Getting more adventurers for my dungeon was necessary to get the training ground I deserved. All my profits were dependent on a growing dungeon population. Tera kept fatalities to a minimum so long as she had enough tantric energy. If her farm decided it was going to leave, she would most likely turn up the danger level.
That's where my mind went when I cracked a website design book and started researching.
While waiting to see Rias, I stole Dohnaseek's identity. I used it to start a little website for the residents in Kuoh. I made a portal in the church and didn't close it. Tera helped me get some pictures of her furry mobs to post, and I made a little paywall for those who wanted to get more than pictures.
5 minutes later, I had a website up and running. I used the email on the phone Rias gave me to send links to every email address in Kuoh Academy. I used an email tied to Dohnaseek's computer, which was fine. Within the first half hour, someone dropped 5000 yen in my account, and I left. Yea, there was a chance they would give everyone the address to my portal but so what. My goal wasn't money on this side. The paywall was to make my product seem more valuable. The buyers probably didn't know they were the product.
I flew to the second floor and waited until 6 boys and a few girls entered the church. They bumbled around until one of the found the door and went through. The others froze until one stuck their hand through. Tera yanked them the rest of the way.
After the second person went through, the others looked at each other. "We should call the police." A girl said.
"Tell them what we broke into the old abandoned church, and our friends fell through a portal to who knows where."
"Do you think they're pranking us? It could be a hologram."
"Go through it then if you're so sure." The guy froze. "Then shut up."
The teens mulled around until enough one went in. I floated down and landed quietly behind them.
"Kids these days are so impatient." The group jumped, and one of the teens threw a nice kick at me. I was so impressed I let it push me back a little to keep from breaking his foot. "Do you want information, or would you rather fumble with your thumbs up your asses?" I said.
"What do you know?" The leader of the group asked.
Tera's bubbly, giddy feeling let me know she approved of my efforts.
"You could call me the gate keeper, and you guys answered the ad though my account only shows one purchase." The teens didn't even look guilty. "No matter, you don't need to pay to enter; you pay to leave. The world around you is not what it seems; it is full of gods, monsters, devils, and angels. They all have one thing in common: any of them could kill you without batting an eye, and you can do nothing about it. One could wipe out a town, and the news would report it as a natural disaster. Does that sound fair to you? Humans rule the planet, or we're supposed to. Yet we aren't even considered a faction; we exist in ignorance throughout our lives, never knowing the realities of the world. I wanted to give my fellow humans a chance to change things. Through this portal is another dimension where it's possible to gain incredible strength, powerful magic, and legendary weapons. Go through and take your lives into your own hands or leave, and the next time a devil rapes your sister because they like how they look, you'll be powerless to stop them." I said.
"Do you have any proof?" One of the asked.
"Nope, if you don't want to be free, I won't force you. Return to your ignorant life and forget you could have become strong enough to fight the gods. This is an opportunity. I'm offering a hand-up, not a handout. Leave and let better men take it if you don't want it. Maybe you'll meet them when they fuck your wife or sister, and you're playing a switch in the living room." I said.
"How do we know you aren't a devil trying to trick us?"
"If you want to believe that, I won't stop you. Do what you need to convince yourself not to do anything to make your circumstance better. I'm not going to talk you into saving yourself. Oh, and go ahead and call the police; maybe they will step forward when you won't, or maybe they will tell the devils who will hypnotize you into believing what they want you to." I said.
Holding back my charisma was difficult. There was a trick to it, like ki control. All I had to do was focus just right to keep from melting their brains from my presence.
One of the girls ran for the portal and dove in. The other girls looked at one another before going in.
"Yay, we have so many more adventurers," Tera said.
"I tell you what, I will go ahead and give you the money to return. In exchange I want you to bring more people. Send the link to my website through your contacts. This way, you can come and go as you please." I said.
"I agree." The leader said.
"I will deposit the SP when he enters," Tera said.
"Go on then and have fun," I said, turning on the charisma.
Their bodies practically shot them through the portal.
Charisma was one of those dangerous stats that required constant improvement to ensure others couldn't affect me. While it had limits, like the teens already expecting a trick, it was most effective against the unaware. Someone who wanted to swallow your soul and make your body into a husk could use the sweetest words.
It reminded me of the lies and propaganda before we were sold off to the Sect. The governments of the world made a deal with entities they didn't understand to combat an entity that wanted the destruction of Earth. A bargain was struck, and I was one of the people used as collateral.
At the end of the day, I wasn't much different from the Sect, only weaker, lesser, and poorer. The Sect had its own dungeons. I managed to hide one, but it didn't matter. I preserved my ability to grow stronger in the way I was comfortable. There were even new ways to grow the worlds that were open to me, and maybe someday even time itself. Until then, I needed to get the ball rolling and find adventurers for my dungeon.
They would have better circumstances than me, with far better chances of survival. Maybe a few could leave the dungeon and set up their own faction to really stand against the factions of Earth. Yes, I'm older than the great human hegemony for those reading.
…
Rias POV
She made sure her clothes were revealing but not too revealing. It was the balance that made boys go crazy. They wanted to see a little, but not enough to ruin the rarity of her vision of beauty. Humans, especially male humans, were weird like that. Devils could be greedy, but they weren't so attached to decency or the type of decency most human cultures used to ensure healthy families.
In her opinion, a devil should be able to walk around naked and expose herself to whoever she pleases. If Rizer showed his bald-faced yellow head, she would prefer to wear a burka. With Vincent, she considered wearing bandages.
Rias licked her lips, thinking of his hard abs and long biceps. She thought about sending Vincent's dick pick to Rizer, but he might spread the word that she preferred her dicks to be inhuman. A devil didn't care about their internet history, but the heiress of Gremory had to have a little propriety. While she might be the type of girl to procrastinate and often had Akeno do the work when they played, Rias could be very active when she wanted to be. When the deadline was breathing down her neck, she was perfectly capable of moving her sexy devil ass.
It was thirty minutes before Vincent would arrive when her last alarm went off. She shot out of her room; thankfully, she had set the clock back an extra hour. Rias turned on the oven and followed her mother's recipe to make the best chocolate chip cookies in the underworld. Camel butter instead of cow to make the batter extra Gremory.
"Rias, he's going to be here any minute," Akeno said.
Rias froze; she knew the clock on her phone was set back or had the blasted time changed. She narrowed her eyes. He would be here in ten minutes; Akeno would have already prepared the tea.
Fufufu!
"I thought I had you there." Rias pointed her mixing wisk at Akeno, still dripping with batter, too angry to speak. "Better hurry; the cookies need 30 minutes," Akeno said.
Rias took the last tray from the oven and tossed her apron on the hook.
She expected him in the next 20 minutes, which was plenty of time to discuss her recruitment strategy. All she had to do was play on his values, reinforce the benefits, and save the responsibilities after her piece was in him.
A vast amount of magic power stepped into the world. It broadcasted a challenge to anyone who would interfere. This was Shinto business.
…
Takagamahara
Amaterasu watched her country from the highest realm making notes of people entering the abandoned church and disappearing. They were gone and not to another god's realm or one of the known dimensions overlapping the world. She had a bit of a weakness for mysteries, and finding a new realm was a little exciting. Susanoo had bugged her twelve times to go explore and ruin her fun.
She watched the mystery man leave the church and knew he was the culprit. No man with so much magic power could be ordinary.
The Shinto sun goddess was content to watch and let the man expose his plans beneath her sun. If the website wasn't damning enough, then his actions would be. All she needed was an excuse to send a couple of real hard-ass kami to see him. An interrogation room was already set up. She was going to roast him, bend him over, and get every secret out of him.
She adjusted the betting board when the man started going to Kuoh Academy. It seemed the devils were up to their old tricks.
She tapped a button on her intercom. "Send the terror team to pick the suspect up for questioning."