" ... Is that a bug or something.. ? "
After keeping himself silent, where he would rub at the pink heart on the bottom of the metallic card he held, wondering if someone was playing a prank on him, a question left his mouth as he stared at the three letters written on top of it, those spelling ' MAX '.
It was something that would happen only after capping the affinity points after reaching the max level of affinity from a character, but in such a scenario, without talking about giving enough gifts for her to reach the level 50, he didn't even have her reach the first level nor did he have a date with her yet !
So, how come it was already set at the max ?
Was it some sort of gift because it was his first card in such a new world ? Was the black card he held before special in some way ?
In the first place, it was already strange to not start with a white card like in the game, and while he could understand why there weren't any tutorial that would help him receive some items, with some to give them as gifts and unlock the first sex scene, that was just it.
" ... Well, who cares, I should just enjoy it. "
But with such bizarre matters put asides, since there wasn't any problems to himself but a growing curiosity, he decided to ignore it for now and to search for a cause later.
And making his inventory window disappear with a simple thought, while he wished that he could also call it that way, since he couldn't, he just had to accept it how it was, however, with that done, he could finally do something else, something far more important than just wondering about the unknown.
" Cards. "
By calling upon the book where he would store his cards and future partners, he was almost surprised when he saw a floating white book that opened itself magically, one that stood before him, showing 12 empty sleeves for the first page and the one next to it.
Yet, even if he was surprised, it was just slightly, especially with after everything that he experienced so far, making it obvious that he was grewing numb to it now.
But placing the card in his hand inside the first slot, he then received a pop-up message, like the one that would appear in the game.
[ Do you wish to claim the rewards ? ]
Being offered two choices below such an easy to answer question, yes and no, he obviously knew what this was about.
It wasn't the daily quests or anything of the sort, though he would have to check them later eventually, but it was just the rewards from his affinity being maxed up with his card, where once again, each level would give him a different reward, and the higher the level, the better the things he would get from it.
So what about the gains he would obtain from receiving the rewards of the affinity level being raised to 50 in one go ?
The answer was something he already knew, yet couldn't help but expect, and by tapping on the yes option with his finger, he received another notification, telling him that the rewards were moved to his inventory.
" Let's see... Inventory. "
The items the player would receive by leveling the affinity of a character in such a game were either gears for the character itself, shards of cards waiting to be fused, miscelanneous items, or inscriptions for the character itself.
Of course, this wasn't taking into account the money he could receive from it, be it the casual one or the premium one.
As for how many inscriptions one would get by raising the affinity of a character to the max, the answer wasn't difficult to know, but rather, it was difficult to do.
If one wasn't ready to spend even a dollar on the game, playing it as a free to play, they would get stuck at the affinity level 15 for 2 stars characters and above, with only one inscription to get, and even for a 1 star character with a maximum of 10 affinity levels, they could barely get it, which was already good enough for a free option.
But by gaining one inscription every 10 affinity levels, and with each level being much harder to reach as the quantity of affinity points needed would improve drastically, few ever reached even one 5 stars character at max affinity, where only those willing to spend could fulfill that kind of criterias.
Naturally, the reason for why those free to play players couldn't get above the level 15 wasn't because there wasn't enough resources, especially when you could just farm for them, but rather because each characters would ask a ' Proof of love ' , or a wedding ring, but that item would cost 2.99USD in the store, so not many wanted to do that for every character, especially with an ever changing meta.
However, in those rewards, besides for the five inscriptions, there were also the three gears a character could be equiped with.
Those gears obtainable with each characters at the affinity level of 15, 30 and 45, could only be accessed by 2 stars, 3 stars and 5 stars accordingly, putting a bigger difference on how much of a difference there was between each character rarity, but also how those affinity levels were importants, although most of those could be farmed as shards too.
" ... Now it definitly feels like I've somewhat got some things back. "
Nodding to himseld, with now five fresh inscriptions in his inventory, three complete gears, a bunch of shards and a few various items, it was obvious what needed to be done.
Retrieving the gears out of the inventory first, which he had to call once more since he closed it earlier, he was then surprised to see them coming out as cards too, not that it truly mattered, but just that he somewhat expected to see the full equipment with his eyes and not cards with pictures and names, with even a single description attached to them on the back of these metallic cards.
And contrary to the three gears, showing clear images of what they were for, when he took out the five inscriptions, those weren't metallic cards with a greyish edge, nor did they shared a single greyed out image of his character like it did in the game.
Instead, those five cards were completely rainbow and semi-transparent, as if made of glass, with white lines cleanly intersecting each other like it was broken, those lines being cleanly engraved inside of it.
But when being met with another strange thing that changed from the game, he didn't put much thoughts into it and just called for another menu window.
" Awakening. "
With his inventory, a floating book containing a card, eight cards in hands and now a small window with two empty slots in front of him that were clearly made for cards, he didn't close or put away anything else this time as he switched freely between them.
First taking back the metallic card from the book, he put it on the first slot of the awakening option without further hesitation, only to then put one of those transparent cristal cards on the spot next to it.
And rapidly, as if to prove its magic, a dazzling light came out of the two cards, forcing him to close his eyes once more.
" ..... I swear this fucker want me blind... "
Wishing to take his frustration on the bastard who sent him here, or just the one who put such a flashy option in his system, he could only swear as he opened his eyes again.
Looking at the sole remaining card out of the two, on the front side, right next to the name, Mariane, was now a small silver star, standing lonely, as if asking for a few partners.
But such a sweet request to his ears that he dreamed about enough to hear it, he couldn't say no to it, and in fact, he never said no even before coming in this world.
By repeating what he had done four more times, the four silver stars then merged into one big golden star with the addition of a fifth inscritpion, this one standing proudly next to the name of the woman he got out of luck.
However, he wasn't done yet, and grabbing the unique card he had at the time, he put away the awakening window with a single thought before he brought out the ' Equipment ' one.
This time, it was just a sole slot standing in front of him, but when he put his card in it, three new slot, empty, appeared below it.
" One, two and three... "
Putting the gear cards in their respective slots, it was pretty intuitive at least, and he didn't get flashbanged this time.
" ... Finally done, but now, should I see how an eroge character would look in reality ? "
Although the game was of unbelievable quality, to the point where it had the tag ' realistic ' attached to it on many platforms, he had a few thoughts about the differences between standing behind a screen and seeing it for himself, and the changes between the two certainly was one.
But keeping this thought for himself, he made every window around him disappear in a blink, keeping only the floating book in front of him and the rainbow rarity card in his hand, that he then threw and called.
" Come, Mariane. "
The incantation truly being as simple as that, the way to call it back to a card form was also ' Return, name ' , and now that he thought about it, it definitly seemed way too simple for such a grand process, but he couldn't say anything to it as again, he wasn't the one who designed everything.
And while his mind got occupied with something as silly as that, the only reason he couldn't see the result of his actions was for the same reason as the times before, where he actually had a flashbang inside the room.
However, thinking about doing it outside the next time, since the interior was just too small and would reflect the light too easily, as soon as this one faded away, he finally opened his eyes, a figure standing now in front of himself.
" Greetings, master Arthurion. "
With a light but respectful bow, what welcomed him was a soft and gentle voice coming from a lowered head.
Straight and soft silver hair covering it, with two wolf ears covered in fur, the base of the ears was of the same color as her hair, taking a clear darker gradiant as it went to the tips.
Her hair wasn't particularly short, but it wasn't too long either, and with the white and black headband of a maid standing just in front of her ears, it was almost as if the person herself wasn't coming from a game, but was always real, though just into cosplaying.
" ... You can lift your head. "
" Yes, master Arthurion. "
But giving her the permission to face him properly once he stood out of his stupor, he then watched as she, slowly, as if to avoid any sudden movements, raised her head, exposing her charming face to his eyes.