Lunch ends afterward, and I immediately grab Mother's cane to help her up, aiding her in her walks.
It's always a rush after lunch ends. She always goes to work early.
"Ma, you could always ask me to escort you to the market...I don't mind doing it," I say, looking at her worriedly while I open the door and help her move out.
I want to help my mother, but it doesn't seem like she wants me to. She's shaking her head and avoiding eye contact with me.
"Bah! Don't tell me what to do! I don't even want you to go out and buy groceries for me, so why would I ask you to escort me?!" She fakes her angry tone, looking at me as if I'm an idiot...
How many times has that look been directed to me today?!
Well...I suppose it's fine on her end since I am her idiot son.
"Besides, don't you have that new game you got delivered today?" She asks, making me flinch momentarily. I try to come up with a million explanations as to what excuse to say, but she cuts me off from my thoughts.
"I want you to enjoy your games. It's been a while since you picked one up." She laughs, making me smile.
"Playing games was also a hobby I lost after dad left me, huh." I thought to myself silently as I escorted Mother out.
"Besides, it's that age of yours already...I figured you would have been interested in girls when you were in your teens, so I was quite worried that you weren't crushing on anyone in your teen years...especially when you were thirteen." She sighs dramatically, as I look at her with exasperation.
"Well, it's a good thing you're trying out that RPG game of yours with those pretty girl characters,"
Same old mother with her drama...but it does worry me since she seems to have seen the cover of the game.
It's nothing provocative...but the name of the game is there, so a quick Goggles search could end with a berating...
"For a moment, I thought my son would be gay," She says, clearing my mind from my own thoughts. Momentarily, I'm stunned...but there seems to be no change in expression on her face.
Out of curiosity, I asked her a question.
"But what if I were gay?"
I squint my eyes at her.
She only looks back at me with shock.
Eyes bulging, frown prominent...and malice, none to be found.
"You are?! And you only decided to tell me now?" She says, a hint of betrayal in the look of her eyes.
I keep my silence, not saying anything at all for the first few seconds.
Afterward, when I thought 2 or 3 seconds were done...
I stuck out my tongue.
She blinks.
I blink back.
Awkwardly, seconds later...she holds her cane out as if to strike me, and I immediately dodge in retaliation, grinning like a cat.
All while she demanded answers.
"Of course not...I was just curious if that would change anything about how you see me," I look at her sincerely, wanting to know her answer.
It's not because I am gay...it's just that in some societies, especially Asian ones, being gay could signify something like a weakness. Something to be disgraced on, even.
She ends up bursting into laughter and shakes her head. "Change anything? Why would it? You're still my little boy! All that ever changes is that I'll call your partner son-in-law instead of daughter-in-law," she teases, as she lets go of my hold on her and grabs her cane.
"Although if anything, I still do want grandchildren...so adoption is something you should think about if that's the case,"
I smile at her response, greeting her with one last goodbye as she walks down the path to the market.
I'm...lucky to have been her son.
Home is always comfortable with her around.
But now that she's back to work, I am left to my own devices...
Thus, left with myself and my burning resolve...I go back to the house, lock it, and then go back to the computer!
Sometimes, I do feel like a NEET at these moments...
As I check back to the forums, I've refreshed the tab and am redirected to the "popular" side of user-created posts, which is bombarded by pictures of the players and their wives.
Except...that instead of finding anything helpful...everything is so degenerate!
Why are they sharing something like that in public without even adding an NSFW tag?!
Well, so much for knowing what most other players think of the beauties in the game...they're just treated like tools to goon to.
Let's go back to the main goal, though, since that 'part' of the player-base is just...disgusting and I refuse to think more about it.
Switching tabs to the official posts of the company, I come across the title that was shown under the recommendation of the tutorial post.
Guide to the Ranking of Beauties.
...let's just hope we find something useful here, unlike the vagueness from the official tutorial.
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AmbitionLark™ | Guide to the Ranking of Beauties | 𓏵
Published this 17th day of May 2024
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『 Beauty Rarities & Common Descriptions 』
Beauties are NPCs that the player can marry into their harem to start their journey. However, they are classified under 6 categories: slate, unveiled, equilibrium, haunting, ominous, and shattering! The rarer the rarity, the stronger they are, and the fewer the number of beauties there are!
『(☆) Slate = Serving as a fresh slate and an unwritten canvas for the desires of mankind. They are the kind of beauties that reside in the world for the sake of all of the men's fantasies.
Tip: You do not have to try too hard to marry these beauties into your harem, as they will follow you willingly.
(☆☆) Unveiled = Part of the worldly knowledge has been imparted to these beauties. As such, they live as curious and adventurous souls who would happily take the opportunity to learn whatever is presented to them.
Tip: A certain degree of reputation or skill is needed to marry these beauties into your harem.
(☆☆☆) Equilibrium = A healthy balance of knowledge and submission, these beauties serve as perfect companions who are knowledgeable to some degree— but never knowledgeable enough to rebel against their masters.
Tip: It is imperative that you are strong and influential to marry these beauties into your harem.
(☆☆☆☆) Haunting = Living with part of the forbidden knowledge that haunts their world, the untold truth and secrets of the world have been revealed to these beauties, marking their mind as an untamed beast that is difficult to contain.
Tip: Falling under an almost hazardous category, you should take caution and learn how to control these beauties with a strong grip on both power and reputation.
(☆☆☆☆☆) Ominous = Blessed with powers of incomparable calibre and cursed with wisdom that only they are sentient of, these beauties hold an ominous aura that is embedded in their everyday lives as guardians of their world.
Tip: Special conditions are needed to marry ominous beauties, as they control power over certain regions in the continent they reside in.
(☆☆☆☆☆☆) Shattering = World-shattering beauties in which none knows their true nature and intentions. The only information available about them is that they hold the powers that could, quite literally, shatter the world.
Tip: These beauties no longer appear in the world. They serve as nothing more than a history etched in the past.』
While there is no limit to how big you can create your harem, another rule to keep in mind is that deaths are PERMANENT.
No matter the rarity, if your beauty dies, there is no way to recover her back to life.
Thus, precaution is a necessity when travelling in dungeons!
It is recommended that you play in accordance with the permanent warning to avoid grieving over lost beauties, but there are NO limitations as to how you should play!
Conquer Lands! Conquer Women! Conquer Your Fate!
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Forum Recommendation: AmbitionLark™ | Traveling the Dungeons? Here's What You Should Remember!| 𓏵
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Comments (Most Relevant):
[👑 1] sicko_reign: ...i wish i read this before I went to a dungeon. i wouldn't have lost my haunting-ranked beauty after 6 months of game time...
[👑 48] GoodBoyBestBoy: WHATTT??? TF is that permadeth? And why even mention shattering-ranked beauties when they no longer exist?
RIPChad: they should remove the permadeath, that's f*cking holding us players back
greena!nt: But does anyone wanna talk about the sexualization? The higher the rank the less skin is shown...shouldn't it be the opposite? Tf...
mopeyGrant replied to greena!nt: idk bro, why did they even care about character design and lore for their higher ranks when this is a gooner game lmao
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...surely, things are definitely questionable with this ranking system.
What's up with the ominous setting of it all?! Is this not just some gooner RPG game?!
Part of my mind is blowing it up due to the information load, but really, the only thing I should remember is that: Common is for Slate, Uncommon is for Unveiled, Rare is for Equilibrium, Epic is for Haunting, Legendary is for Ominous, and Mythical is for Shattering.
Easier to remember that way, but definitely not cooler, so I should remember their representative ranked names.
It all makes sense then— the overwhelming display of strength, and the ridicule over the stunt I pulled for proposing to that...umm...Rosyvyl...or was it...
Yeah, I forgot her name...
Umm...ah! Wait! It was Rosylviana!
I was referring to her, that ominous beauty that I met in that game!
Which, speaking of ominous...a few clicks away from the official forum, I tended to my rightful duty!
To learn as much as I can about this game to make money from it!
It's technically kind of ominous, too— just having the right information can influence whether I break or make my profits.
So, as I read through the basic tutorials, date spots, currency, and trade list for all the known ingredients and materials in the game...I try to familiarize myself with everything I read, especially with the trade list.
After all, I'm going to focus more on being a merchant to maximize as much money as I can by not being a fool!
...which, after more hours of analysis and mindless scrolling to extract as much information as I can, I come across a forum discussion titled "Ominous & Shattering Beauties".
Of course, given my curiosity, especially with Rosylviana...I paid attention to the comments and rumors posted on the forum.
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Littletiger894 | Ominous & Shattering Beauties | 𓏵
Discussion since 26th day of May 2024
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[OP] Littletiger894: Is it just me, or are all ominous beauties inaccessible? I didn't even know that a shattering beauty existed until I saw that tutorial from I saw from the devs!
Kewlsaus265: Bruh, you're reduntant...but like, duh? Aren't they meant to be a rarity? But yeah like I've heard you can get a legendary beauty for free if you can fulfill her conditions...seems like sketchy event special...
[OP] Littletiger894 replied to Kewlsaus265: Fix your grammer dude, that made me have a seizure, but wtf? since when was there a special event like that??? Isn't that basically a free power-up???
Oblongparenthesis7: LOL, you talking about Rosylviana Edensfield from Catelia? That uptight psychopathic woman who wore the clothes of those taoists from Murim comics? Don't do it, LOL. You'll have to lose your rights to a harem if you want to marry her.
HungM32: I mean...anything for free coochie.
Kissmaster123: Don't bother. Even if you agree to be her husband, she will just reject you if you're not sincere. Like b*tch, I don't even want you, I just think you're hot. 😂
LacedIntent Replied to Kissmaster123: Well, we have to consider where she's coming from...she's the guardian of Catelia, and basically the deity who watches over they're continent with the intent to ensure that their continent is in order. It's going to be hard to be the husband of such a wife if the only thing you are is trash. 😂
Kissmaster123 Replied to LacedIntent: Using big words and trying to lecture me, bro? You can't even use "they're" proper grammar, LOL. But if you're so confident, why don't you end up marrying her then, hmm? 😂
LacedIntent Replied to Kissmaster123: I don't think I need to when I already have 27 beauties in my harem. What do you have? A wooden ring? 😂
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...I keep my silence, avoiding the arguments in the comments and focusing on the key points, from that forum.
View further down. Extract information.
Well, first of all, they said that her condition for marriage was...no harem.
Huh...no, harem? As in...no...
Wait a minute...
NO HAREM??? SHE NULLIFIES THAT FEATURE?!
What the heck, that's all I've been looking for! I need to gain more information about her to win her over...err...somehow?
Anyways— second of all, the stakes are going to be higher now that I know that this has been an ongoing event since the launch of this game.
An uncleared special event that tests the genuineness of the player.
Perhaps it's an event specifically prepared for me? Hehe.
I grin to myself, thinking of how I could win her over with my sincerity...it's the only way I know how to win over people since that was how I got my mother to smile and be happy again after my father left us.
However, I can't help but feel like something's missing from this plan...
I try to think of any reason why, and I'm left right back at the start of another problem...
"Ah, right...I forgot I did have a bad first impression on her..." I think to myself, facepalming.
I look at my computer screen with a dazed look in my eyes and bump my head again.
"Oh well...there's no harm in trying...haha....."
Yeah...it's over.