'Wait, I'm Supposed to Become a Goddess?! But I'm a Guy!'

Mize exhaled slowly, his fingers dragging across the glowing panel before him.

He hadn’t expected much, but the information presented was enough to make his mind churn.

He tapped the [Tap for more] option, and the screen smoothly expanded with a soft hum. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

[Path of the Lord]

[Status]: Partner Lord System – Sir Liam, Lady Mize Adhart

[Tier]: 3

[Lord's Attribute]: None

[Territory]: 50km in diameter

[Population]: 2,837

[Lord’s Buildings]:

[Regional Chat]

[Global Chat]

[Rankings]

[Trading hub]

Mize tilted his head, eyes flickering as he digested the information. "It's… pretty simple, actually."

Despite the minimal details, the information was clear. The status represented his and Liam’s shared authority over the territory.

The tier indicated the strength of the heart of their domain. And the attributes?

It seemed they were still just… normal Lords.

For now.

Mize put those thoughts aside and scrolled further, his curiosity piqued by the Regional Chat and Global Chat options.

The chat function opened with a flick, and lines of conversation streamed past his eyes.

At first, it was just casual chatter, new Lords stumbling their way through the mechanics, questions about how things worked, and the occasional complaint about how unfair it all was.

But the more he read, the more his expression darkened.

His fingers froze above the panel.

"Liam never told me about this… " Mize murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

Among the countless messages, one pattern stood out.

Most of these Lords weren’t from his planet.

His chest tightened as he scrolled further.

There were people in the chat completely lost, confused, scared, and desperately trying to figure out why they had suddenly been thrown into this "game."

Few were clearly from pre-established civilizations that seemed to know about the Warp beforehand.

Some were even giving advice.

Others? They were just beginning to realize how utterly screwed they were.

Mize’s gaze flickered to the top corner of the screen.

[Global Lords: 10,000,000,000+]

Ten billion.

His fingers gripped the edge of the table.

Liam had mentioned that the Warp ran multiple game servers across various buffer zones between different races, but seeing that number displayed so casually sent a shiver down his spine.

It was too massive to comprehend in normal human standards.

"So, most of these people… were just dragged in without any preparation?"

[Yes, host.]

The system’s voice hummed in his mind.

[Your planet is among the few lucky ones that allowed for early awakening before entering the Warp]

[Possessing ample experiences to prepare the people before entering the warp]

Mize exhaled sharply, fingers tapping the armrest. "Yeah… lucky."

His eyes flickered over the chat once more. There were thousands of messages asking the same desperate question.

"How do we awaken?"

It wasn’t just confusion.

It was panic.

Mize leaned back, realizing the terrifying truth. Most of the Lords in this game were still mortals.

Compared to them, his situation was like being born with a golden spoon. He had an established territory, a profession, and a terrifyingly powerful partner.

But the others?

They had nothing.

[The Awakening Process is not simple.] The system chimed again, as if reinforcing what he had just realized. [These Lords must find a medium to unlock their genetic potential. The strength of their territory alone is not enough. Against a Lord who possesses a profession, they would be utterly crushed because with a profession, they would be unable to utilize the energy of the territory core. Only capable of possessing the physical strength of a tier 3 expert only]

Mize stared at the panel for a long moment.

Then, he exhaled.

"So basically… it's like throwing a bunch of level 1 players into a battlefield where some already have legendary weapons?"

[Correct.]

Mize rubbed his temple. This wasn’t just a game.

It was a slaughterhouse.

Mize leaned back into his seat, fingers absentmindedly tracing the rim of his teacup.

His ruby-red eyes gleamed with curiosity as he muttered, "One more thing… why is there no tutorial for me? I mean, this is a game, right?"

"Shouldn’t I have received some kind of built-in guide? Maybe a brain injection full of helpful information?"

"How does the territory even work? How do I use a Summoning Altar? How am I supposed to operate everything?"

A slight pause, then the system’s voice hummed in his mind.

[Answering host: Due to the method in which the host entered the Warp, no introductory information was provided.]

Mize arched a brow, arms crossing over his chest. "And why is that? Am I… excluded from the game or something?" His voice carried a tinge of annoyance, as if the Warp had personally wronged him.

[Under normal circumstances, the host would have received all necessary information upon arrival, as is standard for new Lords.]

[However, the host did not follow the standard process. The host was not summoned through the usual means. Due to the Villain’s intervention and the golden finger ability he used, the Warp failed to recognize the host as a Lord. Instead, the host was classified as a native creature of this world. It was until the merging process that the host was finally recognised as a lord but then the warp still decided not to provide any information due to the current state of the territory]

"Ah... Tier 3"

Mize froze mid-sip, the teacup still hovering near his lips. Slowly, he lowered it, his eyes narrowing.

"So… what you’re saying is… Liam illegally smuggled me into this world?"

[Correct. The host was forcefully migrated through an unknown method. As a result, despite holding the title of a Lord alongside the Villain, the host did not receive any system-guided information. All knowledge must be obtained manually.]

Mize’s lips parted slightly, then shut again.

He exhaled.

Then took a sip of tea.

"…"

"A little more sugar, please," he muttered, waving a hand toward the nearby maids.

They instantly snapped to attention, rushing to adjust the sweetness to his liking.

He let out a small sigh, shoulders relaxing as he leaned back into the chair.

His gaze drifted to the lake, watching the soft ripples dance across its surface under the gentle breeze.

"Well… I guess it doesn’t really matter." His voice was light, unconcerned. "Liam’s here to handle all the Lord business. I can just sit back, be his pampered wife, slowly get stronger, and most importantly become increasingly beautiful."

[As expected, the host is truly worthy of being bound to this system.]

Mize smirked, giving a self-satisfied nod.

"Naturally."

The air was crisp, the tea warm, the scenery perfect.

Mize reached for a cookie, taking a slow, deliberate bite.

The rich chocolate melted instantly against his tongue, sending a pleasant shiver down his spine.

His legs dangled off the chair, gently swinging as a soft hum escaped his lips.

"Yeah," he murmured between bites, voice thick with contentment. "Being a pampered princess really is the best."

Mize lounged deeper into the chair, legs kicking lazily beneath the table as he bit down into another cookie, the rich chocolate melting on his tongue.

His gaze drifted upward, trailing along the delicate patterns of the floral canopy above him, a soft hum escaping his lips.

"Though..." He mumbled around his bite, tilting his head against the plush cushion. "I’d still be busying myself with the dungeon path. It’s a thing of mine from the past, y’know? I used to love playing dungeon games back then."

The system’s voice chimed in immediately, ever so eager.

[It is fortunate for the host, then, as the Villain would be able to provide everything that the host needed to achieve such a goal.]

Mize paused, rolling the words in his head before correcting, "That’s not my goal… It’s just a tiny ambition."

[Then what would be the host’s true goal?]

Mize’s lips curled into a smirk as he reached for his tea, swirling the liquid gently before taking a slow sip.

The warmth spread through his chest, but his eyes gleamed with a distant, ethereal light.

"To be the most dazzling existence. So beautiful, so distant, that worlds would fall beneath my feet. The emperors would come just to lick my dust. The divines would fall from grace just to catch a glimpse of my fleeting back..."

He set the cup down with a soft clink, ruby eyes flickering under the soft sunlight filtering through the canopy.

"That, that is my true goal."

A moment of silence stretched between them before the system finally responded.

[Which aligns perfectly with the purpose of this system, host! It truly is fateful that this humble one was bound to such a worthy master!]

Mize deadpanned. "Says the one who keeps hinting that I should be a whore to get more points."

The system fell silent.

Mize scoffed, shaking his head. "Enough of that. I wanna explore more of the Lord panel." He flicked his fingers, bringing up the interface before tapping on the Rankings icon.

The panel shifted, new sections unfolding before his eyes.

[Territory Ranking]

[Power Ranking]

[Event Ranking] [-No Ongoing Event-]

Mize’s fingers tapped rhythmically against the table as he read through the options, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Huh. Very game-like. Sweet. I wonder just how powerful Liam is compared to the other billion Lords in this server..."

He tapped into the Territory Ranking, expecting Liam’s name to appear somewhere near the top.

Maybe in the Top 100, at least? The guy was terrifyingly competent when he wanted to be.

But the moment the list loaded.

"…?"

Mize blinked.

His pupils constricted as he re-read the ranking, lips parting slightly.

[Rank 1207: Lord Liam]

One thousand... two hundred and seven.

There was a long stretch of silence.

Then, he blinked again, utterly dumbfounded.

"Number 1207?"

He rubbed his eyes. Looked again.

The number did not change.

His mind struggled to process the information. This was Liam. The guy who kidnapped him from reality, built a literal castle in days, had an army at his beck and call, and quite literally carried God-knows-how-many secrets under his ever-smiling facade.

And yet.

Still Tier 3?

And it ranked quite lower than he was expecting.

"What the hell has this guy been doing?! PLANTING FLOWERS?!"

Mize's gaze snapped downward, scanning the top Lords.

Tier 4...

Tier 4...

Tier 5?!

HISS.

The Top 100 Lords had all reached Tier 4. And the Top 10? More than half had already advanced into Tier 5.

Liam was barely scraping the top 1200.

Mize sucked in a sharp breath. "No, seriously. What the hell is this? Shouldn’t he be steamrolling everyone by now?"

Sure, he was busy managing the territory, recruiting people, and admittedly, harassing him whenever the chance presented itself.

But Tier 3?!

Mize scrolled further, scrutinizing the stats of the top-ranked Lords.

Then, his eyes flicked back to Liam’s placement.

The villainous overpowered schemer, sitting at Rank 1207 like a mid-tier nobody.

Something was off.