I became the private property of the Lord

The sky was as black as midnight, and the clouds seemed as if they could drip blood at any moment. At the end of the desolate hills lay rugged valleys, devoid of any trace of greenery. Caws of ravens echoed in the sky, quickly drowned out by the piercing howl of the wind. The scenery of the Demon City was always distinctive but thoroughly tiresome. Nelly gazed upon the dismal landscape before her, feeling a twinge of excitement: being near the Demon City meant that returning home was imminent. As an ordinary citizen of Earth, Nelly had only been trying out the latest game at a comic convention when she lucked into crossing over into the virtual world of the game. She was then informed by the infuriating system administrator: "Want to go home? Please guide a hundred brave heroes to defeat the demon king plaguing the continent." Nelly had been serving as the system sprite ever since, diligently achieving a 100% approval rating. As long as she assisted this final, hundredth hero in defeating the demon king, saving the world once and for all, she could finally return home. This last hero was named Karl, a taciturn young man with black hair and red eyes, who spoke little and rarely showed emotion. Yet Karl's combat prowess was astonishing—such as now, as he calmly wielded his greatsword, swiftly dispatching dozens of ferocious bloodthirsty bats before sheathing his sword at his waist, his composure unruffled as he nodded briefly and said, "Task completed, let's return to the city." Nelly was somewhat concerned about Karl's physical condition and asked anxiously, "Are you sure you don't want to rest first?" The black-haired youth silently shook his head, his expression calm yet resolute. If all heroes were this determined, Nelly had no choice but to activate the return scroll. A gentle white light enveloped them, and the desolate scenery outside gradually blurred. Though it was a virtual world, everything felt real to those within it. The journey in the scene had to be completed step by step; if they were to walk back to the city from the outskirts of the Demon City, it would take nearly half a day. Only during the return journey could they take a brief rest using items. After half a day of rushing for the task, Nelly felt mentally fatigued and stifled a yawn. Karl saw this and flashed a fleeting smile, but remained silent. The holy light flashed, and the scenery changed. A pungent odor assailed them, and upon closer inspection, they saw rows of dilapidated shacks, narrow, filthy alleys twisting and turning, with groups of rats scurrying through them and dirty stagnant water splashing lightly as raggedly clothed women paid them no mind, clutching tightly to their scriptures and black bread. This was the impoverished refugee slum outside the Demon City, the plight of the ordinary citizens ravaged by the demon king. Karl and Nelly stopped in a narrow alleyway before the marketplace, where the crooked signboards were smeared with dirt, barely recognizable as the "Oak Tree Inn." A pale-faced woman emerged from the dim doorway, her eyes lighting up upon seeing Karl. She hastily wiped her hands on her greasy apron and spoke with reverence and humility, "Thank you so much, great hero! Those cursed bats..." Before the amiable innkeeper could finish her grateful speech, Karl dropped the bag filled with bat fangs to the ground and turned to leave. Nelly apologized awkwardly, "Please don't mind him, Karl... he's just... unaware." The innkeeper waved her hand kindly, "It's okay. May the gods bless the great hero, may he vanquish the evil demon king soon. Little Nelly, you've also worked hard!" With that, she handed Nelly an experience crystal and a hefty leather pouch, then glanced around and carefully pulled out a leaf-wrapped triangle, handing it to Nelly, "This is a gift for little Nelly." Nelly couldn't help but sniff the cheese, a rare delicacy. Not to mention fresh cheese, even ordinary milk was scarce here. This gift was truly precious, and Nelly felt undeserving. Before she could refuse, the innkeeper had already turned and returned to the inn. Thanking her again loudly, Nelly turned around, only to see Karl waiting for her in the center of the marketplace. The black-haired youth was tall and slender, clad in hero's attire, standing out even while standing still. With his deep, captivating eyes and marble-like complexion, he was indeed appealing to the people of Veldia, as evidenced by the blushing flower girl hesitantly lingering nearby with her basket. Nelly hurried to catch up, but before she could speak, Karl cut her off, "I've given you everything—experience and items." Nelly felt a wave of helplessness. She remembered when she first met Karl in the novice village, she introduced herself, and the youth glanced at her expressionlessly before silently going to find the village chief to receive a task. At the chief's house, he didn't wait for the chief to finish his plea for help before turning and leaving; after dealing with the troublesome foxes, he completed the task and left without a word, leaving behind a cool and indifferent figure. At that time, Nelly was so flustered that she took the task reward and followed, but Karl didn't even spare her a glance, and finally said his first words to her: "I've given you everything—experience and items." Nelly was stunned for a long time without regaining her senses. This hero... is he really okay? Not only in the novice village, but since then, Karl hadn't asked for any experience crystals or equipment, relying solely on his initial raggedy white gear to carve a path through the bloodshed. Under his insistence, Nelly had leveled up all the way, with her only auxiliary skill approaching maximum. But her skill was truly useless: a 0.01% chance to deal 150% damage to the target's health, it was really... not worth it. Among the ninety-nine heroes she had previously brought along, Nelly had never enjoyed such treatment. Unlike the initial sprite used for communication and guidance, heroes seemed to prefer sharing experience with higher-level sprites collected later to increase their chances of defeating the demon king. By the way, Karl, who clearly didn't need any assistance, hadn't completed any side quests to acquire higher-level sprites, seeming to deliberately avoid them. "We're about to confront the demon king, doesn't Karl want to level up to ensure safety?" Suppressing the urge to facepalm, Nelly dutifully reminded the hero to be careful, following the guidelines of the system sprite's professional code of conduct. Karl, however, had already started walking, his hero's cape fluttering, without looking back: "I don't need it." Nelly could only resign herself to following, feeling deflated as she asked, "Should we continue with the next task?" "Mm." Nelly pretended to check the map, but her attention was elsewhere: she already knew the task process by heart and just wanted to look at Karl's character file again. Despite not caring about the ridiculously high basic ability parameters, the character's affinity parameter under the character section was quite impressive—all female characters had zero affinity, and the emotional subplot was blank.This hero, Mr. Karl, is really quite different. Out of the 99 heroes that Neily had previously encountered, not including those who had harems, at least one would have started a romantic relationship with a female character. Especially with the Rose Princess from the previous map – she was beautiful, pure, kind, and brave. Most heroes would have been inspired by her and fought passionately, eager to prove their loyalty and admiration for the Princess with their blood. But Karl didn't even spare a glance for the Princess, making him truly one of a kind. While it's comforting in a way, Neily couldn't help but worry about Karl's mental state. It's a bit lonely to save the world all by himself, even after everything. "Why not check out the temple over there, Karl? It sounds like there's a girl crying," Neily asked with genuine concern, subtly hinting at the last emotional subplot. Karl glanced at her upon hearing her words, his voice calm as he replied, "No need." "But what if that girl is in danger? Karl, you're a hero after all!" Shouldn't heroes have a duty to protect the weak? At least try to get into character a bit, young man! Karl's steps halted. Neily thought he had finally realized his duty as a hero and looked at him hopefully, but all Karl said was, "It's none of my concern." Karl's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if he was displeased with Neily's suggestion. Lowering his long, somewhat feminine eyelashes, he continued in the same calm tone, "I won't fall for any other woman." Neily was taken aback. It seemed he saw right through her intentions. But why was he so resistant to the emotional subplot? "Alright, I understand. Let's move on to the next task then," Neily said, feeling inexplicably flustered. She redirected her gaze to the map in front of her, but Karl waved his hand to close the system interface, approached her, and said with unusual seriousness, "Neily, I only like you."