Chapter 3

Hello, I'm Kazu-no, Ekaterina, and I'm here again before you!

I'm worried... You know?

Poor little me spent several minutes worrying about my illness... or maybe hours? Still, I couldn't help but feel uneasy about the bleak future prospects of my situation...

How am I supposed to save this world if I die?

Is there any way to guarantee my longevity? If not, it doesn't make sense that whatever system brought me into this world was the one that came into being, right?

I kept thinking about this and that until I realized something... System? Of course I have a system at my disposal!

I breathed a sigh of relief and scolded myself for my stupidity for not having noticed this. Thinking about it, it was pretty obvious that there should be something in the game system that could help me in this seemingly hopeless situation.

Although it's unpleasant to trust the thing that modifies and integrates my soul into the body of a girl from another world... but it is so. Poor people can't be choosers... how ironic that she should say this as the daughter of a powerful Duke, huh?

So I decided to check my condition first to see how bad my new body was... and what I saw shocked me.

[Name: Ekaterina Sophrein of Dranalian]

[Age: 12 years]

[Gender: Female]

[Profession: None]

[Social Status: Little Lady of Dranalian]

[Physical Condition: Healthy (no physical illnesses or ailments of any kind)]

[Mental State: Confused, worried, stressed, sleep deprivation (no mental illness, mild existential crisis)]

[Spiritual State: Relatively Stable (The Souls of two worlds were completely integrated, creating a new being)]

[Arcane Arts: Body Strengthening Rank 2]

[Unique Forces; Absolute Order Rank 1, Captivating Charm Rank 1]

[Stats: Strength 9 | Agility 8 | Intelligence 6 | Perception 10 | Constitution 7 | Magic 10 | Soul 27 | Charm 12]

I was surprised that Ekaterina, that is, me, was 12 years old. I mean, I clearly look like a 9-year-old.

And doesn't that mean the game is still a few years away? Why is that?

And besides, what's with those stats? 27 soul status points? Hey? Doesn't that mean I can use my Unique Forces multiple times? An adult's soul power should be around 14 points...

By the way, in-game MP and SP were displayed as two bars, green and blue respectively. There was nothing else to know how much energy you had left other than monitoring how much the MP/SP bar was going down during battles... but those things didn't appear in my vision no matter how many times I called them up. I expected them to be reflected in the cute status window that showed a chibi version of me, but... no.

What a shame… How much MP and SP do I have? Also… The creation of a new being through the integration of two souls? Is that what they did to us? I guess that means I'm both Ekaterina and Kazuto… Am I still having some existential crisis?

No, wait... That...that's not the problem!

Physically healthy? No illnesses or physical ailments of any kind?

Does that mean I won't die? Phew, what a relief!

I'd rather not die again anytime soon, thank you very much!

I felt my body relax at this news. I'm so happy!

Does that mean I'll be able to live with these beautiful, wealthy parents for a long time while enjoying the riches and magic? Hooray!

No, no, no! Don't forget, Ekaterina, this evil system wants you to save the world! There's a terrible abyssal being that will awaken in a few years, and you must stop it to... make this world real?

I don't understand at all... What do you mean by Imaginary Universal Sphere? Does this world exist within a sphere created by human imagination or something?

<System Notice: Congratulations to the player for correctly guessing one of the key aspects of the existence of a UIS. 100 GP (game points) are awarded.>

Player points? You'll give me the points needed to buy and use Gasha just for correctly guessing that this world was born from human imagination? Wow! This system is generous!

Even though you're still evil, Ekaterina-sensei will one day punish you for manipulating and fusing souls at will!

Um, anyway... I just got 100 GP. If I remember correctly (and Ekaterina-sensei probably remembers correctly!), that's enough points to buy a special item that can speed up the rate at which you capture the affections of capture targets...

Sounds very useful...but...

It's unpleasant to have to flirt with men, but... I looked at my new parents' sleeping faces and clenched my fists. Now that I live in this world, I must make sure to protect them. As the only one who knows about the future and what it takes to defeat the dreaded [King of the Eternal Abyss], there's no doubt I'll have to sacrifice my dignity as a man for the greater good...

It's for a good purpose, isn't it?!

For God's sake! If it weren't for this... why would I want to create a harem of handsome men full of testosterone? Why can't I create a harem of beautiful girls and live the lilac dream?

Fortunately, I don't have to kiss them or marry them. I just have to make them fall in love... which won't be easy.

I remember the main female character was a beauty, and yet I had to overcome many obstacles to get those boys to fall for her. It was difficult, I assure you.

Although I, Ekaterina-sensei, am obviously someone who will be much more beautiful than the female lead... And I'm not bragging, it's a fact!

Cough! Although I'm a person who will grow up to be very beautiful, I'm sure it won't be any different for me. After all, I know very well the troubled or even unfortunate circumstances of those children.

A budding young swordsman seeking revenge on his mother who sold him into slavery...

A distrustful professor who believes himself to be the genius of the century in matters of magic….

The prodigal son of a duke who feels unnecessarily inferior to his younger brother without understanding his true power...

And the young botanical genius with a beautiful appearance but a dark heart marked by the betrayal of the one he once loved...

These four were the capture targets with the greatest growth potential for HAD, and of course, the most difficult to conquer.

They're also the only ones that can guarantee a higher chance of sealing or killing the King of the Eternal Abyss if you successfully capture them. (By the way, there were over 17 male capture targets in the game, and the theory is that you could capture them all... but I don't want to play Pokémon!)

It will be a challenge to please them, especially the last one… Hahaha, why isn't life easier?

Why should I care about hooking up with four cute guys? With some total Ikemen?

Why can't I swear?

<Answer: Why was Ekaterina raised to never say such things? Naturally, such inappropriate behavior should be avoided.>

The system's immediate response left me speechless and I pouted.

This evil thing keeps playing with me!

No, calm down, Ekaterina. There's no point in getting angry at the system of unknown origin... You'll find a way to punish its evil ways later... For now, you have to use it as much as it uses you!

I must see that many of the game's features are available on this system!

With those thoughts firmly in mind... Wait, I think I'm forgetting something... Wasn't there something strange written on my status? I quickly checked my status window, and my eyes widened...

[Unique Strengths: Absolute Order, Captivating Charm]

Huh? Absolute order? Captivating charm?

What skills are these?

I remember the backstory of the One Forces being that they were a soul-born power, with which humans and other races could control the elemental forces of the world in ways unique to each individual, like Magic in other games, but without spells and all that.

This game was a strange little thing where Magic only served to perform so-called arcanotheology, and unique forces were basically its replacement for battle; a power that could be very strong or very weak, depending on how it was formed after awakening. Naturally, it was rare to have two.

It was a strange power that couldn't be used much unless more SP was obtained by killing monsters during battles or during breaks outside of battles. A special character move that, under certain conditions, could evolve or branch into other forms of the character as sub-skills.

And they were all elementals, with names that alluded to the elements like “Frozen Tornado” or “Golden Flame Glory”!

But Ekaterina's? They didn't look elementary at all!

The only non-elemental abilities were those of the game's bosses, specifically the demons and ancient beasts. A human without elemental powers? That's the first I've heard of!

Also, Absolute Order sounds like a very dominant One Force, you know?

Restraining my body so as not to move violently in surprise and wake my parents, I try to calm myself while screaming in my head.

Evil system, give me information about Absolute Order and Captivating Charm!

With that, an adorable window with anime-style drawings of horned rabbits appeared in front of me, surprising me with its cuteness before I finally decided to read its contents.

<Absolute Order: A unique force with the power to actively force its user's will upon physical reality. With enough SP, the player can impose order on the world to fulfill their wishes, either temporarily or permanently depending on how it is used.

<Note that the SP cost increases significantly for creatures with souls and beings/objects more powerful than the player, and using the skill to cause extremely drastic changes to reality can jeopardize the soul's integrity. For example: changing its body would destroy its soul even with the SP of 100 Mighty Knights>

<Also, it's impossible to control other people's emotions and personalities. Well, even though its name is that, it only affects physical reality. The spiritual realm is beyond its control.>

Hey? What's so bad about this broken ability? Altering reality by imposing order on it? Huh? Wouldn't that be similar to the power of gods? But... That last one sounds dangerous...

After reading this with a somewhat dazed and terrified expression, another window appeared.

<Captivating Charm: A unique force that causes sentient beings to become more passively attracted to the user. Its effect is to significantly increase others' attention toward you and enhance the growth of affection toward you.>

<It relies heavily on your natural Charm stat and, of course, your soul. It can also be actively used to control other people to a certain extent, but be careful, as those with high Perception and Willpower stats may notice the manipulation, so keep this in mind. Active use uses SP.>

Huh? Can such an ability exist?

I'm speechless... Aren't these the powers that would make me an undisputed Monarch?

The power of a Monarch is in my hands…My little hands!

Wow!

Cough! No, Ekaterina thinks, these powers have clear limits… You're not an absolute being!

Don't be fooled by some stupid God complex!

I must discover what the limits of these abilities are and how useful they will be... although I have the strange feeling that my second unique strength is there to turn me into some kind of Femmale Fatale or something...

But I must be imagining things... Right, right?

With such concerns in mind, I decided to… stop thinking about such complicated things and learn more about the system.

I'll worry about that tomorrow! (Procrastination!)

So I pass the time understanding the differences between the original game system and the current one until I fall asleep.

I must say that getting up early the next day at my mom's instigation was a bit annoying, but I decided to give her a smile to show her that her little one was okay, as I was sure my sudden unconsciousness worried them and that was why they were sleeping with me.

Then I was surprised when Mom suddenly hugged me and squeezed those abundant bags of flesh on my body while crying, but her happy smile that I managed to see earlier showed me that they were tears of relief and happiness for my sake, and a warm feeling came over me that spread throughout my porch when I decided to hug her neck.

Dad cried too and hugged us, and the three of us stood together, hugging each other, showing affection for each other. At that moment, I made a promise to myself.

It doesn't matter if this world was born from human imagination...

This family... my family, I will protect them along with this entire world.

So... I have no choice but to do that reverse harem after all!

While I was thinking about these things... the door to the room opened forcefully, making the three of us tremble in surprise.

A girl with blonde hair and deep blue eyes like the sea entered the room with tears in her eyes as she screamed and ran towards us.

Or more specifically… towards me, who was in our parents' arms.

“¡Rina-chaaaan”

With a tomboyish entrance, a wild older sister appears!