Eirene didn't even blink.
Her silver fingers were already moving through the air, tracing invisible glyphs that glowed faintly as the system interface materialized between them.
"Continue," she said, voice flat.
Asherah leaned forward, lips curling."Yanen absolutely has to make a harem. The more members he adds, the more his own power grows in direct proportion. Also add that his semen carries a special strengthening effect. Every woman he finishes inside receives a permanent power boost—physical, magical, stamina, regeneration, whatever she's strongest in. Make it addictive, and make them crave it."
Eirene's fingers didn't pause.
"Understood. Should I include compulsory insemination as a multiplier?"
"Yes!" Asherah clapped once. "Insemination gives the biggest boost. Creampie is equivalent to maximum growth. No half-measures. And pull-out doesn't count."
"Hey—hey—stop deciding my fate like that?!" I shouted.
They ignored me completely.
Asherah giggled and leaned over Eirene's shoulder, pointing at different floating panels.
"Make the notification sound cute. Something like a little chime when a new girl joins the harem. And add a status window so I can watch his progress from up here, like the AV it is. Ooh, and a live feed option—wait, no, that might get me in trouble with Chronos again."
"Live feed denied," Eirene said immediately. "Already flagged as excessive voyeurism."
"Fine, fine. But keep the harem growth tracker visible to him at all times. I want him to see the numbers ticking up."
They kept going like that—back and forth, casually rewriting my entire existence while I stood there clenching my fists so hard my new pretty-boy nails left crescent marks in my palms.
When they finally finished, Asherah turned to me with the smuggest smile I'd ever seen on a face.
"There. It is done. Now listen carefully, Yan-Yan. If you refuse to meet the requirements, or if you mess up even a little bit…" She trailed off sweetly. "…I will punish you."
...Hmph.
I crossed my arms.
"Oh? When I have super regeneration? What are you going to do?"
Her golden eyes flashed, then she pointed one elegant finger directly at my chest.
BAM.
It felt like someone had detonated a hand grenade inside my ribcage.
My sternum exploded outward in a wet spray of bone and blood. I saw my own heart—bright red, still beating for one impossible second—before it simply vanished in a puff of golden light.
The pain was white-hot, blinding, absolute. It wasn't just physical. It was like every nerve in my body had been dipped in molten glass and then set on fire.
My lungs seized and my vision tunneled. I couldn't scream because there was no air left to scream with.
My legs gave out and I dropped to my knees, clutching at the gaping hole where my chest used to be.
Everything hurt.
Everything.
And then—
Snap!
Asherah snapped her fingers.
And the hole closed.
The heart reappeared, and blood reversed its flow, bones snapped back into place, flesh knitted together in reverse. The pain didn't fade slowly—it simply… stopped. Like someone flipped a switch.
But the memory of it stayed, though.
I was gasping on all fours, shaking, sweat pouring down my face, tasting copper on my tongue even though there wasn't any blood left.
"It seems you are forgetting who I am…" she said softly.
She crouched in front of me, lifted my chin with one finger.
"If you don't want pain, then show Mummy pleasure, okay?"
I couldn't even answer. My throat was too raw.
Eirene spoke from behind her.
"Mortality is such a fragile thing. One flick and he's already crying like a child, begging for us to spare his measly life."
I never did that!
However, from what Eirene carelessly said, Asherah's smile faltered—just a little.
"Eirene."
"My apologies, Goddess Asherah. I only stated the obvious."
Asherah stood up, brushing invisible dust from her dress.
"I don't trust that my AV star— I mean, Yanen—will be alright on his own."
"Hey, you just called me an AV star—!"
"So," she continued, ignoring me, "you're going with him."
Eirene actually paused.
"…That would be highly improper, my goddess."
"I've spoken," Asherah said simply. "You're his supervisor now. Make sure he behaves. And make sure he fills the harem quota. I want results."
Eirene's silver eyes narrowed, but she didn't argue further.
"As you command."
Asherah clapped her hands once.
The golden platform beneath my feet vanished, and I screamed as I fell down.
The fall was endless—wind roaring past my ears, white hair whipping into my face, stomach lurching into my throat. Clouds rushed by. Marble pillars shrank to dots.
I flailed uselessly, trying to grab onto nothing.
Eirene appeared beside me also in the air, with her arms folded, falling at exactly the same speed.
"Stop the barking. You won't die from this," she said calmly.
I stopped screaming long enough to glare at her. "How comforting!"
Soon, we hit the ground.
And my skull shattered on impact—wet crunch, blinding flash of pain, teeth scattering across dry dirt like dice.
But just as fast, everything reversed. Bones crunched back together. Brain matter reinflated. Eyes reformed. The agony was so sharp it looped back into numbness for a second before fading.
I lay on my back, staring at a blue sky, chest heaving.
Eirene stood a few paces away, looking up at the clouds like nothing had happened.
Maybe she's sad that she is no longer up there...
"See…" I rasped, pushing myself up on trembling arms. "I'm sorry about what Asherah did—"
I reached out instinctively, trying to touch her shoulder, but--
"Don't touch me, filthy virgin." Her voice was ice. "And that's Goddess Asherah to you."
I dropped my hand.
"Yes. Forgive my foolish kindness."
I finally looked around.
We were in the middle of nowhere.
Endless cracked earth stretched in every direction. No trees. No grass. No water. Just dry, baked dirt under a pale, merciless sun. Heat shimmered off the ground in waves. The air tasted like dust and old metal.
Then I turned to Eirene.
"Where… are we?"
"The Wasteland of the Black Serpent," Eirene said without inflection, like she was reading a weather report.