Chapter 6: System Calibration: Older Female Affinity Increased

The first thing I feel after passing out from divine trauma isn't enlightenment.

It isn't power either.

It's an annoying itch.

Like someone sprinkled salt in my blood, and now the veins are ticklish.

I crack open one eye, hoping I died peacefully and was reborn as a well-adjusted vending machine in a peaceful corner of the capital.

No such luck.

Instead, I’m sprawled on the floor of the temple like a broken umbrella after monsoon season, with my ribs aching and my dignity somewhere between the cracks.

[System Calibration Complete.]

A line of glowing red text floats in the air, just slightly above my comfort zone. Great. Floating UI. Just like those dumb games everyone played back at the guild, except now I’m the joke character.

[Congratulations, Kira.] [Your Primary Affinity has been detected: OLDER FEMALES 30+] [Passive Abilities Unlocked:

— Taming Aura LV1

— Divine Presence (Females 30+) LV1

— MILF Taming System: ONLINE]

...

I blink.

Then blink again.

"Excuse me?" My voice comes out dry, hoarse. Probably because I haven't had water since I got thrown out like expired bread.

The system doesn't respond to verbal outrage. Shocking. Not even a sorry-you-were-abandoned voiceover. What kind of trash-tier cheat system is this?

I sit up slowly, back cracking like I’m 70 and not 17. The temple's ceiling stares back down at me—painted serpents coiled in golden rings, and statues of women whose chests defy gravity and architecture.

Figures.

A faint giggle echoes from the darkness. Athenra?

I can’t see her, but I feel her watching.

“Oh-ho~ Seems the boy awakens,” her voice curls around me like perfume and judgment. “How does it feel, legacy of my daughter?”

I cough. “Like I swallowed a burning fork and slept on a stone slab.”

“Good. That means it worked.”

Worked? Lady, I got an embarrassing system that wants me to seduce women twice my age.

[Affirmative.]

[Your virginity level has been deemed “EXTREME.” Rewarding compensation bonus +5 Affinity to single mothers.]

My eye twitches. “Why does the system know that?!”

[Because we know everything, virgin-kun ♥]

I almost throw up. Not from blood loss. From cringe.

Seriously, how did this become my life?

Once upon a time, I was just Kira. The extra bag-holder in the Hero Party. The guy who was “allowed” to tag along because the Heroine’s grandmother said I had potential.

A bootleg tamer with zero beast contracts.

No money. No friends.

And apparently, a hidden divine bloodline connected to a serpent goddess who now treats me like a rejected dating sim protagonist.

But no big deal, right? Totally normal.

I rub my temple as the system continues its cursed awakening ritual.

[Secondary Trait Unlocked:

— Locked Memory Core (Sealed)

— Requires: Emotional Resonance with 3+ Maternal Figures]

What in the twelve underworlds does that mean?

“Hey,” I speak toward the air, “Define 'maternal figures.' Like, actual mothers? Or anyone who uses ‘ara ara’ in conversation?”

[Yes.]

...What do you mean, yes?!

My brain short-circuits.

[Hint: Someone who once cared for you, or filled a nurturing role. Potential candidates detected: Misa’s Mother, Leela’s Aunt, Guild Clerk Elra, Former Priestess Shiona…]

“Wait. Elra?” I choke. “The guild receptionist who gave me lollipops as a kid?”

[Correct.]

[She secretly cried when the Hero Party abandoned you.]

…Okay, now I feel like trash. I didn’t even think of her once.

I was too busy resenting Rein, dodging Zoldack’s boots, and pretending Misa didn’t leave poison ivy in my boots during our last dungeon camp.

But now… The people I forgot might be the ones who matter?

I shake the thought away. I can’t afford introspection when the system’s basically saying: go seduce mother-figures to unlock ancient memories and power.

[Quest Initialized: “The First Bond”]

[Objective: Meet one former maternal figure. Trigger emotional resonance.]

Athenra appears then, descending from the temple’s shadowed throne like a coiled breeze. Her serpentine hair glides behind her, eyes glowing a soft violet.

“You seem troubled, child,” she purrs.

I scowl. “Troubled? No. Just casually digesting the fact that I’ve become a walking fetish trope with a snake goddess watching over my ‘affinity’ levels.”

Her laugh is musical. And smug. Definitely smug.

“There are worse fates,” she says, circling me. “My daughter’s blood runs through you. You are not the hero they wanted… but perhaps the heir the world needs.”

“That sounds like the trailer for a bad epic.”

“Power requires… connection,” she whispers. “The women who shaped you—the ones you forgot—will now become the source of your rise. Nurturing and domination are two sides of the same serpent.”

“...Is this temple funded by some kind of snake-themed dating cult?”

Her lips curve.

“You’ll understand, eventually. For now, rest. You will need strength. Your aura has changed. Those who scorned you will feel it.”

She vanishes before I can complain about how vague that was.

The system pings again.

[Auto-Sleep Mode Initiated. Buffs Applied: Serpent Core Regeneration, Aura Harmonization, Hormonal Adjustment.]

H-Hormonal what?!

Too late. Darkness wraps around me like a soft, warm coil.

Before sleep claims me, I hear one final whisper in my ear—gentle, and almost… motherly:

“You’re no longer weak, Kira. The world will desire what it threw away…”

---

I wake up to birds chirping.

Actual birds. Real ones. Not demonic vultures trying to peck my liver out for breakfast. That’s a win.

I sit up, shirt sticking to me. My skin feels different. Warmer. Tighter. Not in a “I went to the gym for six months” way, more like… something inside me isn’t entirely human anymore.

[Congratulations. You’ve awakened the Serpent Dragon Core.]

[You are now 25% Divine Construct. 75% Human Failure.]

Rude.

[New Passive Added:

— Seduction Scent: Triggers subtle attraction in women aged 28–45 (Scaling with charm stat).]

I sniff myself. I still smell like dirt, guilt, and moss. The system is clearly high.

I exit the temple, one careful foot at a time.

Outside, the world feels sharper. Colors more vivid. My serpent beast—the little guy I saved—is coiled beside the entrance, looking oddly smug.

“You happy now?” I mutter.

It hisses and bumps its head against my arm. Probably hungry. Or proud of me. Hard to tell with snakes.

I pet it anyway.

As we descend the ravine, I notice something.

A group of robed women approaching from the forest path. Hunters, maybe?

No.

Priestesses.

And one of them looks… familiar.

[Affinity target detected.]

[Shiona — Age: 34 — Status: Former Temple Guardian — Emotional Link: Suppressed.]

My breath catches.

Shiona.

She once held my hand when I scraped my knee in the orphanage yard. Taught me to wrap bandages properly. Defended me when other kids mocked my lack of beast affinity.

She… was kind.

Back when I was still human.

She hasn’t seen me yet.

But her steps slow.

Eyes narrowing.

Recognition dawning.

I brace myself.

This is going to be awkward.

Or worse… the beginning of everything.

---