The Harem Games

[Main Quest Updated!]
[MAIN QUEST: Lose your virginity!]

"…"

[…]

"Are you messing with me?! That's the test for the first floor?!"

[From the second floor onward, concubines are experienced women. A virgin will never truly learn how to satisfy a partner.]

"But how can that be the test for the first floor?! Does that mean the first floor has only virgins, or something? If… I… If I do that with someone right away, can I move up to the second floor?!"

[That's only a system quest. It's necessary to reach the second floor and for the user's growth, but it isn't the first-floor test itself.]

"Then what's the test?!"

[The user must gather five stars. Only the most outstanding concubines on the first floor may advance to the second.]

"Stars?"

[The user may think of the stars as medals. Once the user has all five, the user may be evaluated to see whether the user meets the requirements to advance to the second floor.]

"… And for that I have to lose my virginity?"

[For now, the user does not need to worry about that. If the user filled out the form as a virgin, the user is expected to remain so until the evaluation.]

"Until the evaluation?... I don't know if I like how that sounds…"

[Right now, the user should look on the bright side.]

"… And what could the bright side possibly be?"

[Now the user can sleep in, since the system already gave the user the morning explanation!]

"…"

***

After the explanation in one of the palace halls, basically the same one the ERO System had already given about gathering stars, Hiromi, Ele, and Ruby stayed behind to analyze their situation.

"Agh… my butt still hurts…" the former adventurer blurted out all of a sudden.

"What happened? Were you sitting in your room for too long?" Hiromi asked.

"I don't want to talk about that… More importantly, we need to do something to get those stars, or whatever they are."

"According to the explanation, there are different rooms where you can get them, either by passing trials or by winning contests," Hiromi said.

Ele, who naturally had become part of the group as if she had always been there, suddenly turned around and started walking away.

"Ele? What's wrong?" Hiromi asked, following her with her eyes.

"Contest… hungry…"

Ele's answer was vague, but it made it clear the petite girl had remembered something.

"Now that I think about it, when I was exploring the palace yesterday, I also found a room where one of those contests might be held," Ruby said, crossing her arms thoughtfully. "Hiromi, what are you going to do?"

"I'm worried about Ele… who knows what she might do if we leave her alone."

"True, there's no telling what that girl is thinking… I'll tell you where the room I found yesterday was. I'll wait there, and once you have Ele under control, come meet me."

"I don't think having her under control is even possible," Hiromi said with a smile. "But alright, we'll make sure she doesn't get into trouble, then we'll meet up with you again."

After a brief explanation from Ruby, the two said goodbye, and Hiromi ran off in the direction Ele had disappeared.

***

When Hiromi finally found her, Ele already had a plate of food in front of her, a gigantic plate, to be specific.

"What's going on in this place?"

The room, the only one with an open door in that palace corridor, was packed with people seated at long tables, all of them devouring food as if their lives depended on it.

"We already have our eleven finalists!" a young woman suddenly exclaimed. She was dressed like a concubine as well, and she seemed to be the host.

"The first eleven contestants to finish their plates are as follows!"

"Nrogara!"
"Rimorob!"
"Fladnag!"
"Odorf!"
"Bushama!"
"Salogel!"
"Ilmig!"
"Mas!"
"Nippip!"
"Yrrem!"
"And, incredibly, the unbelievably slender Eleonore! One of our new companions in Alasta's Harem! Where does all that food even fit?!"

"Why eleven and not ten?…" Hiromi wondered to herself, tilting her head as she looked at the mix of humans, elves, dwarves, and even smaller beings that made up the participant group.

"Now then, almost all of you are our precious membership guests," the host continued. "Eleonore is the only representative from our harem who made it to the final… so if she wins, she'll receive a star!"

Hiromi watched the spectacle unfolding in front of her with disbelief. She was sure it hadn't been long since she lost sight of Ele, and the girl was already one step away from earning her first star.

"What does an eating contest even have to do with being evaluated as a concubine…? Ah! Isn't that the vegetable vendor?!"

Hiromi covered her face with both hands, turning red as she remembered her interaction with him. "Right… he said he had a membership for this place…"

The eleven contestants sat at the central table, with the gigantic Bushama in the middle. Next to him, Ele looked like a tiny doll. Even so, the plates placed in front of them were just as heaped for everyone.

"Alright! On the count of three!" the host exclaimed. "Three… Two… One… Begin!"

Everyone lunged at their plates, each one piled with a different variety of food, opening their mouths as wide as possible and shoveling in the maximum amount they could.

Ele, on the other hand, worked with her fork and brought small bites to her mouth in an extremely delicate manner.

But to everyone's astonishment, the speed at which she did it was absurdly fast.

"Incredible! Incredible, I tell you!" the host shouted. "Ladies and gentlemen, contestant Eleonore has finished her plate at record speed! And not only that, she's passive-aggressively demanding more food with her fork held high!"

Unlike the first round, where whoever finished first advanced, the final was decided by how much food had been consumed once time ran out.

They hurried to bring Ele another plate, which didn't take long to vanish either. Again and again, the little doll raised her fork, demanding another plate, and each one disappeared under her relentless attacks.

"Ladies and gentlemen, something astonishing has happened! The competition has to end early!"

No one looked surprised. Everyone was staring at the mountain of plates stacked in front of the delicate blonde girl with long hair.

"The food is gone! There's nothing left that can be served!" the host continued. "Of course, all participants did a wonderful job… but you don't even need to count the plates to know the winner is contestant Eleonore! Congratulations on winning this star… Contestant Eleonore?… No, even with the fork held up… there is no… more food…"

Hiromi was completely stunned by Ele's ability to eat, and she hadn't noticed Bushama walking right past her as he headed out.

"Ah," he said when he recognized her among the spectators.

"Ah…"

"The pervert…"

"I'm not a pervert! I had my reasons!"

"I don't have any cucumbers or bananas with me this time…"

"I don't care! And don't you have, like, five wives? Why are you in the harem?!"

"I only came to deliver the vegetables for the competition, but they asked me to stay and participate."

"So it wasn't to use your membership, then?"

"Like you said, my five wives keep me quite satisfied," Bushama said, patting his swollen belly, "in every sense."

"I see…"

"However…" Bushama resumed walking, but not before glancing sideways at Ele, who was now standing in front of the host with her fork held high. "It might be a good idea to use that membership after all… eating out once in a while isn't so bad."

Hiromi saw a faint smile form on his chubby face before he disappeared through the doorway. She didn't understand what he meant by that, but a chill ran down her spine nonetheless.

"Better go get Ele before she makes an even bigger scene…"

***

Hiromi walked through the palace corridors, dragging Ele along. Ele now wore a star-shaped brooch on her harem dress.

The girl's face was as expressionless as ever, but Hiromi could feel a deep dissatisfaction radiating from her.

"Seriously, you don't think that was enough? Do you have a black hole in your stomach…? Ah, this is where Ruby said she'd be."

After wandering the palace corridors for quite a while, they finally reached the room Ruby had found the day before.

"An arm-wrestling competition? Again, nothing that has anything to do with being a concubine…" Hiromi sighed, defeated by the absurdity of it all. "Still, I guess it's entertainment for the palace guests…"

Hiromi and Ele entered the room only to find the competition was about to end. In the middle stood a single table, occupied by none other than Ruby and Dedrick.

"Looks like I'm still in shape," Ruby said with a forced smile, her hand locked with Dedrick's.

"Already patting yourself on the back? That confidence is what made you fail," Dedrick replied with a calm smile. "You were the only former adventurer among this bunch of old, wealthy guests. If you hadn't made it to the final, you would've needed a doctor to check if something was wrong."

Ruby snorted without saying a word, but a small vein bulged on her forehead.

"Alright, I only came to see how you were adjusting to the palace. Now that I've said hello, it's time for me to leave."

With hardly any effort, the bald, muscular adventurer drove Ruby's arm nearly to the table. She was a millimeter away from losing, but then he flashed a mocking grimace.

Dedrick stopped pushing, letting Ruby recover and force his arm to the other side, winning the final.

"We have our winner! Ruby, one of our newest harem members! Congratulations! On top of the prize in darios, you also win a star!"

"Why… did you do that…?" Ruby asked, trying to catch her breath.

"I heard that if you gather five stars, something interesting will happen," the adventurer replied, whispering in her ear. "Consider it a little help to make sure it does."

Without saying anything else, Dedrick started walking away, and like Bushama, he spotted Hiromi among the spectators. Only, instead of saying a word, he slapped her on her nearly exposed butt.

"Kyaaa! Hey!"

"I also hope you get your five stars. Otherwise, it'd be boring," Dedrick said, turning his back and waving in farewell.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Ele said as she ate from a plate she'd stolen from the snack tables.

"I clearly didn't do anything! Why are you looking at me like I'm to blame?!" Hiromi snapped at the blonde.

"You have perverted glutes."

…

…

"What does that even mean?! They're completely normal, and a lot smaller and rounder than Ruby's!"

"That sounded like an insult and a compliment at the same time…"

Ruby walked over to them. She was also wearing a star-shaped brooch on her clothes.

"So unfair…" Hiromi muttered, resting a finger against her lips as she eyed their stars with envy. "I don't have as much strength as Ruby, and I definitely can't eat as much as Ele… What could I do to win a star?"

"While I was competing, I heard some men talking about a beauty contest in a beach room." A smirk formed on the redhead's lips. "Maybe there you can show off those rounded glutes."

"Don't bother me!… But you're right, it wouldn't be a bad idea…"

"Sometimes I think you're quite enthusiastic about all this erotic stuff," Ruby said with a laugh. "As for me, I'm going to take a break from that kind of thing for a while."

"I'm doing it because I have to, not because I want to! Wait… a beach room? What do you mean by that?"