The Contract (2)

The day after the publicity shoot wrapped, Elise climbed into a luxury sedan bound for the academy.

"Haaah. I'm so tired."

"You've had a long day, miss."

"Mm."

She set her clutch down with the ease of long habit, poured a glass of wine sealed under a preservation spell, and let the aroma bloom across her senses. That sweet noble-rot wine. Château d'Yquem — Elise's favorite.

"Victoria Academy certainly works fast. The article is already up."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're a Victoria Academy promotional model, are you not?"

"We shot those yesterday and they're already live?"

"Yes. It appears they are."

Elise tapped her smartwatch and opened Everyday. A post ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠titled Victoria Academy PR Models Photos.jpg had been boosted to the top of the feed, plastered across the screen like a billboard.

"It's actually up…"

"Would I lie to you, miss? Heh."

They had said the photos would run not only on the official Victoria Academy homepage but as ads all over the place, so an article going up wasn't the issue. Even granting that they worked fast, though — was this even possible? They had finished shooting yesterday and the ads were already built today?

Frowning, she tapped the post.

"What."

One photograph. Just one. They had only uploaded the shot the student council had taken.

If they were just going to post the first one anyway, why did we spend so long shooting…!

Elise trembled, swallowed her temper, and skimmed the comments.

A flood of comments raving about their looks, and not one of them stirred anything in her. She had been hearing the same thing her entire life.

"Whew."

At least all those photos they had worked so hard on weren't going to waste.

"Oh, please. Did that bastard post this himself?"

He was handsome, fine — but not that handsome. Watching a comment that had gone past praise and straight into worship, Elise felt a prickle of irritation for no good reason.

"If you didn't know the way, you should've just said so."

"…That can happen. Nobody's perfect all the time."

"Well, I have to admit, seeing your human side felt kind of nice. Even I didn't imagine that walking toward the central fountain would land us at the academy's outer walls, though."

"…"

"Pfft."

The conversation she had shared with Lee Ho-yeon flickered through her mind. It had been a long time since she had felt this particular, inexplicable kind of annoyance.

She had been annoyed as a child when her older sister stole her toys, and again in kindergarten when that same sister stole her closest friend — but this was not that feeling.

Elise had never been teased in her life. The things she had endured since she was small, the things people called "teasing," had sounded like this:

"That fucking bitch. It's not even like she's talented and looking down on people."

"Obviously she's spreading her legs for everyone behind closed doors."

"Her old man's a thief to begin with. Why would the daughter be any different?"

She had never experienced a joke. From childhood she had been steeped in envy and jealousy, and what she had received was not teasing. It was condemnation.

Which was why Lee Ho-yeon's "teasing" left her with this strange, unplaceable irritation.

She had learned how to let groundless criticism roll off her back when she was still a child. Talentless people tearing her down did not make her angry. If anything, she felt sorry for them.

But Lee Ho-yeon was not lacking compared to Elise in any respect. She could not send pity after his teasing. All that remained was that strange irritation.

And so the verdict Elise handed down on Lee Ho-yeon was this:

A weirdo.

It left her feeling oddly insulted, and yet nothing he said was exactly wrong. The longer they talked the more annoyed she got, and yet she did not want the conversation to end. She would not deny that his face did a considerable amount of the work.

But these were feelings she had never had in her life. And those strange feelings had made Elise honest.

"You crazy bitch… what were you even thinking, saying that?"

The unguarded truth she had let slip. Even now, just remembering it, heat crawled up her face. She had felt herself go red the instant the words left her mouth, and she had fled the spot like she was running from a crime scene.

"Haaah… this is so annoying."

Elise still could not understand why she had said something so embarrassing.

"…The fuck is this."

A Contract of the Hellish Delinquent. I had figured whatever crawled out of it would be a nightmare. I had not figured the nightmares would be this specific.

Number one was an automatic no. What the hell was a "human-flesh-crazed butcher ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shop owner demon Lucifer" supposed to be? Summon that thing and I was pretty sure I'd end up as the meat hanging in his shop.

I didn't even want to talk about the next delinquent. I already didn't like that it was a guy — and a mass-pickup incubus from Hell Academy? I briefly considered whether he might be useful for my conquests, then pictured him pretending to help while he NTR'd me from behind. Get lost.

Number three: a twenty-year F-class mercenary. The grit of a veteran who'd never won a fight. Centaur.

"Damn. They sure used a lot of words to say this guy's a loser."

Pass.

Which left number four… and as options went, she was probably the least terrible.

Succubus. A word that did things to a man's chest. But a fifty-year-old virgin succubus, master of spinning webs? What if I got a middle-aged housewife instead of a succubus babe?

"Still. It's not like I've got another choice."

If I was going to pick, I might as well do it fast. I reached out and tapped option four on the floating system window — The Fifty-Year-Old Virgin Succubus, Master of Spinning Webs.

A burst of light. The system window vanished, and in the space where the contract had been, mist boiled up as enormous magic circles began to draw themselves across the air.

"Oh…"

The arrays were too high-tier for me to parse completely, but Mana Sensitivity gave me the rough shape of them. From here to there is the summoning. The left side is coordinates. The rest I can't read. My level was still too low to understand the whole thing.

"Nnhhh…"

The mist thinned, and a woman's moan drifted out of it. The voice alone sounded like it belonged to someone beautiful — but it was too early to relax.

The fog peeled away completely. A woman in something that looked like a tracksuit was slumped on the floor.

"Uh. Hey. Are you… okay?"

Her black hair was dry and unkempt, but her skin was flawless, without a single blemish. Her waist cinched in slim and her hips were the childbearing kind. The chest looked like an F-cup. She had a pleasant face. Nothing about her said fifty-year-old ajumma.

Like how a two-hundred-and-fifty-year-old elf counted as twenty-five in human years? Something like that?

"Miss? You're all right, I hope?"

She looked like she was in her twenties no matter how you sliced it. But the contract had said fifty, so I gave her the polite treatment.

"Ugh, fuck. I was about to run a raid — where the hell is this? So annoying."

Yeah. I think I'm fucked.

"Ah, fuck. These assholes are actually hopeless."

Clackclackclackclack. I hammered the keyboard at a blistering speed.

"Oh my god. I am actually going to lose it."

If these assholes were supposed to be the future of Hell and lead it forward, Hell's future was looking pretty dark. I was not in the mood to keep playing. I was also hungry.

Gulp, gulp.

"Fuuu."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drained the drink sitting next to my monitor and left the room. Mom happened to be in the living room. She looked wrecked, like she'd been out somewhere exhausting. The wrinkles on her face were stacking up. It was about time she left her fortune behind and went to join the First Demon King.

"Mooom. If you're not doing anything, get me something to eat. I'm huuungry."

"Liliana! You canceled another matchmaking meeting?!"

"Ah, hurry up, I've been gaming so long I'm getting dizzy."

"I just got home from overtime and you're telling me you've been rotting in your room all day?!"

"Didn't you say you were buying meat today? Why are you empty-handed?"

SLAM.

"Meat is not the issue right now! Do you have any idea how important this chance was?!"

Jesus. She scared me. Why is she slamming the table?

Lecture time, again. I let the noise behind me slide in one ear and out the other and went back to my room. I was hungry, sure, but I'd rather starve than sit through another sermon. Living was hard. So hard.

The door cut the volume down a little. I logged back in. My teammates were too stupid for group content, so I'd just go run a raid.

SLAM.

Mom followed me in, determined to ruin my break.

"You! I am not letting this go today!"

She was coming in hotter than usual. Following me all the way into my room — what was her problem?

"Listen to your mother! Why would you do that, why?! This was really your last chance! You're fifty now. What succubus in Hell is still unmarried at fifty?!"

"Just leave me alone! Why would I marry some broke, ugly orc?! Are you actually insane?"

"You crazy girl. Then you should have gotten married already. You hit your coming-of-age and then spent fifteen years doing nothing but gaming, and now you want to say that?"

"Mom. We live to a thousand. Fifty means I've still got nine hundred and fifty years left. I have a game to play, so get out."

"I'm a succubus too! A succubus! I trusted you this time!"

"Yeah, yeah, one second. Just grabbing potions and I'll go~."

I had communicated my intent to play, so I turned my eyes back to the monitor. The merchant bastards had been hoarding potions, so they were ridiculously expensive. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I should sue every last one of them.

"Aigoo, I am actually going to lose my mind. Liliana. How old are you, and what exactly do you think you're missing that you act like this!"

"Yes, yes, I'm going."

The raid party was waiting on me. I just needed to join—

Click.

I was about to enter the raid and the internet just died.

"Huh? What?"

"If this is how you're going to be, get out of this house."

The ethernet cable was in Mom's hand. I was about to go into a raid. Why would she do this.

"Mom, wait. I'll talk, I swear, just one hour. There are people I have to play with right now."

"How long are you going to keep doing this? I'm tired too. I really am."

"Okay, I get it! Mom. I'll listen from now on. Just put that down first."

"Liliana, please… let's stop. Mom is so, so tired…"

"You think I'm doing this because I want to play games? There are people in the game!"

"Hic… hic…"

Oh, for fuck's sake. Mom clutched the cable and started wailing. Great. If she got tears in the port the whole line was going to short.

A burst of light. What the fuck. Weird letters bloomed in front of my eyes.

Four Great Delinquents? What was a delinquent?

I could tell the word didn't sound great.

Another burst.

Huh? Automatic employment services, what is—

A burst of light.

"Liliana! Where did you run off to this time!"