I leaned against the doorframe, watching Jane gather her things. The air in the room was still heavy with the scent of our calibration, but my mind was already miles away, calculating the logistics of a world I'd only just joined.
"You made my morning, Erik," she said, pausing at the door. She looked at me with a genuine sense of wonder, as if she were seeing a stranger in a familiar face. "You weren't this good last night... what changed?"
"Everything," I replied, my voice sounding like a low-frequency hum in the small hallway. "You wouldn't understand."
She nodded, a playful, thirsty smile tugging at her lips as her eyes dropped to my groin. "Well, whatever it is, keep doing it. Feel free to call me for another stream. Or..." she stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper, "...whenever you're just feeling horny and need to release."
I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulling her flush against me one last time. The heat of her body was familiar, but I felt a new sense of detachment. The previous Erik might have been obsessed with her, but the I saw her as a high-quality asset.
"I'll update you when I'm ready for another collaboration," I said, my gaze locking onto hers with a possessive, chilling intensity. "But in the meantime? Keep those legs closed for me. I'm the only one allowed in there now."
Jane shivered, her breath hitching. "I don't think I'll even want anyone else after that," she murmured. "I'll be waiting for your call."
"Good. Now get out of here," I joked, giving her a firm smack on the ass that echoed down the hall. She giggled, a flush creeping up her neck as she disappeared into the elevator.
I shut the door and headed for the shower. As the cold water hit my skin, rinsing away the sweat and the musk of our encounter, the air in front of me shimmered.
-------------------
[System Update: The Goddess's Favor]
[The Goddess commends you for your prompt dedication to the Lust-Path.]
[Divine Bonus Applied: All stats have been increased]
Strength: 27
Endurance: 27
Agility: 27
Mana: 30
-----------------------
I stepped out of the shower, steam curling off my shoulders. I felt... dense. Like my bones had been replaced with titanium and my blood with liquid electricity. I clenched my fist, and the air seemed to ripple around my knuckles.
"Nice welcome gift, Goddess," I muttered, grabbing a towel. Jane hadn't been an accident afterall, but the tutorial.
But then, the screen opened a new tab.
---------------------
[FIRST MISSION: The Debut]
Objective: Host your first Official Sex-Stream.
Special Requirement: Feature an Unawakened Human.
Time Limit: 4 Days.
Penalty for Failure: Regression of 2 Levels and Erectile Dysfunction debuff for 1 month.
Reward: 100 Stream points.
----------------------
I stared at the screen. An unawakened human?
"Four days," I whispered, a dark grin reflecting in the steamed-up mirror. "I guess I better start scouting for a lead actress."
I pulled on a fitted black shirt and charcoal trousers from Erik's wardrobe. The fabric strained slightly against my new, dense chest and shoulders.
"Okay," I muttered, checking my reflection. "Time to find a lead actress. Let's see who the old Erik had in his rolodex."
I closed my eyes, letting the flood of Erik's memories settle. One name bubbled to the surface, shimmering with a mix of ambition and anxiety, Kourtney.
She was a rising face on XXX-Stream, one of the thousands who had moved to Base 7 hoping to awaken a combat class. When her mana-test came back as a flat zero, Unawakened, she had to find another way to pay the exorbitant Fortress Tax. Streaming her body was her only ticket out of the slums of District 11.
"Erik had her scheduled for a collab next week," I noted, a smirk tugging at my lips. "But the System doesn't wait for schedules. I have four days to turn this 'upcoming model' into my first major headline."
The problem was that the old Erik was a slow and steady guy. I wasn't. I needed to move the date up and assert my new dominance over the production.
I picked up Erik's smartphone, a sleek, mana-tempered device, and scrolled through the encrypted chats.
------------------------
Kourtney:Are we still on for the 15th? I really need the credits, Erik. My sector's rent just went up again.
Erik (Old):Yeah, I'll let you know the details soon. Stay ready.
-------------------------
I checked her location data attached to the contract: Z16, District 11, Base 7.
"District 11," I whispered. That was the "Grey Zone", the industrial fringe where the air was thick with factory smoke and the law was more of a suggestion. It was a weird, sprawling maze of high-rises and neon-lit alleys.
"Perfect. A little grit will make the stream look more authentic."
I grabbed Erik's keys and stepped out of the apartment, the heavy door clicking shut with a finality that felt like the end of my old life. I entered the elevator, the mirrors reflecting a man who looked ready to buy, sell, or break anything in his path.
As the elevator hissed toward the ground floor.
The elevator doors hissed open, and the humid, metallic air of the lower levels rushed in to greet me. As I stepped onto the cracked pavement, one of the kids I'd seen earlier, the one with the dirt-streaked face and the hollow eyes, skidded to a halt in front of me.
"Five credits, sir. Just five credits," he wheezed, his voice thin and desperate. He looked up at me, but his eyes didn't settle on my face; they stayed locked on the subtle bulge of the wallet in my trousers.
I paused, looking down at him. With my Combat Perception active, I could see the way his heart hammered against his ribs through his tattered shirt. He was vibrating with the kind of hunger that turns into a slow death.
"When was the last time you ate something that didn't come out of a trash can?" I asked, my voice cool and steady.
"A day ago, sir. Maybe more," he whispered, wiping his nose with a blackened sleeve.
I reached into my pocket. In this world, credits were everything, they bought food, they bought protection, and they bought silence. I pulled out two heavy, silver-rimmed coins, ten credits total and tossed them.
They caught the neon light of a nearby billboard before landing in his shaking palms.
"Thank you! Thank you, sir!" the kid gasped, his face lighting up with a frantic, terrified joy. He didn't wait around for a lecture, he bolted toward a nearby nutrient-paste stall like his life depended on it.
I watched him go for a moment, a dark thought crossing my mind. Sex money saving lives. The Goddess would probably find that hilarious too.
A massive, armored transport bus hissed to a stop at the curb, its hydraulic brakes screaming. The side was plastered with a fading holographic ad for XXX-Stream, featuring a pouting model I didn't recognize.
I stepped up the rusted stairs, the other passengers, exhausted laborers and low-level scavengers, shying away from me instinctively as if they knew that I was awakened.
I found a seat in the back, leaning my head against the vibrating glass as the bus lurched toward the smog-choked horizon of District 11.
"District 11," I muttered, watching the fortified walls of the Inner Circle recede in the distance. "Let's see if Kourtney is worth the trip."