“Be good,” Nari said, kissing him on the cheek. 

 

“You too,” he said. Pinching her butt. 

 

“Love you,” Emily said, taking her turn. “Don’t wear the mask,” she whispered in his ear. 

 

“I’m going to for at least a little bit,” he said. “But I’ll take it off.” He would take it off after the conference. 

 

“Say hi to Joon for me,” Nari said. 

 

“Will do.” Kissing them again he moved to his dad and the group going to the conference. It was Hansen, Franks, Emily’s dad Greg, and a woman Kai had only seen now and then. She was in her early 30s. Short cut brown hair she eyed Kai. Hesitant as she tried not to share her thoughts. But they were clear as day to him. 

 

“Time to go,” Rob said pushing an invisible button. Then everything turned white. 

 

When color came to him they were in a silver dog bowl. A big one. But still a dog bowl. A white dome shield over top of them there were 6 chairs at one end of the bowl and a door on the other. 

 

“Wonder where we are?” Kai asked. Amazed that they had traveled without a portal. The only time he had done that was for the tutorial. 

 

“No idea,” his dad said, sitting at the head chair. Hansen and Franks sat behind him while Kai sat in the back. He pulled the mask out of his ring. 

 

Coercion Mask
Rarity	Unique
Enchant 1	Alter Appearance

 

Kai debated on buying the custom accessory from his Hentai shop. He didn’t plan on tricking girls into sleeping with him. But pretending to be someone else was useful. He still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do about the Gozen guild so this was his solution. 

 

Kai put the blank white mask on. Willing out a small mirror he could actually see through it though there were no eye holes. Channeling mana through it the front of the white mask began to distort. First resembling himself, but as he added more mana to it he saw how he could slowly alter it. Some mana here or there he made his nose and eyes wider, changed his skin to a darker tone and even made his hair longer. Adding a beard he quite liked the mask. When he was all said and done he was a bearded man in his late twenties. 

 

“You seriously going to wear that?” Franks asked. 

 

“Yep,” he said. His voice was the same, but didn’t have an echo as if he was behind a mask. “I made a lot of guilds mad on my journey across the US.”

 

“Then why even come?” Hansen asked. 

 

“Because I want him here,” Rob said. His firm voice ended all questions like usual. “Might be good to have a Star System on our side. Besides, he has friends too.”

 

“True,” Kai said. 

 

They sat in silence and a pop up appeared. 

 

WELCOME TO EARTH GUILD CONFERENCE #1

The System's protection of your planet will end in:

1,340:23:59:55

During this conference 3 major items will be voted on:

1. Your Planet's next Trial

2. An agreed upon currency for your planet.

3. A Planetary Sponsor

The Conference will be for the next 18 hours. After the 1st 6 hours there will

be a 6 hour recess. For the last 6 hours votes will be taken and tallied.

If a clear decision can not be decided upon, the Champion or highest ranked

guild will make the decision.

Current Time:

17:59:55

Open Platform

Y/N

Kai clicked Y, but the white dome over their heads didn’t retreat until all of them did. Kai looked out to see thousands of platforms like their own. His eyes scanned the other people on them. He recognized a few people but not too many. Then his eyes locked on Gozen. 

 

Chiyo, the beautiful guild master, was out in front. Her long dark hair practically sparkled as mana coated her skin. With so much experience using Mana Sight he could see now that it was Sex Mana she was using, something he didn’t know before. Like him she had a Sex System. His gut clenched seeing the woman that had kicked him out of the guild. 

 

Beside her was the Firemancer woman. The one that had been under the thrall of the other Hentai System. The girl that could tell when someone was telling the truth was there as well. Sora was there of course. The Hunter System had been the leader of the first group during the tutorial. She too was as pretty as ever. Wearing leathers she looked around the room slowly. 

 

His gut clenched as he saw Kaori next to her. The small ninja girl was as small and unassuming as ever. Wearing black clothes he also felt that she was wearing the ruun he gave her. Kai had worried she would. Worried and hoped. Sitting up nights with his own thoughts he told himself he would go for her if she was still wearing the ruun when he saw her next. That should have been proof enough that she chose him. That she still wanted him. 

 

But looking at her right then. He couldn’t bring himself to take off the mask. At that point Kai realized he hadn’t been running from Gozen for them. He’d been doing it because he was scared. 

 

His life was great. 2 beautiful women with him wherever he went. Women that trusted him wholly and completely. He didn’t want to mess up the dynamic. He didn’t want the drama of trying to explain why he broke his promise to Kaori. Because he had broken it. 

 

For some reason he thought it was easier to make the decision to leave for them. So they wouldn’t have to choose him over the guild. So they wouldn’t choose the guild over him and make him feel like some sicko for having his System. But there it was. Clear as day. Kaori chose him. So why couldn’t he accept her?

 

Kai didn’t know. He was brought out of his thoughts as his dad asked, “is that..” Kai followed his fathers gaze to see his mother. She was with another guild of Japanese people. Wearing a metal breastplate she exuded holy mana. A smile on her face his gut clenched. 

 

Hitomi looked better than the last time Kai saw her. She had been stressed after the divorce. Forced to get a job for the first time in almost 20 years she had been working late and going in early. Kai hadn’t seen her much the weeks before the tutorial started. 

 

Ragged and tired she had gone out for supplies and never returned. Kai had always feared he would see her again. Because if he did. He knew she had abandoned him. There was no other plausible chance of her being alive. As she laughed loudly talking to a man her age, Kai’s anger grew as he studied her face. He cast ID. 

 

Human

Level 29

 

She had leveled nicely. And was now apparently a higher up in a Japanese guild. 

 

“Which guild is that?” Rob asked the brown haired girl next to him. 

 

“Sengoku,” she said. 

 

Rob let out a long sigh and turned to face Kai. His father’s cool demeanor actually cracked. The sadness poured out of him, but not sadness for himself seeing his once wife so chummy with some other guy. The sadness was directed for Kai because he too understood that she abandoned him. 

 

Kai felt foolish. It had been a no brainer to live with his mom after the divorce. He loved her and she loved him. But he guessed that wasn’t enough. Maybe if he knew how his father truly felt about him he would have made a different choice, but Kai doubted it. His father had always been some distant workaholic. They had talked more in the last few days than they had in years of time together before the world ended.  

 

“Thank you all for attending the first official guild conference of Earth,” a voice said. Soon it’s source was found as a very beautiful man descended on a floating platform. He was taller than Kai. Chiseled features, dark hair, muscular everything. He was what Kai pictured a god would look like, or at least a demi-god. 

 

“Please call me Administrator as I will be moderating the conference. We have a lot to go over. But first the rules. There will be no fighting tolerated. Anyone caught doing so will be rejected from this and any other conferences. The conference will be split into 3 parts. 6 hours will be spent here discussing any open matters as well was what is to be voted on. Another 6 hours will then be used as a break. The final 6 hours will be used to vote. Any additional time after that can be spent how you want. You will be teleported away when the 18 hours is up.”

 

The room had plenty of people whispering. But the moderator wasn’t interrupted so he started up again. First he talked about the First Earth Guild Trial. The options available for them to vote on. Then he mentioned a currency would be voted on. And last a sponsor. He provided a list and Kai noticed Sustutna wasn’t on the list. 

 

After that the moderator raised up and allowed them to discuss. It quickly became a yelling match between people who had been fighting over territory. Kai ignored the babbling, lost in his own thoughts as the severed head fell from above. 

 

His eyes caught sight of it and then he felt the presence. Not so much like Sustutna. But a weaker version. The man was strong. He landed on the floor easily. Crushing the head, Kai got his first glimpse of Asher Whitmore. 

 

Studying him he could feel the Sex Mana pouring off of him. Also what felt like Physical mana. He tried ID but Whitmore was too high level to see it. Then Kai’s dad said something and Asher was right in front of them. 

 

Kai hadn’t even seen him jump. He appeared at the brim of their bowl like some high speed anime character that teleported places. His eyes locked on Rob, Kai was speechless so close to the much higher level. He really was the strongest man in the world. Black hair cut short, very tan skin, his muscles popped more than Kai’s. 

 

Then to his surprise Asher addressed Hansen and Franks. Acting like old friends he wanted to them later. Then Asher was gone and a movie was playing. 

 

Kai watched in rapt attention as it did. The Illusion Mana did a great job. Showing the tension and explaining things in simple terms, Kai was happy to follow along with a lot of it since those around him radiated confusion. The Mana Spectrum. Use of it. The different types of mana. It was all touched on, but there was also a lot he didn’t know. 

 

Etherstreams connecting galaxies, space travel, the fact that in the universe his 10,000 Syscos really wasn’t all that much. The value of dungeons. And especially the need for a currency. Of course 1 Sysco was robbery for a meal. He should have known better since more people only had a few hundred Syscos. 

 

He felt stupid watching it. So many things out there, Kai had been living in his own little world. Thinking he was strong just because he had killed some clones. There were thousands of species out there. All of them had had Systems for millennia. Humans were small fish in a vast ocean. 

 

Also while he was chastising himself he became excited. Beatrid had been at the back of his mind for 6 months. But his promise and feelings for the demon were as strong as ever. If he could get off the planet. Maybe he could find her like he promised. 

 

A wide smile on his face he watched the fights of Asher and his team. Seeing the mana from the video made him more excited since he didn’t recognize half of the manas used. When it finished the room was silent. Then Asher was sealing himself up with the Community Guild and everyone was left in stunned silence.