"The Waifu Catalogue?" I blinked, "Isn't that kinda... Lazy?"
Catharsis, the ROB that had opened up a tear in reality in front of me, responded, "Indeed. I found the idea interesting, to be honest. Of course, I am not part of this 'Company' your people drempt up, so I do not have any need for these Waifus. Additionally, if I just gave you the standard Catalogue you could very easily just ascend to a level where nothing could touch you, considering your... lack of moral compunctions."
I raised an eyebrow at that, wondering if that was a problem, when Catharsis refuted, "Oh no, not at all! That is exactly why I chose you! If you are weary about the Waifu Catalogue thing I suppose I could send you to save some fantasy world from an existential threat..."
"Pass." I refused, "That sounds like a ton of work for no benefit."
"Exactly." The Being nodded, "That's why this modified version I came up with is better!"
I stared at him for a bit, thinking it over before deciding I might as well hear him out, as he seemed rather amenable and open to negotiation, "Alright, what were you thinking?"
He did a back-flip in the void we were floating in before explaining, "So hear was my idea! I'm not good with mortal thoughts, so if you have any inputs or concerns please don't hesitate to tell me! First up: f*ck THE POINTS SYSTEM!"
The final part was shouted out, vibrating the realm we inhabited as if it's God was laying down a new law of reality, "It's finicky, dumb, and drags things on for way to long! What I want to see is you coming up with a plan to seduce the hell out of some poor unsuspecting mortal and having you worry about whether she'll bring you enough 'points' or whatever would bore me to tears!"
I considered that, coming to an inevitable conclusion, "Are you some kind of voyeuristic pervert?"
He nodded happily, "Yup! So instead, here's the deal: Pick a world, and you get to pick 3 perks from the Catalogue. I will give you an objective to complete in that world, that once you achieve will grant you and anyone you wish complete immortality. Then, you need to pick a trait, to be shared by 7 females, those will be your targets. Once you have bound each one, you can pick 3 more perks from the Catalogue. The seventh must be the most powerful, and will instead allow you to fully complete one of the Heritage paths, whose perks you cannot take otherwise."
I considered that, before asking curiously, "So no tiers giving more perks? Isn't that a bit... overpowered?"
Catharsis argued, "Not at all, because it wont count unless you actually like the girl you are binding! If you are just doing it for the perks, it wont work. Additionally, all seven have to be from different worlds. No double dipping on one reality!"
"So I can only have seven maximum?"
"Not at all! You can bind as many as you want, but only people on the list will give you points." He smiled, "I want you to have fun and not worry so much about the perks and points and all that boring stuff."
I was highly suspicious, "That seems... suspect."
Catharsis shook his head, "Not at all! I would be bored to just watch you be weak and miserable. Obviously you are going to have to struggle and come up against heavy odds, but if it was impossible for you to win that would just suck to watch. It would also be bland if you were too strong, so I am modifying the perks you can choose."
That seemed rather inconvenient to my ability to make a plan based on what I knew about the Catalogue, "How drastic are the changes? I would like to at least know what to expect from the choices."
Catharsis explained, "The basic change is the most important. The perks you pick are not automatic, or instant power ups. For example, should you pick the Soul Talent, you would not instantly be a master magician. You would still need to study and put in focused effort, and your progress would not translate to other schools of magic. For the Defences, it will allow you to combat the effect they defend against, but the effectiveness would depend on your own willpower. Now, enough talking, pick your World and the type of targets you would like to focus on!"
The Being then stared at me intently, obviously waiting for my decision. This was important however, so I decided to take my time. The first thing to consider, is that without the Tier system, any Waifus I chose would have to be for their own power or my own desires. They also needed to share a trait... That could be anything from hair colour to personality types. Deciding to approach this from another angle, I quickly created a list in my head of my top ten favourite fictional characters, then tried to find a common point between them.
When I did that, a rudimentary plan started forming in my mind. To ensure I was understanding the rules correctly, I asked Catharsis, "Can I create a list of my intended targets? That way if I bind a person who shares the chosen trait I don't use up my slot for that world."
The Monochrome Boy smiled, "Are you sure? It would lock you in to your choices, reducing your flexibility."
I nodded, "I'm sure. With that, I think I have a plan that would work."
He smiled that creepy, wide smile again, "It is an interesting one. Very well, I accept your proposed list of targets, your choice of World is Highschool DxD, your chosen Trait is Kuudere and your final target is Ophis, the Dragon of the Infinite." He whistled, "You don't aim low, do you?"
I shrugged, "What can I say, I am a power hungry person. That's why you picked me, isn't it?" As I said that, A screen opened up in front of me, with different options for the perks that were available to me. At the top, there was a statement;
Objective: Raise your House to the rank of Prince of Hell.
Browsing through the different tabs, I noticed that there were several things missing, such as Sweet Home, all of the Social Talents and any options for customising my start, such as Drop In or Paper Trail. Several more options, such as Fertility Calibration, Inexhaustible and Zenryoku Zenkai were greyed out.
Reading my mind, Catharsis explained, "I've already organised your start. You are starting as the last surviving member of House Sagan, one of the former Princes of Hell, hence your objective.
Sweet home is gone for my amusem*nt, as giving you a pocket dimension to hide is something you would abuse. The greyed out options will unlock once you Capture people with certain traits. As for the Social Talents, your biggest problem to solve would be the politics of the Underworld. Can't have you getting too much help with that, can I?"
House Sagan? If I remember my Demonology correctly, their power was something about... bindings? Chains? Something like that, it had been many years since my last in-depth study of Theology. The Social Talents were not a huge loss, as I was fairly confident in my ability to navigate social situations already, on top of me having limited slots. Looking at the options available to me, and who I planned to capture, I started to plan out my picks.
"Incidentally, How am I getting to these other worlds to capture people? Exit Stage Left isn't available." Indeed, the option wasn't even greyed out, simply missing.
"Oh." Catharsis waved a hand, "I'll be giving you the ability to Planeswalk. You will need to meditate to discover a world with the traits you want if you want a specific alternate reality to travel to, you can only stay for 24 hours at a time and the hops themselves have a month long cool down. Additionally, only those you capture can travel with you either way."
"That's generous. And powerful. And pretty abusable?" I said, immediately thinking of doing a short hop over to the Nasuverse to grab Avalon out of Shirou for some easy invuln.
"There is a restriction. You can't hop to worlds you don't plan to capture people in and once you have nabbed your designated target you can't go back." Of course.
"For a God who isn't used to dealing with Mortals, you sure are pretty savvy with gaming terms and loopholes." I observed.
Catharsis smiled, "Indeed, after all, some of the games you mortals construct can be amusing to observe, even if I can deduce the outcome."
I brought my hand down from the screen in front of me that I had been interacting with as we spoke, "I've finished."
He hummed, stroking his chin, "I see. Before you go, I need to clarify something about the Binding you chose. The Stamp will be visible to others, and anyone you stamp have to agree to serve you before you do so."
I frowned, not happy with the change, "They have to agree to the Stamp? Convincing them to accept a mind altering mark on their person will be very difficult, especially because I would only have 24 hours."
He held up a finger, "You misheard. They need to agree to serve you and likely consent to the mark itself, but you are under no obligation to disclose what the stamp actually does."
I smiled a cruel smile at his explanation, "This is another change specifically for your amusem*nt, I take it."
"Of course!" Came the cheerful reply.
I sighed, "Very well, it changes little in the end. I am ready."
The God nodded, and the realm we were inhabiting started to dissolve away. As I faded out of consciousness, his last words followed me into the darkness.
"Remember the most important thing: Have Fun and Live Well!"
