Arc 1: Luxuria

Chapter 2: The New Sovereign Part II

 

"Welcome newly-born Sovereign of Luxuria! You may refer to Asmo as Asmo, your loyal assistant. Please take care of Asmo in the future~"

The weird, round creature introduced itself in a cute chirp-like manner. It floated in front of Haruki, its big eyes showing admiration and eagerness. "Seeing that it is the first time we meet, Master may ask Asmo any question!"

Haruki leaned back, unavoidable panic settling inside his heart. As he moved, he realized he was sitting down on a very soft and luxurious canopy bed. The red curtains were drawn, hiding him and this bizarre flying thing from the rest of the world. Wherever he was right now, Haruki definitely knew he wasn't anywhere near his apartment.

Was he kidnapped? But what about this creature calling himself Asmo? It looked too real to be some kind of robot. Was he having a hallucination? Did he stay up playing the game a little too much? Or was he haunted by some kind of animal-like ghost? But to suddenly appear from one place to another in just a split-second - this was just beyond supernatural!

The adorable puppy-like look coming from the "assistant" didn't ease Haruki's anxiety one bit. Still, he kept a calm and composed manner as he stammered a question. "A-am I dreaming?"

Asmo shook its entire body like one would do with his head. "No, Master, you have finally awoken in this world. Master is chosen to become the Sovereign of Luxuria."

"C-chosen?" Haruki breathed in and out, trying to calm down his spiraling mind. As someone who periodically adapted to situations beyond his control, he always deferred to analyzing things before acting out. The creature mentioned "Sovereign of Luxuria", so…

"Are you referring to those messages I received from the game?"

The creature called Asmo looked confused, looking a bit adorable as its round body tilted in midair. "Messages? Game? Asmo does not know what Master means."

Haruki was suspicious of this Digimon lookalike, but his face remained expressionless. "I was playing this game called 'Verethragna Gloria'. I received a bunch of messages from someone who named themself 'C-Kami', saying I was chosen in a 'game' to represent the Luxuria faction."

Asmo stupidly showed an expression of being lost in the conversation. Haruki sighed heavily; his apprehension decreasing and annoyance rising when faced with someone with such a low IQ. He decided to change tactics, trying to remember the content of the PMs he received before coming here.

"You say you are my assistant? Are you a 'System Guide'?"

"Asmo does not know what a System Guide is, but Asmo is definitely Master's assistant. Asmo is a 'Familiar' who is born together with Master."

Familiar? Haruki knew about them; they were an indispensable feature in Verethragna Gloria. Familiars were like the "tutorial fairies" in other games, whose main purpose was to teach newcomers of the game's various mechanics. Then, if Asmo was telling the truth, then he somehow went inside the game?

Transmigration? Was this possible? Was he somehow summoned into the world of Verethragna Gloria and those messages informed him of being "chosen"? So, what was he, an "isekai" protagonist? Some kind of "chosen one" appointed to save the world? Haruki grew a little bit excited at the thought.

Asmo interrupted Haruki's musings, which were now spinning into a fantasy of him wielding a holy sword and becoming a beloved and respected hero. "By using Identifying Magic, Master can view the Status of himself and his followers! Please try it out, Master!"

"Identifying Magic"? If Haruki wasn't mistaken, this was the "Status Bar" mechanic of the game. With it, he can view the name, level, stats and other details of Sovereigns, Leaders, Heroes, Human and Demon units, structures, creatures, plants and other things like minerals and natural resources. In the lore, it was a branch of Magic unique to Demon Sovereigns and Human Leaders; game-wise, it was simply a way for the player to examine their own units or territories, or those of their allies, neutrals or foes.

But how to use it? In the game, Haruki only had to click the mouse on whatever he wanted to investigate. He was wondering if he was now a "unit" in the game when a familiar text box appeared in front of him.

[Name: Sano Haruki]

[Level: 1/???]

[Class: Sovereign of Lust]

[Race: Demon]

[Affiliation: Luxuria]

[Affinity: Lust (100%)]

[Stats:]

[HP: 30/30]

[MP: 200/200]

[SP: 0]

[Strength: 5]

[Stamina: 3]

[Intelligence: 20]

[Resistance: 80]

[Agility: 8]

[Charisma: 350]

[Luck: 69]

[Sovereign Ability: "Carnal Connection" - Promote a Hero to become your "Consort". A Consort will acquire a 25% bonus on a specific Stat and Skill upgrades will be 50% cheaper.]

[Current Level: 1/?? (Number of Consorts increases based on the Level. More Consort-related options will also be unlocked with more Consorts appointed. Ability Level increases through expanding the Faction.)]

[Current Number of Consorts: 0/1]

[Skills:]

[Identifying Magic (Unique, Level: MAX); Hero Summoning (Unique, Level: 1); Leadership (Rare, Level 1); Psychic Magic (Rare, Level: 3); Disguise (Rare, Level 1); Seduction (Common, Level: MAX); Darkness Magic (Common, Level: 1)]

[Blessings:]

[Luxuria Faction Bonus: "Devil's Fertility" - All territories of the Luxuria Faction gain an additional 30% (current total: 130%) harvest output for all resources. All units receive a 10% combat bonus as well as increased HP and MP regeneration when the Sovereign of Lust is within 100 meters.]

[Luxuria Faction Bonus: "Avatar of Desire" - All followers of the Luxuria Faction receive the MAX Level "Seduction" common skill. All followers with Psychic Magic will gain an additional 2 levels.]

[Permanent Bonus: "System Guide" - A friendly and loyal Familiar will join you in your journey. The Familiar is capable of growth depending on the player's actions and decisions.

[Combat Rating: F+]

[Written Assessment: If you weren't a Demon Sovereign, I would have given a F-. Truly, the weakest Demons deserve a weakling leader. Work harder, okay?]

Haruki was astounded. He knew the Sovereign of Lust didn't have much combat capabilities, but this was just worse than expected. And he had very low expectations, too.

5 Strength and 3 Stamina. His physical Stats were excruciatingly poor. Even the weakest Human Villager had around 10 Strength. So, yes, a Human who did farming or carpentry for a living was two times stronger than him. And HP and defense relied heavily on Stamina, so one sword strike from a Human Warrior could easily cleave him into two.

And the 8 Agility? Don't even mention it; Haruki was getting depressed at how easy it would be for a slow-moving Slime to entangle and kill him.

His magical stats were not bad, but they were painfully average compared to other Heroes in the same level. If he was someone with expertise in physical combat, then maybe 20 Intelligence was good enough. But the Sovereign of Lust was supposed to be a magic-oriented mind manipulator! What could he do with 200 MP when one cast of intermediate Psychic Magic would drain the entire bar?!

80 Resistance was pretty nice, which meant Haruki can easily defend against debuffs, curses, and mental attacks. But it was kind of a scrappy Stat in the game's meta, since a lot of Treasures, especially defensive equipment, can render the same effects. Luck could affect critical damage and control the randomness of some Skills, but it was still useless in Haruki's current state.

But finally, what was with the extremely overblown Charisma stat? 350? Most Heroes barely managed to arrive at 200 at Level 99. While Charisma was an extremely important Stat for Heroes taking leadership positions in Battalions, its main use was through negotiation, trade and diplomacy. This would probably be useful for Human Leaders vying for alliances, but Demon factions were infamously indifferent and rarely opened borders with each other. And as for trying to team up with Humans - they will purge any Demon den in the vicinity without the slightest hesitation.

So, what to do with his excessive Charisma? Haruki contemplated the possible strategies, taking into consideration his Abilities and Skill sets as well. He had long played the Luxuria faction for several months now, so he was very familiar with both the Sovereign Ability and Faction Bonuses. The Skills, however, aside from the innate ones such as Identifying Magic, Hero Summoning and Seduction, the rest were randomly given at the start of the game.

Asmo was silent throughout Haruki's musings, completely ignored until he came across the System Guide bonus. He gazed at the "Familiar" once again, taking note of the "growth" ability. Haruki was still wary of the creature, but he had learned to accept the situation, even though everything so far was plain inexplicable.

Familiar, Identifying Magic, Stats, Abilities, Skills. Everything so far was the same as the game. But there was one thing that Haruki definitely wanted to know.

Turning to the "System Guide", Haruki asked. "What is my goal?"

"To 'conquer the world'!" replied Amos, fluttering happily like a hairy balloon. "Master must lead the Luxuria into becoming the inheritors of the entire land. Only then will the God of Corruption finally defeat the God of Creation."

"As expected, it is the same as the message from C-Kami", said Haruki, tapping a slender finger on his chin. "Victory in the game means having either the Humans or Demons control at least 75% of the map. 'Conquering the world' seems to be something similar, but I feel like I'm still missing something."

Games were fiction after all. If where Haruki was in right now was not a simulation but an actual thriving and independent world, that meant a "player" like him will have limited influence on how the different nations will grow, govern, and associate with each other. Not to mention, if people were not "game units", they would have their own personalities, histories and ambitions and make decisions based on their own behavior, views and perceptions. Controlling them will not be as easy as clicking, tapping keys and pointing the mouse to the direction you want them to go. Social and communication skills - it seemed that these things were just as significant in this other world.

There was also one point in the messages Haruki received that made him more apprehensive than ever. If his theory is correct, then this "game" will not only test his intelligence, courage and flexibility, but also his morals and principles. He really wasn't looking forward to meeting "them", especially on knowing what their motives would be.

Finally, why was he summoned into this world? He believed he had an inkling but could only prove it true with more information on his hands. To win the game, to "conquer the world", to get the answers, Haruki will have to be very careful from now on.

But first things first - Haruki had to gain more knowledge about this world. And he should start off with his assistant, which was hovering in front of his face like an annoying bluebottle fly. Using Identifying Magic, he scanned the Familiar's Status.

[Name: Asmo]

[Level: 1/1 (MAX)]

[Class: Assistant]

[Race: Familiar]

[Affiliation: Luxuria]

[Affinity: (Hidden)]

[Stats:]

[HP: 20/???? (Invulnerable due to Blessing)]

[MP: 50/50]

[SP: 0]

[Strength: 5 (+1)]

[Stamina: 2 (+1)]

[Intelligence: 5 (+1)]

[Resistance: 999 (+99)]

[Agility: 300 (+30)]

[Charisma: 50 (+5)]

[Luck: 1 (+1)]

[Class Ability: "System Guide" - Provides knowledge to the assigned Sovereign.]

[Current Level: 1/?? (Ability Level increases through the growth of the Familiar.)]

[Skills:]

[Master Detection (Unique, Level: MAX); Communication Channel (Unique, Level: MAX); Specific Self Transport (Unique, Level: MAX); Stealth (Rare, Level: MAX); Automatic Escape (Rare, Level: MAX)]

[Blessings:]

[Luxuria Faction Bonus: "Devil's Fertility" - All territories of the Luxuria Faction gain an additional 30% (current total: 130%) harvest output for all resources. All units receive a 10% combat bonus as well as increased HP and MP regeneration when the Sovereign of Lust is within 100 meters.]

[Permanent Bonus: "System Guide Invulnerability" - As long as Master lives, Asmo cannot die.]

[Combat Rating: F-]

[Written Assessment: Did you think you can beat the game by relying on a cheat? Too bad, this thing's trashier than you.]

"..." Haruki felt like there was nothing that could faze him anymore.