A quick rules discussion

“On Harem Hotel: Adventure Edition our valiant Hero “ she gestured towards Jeff “ will encounter several challenges he will only be able to overcome with the help of his companions. That is the adventure part. ” a sweep of the sceptre encompassing the seated girls “ The girls who did the most to help him out will earn victory points and receive Blessings from me while the ones who failed to be of any use to him will be changed by Lilianes Dark Magic and may loose some of those hard-earned VP. Those that have no VP left to loose will be eliminated.

Of course, both I and the Demon Queen answer to a higher power. Namely the Celestial Choir and the Dark Masters. Which are the parts of the audience who came to see a beautiful hamony of loving and supportive relationships grow and develop in the heroes party and the ones who want to see the Companions twisted into playthings for the Hero to enjoy and discard at his leisure.

At the end of each challenge these viewers vote on the reward or curse each companion deserves. And what kind of broken power the Hero should receive.”

Jeff ignored the rather blatant attempt to distract him with a shiny cheat-ability “Do I have any say in who gets eliminated? ”

“Naturally. ” Amora assured him “ It is your harem after all. Challenges are not the only way your Companions can earn VP. They can also receive them by providing the Hero with, let us call it, ‘emotional support’. ”

Jeff knew an euphemism when he saw one “You mean by having sex. ”

“Fanservice is indeed the easiest source of VP.” Amora admitted, but was quick to add “But! But any time they go out of their way to please you might earn them Victory points. Provided you appreciate their efforts. So your willingness to spend time with them will make or break a Companions chance at victory. ”

“That’s ..actually worse. ” Jeff concluded “ The only way I can help them is by playing into a pretty fucked up powerdynamic. ”

“Indeed.” The Princess spoke up “That is bloody manipulative. ” A statement the muted Priestess emphasized with a raised middle-finger. “Definitely puts this game into the ‘sinister’ box.”

“No!” Amora protested “We just wanted to reward genuine acts of kindness. That’s just what the rules look like for someone being saved by the power of love.”

“The power of boosting your ratings, you mean.” the Princess countered frostily “Now I am wondering if there is any point in putting effort into those challenges. Or if the wish will go to the one willing to sleep herself to the top, because that’s where the real money is. Since we are stuck here anyway I might as well go for the wish. But I have no interest in a ..transactional relationship.”

“You may not have much of a choice, when they hand you a spear and throw you into an arena with a hungry tiger.” Jeff said darkly.

“What?! No!” Amora looked appalled “ We wouldn’t do that! There will be no fights to the **** or such nonsense! This is a gameshow! A gameshow! The producers would skin me alive if any of you got seriously hurt. ”

“Well you made it pretty clear that getting eliminated is basically a **** sentence. ” Jeff countered.

“What?” the host looked confused before letting out a relieved laugh “Ah! Ahahaha! I see the problem now! No elimination isn’t a **** sentence. There are a bunch of options for eliminated companions: like going back to their new life in the Anachronicle Expanded Universe to star in their own spinoff series. The longer a contestant avoids elimination the more control they are going to have over their new life. Right now the penalty is…. pretty severe.”

“How severe?”

“Weeeeellllllll” Amora began somewhat reluctantly “There is that studio overseas that keeps asking for licencing rights to make a hentai. Nothing too ****. Some consensual tentacle-play at the most. I mean it sounds bad now, but with the kind of libido porn-heroines have….. . ” the host trailed off, then donned a fake smile “ So yeah. Not a **** sentence. And something this **** would only happen if someone “ a glance at the priestess ” is being completely unreasonable about this. I am so glad we could clear up that silly misunderstanding. ” she declared before addressing the Princess “ And I assure you, your Highness, the challenges are not a mere afterthought when it comes to VP. The later challenges will yield ever greater rewards. ”

The host took a deep breath “Now. I know there are still a lot of questions. But the other party members are waiting in their respective virtual realities and there is a bit of time compression involved in those. So I apologize for the inconvenience dear hero but we have a schedule to keep if we do not want them to wonder if they were abandoned. ” she waggled her sceptre invitingly, and Jeff found himself stepping towards the host and putting his hand around the sceptre. When he tried to protest his mouth would not open.