A malnourished young man lay motionless in the alley, bruises covering his frail body. His pale blond hair and ragged clothes gave him a pitiful look.
Alex. That was his name.
He had been living on the streets with no support since he turned eighteen. To most people, he had always been a joke—but his death felt like a cruel one. Alex survived one year alone. By the time he turned nineteen, he was beaten to death in a random alley by a group of low-leveled Dungeon Delvers who simply couldn't stand the sight of him. They left the place cursing as they walked away.
"Stupid kid thought he could steal our loot. What a loser."
"No one will miss this homeless piece of shit."
The sad part? They weren't wrong. No one would give a damn about Alex's death. It might become a brief story on the news for a day or two, but soon enough, after long shifts at work or exhausting runs through the dungeons, everyone would forget. People died every single day. Alex was no different.
Well… it turned out things were different for him.
His eyes shot open, the blue sky above him feeling painfully out of place. Alex frowned. Gathering what little strength he had left, he forced his body to move. One trembling hand pressed against the cold brick wall beside him, using it as leverage to sit up.
Before he could fully stand, memories flooded his mind.
Two consciousnesses collided.
One belonged to the weak, broken boy named Alex.
The other belonged to a powerful demon—Vorgath.
It didn't take a genius to tell who won that clash.
Vorgath took complete control of the body. Alex's soul remained, pushed aside, lingering in a distant corner of his own existence.
Vorgath looked down at the bruises covering his arms and felt something unexpected.
Pity.
"What a shitty life," Vorgath thought, flexing his fingers slowly. "I'll make those thugs pay once I regain my strength. Don't worry, Alex. This will be my part of the contract… in exchange for your body."
He didn't need to do that.
But Vorgath wanted to.
Granting revenge would be the closest thing to a final wish this boy would ever receive.
Although a once powerful demon had taken over Alex's body, that didn't mean he was powerful. Vorgath checked his system stats, something he was well familiar with, as it was similar to what he had in his previous world, Brunan.
[Alex (Vorgath)]
[Level: 2]
[Exp: 5/200]
[Class: None]
[Race: Demon]
[Title: Starved Young Man]
[Energy: 8/8]
[Soul Rank: D-]
[Attributes:]
[Strength: 1]
[Agility: 1]
[Endurance: 0]
[Intelligence: 1]
[Willpower: 2]
[Energy: 1]
[Authority: 1]
Vorgath laughed when he saw the low attributes, but the action caused him to cough blood onto the alley pavement.
"Shit, this body is weaker than a fucking child. And what the fuck is this title?" Vorgath murmured.
Back in his prime, people would title him The Taker, The Eater of Souls, The King of the Underworld.
"Starved Young Man? Unbelievable… how deep have I fallen…"
However, not all was lost. Vorgath checked his skills. He had one. And this particular skill was one Alex certainly didn't have before.
[Vorgath's Pact: You can write down contracts for others, giving you and the contracted rewards. To write better contracts, you need a higher level of authority. This attribute increases with the number of successful contracts, and some special means.]
[Additional Note: Any contract with sexual relations included will increase the contract's power by 20%.]
Back in Brunan, Vorgath always fulfilled his lust with his contracts.
"Maybe this is why it has this additional effect?" he wondered.
Vorgath walked away from the alley, reaching the main street. Lots of people walked everywhere, all appearing to be in a rush — rushing to go to their jobs and spend their whole lives doing the same thing, over and over again.
Most of the people on the streets weren't powerful. They had a level ranging from 1 to 5. That was the level of people who weren't Dungeon Delvers, but ordinary humans who had enhanced bodies because of the system.
The actual Dungeon Delvers were busy trying to increase their strength by fighting monsters in the dungeons, and outside of it. Power, fame, money, women. Those were the things most Dungeon Delvers were aiming for. Vorgath was no different.
Vorgath walked on the streets, feeling the disgusted glares people gave him. His ragged clothes, the dirt on his body, and the blood weren't pleasing to the eye.
"I need to clean myself before police show up to question me…"
The moment the thought came to mind, Vorgath spotted two policemen on the street not far from where he was. The good part was that they were busy eating their donuts to notice he was there.
"Fuck, fuck."
At any given moment, those policemen could turn around and see him. Or worse, a passerby could tell them about his looks.
Vorgath found a small bookstore. He entered it. A bell rang the moment he did. The sound of a cane hitting the ground echoed through the bookstore a few moments later, before someone showed up.
A young girl came to greet him. She had long black hair, pale skin, and a well-curved body. Her breasts were nearly bursting out of her clothes. But what caught Vorgath's instant attention was not the girl's good looks, but the fact she was blind!
She wore dark glasses and had a cane with her.
"Hello," she said, her voice as calming as sea waves. "Welcome to my humble bookstore. What can I do for you?"
Back in Brunan, Vorgath wouldn't feel any pity for her, but on Earth, he did. Perhaps it was Alex's weak soul doing something to him, or maybe, after dying, his mind wasn't the same anymore.
"I was just looking around," Vorgath said. "A nice place you have."
She smiled shyly. "You think? It's small and old, but if you say so. If you need anything, I'll be here."
The girl walked to a nearby couch, sitting on it while waiting for Vorgath's next moves. She didn't use her cane this time. She knew exactly where things were in her tiny bookshop.
"I was wondering if you could lend me a pen and a piece of paper?" Vorgath asked her.
"First drawer behind the counter," she said.
Vorgath walked to the counter and searched the drawer the girl had mentioned. Inside, he saw a few dollar bills. In his current state, any money would help him buy new clothes, take a shower, and eat, but Vorgath didn't steal from her.
"There's no paper or pen here, only money. Are you sure this is the right drawer?"
The girl smiled again.
"It's actually in the third drawer. I just wanted to see if you were a nice person or not."
Vorgath closed the first drawer and checked the third. He spotted the pen and the paper he wanted. He used the counter as support to write a contract.
[The Pact Holder will receive +99 to all attributes, and the Contracted Party will have her sight restored, healing all damage to her eyes. Upon signing this contract, the Pact Holder may request physical intimacy, subject to the Contracted Party's consent. Should the Contracted Party refuse such intimacy, this contract shall produce no effects.]
At the end of the contract, Vorgath drew two straight lines where both would sign. He moved closer to the young girl.
"I needed to write something down, that's why I needed the pen and paper."
When he got close enough to her, the system warned him, as if it knew what he was up to.
[Do you wish to offer your contract to her?]