『The Protagonist Crusher System v53.1 has two modes』
『Affection Mode: This will automatically activate when you're in the presence of Heroines or females in general. With this, you can read their Affection points toward you.』
『Note: When Affection Points reach 100, a Heart will be created. Once a female has a Heart, it becomes very difficult for her to lose those feelings. Hearts can stack.』
『Combat Mode: Your regular System stuff…』
『Ding』
『You have received a Minor Mission』
As Ren read through the floating screens, he couldn't help the way his brows slowly rose.
He felt like one of those overpowered protagonists equipped with a full hentai-tier affection scanner: a portable cheat device that could read what women wanted, how close they were to falling, and exactly how badly he messed up with a wrong sentence.
It was basically emotional hacking.
'With this, I can know if I made progress or if I ruined my chances,' he thought excitedly. 'And on top of that, a regular combat system… I wonder what the complete uses are.'
『Let's see this Minor Mission.』
The moment he tapped the air, the purple tab smoothly unfolded open like an obedient magical origami.
『Mission has been accepted』
He blinked. "I didn't accept it though?"
『Minor Mission: Open your Status Tab』
『Reward: None』
『Assigned by the 「Honored Venerable God of Games」』
Edwin stared at that part with a deadpan expression.
"Is bro glazing himself in my system?" he wondered.
Seriously.
Not only did the God of Games shove his divine fingerprints everywhere, but now he was awarding himself fancy titles in mission descriptions. "He's on another level of shamelessness."
Then again… that shameless, condescending god was technically his employer now.
Ren reluctantly accepted that fact. A man needed to keep his job, even if the boss was a divine clown wearing colorful suits.
『Say or Think "Status" to open the Status Tab』
"Status."
Ren muttered the word out loud, because whispering it mentally felt like a waste of this moment.
Saying "Status" out loud was a rite of passage. It was the whole reason people wanted systems in the first place.
A glowing blue window unfolded in front of him.
…
『STATUS WINDOW』
『 Name: Ren Crowhurst 』
『 Age: 18 』
『 Race: Human 』
『 Class: Sword Prodigy (Rank 2)』
『 Role: Main Villain 』
『 Titles: Prodigy of Crowhurst, Second Star of the Empire 』
『 MAGIC AFFINITIES 』
『 Starfire: S 』
『 Lightning: A 』
『 STATS 』
『 Strength: 55 』
『 Agility: 68 』
『 Endurance: 80 』
『 Mana Capacity: 536 』
『 Mana Control: 100 』
『 Perception: 69 』
『 Intelligence: 58 』
『 Willpower: 80 』
『 Charm: 100 』
『 SKILLS 』
『 Arcane Blade Arts (S): High-speed swordsmanship fused with mana. Greatly increases attack power. 』
『 Starfire Blast (A): Allows the host to release white-hot flames capable of melting even the strongest alloy. 』
『 Blade Resonance (A): Synchronizes mana with the weapon, boosting sharpness and accuracy. 』
『 Lightning Cover (B): Grants near-invisibility in rain. Best used during storms. 』
『 Hero-Killer Mentality (B Passive / New): Boosts focus and aggression when facing Heroes or Heroines.』
『 Fatebreaker (EX / New): Completely nullifies Protagonist Plot Armor. Allows events to deviate from destiny. 』
…
Ren stared at the glowing status window for a good five seconds before his internal monologue exploded.
'What the absolute fuck?!'
He genuinely had to take a moment to process the absurdity of the numbers. 'What was Ren ON? This guy's stats are god-level for someone with a Rank 2 class. Strength fifty-five? That's fine. Mana capacity five hundred and thirty six?! Is that even legal?! Charm one hundred?! WHY? How? Was he secretly bathing in love potions?!'
He could finally understand why so few people could stand toe-to-toe with Ren in the original novel.
Ren wasn't just a villain.
He was a full-blown mini-boss… A walking cheat code in fact.
A prodigy with all the talent in the world and all the personality of a spoiled lemon.
The most ridiculous part was his affinities.
Rare Lightning Affinity and a Rarer Starfire Affinity… a cosmic flame so hot it could melt almost anything if held long enough. And yet, despite all this raw potential…
'Still, he's not much to talk about in the skills section,' Edwin thought with a sigh.
All this magic, all these stats… and Ren barely had spells. His combat style in the novel was basically "hit things hard with sword and ego."
A waste of talent so severe it was criminal… but it did help in farming aura.
『You have completed the Minor Mission』
『You have received a new mission』
Ren closed the Status Window and tapped open the new mission tab. The purple frame popped up again.
『Minor Mission: Meet a woman to access Affection Features』
『Reward: None』
『Assigned by the 「Honored Venerable God of Games」』
Ren inhaled slowly through his nose.
"Okay… okay…" he murmured to himself, rising from the training bench. "Meet a woman. Should be easy. It's a mansion. Women everywhere."
He walked to the door, swung it open, and found Mandy standing there like a timid puppy.
The butler held the bottle of water out with both hands like he was presenting treasure to a dragon.
Ren took it, twisted off the cap, and drank it like a dehydrated camel.
Cold water was an absolute blessing… simply Heaven-tier hydration.
His throat felt refreshed.
When he finished, he crushed the bottle effortlessly and flicked it toward the trash bin next to them. It soared perfectly and landed with a satisfying clatter among a pile of crushed water bottles.
Mandy's jaw dropped.
Ren blinked at him before speaking. "Pe… Mandy."
The correction startled the butler. "Master?"
"Clean up that training room."
"Yes!"
Ren turned away. Behind him, Mandy stared at his master's retreating back with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"…He called me by my name…"
Ren didn't hear it, but even if he did, he wouldn't have time to unpack Mandy's emotional meltdown.
He was already walking through winding mansion hallways in search of a woman to fulfill his system quest.
Where were all the housemaids when he needed them?
Usually, they swarmed the corridors like terrified bees.
Right now? It was completely empty.
'I might have to visit Ren's sister downstairs,' he thought reluctantly. In the original memories, she was always around this floor at this hour, drawing or sneaking around with her sketchbook.
Ren used to torment her regularly… steal her drawings, tease her, mock her interests.
She probably hated him.
"Well whatever… I didn't come to fix family ties," he decided. Although… a convenient female presence was a convenient female presence.
When he reached the end of the hallway, he found her.
A small-framed girl with matching blue hair and gold eyes, wearing a neat noble dress. At first, she didn't notice him, humming softly while staring at her sketchpad as she walked.
Then she looked up.
Their gazes met.
She froze instantly, shrinking back like she had seen a hungry monster.
『Minor Mission Complete』
『Affection Mode Loading…』