"The rain seems a little bit much today" A black-haired teenager mumbled as he adjusted his umbrella so it shaded him well.
He was dressed in a uniform and was wearing a school bag which pointed out the fact that he was on his way to school.
"Tsk, why did I have to wake up late today" He mumbled to himself once more as he waited for the traffic light to turn red so he could cross.
This young man was named Axel, a second-year high schooler who had nothing short of an ordinary high school life.
He wasn't normally this late but today seemed to be a bad day for him.
"Tsk, why won't it just let me pass already" He said to himself in an annoyed tone as he stared at the traffic light eagerly.
Suddenly a speeding car seemed to have left the road and made its way towards him on the bystand.
"What the..." He mouthed with shocked eyes as he stared at the incoming car, somehow he managed to jump just in time before it hit him.
"Ha... Ha... Ha" He respired heavily as he slowly picked himself up from the cold and wet concrete floor.
He could hear his heart beating heavily, never in his life had he expected such an event to take place.
He was shocked at how he instinctively reacted but he was also thankful.
-Tzzz!
-Tzzz!
-Tzzz!
Three lightning strikes made their way towards him, he couldn't even react before his body had been struck by it.
"Shit..." Was the last word he could utter before his burnt body fell to the floor cold and black.
---
"Tsk, what the fuck is this place?!" Axel shouted, anger and confusion lingering in his voice.
He had been in this dark space for more than ten minutes now, it was making him go crazy.
He also wasn't a fan of the dark so being in this space made him want to freak out.
[Welcome young one]
Suddenly a voice sounded, piquing his attention. Normally he would have been overjoyed to have company but given the circumstances he was deeply suspicious.
"Who the hell are you?" Axel questioned, his voice sounding distant and guarded.
[Oh, I apologize — let me reintroduce myself]
As the voice spoke, a beautiful and impossibly gorgeous woman materialized before him. She was draped in dark, flowing garments that left very little to the imagination, her silver hair cascading down like moonlight against her pale skin. Her eyes were an unsettling shade of violet, gleaming with an otherworldly amusement that made Axel momentarily forget his situation entirely.
Momentarily.
[I am Lilith, the Goddess of Death — and the one responsible for your... untimely passing]
Axel blinked. Then blinked again.
"Wait." He pointed a finger directly at her, his voice dropping dangerously low. "You're the one that struck me with lightning?!"
[Yes, but it was an honest mistake] she replied, her tone carrying not even a sliver of guilt as she elegantly examined her own nails. [My world management panel seemed to be lagging a bit. I randomly tapped the lightning option three times and... well, you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time]
"..."
Axel stood completely speechless. The sheer audacity of this woman — this *Goddess* — was something that no words in any language could properly address. She spoke about killing him the same way someone would talk about accidentally double-tapping a like button.
"So let me get this straight." He pressed his fingers to his temples. "You killed me. Because your screen was lagging."
[When you say it like that it sounds rather bad]
"It IS rather bad!"
[You're quite loud for a dead person] Lilith remarked, tilting her head with a small amused smile pulling at the corner of her lips.
Axel opened his mouth. Then closed it. He was arguing with the literal Goddess of Death and somehow he felt like he was losing.
He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to calm down before he gave himself a second heart attack — though he supposed that was no longer anatomically possible.
"Fine." He crossed his arms. "So what now? You just drag me here to apologize and that's it? I'm just dead?"
[Of course not] Lilith replied, and this time something shifted in her expression. The playfulness was still there but underneath it was something almost... sincere. [I am a Goddess, not a monster. Killing an innocent soul by accident is no small matter. Which is why I intend to compensate you rather generously]
She raised one slender finger and the darkness around them bloomed to life.
A translucent blue screen materialized in front of Axel, glowing softly with structured text. His eyes widened instinctively — he'd seen interfaces like this before, but only inside games.
---
◈ STATUS SCREEN ◈
Name: Axel
Title: The Harem Overlord (Locked)
Race: Human
Level: 1
Class: Monster Tamer (Unique — SSS Rank)
Skills:
- ▸ Tamer's Dominion — The ability to form deep bonds with monster-type beings, accelerating trust, loyalty, and affection at an extraordinary rate.
- ▸ Sovereign's Aura — A passive pressure that commands respect and draws the attention of those around you, particularly women.
- ▸ Beast Tongue — Grants the ability to understand and communicate fluently with any creature regardless of species or language.
- ▸ World System — Grants access to quests, rewards, and status tracking in the new world.
Special Trait:
- ▸ Goddess's Favor — Blessed directly by Lilith, the Goddess of Death. Grants resistance to curse-type attacks and an unnaturally strong constitution.
---
Axel stared at the screen for a very long time.
"...Monster Tamer." He read aloud slowly. "Harem Overlord."
[You're welcome] Lilith said brightly.
"I didn't say thank you."
[You were thinking it]
He absolutely was not thinking it. He was thinking several other things, most of which were not polite. And yet despite himself, Axel found his eyes drifting back to the status screen, scanning over the skills again. *SSS Rank Unique Class. Sovereign's Aura. Tamer's Dominion.*
He'd spent years grinding mediocre stats in video games. Some part of his brain — the deeply embarrassing part that had logged over three thousand hours across various RPGs — was already calculating exactly how broken this build was.
"This world you're sending me to." He said finally, his voice deliberately casual. "You mentioned it's populated mostly by women."
[Overwhelmingly so] Lilith confirmed, clasping her hands together with the expression of someone who had gift-wrapped something they were very proud of. [It is a world full of beautiful and powerful monster girls — beastkin, lamia, elves, demons, dragons and many more. And you, Axel, have been given the singular gift of taming them]
"Taming." He repeated flatly.
[In every sense of the word] she replied, and the smile she gave him this time could only be described as deeply mischievous.
Axel looked away first. He refused to acknowledge the heat creeping up the back of his neck.
"Alright." He said after a beat, squaring his shoulders. "I'll accept your compensation. But I'm not doing this for you — I'm doing it for myself. I already wasted one life being completely unremarkable. I'm not doing that again."
Lilith looked at him for a moment, those violet eyes unreadable, and then she let out a soft laugh. It wasn't mocking — it was warm, almost fond.
[Good] she said quietly. [That is exactly the spirit I hoped for]
She began to step back, the darkness around them beginning to swirl and shift as the space prepared to open up into something new. A portal of deep violet and black slowly yawned open behind Axel, warm golden light bleeding through its edges.
He turned towards it, then paused.
"One more thing." He looked back over his shoulder at her. "Try not to accidentally kill anyone else while I'm gone."
[I make no promises] Lilith replied pleasantly.
He clicked his tongue.
[Oh, and Axel?]
He glanced back one last time. Lilith stood there with one hand raised in a small farewell wave, her silver hair drifting as though caught in a wind that didn't exist, that infuriating smile still perfectly in place.
[Do try to have fun. I'll be watching with great interest~]
Before he could fire back a reply the portal swallowed him whole — and Axel, a completely ordinary high schooler who had lived a completely ordinary life right up until the moment he died, was hurled into a world that was anything but.