Chapter 2: The Princess Meets the Evil God

The sticky tentacle slithered past her legs, continuing upward, passing her abdomen until it finally stopped at Violet’s chest.

At this distance, even in the dim light, Violet could clearly see the drool practically overflowing from the tentacle monster’s eye.

“Don’t…”

The chains rattled as Violet struggled desperately, but she could not resist the creature’s advance.

Seeing this, the tentacle monster, which already had half her body entwined, quickly shot out another tentacle, firmly pinning Violet’s arms.

Despite its soft touch, an irresistible force emanated from it.

No matter how much Violet struggled, she couldn’t break free from the tentacle’s grasp.

And this was only the beginning.

Soon, Violet felt strange sensations all over her body.

The tentacles worked in concert, binding her tightly, almost completely eliminating any possibility of escape.

Then, she felt a sharp pain in her arm.

Her gaze instinctively lowered to where the pain was coming from.

A tentacle was biting into her arm, its sharp teeth piercing her flesh as blood quietly trickled out.

A wave of dizziness followed, but it wasn’t from blood loss; it felt more like being poisoned.

Violet was certain that if she didn’t do something soon, she would become a meal for the tentacle monster!

Unfortunately, she overestimated her own willpower and underestimated the monster’s toxin.

The dizziness came in waves, threatening to swallow her sanity whole.

She could clearly feel her body being devoured bit by bit, especially her left arm, which had already lost all sensation.

This feeling of watching herself walk step by step toward death was almost suffocating Violet.

She didn’t want to die.

Or rather, no one would want to die like this.

Violet blinked her heavy eyelids, her peripheral vision catching sight of the magic circle on the floor, which glowed with an eerie red light.

The light flowed across the circle, carrying with it an indescribable familiarity.

Violet had a gut feeling, as if a voice in the void was telling her that as long as the circle was activated, her current predicament would be solved.

Thus, Violet mustered her last bit of strength and pressed her hand to the floor.

Blood dripped from the wound, sliding down her arm and falling drop by drop into the center of the magic circle.

As the bloodstains formed an irregular circle on the floor, the magic circle, which had been emitting a sinister red glow, suddenly flickered.

The tentacle monster wrapped around Violet convulsed violently, as if salt had been poured on a leech, and rolled to the side.

Even though she had broken free from the monster’s grip, Violet’s heart did not relax in the slightest.

She had originally thought “Violet” was just a black-hearted tyrant, but now it seemed there was more to the story!

A treacherous subordinate, a tentacle monster trying to devour her, and this magic circle she had just activated.

Violet had a vague inkling of the truth, but to confirm it, she had to overcome the current crisis first.

The tentacle monster was still twitching on the side, looking like it wouldn’t be able to move for a while.

The iron chain on her left wrist was extremely sturdy.

Violet tried to remove it, only to scrape the skin on her wrist.

Everything had reached a dead end.

Never mind the tentacle monster still eyeing her covetously, there was also the “loyal” Syks outside!

“Will #… %you… #believe%?”

Just as Violet was at her wit’s end, an indecipherable voice exploded by her ear.

“What was that sound?!”

Startled by the whisper, Violet’s body trembled and she quickly turned around.

Behind her was nothing but emptiness, the eerie red light flickering, illuminating an unremarkable wall.

“#%wish%… #believe#%?”

“%#%seek*%#%follower*%#…”

The whispers sounded again, still incomprehensible; the magic circle on the floor flickered rapidly, as if something was about to rise from the ground.

Seeing this, Violet, who had intended to move away from the circle, froze.

She seemed to understand why this magic circle felt so familiar.

Because this was a summoning circle, and the target of the summon was the one players called the “Hardest-Working Model”—the Evil God, Nastasia.

Speaking of Nastasia, one had to mention Her followers.

That group proclaimed the end of days, spread plagues everywhere, and had a passion for using living people as sacrifices for all sorts of experiments in an attempt to summon the Evil God, Nastasia.

Thanks to this, these cultists were practically enemies of the world, and players could get quests related to them from almost any NPC.

Thus, these guys naturally became the most common experience fodder in the game.

It was worth mentioning that Nastasia was almost always responsive to Her followers’ requests.

Every time players wiped out the cultists, they could also fight a boss on the side.

Nastasia’s title of “Hardest-Working Model” came from this.

Players fought Nastasia at level ten, they fought Nastasia at level forty, and they could still fight Nastasia at level eighty.

She had accompanied almost every player through their gaming journey, so it was no wonder Violet felt a sense of familiarity.

After all, the number of Nastasias who had died by her hand was… uh, she couldn’t remember.

The noisy whispers sounded again.

Perhaps because Violet hadn’t responded for a long time, the whispers were noticeably more anxious this time:

“Being*% a believer*% has%# many%# benefits… %#”

Only this time, Violet was no longer nervous.

Instead, she felt a sense of déjà vu, as if seeing an old acquaintance.

She even secretly complained in her heart:

‘Hasn’t anyone told Her that Her mic is terrible?’

“Whoosh—”

Not long after that thought popped into her head, the flickering magic circle on the ground abruptly stopped.

Then, a much thicker tentacle tore through the void and emerged from the center of the circle.

Violet’s expression turned serious.

She pushed aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind and fixed her gaze on the barrel-thick tentacle.

The tentacle swayed, slowly coming before her.

Its tip split open, and a large eyeball stared straight at Violet.

For some reason, Violet felt that the Nastasia before her was a bit… silly and cute?

Putting aside the appearance, that large eyeball had a certain charm, reminiscent of a ditsy roe deer.

Of course, feelings were one thing.

Violet wasn’t stupid enough to openly provoke an Evil God.

She gently clasped her hands in front of her chest and stared at the large eyeball with a pitiful gaze:

“Um… Lord Evil God? I’d like to make a deal with you.”

Hearing this, Nastasia was taken aback, a human-like confusion flashing in Her large eyeball.

“You’re not here to become my follower?”

This time it was Violet’s turn to be dumbfounded.

She never thought an Evil God would have to come out and sign up clients personally.

The carefully prepared words piled up in her throat, unsure how to come out.

Seeing Violet fall silent, Nastasia conscientiously circled around her, Her gaze landing on the iron chains that bound her.

After a moment, She suddenly spoke, Her voice as gentle as if to comfort.

“It’s okay! I will never refuse my followers!”

With that, Nastasia’s tentacle retracted into the spatial rift.

When it reappeared a short while later, its tip was coiling a sheepskin scroll.

The crimson light on the scroll twisted, gradually forming words, like a demon’s contract.

Violet took the scroll and gave it a cursory glance.

There weren’t many words on it; most of them described the benefits of becoming Nastasia’s follower.

At the very bottom of the scroll, Violet saw a line of fine print, which stated: The more followers She has, the stronger Her power becomes.

And then, that was it.

Violet: “…”

The Lord Evil God didn’t even mention what one had to give up to become Her follower.

At this, Violet sighed lightly, her hand holding the scroll dropping:

“Sigh… um… are you really an Evil God?”

“Wh-What?!”

Nastasia’s large eyeball narrowed, a clear panic flashing within.

She spoke at a rapid pace: “Most of my power was lost in the seal. To recover, I must find more followers…”

Towards the end, Nastasia’s voice even carried a slight tremor:

“So, I really am an Evil God! Not a disguise, not an impostor, please believe me, sob sob!”