[After the festival night, your relationship with Artoria deepens significantly.]
[Your mood sees a substantial increase.]
[Because of this special event, your relationship with Artoria advances to a new stage.]
[Since then, Artoria often seeks private time with you to engage in special "affection-boosting" events.]
[Due to the player's personality, the system assumes you always consent to these events. It will automatically extend the event's duration whenever you engage in other activities, pausing your work to continue the "affection boost."]
"Wh-what does this mean?" Gawain mutters, flustered. Now it's Gawain's turn to feel embarrassed. The system is essentially calling him a lewd scoundrel! Ridiculous! He's a gentleman—law-abiding since childhood, he abhors gambling, drugs, and vice! This simulator is defaming him!
Moreover, the system keeps announcing that he's in the middle of a "special event"—yet it refuses to show so much as an image or a cutscene. That's intolerable! The uncle in me refuses to put up with this. They showed videos for every previous event—so why not now? It's bullying the honest.
Gawain immediately changes every option related to this "special event" to the default "Refuse."
[Your mood decreases.]
[Artoria's mood decreases.]
"?" Gawain types a single question mark, bewildered. What is happening? His mood drops—and Artoria's drops as well? Unable to bear it, Gawain switches all settings back to the default "Agree."
[Your affection for Artoria increases, and your mood improves.]
[Artoria's affection for you increases, and her mood improves.]
[Because you have neglected your blacksmith duties, your earnings from the forge decrease.]
[Because you repeatedly interrupted "attribute growth events," your attribute gain rate slows down.]
[You gain the "Overindulgence" status. In this state, your attribute growth rate decreases by 10%. If this status continues to accumulate, its effect will intensify.]
Gawain presses his palms against his face in agony. This is worse than never having tried at all! It's not that he dislikes being close to Artoria—he just wants to see what this "special event" entails. Give me one image! Don't punish me by continuously lowering my stats! What kind of strange penalty is this?!
As if in response to Gawain's frustration, one more line of text pops up:
[We deeply apologize. This system is still in beta; relevant features are not yet implemented. Please be patient for future updates.]
Gawain reads those words and falls momentarily silent. Then he glances at the bottom corner of the screen and sees a small line of text:
Life Simulator: Fairy Britain 0.2 Beta Test Version
"Damn it!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Artoria is feeling something very similar—but for a completely different reason. While Gawain's flush of anger was born of righteous indignation, Artoria's embarrassment stings because… well, every time her character performs those "special events," the simulator would stream a series of odd, short videos—accompanied by indescribable sounds. After seeing them a few times, Artoria's mind threatens to overload.
Th-they really do those kinds of things…? It's so… so—
She covers her eyes in shock, yet dares to peek through her fingers.
"Whoa! Whoa! So that's what they call grown-up things?!"
She blushes bright red. Such forbidden knowledge is far too early for her innocent heart. Yet in the simulation—her simulated self—things are different:
[To further your bond with Gawain, you purchase high-proof wine in Gloucester.]
[After careful thought, you decide to use interesting recipes from those rare books to "spice up" the wine.]
Artoria's teeth clench as she peeks through her fingers. My simulated self is shameless!
[You retrieve the formal gown Gawain gifted you—its sentimental value has kept you from ever wearing it.]
[On festival morning, you apply a luxurious makeup set from Gloucester to enhance your beauty. After dressing carefully, you don the precious gown.]
[At the festival, you become the center of attention in your splendid attire.]
[Many faeries and humans try to ask you to join them, but you refuse each invitation.]
[Only, you cannot find Gawain in the crowd.]
[You learn that Gawain, having mixed up the festival date, worked late into the night at the forge.]
[When you finally see Gawain, he is disheveled and sweaty. Other women at the festival cast scornful glances at him.]
[You push through the crowd and stand at Gawain's side.]
[In that moment, Gawain becomes the center of attention.]
[You feel a rush of joy.]
[You take his hand and invite him to spend the festival night with you.]
[You notice Gawain holds a pair of rings in his hand.]
[Only then do you realize those rings were Gawain's handcrafted gift meant for you—he simply remembered the wrong festival date.]
[Your heart pounds with emotion.]
[Soon, you accompany Gawain home and unveil the special wine you prepared earlier.]
"W-what is happening?!" Artoria's brain feels seconds away from meltdown.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
[You both become thoroughly drunk, and your love deepens.]
[After that night, you both grow and mature together.]
"Wait—hold on!" Gawain exclaims from his side. "I don't need any more gauge—give me more content!"
Artoria can hardly process it all. She finally sits up, determination in her eyes: I must watch one more time. She submits a new request for a "deeper—"
"Th-this is too shameless—look at that position!"
[You request another "affection-boosting" session with Gawain.]
A moment later, she sees the familiar response:
[Your request is refused by Gawain.]
"Ahaha… he did refuse, then." Artoria scrambles to cover her face in embarrassment. Indeed, that was far too strange—and far too frequent. Clearly, she had overstepped.
She berates herself silently: Artoria, you've never known about such things before—curiosity got the better of you. Those videos were always so short—just ten seconds or so—so you had to request several times if you wanted more. And I'm such a curious person…
By the time she regains her senses, Artoria realizes she's spent every single action point on that one pursuit. She slaps her own cheeks, hissing self-reproach: Even though I'm no longer the Child of Prophecy, I must still work for a happy future with Gawain. I can't spend every moment indulging my curiosity in these bizarre events.
But then again—why did Gawain refuse? In the videos, he seemed happy… Was it because she'd pressed him so frequently that he grew annoyed? Or was there something else in her daily behavior that lowered his affection?
Could it be… Gawain has come to like someone else, and now he seems to disdain me? She hastily shakes her head, trying to banish that thought. No—no way. I will never let that happen. Not even in ten years. Or a hundred years…
Still, the mere thought of Gawain in someone else's arms sends a pang through her chest.
[Due to excessive anxiety, your mood decreases.]
[Because of the unique cause of the mood drop, the skill "Rapid Recovery" cannot activate.]
At that moment, Artoria recalls that each time she participated in those*… activities,* Gawain's affection for her would rise.
[You request another "affection-boosting" session with Gawain.]
[Gawain agrees.]
Almost as soon as she hears his familiar reply, Artoria's cheeks flush—but a weight lifts from her heart. So it was only an occasional refusal… That makes sense. Gawain has his work to do, and can't always pause anytime she requests it.
Still—just to be absolutely sure—she sends another request.
[You request another "affection-boosting" session with Gawain.]
[Gawain agrees.]
"Okay… good," she breathes, feeling her blush recede. She's beginning to get used to it.
Curiously, she tries once more—after all, a test run wouldn't be complete without a couple extra times.
[You request another "affection-boosting" session with Gawain.]
[Gawain agrees.]
"Hm?" Artoria studies the screen more closely and notices something strange.
Why, this time, did Gawain address her as "Your Majesty"? And why did he ask her to call him "Rebel Servant"? That's… odd.
Just… one more glance.
"Totally doomed." Gawain slumps, staring at the debuff icon in his status bar. "He who indulges too much": Because you have recklessly gratified your desires, all your attributes suffer severe debuffs.
[All your attributes drop by one tier.]
[Your health decreases.]
[In this state, your attribute growth rate falls by 90%. If the status stacks to "Boundless Debauchery," your attributes will begin declining.]
[Upon reaching "Boundless Debauchery," you have a 1% chance of dying outright. As the status continues to stack, that chance steadily increases.]
Staring at these words, Gawain's face contorts in anguish.
[Your Overindulgence status bar: 90%.]
[Upon reaching 100%, "Overindulgence" upgrades to "Boundless Debauchery."]
"This is… excruciating," Gawain groans. With this massive debuff, how can I continue playing? I might as well resign myself to fate.
But outright refusing those… sessions isn't an option, either. If he does, Artoria's mood plummets—and "Rapid Recovery" can't restore it. He remembers the disastrous "bad end" from his first playthrough, and fears losing her forever.
What to do? He can't abandon everything.
Resigned, Gawain activates "Auto-Pilot" and flops back, determined to do nothing but let the simulation proceed.
"Why did it come to this? Why, indeed…" he mutters. First time I successfully "captured" Artoria. First time we reached this stage. It should have been blissful… but why did it have to go so wrong?
As I learned long ago, women only affect one's speed of drawing the sword. From now on, best to never even begin such things.
Just as Gawain lapses into this cynical train of thought, a line of text flashes at the corner of his eye:
[Queen's Calendar 2019, May: Artoria begins experiencing clear signs of illness: chills, dizziness, excessive salivation, fatigue, and drowsiness.]
[Most alarming, you discover Artoria has been suffering from chronic loss of appetite and frequent vomiting.]
[You realize: Artoria is pregnant.]
Upon reading that, Gawain leaps upright, nearly toppling his chair.
"Holy—thank the heavens!" he exclaims, tears of relief pricking his eyes. It's not over! There's still hope! My simulation isn't ruined yet—I still have a chance!
Bless you, my unborn child, for saving my life!
[Because pregnancy is unheard-of in the Faery Kingdom, Artoria is terrified by her condition.]
Gawain blinks at the text, then remembers: indeed, humans in the Faery Kingdom cannot reproduce—humans are created by the faeries in "human preserves." As for the faeries themselves, reproduction does not occur the way humans know. In the Faery Kingdom, although faeries have sexes, they do not procreate in that sense. "Certain romantic acts" are simply pleasurable activities, not means of conception.
The only way faeries produce "offspring" is by a generational function: every faery is born with an innate "role." When a faery fulfilling that role dies (or otherwise disappears), a new faery with the same function is born in its place—and that new faery considers the previous generation its "parents." Sometimes, a successor faery can be born even while the predecessor is still alive.
For example, once upon a time, a faery named A served as the Kingdom's Master Planner, tasked with granting every faery a "Knight's Stone." After A served for a century and then fell into eternal slumber (or passed away), the role of Master Planner did not vanish. A new faery, B, would be born as the Master Planner. Perhaps B would continue gifting Knight's Stones; perhaps B would switch to distributing "Millennia's Worth of Treasures"—it could be anything. In any case, B would see A as "parent," and B might even be born before A's demise.
But now a most curious phenomenon emerges:
—A human (with intact reproductive capacity) can conceive with a fairy, breaking all assumptions of biological separation.
Gawain's jaw drops. A half-human, half-faery pregnancy? This changes everything—from simple simulate-and-forge to forging a new future…