The Borrowed Contract

The demon world? I had been summoned as a demon, but I wasn't one. I was just a tactical plague doctor cosplayer wandering through a ruined game world in search of its ending. For that reason, my contractor's class wasn't listed as 'Demon Contractor' but simply as 'Contractor.' Contractor, huh. Just hearing the name made it sound like some generic summoner-type job, the kind you'd find anywhere. But according to the appraisers, it was a brand-new class that hadn't appeared in over a decade. Thanks to that, expectations for the unregistered skills this Contractor would awaken were through the roof. And the Contractor's skills did not disappoint those expectations.

The skill's name was Contract. Its ability was... 'Partial borrowing of the contracted target's abilities.' In simple terms, it meant I could temporarily borrow a portion of the target's power. Just from the description alone, couldn't you feel it? That thick, unmistakable aura of overpowered bullshit unique to new classes? Whether it was limited to skills or extended to overall physical stats was still unknown, but that was something we could confirm starting now.

“O original sin blooming from the abyss, O slave of pleasure seeking amusement...!”

I naturally met the hand reaching confidently toward me, staring into those two eyes glowing with mysterious violet light.

“Please, could you lend me your strength?”

Unlike that anxious day before, the voice was now filled with trust and conviction, piercing straight into my chest without a single tremor.

I quietly observed that faint smile—his or hers—and listened to the notification brushing past my ear, the cluster of text blocking my view. I stared at the translucent window for a moment before slowly lowering my gaze.

“....”

“....”

Not some twisted mutant or insane lunatic, but an ordinary human. A child who looked no older than a middle schooler. Shoulder-length black hair and an androgynous face that made gender identification catastrophically difficult. An anachronistic oversized, worn robe and legs trembling faintly, still carrying the exhaustion of running through the exam grounds. A boy or girl—it was impossible to tell—suffering from terminal chuunibyou, the kind that showed up for survivors who had reached the doorstep of the ending.

If that was what the person who had pulled me out of that damned hell wanted, then...

“Anytime.”

I would become their strength.

Grab!

Our eyes met, and power surged into the two hands that firmly clasped each other. At that instant—

The Contractor's hair and robe began to flap violently. The fluttering black strands and robe created an eerie atmosphere.

“Ugh.”

As if struggling against being consumed by an unclean power, the Contractor clutched one side of their face with one hand and dropped to one knee. Violet light leaked between their fingers, glowing with mysterious brilliance. I didn't want to say this in a situation like this, but the sight really did look like a middle schooler deep in chuunibyou.

Contractor, what the hell are you doing all of a sudden? Did a black flame dragon possess your right eye or something...?

“Adventurer, are you alright?”

“What in the world is happening, nyang!?”

The women, unable to hide their shock at the sudden abnormality, rushed toward the Contractor. However—

“Regina, it's dangerous, nyang!”

“Eek!!?”

Before they could take more than two steps, they were forced to stop. A massive black wing had burst from the Contractor's back and swept around them as if to embrace and shield them.

“Crow! Why is Kkachi acting like that all of a sudden, nyang!”

“....”

Even to Sion's urgent question, I could only remain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠silent. I had no idea why this was happening either. So I asked.

Kkachi, why are you doing this all of a sudden?

......

Perhaps Kkachi was also affected by the Contractor's change, because no response came—only the cry of a small animal. I was starting to get a little worried.

...This is okay, right?

I hoped nothing had gone wrong. Please, let it be nothing serious....

A dull sky covered in ashen clouds, robbed of all light. Strange creatures drifted slowly through the air, casting shadows below. Buildings of bizarre architecture rose like needles into the sky, likely built to house as many people as possible, standing in endless rows. But now those buildings were no longer homes for the living. They stood precariously like enormous tombstones.

The roads stretching across the ground were unnaturally straight and dark, leading onward like paths into an endless abyss. The asphalt, cracked everywhere and crusted with dried blood, carried ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fishy metallic stench. A small child wearing an oversized black robe stared at this ruined world with trembling black eyes.

“This place... it can't be...?”

The demon world?

The demon world. The other side of the realm where demons were said to have bloomed. Had they really been sent there?

...Why?

As if to answer the question, a familiar window appeared in Yuri's vision.

“Borrow... experience? Survive for the limited time?”

Don't tell me I'm supposed to personally experience Raven-nim's past!?

In this incomprehensible situation, Yuri read the text on the translucent window over and over again, half out of her mind. She tried her hardest to stay composed, but the absence of the adult she had relied on and the terror of this unfamiliar environment came crashing over her like a tidal wave.

“Wh-what is this... What am I supposed to do now...? How am I even supposed to survive in the demon world in the first place? Is there even any food for people here?”

The trembling in her pupils spread until her entire body was shaking. At some point the translucent window vanished like mist.

“Ah....”

Even the last remnant of the goddess had disappeared. Now only she remained. Just like back then, when she had been losing her light amid indifference. She was alone again.

“....”

Yuri, who had been staring into empty space with sunken eyes, turned her head. A dirty window on what looked like a wide carriage with black wheels. Reflected faintly in the glass, smeared with dirt and bloody handprints, was a small figure.

A piece of trash that had committed the worst sins from the moment of birth. A complete idiot whose only talent was creating a tiny bit of light with magic. An incompetent Contractor who could do nothing but rely on her familiar. That was her. Yuri.

“Sigh... What could someone like me possibly do without Raven-nim's help, Goddess....”

Yuri looked at her own small, insignificant reflection in the filthy window and gave a self-mocking smile. But despite her self-deprecating words, her black eyes remained fixed on one point, burning with fierce determination.

“What can I really do?”

As she spoke, Yuri gently stroked the brand on her neck—the mark of the contract that looked like a burn scar. At the same time, the trembling throughout her body stopped. She slowly lowered her hand, then clenched her weak fingers into a tight fist.

“...I can do it.”

No. She had to do it. Unlike the past when she had wandered alone in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠darkness, she now had an adult who was like a lighthouse guiding her way. Even if the lighthouse was a little far away, if she followed the remnants of its light, she would eventually reach it again. Yuri believed that. Otherwise she felt like she would lose her mind right then and there.

“Get a grip.”

Slap!

Yuri, who had been looking at the timer in the corner of her vision with half-lidded eyes, lightly slapped both cheeks with her hands to steady her mind and shake off stray thoughts. But then—

Scraaaape.....

A disgusting sound, like someone wiping a window with a dry towel, tickled her ears.

“...?”

Goosebumps rose all over her body. Was something nearby? Yuri, who had been leaning against the front door of the car, unconsciously turned her head toward the sound. At the end of the black road, beneath an overturned wide carriage with black wheels, a half-open window. From that narrow gap, something like a red mass was trying to crawl out.

Thump. Thump.

Her heart, which had just calmed after she pulled herself together, began pounding again with tension. Her instincts screamed. To survive... she had to get away from that thing.

I need to hide.

Yuri pushed off the car and carefully moved behind the trunk to conceal herself. She wanted to run away immediately, but the fear that the moment she showed her back she would be chased by that bizarre entity paralyzed her legs.

Peeking her head out from behind the car, Yuri secretly observed the thing trying to squeeze out of the window gap.

Too far.

Her eyes narrowed, sharpening her blurry focus until the red mass came into full view.

“Hup!”

Yuri hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands to stop a scream from escaping.

...What the hell is that!?

Scraaaape.......

A body made of jumbled human body parts and organs, long and slimy like a slug. It moved forward by repeatedly contracting and expanding its body, as if a caterpillar were using the wrinkles on its skin, slowly crawling out while stuck in the car window.

Scraaaape.....

Every time the pus-dripping body contracted, a sickening sound echoed from the window glass caught between its red folds. If Raven had seen it, he probably would have said something ridiculous like “Is tonight's dinner meatballs?” But Yuri, who had no resistance to such grotesque scenes, fought down the bile rising in her throat and held her breath in silence.

Splat.

A sound like wet laundry being thrown onto hard ground. It was the noise of the thing, the size of an adult male, finally slipping completely out of the window gap. The blue-black organs protruding like tentacles from its surface dangled limply onto the asphalt. Then, like a snake raising its head, it lifted its upper body.

Sluuuuurp....

It slowly turned its body toward where Yuri was hiding.

Ugh....

At the same time, Yuri placed a hand over her chest and fully hid behind the trunk.

It didn't see me, right?

Nightmarish imaginations swirled through her head. The stronger her anxiety grew, the more violently her body trembled. Yuri bit her tongue to keep any sound from leaking out, covered her mouth, and curled up beneath her robe, praying that the grotesque lump of meat would turn its attention elsewhere.

.......

After staying like that for a long time—

Did it leave?

Yuri, who had been lying face-down on the asphalt with her robe pulled over her head for more than thirty minutes, slowly raised her head as she felt the stinging sensation in her legs and the dull ache in her waist.

Thud.

Her breath caught in her throat with a sensation like her heart had dropped.

“Ah.”

“...Uwae?”

Hanging upside down from an abnormally thick, bright red cord growing from its navel was a wrinkly red baby staring straight at her. If Yuri had any medical knowledge, she would have realized it was a fetus still attached to an umbilical cord. But even if she had known, the shock would have been the same.

“Abuuueh....”

It was smiling so happily that its gums were fully visible. Every time it opened and closed its mouth, a revolting fishy stench wafted out.

“Ugh... Uuuugh....”

She couldn't understand it. It was scary. Disgusting. Filthy. And at the end of all that—

She was furious.

Because when humans face unavoidable terror, they become the most violent creatures of all.

“What the hell are you looking at, you damn babyyyyyy!!!”

Thuuud!!!

The mutant 'pregnant mother' that didn't know any better lost the 'child' that had been like its own eye to Yuri's straight punch.

—Kyeeeeeeeeeeek!

The sorrowful cry of a mother who had lost her child echoed through the desolate city.

. . .

Meanwhile, Kkachi, who had been hiding inside Yuri's robe and watching the entire scene, was...

Oh my... You're truly amazing. Savior!

Quietly admiring Yuri's sparkling talent for slaughter—no, for survival.