The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism

"Fair."

She turned to face me properly, her blue eyes searching my face. "Are you going to sleep with her again tonight?"

The question hung between us like a live grenade.

"I don’t know," I said honestly. "Do you want me to?"

"I—" She stopped, visibly struggling with the answer. "I don’t know either. Part of me wants to say no, that you should just be mine. But the other part knows that’s not realistic anymore, and pretending otherwise is just going to make everything worse."

God, she was being so reasonable about this. Too reasonable. It made the guilt press harder against my ribs.

"We don’t have to figure everything out today," I said quietly.

"Yes, we do." She crossed the space between us and poked me hard in the chest. "Because if we don’t set rules now, this whole thing is going to explode in our faces. So tell me honestly, Lukas. What do you want?"

What did I want?

The System had very clear opinions about what I should want. Multiple partners. Escalating attachment metrics. A steady stream of power upgrades disguised as relationship progression.

But what did I actually want, independent of quest notifications and reward structures?

The honest answer was that I didn’t know anymore. The lines between genuine desire and System manipulation had blurred so thoroughly that I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

"I want this to work," I said finally. "However that looks."

"That’s not an answer."

"It’s the only answer I have right now."

She studied my face for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Okay. Then we figure it out together."

"Together."

"But if you hurt me—" Her hand moved to my throat, not squeezing but definitely present. "I will destroy you. Completely. Do you understand?"

"Crystal clear."

"Good." She released me and stepped back. "Now help me make my bed before I change my mind about this entire insane situation."

By the time we finished replacing Sloane’s sheets with clean ones from the linen closet, it was already past noon. My phone had been buzzing intermittently from the nightstand where I’d left it, but I’d been deliberately ignoring it.

Sloane flopped onto her freshly made bed with a satisfied sound. "Much better."

I sat on the edge, finally checking my phone. Three messages from Diane, asking how things were going and reminding me to apologize properly. One message from Felicity, still trying to establish contact. And approximately seven notifications from the Scumbag System that I’d been actively suppressing.

Time to face the music.

〘 Status review requested. Displaying current metrics. 〙

The familiar blue interface materialized in my vision, invisible to everyone except me.

Name: Lukas Belmont

(DP) 0

(SP) 6,890

[ Attributes ]

〘 STR: 50 | AGI: 50 | DEX: 63 〙

〘 INT: 63 | END: 51 〙

ACTIVE SKILLS (3/3):

Spectral Reach (Rare)

Blitz (Rare)

Lightning Cloak (Epic)

PASSIVE TRAITS (4/5):

Boundless Stamina (Epic)

False Data (Uncommon)

Sexercise (Common)

Musk (Uncommon)

INVENTORY:

Faceless Veil (Rare · Equipment)

The High Priestess (Rare · Activatable Item)

Usurper (Legendary · Conditional Active)

Dampen (Trash · Active)

I stared at the numbers for a long moment, processing.

The tutorial ending had given me an extra slot in both categories. Three active skills. Four passive traits. And judging by the titles and skills I would get after completing this quest...

The System really was pushing me toward a specific build, wasn’t it?

"Lukas?" Sloane’s voice pulled me back to reality. "You’re doing that thing again."

"What thing?"

"Where your eyes go unfocused and you stare at nothing. It’s creepy."

Right. Looking at system interfaces nobody else could see probably did look weird from the outside.

"Just thinking," I said.

"About?"

About the fact that my cum gives women permanent power boosts. About the fact that I now have two Fitzgerald women addicted to that boost whether they realize it or not. About the fact that Halloran is going to be full of ambitious female Heroes who would absolutely kill for access to what I’m offering.

"About how we’re going to handle dinner later," I lied smoothly.

She rolled onto her side, propping her head up on one hand. "You’re a terrible liar."

"I’m an excellent liar."

"Not to me." She reached out and poked my shoulder. "But I’ll let it slide for now. Just promise me you’ll tell me if something’s actually wrong."

"Promise."

Another lie.

I was getting really good at those.

〘 Observation: Host is demonstrating appropriate caution regarding information disclosure. Recommended behavior for long-term operational security. 〙

The System’s approval made my skin crawl slightly.

"What’s going to happen when we both get into Halloran?" Sloane asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we’re going to be surrounded by other Hero candidates. Strong ones. Attractive ones." Her expression went complicated. "And if this arrangement is going to work, I need to know if we’re exclusive or if you’re planning to—" She gestured vaguely. "You know. Expand."

The question hit like a punch to the gut.

Because of course the System wanted me to expand. That was the entire point. The Claimed buff scaled with new partners. The Temptation Gauge system was designed to track multiple heroines simultaneously. The whole structure was built around collecting powerful women like they were fucking Pokemon cards.

"I don’t know," I said honestly.

"That’s not reassuring."

"Would you rather I lie to you?"

She went quiet for a moment, clearly weighing her options. Finally, she sighed. "No. I’d rather you be honest, even if the honesty sucks."

"Then honestly? I don’t know what’s going to happen at Halloran. I don’t know who I’m going to meet or what situations I’m going to end up in. But I do know that you matter to me, and I’m not going to do anything that deliberately hurts you."

"That’s still not the same as being exclusive."

"No, it’s not."

She rolled onto her back, staring at her ceiling. "Mom was right about you."

"What did she say?"

"That you’re dangerous in ways that have nothing to do with your Aspect." She turned her head to look at me. "You make people want to bend their own rules. That’s a scary skill, Lukas."