[System Synchronization Initiated]
[Host detected.]
[Biological integrity confirmed.]
[Neural compatibility: ACCEPTABLE.]
[Beginning full-body synchronization…]
[Synchronization: 12%]
[Warning: Host exhibits abnormal mental resistance.]
[Adjusting synchronization parameters…]
[Synchronization complete.]
[Welcome, Gideon Beckett.]
[Safe Zone Harem System is now active.]
…
Gideon's eyes snapped open as a deafening sound echoed inside his head, and he found himself lying in the middle of a desert.
He sucked in a sharp breath and pushed himself up, his head pounding like hell, only to be greeted by endless orange sand stretching in every direction, broken by distant skyscrapers piercing the horizon like broken teeth.
"Huh? Another weird dream, I guess," he muttered, then frowned as the memory of the voice resurfaced.
"But what the hell was that? Synchronization? What does that even mean?"
He forced himself to stand and started walking immediately. Standing still in these dreams was always a bad idea.
The last time he hesitated, something had crawled out of the ground and killed him before he could even react.
Dreams like this usually came when he was close to dying. Literally and figuratively. His body had been failing for years, and his brain probably responded by throwing hallucinations at him like a last cruel joke.
His kidneys no longer worked. Dialysis three times a week still was not enough, and fluid kept filling his lungs until he ended up back in the ICU, twice in a single month.
He remembered murmuring through cracked lips, exhausted beyond anger.
"Fuck. Just let me die already."
Then everything had gone black.
And now this.
"Don't tell me… this is hell?" he laughed quietly to himself.
It was not funny. He had lived five years in hospitals, surrounded by IV stands, pills, and procedures he could barely pronounce. After all that, this was how it ended?
The thought snapped something inside him. Gideon stopped, tilted his head back, and screamed.
"FUCK YOU!"
His voice echoed across the desert and faded into the wind. The another weird sound coming from inside his brain:
[Ding!]
[The Distress Radar of a woman has been detected!]
[Sharpening the host's hearing, strength, and endurance.]
"What?"
Second later, a voice echoed through the desert, loud and desperate.
"FUCK YOU! FUCK!"
He froze.
"Huh? Someone else?"
He turned toward the sound and moved faster, the voice growing clearer with every step, panic bleeding through each word.
If the voice in his mind was right, this woman was in danger and he needed to save her to be able to ask where the hell he actually was.
"HELP!"
The source came into view as a ruined skyscraper ahead, its shattered structure leaning at an unnatural angle, half buried in sand.
Gideon slowed for a second, blinking at the sheer size of it, before another scream snapped him back into motion.
"HELP!"
"Right," he muttered, breaking into a jog.
A gap separated him from the exposed floor below. He did not hesitate and jumped, fully expecting to wake up mid-fall like always.
Instead, he hit the ground hard.
Pain ripped through his body and he nearly screamed. It was real. His bones felt brittle and something was definitely broken, but he clenched his teeth and pushed himself forward anyway.
The voices were close now.
"Shut up, you whore! It's only taking a while!"
"Relax, let us have some fun. It's only an hour or so."
"Women are only good for breeding anyway. Don't you want to rebuild civilization?"
Their laughter echoed through the broken structure, and Gideon felt his hands curl into fists without him noticing.
He hated rapists. Always had. His father had been one, and it had ruined his life and his sister's along with it.
The memory burned hot as he moved forward slowly, each step careful, controlling his breathing so he would not alert them too early.
Then he saw her.
A woman was pinned to the dirty, sandy floor, crying as she struggled with what little strength she had left. The corner was dark, her face barely visible beneath the shadows.
Three men.
No way he could take them head-on. He barely worked out. A few push-ups were enough to leave him dizzy and gasping for air.
His eyes flicked upward instead, scanning the ceiling until he noticed the cracked concrete above them, fractured and barely holding together.
That would do.
Gideon leaned down, grabbed a chunk of stone that had once been part of the building, and tossed it at one of them as he stepped out of the shadows.
"The fuck are you three doing?" he barked. "Let go of that woman!"
They froze, turned toward him, and then laughed.
"What, you wanna join us? Plenty of space."
"He's probably shy. Still young."
"Yeah, one of those self-righteous losers talking about women's rights or some shit."
Their laughter echoed again, but Gideon did not move.
"Loser?" He spat on the floor. "You're ganging up on a helpless woman, and I'm the loser?"
He chuckled, raised his hand, and made a crude gesture. "Come on. Fight me."
That snapped them.
They left the woman and started toward him, faces twisted with irritation.
"What do you want, brat? In a post-apocalyptic world like this, there are no rules."
"Yeah. We do whatever we want to the weak. That's the only rule."
"Well then," Gideon said calmly, gripping a loose section of the ruined wall behind him, "I can do whatever I want to you. Since you're clearly weaker than me."
"Oh, you wanna fight with that thing?" one of them snarled. "Don't cry to your mommy when I knock you out."
All three rushed him at once.
Gideon stepped back and hurled the stone upward, straight into the cracked ceiling above them.
The structure collapsed instantly. Concrete crashed down with a thunderous bang, dust exploding into the air as the sound echoed through the building. When it settled, none of them moved, blood slowly pooling beneath the rubble.
Gideon didn't look twice. Some people didn't deserve sympathy.
He turned back to the woman, who was curled up in the corner, trembling with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
"Don't worry," he said, offering a small smile. "I won't hurt you. Come out here and tell me what happened."
Her sobbing slowed, and after a moment, she nodded and stepped out of the darkness. She was beautiful, with long dark blue hair tangled around her shoulders, matching the color of her eyes.
Her clothes were dirty and worn thin by neglect, yet nothing managed to hide her looks.
Then the smell hit him.
He instinctively covered his nose.
"Ugh… thank you so much for helping me," she said softly. "You live in the Citadel, right? Your clothes look nice."
She stepped closer and touched his sleeve, eyes lighting up.
"Oh wow. So soft!"
Gideon blinked. It was just a normal cotton shirt, jeans, and boots.
"What's your name?" he asked. "And where are we?"
She startled and stepped back. "Ah, sorry! I'm Freya Miller. This is the Deliric Desert. Free Faction territory."
"Deliric Desert? Free Faction?" he repeated, frowning. "What does that mean?"
Before she could answer, a blue screen appeared in front of his eyes, hovering in midair like a game interface.
[Congratulations!]
[You have found a potential harem member]
[Do you want to mark "Freya Miller" as a target?]
Gideon blinked slowly.
This was not a dream or hell either. He was isekai'd to another world!