Chapter 1: Rebate
"Get out! I don’t need you!"
A piercing voice rang out from inside the bedroom, carrying a suppressed fury and pain twisted to the point of distortion.
Erik stood outside the door, one hand resting on the wooden frame, his gaze fixed on the interior of the room. On the large bed covered with white sheets, a blonde woman was curled up, both hands clutching her chest, her long slender legs drawn in tight, her body trembling in waves.
That was Saraya.
A rank S Succubus whom he had spent every bit of savings from several years to connect with just three months ago.
Her long blonde hair was now a tangled mess, a few strands sticking to her flushed face. Those beautiful amber eyes were now bloodshot, both enraged and miserable. Her lips were parted, her breathing ragged and scorching, and the thin nightgown on her body was already soaked through with sweat over a large area.
Even though her current state was wretched, pitiful, Erik only let out a long sigh, his voice utterly calm.
"I don’t want to keep doing this anymore."
Hearing that, Saraya’s gaze changed instantly. She gritted her teeth, lifted her head to look at him, her voice laced with indignation: "What is that supposed to mean?"
Erik didn’t answer right away. He watched her pained figure for a few more seconds, then said: "Three months have passed. You’re so starved you can barely hold on, and if you keep going like this, you’ll be in danger."
"So what?" Saraya shouted, her voice trembling slightly from hunger and desire suppressed for far too long: "I just need more time to adjust!"
"Three months still isn’t enough?" Erik asked back, his gaze without a ripple.
Saraya bit down hard on her lip, an ugly look surfacing on her face. She raised her voice, like someone forced into a corner: "You really are selfish! You and I were strangers to begin with. Do you think that just because we got paired I have to accept you immediately?"
Erik stayed silent.
Saraya seemed to have found her justification, and the more she spoke the louder she got: "I’m a Succubus, not some object you can bring home and touch as you please. I need time to get used to you, to trust you, to accept you. Is that wrong somehow?"
Hearing those words, Erik only felt exhausted.
If Saraya truly needed time to adjust, he wouldn’t say another word. The problem was that over these past three months, she lived in his home, ate the food he prepared, wore the clothes he bought, and even every time the hunger struck hard enough to make her shake, she still lay on the bed he was paying off in installments, while he sat outside the door keeping watch all night.
She wanted to stay, wanted to enjoy his care, wanted him to treat her like a princess.
But at the same time, she wouldn’t let him touch her even with the tip of a finger, wouldn’t sign a trial contract, wouldn’t take a single step forward in the connection.
Three months.
Three months was enough for any ordinary person to understand that the issue was no longer about adjusting.
The issue was that Saraya fundamentally had no desire to become his partner, yet also had no desire to leave this place.
Erik spoke up: "I gave you three months."
"Three months, so what?" Saraya immediately shot back, her tone so unreasonable that even she seemed unaware of it: "You’re a man. What do you lose by holding out a while longer? But I’m different, I’m under enormous pressure. You should be the one understanding me!"
After hearing that, Erik almost wanted to laugh.
What did he lose by holding out a while longer?
That’s right, the one starved to the point of shaking was her, the one constantly flaring up was also her, but the one who had to work day and night to pay the rent, the food money, the money for painkillers, the money for backup Energy Crystals, the one delayed from entering the Trial Gate for over three months, was him.
He looked at Saraya and asked a very simple question: "So how long do you intend to drag this out?"
Saraya opened her mouth, but couldn’t answer.
Erik continued: "A month? Half a year? Or a year?"
"I..." Saraya choked up, then raised her voice: "No matter how long, that’s my right!"
"Correct." Erik nodded: "It’s your right."
The moment Saraya heard that, before she could even sigh in relief, she heard him go on.
"Which is why I also have the right to end it."
Her face instantly turned pale.
Erik pulled himself away from the door frame, his voice still as calm as before: "You’re already too hungry. Before pairing, a Succubus can use the blood of a past life, use the blessing of the Goddess of Lust, or use Energy Crystals to hold it back. But after pairing, the Chains of Desire have been unlocked, and those things can only sustain you temporarily."
He looked straight into Saraya’s amber eyes.
"If you keep going, you’ll force yourself to the point of collapse."
Saraya gritted her teeth, her voice turning sharp: "Then all the more reason you can’t abandon me right now! You know full well what state I’m in and you still want to return me. Don’t you think you’re being too heartless?"
Hearing that, a trace of coldness finally appeared in Erik’s eyes.
Over these past three months, he had heard far too many words like that.
Every time he brought up signing a trial contract, Saraya would say she wasn’t ready.
Every time he wanted to have a serious talk, she would say he wasn’t patient enough.
Every time the hunger struck to an unbearable degree, she would blame him for not being understanding.
But from beginning to end, Saraya had never once thought of him even a little.
"I’m going to the Connection Center right now." Erik said.
"You dare?" Saraya shouted at once, her eyes going wide: "Erik, you dare abandon me at a time like this?"
Erik didn’t answer.
Seeing that he really did turn to leave, Saraya finally grew truly flustered. She propped herself up with her hands to sit, but the fierce hunger in her body made her go limp again onto the bed the moment she moved.
"Erik!" Saraya screamed, her voice both furious and panicked: "You can’t leave! You can’t treat me like this! I just wasn’t prepared, that’s all!"
Erik paused for a second, but he didn’t turn his head.
"It’s been three months." That was the only line he said, then he closed the bedroom door.
Click.
The sound of the door shutting also cut off Saraya’s unwilling cries of protest inside.
Erik stood still in the hallway for a few seconds, then exhaled slowly.
He returned to the living room, grabbed his coat, phone, and wallet, then left the apartment.
On the way to the Connection Center, Erik watched the stream of cars running along the wide road, his gaze slightly distant.
Five years ago, he did not belong to this world.
He came from Earth.
In his past life, he was just an ordinary man, working hard, saving hard, and in the end preparing to marry the woman he trusted. He once thought that his life, though simple, was still happy enough.
Until that night.
A fire burned his small house to the ground.
As the flames spread throughout the room, Erik learned that the arsonist was none other than his fiancée together with her new boyfriend.
The reason was very simple.
Insurance money.
As long as he was dead, they would get a sum large enough to start a new life.
As the thick smoke and flames swallowed him whole, Erik thought it was all over.
But he woke up again in this world.
A world where humans and Succubi coexisted.
One hundred years ago, the Dimensional Gate appeared, monsters poured out, and the old society collapsed. Humanity had to build new safe zones while finding ways to adapt to the world’s power system.
And during that process, humanity discovered a truth.
To become a true Awakened, a man had to connect with a Succubus.
Succubi helped men unlock their energy, and men provided vital essence and life force to Succubi. The two sides used the System to pair, sign a contract, cultivate together, enter the Trial Gate together, and grow stronger together.
That was the best method of cultivation, and also the most common path.
In this world, everyone knew that Succubi were seductive, beautiful, and represented desire. But Erik also knew something that many people didn’t fully understand.
Succubi were actually a very faithful race.
Once they identified the person they loved, they would remain bound to that person for nearly their entire lives.
It was precisely because of this that Erik had kept trying to be patient with Saraya over these three months.
He thought that perhaps she just needed time.
Perhaps she just hadn’t accepted a stranger like him yet.
Perhaps one day she would change.
But now, Erik no longer wanted to deceive himself.
Five years living in this world, he had no parents, and no one to back him. Everything he had, he earned himself.
He worked all kinds of jobs, from hauling cargo, delivering goods, simple repairs, working the night shift, as long as it could earn money.
All of it was just to prepare for the day he awakened, found a suitable Succubus, and officially stepped onto the path of the Awakened.
Three months ago, he successfully paired with Saraya, a rank S Succubus.
At that time, he had thought that luck was finally smiling on him.
Because Erik too had successfully awakened, becoming an Awakened.
The only pity was that his System still hadn’t fully activated. Up until now, Erik only knew that he had awakened successfully, while his specific talent and rank were both locked.
[Talent: Not activated.]
[Activation condition: Successfully connect with your first Succubus and possess at least a Trial Contract.]
As long as Saraya agreed to connect, even if only a trial contract, his System would fully open. By then, Erik would finally be able to learn what talent he possessed and its rank.
But Saraya wouldn’t give him that chance.
Erik’s footsteps came to a stop before a tall building of silvery white.
The Connection Center.
The place in charge of pairing Awakened men and Succubi.
Erik straightened his coat, then walked inside.
The great hall was bright and clean, surrounded by quite a few reception counters along with magic symbols glowing faintly on the walls. Behind the reception desk was a woman with wine-red hair and small horns on her head. One glance was enough to tell she was a Succubus.
When she saw Erik, that woman immediately recognized him.
"Mr. Erik?" She was a little surprised: "Why are you here at this hour?"
Erik didn’t beat around the bush. He walked straight to the counter and set his phone down.
"I want to rebate Saraya."
That woman was startled.
Erik pressed play on a video he had just recorded moments ago. In the video, Saraya lay on the bed, both in pain and flaring with anger, her nearly unreasonable words ringing out clearly.
After the Succubus woman finished watching, her expression shifted again and again, until it finally became extremely ugly.
She stood up, bowed deeply to Erik, her voice full of remorse: "I’m sorry, truly sorry. This is a serious oversight on our part."
Erik waved his hand: "It has nothing to do with you. I just want the procedure to be quick."
He paused a moment, then went on: "I still haven’t touched her, the contract hasn’t been signed, not even a trial contract exists. I’ve just been delayed for far too long. It’s been more than three months, I still haven’t been able to enter the Trial Gate, and my money is nearly running out."
Hearing that, the Succubus woman grew even more ashamed.
For a man who had already awakened, three months of delay was truly an enormous loss.
"Please rest assured." She drew in a deep breath, quickly regaining her professionalism: "I’ll check the records right away and handle this matter immediately."
Erik nodded.
At this very moment, a masculine laugh carrying a mocking tone came from behind.
"Oh? Isn’t this Erik?"
Erik turned his head.
A blonde young man was walking into the hall, dressed in a well-tailored designer outfit, his face handsome but his smile the kind that made others uncomfortable. His arm was wrapped around the waist of a seductive black-haired Succubus, his posture extremely intimate.
Nathan.
Of course Erik knew him.
Not only because Nathan was a fairly famous Awakened in this safe zone, but also because he was the real reason Erik had made up his mind to rebate Saraya.
Over these three months, Saraya had never hidden the fact that she paid attention to Nathan.
Every time she watched news about him, her eyes would light up.
Every time she mentioned him, her tone would be completely different.
Saraya had even once coldly told Erik outright that if the one paired with her had been Nathan instead of him, perhaps everything would have been very different.
Erik had already been betrayed once in his past life.
In this life, he had no interest in waiting until it all repeated a second time.
Nathan stopped in front of him, his gaze sweeping over the reception counter, then broke into a smile as if he had understood something.
"So that’s how it is." He sneered: "In the end you got rebated, huh?"
Hearing that, the Succubus woman at the counter frowned, but Nathan paid it no mind at all. He looked Erik up and down, the corner of his mouth curling up full of derision.
"I already said it, a Succubus like Saraya isn’t the type who would take a liking to you."
Erik looked at him, his gaze calm to the point of indifference.
Nathan held the black-haired girl in his arms, leaning slightly toward Erik, and said with a smile: "Let me guess, she finally couldn’t stand it anymore and told you to get lost, right?"
Erik’s hand slowly clenched tight.
The great hall grew several degrees quieter.
The smile on Nathan’s face became even more pronounced.
"But then again, it makes sense." He shrugged, his tone brimming with implication: "After all... the one Saraya truly cared about, from beginning to end, was never you."
Erik looked straight at him, his gaze turning completely cold.