I moved away from the wall and dropped onto the sofa in the center of the living room, stretching my legs out.
Gianna walked over and sat down beside me, though she intentionally kept a respectable distance between us on the cushions.
"Why aren’t you here in the morning?"
"I have my own place," she replied, staring straight ahead at the blank television screen mounted on the wall.
"Then you’re not staying?"
"Why would I?"
"Aw, come on," I teased, giving her a completely disappointed look.
"We have a whole month of alone time to prepare for the Academy. I figured we were going to be roomies."
"I have work, Revien," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I will meet you in the morning to start our actual training."
’Tch. Can’t say I was disappointed.’
Having some personal space wasn’t the worst thing in the world right now.
Plus, it was probably for the best. Having Jenna and Gianna in the same apartment together constantly would make it awkward for me to focus on anything other than them.
"You’re thinking something dirty, aren’t you?" Gianna suddenly asked, narrowing her eyes directly at me.
"You know me so well, even though we just met."
"How are you consistently horny?" she demanded, throwing her hands up in total exasperation.
"We were just talking about life and death dungeon runs a minute ago!"
"I’m not horny," I argued, shifting just a fraction closer to her on the sofa.
"Maybe it is just a side effect of my power. Or, maybe, you are just that beautiful, Gia."
I fully expected her to turn bright red and yell at me, but she just gave me a dry, unamused look.
She had stopped blushing a long time ago. It looked like she was already getting accustomed to my antics, slowly building up a tolerance to the constant flirting.
"Anyway," she said, standing up from the sofa and brushing off her pants.
"Food will be delivered here shortly. Stay inside. You can use the terminal to watch videos on how the world moves and catch up on the current guild rankings. I will come tomorrow."
"Leaving so soon?" I asked, leaning back and lacing my fingers together.
"Yes. I have work."
"Well, have fun," I told her, offering a lazy wave.
Gianna started walking toward the door, but stopped abruptly in the entryway.
She stood there for a long second, her hand resting on the door frame, before slowly turning to look back at me.
Her expression was completely serious again, carrying that same vulnerability I saw earlier when she was pinned against the wall.
"You won’t betray us?"
"Not a chance," I promised, meeting her gaze without a single ounce of hesitation.
She nodded once, seemingly satisfied with the answer, and exited the apartment.
The heavy door slid shut behind her with a soft click. I collapsed back into the sofa, letting out a long breath.
’Finally, a moment entirely alone.’ I rubbed my eyes, letting the sheer exhaustion of the day slowly catch up to me.
The sparring match, the shopping trip, the constant teasing to keep Gianna off balance- it was a lot to process in a single afternoon.
To the real question.
Why am I actually here?
I sat up and stared at the space in front of the coffee table.
System, you there? Any reason I am in this world right now?
A translucent blue screen flickered into existence right in front of my face.
[System Notice: The Host’s soul compatibility resonated with the current dimensional frequency. Transmigration was initiated to balance the rapidly deteriorating male-to-female ratio and prevent total societal collapse.]
I read the text twice.
So they really pulled me here just to fix their population problem?
"But this isn’t my body, even though the name is the same."
[It’s not. Your consciousness was the only thing transferred.]
Is this the future, or just some parallel world and such?
[This is a parallel reality. The timeline diverged significantly three hundred years ago following the occurrence of the First Gate. The resulting mana radiation heavily favored the female genome, leading to the current matriarchal structure.]
’A parallel reality.’ I leaned my head back against the cushions.
That explained why the city outside looked highly futuristic but somehow totally alien at the same time.
The technology was advanced, but society had shaped itself entirely around the existence of dungeons and mana instead of normal science.
And my class?
Why am I a Succubus?
Isn’t that usually a female demon?
I waited patiently for the system to process the question.
[The ’Succubus’ class is an anomaly assigned based on the Host’s exceptionally high base Charm stat and the world’s desperate requirement for intimate mana transfer. The class designation simply refers to the method of energy absorption and domination, regardless of gender.]
So basically, the system realized the only way I could survive and thrive in a world run entirely by overpowered women was to dominate them through physical intimacy.
System, Gianna mentioned Empresses earlier.
Who are they?
[The Empresses are the ten strongest Warriors in the world, holding absolute political and military authority. They are the only known entities capable of withstanding SSS-Rank Calamities.]
Ten?
That meant the ceiling for power in this reality was exceptionally high.
If I wanted to truly live freely, without constantly fearing getting dragged off to a lab, I would eventually need to be strong enough to look an Empress in the eye without blinking.
I need to get stronger.
If that Draven guy from the news broadcast was the standard for a top-tier supporter, I had a very long way to go before I could actually rival the Highland Guild.
How exactly do I level up my physical stats without fighting directly?
[The Host can absorb residual stats from targets completely subjected to the ’Submission’ skill, or gain permanent stat points through the ’Intimate Empowerment’ process by reaching high Favorability and Arousal thresholds with bound partners.]
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(A/N: Liked it? Donate powerstones, leave a comment, and add it to your library:)