First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

Chapter 2: Are you willing to make a contract with me, to provide me food and lodging

Habbie?

Victor was slightly surprised as memories from the games background began to surface in his mind.

This was one of the many gods in the games background story. He only existed as a character in the background story, and was only mentioned in the collection quest story books. No one had ever seen his true form.

According to the records in the games story, every time Habbie appeared, he would either bring natural disasters or man-made catastrophes. The most serious record was that one of Habbies appearances had reduced the worlds human population by half!

He was a very evil and frightening god.

Or you can call me by my current name, Viga, the crow said very politely as he bowed with his wings crossed over his chest.

Victor couldnt grasp the others intentions, so he didnt respond.

Seeing Victors silence here, Viga fluttered his wings and straightened his posture.

Interesting, it seems youve heard of me, he said.

I dont know you, Victor replied in his heart.

He understood very well that getting involved with a god was not a good thing, this was common knowledge among players.

Especially an evil god that only existed in the background story, he looked very dangerous.

But why would this evil god, who had never appeared in the games plot, take the initiative to find Victor?

Viga opened his beak, and his hoarse, crow-like voice interrupted him first:

Youre not Victor, your soul isnt filthy enough.

His single eye stared at Victor, trying to see a hint of panic on his face, but Victors ever expressionless face disappointed him.

Gods can see through souls, he said.

But it doesnt matter, I came to find you.

Viga fluttered his feathers, and a long, black feather fell onto the table, turning into a black sheet of paper. White stripes began to twist and turn to form a bunch of words, like a demonic contract.

Victor looked at the contents of the paper and felt a little headache coming.

He had just arrived in this world, hadnt done anything yet, and in just one day he had already been handed two contracts.

Im a gaming assistant! Not some desperate odd-jobber.

He took the paper and read it while mocking:

Arent you a god? Down on your luck?

He didnt expect that even gods had to find clients.

The contract stated that if he signed his name, he would have to provide food, housing, transportation and more for this crow. He would even have to help build a church and develop believers for this evil god.

The contract stated that the more believers there were, the stronger his power would become.

And that was it.

Victor:

Even a tyrannical contract wasnt this outrageous. Provide you food and shelter, find believers for you, you reap all the benefits while I get nothing?

He looked at the crow speechlessly as it elegantly pecked its feathers, like a noble bird.

If you could ignore its single eye.

My power has been mostly sealed, I can only seek the shelter of others. This deal, once struck, you will gain the friendship of a god.

Tempting.

Viga kept calling out as he continued to peck his feathers.

Victor was speechless. The friendship of a god? Useless.

The crow glanced at him with its single eye, seeming to see through his thoughts, and said lightly: It can save your life.

Deal!

Victor signed his full name with flourish on the contract.

He wasnt too worried about being cheated anyway, gods always kept their word.

Even evil gods.

After signing the contract, he felt a very subtle connection formed between them.

It was as if as long as he willed it, he could find where this crow was.

The crow flew onto Victors shoulder and pecked its feathers again.

Just as Lia said, keeping a crow as a pet really had no taste.

But he was new here, the contract was signed, so he might as well keep a pet with no taste.

At least he only needed to provide it with food and shelter.

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

He turned his head to look at the other contract on the side, which also required his signature.

This was a contract from the advanced magic academy, sincerely inviting the protagonist to be a professor at the academy. It also promised the title of professor.

He then remembered that although Victor was the villain, he was also a magician genius.

Many aged wizards were stuck at the second rank, while Victor had already reached the third rank at the age of twenty.

And in game terms

Victor recited in his heart, and a game panel appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Victor Clayvin]

LV: 39

HP: 1000/1000

MP: 4900/4900

A standard glass cannon mage.

This confirmed his guess that he had crossed into the game.

A third rank mage corresponded to level 30-39 in the game, and so on.

In the background story, Victor had not advanced for nine years, and his genius reputation had long been forgotten by the world.

Only after crossing into Victors body did he realize that he had been hiding his brilliance.

He had accumulated an unknown amount of experience for leveling up, and could easily break through the threshold of third rank to instantly become a fourth rank human archmage.

But Victor had never done so, he was always plotting.

Although he was of poor moral character, his reputation as a genius was real.

He had to sign this contract.

Not to mention that this title was fought for by his sister and fiancee.

With the title of professor, it was equivalent to having the shelter of the magic academy. The dukes side would not be able to easily make trouble for him.

At least on the surface, he needed a reasonable excuse.

The underage daughter was confessed to by a scumbag? This reason wouldnt stand.

The desire for beauty is common in all, would you have your daughter not marry for life?

Victor signed his name on the contract, had a servant deliver it to the magic academy, then got up and walked towards the backyard of the mansion.

Viga finally stopped pecking his feathers and asked where he was going.

Victor didnt turn his head and told him:

Im going to teach at the school tomorrow, so Im going to practice magic and get familiar with it.

Take me with you.

Viga stood on his shoulder, chattering incessantly.

Soon, they arrived at the training ground, where several huge stone targets stood.

Victor looked up at these sky-piercing huge stone statues and was somewhat surprised.

In the game, there were also such magical giant stones in the players backyard, used to increase skill proficiency.

The stones would show damage numbers. Based on the different damage numbers, players could discern the proficiency of the skill, as well as the level of their own attributes.

Now in the backyard of Victors mansion, he also saw such things, and he couldnt help feeling emotional.

Seeing him freeze for a moment, Viga thought that after not practicing for so long, he was intimidated by the targets.

Then he really started chattering like a crow.

Magic requires a lot of technique

Blah blah blah, he told Victor many, many things, such as how to cast spells efficiently, how to increase power.

The crow fluttered its preened feathers: If not for my lack of power, I would show you powerful high-level magic.

Victor ignored him.

The mage class was known among players as a magic Gatling gun.

Because of the magic circles in the game settings, players didnt need to operate them at all.

All they needed to do was click the hotkey, chant the prep time, and the skill would whoosh out.

As a gaming assistant who had played every class, he was long familiar with the skills of any class.

Casting magic? That was a piece of cake.

Seeing that he could perfectly grasp the release of skills, Victor prepared to leave.

Viga suddenly spoke up: Dont rush to leave, your spellcasting method really interests me. Do some more, will you?

Victor didnt want to humor him.

You think this is fireworks? Cast whenever you want?

Just as this thought arose, he glanced over and saw Vigas single eye light up with a dazzling blue, enveloping his body.

He felt as if a rope had been tied between him and the crow.

Victor brought up the panel and looked again.

MP: 995099/999999

He glanced down at Viga.

Im reporting this! This guys cheating!