My consciousness returned in fragments.
First came the pain. A deep, pulsing throb from my leg that made me want to throw up. Then the ache in my skull where I'd hit the wall.
I could feel the sticky itch of drying blood on my face.
'I'm alive?'
I forced my eyes open. Everything was blurry. The purple glow from the runes had dimmed to almost nothing, casting the chamber in weak, flickering light.
I was lying on cold stone, my back against a wall. My left leg was bent at an angle that made my stomach turn.
'Yep, It's broken. Definitely broken.'
I tried to move and it turned out to be a bad idea. Pain shot up my spine and I bit down on my tongue to keep from screaming. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
The memory of what happened rushed back to me and I wasn't so calm anymore.
'Where's the creature?'
The red eyes were gone. But I could still hear heavy breathing coming from somewhere to my right.
I didn't turn my head. I didn't want to see it.
My camera drone was on the ground a few feet away, its lens cracked but still glowing. It was still recording. The little red light was blinking.
'Of course. Even when I'm about to die, I'm still streaming'
I checked my viewer count in the corner of my vision.
Someone new had joined. Probably someone looking for a death video. I didn't have the energy to care.
The two bots were still there. Viewer #1 was still there.
The new viewer's name was garbled. Just random letters and numbers. A lurker.
"Great stream," I muttered. My voice came out weak and scratchy. I had to be quiet to avoid bringing attention to myself. "Ten out of ten. Would almost die again."
There was no response from the chat as usual.
The breathing to my right continued. It came from the same spot, unmoving, like the creature was either sleeping or waiting for something.
That's when I noticed the crystal.
It was floating in the center of the chamber. The ceiling was lost in darkness above me. The walls were covered in the same purple runes, but most of them had gone dark.
The crystal was Pure black. Like someone had cut a hole in reality and shaped it into a rough sphere.
And it was cracking.
Not broken. It was actually cracking right in front of me.
Small fractures spiderwebbed across its surface, each one leaking a wisp of purple smoke.
The smoke slowly drifted toward me.
I stared at the crystal, a tightness forming in my chest as the hairs on my arms rose. It pulled at me, an insistent urge to reach out and touch it, even as every instinct told me to stay back.
"That is undoubtedly suspicious" I mumbled.
The cracks spreading across the crystal, along with the slowly gathering smoke, suggested that whatever lay within had been sealed away—and was now breaking free.
But I wasn't breaking it. It was breaking on its own. The smoke stopped in front of me and rotated around me.
The creature growled beside me.
I finally turned my head to take a quick look at it.
It stood massive in the dim light, its body wrapped in dark fur and supported by too many legs shifting with an unsettling rhythm. Its jaws were parted slightly, revealing rows of teeth that glowed faint white, while its red eyes remained fixed on the crystal alone.
It ignored me completely.
All its attention was locked on the spreading cracks, as if it was waiting for something to break free.
'It wants whatever's inside' I realized.
The crystal pulsed as another piece broke off.
The shard hung in the air for a brief moment, turning slowly as if it was measuring its target, before suddenly lashing forward with deadly speed. I tried to move out of the way, but my leg refused to respond.
The impact came straight to my chest and the shard sank into me, right over my heart.
There was no blood, no visible wound, only a cold, burning sensation that spread through my veins like liquid fire, creeping through my body with a relentless heat that made every breath feel heavier than the last.
I screamed in panic.
The sound echoed off the walls. The creature's head snapped toward me. Its eyes narrowed.
But it didn't attack. It just watched me with a burning intensity.
More fragments broke away, each one launching toward me with unimaginable speed.
They struck my chest, my arms, my stomach, one after another, sinking into my skin before dissolving as though my body was swallowing them whole.
A cold spread through me, followed by a burning heat that crawled beneath my skin.
The two sensations twisted together, tightening around my chest until breathing became difficult, then impossible to control.
My thoughts scattered, slipping out of reach as the sensation took over everything.
Then a voice spoke inside my head.
"Oh, finally. I was getting so bored"
It was a sarcastic female voice.
"Let me see what we're working with..."
There was a brief pause, followed by a strange, intrusive sensation. Something unseen was moving through my mind, flipping through my memories one by one.
"Oh. Oh, no. You're a sad little thing, aren't you? F-rank? Broke? Four days from eviction? Three viewers? Two of them bots?"
I tried to speak but nothing came out. My body wasn't listening to me anymore.
"And one very interesting silent watcher. Hmm. That one's been following you for a while. Creepy. I like her"
The rest of the crystal shattered.
Purple smoke flooded the chamber, thick and choking. It moved with intent, sliding across the ground and closing in on me before forcing its way in—through my mouth, my nose, even my ears.
I tried to resist, but my body wouldn't respond. I couldn't move. I couldn't stop it.
The creature took a step forward. Then another. It was going to attack now. While I was helpless.
"Hold still, the voice said. This will only hurt for a second"
The smoke finished entering my body. The pain in my leg vanished. The pain in my head vanished and everything went quiet.
Then a window appeared in my vision, filled with bright, glowing red text.
[Lust Streamer System – Initializing...]
[System integration complete.]
[Host: Adonis Thorne – Status: Corrupted (Rank 1)]
[Welcome to the Lust Streamer System.]
[Please direct all complaints to Morathia, Primordial Demon of Desire.]
[She does not care.]
"What the fuck?" I managed to say.
The voice laughed. "Eloquent. I can see why you have three viewers"
"Who are you? Where are you? What did you do to me?"
"I'm in your head, genius. Well, technically, I'm a fragment of Morathia's consciousness. The original is still sealed. Mostly. I'm what leaked out when you broke her crystal."
"I didn't break it on purpose—"
"You touched the wall. That was enough. The seal was already weak and you just gave it the push it needed"
"Anyway, you're welcome. I fixed your leg, healed your head, and gave you a power system that'll make those three viewers look like rookie numbers"
I looked down at my leg. It was straight. The bone was set and I could move my feet again.
"How?"
"Lust Essence. It's your new fuel source. Better than mana. More fun to generate too. The voice sounded amused. Speaking of which... we should get you started."
Another window popped up.
[First Quest – Awakening]
[Seduce a woman of D-rank or higher within 24 hours.]
[Reward: Novice's Lust Cache, 500 Power Stones, Skill: Siren's Whisper (F)]
[Failure: Permanent system deletion.]
I stared at the window. "Seduce? I can't even get a woman to look at me—"
"Not my problem. The system needs Lust Essence to function. You generate Lust Essence by arousing powerful women. Simple math"
"Wow... I'm really going to die."
"Probably. But not from system deletion" The voice dropped to a whisper. "That creature beside you?"
My blood went cold. I had forgotten about the creature entirely. It had likely been waiting for whatever was breaking out of the seal and now I had taken it from it.
"It's still here. And it's hungry."
I turned just in time to see the creature closing in, a low growl rumbling from its throat before it lunged without hesitation.
I threw myself to the side, my leg holding this time. Whatever magic the mysterious voice had done had completely healed me.
Claws tore across the stone where I had been a moment before, sparks scraping loose from the impact.
The thing was fast. Way too fast.
"Use your innate ability," the voice said calmly. "Host has a basic Lust Aura. Push it outward. Make it feel something other than hunger."
"But it's not a woman!"
"It's a female and coincidentally a D-rank creature. Now do it before it bites your head off"
'I have to seduce a maniacal beast that's trying to kill me? Can this day get any worse...'
The creature turned, its red eyes locking onto mine. Its mouth opened slowly, strands of saliva slipping from its jaws and dripping down the side.
I had nothing to lose.
I hurriedly activated the skill and hoped that the stupid voice in my head was right.