In DanMachi, Freya Set Her Sights on Me from the Start!

The wooden floor was clearly made of expensive, high-quality timber, and the entire room was filled with countless exquisite, luxurious decorations. Even the tables and chairs were worth a fortune.

In this place, even if you pried off something at random and took it outside, you could sell it for a good price.

"I'm living here?"

Now that it had come to this, Cao Ye felt somewhat dazed. Just this morning, he had still been staying in a cheap inn where rats even ran through his room at night. Yet by evening, he was living in such a luxurious residence.

"This is Lady Freya's gift. Just remember this favor well."

"I understand."

After glancing at Cao Ye, Ottar turned and left.

To him, it did not matter who Cao Ye was, where he came from, or what abilities he possessed. All he knew was that the goddess was interested in him, and that was enough.

After Ottar left, Cao Ye went into the bedroom and lay down on the extravagant, expensive bed, still feeling slightly dazed.

This world really was strange. He had never imagined the plot would develop like this. Could it be that he was also a "protagonist"?

Otherwise, wasn't this treatment a little too good?

"Hmm? This is..."

Subconsciously, Cao Ye opened the [Card Draw Interface], then saw that his [Diamonds], which should have been at 0, had somehow become 300. He was completely baffled.

What was going on? He had spent half a month working hard and only earned a little over a hundred. How had it suddenly become three hundred?

Imaginary Magic Attribute!

[Name: Cao Ye]

[Current Card Pool: Fate]

[Diamonds: 300]

The interface could not have been any simpler. Yet in the [Diamonds] field, a glaring "500" was displayed.

Earlier, he had exchanged them for a "Ten-Pull" and received [Projection Magecraft]. How had it become 500 in the blink of an eye?

[Achievement: Favored by the Gods: Receive a divine "Blessing" and become one favored by the gods!]

[Reward: 200 Diamonds!]

[Achievement: Novice Adventurer: Become a level 1 adventurer!]

[Reward: 100 Diamonds!]

He had completed two achievements and received 300 Diamonds as rewards.

Cao Ye froze for a moment. This system had that function?

It was clearly his cheat ability, yet he knew nothing about it. The system had no artificial intelligence and no instructions, so he had to figure everything out himself.

"Receiving a Blessing completed an achievement. Then if I level up later, can I complete new achievements too?"

Cao Ye thought so, but there was no way to verify the guess. If he wanted proof, he would have to make it happen himself. Then he would know.

Still, that was not the most important thing right now. The important thing was drawing cards. With 300 Diamonds, he had thirty pulls.

At that thought, Cao Ye's mood instantly became "beautiful." Today, he had first obtained the ability [Projection Magecraft], then caught Freya's attention and gotten to live off the most luxurious sugar mommy in Orario.

His luck had truly been incredible today. Now that he had another 300 Diamonds, how could he not press his advantage?

"Three Pure Ones, block the way! Tathagata, my Buddha! Houtu, please!"

It was the same old ritual. He directly paid respects to those "great gods," except this time they were all gods from China. Then Cao Ye began his first Ten-Pull.

Smack—

A card pack was pulled from the void. An invisible force tore open its seal, and one face-down card after another flew out.

Cao Ye had seen this scene once before. This time, all his attention was on the cards.

[Black Stockings · Pantyhose] [Black Stockings · Thigh-High Socks] [Black Stockings · Garter Stockings] [Black Stockings · Knee-High Socks]...

As he looked at the exquisite cards, each depicted a beautiful girl wearing the corresponding type of stockings on her legs.

Kurisu Makise in black pantyhose, Yukino Yukinoshita in black thigh-high socks, Kurumi Tokisaki in black garter stockings, Megumi Kato in black knee-high socks, and so on, and so on.

It was not just these. In the [Storage] some distance away, there were also cards of the same type.

They were all different kinds of stockings: black, white, flesh-colored, even fishnets. These were all cards he had drawn before.

Cao Ye felt that while he liked beautiful legs and all kinds of sexy stockings, the system could not keep giving him nothing but these! He had standards too! Probably.

One Ten-Pull—an entire 100 Diamonds—had turned into ten pairs of black stockings in various styles.

Still, looking at those exquisite cards and the lifelike beauties illustrated upon them, Cao Ye felt that the cards themselves were more valuable than the stockings.

He stored them directly in the Storage. Later, in the dead of night, he could "critically examine" them in detail.

"100 Diamonds down the drain~~"

That was 100 Diamonds. Although they had been an unexpected windfall, seeing them disappear all at once still hurt.

"Again! Witness my divine might! Another Ten-Pull!!!"

Smack—

The familiar scene, the familiar rhythm. As the card pack was torn open, one card after another flew out.

However, what he saw the next second nearly made Cao Ye's heart stop.

[White Stockings · Thigh-High Socks] [White Stockings · Pantyhose] [White Stockings · Garter Stockings]...

Black stockings were one thing, but wasn't it a little too much to immediately follow them with white stockings?

And the girls on the black-stocking cards had all been absolute top-tier beauties, all two-dimensional goddesses. But wasn't this white-stocking lineup going too far?

For white pantyhose, it actually used White Yaksha. Did it not know she had a loli body and the heart of a pervert?

As the saying went, like repelled like. They were both lecherous old perverts, so wasn't it too much to pull out her card?

Also, Cao Ye had always wanted to ask something. Wasn't this a Fate card pool? Why was it full of things like this, and all kinds of two-dimensional beauties at that?

But no matter how much Cao Ye wanted to complain, the system would not respond to him at all.

Two Ten-Pulls, twenty draws in total, and he had not gotten anything good even once. Had he used up all his luck for the day? Cao Ye could not help having that thought.

"No, I don't believe it. Again!!!"

The Ten-Pull began once more, and card after card flew out.

The result did not disappoint. This time, it was flesh-colored stockings. Images of beauties in one pair after another appeared, but Cao Ye had little interest in them.

Black stockings were faith. White stockings were devotion. Flesh-colored stockings were heresy.

What were stockings? They were divine tools for displaying feminine charm. Black stockings brought mature temptation, while white stockings brought pure, heart-fluttering allure. Both left deep impressions, but what the hell were flesh-colored stockings?

[Imaginary Magic Attribute]

He got something. The Imaginary magic attribute made Cao Ye perk up at once.

In Fate, within magecraft, it was defined as "something that may be possible, yet does not exist in the material world," and was also called "Imaginary Number."

Magicians with the Imaginary Number Attribute were infiltrators who could insert their hands into gaps between dimensions.

Imaginary Space, something nonexistent that was nevertheless treated as existing, was similar to a dimensional pocket. Things that fell into it would no longer be affected by time or space.

During the Fifth Holy Grail War, Sakura Matou possessed the Imaginary attribute.

In her battles against Medea's puppet and Gilgamesh, Sakura Matou's black shadow absorbed their attacks into Imaginary Space, rendering those attacks ineffective. This was an expression of Imaginary Magic.

Among those who had appeared in the Fate series so far, the Imaginary attribute was also extremely rare.

Only three people were confirmed to possess it: Sakura Matou, Lev Lainur Flauros—Professor Lev from FGO—and Trisha Fellows, Olga Marie's attendant and tutor.

Put simply and bluntly, "Imaginary Number" referred to an Imaginary Space that did not exist but was believed to exist, something like a dimensional pocket. Anything that fell inside became free from the constraints of space and time.

Magicians who awakened the "Imaginary Attribute" used those properties as a time capsule.

It could be said that the Imaginary Attribute had a hint of "space" about it, though it was not entirely the same thing.

Still, there was no denying that this was an exceptionally powerful magic attribute with enormous potential.

The Ripple Effects to Come!

Thud—

Cao Ye plunged face-first onto the bed. Thirty pulls in total, and he had only gotten something good once.

Seriously, his luck was terrible. Still, at least the final [Imaginary Magic Attribute] meant he had not lost everything.

Although the "Imaginary Attribute" was pretty good, when he thought about it, those 300 Diamonds would have taken him thirty consecutive days of daily missions to earn.

It would have taken a whole month to save up those Diamonds, and now he had traded them for one "Imaginary Attribute." Why did that feel like a loss?

After fusing with [Imaginary Magic Attribute], Cao Ye could sense something strange around him.

But he could not sense "Imaginary Space," which reminded him that this was not the Fate world. This world did not have "Imaginary Space."

(P.S.: Whether it does or not, just assume it doesn't. Every world has its own rules.)

That made Cao Ye feel like his "Imaginary Attribute" might be useless. Without "Imaginary Space," what the hell could he even do with it? The worlds were different, their power systems were different, and even their rules were different.

"Ah! My Diamonds!!!"

A miserable howl echoed through the luxurious room.

In the room next door, Freya sat elegantly upon her "throne." Before her stood an enormous floor-to-ceiling window through which she could take in all of Orario.

As the highest floor of Babel Tower, the building materials here were all the finest, and naturally, that included its soundproofing.

Even if Cao Ye howled his heart out next door, not the slightest sound could be heard here.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in~"

After taking a sip of the wine in her glass, Freya spoke like a queen.

Then the door opened, and Ottar walked in.

"Has it been arranged?"

"It has~"

It was an extremely simple exchange, yet it revealed the relationship between master and servant.

Ottar had offered everything to the goddess Freya: his loyalty, faith, convictions, even his feelings. In return, Freya held absolute trust in Ottar.

"How does he feel?"

Freya smiled seductively as she asked Ottar.

"I cannot see through him. Although he is still weak, there is a power within him that even makes my heart tremble. Earlier, though it only erupted for an instant, I sensed a trace of threat."

"Even you felt threatened? That really is impressive."

Freya glanced at Ottar and smiled.

All the World's Evil—putting everything else aside, that name alone was enough for her to remember.

As a god, she understood better than anyone what "evil" was.

He was clearly such a frail human, yet he bore such "evil." That alone was something impossible to believe, especially since Cao Ye appeared not to have been affected by it in the slightest.

"Lady Freya, what do you intend to do with him?"

"Nothing. Ottar, there is no need to give him special care. A 'hero' cannot grow within a 'greenhouse.' I will personally witness his 'great deeds' with my own eyes."

"Yes, I understand."

To Ottar, Freya's words were everything.

Since Freya had said so, he would naturally carry out her command without question, whatever that command might be.

If the members of the Freya Familia had all been "raised" within an unimaginably cruel environment, then Freya had chosen to "free-range" Cao Ye.

She would release him into the world, neither restricting him nor helping him. Freya truly wanted to know whether Cao Ye could grow into a "hero."

Bearing "evil" as he did, he could never become an ordinary person among the masses.