As Damien settled onto his bed, his gaze flickered toward the system window still floating in his vision.
The engagement was broken. Celia would be reeling. The Everwyns would be scrambling.
And now, it was time to see what he had gained.
—----------------------------------
[STATUS] [Synchronization: Complete]
▶ Name: Damien Elford
▶ [Simp] (Decaying… 73% Corruption Cleared)
▶ [Spineless Donor] (Decaying… 49% Corruption Cleared)
▶ [Naïve Fool] (Decaying… 64% Corruption Cleared)
—----------------------------------
—----------------------------------
Damien hummed, tapping his fingers against his knee as he scanned the information.
A starting point. A foundation.
More importantly, those decaying traits—the remnants of the old Damien—were already being eroded.
He had no intention of carrying that loser's baggage any longer than necessary.
A new notification appeared.
[Scoundrel System Functions Unlocking…]
▶ Host Achieved Level 1 – System Core Operational
▶ Basic Functions Unlocked
▶ Starter Pack from Administrator: Selene Received
▶ Major System Features Require Awakening – Access to Mana Required
A system —one that dealt with something beyond normal human limitations—was bound to need a power source beyond mundane biology.
Just then, another notification appeared.
[Goddess Selene's Starter Pack has been delivered.]
His lips curled into a smirk.
'Let's see what you gave me, Selene.'
[Goddess Selene's Starter Pack has been delivered.]
A new window materialized before Damien, sleek and minimalistic, unlike the gaudy, self-righteous interface of the previous system.
His smirk deepened. At least this one has taste.
He tapped on the package, and the contents unfolded.
—----------------------------------
[Starter Pack – Goddess Selene's Gift]
▶ 1x Random Glyph Ticket – A single-use ticket that grants a random glyph upon activation. Glyphs are engraved onto the body, enhancing the user's strength and abilities permanently. However, only Awakened individuals can withstand the engraving process.
▶ 1x Lucky Bastard's Lottery Ticket – A single-use ticket that grants a completely random reward. No guarantees on whether it will be a blessing or a curse.
—----------------------------------
Damien raised a brow. That's it?
No weapons. No instant power-ups. Just two items that depended entirely on luck.
Still, the Glyph Ticket was interesting.
He had seen the glyphs already in the game. They were rare, highly sought-after enhancements that only Awakened individuals could use. Once engraved, they became a permanent part of the user, granting abilities or augmenting physical stats.
Damien tapped on the ticket, his curiosity piqued.
[Would you like to use the Random Glyph Ticket?]
He smirked but shook his head. Not yet.
"System, can I use glyphs right now?"
A chime echoed before the system responded.
[Negative. Glyphs can only be engraved onto Awakened individuals. The current host is unable to bear the effects of a glyph. Attempting to use one in your current state would result in fatal backlash.]
Damien chuckled, rolling his shoulders.
"So I need to Awaken first, huh?"
Damien leaned back against the headboard, fingers drumming idly against his knee as he scanned the floating system window.
So far, he had gained:
A Random Glyph Ticket, which was currently useless since he hadn't awakened.
A Lucky Bastard's Lottery Ticket, which could be a blessing or a curse.
[Additional Rewards for Level Up Received]
▶ +3 Attribute Points
Damien's gaze flickered to the notification, and he almost rolled his eyes.
"Three points?" He scoffed. "That's it?"
No weapons, no instant combat abilities, not even a basic skill to make things more interesting.
"System," he drawled, shifting slightly, "you're pretty damn stingy, aren't you?"
[The system provides rewards based on host progression. Significant achievements yield greater rewards.]
Damien chuckled under his breath. "So you're saying I need to grind for anything worthwhile, huh?"
He had half a mind to throw all three points into Will, just to see what his hidden stats would reveal. But for now, he held off.
No need to waste resources when he didn't fully understand the mechanics yet.
Instead, his eyes drifted to the Lottery Ticket still floating in his inventory.
Damien's gaze flickered toward his Luck stat.
Better than he expected, honestly.
He knew how this game worked.
Even though Shackles of Fate was an NTR game, even though its story had been designed for humiliation and suffering, the mechanics were solid.
If there was one thing the devs had done right, it was the stats system.
There were instances—so many moments in the game where the protagonist, Damien, had been under curses or debuffs that tanked his stats.
Luck was always the worst one.
In certain story routes, the protagonist's Luck stat would hit 1 or even 0, and from that point on, every event would spiral into utter catastrophe. Deals would fail. Enemies would appear at the worst moments. Key allies would betray him at crucial turning points.
Luck wasn't just a number.
It was the invisible hand that dictated the flow of fate.
And with his current Luck: 5, rolling a Random Lottery Ticket was—
He leaned back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"System," he called out. "For a normal human, 10 is the limit for all attributes, right?"
[Affirmative. The maximum attribute value for an unawakened human is 10. Any increase beyond this threshold requires Awakening or external enhancements.]
A normal human's Luck 10 could already tilt fate in their favor—small things like winning bets, always being in the right place at the right time, avoiding accidents by sheer coincidence.
Once a person stepped beyond human limits, the concept of luck changed entirely.
A normal person with Luck 10 might narrowly dodge a speeding car and call it luck—because they avoided death.
But an Awakened with Luck 10?
They wouldn't just dodge the car.
They might find a lost artifact in the wreckage. Or meet a dying billionaire who decides to pass his wealth onto them for no reason.
Luck wasn't just about survival.
It was about opportunity.
His Luck was too low to gamble.
Rolling a Random Lottery Ticket at Luck 5 was the equivalent of playing Russian roulette with five loaded chambers.
'Let's fix that, then.'
Without hesitation, he pulled up his Attribute Points and allocated all three points into Luck.
A sharp chime rang in his head as the change settled in.
A subtle shift in the air.
Nothing drastic. Nothing immediate.
Like something in the background of reality had… adjusted.
Something had tilted slightly in his favor.
Now it was time to use the lottery ticket.