The morning after the vault mission was too quiet.
No alerts. No gunshots. No monster screams in the distance.
Just stillness.
And Liam hated it.
Because quiet meant the system was watching.
Because quiet meant something worse was coming.
They met Sera in the main command room again—except this time, she wasn't alone.
Another man stood beside her: tall, sharp-jawed, silver hair, black tactical armor that hadn't seen blood in days.
Liam didn't need the system's ping to feel the threat radiating off him.
"This," Sera said, "is Commander Elias Vayne. Oversees Sector Twelve. Arrived overnight with new data from a cure-engineered lab."
Vayne stepped forward, extending a hand to Liam.
"Liam Carter. Your name's already spread across the surviving zones," he said smoothly. "Rot-immune. Emotionally bonded. System-marked."
Liam hesitated, then shook his hand.
[New Figure Detected – Commander Elias Vayne]
> System Alignment: Uncertain
Threat Level: Moderate-High
Status: Harem Host – Tier Alpha
Warning: Bond Overlap Detected. Shared Targets Possible.
Liam's breath caught.
He had a system too.
A harem system.
Later that day, Liam sat in a quiet corner of the greenhouse with Maya, who was sharpening her blade again like it owed her blood.
He relayed what the system told him.
She didn't flinch.
"So he's like you," she said flatly. "But older. Probably more practiced. Probably more—"
"Manipulative," Liam cut in.
Maya's blade paused mid-sharpen.
"Yeah," she said.
A moment passed. Then she added, "And you're not?"
Liam froze.
"Maya—"
She stood. "I'm not saying you are. I'm saying… this thing we're in? It wants you to become that. A handler. A user."
"I'm not going to be like him," Liam said, quietly but firmly.
Maya looked at him hard.
"I hope not."
That evening, the first Bond Event triggered.
Liam was resting when the system interface blinked violently across his vision.
[System Event: Harem Trial Initiated – Rank 1 Threshold Reached]
> Title: "Three Hearts"
Condition: You have reached emotional link Rank 2 or higher with three bonded females.
Objective: Deepen each connection by engaging in a vulnerability event.
Time Limit: 48 Hours
Failure: Affection decay, infection rate surge, bond regression.
Reward: Tier 1 Harem Core Activation, Emotional Sync Buff, Lust Control Node Unlock
Liam groaned aloud.
The system wasn't giving him a break.
He had three girls with high enough bonds:
Maya (Rank 3)
Artemis (Rank 2)
Lila (Rank 2)
And now it wanted him to confront each of them… intimately.
But emotionally.
Not physically.
Yet.
He chose Lila first.
She was alone on the wall at sunset, watching the horizon. Her feet dangled off the edge, the sky painted crimson-gold.
He sat beside her.
She didn't speak for a long time.
Finally: "I had a brother."
Liam glanced at her.
"His name was Devin. He was younger. Got infected three weeks in. We thought it was a scratch. It wasn't."
She didn't cry.
"I didn't kill him. I ran."
She looked at him.
"Do you think that makes me a coward?"
Liam didn't answer right away.
Then, gently, "I think it makes you human."
Lila's lip trembled.
Then she kissed him.
Soft. Warm. Lingering.
And pulled away before it got deeper.
"I don't want to survive if it means forgetting him," she whispered.
"You don't have to."
She smiled. "Then I want to stay with you. Even if it hurts."
[Bond Level Increased – Lila: Rank 3]
> Vulnerability Trigger Successful
Passive Unlocked: Heartward Aura – Allies within 5 meters receive +10% mental resistance
Lust Control Node +3%
Next was Artemis.
She waited for him in the abandoned chapel at the back of Sanctuary. Her psychic episodes had grown quieter—but not gone.
He sat beside her in the dusty pews.
"Did you love anyone before this?" she asked suddenly.
He hesitated.
"My mom. My dad. Not romantically."
She nodded.
"I had someone," she said. "A girl. Clara. She was soft-spoken. Sang to me when the nightmares came. She kissed me on the day the world ended."
"What happened to her?"
"She was the first to turn. And she turned for me. Because I got bit and she tried to protect me."
Liam reached out, touched her fingers.
Artemis whispered, "I don't know if I can love again. But I can't stop feeling… something."
"You don't have to name it," Liam said. "Just hold on to it."
She kissed him without asking.
It was deeper than Lila's.
More intense.
Like a memory she needed to replace.
[Bond Level Increased – Artemis: Rank 3]
> Emotional Sync Strengthened
Skill Unlocked: Prophetic Chain – Dual Visions
Lust Control Node +7%
Finally—Maya.
She didn't make it easy.
He found her near the training yard, practicing knife throws into sandbags.
"I know why you're here," she said, not turning around.
"It's not the system. Not entirely."
"You're good at lying to yourself."
Liam stepped closer. "Maya. I've trusted you with everything. My body. My survival. My sanity. I'd die for you."
She turned, eyes fierce.
"But would you live for me?"
He blinked.
"That's harder," she said. "Because it means putting someone else above your own pain. Your own guilt. Your own damn system."
Liam stepped closer, took her hand.
"I would. I already am."
She hesitated.
Then pulled him into a kiss.
Hard. Breathless. She pushed him against the training shed, hands in his hair.
And then stopped.
"I hate that I want you," she whispered.
"You don't," he whispered back. "You need me. And I need you."
[Bond Level Increased – Maya: Rank 4]
> Trait Unlocked: Shared Rage – +10% damage when both are in combat
Lust Control Node +10%
[Harem Trial Complete – "Three Hearts"]
> Core Activated: Tier 1 Harem Core
Lust Control: 20%
Emotional Sync: +18%
New Skill Unlocked: Desire Resonance – Bonded girls can sense Liam's emotional state and gain bonuses in battle depending on his mood
Warning: Emotional entanglement now irreversible
That night, Liam sat alone.
Not because he wanted to be.
But because now he understood.
This system wasn't just collecting women.
It was binding their pain.
And turning it into power.
He wasn't just building a harem.
He was building a soul trap.
And he was already in too deep to crawl out.