A dull, persistent pain throbbed behind my eyes. A light too white pierced my eyelids. The acrid smell of disinfectant stung my nostrils. Fucking hell. Even hell would smell better.
I groaned, a raspy sound that broke the cottony silence of the room. My head was an echo chamber replaying the last moments: the whistling wind, the icy water, the darkness… and that fucking beep.
"I can't even die in peace," I growled, my voice a gravelly rasp.
My hands—my hands?—rose to rub my face. And that's when I felt the difference. Less flesh. Still fat, yeah, but less. Like someone had deflated the spare tire that was my gut. I opened my eyes, blinking against the harsh light. I wasn't obese anymore. Just… overweight. A pig who'd gone on an express diet. What the fuck?
And then it hit me. The beep. The blue light. The words.
Taming Beauty.
"I've got a fucking system!" I whispered, incredulous.
As if in response, a cold, electric-blue hologram materialized in front of my nose, floating in the air. The words blinked, sharp and merciless.
[SYSTEM: Taming Beauty - LINK ACTIVE]
I jumped, my heart pounding against my ribs. Holy shit. It was real. Not some dying delirium. Not a shitty dream. I swallowed hard, my throat dry and rough. Fear, an old friend, reared its head. But another feeling, new, foreign, quickly overtook it: a ravenous, excited curiosity. The system's name alone was an obscene promise. Taming Beauty. Taming beauty. Fuck.
"What the hell are you?" I whispered to the hologram.
The response appeared instantly, lines of text scrolling silently.
[The Taming Beauty System has bound to host Ren Kanzaki to facilitate the domestication and conquest of exceptional female subjects. Through the completion of quests, the host can increase physical and mental attributes, acquire skills, and gain financial resources. The ultimate goal is the establishment of a stable and devoted harem.]
My loser brain, used to devouring light novels and webnovels at 3 a.m. while jerking off, processed the info at surprising speed. This was the kind of shitty plot I'd binge in the dark. Except now it was real. And the "reward"… fuck. A harem. The idea sent a dirty, electric thrill through my veins.
"Show me my status," I ordered, my voice steadier.
The hologram shifted, displaying a table of surgical cruelty.
[NAME: Ren Kanzaki]
[STRENGTH: 2]
[SPEED: 1]
[ENDURANCE: 2]
[INTELLIGENCE: 3 (Mediocre)]
[CHARISMA: 7 (Cute)]
[SKILLS: None]
[QUESTS: 2]
[GIFT: Taming Book (Single Use)]
[PS: The standard male average is 5 for each physical attribute.]
"Cute?" I snorted, bitterly. "They call this cute?" But compared to "swamp monster," it was already an upgrade. The rest was catastrophic. Shitty strength, the speed of a senile snail, the endurance of an asthmatic, and the intelligence of a yogurt cup. The "PS" was the cherry on top of my mediocrity cake. I was literally less than an average man. A subhuman. A piece of shit.
But I had quests. And a gift. Hope, vicious and stubborn, started sprouting in my chest. I focused on the "Quests" tab.
Two new lines appeared.
[QUEST 1: The Horny Virgin]
[DESCRIPTION: The host is a horny virgin dog. He must embark on the path of an alpha male and lose his virgin status.]
[OBJECTIVE: Sleep with a woman.]
[REWARD: +0.2 Endurance, 20,000 ¥]
[QUEST 2: From Sausage Meat to Gigachad]
[DESCRIPTION: The protagonist still looks like a pig, though somewhat cute. He must embark on the path of the Gigachad.]
[OBJECTIVE: Reach 80 kg of lean mass in 4 months.]
[REWARD: ???]
I let out a sharp breath. Twenty thousand yen. A fortune for me. And endurance… to fuck longer? Fucking pervert system. I love it.
And then there was the gift. The "Taming Book." A fleeting thought about it, and a tooltip appeared.
[TAMING BOOK: Single Use. When used on a female target, makes her significantly softer, more understanding, and receptive to the host's advances for 24 hours. The effect is amplified if a positive bond already exists.]
My mind went into overdrive. It was a fucking cheat-code seduction potion. I just needed a target. Any target. The nurse, the cleaning lady, didn't matter. Just a pair of legs and a hole to take.
As I mulled over these increasingly exciting thoughts, planning my ascent to Sex God status, the door creaked open.
She walked in.
And holy fucking shit.
The nurse. But not just a nurse. The Nurse. Busty enough to burst her pristine white uniform. Magnificent tits defying gravity, a slim waist flaring into generous hips, all wrapped in fabric begging to be torn off. Her face was soft, mature, with dark eyes shining with an almost naïve kindness. She held a clipboard, but all her attention was on me.
[TARGET IDENTIFIED: Natsuki]
[INITIAL COMPATIBILITY: Neutral/Positive]
[STATUS: Single. Significantly in need.]
The system was already feeding me info. Single. In need. Fuck, it was like offering a steak to a starving man.
She smiled, a warm smile that made my heart—and something else—beat faster.
"You're awake! I'm glad. You gave us quite a scare," she said, her voice soft, melodious, like warm honey on skin.
All I saw was the completion of my quest. The solution to my virginity. The key to twenty fucking thousand yen.
She was there. My first prey.
And I just needed to figure out how to pull out that damn book.