29 Transformation... Part One

Although the system’s fee was rather delicate—essentially draining every point Jos earned from this mission—he had no choice but to agree. After all, opportunities like this didn’t come twice, and only the system in the whole world could accomplish such a thing.

“Well, it’s not as if dumping all those points into the lottery would do me any good anyway…” Though it pained him, Jos took it well. The system was dumb enough as it was, which made it hard for him to feel too much regret over the whole affair.

[Pseudo-Heroic Spirit Contract (Knockoff Version) under construction…]

With the system’s announcement, an invisible force extracted the violently writhing and roaring Venom from Jos’s body, leaving it suspended midair, pulsing and squirming. As beams of light poured into the symbiote from the void, Jos immediately sensed a new and inexplicable, yet undeniably real connection between himself and Venom.

“Wait a second!”

Just then, Jos suddenly shouted out, interrupting the system’s process.

[No refunds or exchanges after purchase.]

“What kind of shady dealer are you?! No, that’s not what I meant—can you at least change its appearance? Taking it out like this is just too embarrassing.”

Venom’s original form was imposing enough, but that was only because it had to blend in when attached to a human. Now, if the system allowed Venom to move independently, then as nothing more than a blob of sticky black goo, it was frankly a bit revolting.

[That can be arranged…]

“Give me Little Black!” Jos decided immediately, without hesitation.

And why? Because dark-skinned lolis are the best, of course!

[Confirmed. Initiating transformation…]

The fading glow suddenly shone bright again at Jos’s request, and what happened next left him utterly stunned. The viscous symbiote began to morph into a slender, petite humanoid figure. The inky fluid smoothed into skin the color of rich chocolate. Silver-gray hair tumbled down her back, a flat chest, an enticing tattoo on her lower abdomen—every detail was exactly as Jos remembered Little Black Chloe.

Except… she had forgotten to put on any clothes.

“Hey, hey, hey! If anyone saw this scene, I’d be hauled away for sure! Why isn’t she wearing anything?!”

[Chloe’s outfit is classified as Heroic Spirit Equipment and is not included.]

“I’ve never worn anything like that in my life!” Jos protested.

Both the system and Venom—or rather, Venom Loli now—expressed their disdain for Jos almost simultaneously. Still, Venom’s new voice was so unbearably cute, a far cry from her previous gruff baritone, though her word choice left something to be desired.

Satisfied, Jos patted Little Black's head. Although she clearly wanted to dodge, a red, sigil-like mark on the back of Jos’s hand suddenly flared, and Little Black had no choice but to stand obediently still.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho… So it comes with Command Seals? I never thought the system would be so accommodating.”

With Venom’s transformation came a set of instructions. Now, Venom could move independently as a separate entity, but she would still require periodic energy infusions from Jos to sustain herself.

In other words, she needed magical energy.

“Wait a minute! System, if I ‘bleep’ Venom now, do I get a reward?” Jos instantly realized the hidden implication.

[Get lost.]

“Tch, if not, just say so—no need to be rude.” Jos glanced at Little Black and reluctantly put aside his mischievous ideas. For now.

As for replenishing her energy, aside from the “official” methods favored by lunar denizens, Jos only needed to let Little Black merge with him for a while to top her up. If he wasn’t concerned with efficiency, simply keeping her within five meters would allow her to passively absorb enough energy to survive.

Wired charging, wireless charging—that was the difference.

Moreover, Little Black could still fight and act as Venom once did. Now, without a “core,” she could even perform actions previously impossible for fear of harming her host. She could also envelop Jos like a living suit of armor, dramatically boosting his combat abilities.

However, as she was no longer in her usual symbiote state, Jos could no longer access Venom’s regenerative abilities.

And then there were the Command Seals, which, despite their grand name, only served as a means to force Little Black to obey Jos’s orders. They lacked the true Command Seal’s power-boosting effects, but, being a feature likely borrowed from a mobile game, they automatically refreshed to three uses each day instead of being limited to just three in total.

In other words, Jos could use them as he pleased.

Although Jos felt that, for once, the system had done a decent thing, he soon realized this mode of transformation was difficult to replicate. Turning Venom into Little Black was only possible because of the symbiote’s biological nature; all the system had done was alter her means of nourishment and grant her a system-created body.

If Jos wanted to use this method to contract with an ordinary human, the point cost would skyrocket into the tens of thousands. For someone truly powerful, the cost would be even more astronomical; anyone with the strength of a “bald eagle” would cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of points.

Once everything was settled, Jos used a Command Seal to forcibly dress Little Black, then hoisted up the still-unconscious Blade—who had thought he was the MVP but had only ended up as a benchwarmer—and left the now-empty mansion.

…

“But for the system to be so generous this time… something feels off…” On the way back, Jos couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Perhaps he had been swindled by the system too many times in the past; the lack of pitfalls this time just felt unnatural.

Unable to figure it out, Jos opened the system panel to investigate. What he saw nearly made his heart stop.

[Source of Recklessness: -25,252]

[Host is in Loan Mode.]

[Repayment required within one month of borrowing. Failure to do so will result in erasure.]

[Time remaining: 29 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes]

“Wait, wait, wait! What the hell is this? Why am I suddenly in so much debt? And why will I be erased if I don’t pay it back?!”

[This expenditure was used to transform Venom into the Chloe form.]

“Hold on, hold on—why is this so expensive? It’s even more than the principal for modifying Venom and the mission reward combined!”

[Host confirmed the transaction before the explanation, so Loan Mode was automatically activated.]

“Uh…” Jos suddenly remembered that this was indeed the case.

And so, Jos had finally managed to dig himself into the biggest hole of his life. Congratulations, truly.