Chapter 1: Picking Up a Succubus

Lin Zhihan opened the door of the fast-food restaurant.

Outside, the world was pitch-black. Torrential rain and howling wind slammed into the storefront, pattering violently against it.

Lin Zhihan took a deep breath and quickly locked the door behind her. Then she wrestled open her cheap folding umbrella and stepped outside.

The moment she left the shelter of the doorway, the wind seized the umbrella and rocked it from side to side.

Slanting rain soon soaked her trouser cuffs, plastering the fabric to her ankles.

Lin Zhihan looked down at her sneakers. No matter how often she washed them, they never came clean; the soles were peeling away from the sides.

Rainwater washed over the tops of her shoes. Her feet were already submerged in the sticky puddles.

“Here we go, here we go! Today’s the day you meet the protagonist, turn your life around, and begin your career as a villain!”

The system’s cheerful electronic voice burst into her ears at the worst possible moment. It was so excited it nearly broke into static.

“Just keep going and turn down that alley up ahead. You’ll find the heroine, Vaniel!”

“…” Lin Zhihan rubbed her temples. Dark circles hung heavily beneath her eyes. She thought, “Shut up.“

The system faltered, then answered in near despair. “I’ve told you a hundred times, I’m not a hallucination caused by overwork! I’m the system that’s going to rewrite your fate!”

Lin Zhihan didn’t reply. Holding on to the umbrella as the wind tried to flip it inside out, she trudged through the downpour. All she wanted was to get home and collapse into bed.

The system kept chattering. “The world you’re in is a book, and you’re a villain! All you have to do is take the protagonist home and torment her according to my instructions, following the plot until she turns evil.

“When she kills you, you can bow out and we’ll reincarnate you into a better life. We’ll make you a rich second-generation heiress. You won’t have to work yourself to the bone anymore!”

When Lin Zhihan still didn’t answer, the system grew flustered, then swallowed the rest of what it had been about to say.

No matter. Once Lin Zhihan turned the corner and saw the protagonist appear out of nowhere, she’d believe it.

The system was certain Lin Zhihan had no reason to refuse. Humans were practical creatures. They could always put a price on their conscience.

If she could escape a life where she might drop dead from exhaustion at any moment and become rich instead, she wouldn’t turn it down—even if the price was playing a villain she could never bring herself to be.

Just then, lightning split the sky, briefly illuminating the dim street. A deafening crash followed.

As if she’d sensed something, Lin Zhihan looked up. The intersection the system had mentioned lay ahead.

She had walked this road from work to her shabby rental room countless times. But today, somehow, something really did feel different.

The wind and rain grew fiercer. Lin Zhihan edged forward, her gaze fixed on the garbage heap by the corner. Something seemed to be lying there.

Another bolt of violet lightning flashed. At last, she saw it clearly: someone was sprawled across the trash.

Though calling the figure a person wasn’t entirely accurate.

Even in the lightning’s brief flash, Lin Zhihan could make out a pair of wings on her back.

Not the pure white wings of an angel. These were small and batlike, as dark as the endless night around them.

Lin Zhihan stopped, eyes widening slightly.

“Look, look! There really is someone there!” the system urged, excited and anxious in her ear. “Quick! Press the master-binding collar against her neck! She could wake up any second. The collar has to register you as her master, or you won’t stand a chance against her!”

Lin Zhihan slowly came back to herself. Her breathing quickened. Her heart raced.

In this world, where humans and devils lived side by side, succubi who could be owned by humans did exist—but they were incredibly rare. Only the most powerful and wealthy people had any chance of owning one. A succubus wouldn’t just appear in the street for no reason.

According to the system, the heroine had fought her way out of captivity and made it here before collapsing from exhaustion in the storm.

Lin Zhihan was the person who was supposed to put a master-binding collar on her and acquire a succubus for free.

And this wasn’t just any succubus. She was the protagonist of the entire novel: Vaniel.

She was a noble pure-blood devil who had been punished for refusing to hurt a human at her coming-of-age rite and turned into a succubus.

If she killed someone, she could return to her former status.

As the system urged her forward, Lin Zhihan tried desperately to remember the story.

The details the system had droned on about before—the things she’d pretended not to hear—now came vividly back to her through the storm and the thunder of her own heartbeat.

She had two choices.

She could obey the system, force Vaniel to submit, and take her home.

Then she could sexually abuse her again and again, exploit her succubus nature, force her to lay eggs, and squeeze every bit of value out of her. She would commit such unforgivable acts that Vaniel would turn evil and, once her seal was lifted, tear Lin Zhihan apart first thing.

Or she could follow her conscience and refuse the system.

But then the story would collapse, and she would be erased.

The world would reset and begin again, trapping the protagonist in a time loop. Lin Zhihan’s soul would be replaced by a new “Lin Zhihan,” and the cycle would continue until the system found a villain who could follow the plot.

According to the system, she had no reason to refuse.

But Lin Zhihan’s racing heart wouldn’t settle. Slowly, she knelt and looked at the succubus.

She was a slender, white-haired girl, smeared with blood. Her hair hid her face, and an electronic collar encircled her neck.

The collar’s red light flashed harshly. Because the binding process hadn’t been completed, it was tightening around Vaniel’s throat, leaving a vivid red welt.

A faint, unconscious moan of pain escaped her.

“Hurry,” the system urged. “Find the notch and press it. That’s all you have to do to bind her.”

Lin Zhihan hesitated, then knelt in the muddy water. She slowly reached both hands around the girl’s slender neck to feel for the notch.

But now that she was so close, she could see just how badly the girl had been hurt.

Vaniel’s fingers were covered in dried and fresh blood. Rainwater washed the blood into the puddles around her.

A pair of metal shackles clung to her legs. Her ankles looked as if they’d taken a heavy blow, and the dried blood made it impossible to see the wounds.

And even so, she hadn’t killed anyone.

Yet what Lin Zhihan would do to her later would make Vaniel hate her enough to kill her.

“Hurry up! You’re running out of time. She’s about to wake up!” the system pressed.

It wasn’t wrong. Lin Zhihan could feel Vaniel’s wings twitch faintly, brushing helplessly against the arm holding her neck.

In the icy rain, those drooping wings felt even colder than the water.

The collar in Lin Zhihan’s hands continued to tighten, as if desperately seeking the succubus’s rightful master. If the binding process didn’t finish, it seemed ready to strangle her.

Lin Zhihan froze in the darkness.

Rain dripped from her hair onto Vaniel’s white strands.

“Ugh…“

Vaniel’s shoulders began to rise and fall as she struggled to breathe. Her bloodstained fingertips dug into the muddy ground.

Her wings fluttered faintly.

“Ugh…”

“Come on!” The system was almost shrieking. “She’s waking up!”

Lin Zhihan closed her eyes. At last, her fingers found the notch used to collect the wearer’s biometric information. She pressed hard. A small sting pricked her fingertip.

The collar beeped. Its harsh red light changed to a soft green.

At the same moment, Vaniel lifted her head sharply, as if she could finally breathe, and opened her eyes.

Another bolt of lightning split the sky.

Lin Zhihan hadn’t been ready. She stared into a face so beautiful it left her breathless.

The succubus had mismatched eyes.

One was a pale lavender, like the flower. The other was a bewitching, soft pink.

The colors had no clear boundary; they bled into each other, each dominating one side, like two jewels mingling mystery and temptation.

Vaniel’s silver hair clung to her face. Her whole body was taut. Even with her face as pale as paper and her body filthy and battered, nothing could conceal her beauty.

Her features were sweet, almost delicate. She didn’t look like a devil at all.

But now, in those sweet eyes, a genuine, icy murderous intent flashed.

Lin Zhihan instinctively took a step back. At the same time, the succubus tried to strike her—only for the collar to deliver a vicious shock.

Vaniel whimpered and collapsed to the ground again.