My Scumbag System-Chapter 419: My Soul In Your System

She turned around. The city lights behind her outlined her body in the too-small nightie, and I forced my eyes to her face instead. "We matter to you?"

"More than I should let you."

Emi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "So all of this has been a game. We’ve been pieces on a board."

"No." The word came out harder than I intended. "You’ve been real people I lied to about what was happening while I did it. There’s a difference."

Natalia stood up, the frost spreading further. "Walk me through it. From the beginning."

I told them. About waking up as Kaelen Leone in a dead boy’s body, about the System demanding I seduce my stepsister or suffer consequences, about every quest and every reward and every time I chose power over honesty.

I told them about the Gacha pulls that gave me abilities I used to seem special, about traits that made my touch addictive, about skills that made my lies harder to detect.

I told them about the night I almost walked away from Emi because taking her felt too much like crossing a line I couldn’t uncross.

About how Skylar’s kiss on the balcony had been a quest objective before it became something else.

About how Natalia’s first surrender had completed a mission while simultaneously destroying something in me I hadn’t known existed.

I told them about Cel, about the Black Gate, about the moment in the cave when I could have used my abilities to seal the deal but chose to just hold her instead.

When I finished, my voice was raw. The room felt smaller, the air heavier.

"Show us the rest," Natalia said. "All of it."

I hesitated, but Nel whispered that transparency meant everything or nothing. I pulled up my hidden stats.

Strength: 6,250 | Endurance: 6,250

Dexterity: 6,250[+150] | Magic: 6,250

Agility: 6,250

Celeste’s hands gripped my shoulders. "These are... you’re A-Rank. High A-Rank."

"You’ve been lying to the entire academy," Akari observed. "Including us."

"Yes."

Emi looked like she might be sick. "Is any of it real? What we have?"

I reached for her hand, but she pulled back.

"The enhancement is real. The Nectar is real. The System bonds are real." I met her eyes. "What I feel when you laugh at my stupid jokes, when you bandage my burns, when you look at me like I’m worth saving even though I’m not? That’s real too. I just don’t know where the line is anymore."

Skylar returned to the circle, sitting down cross-legged. "Let me get this straight. You’ve got magic heroin in your saliva, a stat sheet that would make you S-Rank material in a year, and a bunch of gods forcing you to play dating sim mechanics with our feelings."

"That about covers it."

"And you chose the Impossible difficulty on tonight’s quest."

"Seemed appropriate."

She laughed, sharp and bitter. "You really are a scumbag."

"I warned you."

Natalia was pacing now, frost trailing her footsteps across the floor. "The Covenant. What does it actually mean?"

I pulled up her full profile.

NATALIA KUZMINA

Bond Rank: 10 [Covenant]

System Symbiosis [Active]

Imbuement Slots: 3 [Unlocked to Mythical]

Daily SP Generation: 3x Base Rate

She read it in silence, her face going carefully blank in that way that meant she was processing something that hurt.

"My soul is bound to yours."

"Yes."

"Permanently."

"Yes."

"When did that happen?"

"In the cathedral. When you refused to let me die and your power broke reality to stop the death beam." I stood up, carefully setting Celeste aside. "I didn’t ask for it. You just... reached Rank 10 through your own choice to save me, and the System locked it in."

Natalia turned to face me, and her eyes were wet. "So I have no choice now."

"You have every choice. The Covenant doesn’t control your will or your feelings. It just means our souls recognize each other on a level that transcends normal connection."

"That’s poetic bullshit."

"It’s the truth."

She crossed the space between us and grabbed my shirt, pulling me down until we were nose to nose. "I should hate you for this."

"You should."

"I don’t."

"I know."

She kissed me hard, her mouth cold from the frost still clinging to her skin. When she pulled back, her eyes were blazing. "If you ever lie to me about this again, I will kill you and wear your corpse as a warning to others." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Fair."

Emi’s voice was small. "Can I ask something?"

I turned. "Anything."

"When we were together... was any of it you wanting me? Or was it all the quest?"

The question cut deeper than she probably meant it to. I crossed to where she sat and knelt in front of her, ignoring how my ribs protested the movement.

"You want honesty?" I looked up at her. "The first time I helped you with archery, that was strategy. Building your confidence, making you need my validation. But somewhere between teaching you to shoot and watching you absolutely destroy that target while your face lit up with pride, it stopped being a mission."

"When?"

"The moment you brought me burnt eggs and cried because you thought I’d think you were useless."

Her lip trembled. "That’s such a stupid moment."

"Most real things are."

Emi touched my face, her fingers gentle against my jaw. "The Nectar thing. Can it be removed?"

"If I complete tonight’s quest the right way, yes. Aphrodite will replace the addiction with genuine choice. You’ll still feel what you feel, but it won’t be chemically enforced anymore."

"And if you fail?"

"You’ll hate me, probably. Along with everyone else."

She leaned forward and kissed my forehead, a gesture so tender it made my chest ache. "I don’t want to hate you."

"Then help me not fail."

Celeste cleared her throat. "This Impossible quest. What are the actual objectives?"

I stood up, facing all five of them. "For us to play this truth or dare game and whatever happens, happens."