F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!

Chapter 335: Progress Made

After Shizuka chose to kill that girl, I spent a month guiding her and proposing more things, from lustful acts to more serious matters to prepare her for the full contract. Since my time is limited and I’ve already invested too much in Shizuka, I focused heavily on learning more about her.

And on getting her ready to do anything for me. It took longer than I’d like to admit — maybe I’m not such an efficient nymph because I’m too young — but "seducing" did prove effective.

And yes, Shizuka is exactly what I was looking for. Best of all, she was manipulated to perfection, to see and accept reality, to the point where I got her to choose the death of three more of her bullies. And even better, I made her kill one of her bullies on her own, without my interference.

And all the deaths were quick by her choice, showing she doesn’t enjoy killing either. I approve of her morals, her determination, and above all, I approve of her insistence on denying me. She took her time accepting certain things, and that shows she’s not so easy to deceive.

If she were too easy, I’d be wary of giving her too much power. But since she took so long to accept me, and still had vulnerabilities that won’t exist anymore afterward, it’s proof enough that she’s someone who won’t be easily tricked into betraying me.

"E-Evelyn, are you sure about this?" Shizuka asks from on top of a rooftop. A month has passed, and she’s decided to accept my deal. In the total time I’ve been here, it’s been nearly three months of searching, trying, and finally reaching a conclusion.

"Yes, I’m sure. You have to kill yourself. It’s a very high rooftop — death will be instant when you hit the ground," I say, leaning against the edge of the railing. I want Shizuka to commit suicide for me. It’s the final test of control.

If she refuses to die for me, then she’s not suitable. She’s already accepted the deal. I gave Shizuka the chance to kill her parents, but she chose to leave them alive and simply take everything from them.

So I hurt them. I burned down their house, and using her father’s phone, I drained all their money and emptied their bank accounts. Now they’re unable to work, penniless, and homeless — a fitting punishment for abusive parents.

Whether they’ll survive or not, I don’t know. But for Shizuka, this "end" for her parents pleased her. It’s a punishment different from death, but just as effective, and I was glad she chose something other than killing.

"I-It seems... it seems wrong. You’re not tricking me into killing myself so I go to hell, right? If I fall from here and die, I-I really will get another body, right?" she asks, afraid and trembling.

"I won’t trick you. And no, you won’t go to hell. As soon as you die, I’ll capture your soul and place it in your new body. It’s been a month of preparation. We made a deal. I held up my end — are you going to back out now?" If she backs out, I’ll kill her. That’s the deal.

I can’t let her live if she decides she’s too weak to stay with me now. I really hope she doesn’t give up. I don’t want to waste any more time in this world — my body has started feeling strange from being without a physical form for too long.

"N-No... I-I’ll do it... j-just give me a second... I-I know the deal... you were very insistent about it, okay!" She looks down below. I understand her fear. Killing yourself must be a terrifying feeling, and I feel a little sick with myself too, for driving someone to attempt suicide. But it really is true — I’m going to take her soul and put it into the body of the "final puppet" so she can be my servant.

Besides, her dying for me is all the answer I need regarding her loyalty. The moment my commands are worth more than her life is the moment she’s ready to be my puppet. Since I can’t have absolute loyalty, I might as well create this more "forced" loyalty through convenience.

"I-If I die, it won’t r-really be my end, right? I-I’ve heard that after death things get really strange, y-you know... like... there are ghosts, right? So... what if the ghosts are..." She doesn’t finish speaking.

"Take your time in silence. You can go slowly. It must be a terrifying step for you, but think about everything I’ve told you this past month — the much better life you’ll have." I made my expectations, limits, and goals very clear.

"..."

’Although I could have killed her...’ I could kill Shizuka instantly, and then she wouldn’t have to try to kill herself. But if I did that, there would be a lingering doubt about whether Shizuka truly accepts dying by my words.

I think Shizuka herself hasn’t realized she didn’t actually need to kill herself, and that this is more of a test than a requirement of our contract. At least she’s somewhat foolish and doesn’t notice these things.

’So much work.’ I just stay here, watching Shizuka take a deep breath, staring into what is her own form of abyss. In the end, the fear of death is one of the strongest fears one can have.

"...Th... that girl... Eve, the one you said will be my master and teach me things... i-is she really just like you?" Shizuka asks with a flushed face. Over the past month, she used my image quite a lot to satisfy the lust she could never indulge before, so I think the possibility of closely serving someone who looks like me excites her in many ways.

That was obviously on purpose. Adjusting her feelings of desire toward something with my appearance will make her cling more tightly to the bonds she forms with Eve, since Eve conveys the same image I do.

’Esther really taught me so well...’ I can barely believe my mind is capable of being so meticulously controlling with someone if it helps ensure my future safety and Esther’s safety.

"Yes, an exact copy. Just without horns, wings, and a tail," I say to her as she moves closer to the edge, the fear of death mingling with her desire for a better life that this world is incapable of offering her.

"D-Devil... you’d better not be lying to me... I-I’m t-trusting you..." She says something that sounds foolish. Trusting the devil seems like something only a fool would do, but what can I say? I guess I’m very convincing.

"You can trust me. I don’t want to lose the future servant you’ll become. I can guarantee it will be painless, fast, and before you know it, you’ll be in a new body... a body full of curses, but still a body that will fulfill your desires."

"I-I’m going to jump... s-see you... i-in the other world, I g-guess?" She’s trembling, but like someone determined, she jumps all at once. She closes her eyes as she falls, perhaps trying to look away from the obvious — that she has now condemned her life irreversibly. I look down and soon hear the sound of impact and flesh being crushed.

The sound is unpleasant, like a loud, intense wet thud followed by wet and dry cracks, while visually, even from a distance, it’s something revolting. I see people screaming and pulling out their phones, while it was most certainly an instant death since she fell headfirst.

’Time to finish the childish game...’

The childish game I played to come to this world isn’t over yet. In the original game, the child has to reach heaven by hopping through the squares and then come back. The game is now at the part of returning while I take my reward.

Since I’ve already reached "heaven" — the portal that brought me to this world — now I just need to return to "Earth," which is another portal that will send me back. I wonder how things are going with Esther.

"..." Using magic, I see Shizuka’s soul — a white sphere with black stains — which I capture with my nymph powers. It was less complicated than I thought it would be.

"So this is it..." I look at the soul in my hands. I can finally go home, and I need to be quick about creating the puppet. I don’t know when the soul will fade away.

"It’s very different from what I expected... a soul... it’s so strange to touch a soul..." The white color symbolizes the soul, while the black stains are the "believed sins" I learned about by observing humanity and their emotions.

In short, these black stains are Shizuka’s feelings, simplified as the sins she believes she carries, shaped by various cultural, social, and biological factors.

’My soul is so different...’ Maybe it’s because I’m a demon, but my soul isn’t a sphere. My soul has my exact form, because both my body and my soul are made of Hikishin.

"...Time to go back..." I take the chalk I had prepared beforehand and begin drawing the game on the ground — twenty squares with a circular drawing representing heaven. This time, I have to start by hopping from "Heaven" downward, repeating the path, but now going back.

"It’s so strange being an adult and playing a childish game after making a girl kill herself..." I start playing the game to return, because this world no longer interests me. I just hope I didn’t make the wrong choice.