Prostitutes roamed the back alleys like the living dead with
drug-hazed eyes and boils on their lips. City security didn’t like the less
classy ones roaming the streets, so they were relegated to the dark alleys
between buildings. They were the forgotten dregs of society, either thrown out
or forgotten and doomed to live short, brutal lives. Women couldn’t become
waifu tamers, and few were foolish enough to tame monsters in the wild. Tamers
valued them only for producing heirs, something waifus couldn’t do. Girls born
from powerful tamers were traded to other families for favors or to seal
alliances. Until human skill seals became safe to use, women born out of tamer
families had no prospects. Well, there was one other use.

 

Some girls weren’t quite as dead on the inside as they
seemed. They covered up like leppers, but their eyes were sharp. Some pretended
not to notice me, but I felt their eyes and the power within them. But, of
course, that shouldn't be possible unless they had sex with a monster and
survived the process. Except I was living proof, there were skills seals that could
work on humans. But waifu skill seals in their early stages were extremely
dangerous.

 

If I were to take a wild guess and put on my conspiracy
theory hat, they were test subjects. The inventor of the human skill seal, or
skill disk as it would later be known, had eyes in the back alleys. After he
gave the girls a taste of power, he wrapped them up to hide any mutations and
used them however he could. That’s why their eyes were too sharp and looking at
me. I was someone who didn’t belong. They weren’t around before because no one
had stolen from him before.

 

They could also be Professor Cacao’s hidden spy network and
muscle if need be. I would know if they were Professor Cacao’s soon enough.
When I crossed a line in the alley into another gang’s territory. The line was
clear enough to see. A rotten corpse had been hung over a stairwell.

 

When I crossed the line, and none of the girls followed, that
told me something.

 

Either Professor Cacao wanted them to remain in a certain
area and only report who goes where, the skill seal maker didn’t want to
challenge Tyrone’s gang, or they belonged to a rival gang and won’t step into hangmen
territory.

 

At the time, I didn’t know much; it's only when I look back
on my experiences do I notice things that I didn’t before. At the moment, I
didn’t think about my surroundings or the greater impact my actions could have.
On the second day of my journey, all I could think about was what I needed to
move to the next city. Carthage waited with its knowledge of cultivation and powerful
master of Water attribute waifus.

 

There wasn’t a camera on the street, but I felt eyes on me
as I moved to my destination. In the shadow of ancient buildings connected by
bridges so high up their users couldn’t see the alley below, I walked into the
heart of hangmen territory. The alley reeked of the dead and dying. Corpses with
needles in their arms slumped against walls while mutant children gnawed at the
bodies.

 

“Fresh meat,” one of the children yelled and pointed at me. I
drew my knife, and one of them threw a bottle at my face, and I leaned out of
the way. One with fins instead of ears charged me with an insane look in his
eyes. A few steps let me instantly cross the distance to burry my knee in the
mutant’s face. I felt a crunch, and the mutant took a step back as green blood
oozed from his wound.

 

I moved quickly and delivered a devastating uppercut while
the other kids grabbed the corpse and took off. The kid gasped on the ground as
blood seeped from his ruined face. Broken teeth littered the ground; soon, he
would be just as dead as the corpse his fellow mutants were digging into.

 

The kid opened his ruined mouth and began to cry. Suddenly I
felt bad, so I dug into my pack and found some first aid spray. A full bottle
of the stuff was 1000 credits by itself. I pointed it at the kid's face and
sprayed more than I wanted to.

 

As I sprayed him, he started jerking his head, but his
wounds were already noticeably better. Even his teeth were regenerating. It was
the wonder of the first aid spray. Heal nearly anyone to full health at a hefty
price. There were some injuries it couldn’t restore, but a messed-up face
wasn’t one of them. I leaned against the wall as the mutant slowly healed.

 

Slowly the kid got up and checked his teeth. They weren’t
broken anymore; if he had any cavities, they were probably better too. Most
damage, including old age, could be healed in this world with enough money, and
new innovations were made daily.

 

“Why did you heal me?”

 

I rolled my eyes at the brat. “I don’t like seeing kids cry.
Now go and find your friends. I’m busy.”

 

“How much do I owe you?” The kid asked.

 

If my eyes could roll any harder, they would. “Nothing; get
out of here before I start thinking healing you was a bad idea.”

 

The kid turned his head to the side. “I don’t believe you,
mister. No one does anything for free. Boss only lets us stay because we take
care of the corpses.”

 

“Fine, what can you do for me?” I asked.

 

“I have a vagina, and you can use it; don’t boys like that.” She said.

 

That was a hard pass. She looked ten; that was an automatic
no, and I thought she was a boy before. Even now that I knew she was a girl,
there was nothing feminine about her. Especially after I saw her take a bite
out of a corpse a little while ago.

 

“How old are you.” She started counting on her fingers, and
my hard pass was all the surer. “It doesn’t matter we aren’t having sex. I’m
going to hold onto that favor, and I might call on it someday or maybe not. So
try to stay alive until I do.” I thought about it for a minute, then shrugged
and tossed her Richard’s card.

 

It was a whim, but the look in her eyes had changed
drastically. “There are 100 credits on it, and you can spend them however you
want. Try and live until we meet again.” I said.

 

“My name is Mia; what’s your name, mister?” She asked.

 

“Zoran, now go and buy yourself something nice.” She turned
around and ran off.

 

I found what I was looking for in the depths of hangmen
territory. The hangmen sold guns to the rest of the gangs in the city. Most
people considered them to be a protected group. No one wanted to mess with
their bread and butter. Guns were an equalizer to a certain point; near Jackson
city, where Professor Cacao and the Jackson City Army, or JCA for short, killed
anything above a rank 3, guns were powerful tools. They were my ticket to
moving through the forest quickly.

 

When I knew what I was looking for, it was easy to look at
the forums in my memory and find locations, the best approaches to the
situation, and the trip-ups. Unfortunately, the mutant children tripped me up;
it must have been one of the mods; I don’t remember any mutant children in the
early Geass region.

 

I walked over to the graffitied wall of the building
depicting an image of the castle head and leader of the Jehova cult, Kristoff. He
was popular in back allies; many wore necklaces with a rook chess piece
attached to their ends. Kristoff and his teachings about the end of times were
hopeful for people on the bottom. I pressed my hand against the castle and
heard a click. The eyes fell off me as I knew they would. I had about 90
seconds before they were replaced.

 

A seam appeared in the side of the building, and I slid it
open. I opened my backpack and tossed a belt of grenades inside, two 1.00 Cal
pistols with ten clips and several boxes of ammunition, and a .75Cal scoped
rifle with 6 15-round magazines and 10 boxes of ammunition. There were holsters,
so I snatched some with good anti-theft designs so no one could snatch my guns
while I wore them. My final grab was silencers for my weapons. All the
equipment together was worth about 150k credits. So long as I was out of the
city in two days, no one should know about the theft.

 

Once I joined the Carthage sect, Professor Cacao wouldn’t be
able to do much about it. The other old monsters weakened Cacao’s control
outside the forest. An assassin would probably get me if I was found out before
my waifus reached rank 3. So, I couldn’t leave witnesses when I used these
weapons until I had a good reason to have them.

 

I strapped my backpack securely and made my way out of the
alley. Guns that could turn the tide in battle made me feel more secure. The
1.00Cal was built to kill rank 1 monsters without fail and wound rank 2.
Against rank 3, it wouldn’t do much unless I hit them in the eyes or another
soft spot.

 

After a few hours of walking, I made my way back home. I
could sense Tyrone, which was a new and unpleasant experience. He tensed up,
which I didn’t know I could feel from other people. After looking for a few
moments and measuring his strength vs. my own, he wasn’t much. In a day, I had
used my dragon power more than some experienced tamer did in months. Tyrone
never left the city and showed no signs of leaving anytime soon. I doubted he
practiced his skills very often, but he had a lot of confidence. That, to me,
felt strange.

 

I was certain he had a gun with a silencer on it and
wouldn’t hesitate to shoot me. But I had a plan; I shattered the front door into
splinters, walked under Tyrone, and jumped. My hands shot through the floor, grabbed
his ankles, and gravity plus my backpack helped me yank him through the
ceiling. I slammed his face hard against the ground, and Tyrone’s gun flew out
of his hand. When this was done, I planned to take that one too.

 

Tyrone struggled to his knees, and I threw myself down to
slam my fist against the back of his head. His head bounced off the floor
heavily. I got up and grabbed the gun just as mother ran out screaming.

 

“Zoran, what are you doing? Leave him alone right now.
You’re ruining my life.” I shot Tyrone in the spine and watched his legs go
limp. The man screamed in agony and started bleeding all over the place. My
mother screamed until I pointed my gun at her vagina and pulled the trigger.
She screamed even louder than Tyrone did when the bullet hit her. Blood pooled
between her thighs as she stared at me in abject horror.

 

I tossed her a can of ointment, which she let me buy for my
journey. Unfortunately, it expired months ago and didn’t heal injuries like the
spray. She would have horrible scarring that would be really expensive to fix.

 

While she scrambled to open the ointment, I put my newest
firearm in my backpack. Blood continued to pour out of her, and a part of me
felt regret. It came from my body’s memories, but I was more than my mind. She
had used me, and her boyfriends had abused me. I remembered broken bones and
her makeup covering my bruises. So, I attacked her greatest too for making
money. As for Tyrone, fixing a broken spine was expensive but possible. He
planned to set me back for my entire career, and this would do the same to him.
Really that should have been enough, but I checked the message boards and knew
the outcome.

 

So, I stared down at Tyrone and decided. I stepped behind
him raised my foot, and stomped down. I felt the massive presence of Professor
Cacao just outside the house as I made my move, and a force seized my heart. My
foot crushed Tyrone’s skull into powder and turned his brain matter into paste.

 

Men in black suits stormed the building with JCA stamped on
their shoulder armor. They didn’t point their rifles at me; instead, they
formed a column on either side of the room. Professor Cacao entered the room,
and the men stood at attention. The king of the city had arrived.

 

“Help me, you promised.” A glance from the Professor
silenced her.

 

Professor Cacao looked over the scene before smiling. “It
seems your father’s method of nurturing works as intended. And I thought you
would disappoint me and take up the position as manager to get revenge on poor
stupid Tyrone.” Professor Cacao said.

 

This wasn’t in the forums; I was walking blind. Either I
hadn’t bothered to look what happened next this early in the iteration, or the
mods had completely transformed the world. Normally after killing them, I
should be in the clear for a few days. Once I’m in the forest, they don’t
bother coming after me. This was new territory. But then his words clicked, and
I felt my blood boil.

 

“He knew this would happen. That’s why he sent her money. He
wanted her to mistreat me so I would grow up to resent her.”

 

“That’s one way of looking at it. But you don’t know the
full story. Let me say this. Your grandfather was a weak man and the son of my
rival; his weakness caused your father a lot of grief. So, your father came up
with a simulation to nurture his children in a way that drives out weakness. It
has become the way of your family. If you manage to make it to Corinth to train
in your father’s sect, you will be welcomed into the Kato clan.” Professor
Cacao said.

 

Corinth city was seven sect cities and twelve normal cities
away, they had the dragon attribute sect Grand Historia named for their massive
historical records, and it was one of the richest cities in the world.

 

It would be destroyed in two decades by the rank 6 legendary
waifu Apoklifu. If I wanted to get anything out of it, I needed to hurry or
find a way to beat a rank 6 legendary with metal and night attributes. That
wasn’t going to happen unless I really took advantage of the forums. Even then,
with all the changes, it could be stronger, or a different legendary could destroy
Corinth.

 

Subduing a powerful metal night type would be amazing.
Legendary waifus had unique skills that couldn’t be found with normal waifus
and even alternate versions of some skills that melded well together. Devil
power of mecha power would be great additions to my skill set. A metal power
skill would help regulate my current always-on dragon power. But none of that
mattered in the present.

 

“What happens now?” I asked.

 

The Professor smiled, and his eyes glowed. A second later, a
light beam shot through my mother’s eyes and dissipated before scorching the
wall. She was dead before she hit the floor.

 

“Captain, come over here.” One of the JCA soldiers
approached the Professor without hesitation. “I understand there was a monster
attack in the city, and it was just reported oh, 7am tomorrow morning.”
Professor Cacao said.

 

“Yes, sir, it was terrible; there were two casualties, and
we’re looking for Zoran for questioning inside the city.” The captain said with
a straight face.

 

“There you have it. Be gone by 7am from my city, or you’ll
be tracked down for questioning. But, of course, you don’t want that to happen;
your footprints are everywhere. Black waifus have such a terrible reputation
too. Who knows what she convinced or helped you do?” The Professor said with a
smile on his face.

 

He just killed my mother like he was squishing an ant. She
was less important to him than a speck of mud on his lab coat. The centuries-old
man was in his twenties and had crystal blue eyes and blonde hair. He smiled
like an old grandfather and killed like a psychopath. Worse, he seemed to have
felt nothing from his actions. I killed for revenge, but he killed for
convenience. Being near the old monster made me feel sick. I needed to get out
of the city and never look back.

 

I stared at the man as he smiled, unable to think of what to
say.

 

The man cupped his face and whispered. “This is the part
where you say, thank you for your help, Professor. I will be gone before first
light. Thank you for the opportunity to prove myself.”

 

Like an actor recovering from stage fright, I repeated him.
“Thank you for your help, Professor. I will be gone before first light.” I
paused, and he rolled his hand, encouraging me to continue. “Thank you for the
opportunity to prove myself.”

 

The man smiled even grander. “What a polite young man you
are. I can only say it's no problem. I look forward to seeing how you turn out.
Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the second Waifu emperor of your generation after
Alex, of course.” The Professor said with a smile.

 

I read the message as try to upstage my grandson, and I’ll
kill you. “Of course, I’ll work hard to be the second Waifu Emperor of my
generation,” I said.

 

“Well, we’re done here. I’ll see you in a decade or two if
you don’t end up dying in the forest. Good luck, kid.” The Professor said
before he left, escorted by his armed guards.

 

I stared down at the blood-soaked carpet mother made me
clean regularly and the chunks of brain matter buried in it. Finally, I walked
over to the white couch that was somehow pristine and started laughing, then I
cried.

 

I stared at my mother’s burnt-out eye sockets when I
finished. It was the last time I would ever see her, and I hated her so much, but
I didn’t want her to die. I only wanted to hurt her like she let me be hurt. I
wanted her to pay money to restore herself, but that was it. She wasn’t
supposed to die. This was supposed to be heaven, so why did I feel lost, alone,
and terrified.

 

When I looked at her corpse, I saw the same blonde hair as
Professor Cacao. Her bone structure was similar in some places and different in
others. When I looked in the bathroom mirror after washing my hands for the
seventh time, I saw similar eyes to his. My black hair was different, but our
faces were similar.

 

I cleaned the blood and brain matter off my boot in the sink
before leaving the house. Anyone could look in with the door destroyed, but no
one did. No one would be dumb enough to investigate after Professor Cacao was
here. A mountain of corpses could be in here, and no one would say a thing. It
was the power of the name Cacao in Jackson city.

 

When I reached the gate, there was a precession of JCA agents
pulling a stretcher through the gate. Someone had managed to get back in sight
of the gate after being wounded. They must have been either extremely lucky or
powerful.

 

As I moved towards the gate, the guy raised up and looked at
me with haunted eyes. “Save her for me. If you can rescue Clarice, then I’ll owe
you.” He said before losing strength and falling back.

 

“Don’t listen to him, kid. Nothing good will happen from
looking for a tribe of horny goblins. They’ve probably raped his dinofu a
hundred times already.” A JCA agent said.

 

Knowing that he lost his dinofu didn’t sit right with me.
How would I feel if I lost Alice?

 

I took my tablet out of my bag and opened the map app. “Mark
the tribe for me. I’m going to rescue her.”

 

“You’re making a mistake, but fine.” The JCA agent marked my
map, and I made my way to the gate.

 

I needed to wipe out the tribe and return the waifu before
sunrise. That was something Professor Cacao wouldn’t do.