“Who! Who’s speaking!” Kells looked around in terror, but before his eyes, aside from that little version of himself with a foolish expression, there was no one at all. “Could it be him? The voice doesn’t sound like it. When this guy transforms, his voice also becomes like mine. That voice just now was somewhat unlike a human’s—it was sacred, like a god’s, and damn it, it was a male voice…” Kells, thinking of this, felt somewhat conflicted. In the middle of the night, how could a man’s voice appear in his head? At the very least, it should be a beauty’s voice…

  But recalling the content of that voice… “Contract activated? Could it be that some contract magic just occurred? I’ve heard that humans and monsters can form all sorts of contracts. Generally, it’s a friendship contract that the monster actively requests to complete, and there are also master-servant contracts that humans force upon monsters. Kells only knew of these two kinds. As a country bumpkin like himself, he definitely didn’t know anything about contracts. Could it be that this little guy actively requested it? But I didn’t agree!” Kells was well aware that for a contract to take effect, both parties must reach a consensus, and the process of the contract’s activation is certified by the great God of Contracts.

  Speaking of the God of Contracts… “The God of Contracts is actually a man… I had always thought it was a beauty. My childhood!” It’s truly unclear what exactly Kells did in his childhood, but in any case, this guy suddenly became extremely dejected.

  “So inexplicable. I don’t know what kind of contract this little guy made with me. In any case, let’s ask him directly—no, ask the beast itself.” When Kells thought of this, he grabbed the little Kells, faced him toward himself, and asked, “Hey, was this your doing, you little punk? What kind of contract did you make?”

  “Hey, was this your doing, you little punk? What kind of contract did you make?” It was still the same response. It seemed that asking this guy wouldn’t yield any answers at all. But Kells wasn’t convinced by this. He used the most direct and also the most effective method: a good old punch went down… Speaking of which, since the transforming monster had turned into an exact likeness of himself, this punch going down felt as if he were hitting himself!

  It wasn’t just a feeling! It was exactly that! “Ah!” Kells let out a loud cry of pain. “No way, how is it like hitting myself! Wait, it’s not the same. This little guy was knocked out cold, and I only felt a wave of pain. The intensity we bear isn’t the same. It seems that as long as I hit him, I also bear a certain amount of damage. But this is impossible. Could it be that contract messing with me…”

  “Damn it to hell! When did I ever make a contract with this damned thing, and what kind of contract effect is this? Lately, I’ve been so damn unlucky. Ever since I messed up yesterday, it’s been one unlucky thing after another. I was pretty happy at first, but now, great—if this guy dies, I’ll probably end up half-dead too. Grandma’s sake, I haven’t even earned any money yet, and now I’ve got an extra mouth to feed. This guy seems like he can eat a ton too! Heavenly Father! You don’t have to punish me like this! I’m a good person!” Kells was so depressed that he nearly hugged the transforming monster and burst into tears.

  People always have bad luck, but it doesn’t have to be this bad…

  This monster, aside from transforming and being able to eat a lot, had no other strengths at all. Even a rookie like himself could knock it out cold. It was completely a piece of trash. This guy looked pretty fragile too. If one day it accidentally kicked the bucket, Kells would probably cry himself awake from sleep! “Heavens! Earth! You can’t treat me like this!” Thinking of this, Kells shuddered all over with a chill.

  If it could transform perfectly, that’d be fine. It could turn into some big shot and freeload or swindle some money. But the key thing is, this guy always transforms into a shrunken version… Anyone could tell it’s a fake. Too deceptive! This thing is clearly just looking for someone to mooch off of…

  Kells really couldn’t think of any practical use for this thing. His rations had all been eaten up too. What was he going to do in the days to come? Kells was depressed…

  “Maybe have it transform into a beauty to replenish my spiritual food?” He tried to get this thing to turn into a beauty, but it seemed that aside from his own appearance, it couldn’t transform into any other human. This thing had seen him, so that meant it could only transform into the appearance of a beauty if it saw one?

  At this moment, the sky was gradually turning white. The night had passed, and this was the dawn of the second day. The weather today seemed pretty nice; being able to see the sun early in the morning was truly a happy thing. But Kells wasn’t happy at all! It would still take two days to reach Locco, and now it was the dead of winter when nothing could be seen. In such a vast forest, it was unlikely to find anything to eat. If he got lucky, he might come across a rabbit or something, but… Kells himself felt that luck was as unreliable as a fart!

  “Hey, since you could smell the food in my bag, you must be able to find other edible things too, right? If you want me to support you, you’ve got to help me get through the current crisis. A monster’s nose must be a lot sharper than mine. Look at you, you were pretty fat at first. You couldn’t have been starving, right?” Kells grabbed the little version of himself helplessly and said this, thinking that maybe this guy would repeat his words again. Its intelligence was too low; it was like playing the lute to a cow…

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Unexpectedly, this time the little version didn’t repeat. It gave Kells a silly smile, and then its entire face contracted and changed. In no time at all, it turned from a meatball back into the original fat raccoon.

  “Does this guy’s transformation have a time limit? No way, such a useless transformation and it still has a time limit. It’s truly utterly worthless…” Kells was thoroughly despairing. Speaking of which, this fat raccoon was indeed the transforming monster’s true form. Turning into this meant that only the fat raccoon form could be sustained indefinitely.

  After all this fussing around, Kells suddenly felt a wave of intense hunger assault him! Originally, that dried rabbit meat was enough to get him through at least a week, but now only that last little piece remained. Kells swallowed his saliva but didn’t dare take it out. After thinking it over repeatedly, he instead hid the only piece of dried rabbit meat even more securely. He’d save the last bit of food for when he was about to collapse. It was early in the morning; Kells didn’t believe he couldn’t find food.

  Having lived in the forest for years, Kells had already learned quite a few wilderness survival skills. In a winter forest with no human traces, the only food one could find was mushrooms. Of course, these mushrooms didn’t grow in winter; they grew during the rainy autumn season. Under the efforts of the autumn wind and sunlight, those mushrooms would dry out without rotting. In the past, Kells wouldn’t have gone this far. Unlike near their home, the mushrooms here certainly hadn’t been picked by anyone.

  This brought a glimmer of hope to Kells in his dire situation. As for identifying edible mushrooms, Kells was very skilled at it and would absolutely never mistakenly eat poisonous ones.

  Kells’ thinking was absolutely correct. In a forest with no human traces for years, how could anyone have picked the mushrooms? In no time, he gathered a big bagful. Originally, there was no space in Kells’ backpack, but now, easily, he filled it up! Sigh… The space that used to store his cherished collections had all been emptied out.

  Speaking of which, after this series of disasters, only a few of Kells’ cherished collections remained, and they were all from the ugliest girls in town… Although they were the only survivors, Kells had never appreciated these ones. It was precisely because they were overlooked that they narrowly escaped disaster… These few were always pressed down at the very bottom; it was hard to dig them out.

  The transforming monster kept following Kells closely, trotting along behind him. Wherever Kells went, it followed. Of course, Kells didn’t dare shake it off. That damned contract was too overbearing. This guy was so weak; if it encountered danger and died, wouldn’t his own life be in jeopardy? Kells wasn’t stupid!

  Speaking of which, this fat raccoon wasn’t picky at all. Roasted mushrooms, mushroom soup—it ate them with such relish. If Kells hadn’t made so little, this guy could probably have devoured the entire bag!

  “You, aside from eating, can you do anything else? We need to conserve our food. If we can’t find more edible mushrooms, we won’t make it out of here! Look! What are you looking at! Don’t get any ideas about these mushrooms. If you’re capable, cook them yourself, haha!” Kells wasn’t afraid of this guy targeting the mushrooms in the bag. It couldn’t eat them raw!

  “Gurgle… gurgle…” The thing seemed to grumble discontentedly a few times. Kells didn’t buy it. He raised a good old fist… “Oh! I can’t hit it…” This good old fist didn’t come down…

  “You sly bastard, using this trick so I can’t even beat you!” Kells said angrily.

  After finishing breakfast, Kells began his journey traversing the forest. Kells, with his great ideals, wouldn’t be defeated by this little setback! He’d work in Locco for a month or two, get a decent set of equipment, and start his mercenary life! Of course, the main attraction was still those beauty mercenaries of various races, tempting Kells, who was naturally hyperactive in certain functions…

  Just thinking about this filled Kells with vigor, and the pace under his feet quickened quite a bit. That thing followed Kells for a while but couldn’t keep up—its body was too fat. Kells had no choice but to stuff it into his backpack.

  “Damn, it’s heavy.” After carrying the transforming monster on his back, Kells felt it was a bit taxing. This guy was a lot heavier than it looked.

  “Gurgle… gurgle…” The transforming monster seemed to understand Kells’ words and grumbled discontentedly a couple of times. Kells really had no way with it. He couldn’t use his fist, so he let it be. Besides, as the grand future sole man of a beauty mercenary group, how could he quibble with a useless monster!

  “Speaking of which, I should give you a name, you thing. Always calling you ‘this guy, this guy’ isn’t good. After all, you’re my pet now. Let’s give you a cool name, haha!” Thinking of this, Kells was very pleased. Although this guy was useless, it was a genuine monster. Being able to form a contract with a monster was something many people dreamed of. It’s said that among the top professions on the De Rossi Continent, there’s one called Dragon Knight!

  That’s a profession only the strong who have formed a contract with a wyvern can take up. They can ride wyverns and soar through the skies, extremely impressive. Wyverns themselves are also powerful; they’re close kin to dragons, at the very least B-rank monsters!

  But I’ve heard that Dragon Knights and wyverns can only form friendship contracts, and Dragon Knights are all exclusively women. Since the history of the De Rossi Continent began, there has never been a male Dragon Knight. It seems wyverns don’t like men riding on their backs…

  “Hey, if you could transform into a wyvern, wouldn’t I be a Dragon Knight! The only male Dragon Knight!” Kells suddenly got excited, but when he thought of the effect after this guy transformed, he immediately lost the idea. Such a tiny wyvern would be about the same as a girl’s toy…

  “Forget it, even so, it can’t extinguish the passion in my heart, haha! From now on, you’ll be called Wyvern!” Recovering from the blow, Kells found quite a bit of confidence because of this name.

  “Gurgle! Gurgle!” The thing poked its fat head out of Kells’ backpack and gurgled twice, as if in agreement.

  And so, our vulgar panty thief Kells met his destiny with Wyvern!