Leveling Endlessly With My Harem

Max sat in front of the mirror, as he looked at his appearance. It wasn't handsome, as this was the novel's start, so he wasn't worried about it.

The mirror reflected a young man in his late teenage years, with a head full of messy red and white hair. His eyes were also of the same two colours, making him look weird since he never really cared for himself.

Sadly, his body was also pretty malnourished so there was no way Max could actually look after his appearance.

'Hmm, I did give him a rough start so all is fine. I'll just need to improve from here on.'

"Max! What are you doing instead of tending to horses? Don't you know Master will leave in half an hour?"

Max groaned, as he turned around, only to find a bald middle-aged man, with a pot belly, walking towards him. His eyes were burning with fire, as he glared at the young man.

Ignoring his glare, Max smiled and said, "It's already done, John. You can go and check it."

"Is that so..." John didn't seem to believe it so he went around the stable and checked the horses, especially the giant dark stallion with smoke coming out of its nostrils every time it breathed.

John smiled in satisfaction and said, "For the first time you did something good. I'll ask my superiors to raise your pay."

"Hehe, Master John is generous as ever," Max bowed slightly and said.

"Don't try to flatter me," John waved his hand in dismissal, but his smile said otherwise. "Also, get ready as you'll work as the Gatherer today. Use this chance well and maybe Master will take you in."

After patting Max's head, John left the stable, leaving the young man alone to his thoughts. And that was exactly what Max wanted as he needed to sort out his thoughts and make some plans.

'Miss Kafka? Are you there?' Max asked, as he sat down on a wooden stool.

[Of course, I am here. Also, stop with that Miss. We're partners now, at least for this journey so stop with formalities.]

'True! I'll just call you Kafka then.'

[No, that's a little too much. How about you call me Big Sis?]

'Nope!'

[Is that so...]

[In ten seconds, the system will be deactivated.]

'Wait, wait? What the hell!' Max was bewildered as he quickly said. 'That's cheating. Also, didn't you say you wouldn't interfere in worldly matters?'

[It's my personal matter.]

'Tsk! Fine, Big Sis Kafka,' Max clicked his tongue and silently thought. 'Let's see what you call yourself after we're together.'

[Hehe, Good boy. Anyway, what are you going to do now? Gonna follow the plot?]

'Yes, I need my cheat after all. Even with the system, I know it's very important so I'll take it,' Max answered, closing his eyes and going through the initial chapters he wrote.

It was, as usual, a clichéd start with the protagonist being in the lowest clan of the lowest world of the lowest universe...and Max was the caretaker of horses who managed and looked after them.

As for his parents, one of them was the very Master he was working for and his mother...yeah, that was complicated. All in all, he had lived a shit life and Max knew that very well.

After all, he made that start because it would give more scenes for the MC to look badass and take revenge, followed by face-slapping moments.

But for that, he needed to get his cheat and for that, he needed to accompany his Master slash father and hope nobody noticed his actions.

Well, as long as he was successful in running away, it was fine.

[That's good! You can enter a Rift or two to level up and become OP. But...]

'But?'

[I added a catch. You can't get EXP from monsters of lower level and rank than you. Basically, you will get nothing if you go on a massacre of unfortunate souls.]

'Woah! I'm getting my nerfs already. Damn it! It doesn't feel good!' Max cursed and then thought about the world he had made.

It wasn't something extraordinary, but good nonetheless. It was a mixture of cultivation and dungeons, with many rifts opening all across the world and four giant labyrinths supporting the four Empires.

'Well, that also means the invasion from Internals. I really need to look on a lot of things. But that will begin after I have my cheat so let's start with that.'

[Sure, by the way here is your status screen.]

...

[Status Screen]

Name: Maxwell Corelhelm

Rank: None (arms weak as chicken limbs)

Overall Level: 0

EXP: 0/10

Health: 95%

Stamina: 99%

Energy Reserves: -

...

"Thanks for reminding me how weak I am," Max rolled his eyes and said.

[Then, change it.]

"I will! Also, what about stats?"

[Too lazy to balance it with every rank and levels. You made the world a mix of cultivation and litrpg anyways. Just enjoy.]

Max rolled his eyes but didn't complain. He never liked those calculations anyways so it was fine to have a soft Litrpg system. As long as he got stronger, nothing else mattered.

'Still, even the health and stamina is in percentage.'

He also saw a few more options in dark colour, which would probably unlock once he became stronger.

...

After changing his clothes to a simple shirt and pants, Max was waiting in the stable for his Master. On his side, the big black stallion was releasing smoke as if he had smoked ten cigarettes simultaneously.

'Weird guy!'

After a few minutes, his Master Anvil Corelhelm, the King of Corelhelm Kingdom, walked in with his people. Max instantly dropped to his knees, as he said, "Greetings, Your Majesty. Your horse is ready."

"Hmm," the king didn't say anything and simply got onto his ride. He could have used his luxurious cars, but he was going on a normal hunt with his friends and ministers so this was more important.

Max kept his head bowed the whole time they travelled towards the Silso Greenlands. Although he didn't like the king, that didn't mean he would act recklessly and get himself killed.

He just needed to be patient and run after getting his cheat.

After getting near the forest, Anvil lowered his strength and took out his bow. Notching an arrow on it, he shot it at a deer-like monster who instantly collapsed with blood running through its fur.

"Haha! As expected of Your Majesty. You're proficient in spear skills but you're also best in archery."

The ministers got busy in praising the king to Ninth Heaven, as Max went forward and collected the rewards of the successful hunt. This went on for almost three hours and only then was he given a chance to rest.

However, instead of taking rest, Max went towards his target location. He was dead tired because the original protagonist never really worked so just this much was enough to make him tired.

But he wouldn't let such an opportunity pass.

So, he managed to get away and reached his destination, which was twin trees combed together like braids of hair. At their bottom, there was a very small cave, only big enough to let a child inside.

His target and something that made Maxwell the true protagonist.