1 1-1: The New Sovereign Part I

When it came to competitive turn-based strategy games, the name "Verethragna Gloria" had long been associated with both excitement and disdain. Excitement, with its lifelike war, exploration, resource management, trade, espionage and diplomatic systems, all rolled up into a good package alongside extensive world-building, rich lore and a roster of three-dimensional "Hero" characters. On the other hand, there was disdain, as the game's innate complexity and steep learning curve will test the patience and perseverance of even the most powerful of players.

In Verethragna Gloria, there were only two major races - Humans and Demons. Appearance-wise, there was not much difference between the two, but their conflict stems from their birth and purpose. Humans were born from the God of Creation, blessed to instill life in the world and protect it. On the other end of the cycle, the God of Corruption sired the Demons, whose role was to bring forth depravity on the land. As expected, Humans and Demons were in a state of constant war; cooperation and cohabitation were simply out of the question. In a playthrough, a victory could only be garnered by eliminating the influence of either race. Outside the game, fans lean to either side and were extremely protective of the race they supported.

However, what made Verethragna Gloria special was the division of the Humans and Demons, also known as the "factions". The two races were divided into seven factions each, representing the seven cardinal and theological virtues and the seven deadly sins. The Human factions represented the different nations of the world - how they developed and governed largely depended on the associated virtue. For example, the Varuna Theocracy was the nation that upholds the virtue of Justice, and its most distinguishing feature were the uptight Judicators, a band of powerful knights who periodically hunt and destroy sinners. To supplement its unique unit, the Varuna faction had an innate combat bonus against other factions that had one way, or another judged to have "sinned", such as warmongers and slave traders. They were a frightening force to encounter for those with more morally gray playstyles, but a good ally to those who value collaboration to win the game. Each Human faction possessed unique traits and a plethora of Heroes that made mixing and matching them engaging and stimulating after every playthrough.

While Humans had a more independent way of ruling and fighting, where the seven factions were neither here nor there when it comes to power and ability, the Demons had a more consolidated scale of authority. The seven Demon factions were all ruled by a Sovereign, each portraying the very pinnacle of the sin they represent. Of course, these Demon Sovereigns were the roles taken by the players, much like the various Leaders of the Human factions. However, the seven Sovereigns were programmed to be not born equal and there was a glaring gap when it came to combat capabilities. At the top were the Superbia Demons that represent Pride and at the bottom of the ladder laid the Demons of Luxuria, also known as the "whore" tribe. As one might expect, the Incubi and Succubi that represent the sin of Lust were the worst combatants in the game.

Of course, the game's developers weren't that idiotic to actually make a faction absolutely impossible to play. The Luxuria faction's power revolved around intrigue and mind manipulation and all their units played to this strength. It was just unfortunate that in a competitive game where players faced off against each other, everyone would be instantly wary of the Lust Demons' skill to control the battlefield. Before Luxuria had the opportunity to unleash their abilities, other players, especially those taking the role of the Human factions, would rush to destroy them.

Thus, in the game's meta, unless you were masochistic, it was common sense to not choose the Luxuria faction. In fact, most official competitions, especially those that required random faction rolls, directly excluded Luxuria due to this inherent disadvantage.

Well, unless you were the top player "Advent of Spring", who only ever played the Luxuria faction. In fact, he was virtually unstoppable when he was playing the Luxuria Demons; the drawbacks that made the faction worthless turned into trump cards when taken into his hands. Taking advantage of the faction's mind manipulation ability, he took a slow start approach, hiding his territories from plain sight until he was ready to wreak havoc. He was also particularly good at utilizing minor races - such as beastmen, dryads and dark elves - as pawns to distract and confuse the enemy.

However, despite his infamy, Advent of Spring was not a particularly powerful player. He barely ranked in the overall Top 100 list of the game, though he was around the Top 30 when it came to the Demon race players. He seemed to be a person who only played the game for fun, as he never appeared or participated even in the official competitions. A more keen person would know that for a casual gamer who only played a few games occasionally, he should have a good win rate to earn a spot in the rankings. However, just like the unfortunate Luxuria Demons, Advent of Spring never rose to commonplace fame and wasn't widely known by fans, aside from the niche audience who liked the Lust faction aesthetics or are fascinated by Advent of Spring's "slimy underdog" playstyle of winning despite the odds.

But Advent of Spring, whose identity was twenty-seven year old Sano Haruki, never cared about his popularity in the Verethragna Gloria fanbase. To him, the game was simply an addictive pastime, to complement his very demanding job as an accountant in one of the more prominent companies in the country. His Sundays were dedicated to the game, barring the horrid weeks after the year end where he had to sleep in the office to cope up with the workload. Still, playing once a week was tantamount to suicide if you want to take a spot in the game's rankings. Fortunately, Haruki never dreamed of becoming a professional gamer.

Outside of the game, Haruki was an ordinary office worker with ordinary looks. Like most Asians, he had black hair and black eyes, though he was a bit tall compared to the average male with his 5'10" height. He was fair-skinned, slim and a bit lanky, but he dressed neatly and his tastes in clothes and accessories were both simple and casual. In the crowd, especially amongst tall people, he didn't stand out much, though he sometimes caught people's interest with his graceful demeanor and gentle-looking face. Especially when wearing his glasses, he appeared to be an amicable and smart gentleman you can approach when you were in trouble or needed directions. Unfortunately, due to his tendency to blend in the background, people tend to forget about him after meeting him once.

However, this "ordinariness" of Haruki's was simply a facade to hide his more domineering and blunt personality.

"How's that, you retard!" Haruki exclaimed, expertly using both mouse and keyboard as he glared at the computer screen. "Complete annihilation within just one hundred turns. Let's see if you insult Luxuria again, you trashy noob."

Since Verethragna Gloria was an online game with built-in live streaming services, people could tune in to any ongoing game anytime. Through this, Haruki could view the real-time public chat roll of the watching audience.

Grant Fury: [Shit, Advent did it again.]

VGFAN777: [LOL. Getting fucked over by the Lust Demons, where's your big mouth now?]

Spring Adventist: [Advent is so cool! He's the only one who can play Luxuria so efficiently!]

HighBalls21: [Who is this guy again? Why didn't I know about him?]

VarunaLover: [Advent of Spring isn't a pro, so you don't see him much. He's known for only playing the Luxuria Demon faction.]

Slothful Fox: [He is a pro with Luxuria, though!]

Haruki briefly read the messages and grinned. "Yep, no one plays better than me when it comes to Luxuria."

However, rather than brag, what he typed in the message box was: [I'm only a casual player who simply loves playing Luxuria. Winning really doesn't matter to me.]

Haruki was two-faced and he was perfectly fine with it, thank you very much. For him, in this brutally unfair world, behaving simply, reservedly and moderately was the key to living well. He was good at reading the room and playing a role - an obedient son, a great listening ear, a dependable officemate, whatever the situation called for. He couldn't afford to offend anyone with his lackluster looks, mediocre family background and painfully average household income, so he simply played the mask of Villager No. Three.

It was only through playing video games that he could let loose and let go. He could be as rude as he wanted without displeasing anyone and he could painfully teach people a lesson without risking his reputation. In fact, he cruelly crushed other players to the point of giving them psychological damage, but never disparaged or condescended in the game chat. He found it more enjoyable when the watching crowd did the job for him. Plus, it kept him from catching other players' ire, lest they purposefully ganged up on him in the next game. While Haruki was quite intelligent and did have some comparable talent in the game, he wasn't up to par compared to the professionals who played for a living. While he could be considered the number one player when it came to the Luxuria faction, others could easily emulate his strategy while a lot of elements in the game were quite dependent on luck. If Haruki met other Demon faction players who were not team players or were hostile to him, his Luxuria Demons had no chance to breed and develop. Not to mention, he was very lazy to learn to play the other factions.

In fact, the reason behind Haruki's choice of exclusively playing the Luxuria Demon faction was incredibly petty. He was gay and some of the male Heroes of the Demon race ticked all the checkboxes when it came to his preferred aesthetics. In addition, the Lust Demon Sovereign's unique ability was "Carnal Connection", where he can choose a Hero character to "raise" as his "consort". The consort will gain a variety of bonuses, though this was somewhat watered down by the Luxuria faction's inherent weak combat abilities. Nevertheless, as a single virgin gay man, having in-game "lovers" was a novel experience. After all, in his boring life outside of the game, the possibility of finding true love was as rare as getting a specific SSR in a gacha game. In other words, close to nil.

If his so-called fans knew he was lusting over 2D characters, they would probably stone him to death. But who cares? It wasn't like he was harming other people with his sexuality or his fantasies. Life is too short to keep yourself from enjoying the things you like.

Haruki glanced at the clock, waiting for the other players to complete their turns in the game. It was already 9:00 in the evening, so he had around three more hours of free time before he badly needed to go to sleep. He had to wake up early during Monday mornings, lest he wanted to be stuck in the public train to mimic being trapped in a box of canned sardines.

Haruki liked having his own personal space, so he lived in a small apartment suited for one inhabitant, with the kitchen, dining room and living room blended into one. There were only two other rooms - his bedroom and a painfully small bathroom that can only fit a shower. It can feel a little cramped and the room smells bad when not cleaned thoroughly, but Haruki was alone with no one to bother him, so it was a perfect fit for him to be at ease and unleash his unrestrained and unmasked self. He rarely invited anyone in, though it might be because he only kept a few friends close, both offline and online.

When the next turn came in, Haruki was busy managing his newly occupied city, the former capital of the player who laughed at him for choosing the Luxuria faction. While moving his beloved Hero units as he prepared to invade the next city in his list, a private message popped up from his screen.

C-Kami: [Congratulations! You have been chosen to represent Luxuria as their one and only Sovereign!]

Haruki paused, raising an eyebrow. Spam, again? Some people really could afford to waste time trying to fool others. He decided to ignore the troll, but a couple of new messages kept popping up one after another.

C-Kami: [As the final person to be chosen for this game, you will receive the Blessing "System Guide" as a permanent bonus.]

C-Kami: [The "System Guide" will act as your Familiar as you explore the world of Verethragna Gloria.]

C-Kami: [Your goal is to "conquer the world".]

C-Kami: [We wish you the best in your journey. May the Spirit of Victory smile upon you and your followers.]

Haruki was swiftly typing a rude reply when the keyboard beneath his fingers suddenly disappeared. In fact, his entire computer vanished from his sight. His surroundings twisted like that of a visual hallucination, and he had to close his eyes to keep himself from being dizzy. Then, a small sharp hum buzzed from his right side, like bees gathering together inside a hive.

"Hello, Master, you may now open your eyes!"

Confused, Haruki did as he was told.

Hovering in front of his face was a spherical, furry creature with big, round red eyes and a pair of bat-like wings. The hair on its body was all brown, but it was more of a "head" than a body, since aside from its eyes and a wide fanged mouth, there was nothing else in there. A gray goat-like horn protruded from the top of its "head" while its black small wings stuck out from the back. It was a bizarre creature that reminded Haruki of the baby forms of Digimons.

"Welcome newly-born Sovereign of Luxuria! You may refer to Asmo as Asmo, your loyal assistant. Please take care of Asmo in the future~"