The Devil Who Makes Contracts
One must think carefully before entering into a contract.
Especially if that contract is with a devil who asks, “Do you desire power?” ……
“After all, a devil has no reason to lend humans power without taking something in return.”
In my case, I lend them strength in exchange for the contractor’s soul upon death.
And before every contract, I always lay out the rules the human must obey.
First: never reveal the identity of the devil you have contracted with.
Second: never become addicted to the power the devil lends you.
Third: never forget why you sought that power in the first place.
Great power always comes with great responsibility.
I wanted to guide them so that no other victims would be born because of me.
……After all, I was once human myself.
“You understand the rules, don’t you? If you break them, you will……”
“Understood, Little Devil! So if I contract with you, I’ll become an S-class Devil Hunter just like your other contractors, right?!”
“……Haa. I told you not to go around saying that.”
Yet……
Most of the people who contracted with me never kept even the first rule.
*
This is the story of when I was still human.
“……Do you desire power?”
Seoul at midnight.
Lying on the roadside, bleeding out, I suddenly heard a voice inside my head.
At the sound, I forced my fading consciousness to focus and slowly looked around.
Through blurred vision, I saw a massive black Cerberus rampaging across the road.
And one by one, my comrades being torn apart by the monster.
Right…… I had been fighting that thing and collapsed.
“You there. Do you desire power?”
The voice came again.
A cold, emotionless voice of a young girl.
I didn’t know who she was, but watching my comrades die one after another, I clenched my teeth and nodded.
“……Understood. The contract is formed.”
The moment she finished speaking, a strange sensation flooded through my body.
Shattered bones realigned, flowing blood stopped, and every muscle in my body surged with explosive power.
I rose at once and snatched up the sword lying beside my fallen comrade.
“The condition of the contract is your demonization.”
Only a few seconds later—
—Slash!
—Kwaaaaaaaa……!
The Cerberus was cleaved clean in half by a single full-powered swing of my blade.
The corpse of the slain Cerberus dissolved into black mist and slowly vanished.
“Enjoy the devil’s power for the remaining year.”
The thrill of victory lasted only a moment.
In the puddle of blood mixed from the Cerberus and my comrades, I saw my own reflection.
……!
……Inverse Eyes.
The whites and pupils of my eyes had swapped colors.
From that moment, I roughly understood.
The owner of the voice in my head was a devil.
From that day on, my life as a mere C-class Devil Hunter was turned upside down.
—Slash!
“Th-thank you for saving me, Devil Hunter!”
“……”
Having received the devil’s power, I spent the following days cutting down countless devils and rescuing the citizens of this city.
My rank skyrocketed from C-class to B-class in a single month, then to A-class two months after that.
My market value multiplied several times over, and offers for advertisements and sponsorships poured in.
……And finally—
“Thanks to you, we were able to stop the devils once again. You are now the light of the Republic of Korea, Kang Sihyun.”
“……”
After slaying an S-class devil that had emerged from a gate, I was selected as the top Devil Hunter at the award ceremony held by the Association’s administrative office.
The Association executive offered words of comfort and presented me with a commendation medal and a plaque of appreciation.
It seemed that to everyone else, my eyes looked normal again.
[S-class Devil Hunter Kang Sihyun — Plaque of Appreciation]
‘S-class……’
The pinnacle of Devil Hunters.
The highest realm that only 0.001% of Devil Hunters could ever reach.
After hunting devils indiscriminately, I had somehow been promoted to S-class.
……Yeah.
At this point, my parents—who had been killed in a devil attack—would surely be satisfied.
After the ceremony, I carefully tucked the plaque away and returned home.
The moment I stepped through the front door, the cold voice of a young girl echoed in my mind.
“One hour remains until the day of the contract.”
“……”
“You have collected over a thousand devil souls. Well done. This body will make good use of yours.”
……So that’s how it was.
Come to think of it, a whole year had already passed.
No wonder I had felt the urge to kill humans while hunting devils all this time.
I had barely endured with sheer willpower, but now I could feel my limit approaching.
All because of the devil.
‘So that’s why she lent me power—to collect devil souls.’
Thousands of souls.
If she descended into this world using my body, she would surely bring about a great calamity.
……I made my decision.
I would not let things go her way.
“I have one last question.”
“Ask anything.”
“You can’t freely control the contractor’s body, can you?”
“Why do you want to know that?”
“So I was right. Then……”
I pulled a rope from the drawer, climbed onto a chair, and tied the rope to the ceiling.
Then, with the noose around my neck, I kicked the chair away.
“Y-you…… what are you doing……?”
“You can’t have this body.”
“Kkh…… You fool……”
—Creak.
“How foolish. Even if you meet death, there are still ways to reclaim the soul!”
“……”
“Very well. In that case, I shall make you suffer the same eternal torment as I!”
As the rope tightened around my neck, my vision darkened.
Her shrieking voice rang in my head, but I could no longer respond.
Thus, S-class Hunter Kang Sihyun quietly vanished into the darkness.
A vast, empty place with no voice, no regret.
That silence hadn’t felt so bad.
*
“Hahk, hahk……!”
The silence shattered.
When I came to, I was lying in a pitch-black space.
Still half-dazed, I pushed myself up and noticed a mirror beside me.
A black mirror framed with skulls.
My reflection stared back from within.
“Wh-what is this……?!”
The figure in the mirror was not my original self, but a girl with short, curly pink hair tipped in purple, styled in twin braids.
……A small, flat-chested girl wearing a gothic dress, black gloves, and stockings, with two black horns sprouting from her temples.
Unable to believe the reflection, I lowered my head and examined my own body.
……It was exactly the same as the one in the mirror, and a wave of unease washed over me.
“Don’t tell me…… I’ve been possessed by the devil I contracted with……?!”
Now that I noticed, even my voice had changed into a cold, emotionless female tone.
……Somehow, my manner of speech felt strangely girlish as well.
Unease rising, I turned my head this way and that, scanning my surroundings.
‘Is there any way out of here?’
But no matter how much I looked, there was nothing but the mirror.
Wondering if the mirror itself might hold some clue, I reached out and touched it.
……At that moment, a strange hallucination appeared before my eyes.
You have been reassigned as an Imp!
Your soul and body are now bound to a devil.
Accordingly, the unregistered soul ‘Kang Sihyun’ has been temporarily assigned to the body of the devil he contracted with.
Current Body: Imp Asmode
Position: Contract Manager
Rank: C-class Devil
This was the so-called status window I had only ever heard about.
After carefully examining it, a chill ran down my spine.
It seemed I had become a devil.
I didn’t know what the original owner had been thinking when she handed her body over to me……
‘I will never let things go the way you want.’
At least I could still keep my sanity—that was something.
I reached out and scrolled through the status window floating before my eyes.
‘……Body collapse?’
Perhaps it would be better to simply disappear like this.
Quietly meeting my end here might be the way to erase this devil as well.
At that moment—
Noise flickered across the mirror, and the image of a human began to appear.
Amid the ruins of a collapsing building—
A woman with long black hair, wearing a black uniform and beret, stood bleeding.
……From her attire, she was a Devil Hunter.
Clutching a broken sword, she was fighting dozens of gargoyle-like monsters.
A human seeking a contract has been detected!
The target is currently in mortal danger.
The target’s voice is now connected.
“Kkh…… When the hell is the support team getting here……?”
A desperate female voice echoed from beyond the mirror.
Behind her, three wounded children watched her with pleading eyes.
“God, devil—anyone……!”
Between coughs of blood, her desperate whisper reached me.
“Please…… give me the power to save my little siblings……”
“……”
I had intended to quietly accept oblivion.
‘Of all things…… family.’
Of all the people who could have appeared in the mirror first, it had to be someone I couldn’t just watch die.