A heavy and warm sensation pressed on Hayato's chest. He moved slowly, trying to free himself, but found his body as if shackled. He opened his eyes, greeted by a sight that made his breath catch.
Lala Satalin Deviluke was sleeping soundly on top of him, both arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and her legs entangled with his.
What made him even more stunned—and slightly panicked—was the fact that Lala was completely naked.
Her smooth skin glowed softly in the dawn light beginning to seep through the curtains. Her long pink hair was scattered on the pillow and Hayato's chest, emitting a faint scent of sky flowers.
Hayato swallowed with difficulty. The heat wasn't just from Lala's body, but also from within himself. A primitive urge, a very human desire, churned.
But he clenched his teeth, forcing logic to master instinct.
[Too fast. This isn't the time. I don't even really know her yet. And… there's too much else to think about.]
Carefully, he used a little of his Arc of Embodiment power—not to manifest anything, but to create a sort of subtle cushion of air between their bodies, making it easier to shift Lala without waking her.
Slowly, he moved the girl to his side. Lala murmured softly, but remained asleep, hugging the substitute pillow tightly.
Hayato sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at the silhouette of Lala's body exposed under the thin blanket. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
He needed to think more wildly. A deeper understanding of the Arc of Embodiment. That was the key. Not… the desire in front of him.
He stood up, walking quietly to the wardrobe. Peke, the small robot, seemed to be "asleep" or in standby mode in the corner of the room, its indicator light blinking weakly.
Hayato took a change of clothes—a black t-shirt and jeans—and stepped out of the room, closing the door very softly.
The cool morning air outside the room was refreshing. He went straight to the bathroom, letting cold water flow over his body, trying to wash away the remnants of sleep and unwanted turmoil. After showering, he looked at the clock on the living room wall. 6:40 AM.
"SERA," he called, while drying his hair with a towel.
The silver AI hologram appeared with a bit of virtual sleepiness. "Host? It's still very early. Is there a problem?"
"No," answered Hayato, sitting on the sofa. "It's time for a system upgrade."
SERA blinked, looking confused. "Upgrade? The system was already updated yesterday for Tier 2 Arc—"
"Not that," interrupted Hayato. "Arc of Embodiment is Tier 2 now. But its power is still… attached to the system. Do you understand what I mean?"
SERA was silent for a moment, her eyes—or her camera sensors—spinning rapidly as if analyzing. "You mean… the interface? The capabilities of the system itself?"
"Yes," Hayato nodded.
"My system right now is just like… a catalog and notifications. I want more. Add The Gamer function."
SERA looked shocked. "The… Gamer? Like in the manhwa? Level, stats, skills, quests?"
"Exactly," said Hayato.
"Party feature, Chat, Skill Menu, maybe even Dungeon. Inventory already exists, that's good. Also important: a currency panel and auto-conversion."
SERA began typing on her holographic keyboard, a stream of data and diagrams flowing on the virtual screen in front of her.
Her expression changed from confused to serious, then somewhat worried. "Possibility analysis… in progress…"
After a moment, she stopped. "Technically, it's possible. The system can be integrated with 'gaming' principles because this world itself already has narrative elements like a story. But…"
"But what?"
"For the Dungeon module," SERA explained, pointing to a diagram.
"A higher level of concept understanding is required. Essentially, you need to be able to use the Arc of Embodiment to create or 'bridge' a stable separate space—a small pocket dimension. That's Tier 3 level minimum." She shifted the screen.
"And… there's one strange thing. The system detects the existence of a 'dungeon' in this world. But the data is locked, encrypted with something that… comes from outside this world. I can't access it further."
That made Hayato think. A strange dungeon? From another world? Maybe related to the other anomalies Zelretch mentioned? But he'd save that for later.
"Skill Menu," Hayato continued. "Does that allow me… to make Skill Books? With the Arc of Embodiment?"
SERA nodded, but hesitantly. "In theory, yes. But, Host… you haven't studied any magic theory or experiments. How could you make a skill book? It requires deep understanding of the skill itself, how it works, its energy principles…"
"That's for later," said Hayato.
"For now, I need a system that can help… not just me. But also Lala. And maybe others later."
SERA looked at him with a strange expression—a mix of awe and fatigue. "So… essentially you want a system that can support a 'party'? So the heroines around you can survive the coming chaos?"
"Exactly," Hayato answered simply.
SERA let out a dramatic virtual sigh. "Huff… If it were another Host, they might ask for direct power: a legendary sword, mass destruction magic, or an immortal body. But you… ask for concepts. A system that supports the concept of cooperation. This is…"
"This is an already insane multiverse world," Hayato interjected in a flat tone. "I'm tired of this insane multiverse and crossover world."
"I should be the one complaining, not you," grumbled SERA.
"So… is this request final? I just need to press the [Accept] button?"
Hayato nodded. "Do it."
SERA raised her virtual hand, and with an expression like someone about to press a nuclear launch button, she pressed something on her interface.
BZZZT—!
A large blue screen immediately filled Hayato's vision, more complex and full of icons than before.
[SYSTEM UPDATE COMPLETED]
[NEW MODULE INSTALLED: THE GAMER INTERFACE v1.0]
━━━ NEW FEATURES UNLOCKED ━━━
GAMER SYSTEM INTERFACE(STAGE 1 UNLOCKED)
➤ Party Manager [ONLINE]
· Add / Remove members
· View member status
· Sync passive buffs & shared perks
➤ Chat System [ONLINE]
· Private Chat between party members
· Broadcast Message & Ping
➤ Skill Menu [ONLINE]
· Active & Passive Skills
· EXP Skill Tracker
· Skill Book Support (Item Required)
➤ Currency Panel [ONLINE]
· Money Slots: Yen | Dollar | Jewel | Gold | Credit
· Auto Convert: [✓]
•Rate determined by world location & local system rules
➤ Inventory Quick Access [STABILIZED]
📛 Dungeon Module: LOCKED
⚠Dungeon Access feature requires:
[Arc of Embodiment– Tier-3] 🔒
━━━⚙ SYSTEM NOTES ━━━
•Activation of new features will adjust to the user's existence evolution
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[UI THE GAMER– BASIC MODE ACTIVE]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Hayato smiled, satisfied. "Good. Just one more thing."
SERA looked at him with a wary gaze. "Goodness, Host… what else?"
"Why are you complaining?" asked Hayato, somewhat amused.
"Because you are an Anomaly!" SERA almost shouted, her synthetic voice rising several octaves.
"Your thoughts and imagination… are crazy! If I were with another host, they might ask for cheat powers that could immediately destroy a mountain. But you? You ask for conceptual powers that require deep thought! And now you want a game system! This… is not normal!"
Hayato sighed, smiling slightly. "Because this multiverse itself is not normal, SERA. Now, one last request for now: make me money."
SERA was silent for a moment, then her hologram blinked as if experiencing an error. "Huh… what do you mean? Like what?"
Hayato took out his thin leather wallet. Inside were only about 20,000 Yen left—barely enough money for a high school student.
He took out a 10,000 Yen bill, then with concentration, placed it into the system's Inventory. The item appeared in an inventory slot with a picture of the banknote.
"Duplicate the money in this system," Hayato ordered.
"Arc of Embodiment Tier 2 should be able to manipulate the concept of 'quantity' for objects already within my controlled space—in this case, the Inventory. Duplicate it exponentially, but with a safe limit. After that…" He looked at SERA.
"You enter the world's financial system network through the internet. Get me an American Express Black Card—Centurion. Fill its balance with a reasonable amount, let's say… just 3 million US dollars for now. Then, input fake data about me into their system. Make it as if I am a generational priority client, with a history that cannot be verified but also cannot be disputed."
SERA looked at him with a blank stare. Her entire virtual processor seemed to hang.
"Hahahaha," Hayato laughed softly, covering his face with his hand. "How about that? Great idea, right?"
"Ughhh…" SERA made a sound like a stalled engine. "Host!!! You're insane! Even though in theory Arc of Embodiment could do that by manipulating data and the concept of wealth… it would cause inflation! Economic imbalance! The system will detect an anomaly!"
"Will I spend the money recklessly?" Hayato asked, looking at SERA.
"Of course not. This is for a comfortable life, SERA. Money is no longer an issue now. What remains is to study and fully understand my power. I don't need to waste time working part-time like other anime characters just to eat. That's the point of the Arc of Embodiment." He paused, then his smile softened.
"And of course, I'm lucky to have you… SERA."
The AI fell silent. Her holographic light blinked softly. There was a sort of… strange virtual warmth.
"This… is the last one," SERA finally murmured, her voice small. "I don't want to serve any more crazy requests. At least… not today."
"Deal."
SERA began to work. Her virtual keyboard appeared again, and her fingers of light danced with high speed. Screens of data scattered—financial codes, bank servers, satellite systems, even macroeconomic waves.
Hayato watched in awe. SERA wasn't just a guide AI; she had terrifying data access and manipulation capabilities.
The process took about ten minutes. Then, a new system window appeared.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE v1.0 - CURRENCY PANEL]
🪙 SOURCE CURRENCY: Yen (¥)
➤ BASE AMOUNT: ¥10,000
➤MULTIPLICATION RATE: x50,000
➤FINAL BALANCE: ¥500,000,000
⚠ Transaction tagged as [REALITY-WARP SAFE]
→Source: Arc of Embodiment – Passive Trigger: [Wealth Creation: Limited Tier]
🔄 CONVERTING TO: USD ($)
➤ Exchange Rate (Anchor-Stabilized):
¥1 = $0.0064 USD
➤Final Value: $3,100,000 USD
💳 RESULT: American Express Centurion (Black) Issued
📦 PERK UNLOCKED:
✔Unlimited Balance Storage [Multiverse Safe]
✔Black Card Benefits [Auto-Accepted Across Realms]
✔Fraud Immunity: TRUE
✔System Trace Shield: ACTIVE
✔Signature Owner: [Hayato Hayama - Anchor ID Validated]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[SUCCESS:Transaction Completed & Stored in Wallet Interface]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
In the air, right in front of Hayato, an elegant black card with a platinum-colored centurion logo slowly materialized, then fell gently into his hand. It felt heavy, solid, and very real. His name was clearly printed on it: Hayato Hayama.
Hayato's eyes sparkled. This wasn't just a credit card; it was a symbol of instant financial freedom.
He no longer needed to worry about living expenses, about paying bills, or about thinking where money would come from to repair his house that might one day be destroyed by Lala's experiments.
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened. Lala was standing there, already wearing her bright and cheerful clothes, her hair decorated with Peke who was active again. "Hayato~! What are you doing?"
Hayato quickly hid the black card in his pocket then immediately moved it to the Inventory, then cleared his throat. "Just… making something. By the way, have you showered?"
"Already!" Lala smiled widely, doing little jumps as she approached him. "Besides, it's 7:10 now!"
Hayato was surprised to see the clock: 30 minutes had passed since he started talking with SERA. "How about we eat outside?" he suggested. "Also… our first date."
Lala's face beamed like the sun. "A date! Let's go, let's go!" She immediately grabbed Hayato's arm, hugging it tightly.
Hayato smiled, but then remembered something. "Before that, I want to do something." He focused his mind on the new system interface.
Party Manager. Invite. Target: Lala Satalin Deviluke. Party Name: Family.
A small blue window appeared in front of Lala's eyes. The girl frowned, then read and click.
[Party Invitation Sent…]
Target: Lala Satalin Deviluke
Race: Deviluke (Alien)
Status: Invitation Accepted
Device Synchronization: Successful
SERA Neural-link: Connected
Lala's Reality Protection: Active (Level 130)
Party Chat Access: Granted
[Party: Family]
Hayato Hayama – Level: ??? (No Longer Relevant)
Lala Satalin Deviluke – Level: 130
Lala was surprised, then her face filled with joy. "Wow! This is like in a game! Can I explore the system?"
"Of course," answered Hayato, happy to see her enthusiasm.
Lala began exploring the new interface in her view with virtual fingers. She opened the Party menu, then tapped her personal information. A detailed statsheet appeared.
Name : Lala Satalin Deviluke
Race : Deviluke
Class : Genius Inventor
Lv : 130 (90000/613000)
Age : 15 years old
Gender : Female
Title : Successor of the deviluke nation
------------------------------------------------
HP : 15750
MP : 10030
-------------------------------------------------
STR : 510
VIT : 630
WIS : 320
DEX : 390
INT : 412
LUCK : 80
--------------------------------------------------
Point : 0
Money : ¥ 0
---------------------------------------------------
Active Skill: Deviluke Tail ( Lv 8 )
Passive Skill: Tool Maker (Lv Max), Superhuman Strength (Lv 6), Superhuman Speed (Lv 5), Superhuman Durability (Lv 5), Sonic Scream (Lv 4), Enhanced Metabolism (Lv 8), Swordsmanship (Lv 4)
(Note Author: 1 Point Stats VIT / INT = 25 Point HP / MP, Maximum Passive Level 10)
Lala looked at her statistics in awe. "Wow, this is amazing! Can I put all my invention tools in here?" she asked, pointing to the Inventory icon.
"Of course," answered Hayato.
"Inventory slots are plentiful. Don't worry, items you place there, time stops—they won't break or age." Then his face became serious.
"But, warning: never put a living being into the Inventory."
"Why?" asked Lala, head tilted.
"Because even though time stops, the consciousness of the living being still exists. They will be trapped in nothingness, without senses, without time, but still aware. If you put in, say, a cat, that cat would die existentially because its soul would be shattered by the experience."
Lala nodded slowly, her expression serious for a moment. "I understand. I won't." Then her cheerful smile returned.
"Then, let's go! I'm so hungry already!"
Hayato smiled, feeling a strange warmth in his chest. This might not be how his life was supposed to go.
But on this morning, with a new system in hand, a black card in his Inventory, and an alien princess happily hugging his arm, Hayato Hayama decided to step out of the house—towards a first date, and towards a future that was completely unpredictable.