Harem System...
For a moment, all thoughts of his terrible stats and the grim potential of his future vanished into thin air.
His mind was momentarily fixated on a single word: "Harem."
Or rather, it wasn't his mind doing the thinking. It was his lower body.
After a bout of silence, Lumien finally recovered, shaking his head and sighing inwardly.
Even though my body is that of a baby, I'm still an adult in a sense. And being an adult who hasn't... vented in a long time is definitely affecting my thought process.
To think I was already imagining myself as the protagonist of an era, surrounded by rows of harem members on each side. Talk about getting ahead of myself!
Harem System... what a fitting name. Alright, I've made up my mind. I'm officially naming my cheat the Harem System!
By the way, it looks like there's a limit on how many contracted harem members I can have. Right now, it seems to be capped at two. And that brings up a lot of questions.
How do I go about forming a contract with someone?
What's the difference between contracted and uncontracted harem members?
And if I level up, will the limit on contracted harem members increase?
These are questions he'd have to figure out on his own.
Sigh, another issue to solve. It feels like I've got a mountain of tasks piling up, and I'm just a baby! Who knew being reincarnated could be this stressful?
At this moment, Lumien was suddenly reminded that time wasn't on his side. Most of the things he wanted to accomplish could only be done after he'd grown a bit. For instance, grinding for experience points to level up would require at least having full control over his motor skills, and that probably wouldn't happen for a few more years.
Then there was the matter of contracting harem members. This meant he'd need to find some ladies and form contracts with them. But that definitely wouldn't work while he looked like a baby. At the very least, he'd need to be a teenager—and probably a good-looking one at that, he reckoned.
In other words, his 'system' cheat was pretty much useless at his current age and would likely remain that way for the next few years.
I've won, but at what cost? Lumien instantly thought of Mario's famous meme.
Phew, at the very least, this is some good news. Those dreadful stats of mine had me feeling pretty down, but discovering that the system actually supports me in forming a harem... well, that's a bit of a mood booster.
Lumien glanced back at the system screen, carefully reading the status information for a second time. He realized he had already gone through all the available details.
Is this really all the system has to offer? No other functions? Isn't it a bit lacking? Shouldn't there be something more... like, say, a quest feature?
No sooner had he thought this, the transparent screen began to shift. The interface gradually changed, the status text fading away and being replaced by a few new paragraphs. It was still written in an unfamiliar language, but somehow, he could understand its meaning perfectly.
The text now read:
Pfft!
Ejaculate? Ejaculate, my ass!
I'm just a baby barely a week old!
How the hell do you expect a baby to complete that kind of quest?
Is the liquid inside your brain made of cum?! Lumien shouted in his mind, feeling like he was about to lose it.
Normally, boys don't even start having wet dreams or producing sperm until they're around ten years old.
And yet, here was the system, giving him a daily quest to ejaculate. Something that was simply impossible at his age.
Unless the creator of this system was some kind of alien with a completely different body metabolism. One of the kind that lets an infant produce sperm. He didn't think any sane human would design such a ridiculous daily quest.
The only worth rejoicing about this matter was that the daily quest itself isn't mandatory and gives no penalty for skipping it.
This was Lumien's biggest worry ever since he discovered the daily quest feature. He had read enough web novels to know that most systems are often portrayed as sentient beings with their own agendas. These systems typically possess a limited conscience and aren't exactly kind to their hosts. In fact, their roles are usually reversed. The host becomes the slave, and the system acts as the master.
In these scenarios, the system relentlessly assigns quests, and if the host fails to complete them, the consequences are brutal. The punishments can range from mild, like experiencing excruciating invisible pain, to severe, like complete annihilation. The thought of being at the mercy of a system like that sent a shiver down Lumien's spine.
But having a non-sentient system wasn't without its own drawbacks. For one, he had no way of getting answers to any of his questions. There was no helpful guide or tutorial mode; he was left to figure everything out on his own, fumbling through trial and error.
If this system doesn't have any consciousness, then at least I don't have to worry about it punishing me out of spite. But it also means I'm on my own when it comes to understanding its features and functions.
Seemingly remembering something, Lumien let out a self-deprecating laugh.
To grind for exp, I at least need to become a teenager. Forming a contract with a lady and making her part of my harem can only happen once I hit adolescence. To do a daily quest, I'd first need to experience my first wet dream and that won't happen for the next few years.
What a messed-up system... It really isn't newbie, infant-friendly at all!
Shouldn't my first quest have been something simple like drinking milk? That's how it usually goes, isn't it?
As Lumien continued to grumble to himself, he was pulled out of his thoughts by the creaking sound of the door opening.
His parents, along with his sister, entered the room together. Their faces looked grim. But the moment they noticed Lumien was awake, he found himself quickly enveloped in his mother's embrace.
He felt a trickle of warm liquid flowing down his head and realized she was crying. Soft, muffled sobs filled the room.
Ah... my mom is crying. My sister's eyes are red; she's clearly holding back her tears. And my father...
His father, standing quietly by the side, seemed to have aged years overnight.
Now, when people see him with Mom, they'll probably think he's her father.
Maybe I should set aside my own worries for the next few years. The system is pretty much useless to me right now anyway, so maybe this is a good time to bond with my new family.
He let out a small sigh.
Is this the will of some god or whoever created this system? To make me spend my childhood with family?
Maybe they knew I was an orphan who never had a real childhood worth remembering.
A soft smile formed on his lips. Thank you... whoever you are.