cover is from gogle.
A perfect being.
A flawless existence.
An untainted presence.
Such a concept could only be deduced with subjectivity. It could only be perceived from a perspective.
Perfection could not exist. It's impossible. Everything had that gap which could be improved within themselves. But at times, we couldn't help ourselves but think that what we saw which vastly surpassed our imagination was the perfect example of such an imaginary, illustrious concept.
...Glowing silver hair flowed, overwhelming him. Virtuous, sparkling pair of violet eyes shined. With each simple thing that her figure harboured that even countless people combined couldn't compare...
Right now, he, Satou Kazuma, seemed to realise.
Perfection might not exist, but that's just the wrong way to perceive perfection.
Perfection was supposed to be perceived through a taste and preference of the mind. It wasn't a universal description that could describe anything with the same lining. Perfection depends on a mind, which it wanted to witness.
Perhaps, that's what Kazuma wanted to edge himself with, so that he could force himself to voice out the word he wanted to utter ever since he laid his eyes on such a being, and henceforth, he did, "Perfection."
His heart nearly burst out when the being giggled. Now, he hasn't looked down at his chest yet. It might already burst out.
"Oh, you're exaggerating," Voiced out melodiously from the being, with a tint of giggles coming out in between. Kazuma wondered, the voice seemed to form an imaginary force that keep pulling his heartstrings.
Love at first sight, what a ridiculous notion. Yet, Kazuma didn't have an ounce of strength to refute it. No, he might want to beat up the people who badmouthed the notion. They asked for a beating for sure, spouting such nonsense about this notion.
A ridiculous bunch!
"May I ask who might you be?"
The voice seemed to slow down because of how charming her voice swayed in the air, as it took a few seconds for Kazuma to perceive the things she said
"Satou Kazuma," Answered Kazuma, absentmindedly.
"Aiya, straight up to the name, huh?"
The being once again let out a girlish giggle, covering her smiling tiny, pink lips with her hands lightly. Her every gesture was filled with untold kindness and consideration. Filled with sensibility and understanding. Compassion.
Kazuma truly had no idea how could the being accomplish such a thing.
"Might I ask again, Satou-san, as to why would you sit on the threshold of the Holy Church's territory?"
This time, however, after receiving her words, Kazuma's brain fastened its pace hundreds of times. In less than a second, it sent signals to its owners for the fact that his surrounding was filled with structures deemed nonexistent in his era.
There, behind the being, stood a humongous church. It emits an unbelievably holy aura, getting reverence from the people who saw it.
But Kazuma didn't care about that.
His brain then starts to work up its paces yet again, urging its owner to focus on what exists at the corner of his eyes, almost forcefully. He did regardless, and was dumbfounded.
"A-Ah... W-Wahta...?"
How didn't he realize that besides the being was a humongous fire-breathing lizard known as Dragons? With a white-armoured female holy guard riding above it, which was supposed to be eye-catching?
"...Eris-sama, the ceremony required your presence. You are required for the ceremony to continue as the Cardinal of Eris's Church."
Hearing the holy guard's words seemed to make the being, mentioned as Eris by the holy guard, go sour. Her little face adorned a frown, but she didn't show it to the holy guard. However, she did show her face to him.
Kazuma was still in the process of perceiving his surroundings and contemplating his current condition when Eris, the being he deemed as perfection, slowly sat on her knees before him and slightly smiled, "Satou-san, I suggest you not be here, okay? I fear that if it was other than me who met you, you would already be confined and be forced to answer some questions."
Kazuma froze up, and then he nodded. His imagination already run wild when she mentioned confinement and such. Countless memories that encompass the word surged through his mind. Chains, whips, and cuts! A-and screams!
A shiver went through his spine. How lucky, for who is fated with him for the first time would be this being, a kindred soul, in this... this world?
The silver-haired girl before him then stood up before reassigning her silver dress, then, she looked at him. Her violet eyes gleamed, reflecting the sunlight the star emits in the sky.
Such an unbelievable being she is.
"See you next time, Satou-san."
An irreplaceable smile formed by her little pink lips forced his brain to engrave the scene onto the surface of it. Because it was too inexplicable. Something that Kazuma believes to be a scene comparable to natural occurrences.
Simply, it's beautiful.
Very, beautiful.
Suddenly, a major signal was sent by the brain. Noticing this, Kazuma impulsively obeyed and screamed out when the being almost turned her whole back to him, "Wait! May I ask what is your name!?"
He tried to sound polite and refined, but his lousy tone isn't really helping to support his intentions. But the being just let out a small 'heh' and with a soft tone, she replied to his question, "It's Eris, Eris Godfrey."
And with that, her entire being was surrounded by light. Her silver dress swayed in the air by a mysterious force seemingly from the light and her knee-length silver hair flowed in the wind, like waves in the sea.
Kazuma is just a normal human, a mortal living in a peaceful era and society. This sight, before him, is simply unimaginable. For him to witness it through his own eyes, it could be considered a chance that could only be stumbled upon when combining millions of millions of people's luck.
A phenomenon comparable to one that commenced once every millennium.
"Be grateful, boy. As Eris-sama has befallen her grace upon you, giving you salvation from carelessly trespassing the Holy Church's threshold. Now, please use this second chance in grace," A monotone, feminine voice falls upon his ears. He looked up and saw the icy blue eyes of the holy guard, who indifferently looked upon him.
With a flash, he was teleported out of the territory, getting thrown into the unknown.
"Fufufu, a person without a trace of mana capable of penetrating the Holy Church defence without alerting any holy guards and scouts? Sound so intriguing."
"He might be a clueless mortal who stumbled upon a loophole, Eris-sama. But thanks to him, we found out that our defence has developed a loophole initiated by our lack of maintenance."
"Do you even believe the words you've said?"
Receiving her Cardinal reply, the holy guard could only stay silent. The defence of the Holy Church used has been placed for centuries. Maintained by leaders of the Holy Church. The method has been passed down from generation to generation.
And only now that it was discovered that a loophole existed by a mere mortal?
It sounds so stupid.
"...Umm, maybe there was something intriguing about the boy, Eris-sama."
"Heh, my eyes never lie. Especially that pair of green eyes."
"Eris-sama, do not forget about the ceremony."
The silver-haired Cardinal groaned, scoffing in annoyance, "Tsk, a bunch of old fools who could maintain their positions only by living longer than their peers. Why can't they just mind their own business with those old, crinkling bones?!"
The holy guard covered her mouth with her hand, turning the sound of her laugh into coughs. Disrespect towards those old bishops is too much of a pain to deal with, not to mention the punishment. Eris could do so only because she was a Cardinal, a position that could be a candidate to be a Pope.
How could a pope candidate be compared to those old bishops who were more useless than their junior bishops?
"Ehem, Eris-sama."
"Yes, fine, fine! Just stop reminding me!"
The light once again returned. They enveloped Eris and the holy guard before it dissipated, leaving nothing behind.
-0-0-0-0-
«Eris Godfrey [ Rank S ] has developed an interest towards you»
[ None ] » [ Interest Lv.3 ]
"Oh, uh, wait, uh- fuc-"
Multiple directions to put his thought in were formed within his head to choose from, whether it was the world, Eris, this... notification, his surroundings, the reason he was here...
In the end, Kazuma leaned on the huge rock tiredly, looking up to the blue sky adorned by countless white, fluffy clouds.
First and foremost, he is Satou Kazuma. A 16-year-old boy who was dumped by society and was imposed by the people surrounding him to do his best. He already did, achieving the best of the best of his school. But by the greed of the people, it's not enough. Nope, not at all.
Tirelessly worked from morning to morning to achieve the best result from all of the subjects the school imposed on its students. Like a sufferable routine that could get him killed sooner, and unfortunately, he had no way to escape from the loop, back then.
On his sixteenth birthday, he went out of the house and forced himself to get on the bus even though he desperately need rest. For what? For a thing, a thing that kept him going.
Games.
A world behind a screen that he could escape to from reality. And it may be because the world took pity on him, but he died for the very same reason that he lives.
Now, here he was. Reincarnated, he believes.
A certain group of people desired it very much, but that's not even the best part.
«Interest of Eris Godfrey has been developed»
«Congratulation on the achievement!»
«Reward of Achievement › 2 Points of Upgrade, 1000 Affectum Points»
«Please choose which stats you wanted to upgrade!»
«Strength › F»
«Agility › F»
«Vitality › F»
«Charm › F»
«Talent › F»
A rectangular-shaped, azure, transparent screen materialised itself. Showing a template he was so familiar with. It contains familiar information, bringing a hurried gasp of shock.
Kazuma's green eyes reflected the azure light of the screen. So perhaps this is the payback? Of what he had suffered?
"Thank you."
He doesn't know who he was thanking, but he just did that. To express the insurmountable amount of gratitude that he held in his heart. Because he received something that outweighs the things he'd suffered. He was granted the thing that kept him alive back then.
...It's a game.
A game in real life.
Though he did see a couple of things on this strange screen.
It was a game, at least, it was similar to a game, but it... might not be as he expect it would be.
With an excited yet strange look windowed by his green eyes, Kazuma began to utilise the screen.
«Host»
[ Name: Satou Kazuma ]
[ Affectum Points: 1000 ]
[ Bond: 1 ]
[ Status ]
[ Exchange ]
«Click to extend information!»
Other than these things, there was nothing. Usually, you would expect something like help to clear out the confusion or maybe like a guide to navigating a player. But despite the similarities it had with games, it only showed these things.
Kazuma isn't completely lost. But he could only utilize what he currently had. So with only this in hand, he started to probe for anything from this screen. His index finger moved and was pressed against the screen. It went through, but something else happened.
[ Name: Satou Kazuma ]
«Host's name is Satou Kazuma»
"...Moving on."
Why did he expect more than this prior, anyway?
[ Affectum Points: 1000 ]
«Affectum Point is a currency of the system that the host could use to buy numerous items from [ Exchange ]»
«The host was required to initiate feelings from the people the host had an interest in to receive points. Contrary, if the host instead manages to push them away, the host would face repercussions. The lightest would be point decreasement and the worst would be death»
This time, Kazuma stood in silence. The way he could get this so-called point seemed to have the same lining with certain games he hadn't tried out. They're always the hot topic discussed by a certain group of people.
However, he's not happy. Because the repercussions of doing the opposite of receiving points had a chance to be punished by death. It was truly heavy.
Kazuma decided to make it so that he would be careful with who he placed his interest. One wrong step and he might die.
Nonetheless, Kazuma had to admit. The reward and the punishment are quite balanced. If he succeeded then he would rise, but if he failed, what awaits him is death.
With that weighing down his mind, he probes for another piece of information.
[ Bond ]
«Bond will show the people host had managed to develop certain feelings with»
«There are 5 stages and each stage contained 5 levels. Each development towards higher levels would be treated as an achievement»
«Stages: Interest › Acknowledgement › Trust › Love › Life and Death»
[ Current Bond ]
«Eris Godfrey [ Rank S ] ( Interest Lv. 3 )»
...Eh?
The more Kazuma looked at it, the more he perceived that this [ Bond ] option is very similar to a certain genre that he had read. It was interesting but it was usually a very narrow game, because it only focus on one thing.
And it bores him. And gives him some anxiety. Such a narrow game reminded him how narrow his path in life was when he was still attending school.
Kazuma decided to just move on, but before that, Eris's name caught his attention. Mainly her rank was gold in colour. With the newly-found curiosity, he probes some information from the option.
[ Eris Godfrey ]
«Incarnation of Goddess Eris, the Goddess of Fortune. Known for her kindness and compassion. But what lies beneath is just a young girl who was curious about how the world works.
-‹›-
With that, Goddess Eris decided to reincarnate herself as a normal born to experience life in a mortal world. But as the Goddess of Fortune, her fortune is too good, so even when she decided to be a normal born, she, instead, was born as the only daughter of the Pope. The same only daughter was born with talent so unimaginable that she was promoted to the Cardinal at the age of 16 without putting in an ounce of effort.
-‹›-
The incarnation of Goddess Eris is currently 16 years old, enjoying her peaceful life in the mortal plane.»
«Rank: S [ The road was filled with unexpected routes and twists to increase the host's bond with the subject ]»
"Eris... Godfrey."
Her inexplicable figure had already been engraved on his brain.
The beautiful silver hair swayed in the air and her violet eyes that glistened like the rarest of gems. She was truly a figure to behold.
It's magical. The feeling that Kazuma got from her. It's not lust, it's more towards a feeling akin to tender feelings. It was as if it was blasphemy to even harbour a single sinful thought of such a beautiful person.
The way she smile, the way she treats him, the way she motioned each of her moves and gestures, the way her hair swayed...
The deepest part of his heart trembled.
What a magical existence she was.
No wonder she was the Incarnation of Goddess Eris. Truly, a befitting title.
He did not need any explanation as to why such a person was deemed as a rank S. No, Kazuma even felt that it was an undeserved rank. She was supposed to be ranked as an SSS. Maybe even SSSS.
She was originally a Goddess, for God's sake!
Finally, Kazuma could only sigh inexplicably. He supposed a goal was already formed within his heart. Might be too fast and too far but life waits for no man.
Kazuma chuckled humourlessly. With no time to waste, he checked the next option.
[ Status ]
«Status is the descriptive way to explain the host's body condition in ranks»
«Strength is equivalent to physical strength»
«Agility is equivalent to physical speed»
«Vitality is equivalent to physical stamina»
«Charm is equivalent to physical attractiveness»
«Talent is equivalent to physical comprehension»
[ Physical Status ]
«Strength › F»
«Agility › F»
«Vitality › F»
«Charm › F»
«Talent › F»
[ Locked: Magic Status ]
«Requirement: Talent stat reached rank B»
[ Upgrades ]
«From rank F to rank E required 100 Affectum Points»
«Locked [ Upgrade 5 stats to rank E to unlock ]»
«Locked [ Upgrade 5 stats to rank D to unlock ]»
«Locked...
[ Upgrade Points: 2 ]
«Upgrade point could upgrade stats regardless of the requirement of [ Upgrades ]»
Now this, this is what he wanted to see and had expected it. Still, when positive expectations were on point with reality, the feeling is so exciting.
Kazuma felt like the repercussions that were previously mentioned aren't as scary as they appear to be. No, it could even be said that the reward heavily outweighed the repercussions! And he had even yet to open the [ Exchange ] option!
Yet another surge of excitement washed over his heart. It's time to check that out.
But before that, he looked over the [ Upgrades ] and was tempted to spend his points to upgrade all of his stats to rank E. And perhaps upgrade one of his stats to rank C with the help of [ Upgrade Points ].
However, [ Exchange ] would certainly need Affectum Points to be utilized. So he could only delay that intention for later.
It was too hasty to utilize [ Upgrade Points ] anyway. He knew next to nothing about the capabilities of E-rank stats, not to mention rank C! Who knows, he might kill himself by miscalculating the capability of a C-rank stat caused by his stupid antics.
A dumb way to die, certainly.
With that in mind, he went to check out the last option.
[ Exchange ]
«Exchange your Affectum Points for numerous items the system has provided for you!»
[ Recommendation ]
«Rank E Section»
»Swordsman Set ( Iron Sword, Sword Play [ Beginner ], [ Swordsman Class ] )«
› 300 Affectum Points
»Wizard Set ( Low-level Staff, Mana Manipulation [ Beginner ], [ Wizard Class ] )«
› 800 Affectum Points
»Archaic Roots ( Improve all stats under rank A by one rank )«
› 10000 Affectum Points
»Basic Spells ( Create Water, Earth, Fire, Wind, Lighting, Darkness and Light )«
› 100 Affectum Points
»Here to see other options!«
"Fuck!"
By now, Kazuma cannot contain his curses anymore. This option is too much! Too damn much!
He could even buy some roots that were capable of increasing every one of his stats by one rank as long as they were under rank A! Isn't that too much?
Tell me, isn't that too powerful?
And that's not even counting the Elemental Spells that would allow him to cast pretty much all of the elements. However, for such a thing, didn't he need mana though? No, before that, how to even cast them?
Kazuma blanks forth blankly.
"Ah."
When such thoughts intruded his mind, he began to realize.
There's one problem here.
Kazuma truly had no idea how this world actually works.
To solve it, he gotta go to the nearest town, village, or city. And to do that, he needs some self-protection in case some bored monsters appeared when he's on his way to the nearest civilization.
It was a pity, but for self-insurance, Swordsman Set is a must.
Being a swordsman is pretty common. The majority of villagers, according to his knowledge based on medieval-themed RPG games, would choose this class. Because it's cheap, and the requirements are not hard.
All you need is a sword and swung it.
It was the perfect class for Kazuma's current dilemma. He, who had no idea about mana and magic at the current moment, could only do this.
«Swordsman Set has been purchased!»
«Remaining Affectum Points: 700»
[ Iron Sword ]
«A sharp-edged iron forged into a sword. Capable of cutting tough meats and bones»
[ Sword Play ( Beginner ) ]
«A skill to master a sword. The Swordsman way is the sword!»
[ Swordsman Class ]
«A class commonly used by the villagers and such. Increase Strength, Agility and Vitality by half a rank»
«Strength › F» -› «Strength › F Plus»
«Agility › F» -› «Agility › F Plus»
«Vitality › F» -› «Vitality › F Plus»
The way the iron sword materialized from thin air was very mesmerizing. And the feeling intensified when he grasp the sword firmly. Such a real feeling materialized from thin air.
Not to mention the feeling of his stats being increased was transmitted into his very body.
He could feel a sudden force that entered his body, assimilating with his body. The sudden strength that filled his heart and his calves, is quite mystifying.
"What sorcery..."
With a sword in hand, Kazuma took in a heavy breath, looking towards the endless forest ahead of him. A feeling of unease, excitement and determination, all were mixed in his heart.
He took the first step of his journey. But even a million miles of journey needs a step to start it all.
In his eyes, there was a silhouette filled with flows of silver, adorned by a beautiful pair of violet gems and a curled-up pair of pink lips.
His green eyes gleamed mysteriously.
'I'm coming for ya.'
And there's that!
Heheh, please let me explain. You see, I agree that the best ship is Kazumin, no doubt about that. But if we talked about best girl-
It's obviously Eris. Huehuehue.
Anyway, that unimportant topic aside, I don't ask much from you readers. Just chill.
The characters in the prologue are not definite. After all, I add characters based on what I've uploaded. If the character had yet to appear, then of course I wouldn't add them.