" Is that a bug or something ?.. "
The metallic card in hand, he rubbed the bottom right corner of the back side, where a small pink heart was drawn with three letters written on top of it, ' MAX '.
Once the level 50 of affinity reached, you could still give gifts, go on dates and talk with the girls, or fight with them and the gauge would fill up to the max and then, this would happen.
Yet, how come it was already set at the max ?
Was it because it was his first card ?
If so, it was strange to not have that kind of advantages in the game, though during the tutorial you would receive some items to give them as gifts and unlock the first sex scene, that was it.
Plus, in the tutorial, it was actually a blank card that would give a 2 star girl, not a 5 star one, without talking about the first black card.
" ... Well, who cares, I should just enjoy it. "
Making his inventory window disappear with a simple thought, he wished that he could also call it that way, but since he couldn't, he just had to accept it how it was.
" Cards. "
By calling upon the book where he would store his cards, he was almost surprised when he saw a floating book that opened itself, showing 12 empty sleeves for the first page and the one next to it.
But even if he was surprised, it was just slightly, after everything that he experienced so far, it was obvious that he grew numb to it.
Putting the card in his hand inside the first slot, he received a pop-up message, like one that would be in the game.
[ Do you wish to claim the rewards ? ]
With the choices of yes and no, he obviously knew what this was about.
It wasn't the daily quests or anything, though he'll have to check them later eventually, it was just the rewards from his affinity being maxed up with his card.
Again, each level would give one type of reward, and the higher the level, the better he would gain from it, so about a 5 star which was maxed.. How much would it be ?
The answer was something he already knew, yet couldn't help but expect, and by choosing yes, he received another notification, telling him that the rewards were moved to his inventory.
" Let's see.. Inventory. "
The items one would receive by leveling the affinity of a character in that game were either gear for the character itself, shards of cards, miscelanneous items or inscriptions for the character itself.
Of course, it wasn't taking into account the money received, be it the casual one or the premium one.
As for how many inscriptions one would get by raising the affinity of a character to the max, the answer wasn't difficult to know, but difficult to do.
If one wasn't ready to spend even a dollar on the game, playing it as a free to play, they'll get stuck at the affinity level 15, with only one inscription, which was already good enough for a free option.
But by gaining one every ten levels, and each level being much harder to reach as the experience quantity needed would improve drastically, few reached even one 5stars character at max affinity, only those willing to spend could fulfill that kind of criteria.
And the reason for why those free to play players couldn't get above the level 15 was because each characters would ask a ' proof of love ' , or a ring, but that thing cost 2.99USD in the store, so not many wanted to do that for every character, especially with an ever changing meta.
By the way, the gears obtainable with five stars and less were standing at the level 15, 30 and 45, putting a bigger difference on how much of a difference there was between each rarity.
" ... Now it definitly feels like I've somewhat got some things back. "
With five inscriptions in his inventory, three complete gears, a bunch of shards and a few various items, it was obvious what needed to be done.
Retrieving the gears out of the inventory first, he was surprised to see them coming out as cards too.
Not that it really mattered, but he did expect to see them directly and not see cards with descriptions of the items themselves.
And contrary to the gear, when he took out the five inscriptions, thoses weren't greyish metallic cards showing the specific character, ready to be used, but instead, they were rainbow transparent cristal cards with white lines on top of it.
Surely, that was one thing that changed from the game, but he didn't put much thoughts into it as he called.
" Awakening. "
With his inventory, a floating book, and now a small window with two empty slots in front of him, he didn't close or put away anything else as he switched freely between them.
Taking back the metallic card from the book, he put it on the first slot of the awakening option, and put one of those transparent cristal cards on the spot next to it.
Quickly, a dazzling light came out of the cards, sending rays of light across the room before slowly dissipating.
" I swear this fucker want me blind.. "
Wishing to take his frustration on the bastard who sent him here, he could only swear as he opened his eyes again, looking at the sole remaining card.
On the front side, next the name, Mariane, was now a small silver star, standing lonely, as if asking for a few partners.
Such a sweet request that he dreamed to hear, he couldn't say no to it, and in fact, he never said no even before coming in this world.
By repeating what he has done four more times, the five silver star merged into one big golden star, standing proudly next to the name of the woman he got out of luck.
And grabbing the sole card he had at the time, he put away the awakening window with a thought and instead brought out the ' Equipment ' one.
This time, it was just a sole slot standing in front of him, but when he put his card in it, three new slot, empty, appeared below it.
" One, two and three.. "
Putting the gear cards in the free slots, it was pretty intuitive at least, and he didn't get flashbanged either.
" Phew, finally done, really change from the few clicks I have to do usually, but now, should I see how an eroge character would look in real life ? "
Although the game was of unbelievable quality, to the point where it had the tag ' realistic ' attached to it, he had a singular thought about the fact of standing behind a screen and seeing it for himself..
' .. Surely, there would be a lot of changes, right ? '
Keeping his thoughts silently, he made every window around him disappear, keeping only the floating book in front of him and the card in his hand, that he then threw and called.
" Come, Mariane. "
The incantation being as simple as that, the way to call it back to a card form was also ' Return, name ' , and now that he thought about it, it definitly seemed way too simple for such a grand process, but he couldn't say anything to it as he wasn't the one who designed it.
And while his mind got occupied with something as silly as that, the only reason he couldn't see the result of his action was for the same reason as the times before, there was actually a flashbang in the room.
' Next time I'll just do it outside, this room is way to small.. ! '
Thinking about outside, he still hasn't opened the box at the end of the bed, but as he kept getting occupied with other things, he just remembered now about it, and with the light fading away, he could finally open his eyes.
" Greetings, master Arthurion. "
Lightly bowing in front of him, was a head with silver hair and wolf ears covered in fur, the base of the ears being the same color of the hair and taking a darker gradiant as it went to the tips.
While the hair itself wasn't particularly short, it wasn't too long either, and the white and black headband of a maid standing just in front of her ears, it was almost as if the person itself wasn't coming from a game, but was always real, though was into cosplay.
" ... You can lift your head. "
Seeing that she kept herself in this uncomfortable position, he quickly told her about it, even if it seemed like it was an order instead.
" Yes, master Arthurion. "
Slowly, as if she was avoiding any sudden movements, she raised her head, exposing her face to his eyes.