Chapter 42: The contract has been established
[Pristine] [My Human Companion Is Obsessed with Me (Chapter 1)]
#Regret #Angst #Obsession
The moment I saw the ominous title and tags—
Shiver, shiver…
My body began to tremble.
No way…
The ‘human companion’…
It’s not referring to me, is it?
With trembling fingers, I clicked on Pristine’s novel and began reading carefully.
“…”
The story featured a human—presumably me—and Pristine, a powerful spirit.
The world-building went like this:
Spirits born from nature, who loved nature, declared war on humans polluting the environment and ultimately rose above them.
In a world where it became normal for human companions to be mistreated by spirits—
Pristine, unlike others, cherished and loved me, their human companion.
But one day, I, a mere human companion, failed to appreciate Pristine’s value. Smitten by a capable spirit, I betrayed Pristine.
Pristine, who had shown me selfless love, grew furious and left me.
Abandoned, the human companion realized Pristine’s worth, wallowing in regret and despair.
Tormented by Pristine’s absence, the human mustered the courage to seek them out, only to find—
“Sorry, I’ve taken in a new human companion.”
“So, you’re no longer needed.”
Pristine already had a new companion…
And that’s how Chapter 1 ended.
“What the…”
Pristine, you…
What kind of story are you writing about me?
What kind of novels did you read to come up with this?
“Was there some pent-up resentment toward me?”
…By the way, Pristine’s new novel—
It hadn’t been up long, but the number of likes was already impressive.
Gulp—
I swallowed hard and quickly opened the comments.
[Luminya♡Thunder: Next chapter, next chapter, next chapter, next chapter, next chapter…]
[Luminya: Meow… o_o;; (Scary;;)]
[LilyPrincess♡: Oh…]
[Supreme凸Reaper: This is actually good…]
[Luminya♡Thunder: How did you write something like this??]
[Spirit123: So now the human companion just has to get obsessed??]
[FireRuler: I want an obsessive human companion too.]
It was as if the spirits had discovered dopamine for the first time.
They were pouring out explosive reactions.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
They’d probably never seen a novel tagged with ‘regret,’ ‘angst,’ or ‘obsession’ before.
It must feel like stepping into a new world.
I felt the same way when I first encountered regret-angst-obsession stories…
Still—
The fact that spirits, impervious to human attacks, were reacting so passionately to stories about ‘human companions’ wasn’t exactly comforting.
“What’s with all these new posts?”
On top of that, the spirit community was starting to fill with novels mimicking My Human Companion Is Obsessed with Me.
[Spirit123] [The Banished Spirit Gets Obsessed Over]
[Supreme凸Reaper] [Taming My Human Companion]
[Spirit.Love.R] [Currently Being Raised by My Human Companion]
.
.
As Pristine’s regret-angst-obsession story exploded in popularity and copycat novels began appearing—
[Aggroa] [The board feels lively with quality content ^^ Please use it a lot ^^]
[Aggroa] [I’ve created a new fiction serialization board ^^ Please use it often ^^]
Quality content, my foot…
Now there was even a dedicated fiction board.
Most of the stories posted there were about spirits being obsessed over by ‘human companions.’
This is bad.
I rushed to the café to snatch the phone from Pristine.
[…]
[…]
Unlike the other spirits, blankly staring with three dots above their heads—
Pristine was displaying a flood of messages.
—Beep beep!
[‘Pristine’ gazes at the comments, overwhelmed with emotion.]
[‘Pristine’ counts the likes with their fingers.]
Then, with a blissful expression, they began hopping on the table.
—Bbi bbi ru bbi!!
[‘Pristine’ beams, saying they’ve never been this happy in their life.]
Watching them, I fell into deep thought.
…Is it really that great?
I’d never serialized a novel, so I didn’t know how it felt to get lots of comments and likes.
But for a writer, it must feel exhilarating.
Maybe it’s not that bad…
The spirits, who supposedly despised humans, were starting to take an interest in them.
In a way, that could be a win for humans.
Even if that interest was skewed toward wanting to be ‘obsessed over.’
…Or is it?
Honestly, I wasn’t sure.
If Pristine was happy, maybe that was enough.
As soon as I got home—
I dumped my bags at the entrance and pulled out a new flowerpot.
I was so exhausted I could fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, but there was one last thing I had to do.
“This much soil should be enough, right?”
I filled the pot with soil from the Lumina flowerbed and took out the ancient spirit seed I’d earned as a gate reward.
The seed, intricately etched with faintly glowing patterns.
“…It’s still so fascinating.”
Muttering to myself, I buried the seed in the soil, gently pressing the edges to ensure water would seep in.
The thought of an ancient spirit sprouting from this tiny seed filled me with anticipation.
“Alright, perfect.”
After finishing, I carefully placed my fingertips on the soil.
- Germinates under specific conditions.
I’d hoped planting it would reveal the germination conditions, but unlike with the Lumina Spirit, no message appeared.
It felt like… this would be a challenging journey.
“…It said emotional resonance is needed for a contract, so maybe I should talk to it.”
Pulling the blanket up to my chin, I murmured softly.
“I hope you sprout soon. Because…”
As I spoke, my tired eyelids drooped.
Unable to fight the fatigue, I blacked out—
And slipped into a dream.
A space dyed in earthy hues.
In the darkness where sky and ground blurred, soft dust floated like it was swimming.
“…What?”
I stood up, bewildered.
Each step wrapped my feet in warm, comforting soil.
“Didn’t I fall asleep in bed?”
Muttering dazedly—
—Mmm…
A slow voice echoed from somewhere.
—I wanted to sleep more… yawn…
The drowsy tone was heavy with sleepiness.
I turned toward the sound.
Not far away—
On a hill of tangled tree roots and moss, a spirit with dark brown hair rubbed their eyes and stretched.
When their golden eyes met mine—
“…”
I could only gape, forgetting to breathe.
Their refined appearance and poised movements.
Even sitting silently, they exuded an aura that commanded reverence.
Half-lidded, still drowsy, the spirit looked like they’d stepped out of a meticulously painted Eastern masterpiece.
Then—
The spirit, blinking slowly at me, spoke in a calm tone.
—You wanted me to sprout quickly…?
Letting out a long yawn, they lowered their eyelids lazily and asked.
—Why?
I froze, at a loss for words.
I hesitated briefly, unsure how to respond…
But it’s just a dream, so no need to overthink.
“I want to contract with you, turn on auto-battle, and live an easy life.”
—Y-You didn’t have to be that honest…
Caught off guard by my answer, the spirit’s half-closed eyes widened slightly, a flicker of flustered surprise crossing their face.
“Oh, and the café’s short-staffed even with three spirits.”
“I’d love for you to take orders from customers. And when I’m busy, maybe help with dishes…”
The spirit hurriedly raised both hands, cutting me off.
—W-Wait. I think there’s a misunderstanding. Just so you know, I’m an earth spirit…
—I move the soil… split mountains… cycle life…
“…So you’re saying you’re better at cleaning dirt than doing dishes?”
Ancient Spirit, Gaia.
The spirit of the earth, architect of the ancient cycle of life.
A creator who shaped endless continents, sprouted life in fields, parted seas, and raised mountains.
In an era before mana even existed—
The first spirit to bring balance to the world.
And to such a being—
“…So you’re saying you’re better at cleaning dirt than doing dishes?”
A human appeared, suggesting dishwashing and dirt cleaning.
The ancient spirit Gaia stared at the small girl before them with disbelief.
…What is this human?
[Contract Condition Progress: 30%]
The contract progress was already at 30%.
In sharing great power, the most important thing was the ‘transparency of the soul.’
Those cloaked in deceit could not commune with the earth, and those hiding greed could not grasp the breath of the land.
Thus, the contract with an ancient spirit had one condition:
Answer the first encounter’s question with a pure soul.
If this condition was met, the contract would be forcibly established, even if the spirit was unwilling.
Of course—
No human had ever fulfilled this condition.
Most knelt before the great being, presenting a façade of a false soul.
“…”
But the small girl before Gaia bared her soul without reservation.
Gaia glanced at the message before them.
[Contract Condition Progress: 30%]
If the progress reached 100%, the contract would be sealed automatically.
If that happens…
The earth spirit Gaia, once the idol of all spirits…
Would be reduced to a worker washing dishes and cleaning dirt at a human-run café in a gate.
No…! That can’t happen…!
No matter what, Gaia could not let their eternal dignity be sullied by dishwashing.
Gaia sealed their lips.
From now on, they’d ask questions designed to elicit lies, never allowing a truthful answer.
But—
[Contract Condition Progress: 71%]…
[Contract Condition Progress: 89%]…
For some reason, the small girl openly revealed her desires and shamelessness, and the progress kept soaring.
[Contract Condition Progress: 99%]…
Now, only one chance remained.
I can’t become a worker…
The ancient spirit Gaia, after deep thought, posed a question.
“If a massive sum of money appeared before you, what would you do with it all?”
Silence followed.
Then—
The small girl slowly curled her lips into a sly grin.
“…Hehe.”
Gaia didn’t miss the moment.
Yes. This was it.
This question was the surest way to draw out human greed.
If she answered with a lie, she’d fail the contract condition.
Even if she spoke the truth, realizing her own greed would disqualify her from contracting with an ancient spirit.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
Truth or lie, the outcome was the same.
Gaia would avoid a future as a dishwashing worker.
Alright. Time to go back to sleep…
As Gaia closed their eyes with satisfaction—
The girl spoke.
“If a massive sum of money appeared before me…”
Her answer followed.
“I’d donate it all, of course.”
[Contract Condition Progress: 100%]
[Contract Established]
Before the ancient spirit Gaia’s eyes—
A message appeared, confirming the contract’s completion.
…Huh?