[Nice to meet you. I am an AI that acts as administrator of the system and assistant to aid Host to use the System.]
[A conquest target is detected nearby. Do host wish to begin the tutorial?]
'Yes?' Leo replied with hesitation and more questions to himself. 'Maybe I should get diagnosed for mental illness after this.'
[Affirmative. The tutorial will begin now.]
[Please look at the highlighted conquest target and focus on her with Host's eyes before mentally saying 'Observe']
'Observe' Leo did as instructed and looked at the still frowning and thinking girl.
*Ding*
[Name: Dragon God of Infinity, Oroboros / Ophis
Conquest Rating:★★★★★★★★★★
Race: Dragon God
Gender: Genderless (Female)
Age: Ageless
Archetype: Kuudere, Daughter, Younger Sister
Affection: -150/1000 (Dislike)
Likes: ???
Dislike: Outer Gods, ???
Current thoughts: She needs to kill you as part of her promise in the ancient covenant but thinks you are too useful to achieve her goal to be killed after seeing you are weak and human-like compared to your other 'kins'.]
Leo skimmed through most of it and didn't spare another glance. But the last one caught his eyes. Whatever this thing is, it can read minds! Also, what the hell is Dragon God?
"You. Make a contract with me. Then I accept your words." The girl whose name he found out was Ophis, demanded him.
[Host, this is a prime opportunity to forge a contract and collect her as your servant.]
"Huh?" Leo almost spluttered while hearing his System.
"I cannot trust you. So make a contract so I can make sure you will not run away." Ophis explained, thinking Leo didn't understand her.
"Uh… alright. I guess." Leo accepted because from her name alone, there's nothing he can do if she wanted to force him. So, why even bother resisting.
[Host only needs to follow her guidance and forge the contract. The System will handle the rest.]
Leo made a mental nod, still unsure about all this thing that happened and played along. Ophis takes Leo's right hand and places her palm on his. She then lifts up her head to look at Leo's face.
"I, Ophis the Ouroboros Dragon will not kill you as long as you vow to help me defeat Great Red and reclaim my Silence." Ophis made her vow first before looking at Leo while waiting for him to recite his vow.
Leo takes back his initial assumption. If she has such a badass title as that, wouldn't her enemies be someone she cannot even defeat? How would a human like him gonna do it?
'Hey, System. Are you sure whatever you are doing is gonna work?' Leo is restless and anxiously wishing the System can fix this but he couldn't help but feel doubt.
[Rest assured Host. The System is created by a true omnipotent being that ruled an Omniverse. A mere Universal Level being cannot compare to even a tiny trace of his true might.]
'That's… reassuring enough.' Leo becomes convinced although he didn't truly understand what the System is telling him but he at least understands that his System contains power from its creator which is stronger than Ophis.
"I, Leonis Ashford, will help you with your goal to defeat the Great Red." Leo said his vow.
Then, a powerful gust of wind explodes between their connected palms but oddly didn't affect him at all other than making his clothes flutter like he was blown by a tornado.
"The contract has been sealed." Ophis stated but she looked at her palm with an odd feeling.
Ophis felt something happened when the contract was finalized. But can't quite put her hand on it. She suspects Leo did something but she quickly dismisses it because he is too weak. His soul might bear a powerful aura. But that's it. He has no ounce of power at all. His Mana is only as powerful as regular humans uninitiated with Magic.
After finding no evidence of tampering, she dismissed the thoughts and wanted to return to her temporary home in Khaos Brigade but she felt her stomach growl as she touched her rumbling tummy.
———
Meanwhile with Leo.
[As what just happened before. Host is chosen by destiny to become the Lolimancer. Host will be personally weak. However, Host can collect little girls to fight for Host and Host needs to actively recruit more girls to become stronger.]
'Little girls…' Leo frowned but said nothing of it.
[The ability provided by the System is catered to enhance the girls in combat, bond easier with girls and increase Host's survivability.]
[For now, let's continue with the tutorial.]
Leo nods and waits for the System to continue.
[Now, the girls that Host recruited are forced into a companionship contract which only Host has the right to terminate. The girls cannot kill the Host due to it. However, they can still injure the Host if they become hostile.]
In Leo's perspective, this isn't the same as what he read before. Such tropes exist and Leo is a fan and weeb of anime, manga and novels. He read similar things before in manga and novels, particularly the fanfictions.
Almost all of them will be given power to unconditionally force those they summoned or enslaved to bend to the master's will. But this one didn't, which somewhat annoyed Leo. Why can't he get the same one?
[Host, for that question. I have an answer.]
"You do?" Leo asked in surprise and forgot to talk in his head.
[My creator wishes that all the users work hard to achieve their power and learn through the hardship rather than having them blinded by a newfound power and falling into the dark side which unfortunately happened to many System users of earlier versions and wreak havoc while being drunk in power.]
Ophis turns her head to Leo and looks at him oddly, wondering who he is talking to when there are the only two of them in this area.
Leo immediately acted natural and unsuspicious but the more he tried not to, the more suspicious he became as Ophis stared at him for a while before dismissing the matter for a more pressing one.
"Leo. I'm hungry." Ophis said and then proceeded to stare at him.
"You are hungry?" Leo asked back, not knowing what he was supposed to do.
'Do I look like a walking food dispenser to you?' Leo sighed mentally while diverting his eyes from the somehow sparkling and expecting gaze of Ophis thrown at him.
[This is a perfect opportunity, Host. The following tutorial is about the girl's affection. The affection indicates how they feel about the host. The higher it is above 0, the less likely they would attempt to injure the Host and the opposite if it falls below zero. Affection can be increased by doing affectionate gestures or doing what they like. However, be warned that some affectionate gestures that are made when they are unprepared could in a small chance raise the affection by a big margin and a big chance to cause affection to drop by a big margin. It's a gamble.]
[Macaroon (D) x10 added to inventory.]
[These items are special Affection raising Items that can be obtained from the System. For grade D, it can only raise up to 200 before losing its effectiveness.]
[Try gift it to the girl.]
Leo did as told and deposited one Macarons from his inventory which caused cutely packaged macarons with ribbons to appear in his right palm. Inside the translucent plastic package are six identical pink Macarons which look honestly delicious. But Leo quickly offers it to the Dragon God as appeasement.
Ophis said nothing to the offering but her eyes clearly widened slightly and her expression was showing joy despite the fact that she still looked expressionless to those that didn't know her yet. She is a Kuudere as stated on her profile, someone that normally has difficulty expressing emotions or is emotionless.
She opened the ribbon that was sealing the packaging before fishing one out and placed it in her mouth. A sudden jolt of shock from the Macaron's taste followed by a blissful expression as she chewed the Macaron and swallowed it before placing another one in her tiny yet gluttonous mouth.
Four seconds later, all six Macarons were devoured as she stared at the empty plastic bag in her hand with a sad expression as if the world suddenly ended.
"Uh… Here's another one. No need to look sad like that." Leo offered her another bag of Macarons.
Ophis looks at the new bag of Macarons and then the emptied plastic bag in her hands. She hesitated. She just realized she accepted an offering from her enemy.
'No, someone with this delicious food can't be evil.' Ophis argued back to the rational part of her mind before accepting the second bag.
Leo proceeds to watch her consume the Macarons in a gusto while he observes Ophis profile screen when his System tells him to.
'Hold on, the Macarons only supposed to raise her affection by 5. Why is her affinity now left with -50 instead of -140?'
[This is what happens when Host exploit their likes and dislikes. By doing what the girls liked, the resulting increment is increased by ten times.]
'Wait, would that mean rising affection is actually damn easy?' Leo becomes excited and about to dump all the Macarons in his inventory out for Ophis.
[That is wholly dependent on the girl. Some would be hard. Some would be easy. Host is lucky to meet such a strong girl that is easy to be pleased with.]
Hearing the System calling him lucky made Leo want to make a snarky remark but he figured what happened in the past stayed in the past.
'Perhaps I am lucky.' Leo replied to the System before giving Ophis more Macarons until her affection for him reached 200.
It's an noticeable change. She no longer wary of Leo as an enemy and became more open instead of being constantly wary as she clinging to him asking for more but Leo felt like it would be a waste to give more when her affection cannot be raised anymore.
[-20 Affection]
"Huh?" Leo frowned in surprise when he saw the new notifications.
Leo immediately detected the changes on the profile which updated on real time.
[Current thoughts: He is kind but a cheapskate. I can feel he still has more of that tasty snack somewhere. I'm still very hungry…*growl*]
He didn't need explanations from the System for this. He already figured out that souring Ophis' mood can cause her Affection to drop.
[Great. If the Host understands everything, then the tutorial is concluded. Rewards had been distributed and placed in Host's inventory. If Host still has any confusion or questions, please ask the System without reservation.]
'None for now.' Leo dismissed the System and wracking his brain on how to resolve this situation about Ophis and her hunger.
"What about we go to my apartment first? Maybe I can make you some food?" Leo suggested and at mere mention of more food, Ophis' eyes widened slightly and quickly nodded.
"Alright." Ophis agreed.
"But first I need to figure out where we are before I can find my house." Leo said.
He thinks he is still in the same world. However, after Ophis offered to help him to arrive at the place he mentioned, he found his apartment complex didn't even exist and what's here was instead a commercial center.
"Where is my house! My PC! My games! No!!!" Leo made an exaggerated display of disbelief and frustration.
[...I forgot to inform because I thought Host already realized this. But Host truly had died and is now in another world.]
"No!!!" Leo's anguished howls reverberated through the sky and terrorized the nearby birds which immediately fled from the area.
After he calmed down, Leo remembered he still had a Dragon to feed.
"Sigh… Do you have a home we can go to?" Leo asks Ophis.
She nods and brings Leo to her new temporary home while the Dimensional Gap is being reclaimed. The only problem is, the home isn't exactly what Leo would call a home.
—————
(I'm gonna make this long and slow. Have to chew properly and savor the meal or you would miss some of its taste. Huhuhehehe. The loli is in my basement now… Nothing can stop me!)
(Btw this is inspired by the gacha game. Been playing through some Erolabs games and I realized almost all gacha games. MC not really involved in battle and instead dealing with logistics 100% of the time. So imma do it here too, sic sum lolis on the enemies pokemon style.)
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If you readers feel generous or want to appreciate my work and effort, feel free to tip me here.
https://ko-fi.com/lazy_kat_aoi