Truth be told, I'd never actually played 'Ecchi Online' myself. Hell, I was not even interested in such games to begin with. However, my roommate could not stop yapping about it for a single second, so I basically knew the entire plot.
Hours of endless rants and complaints, forum drama, tier lists, and obsessive breakdowns. From all that second-hand noise, I could only come up with one conclusion.
My roommate was the type who would latch onto something he hated and chew on it for days like a dog with a bone.
If any game triggered his inner critic, he would weaponize every word in the English dictionary until the entire community begged him to stop.
To tell the truth, I could somehow sympathize with Ariel's mental meltdown. I had seen the nauseating determination in that bastard's eyes when he typed on his PC, trying to come up with things to hate about a fictional woman.
Still, getting yanked into another world because of his bullshit was a bit much.
"See, Miss Ariel."
"Just call me Ariel, okay?"
I nodded, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'm not at all interested in staying in this world, so I would like you to take back what you said and send me back to my world."
"…" Ariel opened her mouth and slowly closed it again. "Well… the thing is—"
Before she could come up with any excuses, I cut her off. "I have work tomorrow."
Ariel lowered her head, covering her face with her palm. "I'm so sorry… truly, I am… Waaah…!"
"Why are you crying again? Just send me back. You're a goddess, so it should be easy."
"Well… about that…"
Still kneeling, with tears rolling down her flushed cheeks, the goddess answered slowly.
"I can't…"
"Huh?"
"You see, in a fit of rage… sob… I used too much power, and now I can't send you back. Even if I regain my power later, you would have assimilated too much with this body."
"What? Wait, do you mean I'm stuck here? Like… forever?"
"Sniff. I'm sorry!"
She slammed her forehead to the floor again, her plush breasts squishing dramatically against the carpet with each bow. The thin fabric of her barely-there dress rode up, exposing the creamy undersides of her thighs.
Suddenly, her head snapped up as if a brilliant idea had struck.
"Ah!"
"There's a way to send me back, right?" I asked hopefully.
She did not say a word. Instead, a purple floating screen appeared in front of me.
[The Goddess of Lust has bestowed her blessing upon you.]
"You saw the notification, right?" She raised her thumbs up. "I will give you special privileges. This world is amazing, as you may already know. There are beautiful women everywhere, magic, and endless chances to…!"
"No," I said firmly. "Send me back."
[The Goddess of Lust raises your charm to its utmost limit.]
[You have acquired SSS-ranked Skill: 『Divine Physique』]
[Maximum capacity for SSS-ranked Skill reached.]
[The Goddess of Lust has lifted the restriction on the number of SSS-rank Skills one can possess.]
[You have acquired SSS-ranked Skill: 『Temptation of Blood』]
[You have acquired SSS-ranked Skill: 『Lucky Pervert』]
"I'll give you those skills too. And this. And this!"
"Hold on. Slow down for a moment, will you? This is absolutely insane."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Waaah!"
[You have acquired SSS-ranked Skill: 『Character Discharge』]
[You have acquired SSS-ranked Skill: 『Saintess's Protection』]
[You have acquired SSS-ranked Skill: 『Heavenly Discipline』]
[You have acquired SSS-ranked Skill: 『All Seeing Eyes』]
A flood of purple panels flickered to life in front of me. Even I could tell these were broken-tier powers, the kind normal people would grind for years or whale thousands of dollars to obtain.
I actually felt bad for her. Enough to swallow the rising anger boiling inside me, both from her constant sobbing and from the fact that she could not send me back home.
In the end, I was staring at the back of her bowed head, her golden hair spilling like liquid sunlight, her body trembling as though she would accept any punishment I named.
"Haaaah…"
"Since I've completely eliminated the difficulty of capturing the waifus… why not just… well, enjoy having a harem and stuff?"
"Sorry, I'm only into pure love. As I said before, I never actually played your game, nor was I planning to play it. All this harem and adult game stuff is more my roommate's thing."
Sex should be the culmination of love. I was not interested in mindless, animalistic pounding. Even last night, before all this happened, I had fallen asleep to my usual pure-love playlist like always.
This was literally throwing me into a genre I knew nothing about, aside from second-hand ranting.
After I spelled out my preference, Ariel's face went ghostly pale.
"…It might be a difficult request, but…" She took a deep breath and stared into my eyes. "Starting today… could you maybe… change your preferences? Try a harem? Just a little? Please?"
When I tilted my head to the side, the blonde goddess dissolved into fresh sobs.
I let out a long sigh. 'Why is she so adamant about this? Is it because she is still a goddess wannabe and does not want to mess up?'
That answer somehow felt the most fitting.
Ariel did not look like a schemer or someone with evil intentions. If she were truly evil, she would not have given me such an arsenal of abilities. Besides, she looked like she might fade from guilt alone.
She had clearly poured her soul into her game, which was inspired by the characters of this world. Watching someone constantly send hateful comments about it had pushed her into yanking a random guy across dimensions. That alone showed how childish she was and how deeply the "Zero Erection" memes had wounded her.
Honestly… she was kind of cute when she was not being a dramatic deity.
"That guy was too harsh," I admitted under my breath.
"…What?"
"Well, it isn't like I don't appreciate beautiful women."
My main problem was not forming a harem, but managing it. Just thinking about it sounded exhausting. Still, sharing a roof with lovely girls could actually be… nice.
I let my arm fall to my side. "I guess I can give it a try."
Ariel's tear-streaked face lit up like sunrise. "Hehehe. Thanks, Kim Jae-hyun!"
I felt a visible chill when she called my name. The fact that she even knew it showed just how powerful she was, and I was playing hard to get with that very being.
I exhaled slowly, my new reality still dawning on me. "Is there anything else I should know? Or a manual I'm meant to have?"
Ariel shook her head. "There isn't anything like that. But since your roommate talked a lot about my game, you should have general knowledge of this world, right?"
I nodded.
That bastard did say a lot of things about the game, even things I preferred not to know.
She raised her thumb, her reddened eyes sparkling through the tears as she grinned wide.
"It will be no problem for you. All you need is to dive in and experience the fun."
Before I could say another word, Ariel vanished in a swirl of golden light.
I stood there, staring at the spot where she had been kneeling. It was truly a bizarre turn of events.
Unknowingly, I had been transmigrated into another world.
After enough reminiscing, I started poking around the room. It took less than a minute before I found my student ID on the table beside the massive bed.
On the ID were the basic details.
[Certified School Identification]
Institution: Apex Academy
Name: Felix Val Amon
Age: 19 yrs
Year: Third Year
Rank Evaluation: D-rank
Class Rank: 84/100
"Oof. Talk about a rough start."
Although I was not the biggest game enthusiast, I was a webnovel and webtoon lover. I knew nearly every trope on the planet, and from this evaluation, it seemed I was on the lower end of the world's hierarchy.
I stretched, turning my head slightly to glance at the clock.
'Might as well head down.'
Since I was in a new world, the first thing I needed to do was get along with my new family.
My new body felt… tense.
In my past life, I was an orphan, so it felt strange having someone I could call my sister.
Who knew routine could shatter so quickly?
I opened the door of the massive room and was greeted by a long passage. The moment I stepped into it, the sound of soft voices reached my ears.
"Ugh. This is so irritating. Why do we have to deal with that loser?"
"Amy, shh. He might hear you from upstairs."
"Let him. I can't even bring friends over anymore because I'm mortified by that idiot."
'…Are they talking about me?'