"Champion?" He scrambled to his feet, acutely aware of his rumpled office clothes and the way they made him look like a lost salaryman at a costume party.
The wrinkled white shirt, stained with coffee from his final morning commute, hung loose around his thin frame. His black slacks bore the creases of someone who had been hunched over a desk for twelve hours straight. Even in death, apparently, he couldn't escape the mundane embarrassment of his appearance.
"I'm nobody special. I just died saving a cat."
The words felt hollow even as he spoke them. Three years of night shifts, countless weekends sacrificed to quarterly reports, a social life that existed only in the glow of his computer screen—what kind of champion material was that?
Lyssara's laugh was like silver bells in a summer breeze, a sound so pure and melodious it seemed to resonate in his very bones.
"Oh, my sweet, naive hero. That single moment of selfless compassion? That's exactly what makes you special." She circled him slowly, her bare feet making no sound on the marble floor, and he could feel her gaze like a physical touch—warm, appraising, seeing through him in ways that made his skin tingle.
"You chose to save a life when you thought your own was meaningless. That's stupid but that was the point."
As she moved around him, Haruto caught glimpses of her from different angles—She was beauty incarnate, the kind of woman who existed only in dreams and fantasies, and yet here she was, calling him a champion.
"But I'm just—" he started, his voice cracking like a teenager's.
"Dead?" She smiled, revealing teeth like pearls that seemed to gleam with their own inner light. "Not anymore. Welcome to Aeloria, my champion. A world where gods walk among mortals, where magic flows like rivers, and where your destiny awaits."
She gestured with one elegant hand, and the air shimmered. Images appeared like living photographs—vast kingdoms floating in the sky, forests where trees grew crystals instead of leaves, warriors wielding flames like swords.
Each image pulsed with life, with possibilities that made Haruto's heart race. He could smell the ozone of storm clouds gathered around floating cities, hear the whisper of wind through crystal leaves, feel the heat of magical fire that burned without consuming. This wasn't just fantasy—it was a living, breathing reality waiting for him.
"Aeloria is dying," Lyssara continued, her voice taking on a serious tone. "The divine balance has been shattered. Light and shadow, order and chaos, love and hate—all thrown into discord. The world needs someone who can bring unity where there is division."
The marble beneath his feet grew cold, and he could feel the urgency in her words like a physical pressure against his chest. Somewhere, in a world he'd never seen, people were suffering.
"And you think I can do that?" Haruto laughed bitterly, "I couldn't even unite the accounting department. If I can't handle office politics, how am I supposed to save an entire world?"
Lyssara stepped closer, close enough that he could smell her perfume—something like jasmine and starlight, with undertones of honey and morning dew. It was intoxicating, making his head spin and his heart pound. "Which is why I'm giving you a gift." Her voice dropped to a whisper that seemed to caress his soul. "The Eros System."
She leaned in, her golden eyes locking onto his, and before he could react, her lips brushed against his in a fleeting, electric kiss. It wasn't just a kiss—it was a spark that ignited something deep within him, a warmth that spread from his lips to his chest, racing through his veins like liquid fire. His knees buckled, and he gasped, his heart pounding as a sensation unlike anything he'd ever felt flooded his body.
Her lips lingered just long enough to make his mind go blank, then she pulled back, a mischievous smile playing on her face. "There," she whispered, her breath warm against his cheek. "Now you're mine, champion."
Words blazed across his vision in glowing script, written in flames against the darkness behind his eyelids:
**[EROS SYSTEM ACTIVATED]**
**[WELCOME, SOVEREIGN OF UNITY]**
**[OBJECTIVE: FORGE BONDS TO SAVE AELORIA]**
**[CURRENT LEVEL: 1]**
**[SKILLS: NONE]**
**[BONDS: 0]**
"What the—" Haruto staggered back, his face burning as he touched his lips, still tingling from her kiss.
The system's text pulsed in his vision, and he could feel a new energy coursing through him.
Lyssara silenced him with a finger to his lips.
"Language, champion," she purred, her golden eyes dancing with mischief. "The Eros system will guide you. Form genuine connections with others—bonds of trust, passion, and love—and it will grant you the power to heal this broken world."
"Connections?" His voice cracked, his face flushing red as the implications hit him. In his twenty-five years of life, he'd never even held hands with a girl, never been on a proper date, never experienced the kind of connection she was describing. "You mean like… romantic connections?"
"Among other things." Her smile widened, full of promises and secrets that made his pulse race. She leaned in again, her finger tracing a light, teasing line along his jaw, sending another jolt through his system.
"But remember, true power comes from genuine emotion, not mere desire. The heart must be engaged, or the system won't respond. You can't fake what flows from the soul."
[SYSTEM ALERT: ATTRACTION POTENTIAL DETECTED]
[RECOMMENDATION: EMBRACE THE SPARK TO UNLOCK FUTURE BONDS]
Haruto's mind reeled. Embrace the spark? He was barely keeping up with the goddess standing in front of him, let alone the idea of charming anyone else. Before he could ask the thousand questions burning in his mind, the marble floor began to dissolve beneath his feet like sugar in rain.
"Wait!" he called out, reaching for her desperately as gravity took hold. "I don't know how to be a hero! I don't know anything about this world! I don't know how to… to charm people!"
Lyssara's laughter followed him, warm and melodic, as he fell through swirling clouds of light. "Then you'd better learn quickly, my champion. Your first test is about to begin!"
The divine realm vanished, replaced by the whistle of wind and the very earthly sensation of falling toward an unknown world below. Through the rushing air, he could see Aeloria spreading out beneath him—a patchwork of impossible beauty and terrible darkness, waiting for a hero who had no idea what he was doing.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: TUTORIAL BEGINNING]
[OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE YOUR FIRST ENCOUNTER]
[REWARD: BASIC COMBAT INSTINCTS]
[GOOD LUCK, CHAMPION]
Haruto screamed as he plummeted toward his new destiny, the memory of Lyssara's kiss burning on his lips, leaving behind forever the gray world of spreadsheets and fluorescent lights for something infinitely more dangerous—and infinitely more alive.