Chapter 88: Fair Contract

Fang Yue first stared blankly, then frowned and thought carefully.

He paced back and forth, glanced again at Bai Xiaoya downstairs, fell silent for several minutes, and when he looked up again, his eyes were resolute.

"It seems that if I don't accept your contract, Bai Xiaoya will surely die!"

"And I might spend the rest of my life regretting missing this chance to gain extraordinary power!"

"So, my decision is…"

Fang Yue suddenly thrust his hand to his lips, bit his finger until it bled, and pressed it directly onto the parchment.

In a swift, fluid stroke, the blood darkened then faded, completing the signature in one continuous motion!

There were two enormous characters, nearly occupying one-eighth of the parchment's surface—REFUSE!!

【What?!】

Almost the instant Fang Yue finished writing, two bright red characters appeared instantly over all the text, rising from the parchment.

As if sensing its own outburst, the blood-red characters vanished within less than a second.

Then came the next one, emerging...

【My name is Fang Yue. It is now the night of September 3, 2050. I have refused the Fair Contract of the parchment.】

【45 minutes later, Bai Xiaoya dies.】

【Afterward, security agencies came, investigation firms came, private detectives came—but none affected me. I lived a period of calm.】

【Two months later, on December 1, I died.】

【At the moment of my death, for some reason, I kept remembering that night the parchment offered me the chance to gain extraordinary power, filled with unbearable regret.】

【If… I had believed the parchment back then, this would never have happened!】

These words were like those of a bullied elementary school kid too afraid to fight back, only able to grit his teeth and curse in a little notebook—full of petulant spite.

And the words appeared at lightning speed, cramming the entire parchment at once, as if afraid to delay even a moment in venting this grievance.

But Fang Yue froze.

Wait a minute!

These last two passages… why do they feel familiar?

Didn't you use exactly these words the day I first picked you up?

Is your vocabulary really this limited?

I thought you, a piece of parchment, would have some cultural depth, some literary flair!

Fang Yue smirked, ignoring the parchment's words entirely.

On the surface, the Fair Contract seems harmless.

You can't not call yourself "parchment," can you?

Then my obligation to protect you wouldn't be meaningless.

But I must risk my life to protect you, while you only need to help me through danger?

What kind of help is this?

What level of danger counts?

And how much of the character's lifespan is burned when it's consumed? What happens to my real self if the character's lifespan runs out?

None of this is explained. If you don't clarify, aren't you just setting me up to get scammed beyond redemption?

Fang Yue had never held a formal job, but near graduation he'd reviewed many classmates' labor contracts—he knew how to analyze legal details, he was an educated man! What else would make him a college graduate?

Besides, Bai Xiaoya's impending death did affect me deeply—but not enough to sacrifice my own life.

Someone I know is about to die right before my eyes, and I can do nothing.

That feeling is indeed suffocating and painful.

But Fang Yue knew himself: after some time, he'd gradually forget this incident. When he thought of it later, he wouldn't say things like "Who?!" "Not familiar!" "Bai Xiaoya? Just the landlord's daughter."—but he'd feel a quiet pang of nostalgia.

Time erases everything!

As for danger… in over twenty years, apart from encountering the parchment, nothing serious had ever happened to me.

People under emotional stress easily make impulsive decisions.

Fang Yue had been emotionally stirred earlier, but the parchment's opportunistic manipulation had diluted that emotion, bringing him back to calm.

He stared at the words on the parchment, snorted twice, then suddenly held the parchment in an unscientific posture.

"Parchment, you may know me well—predicting my future death, even the trajectory of my life."

"But you don't know the one thing I've always loved most in my entire life!"

"The one thing Fang Yue loves most—saying NO to people (and parchments) who think they're so smart!"

"So, my answer remains—REFUSE!"

REFUSE! REFUSE! REFUSE! REFUSE! REFUSE! REFUSE! REFUSE!!

As if sensing Fang Yue's unwavering stance,

the parchment fell silent, its words disappearing one by one.

Fang Yue paid it no mind; his sorrow faded like a depressed net user who suddenly opens TikTok at midnight and spends the whole night scrolling, too distracted to feel blue anymore!

"Decided. To avoid being swayed by you, I won't read a single word from you for at least a month!"

Saying this, Fang Yue moved to fold the parchment and slip it into his pocket.

But at that moment, the parchment suddenly flashed golden light!

No—wait—it wasn't the parchment glowing; it was golden text appearing on it, so bright it looked like the parchment itself was radiating light.

So the parchment can add visual effects to its text?

As Fang Yue thought this, he squinted at the new content on the parchment.

【Non-Fair Contract: Fang Yue will protect the safety of the parchment; in return, the parchment will help Fang Yue through danger! Both parties swear this oath as proof!】

Fang Yue:?!!!

Ha ya yi!

So fast!

Parchment, you change your face faster than anyone!

Just now you predicted I'd die over two months from now—why aren't you scaring me anymore?

In fact, Fang Yue had left himself some leeway; he hadn't said he'd never read the Parchment again, only that he'd wait a month—then, if anything happened, he'd still have over a month to react.

So this is all the Parchment's got?

Fang Yue felt a hint of pride.

Looking closely at the new contract, he noticed the difference between the "New Contract" and the "Old Contract" was simply the removal of the words "fight to the death"; the phrase "Fair Contract" had become "Non-Fair Contract," and the color of "Non-Fair Contract" had shifted from brilliant golden light to blood red.

Huh, this is…

Fang Yue ventured, "Are you angry?"

The blood-red text of the Non-Fair Contract began to drip blood.

Fang Yue asked again, "Are you angry?"

The contract text itself also changed from gold to blood red.

Fang Yue continued, "Are you angry…"

The blood-red text on the Parchment began to shake violently, as if carrying a text animation effect.

Seems you're really angry—but… I refuse!

Same as before: I, Fang Yue, love saying NO to those who think they're so great!

The Parchment fell silent once more; the text faded, then, as if gritting its teeth, one character at a time, it reappeared.

【Shameless Contract: I, Fang Yue, will do my utmost to protect the Parchment's safety; in return, the Parchment will fight desperately to help Fang Yue survive any danger!】

I originally planned to update at exactly noon, but since the last chapter ended so abruptly and caused so much misunderstanding, I decided to update early. Please read patiently and keep your temper down.

(End of Chapter)