Chapter 20

Soon, Kaito began reading the notifications he had ignored upon waking.

[You have undergone your first evolution. New functions unlocked.]

[You can now enter and exit Gaia at will, as long as you're not in combat. However, you must spend at least 12 hours a day inside, or you will be penalized.]

[You may transfer 10% of your stats and one skill, or 5% and two skills to your body on Earth.]

[Your Lord's Mansion will be automatically generated at level 1, with the Territory Core as its center.]

[World Ranking unlocked: a general score from F to SSS, based on the size, livability, and overall strength of the territory.]

[You have not yet used the chat or trade functions, so you don't have a nickname. Please enter one.]

Below the last notification, a text box appeared.

"A nickname for a demon with black hair and red eyes who commands other demons?" Kaito muttered, resigned. "They're basically forcing me to choose that one."

As soon as he finished typing, the screen changed to the World Ranking: a list of one million slots. Anyone below that simply wasn't shown.

At the top, the first ten names shone brightly—each more elegant and eye-catching than the last. But even among them, the gap was huge. While the second place glowed with a dark gold hue and floating particles, the first sparkled with pure gold, beams of light, and a small crown before the name:

Lucifer.

And of course, that first place... was Kaito.

The point difference between the first and second place was shocking. While Kaito held a D rank, the second barely had an F+. It might seem like a small difference, but scrolling further showed that up to rank 600,000 shared the same F+, proving both the minimal gap between them and the overwhelming lead of first place.

As for the rest of the functions, they seemed quite useful. Being able to freely enter and exit Gaia solved a lot of problems in the real world. Night shifts and skipped classes wouldn't last forever.

The Lord's Mansion made him happy. He thought he'd have to build it from scratch. But when he approached the core and found no more info, he figured it would take some time to generate.

The stat and skill transfer to his real body, though, was something else entirely. This changed everything.

Until now, Gaia was considered just a game. Sure, it transported people to another world—but a game nonetheless. But with this function, Earth would be directly impacted. There'd be people with superhuman stats and skills—some exploiting them, others using them for daily life. Regardless of use, society would change overnight. Authorities wouldn't be able to ignore it anymore.

With that in mind, Kaito chose to transfer 5% of his stats and two skills: Original Demon of Speed and Speedforce. With those two, he'd be completely safe.

He remembered his new appearance. He wasn't someone who bragged, but he wasn't humble either. He recognized his strength, and with his current power, conquering territories would be much easier. But that also meant his name and face would become known... especially being ranked number one.

After all, the tallest tree catches the most wind.

With that in mind, he recalled an ability of his new race and decided to activate it.

Hidden Form.

As soon as he activated it, information flooded his mind. It was a second identity: an avatar he could customize freely within the limits of his real stats. Appearance, stats, skills—everything could be adjusted. However, it had one limitation: he couldn't make changes while the avatar was active. To modify anything, he had to deactivate the ability—basically meaning that in an emergency, he'd have no choice but to reveal his true form.

Kaito configured the form with the same appearance he had before evolving and left his stats unchanged. He had no reason to hide his real numbers... unless someone with analysis abilities came along.

Once finished, he turned his attention to the girl resting her head on his lap like a cat. Until that moment, he had been petting her without thinking.

"Koneko."

She looked up at him.

"What do you plan to do now?"

Koneko fell silent for a moment before asking:

"Kaito... how did you save me?"

Kaito realized his mistake. Though she had information about Lords and towers, she didn't know how she'd been summoned. So, he explained the card and its conditions.

"So you need a card that you may or may not get, and you can only summon girls who are in love with you... Sounds like an excuse to build a harem" Koneko said, narrowing her eyes.

Kaito coughed twice, a bit embarrassed.

"Not necessarily... The system said it's possible to save their worlds, so there must be a way to rescue them completely, not just bring a few people over..."

"Still, I'd rather be safe" she said frankly.

"So... you want me to seduce your friends?"

"I'd prefer the other method. But I won't get mad if you do. You are a guy, after all."

Before he could respond, the ground shook. Behind them, a massive mansion appeared out of nowhere.

New information popped up in front of him:

[Lord's Mansion

Owner: Lucifer

Level: 1

Defense Shield: 100,000 / 100,000]

"So this is my mansion... Let's go" Kaito said, guiding Koneko without letting her reply.

The interior was luxurious. Fully furnished bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, showers, bathrooms—everything one might need... plus an absurdly large and intimidating throne room.

The exterior was surrounded by a wall with a metal gate. Though simple for now, it had trees and plenty of open space.

On the second floor, Kaito flopped onto the bed in his room.

The verdict was clear:

"Extremely comfortable."

He was about to fall asleep when he remembered he wasn't alone.

"Alright. Since you've decided to stay in my territory, I'll show you to your room."

With Koneko following, he walked across the hallway to the room across from his. Though smaller than his own, it was still massive and fully ready for use.

Koneko jumped onto the bed without hesitation.

"I like it" she mumbled into the mattress.

Kaito continued checking the house for a few more minutes, until the time limit was up. He said goodbye to Koneko, and in an instant, reappeared in his bedroom on Earth.

For the first time in weeks, Kaito truly felt at home.

And he simply... slept until the next day.

______________________________________

+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.

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(just delete the hyphen)

80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)