Glorious Vanity (SI LitRPG)

[Your valiant efforts to return Freyr's intimacy in kind has been acknowledged. Vitality +10]
[Your fierce attack and ability to render Freyr defenseless by staking your life on the line has been acknowledged. Strength +10]
[Your stupidity in trying to keep up with a goddess as a mortal has been acknowledged. Intelligence -10]
[Your insight in reading Freyr's mood and reaction to find her sensitivity and elicit bliss has been acknowledged. Intelligence +10 (+30 from Well-Read)]

[The Artificial Valkyrie Goddess, Freyr Valhalla, has given you her love and devotion.]
[The Artificial Valkyrie Goddess, Freyr Valhalla, has entrusted you with her very being.]

[Divine Anathema activates and embraces the core of Freyr's being.]

[You have decided.]
[It is an ending that was written from the moment you reached out your hand to save her.]
[You will ensure her happiness.]
[You will ensure her dreams come to fruition.]
[You will destroy all enemies that come before you if it is for her sake.]
[Faced with the pure love and devotion, you will fight even if it means throwing your life away.]
[...These are the words stored in the depths of your heart.]
[From this point onwards, Freyr is yours. And you are hers.]

[A Different Path severs all external influences from Freyr.]
[No One's Story veils Freyr in its protection.]
[Hero Maker rewrites Freyr's status in accordance to your will.]

[Recreation of the Archetypal Myth <Goddess and her Mortal Beloved> enhances your status.]

[You have gained the trait <Goddess's Beloved>]

[A Goddess of Dawn sighs with reminiscence and guilt. She prays you do not regret your decision.]

-V-

[...Hey.]

[You bastard. Are you still sleeping?]

[Tch. You're still unconscious, aren't you?]

[Pervert. Asshole. Do you know what poor Avalon had to go through?]

[...Argh, why am I even trying? Whatever. I'll yell at you later.]

[You crazy bastard though. I didn't think you'd actually go all the way with her...]

[...And now you're dead tired. Though that's what you get for trying to keep up with her. Honestly...]

[Hah. I'm going to stay with Avalon for a while to comfort her. When you see these messages, come get us. We'll be in the corner of the room far away from you perverts.]

-V-

I had a dream. The first that I had since I arrived here.

It wasn't that weird of a dream. But the weird part was that I knew I was dreaming.

I was at my desk. Just a usual routine day. After finishing my classes, I sat down to do some writing. But flipping through my old drafts, I found a story.

I couldn't remember it. Did I write it, or was it something I saved a long time ago?

A story with a bunch of random cliched elements tossed together into a blender. Some story about trying to rise to the top of a tower connected to multiple realms. One that could grant wishes if you ascended to the very top, or one where you could fulfill your desires by exploring the myriad connected realms.

And a malevolent will trying to end it all.

...Odd.

Scrolling through the story, it was clear that the writer wasn't very good. In fact, it was a super edgy story where every major character suffered a tragic end. All sorts of 'H' events, NTRs, deaths... Like someone had got fed up with a happy go lucky story and decided to just ruin everything.

It was stupid. What kind of person would read this? Characters with bright dreams that got cut down before achieving them or were broken by countless tragedies. A struggle in futility with a bad ending.

What an idiot. Isn't the point of a story to make people feel good? To have the characters you wrote work hard and reach the happy ending?

All of them were great. I remembered thinking that all of the characters I read deserved to have a happy ending. And that hamfisted bad end was too much.

'So why not change it then?'

...That was what I remembered thinking.

If I was the writer. If I was the author of this story.

Someone like *her* should have been saved. She should never have been violated and corrupted like that.

Someone like *him* should have lived to the end. The way he was taken out mid-story by some random mook who was jealous of him was ham-fisted and pointless.

And there were other characters too. As if the author started writing them and got tired, or decided that they were too strong and just wrote them out by killing them off.

Seriously. If you're going to write characters that are this in-depth and likable, then take some responsibility. Don't be an asshole and write them out just because.

And what was with this haphazard plot? Are you sick? Do you need help? What do you mean humans lose to the gods? Don't you have any idea how awesome we actually are?

Sheesh.

Let's see. If this was my story... No. I might as well make it my story. If that was the case, then-

-V-

My eyes snapped open. When they did, I was met with a flurry of system messages. I also heard the sound of running water nearby- No, the low bubbling of a hot tub.

With that, I remembered what I did. Or rather, what Freyr and I did.

"...Well," I muttered. "Guess I'm committed now."

I'd be a bastard if I left things as a one night stand. Especially after Freyr... Well, especially after what she did and was willing to do.

...Though I guess I *was* a bastard anyway for not remembering to properly keep Avalon away from all of that. And also one that was due a long lecture from Alice...

For now though...

I sat up and took a look around.

Freyr had gotten up to take a bath. Understandable, considering how, er... *sticky* we got after all of that. But it seemed like she was still exhausted since she had fallen asleep in the hot tub.

I felt a bit proud at that fact. And then a sharp pang in my pelvis, legs, arms, back, and ribs reminded me to not get cocky.

"Urgh... <First Aid> doesn't heal this kind of stuff, huh?"

Was this what it felt like to have a steamy night with a succubus? Freyr hadn't been like that at first, but when she got into it...

I glanced over at the hot tub.

Freyr was still fast asleep... and hopefully as exhausted as I felt.

Hopefully.

Though she was a goddess with insane stats...

Should I be glad that I didn't just die? Probably.

But now there was a problem.

I managed to sit up, but my lower half wasn't responding. From my torso down.

My abs were also killing me-

Wait, abs?

I blinked and looked down.

Because of that loveydovey time with Freyr, I was unclothed. And because of that, I could see my body.

...It was in pretty rough shape. There were a lot of bruises and some red lines where Freyr scratched me.

...Though I didn't remember how a few of those got on-

Never mind.

Setting that stuff aside, I was suddenly in really good shape. Chiseled abs, clearly defined muscles... even *that* seemed to be a bit bigger than normal.

...Huh. Sex really did seem to be great exercise.

Now, if only my body didn't feel like it had been chucked through a blender.

I sighed. "Well... let's see if there's something that can help on that merit point shop. ...How do you access those a- Oh. There we go."

A browser window popped up in front of me with two tabs.

The first was like a simple RPG store front. A bunch of tabs, generic items listed with generic descriptions. ...And insanely overpriced.

A healing potion for 1000 merit points? A strength elixir for 1,000,000? And that thing only gave you one point!

I thought Lucifer's sin was pride, not greed... Sheesh.

Seeing that I definitely couldn't afford anything since I had only earned 100 merit points... and that even the cheapest thing in the shop, a medicinal herb, was priced at 100, I decided to take a look at the auction house.

And then I had to do a double-take.

"...Isn't this just Amazon?"

The search bar at the top. The list of items and categories. Seller names, ratings, reviews...

The only thing different was that it listed my merit points on the top right, along with a [Sell] button.

Clicking on that simplified the window to just a set of three boxes, a description blurb, and an empty price field.

"Hm..."

My body still hurt, but seeing that got me thinking. My gamer instincts were rearing up.

In this type of place, the most common sort of item would be potions, rations, etc. But they'd all be fantasy themed.

At the same time, there were a good number of people from various Earths who would definitely be feeling homesick.

And since I had <World Creator (Minor)>...

"Let's try it."

I held out my hand and imagined a two liter of soda. Dk Pep, a knock-off of that drink for intellectuals.

It materialized in my hand. And when it did, I held it up to one of the empty boxes.

A fancy light display happened and then the bottle of soda sank into the screen.

Good. That was simple and intuitive.

Then for the description... [A fizzy beverage from Earth. Nothing special, but good for unwinding.]

Technically, it wasn't from 'my' Earth. But it was also from 'an' Earth. Technically.

No false advertising here.

So the price... 5 points should be good.

Now to set up my sell name real quick... <HVG> should be fine. And... Huh? Sold already?

I blinked at the flashing 'sold' icon on the screen. A few seconds later, I got a notification saying I received a review. And when I clicked on that...

[10/10! It's the real deal! You don't have ANY idea how much I've missed pop! And it's so cheap! I just wish there was more to buy...]

"Oho? In that case..."

Where there's demand, there's a market. And since there should be a bulk sell button... Ah, there it is.

Now to toss in some more pop, maybe some chocolate bars, sugary sweets... Ooh, I think I can make ice cream, right? ...Yep.

Let's see... And since I'm doing this, let's change my seller name to <Wonky Willa>... Now to make a pile of things at once so I don't have to do it one by one...

"Mm...? Did I fall asleep?" Freyr's voice.

I paused in the middle of shoving a box of ice cream into my auction page and looked over.

Freyr yawned and then looked at me. At first, she blushed and quickly covered her bare chest. But then she noticed the pile of sweets behind me... including a small pyramid of chocolate bars. "...Vain? What are you doing?"

"Clearing the tutorial for us. Now, could you help me sell some of this stuff? Here, I'll show you how to do it."

"Y-Yes...?"

"Ah, and if you're curious, feel free to try some. I think this white stuff will be sweeter than what you had earlier."

Freyr turned a deep red.

I blinked and then groaned. "This damned passive skill..."

Hah...

-V-

[Status Screen]

-Biography-

Name: Vain Glory

Age: 20 (Adjusted)

Race: Human (Heaven Defying)

Class: Shameless Flirt

Current Condition: Healthy

-Racial Traits-

Divine Anathema - Those not only forsaken by their gods, but those who have killed their gods and constructed their own. Drastically reduces effectiveness of Divine Attacks. Minor probability of obtaining partial Divine Authority through analysis and perception. Greatly increased hostility by Divine Beings.

-Traits-

Man of a Thousand Faces (Can filter emotions and experience through personas)

Well-Read (Increased intelligence growth)

Self-Determined (Luck is treated as 100 for calculations)

Goddess's Beloved (You share a small portion of your Goddess's status)

-Titles-

World Creator (Minor) - Allows construction of non-magical items through one's will

Hero Creator - Removes growth limitations on user and their allies. Rapidly accelerates growth of allies.

-Parameters-

Level: 8

Strength: 34 (+32)

Agility: 41 (+32)

Vitality: 21 (+32)

Intelligence: 137 (+32)

Mana: 70 (+32)

Luck: 15 [100] (+32)

Bonus Stat Points: -37

-Skills-

No One's Story - A gambit that defies the gods through sacrificing one's identity and very memory. All attempts to scry your status are denied. Removes skill requirements. Memory and visualization abilities are enhanced.

A Different Path - Direct interference with a hero's fate, granting him a new path and divergent futures. Allows reproduction of 'conceptual weapons' provided the requisite materials. Allows reproduction of 'sword skills' provided the requisite understanding.

Lesser Flames of Muspell - The flames that will harken the end in Ragnarok. A world-consuming fire that will burn even the divine. You are immune to all but absolute temperature changes. Even then, you can function normally in absolute temperature ranges. You can summon (Mana/10) square meters of flames. You can dominate all flames.

First Aid - A basic healing spell that stops bleeding and accelerates the body's natural regeneration.

Disengage - A skill that allows the user to immediately retreat from battle as well as return the user's condition to the state prior to engaging in combat. Can be used once per engagement per hostile opponent.

Loki's Blessing (Minor) - A blessing from the Trickster God, Loki. Can change and conceal one's appearance. Due to synergy with No One's Story, it is a flawless disguise, capable of fooling even Loki without intense scrutiny.

Item Box (Minor) - A skill that grants the user a small spatial pocket to store items. Time is slowed within the spatial pocket to 1/10th of the normal flow. Can hold approximately 1 cubic meter of items.

First Night: Slash (Fake) - An ability that embodies the concept of severing through striking at the inherent weaknesses within an existing object. Inflicts Strength as true damage.

-Class Skills-

Silver Tongue - A skill that aids in persuasion and manipulating the emotions of the target. Super effective against members of the opposite sex, or those interested in the user. Chance to instantly charm the opponent. (Extreme Synergy with <Well-Read> and <Man of a Thousand Faces>)

Rapport - A skill that builds rapport with the target. Passively increases general likability. Similar to <Charisma>, but the core of this skill is trust and empathy rather than admiration. With enough mastery, it is possible to create allies willing to throw their lives away for your sake. (Extreme Synergy with <Hero Creator> and <Well-Read>)

-Inventory-

N/A