Morning. Grim woke up in a good mood in his bedroom at the Commander Center. Outside the curtains, artificial sunlight lit up the Outpost.
Grim opened the curtains, pulled out a precious bag of coffee beans from the cupboard, poured them into a cup, and brewed a fragrant cup of coffee.
"Is it finally time to go back?" Grim swirled the cup in his hand as memories flooded back like a rising tide.
Since being abducted by the system into the Ark half a year ago, Grim's life had gone from easy mode straight into hell. It started with the helicopter ride, taking over the Counterattack Squad, executing his exclusive Nikke Marian, getting kidnapped by Screamer, Operation Snowfield, the Punishment Reclamation Battle...
Thinking back on the suffering of the past six months, Grim could hardly resist the urge to punch the system.
That useless cat system knew his head had been injured and he'd lost his memory when he jumped out of the helicopter, but it didn't even bother to tell him. Because of that, the amnesiac Grim had followed the original game script for six whole months, without any chance to change the storyline.
But thankfully, today, he remembered everything.
His past memories returned in a wave. He remembered his identity as a player who had downloaded Victory Goddess: Nikke onto his computer. Because he had stayed up late to solo a raid, he was detected by the Cat Passenger system, kidnapped to the Ark, and became the Commander for everyone.
Pretty amazing, right?
But there was something even better. He had spent half a year maxing out the affection of every single Nikke.
Grim took a sip of his coffee and muttered to himself, "Even if I forgot everything over the past six months, I never forgot my goal."
"System, you promised me. If I maxed out the affection of all the Nikkes, you'd open a two-way route to Earth."
"It's time for you to keep that promise, isn't it?"
"System?"
Bang.
Before he could say more, the system inside Grim's head suddenly cracked.
[Due to unknown reasons, system core is damaged and requires repair.]
[Time needed for repair: 365 days]
[Host, please protect your pelvis from the Nikkes for one year. Due to the extreme difficulty, the system has enhanced several of your physical attributes to ensure survival during one-on-one encounters.]
"It's going to take a whole year to fix the core?!"
Grim nearly spat his coffee out the window.
For an entire year, Grim—a regular human—would have to face dozens of Nikkes, all of whom had maximum affection for him. Was survival even possible?
You have to understand—Nikkes are even scarier than Uma Musume.
The combined weight of six Nikkes could collapse a bridge. Even using backup bodies designed for daily life, a load like that wasn't something a normal human could endure. Best case? Sprains and fractures. Worst case? A completely shattered pelvis.
And there were at least sixty Nikkes like that.
Could things be resolved peacefully?
The answer was no.
After calming himself and coming to terms with his identity as the "cold-faced, black-haired, ascetic Commander," the "ultimate workaholic," and the "succubus Commander," Grim felt a sharp headache coming on.
In the past six months, aside from capturing the hearts of Nikkes, his only other focus was completing missions on the Surface. After all, a Commander's income mainly came from combat missions. Without money, how could he express affection properly?
So even when Nikkes directly asked to be his girlfriend, his answer was always the same: "Soon. I'll think about it."
At the time, he still had other options. After all, in half a year, he would have the freedom to travel between Earth and the Ark. He had ambitions and plans. With this heaven-sent cheat, Grim was fully confident he could liberate the Nikkes and reclaim the Surface.
So, love could wait just a bit longer.
But now, the system had exploded. And his backup plan was gone.
If he didn't get serious, his pelvis would be next.
"Is there any way to check how the Nikkes feel about me?"
Grim frowned in thought, then pulled out his phone and opened Barabara.
Barabara was a social platform where Nikkes usually communicated with their Commanders for daily interactions. Everyone on the Ark used it.
Grim had joined plenty of squad chat groups. Like the Counterattack Squad, Matis Squad, A.C.P.U. Squad, Triangle Squad, and others…
But obviously, the Nikkes had private group chats of their own. At the very least, they wouldn't talk about their darker thoughts in public.
He opened Barabara and typed in keywords like "Commander," "Counterattack Squad," and others, but he couldn't find any related forums or group chats.
"Don't tell me… they blocked my account?"
Grim came to a conclusion.
Fortunately, as the Ark's Commander, he had a secondary account for everyday life, separate from his official one. After logging into his sub-account, he entered the keywords again.
This time, new results appeared.
[Commander Fan Club]
[President: Rapunzel]
[Currently Online: 584 users]
[Popularity: 9999 ↑ (Top ranked)]
"Apply!"
Grim clicked Apply without hesitation.
[Please enter your ID]
Grim thought for a moment and entered the name "William." Grim William—that was his real name in this world. But very few people knew his full name. His official records only listed "Grim," so there was no risk of any Nikke recognizing him.
["William" has joined the forum.]
Rapunzel: Welcome, newcomer~! Please follow the fan club rules~! Check the pinned post for details! (Auto-reply)
Grim looked at the pinned post. But there weren't any rules.
Instead, there was something much more alarming.
[Fan Club President Rapunzel: Sharing Commander Photos!]
Rapunzel: Hiss~ hiss~, stock photos taken on the Surface, secretly captured while the Commander was asleep~
Neon: "This... is the strongest weapon!?"
Grim clicked on the post.
And there, he saw a long series of photos of himself, taken from various angles.
Rapunzel… when did she even take these?
Grim kept scrolling down.
Vesti: "Amazing photos, thank you for sharing..."
Emma: "Thanks for sharing, kind soul. May you live in peace~"
Sugar: "Thanks for sharing."
Noise: "Thanks for sharing."
Drake: "Thanks for sharing? A true villain steals and runs, but not this time. Thanks for sharing."
Anis: "Ugh, it's your fault for spreading these pictures and attracting attention! Lately more and
more Nikkes have been joining this forum! Rapunzel, this is all on you! What if the Commander
actually starts dating another Nikke? What will we do then?"
Drake: "Hahaha! Easy. I'll just be his girlfriend!"
Neon: "I didn't think Drake would have the same idea as me. Is Drake a genius?"