Chapter 4

Upon waking up the next morning, Derek checked his phone, as was becoming a habit. Scrolling through his three harem members, he noticed a fourth dropdown menu. Tilting his head to the side, he blinked, then shook his head and looked again.

Upgrades

The word flashed again, and Derek decided that he wasn’t going to put up with any bullshit without a shower. Especially this early in the morning. So as nearly boiling hot water washed over his slightly chubby frame, turning his skin reddish pink with the scalding heat. Still he stayed in a bit longer than usual, luxuriating in the feeling for as long as he could. Stepping out, the colder air washed over him. Raising goosebumps all over his arms and legs. After toweling off Derek sat down on his toilet and checked the tab again. Making sure that it existed before clicking on it, causing another menu to pop up alongside some confetti animation.

Congratulations User! You have unlocked the Upgrades Shop. Here you can spend money earned by your Harem to upgrade yourself. Ever wanted more muscles? Better hair? Or a bigger cock…all that and more can be yours! Do you have an elf in your harem that you don’t want to outlive you? We can do that too! For the low low price of 100,000 $ points! Upgrades will be offered based on Harem Members added, and what types. By accessing or utilizing the Upgrade Shop, the user knowingly and voluntarily waives any and all rights to bring claims, actions, or legal proceedings against the Idle Harem App arising from or related to such use.

He paused for a moment, reading that last sentence a few times. After turning it over in his head he muttered.

“What the fuck…I can sue the app? Or, no I can’t. Why would I want to do that?”

Grunting, he clicked past the warning and silently wondered what kind of being could even sue such an app. Was it just a joke? It seemed pretty serious. But whatever, upgrades sounded perfect. He didn’t want to fall behind his harem in any way.

Upgrade Points: 6

Available Upgrades

Vampiric Boost: At night, gain a boost to strength, speed, durability, and the senses equivalent to that of a vampire. During the day suffer negative effects depending on how much sunlight touches the user's skin.

Cost: 15

Moth Physiology Meld: Fledgling moth wings begin to grow on your back, additionally the user gains the ability to always know what time it is. Gain boosts to strength, speed, and a smaller boost to the senses. Moth type is dependent on what types of Moth hybrids are in the users harem

Cost: 15

Self Control: Pretty self explanatory, use your brain for this one boyo. Oh fine, I’ll tell you. Complete control of when you blow your load.

Cost: Was tempted to make it really expensive but…we think you might end up needing this one pretty soon. Lets call it 5

Elven Mana Well: Grants the ability to cast spells and weave mana to the user. In the form of what is normally an elf only mana well. It’s very deep, granting tons of mana to use and ****. Grows alongside the number of elves in the Users harem, and their age.

Cost: 100

Sonic Cammoflauge: Absorb noise with your hair, muffles all sounds made by the User, and around the User. Allows for much easier stealth maneuvers.

Cost: 35

Fangs of Ownership: Imparts low level regeneration to those that you bite, as well as the ability to always know their exact location. Additionally repeated bites bring ever greater pleasure to the User and their victims. Reportedly a sense of devotion grows within those bitten more than twenty times.

Cost: 50

Elvish Wisdom: Ever wanted to know a little bit about everything? With this helpful upgrade, the User now knows how to better mediate disputes, fix things, and even negotiate business deals.

Cost: 55

More Upgrades will be unlocked the more points you have with each of your Harem Members! So get out there and earn some more!

There weren’t that many options, but as he read each entry with care Derek’s eyes grew wider and wider. Some of the upgrades he wouldn't even consider taking, but a few were a veritable treasure trove. Especially considering he didn’t have the mutation that let humans tap into mana. His current job was a mix of practicality and wanting to be as close to magic as possible. With the Elven Mana Well, he’d finally be able to cast spells, and maybe even change jobs. Just pursue his passion, and not have to worry about numbers all day.

Eyes alit with the fire of greed, those fires were extinguished. A hundred points? That would take almost four months at the rate he was going now. Maybe with a bigger harem he’d accumulate points faster? Actually that was a mathematical certainty. Maybe he should just walk down the street and collect every woman he sees for a while, that would definitely get the ball rolling one way or another. That greed resurfaced, if he did that, he’d get more events, more points, and more upgrades.

Shaking his head hard, Derek dislodged the thought of possibly enslaving a massive group of women to farm points with. He really just wanted to go out with Xrn, and hadn’t been thinking much when he added Lady Andilet, Isabella was her own thing. Just a bit of payback for her arrogance and the humiliation she had **** upon him. Xrn was all he wanted, just thinking of the tall mothgirl made him grin like an idiot.

A small popup notification broke him free from his reverie, letting him know that Isabella’s event was still pending. Although the little extra bit of info nearly pushed him to throw his phone into a wall. What did it mean that Isabella couldn’t earn any more points until he completed the event? She wouldn’t be at the convenience store for another two days! That was…more than fifteen points he was missing out on. With a low growl Derek got ready for work, and **** himself to go out and earn some damn money.

The remaining two days passed in much the same way. He met Xrn in the hallway a few times, and he asked her out on a coffee date on Thursday. Purposely planning it around Isabella's event. He felt a little bad about it, but they hadn’t had any discussion about being exclusive yet. It had only been one date by the goddesses!

The fateful day began with Derek calling out sick from work. He didn’t do it very often, so the Ice Queen had little choice but to respect his use of a sick day. He took his time getting ready, even shaving his stubble and putting on some unwrinkled clothes. He was gonna do laundry later in the day, and didn’t want to take this too seriously. Isabella was just a brat he needed to put in her place, in no way was he going to fall for the bitch.

Making his way to the convenience store, he couldn’t stop looking at the upgrades. Mentally plotting out which ones to take, which he would never take, and a few that he was on the fence about. Vampiric Boost for one was right out. Why would he ever need such a thing? He asked himself as he absentmindedly entered the store with his head down. Not yet realizing that he was the only customer, and that Isabella was looking at him with an inscrutable expression.

With practiced ease he grabbed a handbasket, filling it with his preferred items. Energy drinks, frozen dinners, a few chips, the little bags of carby goodness. He even threw in some eggs and a tallboy to keep her guessing. It wasn’t until he reached the beer section that he realized, nobody was in the store but him, and that Isabella was staring at him. He waved sheepishly and then remembered what he was here to do. Some kind of event. Related to…obedience. With a grumble under his breath he waved his hand back at Isabella and shouted across the store.

“Hey! Hey you! Come over here! I’m looking for some Firebreath Ranger, but y’all don’t seem to have it in stock anymore. Can you check the back for me?”

The elf walked over to him, an air of haughty nobility echoed through the air with every click of her probably insanely uncomfortable heels on the linoleum floor.

“We stopped selling that last week. Didn’t you know? So we’re out.”

What a bitchy tone, Derek thought to himself as he turned on his heel to look at the secret streamer.

“Check the back. Now. Or I’ll have to get your manager or supervisor on the phone for an official complaint. That wouldn’t look good on your record would it?”

Crossing his arms under his chest, he followed the elf as she walked towards a door clearly labeled for employees only.

“Can’t you read? You’re not allowed back here.”

Isabella said before she slipped through the door. Clearly thinking that he wouldn’t follow. The stupid bitch couldn’t have been more wrong.

“And I don’t trust you to actually tell me if there’s any of the beer I want back here. So shut up and deal with it. Not like you’re all that busy anyways.”

Jerking his head out to the rest of the empty store, Derek just pushed his way through the door and joined the elf in the enclosed walk in fridge space behind the shelves. It was full of halfway organized boxes. Just stacked on top of one another haphazardly and a small foldout chair in the corner that looked like it had been well used. His eyes lingered on it for a moment.

“What are you gonna tell my boss I come back here and sit down sometimes when we’re not that busy? Fucking narc.”

Her aloofness dripped from every word, practically oozing condescension. So Derek decided to put some of his faith into the app, and reared back with one hand. Letting it fly, his open palm sailed through the cool air with nearly all the **** he could muster. Slamming into Isabella’s ass with a loud crack that echoed throughout the entire store. Her head shot around to glare at him so quickly he almost split and ran right there. Yet for some reason, his feet remained rooted in place.

“Don’t be such a bitch all the time. And maybe I won’t do this again the next time I come here.”

Derek’s hand descended again, like a lightningbolt from the goddess of thunder herself. Feeling that tight perky ass under his palm jiggle and bounce to his whims. Instead of exploding with fury, Isabella moaned very lightly at his next strike. As he wrapped an arm around her waist, forcing her into a bent over position, he began to talk as he spanked the streamer slut.

“Don’t you ever talk back to me again.”

SMACK

“When I want something, I fucking get it!”

SLAP

“And if you ever act arrogant like that and insult me again. I’m going to do this again.”

He flipped her skirt up for the last two strikes, bright red palmprints bloomed on her ass instantly after each hit. Admiring them for a moment, he let her stand but did not yet flip down her skirt. Those tight lacy blue panties just did too much for him, and his rock hard erection strained in his sweatpants. A few veins even visible as it throbbed. Clearly he wanted to fuck her, and she knew that but neither moved from their spots.

Until he spotted the beer he had wanted, leaning down to grab it, the elf brushed past him. Her face burned with embarrassment as she flipped her skirt down. Shuffling back towards the register as he approached, a smug smile stretching across his face.

“So, I want a ten percent discount on all of this too.”

What he didn’t expect as an answer to his demand was laughter, and a lot of it.

“HahahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHA. Listen, I won’t tell anyone about what happened in the walk in but there’s no way you’re getting a discount. I don’t control the prices. If you want that, you’ll need to talk to my boss about that. In fact, why don’t you try to spank her sometime?”

She rang him up, and Derek walked out of the store dumbfounded. Almost considering turning back around and walking right back up to her to demand answers. What on Earth had just happened? He had just…spanked his streamer crush in a walk-in fridge, she still had his handprints on her ass. Likely she still would when she streamed later that night. With nerves of steel, he walked back to his apartment. It wasn’t easy, and for the first few blocks he had to flex his quads to get his rock hard erection to go down but after checking the app, it was all worth it.

Event Complete!

Isabella is intrigued by you, but still filled with brattiness. You’ve taken the first step towards taming her. Will she think of you as…

A stand in for fatherly guidance, tough love, and strict discipline?

Or

An utterly domineering man, capable and willing to do anything to get what he wants…to break the elfin beauty like her fiance never could?

He had an opportunity here to literally alter how she thought of him, on a fundamental level. The very idea of it made his blood run cold. Would Xrn have events like this? Even without taking control of her schedule? No that had to be impossible, but the app had already shown him that impossible was just a smokescreen. He already knew which option he was going to choose. With a deep breath, Derek slammed his finger into the screen just as he ran face first once again with his…girlfriend?

Xrn let out a shocked gasp but instead of letting him fall over, her four soft arms embraced him and kept him aloft. Wrapping him up in a crushing bear hug as she let her antenna brush against his face.

“Derek! It’s so good to see you. Are you feeling alright?”

The smooth back of one of her hands pressed against his forehead. What he couldn’t say was that he was burning with frustration as much as embarrassment from running into her again face first.

“I’m fine, sorry I wasn’t paying attention to where I was headed. Today’s a bit of a lazy day for me.”

Letting go gently, the mothgirl returned to a spot just underneath the brightest flickering light and smiled at him. Letting him go with a soft wave and looking back up at the artificial brightness.

“It’s quite alright, I do not mind your attention. Even if it is spontaneous. Perhaps we’ll meet again tonight? Out here?”

She asked hopefully and Derek nodded just before slipping back into his apartment, furiously checking to see which of the two options bumping into Xrn had pushed his thumb into!

Authors Note: Sorry about the delay, here's the chapter as promised! Please do enjoy. Up next will be some...shenanigans that I won't allude to much more. How are we feeling about the pacing so far? Pretty soon Derek is going to start to get **** for points, and with that comes expansion. I wonder how Xrn will react if or when he tells her about the app, or even about all the other women he's going to be enslaving...I mean making fall in love with him. Soon.