[Current Location: Occult Research Club Room, Kuoh Academy]
[Current SP: 130 | Level: 3 | HP: 120/120]
[Status: Kyoto trip tomorrow. Danger Sense tingling non-stop.]
"Everyone, sit down," Rias said. Her voice was colder than usual. "We have a problem."
The entire ORC was gathered. Me, Issei, Asia, Koneko, Akeno. Even Sona was here with her queen, Tsubaki. That's when you know it's bad.
Rias tossed a gold-trimmed letter onto the table. The seal was a burning bird.
"Riser Phenex," Sona said, adjusting her glasses. "Third son of the Phenex House. And... Rias's fiancé."
Issei choked on air. "FIANCÉ?!"
Asia made a small "eep" sound. Koneko paused her snack.
My Pervert's Intuition and Danger Sense both screamed at max volume.
[Ding! New Main Quest: "Crash the Engagement"]
[Description: Rias Gremory does not want this marriage. Help her cancel it.]
[Reward: 300 SP, Rias Affection +20, Unlock "Rating Game Access"]
[Failure: Rias becomes Riser's wife. You lose your main heroine. Bad end.]
"Oh hell no," I muttered. The System agreed with me for once.
"Riser has invoked the right to a Rating Game to settle the engagement," Rias explained, clenching her fists. "If my peerage beats his, the engagement is void."
"Peerage?" I asked, even though I 100% knew from the anime. Gotta play dumb.
Rias looked at me, then at Issei. "Yes. My servants. Right now I have Akeno, Koneko, and Asia. And Issei, who I reincarnated last week."
Issei puffed up. "Y-yeah! I'm her Pawn!"
"And Kazuki," Rias added, looking at me. "You are... not mine. You're human. You can't enter the Rating Game."
[Ding! Side Quest: "Get an Evil Piece"]
[Description: Convince Rias to make you part of her peerage so you can fight. You're too weak to matter, but the System believes in you.]
[Reward: 150 SP, Become Rias's [???] Piece, Harem Route Unlocked]
[Bonus: Survive being turned into a devil. 10% chance of exploding.]
"Make me your servant then!" I blurted out. Everyone stared.
Issei's jaw dropped. "Bro?!"
"I mean! I want to help! You saved me, you gave me a room, Akeno gave me trauma- I mean training! Let me fight for you!"
Rias studied me. Party Interface showed: [Rias Gremory - Status: Evaluating, Surprised, 2% Touched]
"I only have one Pawn piece left," she said quietly. "Pawns are weak. But they can Promote."
[System: Recommendation - Accept. Pawn is best for Weak to Strong builds. High growth potential.]
"I'll take it," I said. "I'm already used to being weak."
Rias held out her hand. A chess piece made of red crystal appeared. "This will hurt. A lot."
[Warning: Reincarnation into Devil in progress. Pain Level: 9/10]
She pressed it to my chest.
AGONY. It felt like my blood was lava and my bones were glass.
[HP: 120 → 15 → 1 → 0...]
[Perverted King System: EMERGENCY OVERRIDE. Pain threshold limited to 50%. You're welcome.]
[HP: 1 → 60]
I collapsed on the floor, smoking slightly. Asia immediately started healing me.
[Ding! Race Changed: Human → Reincarnated Devil]
[Ding! New Stats: HP: 60 → 150, MP: 15 → 80, All Base Stats +3]
[Ding! New Title: "Rias Gremory's Pawn"]
[Ding! Side Quest "Get an Evil Piece" Complete! +150 SP. Total SP: 280]
[Rias Gremory: Affection +15. Current: 17][Harem]
I pushed myself up. I felt... different. Stronger. The mana in the air was visible now.
"Status," I wheezed.
│ Perverted King System │
│ User: Kazuki Arata │
│ Race: Reincarnated Devil │
│ Level: 3 [Weak Devil] │
│ HP: 150/150 MP: 80/80 │
│ SP: 280 │
│ Class: Pawn [Can Promote] │
│ Sacred Gear: "Trickster's Hand" Lv.2 │
│ Skills: Basic Punch, Taijutsu Basics, Iron Body, Peeping Protection, Danger Sense │
│ Harem Members: 0 [Affection tracking active] │
"I'm a devil now," I said, looking at my hands. "Huh."
Issei slapped my back. "Welcome to the team, Bro! Pawn buddies!"
Koneko looked me over. "...You didn't die. Stronger than you look."
[Koneko Toujou: Affection -5 → -2. Respect +10]
Riser's invitation letter suddenly burst into flames. A magic circle appeared and a projection of a blonde, arrogant-looking guy in white appeared.
"Rias~ my dear fiancée!" Riser's voice was smug. "I heard you recruited two new Pawns. How cute. I'll make sure to break them gently when I win you ten days from now."
His eyes landed on me. "You. The new one. You look weak. Try not to die before I get there."
The projection vanished.
[Ding! Riser Phenex: Relationship - Archenemy. He wants you dead.]
"Ten days," Rias said, turning to us. "We train. We fight. We win. Kazuki, Issei, your training starts now."
Akeno cracked her knuckles. "Ufufu~ I'll be in charge of magic resistance training~"
[Ding! New Arc Objective: "Riser Arc Training"]
[Sub-Quest 1: Survive Akeno's Lightning "Training" - Reward: 80 SP]
[Sub-Quest 2: Learn to Promote - Reward: 100 SP]
[Sub-Quest 3: Steal something from Riser during the game - Reward:???]
I looked at my 280 SP, my new devil body, and the death flag Akeno was waving.
"Kyoto trip is still on," Rias added. "We'll train there. More space to destroy things."
Ten days to go from Weak to Strong enough to fight a Phoenix.
No pressure.
[End of Chapter 6]