Ben decided right then and there that he'd stick with traditional publishing. "Please God, if someone publishes my autobiography one day, don't let it be Amazon…" Then, he turned pale. "Or even worse, the 9th circle of hell, a web publisher…"
Cursed or not, when Ben saw it was an epic item, his body relaxed. What's more is it was an epic skill book. Squirtle Hydro Pump was only fine quality, and with that alone, he's been threatening to dominate the entire Pokemon league…
'It seems the flash only happens when the highest possible quality comes out, legendary in this case.' When the mystery box didn't flash before, Ben's heart stopped! His blood only kept pumping through the desperate struggle of his backup testihearts…
With his troll-level vitality, Ben's body could no longer be considered human. If an enemy wanted to kill him, they'd have to eliminate both brains or all three hearts...
He believed that given enough time, he'd reach the stage where he could regenerate from one drop of blood—the stage of c*ck cell rebirth...
Where each of his cells would be equivalent to a microscopic c*ck...
Ben's survivability would skyrocket! Whether stuck floating in space or the cold vacuum of a NTR relationship, if an enemy wanted to kill him, they couldn't leave a single drop of blood! They'd have to commit c*ckslaughter!
…
Ben stared at the book's description in consideration. "A very slow demon…" The curse didn't seem like a trifling matter, but whether the slow demon was a white demon class imp or Lucifer with a hangover, Ben knew he needed to risk it. From the name of the skill, he already guessed that it would be something of great help to him now.
[Divine Line Generator(Skill, Epic) - Generates a Divine Pick Up Line once per day]
It was as Ben expected. The Divine Pick Up Line was an item he received when he first obtained the system. This was the description of the original item:
[Divine Pick Up Line(Consumable, Fine) x1 - Use on any woman to quickly raise her attraction to you by a significant amount]
This time, the system clarified a few more details for Ben since he'd unlocked the attraction favorability sub-system. The divine line the ability would generate wouldn't be the same as the one he used a month ago. Its effect would be more specific; the generated divine line would raise any woman's attraction level to curious. That might not seem like much since it was only one level above indifferent. Yet, Ben understood the key point—it applied to any woman!
That meant he could approach someone with the worst attraction level of mortal enemy, and still raise it to curious! It meant he could approach any woman out of his league! It meant he could approach celebrities!
Even if was limited to one use per day, Ben's eyes flared at the possibilities. He knew the hardest part of an approach was the opening line. Often, even if it went well, it didn't elevate attraction to curious right away, and only kept him in the conversation. With the guarantee of the divine line, everything would change. Curiosity was a girl's fatal weakness. You might even say, curiosity was the first step to love!
However, as Ben threatened to become happy, the system piped his dreams with extra clauses.
First, unlike the first time Ben used the line when it was like a spirit took over his body, Ben would have to deliver the line himself. There wouldn't be an autoc*ck function…
"Why do I feel like a used Toyota?"
Second, when he used the ability, it would give Ben three options of lines: one divine and two trash. It would tell him which was best only after he delivered it. Ben shrugged. 'It shouldn't be that hard to tell the difference.'
Last but a beast, the biggest catch of all, if he learned the skill, it might summon the demon, but Ben was willing to accept the risk. Having made his decision, he picked up the tiny skill book.
[Would you like to learn Divine Line Generator(Skill Book, Cursed, Epic)?]
[Warning, choosing yes may attract a very slow demon]
Ben eyes became firm, and he clenched his asshole… "Learn!"
As the book turned into a ball of energy light, Ben's hands covered his backside, making sure there was a general stationed at every gate…
Soon, the ball circled around him a few times. A while later, as if disappointed, it floated a few seconds. Ben got the impression it was complaining about him, something along the lines of "tease…"
Then, the ball shot into the middle of Ben's eyebrows, entering his consciousness.
Instead of thinking about the skill, Ben worried about the demon. He braced himself as he scanned the room, but there was nothing unusual in sight. "Well, it did say may summon…" Yet, when he asked the system for confirmation of whether there was a demon or not, she didn't answer. "Women are always playing games…"
Since he couldn't know for sure, he'd have to put it off and hope for the best. Instead, Ben focused on present matters. He closed his eyes to understand the new information in his mind, but there wasn't much. The only difference was he was now aware he possessed an active ability that was usable once a day with a mental command. 'It's like a hotkey…'
Ben's configs were all set up…and not that noob qwerty bullsh*t…
The new ability gave Ben a boost of confidence. He hoped it would be the difference between life or death within the next few days. 'I'll test this skill today.'
He'd have an excellent opportunity to do so because today he'd be meeting his old pals Antonio and Beluga. They'd go out to do daygame!
Now that he remembered about that line, I remembered that first girl, that he used that line, she'll come back later in the story or was it just another one that Bennevito tried to catch and failed miserably
??
I can neither confirm nor deny
Question: Can Ben use the divine pick-up line on women that are past the "curious" attraction level? The description of the item says: "use on any women...to raise her attraction...by a significant amount" which, to me, implies that he can use it on women that are past the curious attraction level. For instance, if he used a line on a woman who is already curious, would it still increase her attraction by "a significant amount"?
If, instead, the line raises a woman's attraction to curious regardless of her previous attraction level then the item description should be changed to reflect that. Meaning, if a woman is already at curious or past it, then when using the line there will be no effect.
Also, does Ben generate a divine pick-up line every day, regardless of if he used the line the previous day? To clarify, is the pick-up line a "use it or lose it" situation or do they continue to stack when not used (i.e. Ben can have 10 lines in his inventory if he didn't use them for 10 days).
In combination with the previous question about using it on different attraction levels, can he continuously use multiple lines on a single woman? Like one to raise her to curious, then another to make her fall in love?
Last question, when does Ben reciece another divine pick-up line? 24 hours from when he last used one? At midnight every day, regardless of when he last used one? Meaning he can use one at 11:59 pm one night and then reciece another at 12:00 am the next day? How would different time zones factor into that?
Sorry for all the questions, but you basically just gave Ben the equivalent of an atomic bomb if he uses it right. Defining all these characteristics for the item is vital to ensure that it's not too overpowered.
The description you mentioned was for the original item which was different. I'll add something in the chapter to clarify. The skill generates a line that only works up to curious. He can't stack them to save them. The skill works on the spot only.
Regarding the refresh time, that'll become clear in a few chapters when he uses it.
The jokes were more funny when they were witty without relying on d*ck jokes, his level of wit has dropped to basic swear words instead of good puns and solid pop culture references.
Really? Because the chapter started with a multi-level meta joke and has multiple web novel trope subversions. I haven't seen jokes like that in any other web novel; if you know of one, please let me know.
What you're referring to as basic swear words is a trope subversion of the blood cell rebirth trope common in xianxia novels, and even dug into several sub-tropes of that. In other words, those jokes were multi-layered and you didn't get the deeper layer. I layer the comedy with many different styles of jokes to appeal to various age ranges and humor styles. So you like puns and pop culture references. Others may like crude humor, others cringe humor, others those deeper meta jokes, etc. The multiple levels create re-reading value.
I appreciate you reading, but you should take a minute to consider not being so cynical and commenting your immediate negative thoughts, and be open to the possibility of others having different tastes than you.
@samsarawithwords And he was able to layer the jokes just fine without replacing every other word with d*ck or b*lls. He is becoming a loser with only s*x on the brain, you keep commenting that he is improving and he isn't. He is becoming a chad and no one started reading this novel with a chad MC in mind. You tried making fun of xianxia novel tropes while turning your character into that trope. I have at least two other novels where the MC gets a perverse system that are improving their characters likability whereas yours is becoming a deplorable person AND failing horribly at his goal of living by treating women like a joke. At this point I would get more enjoyment watching this MC fail than I would seeing him succeed at the last second due to deus ex machina. And I can tell that is what you are going to do given the number of times you've artificially blocked his progress.
@coldpyr0 Some people like heroic MCs, some like evil ones. Mine is gray because that's how most people are in the real world, and he's forced by the circumstances of the system. He's a recent social ret*rd who's trying to survive in a desperate situation.
It's easy to make your characters "likable" and "developing quickly" when the plot is filled with benefits dropping into their laps and women falling for them at a casual glance. My story is meant to be realistic in its relationship elements because it has informational value. I understand realism isn't for everyone though and some people prefer wish fulfillment. There's nothing wrong with that. I appreciate you sharing your point of view with me.
@samsarawithwords I feel this isn't very realistic though, several events we have seen have discarded realism for the funny. Like making the MC hand out games and toys for an entire night. Even a social ret*rd wouldn't do that dozens of times in a row. I haven't met anyone that mentally disabled in real life and I worked as a TA in a secondary education class for a year. We get it, you are funny, but at the same time you go to far with being funny sometimes that it comes around to being annoying because the plot is going nowhere at the expense of a tasteless repeating joke. Read up on the rule of three, it will help in avoiding annoying your audience by over saturating them with the same thing too many times.
@coldpyr0 I'm well aware. I also like to experiment. The fact is not every bit is going to land for everyone and that's okay. Regarding the bit you're saying you didn't like, multiple people have told me the Barbie scene was one of the funniest of the novel so far.
@samsarawithwords Where? I mainly see comments about how the MC is regressing or getting worse on that chapter. Nothing that mentions the Barbie joke, personally I was already too annoyed at the MC for that joke to even make me smile. Especially given how long it dragged on for. Also, have to say, I noticed how most of your reading list is just your novels and how you reviewed your own works at 5 stars. Not really a bad thing, per say, but it does call into question your ability to look at your own novel subjectively.
This book is still readable, just not as enjoyable as it was when it started out and if it doesn't improve it will become a chore. But hey, take the criticism if you want to use it. No skin off my back if more and more people start dropping it for the same reasons.
@coldpyr0 Discord and I don't read and comment from this account here. Your reading list insinuation that I don't read other works enough is flawed from the basic premise. Having read this novel to this point, that much should have been clear to you just by the abundance of meta-humor and references to other works in it.