The night was cruel, but cruelty was nothing new to Kai Ren. At twenty-four, he was already living a life that felt borrowed, wasted, and cursed. His days were an endless loop of cheap labor, cheap booze, and cheaper excuses. He worked in a greasy fast-food joint where the smell of frying oil clung to his clothes, a uniform of humiliation he could never shed. His apartment was no better—a single room that reeked faintly of mold, stale cigarettes, and despair.
He once had dreams, bright and burning, the kind that made a boy believe he could conquer the world. He wanted to write, to build, to create something lasting. But dreams don't feed a man, and the world never offered second chances to those too weak to seize the first. Women looked past him, bosses mocked him, and his own reflection was a reminder of every failure he tried to laugh away with "dark humor."
Yet, he clung to one fragile thing: the illusion of friendship. When his old high school buddies suddenly reached out, inviting him for drinks, nostalgia softened his suspicion. It had been years, but they laughed and smiled, told him they missed the old days. For a few fleeting hours, Kai allowed himself to believe. He laughed until his ribs ached, drank until the bitterness faded, and for once, he felt wanted. Human.
But laughter has a cruel way of rotting into silence.
When he stumbled out of the bar, the rain falling in sheets that blurred neon lights into smears of color, he didn't notice how closely they followed him. Not until the first knife slipped between his ribs.
His breath caught in his throat. He spun, eyes wide, meeting their faces—faces he once trusted, twisted into shadows of guilt and greed.
"Sorry, Kai," one of them muttered, avoiding his gaze. "Nothing personal."
Another blade flashed, tearing into his side.
"You…" Kai gasped, his voice raw and broken. "Why…?"
"They offered money. A lot of it. You're worth more dead than alive."
The words struck harder than the steel. Worth more dead? To whom? Why? The questions swirled, but answers never came. His friends—no, his murderers—walked away into the storm, their footsteps swallowed by rain.
Kai collapsed against a crumbling wall, blood pouring freely, mixing with dirty water that rushed down the street. His breaths came in ragged gasps, his vision narrowing to tunnels of flickering neon. Betrayal tasted bitter, burning hotter than the knife wounds. He tried to move, to crawl, to scream—but the world slipped from his grasp.
Darkness claimed him.
And in that void, a voice whispered.
"You who are abandoned… do you desire power?"
Kai's mind flickered. Was it a hallucination? Some cruel joke of a dying brain?
"Power…" His lips twitched into a broken smile. "That's… a cruel joke."
The voice curled around him like smoke, sultry and commanding, neither male nor female yet somehow both.
"Power to make them kneel. Power to turn rejection into devotion. Power to conquer… through lust. Do you accept?"
Images flooded his mind—every woman who turned away, every boss who mocked, every betrayal that carved scars into his pride. Rage flared through the haze of death.
"…I accept."
The void shattered. Fire surged through his veins, not burning but exalting. His flesh dissolved into light, his soul ripped free and dragged through a storm of whispers, laughter, and screams. He saw kingdoms of marble and gold, skies torn open under crimson moons, women with glowing eyes whispering promises of ecstasy and ruin. A throne dripped with sin, waiting, calling.
And then—he awoke.
Silk caressed his skin. The smell of incense and roses filled his lungs. His eyes fluttered open to a vaulted marble ceiling carved with glowing runes. He bolted upright, hands clutching sheets softer than anything he had touched in life. A mirror beside the bed reflected a stranger—yet not a stranger. His hair was darker, his face sharper, his body lean and strong, radiating vigor he never possessed before.
A low hum filled the room, and glowing words etched themselves into the air.
"SYSTEM OF DESIRE: INITIALIZED"
Welcome, Candidate. You have been chosen to wield the Forbidden Path.
Quest 1: Conquer your first woman within 7 nights—or perish.
Kai stared, his lips parting. "Conquer… a woman?"
The glow shifted, delivering its cruel truth.
Failure to comply: Soul dissolution. Eternal erasure.
His pulse hammered, but not with fear. He should have trembled at the ultimatum, yet instead, excitement ignited in his chest. After a lifetime of failure, he had been reborn, given a system—one built on desire itself.
His lips twisted into a smirk. "If this is my second chance… then I'll live it my way."
The sound of footsteps drew his attention. A door creaked open, spilling warm light into the chamber. A figure entered.
She was radiant. A young woman dressed in silks of crimson and gold, her hair flowing like fire, her steps graceful yet commanding. Jewels gleamed at her throat, but it was her eyes that held him—sharp, calculating, the gaze of someone raised to rule. She was beauty, authority, and loneliness wrapped into flesh.
Kai's breath caught. She wasn't just a woman. She was royalty. A princess.
Her gaze met his, and for a heartbeat, the world stopped.
The System pulsed again, words glowing above her head.
"New Target Identified: Princess Lyra".
"Special Quest: Conquer the Rebellious Princess".
" Reward: Royal Bond + 500 Lust Points".
The princess's eyes narrowed as she stepped closer. Her voice was soft, but steel threaded through each syllable.
"You're awake," she said. "Good. Then answer me—who are you, and why are you in my chambers?"
Kai froze. The words hung between them like a drawn blade. The crimson moon outside cast its light across the room, painting her in a glow that was both divine and forbidden. Above her, the System's cruel reminder lingered:
Quest Timer: 7 Nights Remaining.
And for the first time in this strange new world, Kai smiled.