"Huh? A system? I just randomly got a… system?"
Dante stared at the half-transparent blue screen hovering right in front of him.
He was stunned, and honestly, a little excited.
At the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling that the timing was way too perfect.
He reached out to touch it, but his hand went straight through.
"You… were you just sitting there watching me lose my shit this entire time?"
[Ding! The host has misunderstood me. I am simply a tool designed for those with a villain's destiny to defeat the protagonist.]
[I appeared because I sensed the awakening of a villain's fate.]
After hearing that, Dante looked thoughtful for a moment, but he wasn't dumb enough to waste time picking a fight over something that small.
'Even if I'm not completely sure this system is actually on my side, I don't really have the luxury of saying no,' he thought.
After a short pause, he spoke again.
"System, tell me exactly what you do."
[As the name suggests, you can give systems to other people. You can issue missions, set conditions, put time limits, and choose the rewards.]
Dante went still after hearing all of that.
'What? That sounds way too good to be real.'
For a second, a completely stupid thought crossed his mind.
'If this actually works, I could just hand Ryan Raven a system and tell him to go kill himself.' But the more he sat with that idea, the more something felt off about it.
"System, there's no way that's all there is to it, right?" Dante asked with a slight smile.
Obviously, he wasn't about to trust such a vague explanation.
He knew nothing in life came free. More importantly, he wanted to find out if there was some way for him to get stronger too.
[You are correct.]
[You cannot distribute a system to the protagonist, as he is protected by the World's Will.]
[The only way to defeat the protagonist is by draining his luck.]
Dante's eyes sharpened a little.
"And how exactly do I do that?"
[You can chip away at his luck by messing with his mental state, taking his women, and snatching his opportunities before he gets to them.]
[Your plan to go after Ryan's mother is a method that covers all of these at once.]
"Ahem." Dante cleared his throat. "I already know I'm a genius. You don't have to spell it out for me."
He gave a satisfied nod, but deep down, he was genuinely surprised that his reckless plan was actually that powerful.
'I only wanted to go after my master so she'd protect me from her son,' Dante thought.
'But now that I really think about it… when Ryan finds out his own mother has been turned into my woman… he might completely lose his fucking mind.'
And honestly, that alone made it worth doing.
In the novel, Natasha basically existed to help her son win over her seven students.
She was the one who guided them, convinced them, and smoothed the path for him. Ryan expected her to stay faithful to his dead father for the rest of her life.
Even though he knew their marriage was never built on actual love, he still acted like no man was allowed to get anywhere near her.
In a way, he treated her like she was his property. Like she was some kind of harem manager who belonged to him.
Just thinking about it pissed Dante off.
This was exactly why being the protagonist's companion was so goddamn frustrating.
'Don't worry, Master,' Dante thought with a faint grin.
'I'll make sure you get to experience all the happiness your son took away from you.'
The more he pictured certain scenes in his head, the more worked up he got.
But he quickly forced himself to settle down.
Now wasn't the time to get lost in fantasies.
He needed to stay focused.
"System, keep going," he said.
Then, after thinking about it for a second, he added, "So besides Ryan, I can give systems to anyone? And how do I actually get stronger myself?"
[You cannot assign systems to just anyone.]
[There are specific conditions a target must meet before you can distribute a system to them.]
Dante's expression got a little tense.
"What conditions?" he asked, both curious and slightly nervous.
[First condition: The target must be female.]
Dante was caught completely off guard.
"…Huh?" He stared blankly at the screen.
"Are you serious? That's the first condition?"
This was barely something Dante would even consider a real condition. If anything, he was all for it.
In these kinds of harem novels, 90% of the characters were women anyway. The rest were just random old grandpas and villains lined up to get their faces slapped.
"What about the rest?" Dante asked, getting impatient. "Come on, just tell me already!"
[The second and final condition: The target must have a connection to the protagonist.]
Dante's face instantly went dark.
"System, what the hell do you think I am!?" he yelled, sounding deeply offended. "Just because I decided to go after my master doesn't mean I'm that kind of guy!"
He jabbed his finger at the screen like it had personally insulted him.
"I was forced into this!"
[For your information, this decision was based entirely on your 'inner desire' and 'mentality.']
[System Distributor was selected because it had the highest compatibility with you, as high as 99.9%.]
"..."
Dante went completely quiet. He had been called out so hard that he couldn't even come up with a single comeback. In the end, all he could do was accept it.
After a moment, he coughed and fixed his posture, trying to salvage whatever dignity he had left.
"System," he said in a serious tone, "I am a man of principles."
"I repay kindness tenfold…"
"And evil a hundredfold."
His eyes narrowed with intensity.
"If my fate is to get cucked and die a miserable death…"
"Then I'll cuck Ryan a hundred times over…"
"And die a happy man!"
[...]
This time, it was the system's turn to be speechless.