After spending some more time crying, Thomas calmed down a bit, just enough to start having rational thoughts.

  ‘I need to help Bael, he is in danger. It doesn’t matter if I get hurt in the process, he needs me. Let’s take a deep breath and make a pn.’

  With his breathing stabilized, he started to rearrange his thoughts. Firstly, he had gained a new power in this universe, the flow. With two types of magic from different dimensions and coming from separate deities, his fighting chances were higher. His future self had really thought it through, even if being transmigrated into an 18+ dating game was a living nightmare.

  He closed his eyes and tried to feel the energy within him. He could clearly feel two different sources, the demonic power near his heart, and the flow in his lower abdomen. He tried casting a simple spell with demonic power to dry himself, and surprisingly it worked.

  ‘So I can use another dimension’s power… It’s interesting.’

  He then tried to do the same with the flow, but nothing happened, it seemed to not match Hell’s spells.

  ‘How does it work ? Wait, I unwillingly pushed the boys aside earlier, right ? Does it respond to my will or something like that ?’

  Instead of forcing the source into a spell and calcuting the output, Thomas rexed and looked at the bathrobe hanging at the bathroom door.

  ‘Bring it to me.’

  Immediately, pink light flew to the garment, took it off the hanger, and flew it towards Thomas who caught it. It indeed seemed to respond to his will. However, contrary to demonic power that was replenishing with time, once the flow was out of his body, it didn’t come back.

  ‘I really need to do that circution thing to keep my power… Well, if this dating game isn't well thought out !’

  He sighed and put the bathrobe on, hiding his bruised and bloodied body. He felt somewhat better with clothes on, less exposed and vulnerable.

  ‘For now, I must focus on mastering both powers. And also gain information about the story, since I need to finish it to go back. They said something about a curse, right ? I bet I need to erase it and gather all the familiars to finish the main quest.’

  With that settled, he took a big breath and exited the bathroom. The two servants were at the exact same spot, against the wall opposite to him with lowered heads. Their eyes immediately widened upon seeing his appearance.

  “Master, you are bleeding !”

  “Are you okay ? Quickly, you must heal yourself with the flow !”

  But Thomas cut them off with a deadly gre. Using more power meant having to do the circution earlier, and there was no way he would be doing that. Instead, he sat on the bed. The puke had been already cleaned off the carpet, and the room smelled fresh. It made him rex a little bit, but he didn’t lose his stiff expression.

  “Firstly, I’m not your master. I don’t know who he is and what he’s doing but I’m not him.”

  The purple-haired boy tilted his head in confusion.

  “But… You have the same smell and the signature of your magic is the same, you are obviously our master !”

  Thomas sighed. Expining the principle of a game protagonist to a character in said game was impossible. At least, to anyone other than Bael. He clenched his jaw at the thought of the king and continued.

  “I am but also I’m not. What you need to know is that once the curse is lifted and the problems are resolved, I’ll be gone. I will only stay here to settle the issues and be on my way, back in my previous dimension. So don’t get attached.”

  The twins looked shocked, and seemed to want to protest, but they froze after meeting Thomas’ cold eyes. It was worse than showing no interest, he seemed to loathe them. Eventually, they nodded.

  “Another thing, don’t touch me without my consent. Don’t do any flow circution unless I ask you to. If something like earlier happens again, I would rather jump out the window. Do you understand ?”

  Once again, the servants nodded. They had no idea why their master seemed to hate them so much, but they had noticed that something was wrong when he was crying and puking. Even now, despite looking dignified in his bathrobe, sitting with poise on the satin sheets, Thomas’ skin was bright red and bleeding in several pces. He wasn’t well. Something was different with him, and the twins could feel that he really meant his words. If they touched him without his permission, he wouldn’t hesitate to end his own life.

  Once Thomas confirmed that the boys understood, he rexed again. They seemed a bit simple, but they weren’t bad people, and they obeyed him. It was very reassuring in this type of dating game, at least he wouldn’t be assaulted by the two familiars living in his own home. Speaking of which…

  “Who are you ?”

  Thinking about it, he never got their names and what they were doing here. He had somewhat gathered that they were servants for the previous master, as well as familiars for flow circution. But other than that, he had no idea. Truthfully, he wasn’t interested in these boys, but if he could gather some clues for the main story, it made sense to ask.

  The twins bowed politely and the pink haired one spoke first.

  “I am Tira and he is Tari, artificial familiars created by the Shaman with the purpose of serving him closely. I am in charge of the personnel of the mansion, and Tari takes care of the budget and the items, however we also are your personal servants. Please call on us if you need anything.”

  Thomas nodded. If these boys really were so competent, he could probably learn more about this world. Even if he found himself in a horrifying situation, knowledge was power. After thinking for a bit, he asked another question.

  “What exactly are familiars ? I understand that you were created by the Shaman, but what about the others ?”

  Tari was the one to answer.

  “Just as the Shaman was created by the flow, the familiars are beings that have received an abnormal amount of flow during their birth. There are usually five of them in a generation, and they might be unaware of it, but their purpose is to serve the Shaman. You are linked to them and you will feel when you are close to one. They will be able to feel it too, and will be pulled to you by the force of the universe.”

  “Which is the flow, I presume.”

  Thomas rubbed his chin while thinking. To sum up, the dating game had thought of everything to bring the protagonist and the love interests together : When they are close to each other, they feel attracted and end up meeting. So, following a game logic, when Thomas would be on his way to solve the curse, he will stumble upon the familiars and end up gathering them without doing anything. It was easier that way, one less thing to do. The only problem was the curse itself.

  “Tell me about the curse.”

  “This world was cursed centuries ago, with the nd getting polluted and monsters coming out of the bck dirt. The first Shaman chased away the curse in this kingdom, and allowed citizens to live here in harmony. Since the Shaman couldn’t stay for eternity, he created seven artifacts to keep the curse at bay, and scattered them throughout the kingdom. However, the curse is spreading again, which means the artifacts are damaged or out of use. You must go to them, repair them, and replenish them in flow to prevent the curse’s damages once again and protect the kingdom.”

  “So it isn’t about erasing a curse, but preventing it from spreading… As if I would believe that !”

  Thomas was grumbling in a low voice so that the twins couldn’t hear. His experience with games was screaming at him that the story wouldn’t end with repairing the artifacts. Once they would be up and working again, being replenished by his circution with the familiars, there would be a guaranteed plot twist where a big vilin appears and they would have to defeat it to make the curse disappear once and for all. It was always like that, especially in dating games where the final boss was a secret route and the st love interest of the story.

  ‘So, if I sum up, this game is all about fucking my way out of troubles. I really ended up in the worst pce…’

  Thomas sighed again. If he didn’t get used to this ‘circution’ thing, reaching the end of the story would be impossible. Obviously there would be moments where he would need to y with someone just before an action scene to replenish his strength, he couldn’t break down and puke everytime. Hopefully, he still had his demonic power specialization : Sensing enemies close by. It would surely be helpful in this deranged world.

  “Where is the closest artifact ?”

  Tira pointed to the window.

  “In a forest not far from here. But master, you aren’t looking good right now, you should take some time to adapt to this dimension and make sure you are full of flow…”

  “I’ll decide that myself. Now get out, I’ll call if I need anything.”

  The twins obeyed with a defeated look. Thomas’ animosity was hard to bear for them, obviously used to being doted on by their master. Once they were out of the room, Thomas finally rexed.

  ‘Being with two strangers is hard, huh ? I guess I was relying on Bael too much. It won’t do, not in this situation.’

  To avoid another traumatic experience, it was necessary to do as the boys had said and take some time to adjust to people he didn’t like being around him. He also needed to stop thinking about Bael every second.

  ‘As if it was possible… I miss him so much.’

  Trying to chase away the thought, he walked to the bookshelf and took out a massive tome titled ‘History of the Animalis kingdom’. First and foremost, he needed more information.