Madam Claire repeatedly tapped her foot on the worn floorboards.
I stood there, mouth half open, staring at the floating notification that had just appeared in my vision. The text pulsed mockingly in front of me, as if the system genuinely thought this was a reasonable suggestion.
[Quest Update – Potential Target Detected]
[Madam Claire – E-rank (Retired Adventurer)]
[Seduce her to complete your quest? Yes/No]
"Say something," Lusty whispered.
I closed the notification with a mental shove. Almost immediately, a strange thought slithered into my mind.
'She's lonely, probably hasn't been touched in years. I could charm her, get the rent waived, maybe even a discount'
The idea felt alien, like someone else had planted it there.
I shook my head.
"Interesting," Lusty murmured, a note of approval in her voice. "The system's influence is already showing. That wasn't your usual spineless thinking."
'I'm not spineless. Besides I didn't ask for that,' I thought, but even as I denied it, I couldn't deny the logic behind the suggestion.
"You didn't have to. The Lust Essence rewires your brain. Slowly, you'll start seeing people as resources and opportunities. Don't worry, you'll still have a conscience. Just a flexible one."
Madam Claire's eyes narrowed to slits. "Are you going to pay me, or are you going to stand there making faces?"
I pushed the thought aside and forced myself to focus on Madam Claire.
"I'm sorry but I don't have the money. Not yet."
"Then get out." Her voice was flat.
"What?"
"You heard me." She crossed her arms tighter, the fabric of her worn dress pulling across her shoulders. "You're three weeks late, Thorne. I have bills to pay too."
Three weeks since my last decent mana core haul. Before that, I'd been surviving on bread and water, skipping meals to afford dungeon entry fees.
My aunt's voice echoed in my memory: "You'll end up just like your parents."
Aunt Lana. She had sponsored my first year at the Adventurer's Academy after I awakened an unusually large mana pool—something the instructors called "S-rank quantity with F-rank quality."
My aunt called it a waste of money. She stopped paying my tuition halfway through my second year and I dropped out at sixteen. I hadn't spoken to her since.
"I can pay by the end of the week—"
"You said that last week." Madam Claire pointed down the hallway. "Pack your things. You have until midnight."
[System Alert: Time limit detected. 7 hours remaining before eviction.]
"She's serious," Lusty said. "You're about to be homeless."
I looked at Madam Claire's face and saw no anger there, just tired disappointment. I'd seen that look before. From instructors who said I had talent but no discipline. From guild clerks who watched me fail ranking exams. From my aunt the day I left her house at sixteen.
Everyone who ever believed in me eventually stopped.
But this time, I had something I didn't have before. A system that had the power to take me to the pinnacle of power and fame.
"I'll have the money tomorrow," I said with confidence.
Madam Claire snorted. "You keep saying that."
"This time it'll be different."
"Prove it."
I pulled out my phone and showed her the clip of Thalia grabbing my arm. The screen glowed in the dim hallway, and I watched Madam Claire's eyes widen, her expression shifting from skepticism to confusion and finally surprise.
"That's... Princess Thalia!"
"She gave me twenty-four hours to explain something. Tomorrow at sunset. Luminara arena."
Madam Claire was quiet for a long moment, her gaze flicking between my face and the phone screen.
Then she sighed, and the fight seemed to drain out of her. "Twenty-four hours. Not a minute more. And you'll pay double."
"Double?"
"Interest. For the delay. One hundred silver by tomorrow sunset, or I'm throwing your things out the window myself."
She turned and walked down the hallway without waiting for an answer, her footsteps fading into the creak of old floorboards.
I closed the door and leaned against it, the wood cool against my back.
"That went better than expected," Lusty said.
'She doubled my rent,' I thought.
"You still have a place to sleep tonight. Celebrate the small victories."
I didn't feel like celebrating.
---
I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the cracked wall. The room was small and cramped, barely bigger than a closet, but it had been mine for the past year. The thought of losing it made my stomach clench.
I checked my status.
[Host: Adonis Thorne – Corrupted (Rank 1)]
[Lust Essence: 250/500]
[Power Stones: 500]
[Silver: 0]
[Active Quest: Seduce a woman above your rank (22h 47m remaining)]
[Marked Targets: 1 – Thalia Valoris (SS-rank) – Seal progress: 5%]
"You can convert Power Stones to silver," Lusty suddenly said as a window popped up.
[Exchange: 10 Power Stones = 1 silver]
I did the math. 500 Power Stones would give me 50 silver. Half of what I needed to pay.
'Not enough,' I thought.
"Then complete some quests. Seduce someone. Earn more."
I thought about the notification for Madam Claire and immediately rejected it. There had to be another way. But for now, I converted 200 Power Stones into 20 silver. The coins materialized in my palm. They felt warm and real. I shoved them into my pocket.
"It's something," Lusty said.
I didn't respond and laid back on the bed staring at the ceiling.
It began to rain outside, the droplets tapping against the window. My thoughts involuntarily drifted to my past.
My parents had died in an S-rank dungeon raid when I was twelve. They had retired from adventuring to raise me, but they took one last contract because the pay was good.
However, they never came back. The Guild said it was an accident. No bodies recovered.
I never believed them.
"Your parents," Lusty said quietly. "You're thinking about them."
'I don't want to talk about it,'
"Fine. But you should stop thinking. Tomorrow is important and you need rest."
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. It came slower than I wanted, but eventually the rain and exhaustion pulled me under.
---
I woke to the sound of rain stopping. The window had rattled open, and a cold wind was blowing through the room. My clock said 5:30 AM.
I sat up and checked my status.
[Seal progress: 7%]
"She's dreaming about you," Lusty said.
'That's not comforting.'
"It's not supposed to be."
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Eighteen hours until sunset. I needed a plan.
First, clothes.
I glanced at my reflection in the cracked mirror. Torn shirt, stained pants, and the faint, lingering smell of dungeon rot clinging to everything. I hadn't changed since yesterday, exhaustion having dragged me down before I could even think about it.
I couldn't meet a princess looking like this. I had the 20 silver I converted. It was enough for a cheap shirt and pants from the market.
Second, what to say. Thalia wanted answers about the crystal and the purple glow. I couldn't tell her the truth. That a demon fragment lives in my head and I have to seduce powerful women or I'll be erased.
I would get executed immediately. I had to formulate a good cover story.
"Tell her it was a cursed artifact," Lusty suggested. "You touched it and it broke, now you have strange energy. You don't know what it is. You're scared and you need her help."
'That... might actually work.' I admitted.
"Thank you. I have my moments"
I ignored her and got to work immediately.
---
I left the boarding house at 7 AM. The rain had stopped, and the streets of Valoria were waking up.
Merchants were opening up their stalls, adventurers heading to dungeon gates and streamers setting up drones.
I bought a simple white shirt and dark pants for eight silver, then found a public bath near the market.
The water was hot. I soaked for a while, scrubbing off the dried blood and dungeon grime.
When I dressed in the new clothes and looked at my reflection, I almost didn't recognize myself. The grime was gone. The blood was gone. I looked like a normal person instead of a walking corpse.
"You clean up nicely," Lusty praised.
'Don't get used to it.'
[System Tip: Clean appearance increases Charm effectiveness by 5% for 24 hours.]
'Good to know,' I thought.
I had twelve silver left. Should be enough for a meal and transportation to the arena.
I bought bread and cheese from a street vendor and ate while walking toward the Arena district.
---
The arena was massive, built of white stone with gold trim, its stands large enough to hold twenty thousand spectators. Even empty, it felt imposing.
Thalia's opponent was the S-rank construct called the Iron Maiden. By evening, half of the entire continent would be watching.
I arrived at noon. The gates were still closed and would open at four, while our meeting was set for sunset at six.
I found a bench near the entrance, sat down, and waited.
"You have time. Rehearse what you'll say," Lusty said.
I closed my eyes and ran through the conversation in my head.
'I touched a cursed crystal. It broke. Now I have this energy. I don't know what it is. I'm scared. I need your help.'
"She'll feel the seal," Lusty reminded. "You'll have to explain it to her eventually."
'Then I'll tell her it's part of the curse. That I can't control it.'
"That's risky. But it could work."
I opened my eyes. The sun was starting its descent, casting long shadows across the white stone.
By sunset, I would have to face the Princess.
The thought made my stomach churn.
What could go wrong?