"Blam," Dennis slammed a Crawler until it was flattened against the ground and died instantly. He wiped his forehead and looked around; the effect of his War Cry had worn off, but his friends were still fired up, tearing through the enemies. When he checked his status interface:
**********************************************************
Character Profile:
Name : Dennis Larson.
Race : High Human.
Class : Barbarian
Level : 2 -> 10 (2100 / 5000 -> 27,500)
Health : 2500 / 2500 -> 7000.
Stamina : 1750 / 1750 -> 4000.
Strength : 2400 -> 8700
Agility : 1400 -> 7700
Dexterity : 1600 -> 7900.
Constitution : 2400 -> 8700.
**********************************************************
Active Skills:
1. War Cry (SP: 0)
2. Bloodlust (SP: 10 / sec)
3. *NEW* Ultimate Rampage (SP: 500)
Passive Skills:
1. All Weapon Mastery.
2. Martial Arts Mastery.
3. All Resistance.
4. *NEW* Regeneration.
**********************************************************
[New Manager Skill: Monitor Roster.]
"Hmm... I definitely killed a lot of them, but looking at the exp cap for a level up, there's no way I should've hit level 10... is it possible that when Daisy kills an enemy, I get the exp points," Dennis muttered.
Then he went quiet and watched as Daisy finished off a Crawler beside him. When he looked at his status screen, his exp points hit (5,000 / 27,500). He realized immediately that whenever Daisy got a kill, the points flowed into him because they were in the same party, both part of D Squad. It made him feel more fired up, even though it felt a little wrong since he was essentially collecting the paycheck while his wife did all the work.
Then, because he saw that he had obtained a new manager skill, he tried it out immediately. An interface reappeared in front of him, but this time it displayed Daisy's status, and below it, the statuses for Daisy 02 through 07 appeared in a row from left to right. When Dennis saw the stats for Daisy 02 through 07, his eyes went wide and his body began to tremble. The reason was that their stats were pure horror.
**********************************************************
Name : Daisy 02
Race : Dhampir.
Class : Ancient One (Blood User).
Power : 99,999
Health : 9999 / 9999.
Blood : 9999 / 9999.
**********************************************************
Name : Daisy 03
Race : Elf.
Class : Noble Hitman.
Power : 99,999
Health : 9999 / 9999.
Stamina : 9999 / 9999.
**********************************************************
Name : Daisy 04
Race : Beastmen Cat.
Class : Shadowdancer.
Power : 99,999
Health : 9999 / 9999.
Stamina : 9999 / 9999.
**********************************************************
Name : Daisy 05
Race : Half Dragon.
Class : Grand Sage.
Power : 99,999
Health : 9999 / 9999.
Magic : 9999 / 9999.
**********************************************************
Name : Daisy 06
Race : Half Orc.
Class : Warlord.
Power : 99,999
Health : 9999 / 9999.
Stamina : 9999 / 9999.
**********************************************************
Name : Daisy 07
Race : Half Archangel.
Class : High Paladin.
Power : 99,999
Health : 9999 / 9999.
Spirit : 9999 / 9999.
**********************************************************
"Blugh," Dennis went weak and slumped to the ground as he realized that the six identities inside Daisy's body were cheat NPCs, likely created directly by the Game Master or whoever built this system. His mind raced back through his memories; although Daisy had told him about her condition, those other six identities rarely came out—unlike yesterday when they took turns being intimate with him and again today.
Then he realized something that made him truly shudder and shake: cheating equals death, talking to other girls equals death, hurting the primary Daisy equals death—and worst of all, if they all said they loved him, then anyone trying to get close to him equals death. In other words, his wife was a terrifying entity, he was either in her hands or he had to be the one to control her.
While he was lost in thought, someone suddenly hugged him from behind, and he felt a frantic breath.
"Hey... are you okay, honey?" asked Daisy, who had suddenly wrapped her arms around Dennis.
Dennis jumped; his face went pale and he broke into a heavy sweat as he saw Daisy's face right next to his, looking incredibly worried. Suddenly, Gary and Olivia stood before him, gasping for air.
"Hey, get up Den, there's still one minute left. Even if the enemies are thinning out, don't let your guard down," Gary shouted.
"Yeah, he's right... get up, quick," Olivia added, out of breath.
"I... yeah, sorry," Dennis replied, forcing himself to stand up despite his pounding headache. Dennis turned to look at Daisy and, with a trembling hand, he touched her head. "I'm okay, honey," Dennis said, forcing a smile.
"Thank goodness then. One more minute and we win," Daisy said with a cheerful smile.
"Yeah... right... I love you," Dennis said, suddenly hugging Daisy even though he was trembling violently.
"Eh... don't be like this, it's embarrassing," Daisy replied, startled but looking happy with a slightly flushed face.
"Seriously, you two act like newlyweds. We all got married at the same time, it's been a year already," Gary said.
"You should be romantic like Dennis too, come on—you should follow his lead," Olivia chimed in.
"Shut up, we aren't a couple like them. We have our own way," Gary said, acting shy.
"Hehe, that's true too, honey," Olivia said, immediately wrapping her arm around Gary's, who looked a bit uncomfortable.
After that, they could only look around. There were still a few Crawlers attacking, but they were instantly killed by the other teams nearby. The exercise, which was supposed to be about survival, had turned into a total slaughter and felt empty, though they had no idea what was happening on the other side. Dennis asked Daisy to step away from Gary and Olivia for a moment because he wanted to confirm something.
"Babe, can I ask you something?" Dennis asked seriously.
"Sure," Daisy replied casually.
"Um... why have the other six been coming out so often since yesterday? I feel like throughout our marriage, they only came out once a day, and even then, it was just one at a time, not alternating back-to-back like yesterday and today," Dennis asked.
"Blush," Daisy's face instantly turned bright red like an exploding bomb. She immediately avoided Dennis's gaze. Seeing Daisy's reaction, Dennis was confused because the question felt perfectly normal to him. But before Daisy could give an answer, "beep... beep... beep," the alarm blared. "Click," everything vanished instantly, and they were all back in the brightly lit gymnasium.
Dennis could see that everyone was still standing in the middle of their respective lanes—there were four lanes in total—and it seemed the survival training was a success. Steve immediately ordered everyone to line up again, then began discussing the results of the training. Dennis just listened, but suddenly Daisy, who was standing next to him, pulled his shoulder down with both hands and leaned her face close to his ear.
"I'm sorry for saying this, but versions one through seven of me are all saying that we all love you now... before your awakening, only I and number seven loved you, but now it's everyone, and we all love you very, very much. So please don't ask again. I... we... are embarrassed," Daisy whispered.
Dennis intended to turn his head, but Daisy held his cheek in place because she didn't want him to see her face out of sheer embarrassment. Finally, Dennis looked forward again, but cold sweat poured off him and his face turned pale with terror. He glanced over at Daisy, who was looking down with a bright red face. Finally, he reached out his arm and pulled Daisy close, wrapping his arm around her.
"Okay... I'm dead... one wrong move and I'm guaranteed to go reincarnated to an isekai again. I have to be able to control them... and return their love without ever failing... or the risk... I don't even want to imagine the risk... this really is a manager's job... stay calm, stay calm, you can do this, Den," Dennis muttered in his heart, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it wanted to jump out and run away to hide somewhere.
***
Shortly after, the lesson ended, and everyone immediately exited the gym to head back to class. As Dennis walked out with his arm around Daisy, trailing behind Gary and Olivia who were holding hands, he was suddenly interrupted.
"Hey... you."
Dennis stopped and turned to look back. He saw Steve, the gym teacher—a bald man around thirty-five with a massive, muscular build just as tall as Dennis and Gary. Wearing a tight jersey and carrying a clipboard, Steve approached Dennis and Daisy. Standing before Dennis, he carefully studied Dennis's face and checked his clipboard. Then, he smiled and looked back at Dennis.
"You're the Dennis who just awakened, right? Your abilities are extraordinary, and you know how to control the battlefield. I'm going to recommend you to the hunters' guild, but before that, I want to talk to you. Can you come with me? All four of you," Steve said.
"Huh... us too, sir?" Gary asked.
"Yeah... we were about to head home, sir," Olivia added.
"You're on a team with this couple, aren't you? So we need to talk," Steve replied, making it clear that "no" wasn't an option.
"Alright, sir," Gary and Olivia replied in unison, knowing that going against Steve would be a death wish given the size of his arms.
Dennis turned to look at Daisy, whose face was no longer red. Daisy nodded her consent. Steve then led them to the control room inside the gymnasium to talk.