The Original Ritual Text

It turns out that even in a different world, reading is a very “hair-raising” activity. The entire Kathis Cult Scripture was full of nonsense, and the second book, the Teutonic Encyclopedia, was equally obscure and difficult to understand…

I lost patience after reading a few pages. I looked at the small clump of hair that had fallen out and felt a pang of distress.

“I don’t remember if I was a man or a woman in my last life, but… baldness is bad for both genders, right? Please, no Mediterranean loli business!”

However, although I lost some hair, I did manage to glean a few words from the encyclopedia.

“Malignant contagious disease, a blood disorder. Contracted due to direct or indirect contact with red mercury products. Incurable. Type S Blood Disease, Third Stage—the final stage: Succubus Transformation.”

Large chunks of terminology I can’t recall, but in essence, those Succubi seemed to have originally been human, then contracted the disease and turned into this. No wonder that knight said I might turn out like them; he suspected I was a blood disease patient… That assumption is reasonable, as I seem to have woken up in the middle of a group of Succubi…

But… are those instruments of torture and the holy water used to torment prisoners truly effective? Isn’t the blood disease incurable?

Sensing something was wrong, I quickly flipped through the Kathis Cult Scripture and the Teutonic Encyclopedia. I checked the books. They contained no cure. The pages were covered in crookedly written words like “benevolence and righteousness.” I looked high and low but couldn’t find a solution. I finally looked closely for most of the night and saw, between the lines, two words: “Feudalism!”

Got it. Desperate illness calls for desperate measures, seeking random treatment, right? No wonder those knights and nuns take the Succubi out and bring them back every day, yet not a single Succubus has been “purified”…

Sigh. But this is an incurable disease. I can’t quite tell whether the infected and mutated patients are more miserable, or if the frightened normal people are more miserable.

I looked out through the iron bars of the cell. Right now, a crimson moon hung in the sky, with a white planet slowly revolving around it.

It’s late.

“Forget it. A beautiful girl staying up late will get acne. Those knights aren’t treating me well, so I need to be kind to myself.”

I placed the two hard books on the bed as a pillow and lay down. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it was much better than the previous days. At least, I have clothes to wear and books to read now.

“Good night, Makka Pakka.”

Even as a poor, beautiful girl Tentacle Monster, even in a cell full of Succubi, I must have a baby-like sleep. Absolutely do not leave the fatigue for the next day!

The next day.

I woke up. There is no toilet or faucet here, so I can’t wash up. I am very hungry, but the knights haven’t given me anything to eat. I don’t want human food; I want to eat people, preferably delicious children.

But, before gaining the trust of those humans, I know I absolutely cannot eat people. Although I could use those Succubi as a quick snack, I absolutely won’t touch them either.

Discipline gives me freedom.

“Calm down, Aphrodite. This is for your future. You will only have the chance to eat people after you integrate into human society…”

It’s strange. Eating people should be bad. Even eating Succubi should be bad. But I feel no guilt. I look at those Succubi the way Dio looks at pastries. My body craves flesh and soul, and I don’t feel there is anything wrong with that.

And this feeling of not being bound by guilt is wonderful. Otherwise, before eating someone, I’d have to pray to God to forgive my sin!

God will surely forgive a sincerely repentant Tentacle Monster, won’t He? After all, I will definitely repent many times in the future. God, the old man, will frequently forgive me, and I will continue to repent. We can mutually boost our KPIs, which is a good thing for both of us.

Since I can neither wash up nor eat, I can only pass the time by reading.

“Knowledge is food. A beautiful girl should arm her mind with knowledge.”

Just as I was about to open the long and tedious Kathis Cult Scripture, preparing to pretentiously read a few classical phrases like Kong Yiji, I unexpectedly found an extra book beneath my head.

Unlike the black leather-bound Kathis Cult Scripture and Teutonic Encyclopedia, the new book was very exquisite. It had golden silk threads outlining leaf patterns and red gems carved into the shape of a flower.

“Where did this book come from… The Book of Primary Rites? What a strange name. I don’t remember the little knight giving me such a delicate book yesterday?”

I opened the book in the middle. However, with one glance, I saw that most of the pages were blank, like a notebook. Other than a few dates, there was nothing.

“A notebook? For me to write reading reviews? But you didn’t give me a pen…”

Just as I was feeling puzzled, I casually flipped to the first page. Then, I saw two lines written on the book in elegant handwriting.

The first line was written in bold: Daily Quest

The second line was written in neat handwriting: Prayer (Unfinished)

What is this… a prank? Do you think this world is some kind of game world? Design the daily quest properly, please! At the very least, it should be “Eliminate three Succubi” or “Cook a delicious Sweet Flower Chicken for the boy waiting for his father on the bridge,” right?

Although the book is exquisite, as a brilliant, top-tier hunter, I naturally wouldn’t believe such a pathetic prank.

“Oh, God, thank you for bestowing upon me such a delicate book to fob me off… I will be eternally grateful, strive to be a good girl in the cell, turn over a new leaf, and become a Tentacle Monster again…”

“Ouch!”

Then, something struck my head hard.

“Who’s littering! Was it you, little pastries??”

The anger hidden in the darkness instantly erupted. Tentacles emerged from the shadows, and the already dim cell suddenly became much gloomier. The Succubi, sensing my anger, immediately huddled together in twos and threes, trembling continuously. They didn’t even dare to shift their gaze towards me.

These guys probably don’t have the guts.

I shifted my gaze to the object that had hit my head.

“An apple? A golden… apple?”

I picked up the golden apple that had fallen to the floor and dented it. After a brief inspection, I realized this object was extraordinary.

The heavy object that hit my head was a pure gold, enchanted Golden Apple. It had very complex glowing patterns, and those patterns precisely formed the image of flowers clustered by leaves. The style of these patterns was identical to the pattern on the cover of the exquisite book.

Holding the heavy golden apple while rubbing the large lump on my head, I stammered, “Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life. Thank you, God. My attitude will be better next time. I also hope you’ll throw it a little lighter next time. I don’t want to meet Steve Jobs, and I don’t want to meet Isaac Newton. Please find someone else to play Texas Hold’em with them; I’m happy to stay with the low-income support.”

I don’t know who I was in my last life, but I was probably an internet guru, the kind of keyboard warrior with low morals, otherwise, I wouldn’t have no psychological resistance to eating people. I probably consumed a lot of human-blood mantou in my last life.

However, faced with such a mysterious, irresistible force, I chose to surrender.

I first placed the apple on the bed. Then, I flipped open the exquisite notebook again, thinking the content might have changed slightly.

Sure enough, the neat handwriting had changed.

Besides the second line’s “Prayer” turning into (Completed), a few more lines of equally neat handwriting appeared below it.

Golden Gift has been issued. You can pray to select the conversion to other Primary Gifts—(Ugly Fruit) Completely restores mental power and life force; (Death-Birth Embryo) Supplements soul and tentacle mass; (Slumber Egg) Completely restores sanity, cures blood disease.

…

I was stunned again.

After three minutes of blank staring, I got out of bed, neatly placed the book on a high place in the cell, and kowtowed three times.

“From now on! Anything Aphrodite can do! Just say the word! If you’re cold, I’ll go deep into the mountains and forests to find hot spring water for you to soak in. If you feel chilly, I’ll light a fire with the best huanghuali wood to roast you. If I have hot pot, you get the tenderest tripe first. If I have watermelon to eat, the sweetest part is yours! Don’t be polite with me!”

A wise person submits to circumstances, and a strong backing I can hug, I will absolutely not let go of.

The three items granted by the Golden Gift appear to be single-use. Their appearances are drawn in the book—all very ugly—but there is no doubt that their effects are extremely potent.

The (Ugly Fruit) is the equivalent of an all-purpose recovery potion in a game, restoring the red bar (Life Force) and the blue bar (Mental Power). The (Death-Birth Embryo), with its ability to supplement soul and tentacle mass, is custom-made for me! After all, every time I use my tentacles, it consumes tentacle mass…

As for the (Slumber Egg).

What could be more desirable than a cure for an incurable disease?

“The enlightenment at Dragon-Slaying Ground is over, Aphrodite. Now, those knights will be kneeling at your feet.”

I held the book. The golden apple slowly disappeared in my hand, replaced by an egg covered in long red hair, with a tightly closed eye in its center. Just looking at it was unsettling.

But I am very happy.

I must walk out of this cell. I must first liberate the humans of this world, then increase their productivity and boost their numbers…

I will liberate them, I will rule them, I will farm them. I will turn the entire world into my cafeteria. I will build this world into my self-service restaurant.

And before that, I need a name—a title that is loud enough, mystical enough, and captivating enough.

“From now on, you are no longer a prisoner. With the ability to cure the incurable, you already have the chance to become the ruler of these humans. You should give yourself a moniker. A moniker loud enough, powerful enough, to spread your prestige throughout the world.”

“The Blessed Girl, Aphrodite, has arrived.”