Chapter 2: Would You Be Willing to Sign a Contract with Me, Providing Food and Shelter?

‘Habika?’

Victor was slightly stunned as memories from the game began surfacing in his mind.

This was one of the many deities in the game’s lore.

It was a character that only appeared in the game’s background, mentioned only in the storybooks of certain collection quests.

No one had ever seen its true form.

According to the game’s records, every time Habika appeared, it either brought natural disasters or calamities.

The most severe recorded incident stated that during one of Habika’s appearances, the human population of the world was reduced by half!

This was a sinister and terrifying god.

“Of course, you can also call me by my current name, Vega.”

The crow, who introduced itself as Vega, courteously folded its wings over its chest and gave a bow.

Victor couldn’t quite grasp the crow’s intentions, so he chose not to respond.

Seeing Victor remain silent, Vega flapped its wings slightly and adjusted its posture.

“Interesting, it seems you’ve heard of me.”

Victor: “I don’t know you.”

He was well aware that being entangled with a god was never a good thing—this was common knowledge among players.

Especially with an evil god that only existed in background lore, this one seemed particularly dangerous.

But why had a god from the game’s storyline appeared before Victor ahead of schedule?

Vega opened its beak, speaking in a raspy voice like a crow:

“You are not Victor. Your soul is not filthy enough.”

It fixed its single eye on Victor, trying to discern even the slightest hint of panic on his face. However, as usual, Victor’s expression remained deadpan, disappointing the crow.

“Gods can see through souls,” it stated.

“But that doesn’t matter. I’m here to find you.”

Vega shook its feathers, and a long black feather fell onto the table, transforming into a black parchment. White lines twisted and curled, forming a set of words resembling a demonic contract.

Victor looked at the contents of the contract, feeling a headache coming on.

He had just arrived in this world, hadn’t done anything yet, and within a single day, he had already signed two contracts.

I’m a power-leveler! Not some overworked errand boy.

He took the contract and glanced at it, mockingly saying:

“Aren’t you a god? Fallen on hard times?”

He never expected even gods to be out here recruiting followers.

The contract described an agreement: if he signed it, he would be responsible for providing Vega with food and shelter. Additionally, he had to help establish a church and develop followers for this evil god.

The contract stated that the more believers Vega had, the stronger its power would become.

And that was it.

Victor: “……”

Even an exploitative contract wouldn’t be this outrageous. Providing food, shelter, and followers—Vega got all the benefits, while he got nothing?

He looked wordlessly at the crow, which was elegantly preening its feathers, like some kind of noble bird.

If only he could ignore its single eye.

“My power has been mostly sealed away, so I must seek shelter with others. If you accept this deal, you will gain the friendship of a god.”

“It’s worth it,” Vega chirped, continuing to groom itself.

Victor was speechless. A god’s friendship? What a joke.

The crow glanced at him with its one eye, seemingly seeing through his thoughts, and said blandly:

“It can save your life.”

“Deal!”

Victor signed his name with a flourish on the contract.

He wasn’t too worried about being tricked—after all, gods always honored their words.

Even evil gods.

The moment he signed, he felt a peculiar connection form between them.

It seemed that with a single thought, he could always find out where this crow was.

The crow flew onto Victor’s shoulder and pecked at its feathers again.

Liya was absolutely right—keeping a crow as a pet was the epitome of poor taste.

But since he was new to this world and had already signed the contract, he might as well treat it as keeping an unrefined pet.

All he had to do was provide food and shelter.

As for the church, he could just spend money to build one later.

He then turned his attention to the other contract on the table, also awaiting his signature.

This was a contract from the Advanced Magic Academy, sincerely inviting the protagonist to become a professor and offering an honorary title.

Only now did Victor remember that although he was a villain, he was also a magical genius.

Many aging mages were stuck at the second tier, yet Victor had already reached the third tier by the age of twenty.

If converted into game terms…

Victor mentally recited a command, and a game interface appeared before him.

[Name: Victor Clavenna]
LV: 39
HP: 1000/1000
MP: 4900/4900

A classic glass-cannon mage.

This confirmed his suspicion—he had indeed transmigrated into the game.

A third-tier mage corresponded to levels 30-39 in the game. Beyond that, the progression continued accordingly.

According to the background lore, Victor had stagnated over the years, and his reputation as a genius had long been forgotten.

But now that Victor inhabited this body, he realized that the original Victor had been deliberately hiding his abilities.

His accumulated experience points could have easily pushed him past the third tier, making him a fourth-tier Saint Mage.

But Victor had never advanced—he had been plotting something.

Although his character was questionable, his talent was undeniable.

This contract needed to be signed.

Not to mention that his sister and fiancée had fought for this opportunity for him.

With the professor title, he would have the academy’s protection, preventing the duke from troubling him too easily.

At least on the surface, he needed a legitimate reason to defend himself.

His engagement being rejected by the duke’s daughter? That excuse wouldn’t hold up.

Everyone has the right to pursue love—was the duke expecting his daughter to remain unmarried forever?

Victor picked up the pen and signed his name on the contract before instructing a servant to send it to the academy. Then, he stood up and headed towards the mansion’s backyard.

Vega finally stopped preening and asked where he was going.

Without turning his head, Victor answered:

“Starting my job as a professor tomorrow. Just practicing some magic so I won’t be rusty.”

“Take me with you.”

Vega perched on his shoulder, chattering incessantly.

Arriving at the training grounds, Victor saw several massive stone targets standing tall.

In the game, players’ manors had similar magic stones to improve skill proficiency.

As damage numbers appeared when attacking the stones, players could assess their skill mastery and elemental attributes.

Seeing the same setup in the mansion’s backyard filled Victor with nostalgia.

Vega mistook his hesitation for intimidation by the training dummies and began prattling about magic techniques.

But before it could finish, Victor casually raised a hand, unleashing a bolt of black lightning.

[First-Tier Spell: Black Lightning Spear]

Vega fell silent, watching Victor bombard the targets with spells like a dazzling firework display.

Looking at his nearly depleted MP bar, Victor felt dissatisfied.

Bosses were truly weak—casting a few spells already drained his mana.

Checking his stats again, he suddenly saw an unexpected number.

MP: 995,099/999,999

He glanced at Vega.

I need to report this! This bird is cheating!