Haruto stared at the three translucent figures kneeling before him. They weren't just bowing; they were waiting for their command.
"Master," they whispered in a haunting, synchronized harmony.
Haruto winced, a look of genuine discomfort crossing his face.
Haruto's heart skipped a beat—but not because of power or pride. His eyes went wide, and he actually stumbled back a step, nearly tripping over his own feet.
"Master?" Haruto stammered, his voice cracking. "What? Who... Who is 'Master'? Me? I'm the Master?!"
Suddenly, a prompt appeared in front of his eyes, glowing with a soft gold light:
[SYSTEM PROMPT: CONTRACT PENDING]
Description: The trial is over. The Architects of the Moon have fulfilled their roles.
Option A: Discard Files (Goddesses will be permanently deleted from the system).
Option B:Bind Files (Goddesses will be reformatted into personal companions).
Warning: If B is chosen, they will lose their Divinity but retain some of their memories and will serve you to eternity.
Haruto looked at the three ghosts. They were flickering, their digital signatures fading into nothingness. If he didn't click, they'd be gone forever.
Haruto stared at the flickering ghosts of the three Architects. His finger hovered over Option B, but he didn't click immediately. His eyes narrowed, moving with the rapid precision of a pro-gamer analyzing a complex skill tree.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)'Wait. Let's look at the math here. I'm entering a completely new world with zero local data. No maps, no lore, no understanding of the "Global Rules." If I go in alone, I'm basically playing a Hardcore Permadeath run with a blindfold on. It would take me years—maybe decades—to figure out the exploits of this world by myself. That's not just dangerous; it's inefficient. And inefficiency leads to the worst kind of outcome: a slow, dragging boredom.'
He looked at the three goddesses. Even without their divinity, they were walking databases of this reality.
'These three... they are high-tier resources. Ivory is a living encyclopedia of logic, Bellona knows the combat meta, and Lustra... well, she understands the organic side of this system. Deleting them would be like throwing away a walkthrough guide and a legendary starter pack at the same time.'
"I hate wasting high-tier resources,"
Haruto muttered, his finger hovering over the screen.
"And besides... traveling alone is the fastest way to get bored."
[CLICK] — [OPTION B: ACCEPTED]
[!! SYSTEM UPDATE: REFORMATTING IN PROGRESS !!]
A violent surge of white light erupted from the center of the void, wrapping around Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona. Their translucent, ghostly forms began to solidify, but the oppressive, divine weight they once carried started to evaporate. The "Godhood" was being stripped away, replaced by something much softer.
[NOTICE: DIVINITY REMOVED]
"Wait, what's happening to them?" Haruto asked, stepping closer.
The Goddesses' eyes—once glowing with silver, violet, and crimson fire—faded into natural, human shades. Their legendary armor and silk robes dissolved, replaced by simple, travel-worn clothes that wouldn't look out of place in a crowded city square. They were no longer the Architects of the Moon; they were being prepared to walk among mortals.
[WARNING: MEMORY FLUSH INITIATED]
[SYSTEM LOG: To prevent 'Divine Trauma,' all memories older than 100 years will be sealed.]
"Wait... they're going to forget?" Haruto whispered.
The three women gasped as a golden mist pulled the memories of their long, lonely eons from their minds. The pain of their isolation, the weight of their duties, and the thousands of years of boredom were being erased. They would remember their names, their skills, and their new bond with Haruto—but the "Goddesses" they once were were gone.
Ivory blinked, her sharp, calculating gaze softening into curiosity. Lustra looked at her hands, no longer trembling with desperate hunger. Bellona stood up, her posture still athletic but the "predatory" edge replaced by a quiet strength.
They looked at Haruto. They didn't see a God or a "Star-Child." They saw a man.
"The system is literally making them 'compatible' with the world," Haruto realized, watching their pixels stabilize into human skin.
"No divine aura. No world-ending powers. Just... three girls who have no idea how long they've been goddesses."
The three translucent Goddesses were pulled into a swirling vortex of energy. Their towering heights shrunk, their jagged pixelated edges softened, and their divine auras condensed into solid, human warmth.
When the light faded, Haruto blinked.
Standing before him weren't the terrifying giants of Logic, Lust, and War. Instead, three girls stood there, looking surprisingly human and... cute.
Ivory (Logic): Was now a petite girl with silver hair and sharp, analytical eyes, wearing a simple white tunic.Lustra (Lust): Had lost her seductive golden silk, now appearing as a girl with soft pink hair and a bashful, almost shy expression.Bellona (War): The fierce warrior was now a girl with messy red hair and a competitive spark still burning in her eyes.
They looked at their new, solid hands, feeling the pulse of human life for the first time in eons. Then, they looked up at Haruto, their faces flushing with a mix of gratitude and awe.
Haruto sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Great. Now I have a party of three to carry. Let's get moving."
The three girls stood before Haruto, their eyes shining with a newfound loyalty that made his skin crawl. To them, he was the Star-Child, the one who had rewritten their destiny. To him, they were just three more notifications he didn't ask for.
The three girls stood before Haruto, their eyes shining with a newfound loyalty that made his skin crawl. To them, he was the Star-Child, the one who had rewritten their destiny. To him, they were just three more notifications he didn't ask for.
"Master Haruto," Lustra began, her voice soft and experimental as she felt the vibration of her new human vocal cords.
She stepped closer, followed by Ivory and Bellona, until they stood in a tight semicircle around him. In perfect, haunting synchronicity, they placed their right hands over their hearts.
"We are no longer the Moons," Ivory spoke, her voice steady.
"But our essence is now tied to the Aetheris Core that beats within you. For as long as you carry that spark, we will serve you until the end of your life—and beyond."
Lustra's face flushed a deep pink, but her gaze didn't waver.
"Until your last breath, Haruto... we belong to you."
"Your path is our path," Bellona added, her red eyes burning with a new kind of fire.
"The system has bound us. Whether you go to the heavens or the abyss, we are your blades, your shields, and your shadows."
Haruto stood frozen, his eyes twitching. The sheer weight of their words was more terrifying than the Blood-Rain Cataclysm.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)'Are you kidding me? "Until the end of my life"? "Serve me to eternity"? This isn't a game mechanic anymore—this is a life sentence! I can't even handle a gym membership commitment, and now I have three former Goddesses swearing blood-oaths because I'm carrying some cosmic battery in my chest? This is way too much drama for a Tuesday.'
"Master Haruto," Lustra began, her voice soft and experimental, "where shall we—"
"Stop right there," Haruto interrupted, raising a hand to cut her off. His expression was flat, his eyes narrowing with genuine irritation.
The girls froze. The air around Haruto felt heavy for a second, a flicker of the cold aura leaking out.
"I'm going to give you your first command,"
Haruto said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, melodic tone.
"And if you break it, I'll open the system menu and manually hit 'Delete' on all three of you. No hesitation. No second chances."
Ivory, Bellona, and Lustra gulped, their human hearts racing.
"Never call me 'Master' again," Haruto hissed.
"That word is the most boring, overused, scripted piece of dialogue in the history of this world. Every time you say it, my interest in you all drops by ten percent. If it hits zero, I'm leaving you behind."
The girls looked at each other, startled by the intensity of his distaste for the title.
"Then... what should we call you?"
Bellona asked, her warrior pride replaced by a curious tilt of her head.
Haruto paused, his back to them as he looked out at the rendering horizon. He let out a soft sigh, the name of his past life feeling heavy on his tongue for the first time in eons.
"My full name is Arisawa Haruto ," he replied simply, turning his head just enough to show the sharp line of his jaw.
"But forget the 'Arisawa' part. And definitely forget the 'Master' part."
He turned fully to face them, his expression flat and expectant.
"Just call me Haruto. I'm not your lord, I'm not your king, and I'm definitely not your 'Master. 'Haruto' is more than enough."
The three girls exchanged a look. To them, the name Haruto Arisawa felt like a secret incantation—the true name of the being who had conquered the Moons. But they could see the genuine irritation in his eyes at the thought of any more formality.
He paused at the edge of the light, looking over his shoulder with a sharp, predatory glint in his obsidian eyes.
"Is that clear?"
"Yes... Haruto," they whispered in unison, the name feeling strange yet powerful on their tongues.
"Good," Haruto muttered, a small, dark smirk returning to his face.
"Now, let's go. This area is starting to bore me."
As they stepped away from the crater, the sky began to shift. The oppressive velvet purple dissolved, replaced by a crystalline, endless blue that looked almost too sharp to be real. The bone-field was fading, and a vast, glowing horizon started to render in the distance.
Haruto walked a few paces ahead, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The silence was heavy. Behind him, three beautiful girls followed his every step like loyal shadows.
Finally, Haruto stopped. He didn't turn around, but his shoulders gave a slight, awkward twitch.
"So..." he started, his voice a bit less 'King' and a bit more 'Confused Tourist.'
"Not that I care about the scenery, but... where the hell are we going?"
The three girls blinked, surprised by the sudden change in his tone. Haruto finally turned his head, looking at them over his shoulder with a flat, expectant gaze.
"You need to tell me."
Haruto said, his obsidian eyes narrowing as he regained his focus.
"What is this world? What are the 'Global Rules'? I need every detail—the physics, the factions, the system limits. If I'm going to live here, then I'm not doing it blindly."
Ivory, her silver hair catching the new sunlight, stepped forward. Her analytical eyes glowed faintly.
"You are in the Lunar Realm of Aetheris, Haruto. But this was just the 'Cradle'—the selection floor. The world you are about to enter is known as Aetheria."
Bellona added, her voice filled with a mix of warning and excitement,
"is a layered reality. It is governed by The Star's Will. Here, your 'status' is your currency, and your 'level' is your soul. There are no laws of man, only the laws of the Level."
Lustra leaned in, her voice a soft whisper.
"In Aetheris, everyone is a Player. But you... you are the first Star-Child to walk the streets. The rules won't just apply to you—they will try to break you."
Haruto listened, his mind already categorizing the information into a mental HUD.
"level as currency... Layered reality..."
Haruto repeated, a small, dark smirk playing on his lips.
"Sounds like a high-maintenance RPG. Fine. Let's see if this world is as interesting as you make it sound."
But as he let the words sink in, the smirk faltered. His internal calculator hit a massive error.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)'Wait. Back up. If status is the currency of this world... and I just got reset to Level 0... that means I'm not just a newbie. I'm literally broke. I have no status, no "money," and no standing in this social hierarchy. In a world where your level is your worth, I'm a ghost in the system. My status in this new world is even weirder than it was in the void.'
He looked at his hands. He felt like a player who had just entered a high-stakes casino with empty pockets.
"This is a problem," Haruto muttered, his brow furrowing.
"How am I supposed to navigate a city when I don't even have the 'funds' to exist?"
Ivory, her silver eyes now human but still reflecting a trace of her former wisdom, stepped forward. She tilted her head, watching the gears turn in Haruto's head.
"Do not look so troubled, Haruto," Ivory said, her voice soft but steady.
"Even without your divinity, I have seen how you think.. You will find a solution.."
Haruto looked at her, then out at the distant spires of the kingdom. He thought back to the 'Day-Break Mart'—to the angry customers, the 12-hour shifts, and the soul-crushing routine of his old life.
'She's right,' Haruto thought, his hand clenching into a fist. 'I've survived the boredom of Earth and the wrath of three Goddesses. Dealing with a Level-based economy? It might be a grind, but it can't be worse than my old life. At least here, the stakes are real. And then there's this. 1000 Credits. The system gave me a reward, but I have no frame of reference. Is this a fortune? Or is it just enough to buy a stale piece of bread? These credits might be as useless as gift cards to a store that went out of business years ago. But still there is hope.'
Haruto looked around at the vast, empty landscape of the selection grounds. It was beautiful, sure—pristine, glowing with a soft celestial light, and quiet. But to Haruto, it was just another loading screen that was taking too long.
"Alright, enough with the scenic tour," he muttered, his voice echoing in the stillness.
He checked his mental HUD again. No timer. No distance marker. Just endless, shimmering horizon. He stopped walking, the grass crunching under his boots as he crossed his arms over his chest. His patience, which had already been thin after eons of divine trials, finally hit absolute zero.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)'Are you kidding me? I've been walking for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of nothing. No mobs, no NPCs, not even a signpost. I didn't trade my godhood for a hiking simulator. If I wanted to walk aimlessly through a quiet field, I would've stayed in the park near the Mart back home. At least there, I could find a vending machine.'My Level is 0, my wallet is full of mystery credits. If this world thinks it can kill me with boredom before I even reach the first town, it's got another thing coming. I've survived twelve-hour shifts with no breaks—I can out-wait a loading screen, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be happy about it.''"Hey, System! Or Architect! Or whoever is the Dev for this zone! "The graphics are great, 10/10, really immersive. But the gameplay loop is lacking. Is there a 'Fast Travel' button, or do I have to file a bug report for a broken map?"
"No," a calm, melodic voice drifted from behind him.
"You cannot. There is no 'Fast Travel' for a Star-Child who has yet to anchor himself to a Leyline."
Haruto nearly jumped out of his retail-issued sneakers. He spun around, his heart hammering against his ribs in a way that felt annoyingly human.
"Gah! Ivory!" Haruto exhaled, clutching his chest.
"Don't just... sneak up on me like that! And wait—how did you know what I was thinking? I didn't say that out loud... did I?"
Ivory tilted her head, her silver-grey eyes looking at him with a mix of pity and analytical precision. Even in her human form, she carried a grace that felt like a living algorithm.
"I didn't need you to speak, because of the 2 reasons" Ivory said simply. "First, your Level is Zero, Haruto. You have no 'Mental Firewall' or 'Privacy Buffs' to shield your intent from those with a higher perception. You are essentially an open-source file in a world of encrypted players."
Haruto's face soured. "Great. So I'm a public document. What's the second reason?"
"The second," Ivory continued, gesturing to the shimmering air around them, "is that this is a Selection Ground. This space exists between the Void and Aetheris. In this specific coordinate, our powers—though sealed in the world below—are at their absolute peak. I am the goddess of logic; reading the data stream of your thoughts here is as simple as reading a book'."
Haruto groaned, looking up at the sky. "So what you're saying is, until we leave this 'Tutorial Zone,' I have zero privacy, zero levels,"
"Precisely," Ivory nodded.
He looked over his shoulder at the three sisters. They were following him patiently, their human faces serene, but Haruto was vibrating with irritation.
He kicked a small pebble, watching it fly into the distance.
The vast, empty landscape of the selection grounds stretched out endlessly. Haruto looked around, his patience finally hitting zero.
"Alright, enough with the scenic tour,"
Haruto muttered, stopping in his tracks.
"How do we get out of this 'Cradle'? Is there a hidden exit or do I have to glitch through the floor?"
The three girls looked at each other, almost confused by the question.
"We can simply manifest a Gateway, Haruto,"
Ivory replied calmly, as if stating the obvious.
"Our combined essence can bridge the gap to the First Layer of Aetheris in seconds."
Haruto froze. A vein throbbed on his temple. He slowly turned his head, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated annoyance.
"Wait... you mean you could have spawned a fast-travel portal this entire time?"
he asked, his voice dangerously low.
"Then why the hell have we been walking through this bone-desert for the last twenty minutes?!"
Bellona shrugged, a playful spark in her eyes.
"Well... we thought you were enjoying yourself, Haruto. You know, admiring the gardens we built for you? Taking in the atmosphere of your victory?"
"Gardens?!" Haruto barked, waving a hand at the piles of bleached skeletons and obsidian dust.
"It's a graveyard! There's nothing to enjoy! Just spawn the damn gate!"
Frightened by his sudden outburst (though they could tell he was just 'gamer-angry'), the three girls quickly moved into a triangle formation. Their hands glowed with gold, silver, and crimson light. The space in front of them began to tear and fold, manifesting a massive, ornate Gateway that hummed with trans-dimensional energy.
Haruto looked at the gate and let out a long, dramatic sigh. Trying to regain his 'cool' composure, he stepped toward the shimmering portal and forced a Deadly, Predatory Smile—the kind of look a legendary demon king would give before conquering a kingdom. He wanted to look intimidating for his grand entry.
But behind him, the three girls started whispering.
Lustra whispered, leaning toward the others.
"He's doing it again, That smile... it really doesn't suit him, does it? It looks so forced."
"It's awkward," Ivory agreed, nodding like she was analyzing a bug in a code.
"Why does he feel the need to look so menacing? He's much better when he's just... bored."
Bellona added with a shiver. "I don't know,"
"It actually makes me a little uncomfortable. It's just... weirdly scary."
Haruto's ears twitched. He heard every single word. His 'Deadly Smile' instantly collapsed into a scowl of pure irritation. He turned around, his face flushed with a mix of embarrassment and anger, looking like a normal human being for the first time.
"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Haruto snapped, his voice cracking slightly.
"I'm right here! If you have notes on my 'Intimidating Look,' keep them to yourselves! Just get in the portal!"
Before stepping into the swirling light of the portal, Haruto paused. He didn't turn around, but his voice was unusually quiet, cutting through the hum of the gateway.
"One thing,"
Haruto said, his eyes fixed on the shimmering event horizon.
"Why aren't you afraid of me? I tore your world apart. I deleted your divinity and treated you like an enemy. By all logic, you should be trembling every time I look at you."
The three girls exchanged a soft, knowing look. It was Ivory who stepped forward, her silver eyes reflecting the portal's glow.
"It's because of your emotions, Haruto," she said gently.
Ivory stepped closer, her silver eyes reflecting the fading light of the selection grounds. Her expression was solemn, lacking the robotic coldness she once held.
"During the trial," she began, her voice dropping to a respectful whisper,
"Your resonance was so intense that it consumed the very air around us. We didn't fear you just because you were a 'Virus.' We feared you because, in that moment, the God of Creation had granted you access to his entire reservoir of power. You were a mortal vessel holding the weight of the god of creation himself."
Haruto looked at his hands, remembering the violet-black aura that had almost felt like it was eating him alive from the inside out.
"You didn't know how to use it properly," Ivory continued, a small smile playing on her lips,
"But even so, you were channeling roughly 10% of God's total power. That 10% allowed you to rewrite collision physics, perceive reality at a hundred times its normal speed, and use multiple high-tier abilities simultaneously. To us, you weren't just a man—you were a nightmare. You were a Fragment of the Creator with the spite of a human."
Haruto let out a dry laugh. "So, I was a temporary admin? A 10% demo version of a god?"
"Exactly," Ivory nodded. "But now, the demo is over. You are back to Level 0. That raw power, those complex calculations, the Void-Reaper—they are all locked behind the system's requirements. To even begin using those skills again—to reach the point where you can handle even a fraction of that power without your body pixelating into dust—you must reach Level 10."
Haruto's Devil Smile twitched.
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:) 'Level 10. Back at the time, reaching Level 10 in a new RPG took me maybe a week of solid grinding. But here, where Level is currency and the world is trying to eject me... Level 10 feels like a marathon. I was 10% of a God, and now I'm 0% of a peasant. Talk about a nerf.'
"Level 10," Haruto repeated, looking toward the horizon. "Fine. It's a clear goal. I'll grind, I'll farm, and I'll take back what the System 'borrowed' from me. Let's see if the monsters in Aetheris are ready for a Level 0 with the brain of a 10% God.
Bellona crossed her arms, a small smile playing on her lips.
"But look at yourself now. The moment the trial ended, your output dropped. You've reset. You're back at Level 0."
Lustra nodded, walking up beside him.
"Right now, you're just... a normal human, Haruto. You have the potential of a Star-Child, but your current 'Data' hasn't caught up yet. In your language you're like a high-end game that hasn't finished its installation. And it's also hard to be terrified of someone who gets annoyed when we talk behind his back."
Haruto stood silent for a moment, processing the information. So, he had 'downgraded' back to a human state until he could grind his way back up to that God-slaying power.
"So I'm a newbie again," Haruto muttered, a familiar spark of challenge returning to his eyes.
"A Level 0 in a world full of monsters."
He looked at his hands, then back at the portal. A small, genuine smirk—not the deadly one, but a real one—tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Level 0, huh? Fine. I've always liked starting a new game from scratch. It keeps things from getting boring too fast."
"However," Ivory added, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial hum, "there is a 'Backdoor' in the system. A glitch in the soul-code. If you experience a sudden, overwhelming Emotional Trigger, the Core will enter a Self-Defense Overload."
Haruto paused. "An emotional trigger? Like a rage-quit?"
"Exactly," Ivory confirmed. "But it cannot be forced. It must be a natural, raw surge of human emotion. Pure anger, crushing sorrow, or even intense guilt—anything strong enough to wake the sleeping God's Will inside you. If that happens, your Level will fluctuate violently. For a few seconds, or even minutes, you could spike from Level 0 straight to Level 10... or even Level 20."
Haruto looked down at his hands. "So, I'm like a glitching software with a faulty power supply. If I get too 'heated,' the system overclocks itself?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," Ivory replied. "But be warned: forcing such a spike puts immense strain on your human body.' Use it only when the situation is truly rigged against you."
(Haruto's Inner Thoughts:)'An overclocking mechanic based on my emotions. Great. So my biggest power-up depends on me actually feeling something in this boring world. It's the ultimate irony—to become God again, I have to be the most human I've ever been.'
"Fine," Haruto said, his obsidian eyes glinting with a new interest. Without another word, he stepped into the light, with his three 'Goddesses' following close behind.
The three girls giggled, sharing a look of amusement as they followed their very-human 'Star-Child' into the unknown.