It is supposed to be a slice-of-life world.
Eishi recalled the last three weeks he spent prior to the apocalypse. Living a monotonous, slightly exciting life, is what "slice-of-life" is all about. He wakes up every morning, goes to school, teases his beautiful classmates, and walks home with an angelic goddess.
That would have been his life for the years ahead of him… if not for the apocalypse.
Nevertheless…
'This is still slice-of-life, no?"
He wondered as he looked at the sleeping Airi in his arms. Eishi knows his life is one of the most luxurious in this time. The fortress he prepared stood extremely well against the apocalypse. He also has power and resources that pushed his bound women—all talented—to the second-order.
With such a line-up, it wasn't unreasonable to live a luxurious life: training with a bit of "training" in-between. He juggled between getting stronger and relaxing by favoring his 'confidantes'.
Eishi is awfully aware of his strategy's flaws. He took advantage of most girls, striking when they are at their most vulnerable, to have sex with. It accomplishes his 'binding' system task. Knowing more about them and ensuring their loyalty comes next. His food and provisions are the follow-up that strengthens this relationship. Other than that, spending time with them is a necessity.
'Favorability lock… It sounds like mind control, but it should not be one.'
The reward for 'five' confidantes was the [Favorability Lock]. His confidante's [Favorability] cannot fall down once it reaches a new high. Then again, they would not reach that level of favorability had Eishi mistreated them.
Eishi yawned as he stared at the clock.
Ten days passed swiftly. The insect swarm's 'clean-up' made Yokohama far more peaceful than before. There are no longer normal zombies roaming in the streets. Only the mutated zombies lived against that sea of insects. The faint red mist and the snowing still ensued.
This rare period of tranquility allowed the survivor group in the rich district to gather more people. Any form of chaos was dealt with, either by the guards or Haruno taking action.
The two dozen people increased to a hundred-strong group. Haruno filtered the bad apples, eliminating them from the get-go with Saeko's help.
With them barricading the surrounding streets leading to this villa, espers and mutated zombies no longer bothered them outside the villa's walls. It was a rare moment of leisure even to Eishi.
Some had the delusions of everything going back to how it was, only to get slapped hard by the fatality rate and the class reshuffle. The former shows how eight million people got reduced to 100,000. The latter is all about espers.
The rich and the influential are no longer at the top of the pyramid—the strongest espers are.
The remaining 100,000 survivors are headed by strong espers. The city hall is the largest organization, housing over 20,000 survivors. It is headed by Yokohama's official mayor, though what many feared is his second-order esper wife. She is the main reason why the city hall remains operational, followed by their vast armory.
As for who brought her up to the second-order, it goes without saying.
'A right move…'
If it wasn't for Eishi's intervention, the city hall might have faced the esper uprising. He visited the city hall three more times, with each one resulting in a trade. It wasn't just Souichiro's wife—Saya's mother—that grew stronger, but also his own loyal armed group.
Without any second-order espers appearing on other survivor groups, the city hall's stability is ensured.
'Those third-order zombies… well, they should be fourth-order by now.'
Eishi hasn't forgotten about the nest of zombies at the subway. He wanted to create more 'shields' so he won't get caught off guard by their attacks. The city hall is the strongest shield he has found so far.
The zergs did not just clean up the streets. Each one of them dropped an inferior crystal—one directly comparable to a golden grape. There are tens of thousands, if not a hundred thousand, of zergs that swept through Yokohama. Their demise brought scarce resources to the survivors. The crystals directly increased the esper quantity and quality within the city. It is the driving force behind the sharp increase of espers. It could be said that evolution fruits are too few. Ordinary zombies without crystals also posed greater danger than killing one palm-sized beetle.
It wasn't only humans who profited in this situation. Those zombies who consumed zerg crystals will also see a significant change in strength. It wasn't noticeable now as they remained in the subway, but the moment that zombie tide erupts will be a dangerous day.
In short, the swarm attack brought calamity and opportunity.
Eishi did not rest easy, either.
[Eishi Hiraoka]
Innate Talent: Time Dominator (SSS, Second-order)
Non-exclusive Talent: Spatial Backpack (1,410,000 Cubic Meters), Constitution Boost (S, Second-order), Weak Electricity (A, Second-order), Spirit Boost (B, Second-order), Metal Sharpening (A, Second-order), Clairvoyance (A, Second-order), Regeneration (A, Second-order)
Life Level: Second-order, Nine-star
Strength: 369 > 649 (480 > 844)
Agility: 363 > 643 (1,198 > 2,122)
Constitution: 665 > 945 (2,195 > 3,119)
Spirit: 835 > 1,115 (1,086 > 1,445)
'Feeding zombies… What a cheat code.'
Since he could not find any second-order evolution fruits, Eishi resorted to capturing a zombie and forcefully raised its level. To his surprise, a third-order mutated zombie crystal can be used by second-order espers. The faint attraction present on evolution fruits is present when he holds its crystal.
Ten days of continued absorption allowed him to level up to nine stars. His body grew increasingly strong, both in raw strength and genetic strength.
If he was as determined as when he leveled up to the second-order, he might have reached the third-order already. It was just that Eishi's mental state declined at that time. Only with a balanced schedule can he improve in all aspects.
"Mn…"
His thoughts were cut short with Airi's soft snort. Eishi looked down and saw his fully erect rod laying on her snow-white thighs. The coldness of her skin contrasted the warmth of his dick… arousing him further.
He did not hesitate to place it right below her pink slip, sneakily thrusting it with great familiarity.
"Mn..? Eishi.. Nn..!"
Another round of fighting against the drowsy Airi began.
*****
"My spirit is toasted…"
Every woman in this house is a second-order esper. Their endurance increases with each level-up, hence the duration of their sex grows longer.
One thing was certain:
Eishi's perfect genes and inflated constitution made him undefeatable.
The boldest ones, Saeko and Haruno, once tried to double-team him, but to no avail. Everyone else was too shy to pull that trick off. Since Eishi did not force them in threesomes, they could only fight earnestly in their one-versus-one battles.
Ultimately, nobody won against him.
"If I had known about this…"
He stared at the growing disparity between his constitution and spirit. Their multipliers are 3.3 and 1.3, respectively. Airi's [Chosen One] increased his status by 30%, while the [Martial Master]'s basic buff increased his constitution by three times (300%).
If it wasn't for his strong self-control and early independence, he would have let his guard down and focused solely on having sex, with no considerations of others' favorabilities whatsoever.
Eishi strolled for a while before arriving at the gym on the first floor. He saw Saeko and others sparring with a shinai (lit. bamboo sword). They did not train who would hit harder, instead focusing on control. It takes a lot of effort not to break the shinai with their current strength.
What he focused more on, however, is their gym outfits. Mahiru's one-piece gym outfit highlighted her well-lined abdomen. Meanwhile, Megumi's sports bra emphasized her breasts that shook up and down.
The sense of clarity brought after his fight with Airi disappeared like a father buying his son milk. It took a while for him to suppress these horny thoughts.
He sat beside Saeko whose arms were crossed. Her ample breasts were pushed up by her arms.
"How was it?"
"Shiina is progressing slowly. Megumi is outpacing her in terms of her strikes."
Saeko's analysis was spot-on.
Despite knowing they have to fight, Mahiru subconsciously holds back. She lets go of openings and strikes only at the less dangerous areas. Megumi was different. She focused her eyes on Mahiru and kept attacking at every angle she spotted. She is more decisive than the kind-hearted girl.
It all stems from their characters. Mahiru is kind and forgiving. Megumi, on the other hand, is accustomed to her treatment as air. She did not have any emotional attachments with others, making it easier for her preservation instincts to be more ruthless.
This problem stemmed from them knowing each other. Mahiru does not feel as cornered as when she faced those malicious espers outside.
"No need to worry. Mahiru will do it once she is cornered."
"Mhm."
Eishi knew Mahiru well. It isn't an exaggeration that she is his soulmate. Her independence and decisiveness paralleled his. Their only difference was that he led the other women through this apocalypse, pushing Eishi to make choices beyond the former societal standard (i.e., murder).
Just then, Utaha walked over behind Eishi. The latter was surprised to see her wearing the maid clothes he had chosen for her. A garter-belt could be seen on her thighs, leading up to her underwear. Her knee-length skirt fluttered as she walked.
He didn't have to say a word for her to start 'massaging' his shoulders. Her rather clumsy techniques revealed her messy internal thoughts.
"Do you want me to show you how to do it?"
"..!"
Utaha's conflicted face blushed even further. She had recently studied these massage techniques online. Sadly, she has no one to practice with, leading to her clumsy start.
"Leave it to me. Aren't I your… maid?"
The familiar tone left him speechless, and at the same time, happy.
"I take it that the former Kasumigaoka-san is back? Though I am sure she wouldn't have become a maid without any blackmail."
"..."
His words left her speechless. It wasn't long before she focused on the shoulder and arm massage.
Saeko looked at the scene on her right with a narrowed gaze. She gave him the "as usual" look before putting her attention back to the fight.
Soon, the match ended in Megumi's favor. The next one who fought was Haruno and Yukino, the two siblings. Haruno did not hesitate to strike fiercely using her shinai, initially leaving Yukino in a daze. It wasn't until she recovered that she began to outskill Haruno. Her previous background in her high school outweighed Haruno's ten days of cramming.
As this match progressed, Mahiru unhesitantly sat on Eishi's lap. The fragrance of her hair filled his nose. He could not help but give her a hug from behind, dissipating her slightly jealous look when she saw Utaha's 'service' to him.
Shizuka-sensei acted as the referee and watched over who would endanger whom. She was briefly distracted by the sight of Eishi being sandwiched by two girls. She was lucky no accidents happened during the match.
With Yukino as the victor, she fought against the maid Utaha next. Then came Megumi who fought the alienated Yui.
The latter was already numb to the sight of Eishi having fun with several women at once. She almost could not recognize her best-friend when she saw Mahiru vie for his attention amidst her jealous looks.
What's even more shocking was his mother's rather close distance with him.
'No, no way. If that happened—'
A blush appeared on her cheeks. Yui's mind drifted to the naive Shizuka, heaving a sigh of relief. They are the only two (confirmed) women who haven't done that with Eishi. Yui also enjoyed the company of the airheaded but genuine school doctor.
'Sharing a boyfriend with my bestfriend and mother..!'
Her wild thoughts sent her in a daze.
Bam.
Shizuka-sensei caught the falling shinai with her bare hands. It crumbled under her extremely tough hands.
Megumi, who was fighting Yui, looked shocked and immediately apologized. She never expected that Yui would enter a daze mid-fight.
"Yuigahama-san. Reflect on this fight. You shouldn't be in a daze when fighting someone."
"A-alright!"
Just like that, the morning training was concluded.