100 〙
ACTIVE SKILLS (4/4):
Spectral Reach (Rare)
Blitz (Rare)
Lightning Cloak (Epic)
Usurper (Legendary)
PASSIVE TRAITS (6/6):
Sadism (Epic)
False Data (Uncommon)
Demigod (Legendary)
Ecchi Logic (Epic)
Musk (Uncommon)
Devotion’s Echo (Legendary)
〘 Reconfiguration complete. The Host’s current architecture represents a significant power spike relative to his registered Aspect profile. The System recommends careful management of capability revelation during institutional evaluations. 〙
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
The numbers were wrong.
I’d been looking at the Demigod bonus calculation and realized the display was showing my base attributes, not the modified values. With the twenty-five percent multiplier, my actual stats were one hundred across the board. But that was the modified number. The base was still eighty.
The display should have shown the base with a notation about the modifier.
Instead it was showing the modified total as though that was my fundamental capability.
Which meant either the System was simplifying for readability or the System was lying about what qualified as base versus modified.
〘 The System displays the Host’s effective capability rather than his theoretical baseline. This is by design. The Host operates at his effective capability, not his theoretical baseline. The distinction matters for planning purposes but not for performance purposes. 〙
"So my base is still eighty."
〘 The Host’s base attributes are eighty. The Host’s effective attributes are one hundred. Both statements are true. The Host should focus on effective capability when assessing his competitive position. 〙
One hundred across the board.
Triple digits in every stat.
And that was before factoring in Lightning Cloak’s active enhancement or Blitz’s movement multiplication or any of the passive effects that made me more dangerous than raw numbers suggested.
I was stronger than I’d been an hour ago. Not through training. Not through effort. Just through acquiring the right abilities at the right time and making smart decisions about which ones to keep.
The Scumbag System rewarded optimization.
I was getting good at being optimized.
