NOVEL WEB Prologue + Chapter 1
❖ Prologue ❖
For years, the way my door jammed as I opened it each and every day drove me crazy.
Every morning before work, and every night before I crashed into my apartment and flopped on the couch, it would get stuck on the frame and jam. I'd have to push and pull with everything I had just to come and go each day. I'd spoken to my landlady about it, of course, but my requests may as well have been shouted into the abyss, for all the good that did me. I'd tried to fix it myself, only to be told that I'd incur a very heavy fee if I screwed things up, scaring me off the idea forever.
So I tried to make my peace with it, treating it like a little test of strength. The door had bested me a few times in the past, but I was proud to say that I'd racked up a ton of wins over the years, and was rewarded with the fabulous prize of getting to make it to my awful job every day.
What I hadn't expected though, was that one day, the issue would simply solve itself. It's not like I'd been working out, and the door absolutely hadn't been fixed, but now, as I put my hands on the handle and gave it just the slightest push, it opened without any trouble. I'd become so wildly strong that it didn't even register as jammed to me anymore. Not that I looked the part. If anything, my arms looked skinnier and weaker than they ever had before.
And yet I couldn't consider any of these a victory in the face of the door's tyranny. If anything, it only served as a reminder of just how far I'd fallen.
Not that I cared, of course. Not right now, anyway. Who had time to think about a stupid door when my body was crying out for what lay behind it? I was buzzing. It didn't matter how much my brain wanted to crash on the couch and stay there til morning. My body knew exactly what lay in store once I made it home, and it was so very hungry for it.
But I guess my brain's opinion and my body's thirst weren't really a factor at all. Whatever came next was entirely up to Haqua to decide, and odds were good that she wouldn't even think about letting me rest tonight.
“Haqua!” I called out, taking a shy step into my apartment and shutting the door behind me. “I’m home! Brought some food from the udon place you like. Wanna watch a movie and cuddle?”
It was a pointless question, I knew it wouldn’t get me far.
“Awww, how sweet,” Haqua cooed from the living room. “Did walkies go well, dear?" she asked, her voice practically dripping with mirth.
I tried to speak, but at the sound of her gentle footsteps coming closer and closer, my words died in my throat.
Haqua was exactly the kind of girl who looked extremely put together, but was a wreck behind the scenes. Anyone who knew her casually would tell you that she was friendly, sweet, and eager to help. I, however, knew the truth: Haqua was a lazy wreck who lived for nothing but sex.
Yet that only made me that much more excited to see her big, round, perfectly soft ass off the couch to greet me every time she came home.
J-just ignore some of what I said there, OK? Haqua makes it easy for me to lose my head.
Really, she'd almost be a comforting sight at a time like this, were it not for the extremely cocky smirk on her face.
"Well, have a nice time in the park, cutie?"
Guh… The way her eyes just pierced right through me... Whenever she looked down on me like this, her eyes—pools of bright, shimmering gold surrounding inky black slits that could swallow anyone whole if they weren’t careful—would quickly get me feeling shaky and weak, showing me exactly how little power I held around here.
But no, I wasn’t giving in. I had to stand my ground.
It’ll make it so much more embarrassing when she gets me to crumble~!
I did everything I could to shake away my scattered thoughts and eventually mustered up the strength to speak back.
“I was working, dumbass!” I snarled, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “How about you, huh? What’d you do?!”
"Slept, dreamed about you, and played with myself," she smiled, like it was something to be proud of. "All in all, a deeply fulfilling day. Though I must say, none of my fantasies could ever match how excited actually seeing you makes me feel…" she said with a giggle.
My legs suddenly felt like jelly. She'd barely said a word to me, and I was already weak in the knees.
“That's all you did?! All day?!”
"I played games, too," she shrugged. "You collect an awful amount of eroge, don't you? Some of them are quite thrilling, honestly. They've given me all kinds of fun ideas," she teased, licking her lips.
“Friggin’ horny NEET... Did you even clean up like you said you would?!”
“No. I meant to, but by the time it actually came to mind, I wasn’t really feeling motivated. I’ll do it tomorrow, though.”
“Guh...I don’t even care. Look, let’s just take it easy tonight, OK?”
I pushed past her, blushing furiously as my hand just so happened to collide with her stupid, gorgeous butt, and headed through to the living room, ready to unwind with bags full of food and a night full of nothing.
Not that I'd get very far. After just a couple of steps, Haqua snapped her fingers, and my belly started throbbing like crazy.
Haqua had turned on the toy.
"Hhahhhn~!" I moaned, immediately aware of how pathetic it sounded.
I'd had the thing in all day, by her request, of course, but she hadn't done a thing with it until now, choosing to let me get through the workday in relative peace.
But that only made it that much more startling, and that much more exciting when she finally kicked things into high gear.
“Rina.”
Her voice was cold and dispassionate, stripped of both her usual amusement and haughtiness.
She was getting fired up.
“Wh-Wh-What’s up, Haqua? W-We’re gonna snuggle up on the couch with some fAH~!-food and a movie, yEAH~!?!?”
It felt so friggin good! I knew exactly where she was going, and it felt soooooo damn good that I couldn’t wait for more!
“No kiss, barely any greeting, all those insults, treating me like I’m lazy... And then you have the gall to touch me without begging for permission like a good little dog?”
Haqua gradually raised the vibe’s strength, and it became harder and harder to focus on anything other than her words, which felt as if they were resonating with the very core of my being, harmonizing with the loud hum of the egg vibrator.
Fuck, I was so turned on, even standing was a struggle.
“Nnn~!!”
I think I wanted to respond? I couldn’t say. No really, I couldn’t. When I tried to speak, all I could let out was a thirsty, nearly feral moan. Hell, I couldn’t even hold onto the bags of food I’d been carrying, watching helplessly as they dropped to the floor.
Haqua had me.
“Now, I’m sure you’ve had a hard day. I’d even planned on taking away allll your stress for you, you know? But that’s no reason to be so disobedient, is it? I was so sure I’d raised my pet better than that...”
I barely managed to shake my head before she ratcheted up the strength so much that I fell straight to my knees, my palms bracing firmly against the carpet.
“That’s better. Being on all fours suits you so well. Now, I know you get moody, but you’re such a good girl deep down, aren’t you Rina?”
I think I nodded. If it made her happy, then I definitely did.
“My sweet, precious little pet loves her mistress so much, doesn’t she?”
My panties were drenched. I could feel my juices slowly trickling down my thighs. It was only a matter of time before I stained the floor. And I’d had the audacity to get mad at her for not cleaning up...
“I l-lo-”
“Dogs can’t speak. You should know that better than anybody.”
She pushed the vibe to its absolute limit, and I barked.
Honestly, “yapped” would probably be a better word with how pathetic I must’ve sounded.
I can already hear you yelling, “Now wait a sec! Weren’t you saying something about being crazy strong? Why’d it take so little to bring you this low?”
So, listen, despite not having or really wanting anything more than a busted door frame to prove that with, I promise you that I am stupidly strong. Stronger than any human you’ll ever meet.
But to Haqua I am, and almost certainly always will be, nothing more than a pet. A lowly little mutt.
Feels so gooooood~!
And nothing could make me happier. I’d become a dirty wreck of a succubus, and Haqua was my mistress.
“There’s a good girl. Let’s have lots of fun together, shall we~?"
❖ 1 ❖
"Morning, Senpai!" My cute little co-worker greeted me with a smile and a wave as I reached my desk. I waved back, but before I could so much as say anything in response, my attention was pulled away by a far less friendly voice.
"Saeki," my boss Iori Kizaki, an outrageously pretty and incredibly harsh woman a few years my senior, called out to me. I'd barely made it into the office, and the day was already off to a bad start.
Much as I wanted to ignore her, I knew nothing but Hell awaited if I did, so I, Rina Saeki, did what any good little doormat would do: Dutifully nodded, smiled, and made my way over to her. She was seated in her usual spot, a small rest area in the corner of the building, calmly relaxing with a hot cup of coffee.
"Good morning, Iori," I greeted her with a practiced smile. She'd insisted on having her employees call her by her first name ever since I'd started working here, but it did nothing to ease the cavernous gap between her and any of her employees, myself included.
"Mm," she nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "I trust you slept well?"
Oh no…
I knew where this was going. To be honest, I'd suspected as much the moment she called my name, but as soon as she asked about my sleep, I knew my fate was sealed.
"I did, thank you. I've taken to having a cup of tea shortly before bed each night, and-"
With nothing more than a look, she silenced me. Just pressed the mute button on me without so much as a flick of her wrist.
"That's good, I'm glad," she said, her disinterest on clear display. "I take it you'd be in good enough shape to handle some extra work then?"
No way in Hell! Gimme a friggin' break! It's the weekend!!! And why's it always me you single out? Everyone's working overtime, so why am I the only one who gets locked into these intimidation meetings, huh?!
"Of course, Iori," I nodded, taking care not to let my thoughts show on my face. "You know you can always count on me."
"Mm, I do," Iori nodded, a smile very, very briefly showing through on her normally stoic face. "I'm proud of the work you do, Saeki. Keep it up, and a promotion may well be within reach."
"That's wonderful news, Iori," I said, keeping my reaction as bland as possible. It should've excited me to hear that, but this was the umpteenth time she'd said this to me over the years. The promotion was a carrot that she'd dangled in front of me for so long that I'd lost the ability to care about it at all.
"But prosperity doesn’t come without sacrifice. I know you live alone, but I still consider your free time to be incredibly precious," she said, lying through her teeth. "It pains me to make decisions like this, but for the good of the company, I have to be able to make the hard calls that will steer us in the right direction. You understand this, no?"
I nodded, saying nothing.
"Good, good. Then I'd ask that you work late for the next week. I must remind you that this is strictly by choice, of course. You are, of course, free to leave as soon as your shift is over."
There was a "but" at the end of that sentence, coiled and ready to strike. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
"Of course. Still, I'd like our company to thrive, Iori. A few late nights are such a small price to pay, really."
"Good," she nodded again, downing the rest of her coffee and slamming the cup on the table in front of her, definitively putting a period on the conversation before she stood up to leave.
Turning on her heels, Iori walked away from me without offering so much as a scrap of encouragement.
As soon as she was out of earshot, I sighed. I'd worked so many late nights that I'd practically forgotten what time my shift was supposed to end. I was a well-oiled paperwork machine at this point, and I was liable to implode any day now.
Today though, I wouldn't be defeated. I wasn't about to skimp on work, I knew exactly how hard things would be if I did that, but I'd eliminate the need to stay late today no matter what. No matter how much work Iori piled on, I'd file it away before the end of my shift, and leave with my head held high.
I made it back to my desk, greeted my cute kouhai with a smile, and forced my way through every bit of work Iori could throw at me.
Before I knew it, the end of my shift hit, and I stood up at my desk with a triumphant grin.
"You're finished, Senpai?!" Mio Ikeda, the world's cutest kouhai, looked up at me. Her eyes wide with surprise.
Shit, it looked adorable. Even if it came from the poor girl having not worked a reasonable workday in far, far too long.
Still, she looked like a cute little hamster when she got all excited. Bad circumstances or no, I had to savor this sight. Committing it to memory forevermore.
Impressed, Mio? I am too, you know? My body feels ready to fall apart after all that, but I'm done! Iori can't find anything more to toss at me!
“Mm, I think so. There’s some errands I need to attend to. I’ll be coming in early on Monday to make up for it, though.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that! I’ll cover for you, so try to take some time to relax, OK? I'll hold Iori off."
“Thank you, Mio,” I smiled, gently petting her sweet little head. “You make this job worthwhile.”
“S-S-Sen… Oh gosh…”
For the record, I’m pretty aware that Mio almost definitely has a crush on me, especially if the particularly bright shade of red she’d just turned was anything to go by.
And believe me, I'd love to act on that, to embrace her and tell her that I loved her, too. Alas, work had left me too drained to even consider a relationship, so for the time being, I would keep things like this. Light and fluffy and teasing. It was always enough to get me through the day, if nothing else. Hell, spending time with her like this was the only fun part of my routine, really.
“You’re so cool…”
Besides, she hadn’t really fallen for me. Just me in work mode, the Rina who was put-together, confident, and collected at all times. If she learned just how tired and bored I was deep down, she’d lose all interest. I was sure of that. So really, this was the only way things could ever be between us, as much as I hated that.
But I had to keep up the act. Even though work had steadily stripped away any semblance of fun from my life, I knew that if I lost this job, I’d be in deep trouble. So, I kept soldiering on with a smile, pretending that I cared very deeply about the million little duties I had that kept Iori rich and…happy? Comfortable, at least. I wasn't sure I'd seen her express any kind of joy…ever, really.
“Have a good weekend, Mio. And remember to call me if you need anything, OK?”
“U-Understood!” Mio saluted, still blushing furiously. “See you on Monday, Senpai!”
If I'm being honest, I knew that all this work still wouldn't be enough. I knew that I'd be chewed out for leaving this early no matter what Mio did to keep Iori at bay. The next time I came into work, someone would show up at my desk and chew me out for “showing a lack of dedication,” even though my record was otherwise nothing short of stellar. But I guess something in me had finally just...snapped.
Don’t worry. I don’t mean that in a bad, self-destructive way. I just mean that I’d finally given in to the urge to actually do something for myself for the first time in way, way too long.
It was a very stupid something, too. The kind of thing I just knew wouldn’t work, which would totally obliterate my carefully constructed facade of professionalism if anyone found out I was even thinking about it.
But there was a one-in-a-billion chance it would work out, and I had to take it.
Even if it doesn’t, it’ll make a fun story to tell...well, nobody other than myself. But I’ll be able to laugh about it, and that’s at least worth something, right? And unless my apartment’s just full of hidden cameras, there’s no way anybody will actually find out, so my reputation won’t even take a scratch. Really, it's the dumbest foolproof plan in history.
But anyway, I’ve been burying the lede for long enough. Now that I was practically skipping as I walked home from work (on the inside, of course. Like I said, maintaining my image is deeply important), I should probably say what’s gotten me so fired up.
I’m summoning a succubus!
…
Yes, I understand how stupid it sounds. In fairness, I did admit that the odds of it working out were tremendously low.
But a while back, while I was scrolling through the same few sites I constantly checked whenever I felt depressed (every single day), I somehow wound up coming across what seemed to be about as legitimate of a summoning ritual as you could possibly find in the depths of the internet. It sounded dubious, of course, but the necessary tools and ingredients weren't that hard to come by, so why not indulge the whim to, y'know, call forth a sex demon?
...
Look, I’m very desperate, and it was a project to keep me busy. Dabbling in a little witchcraft was hardly the worst outlet for my dealing with my ennui.
And, frankly...well, very little else I could do at home had the potential to lead to incrediby passionate sex like this did. The promise of tiddy to someone as tired and lonely as me was a very powerful thing.
…
I haven’t had it in a very, very, very long time, alright?
And y’know, if it worked out really well, maybe she’d be a really sweet succubus! One who’d promise to take me away from all this drudgery and help me rekindle my passion for life.
Deep down, I just wanted an escape.
By the end of the night, I'd either have a succubus in my apartment, or I'd pass out with a half-finished bottle of whiskey in my hands. Either way, I was in for a night of very fun dreams.
❖ ❖ ❖
As I reached my apartment and added yet another victory against the door to my tally, I couldn't stop myself from humming a small, happy tune. Now that I was safely inside, I didn't have to care about my image for even a second longer.
I kicked off my shoes, peeled off my annoyingly sweaty tights, threw off my jacket, and set about gathering up everything I'd need for the ritual. The page where I'd read it had been taken down a few days after I found it, but I'd been forward thinking enough to save screenshots of it on my phone. If anything, that just excited me more, giving me reason to believe my one-in-a-bilion odds might've been as sky high as one-in-a-million.
I carried a bag full of things that would've made my apartment a hit on Halloween if I ever had guests, and carefully cleared out space in my living room, the only room in my apartment with enough space for a summoning circle of the right size.
I drew the circle carefully, taking great pains to make sure that every line was an absolutely perfect recreation of the reference photos on the site. It took a while, but I hardly noticed. I was having too much fun to feel like any of this was a waste of time. Still, I was grateful that the rest of the steps were easier to follow, and soon enough, my living room was lit up by little more than the light of the full moon and a set of dimly-glowing black candles.
I felt intensely dorky, and endlessly excited. Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little shy as I began reciting the ummm…very grandiose incantation.
"O' great demon of lust! ! am but a lowly human, unfit to even stand in the presence of one so powerful! To merely be given the chance to kiss thy feet would be an honor far above my station!" I cried, my face already turning bright red. "It is with boundless humility in my heart that I call upon thee on this, the night of the full moon! May my soul be stained forever black for me to call forth even a shred of arrogance required to converse with one as powerful as thou!"
This is a really self-deprecating incantation, huh?
Sincerely, more than half of it required me to basically beat myself up, telling the demon how ridiculous it was to think I could even look at them.
Maybe succubi are just into that sort of thing.
I'll skip most of the incantation, while I still have a shred of dignity to hold onto. Besides, we'd be here for a very long time if I didn't.
"...As thou riseth before me, allow me to serve as an emissary, and spread thy name throughout this land! I shall guide, I shall serve, I shall bow and scrape until thine heart is satisfied!"
It'll all be worth it. Hell, work sounds easier than all of that.
"...Now arise, great demon! I, Rina Saeki, call thee forth from the very depths of the impenetrable darkness! Grace us with thy presence, and show this world the true meaning of desire!"
…
I stood there for a moment, arms raised to the sky with the dumbest smile on my face.
There was nothing.
Not a flicker, not a spark, and definitely not a succubus.
By the time I was done, and the reality of what I'd been doing truly set in, I couldn't help but feel incredibly stupid.
I'd gone through all that, and all I had to show for it was an apartment that looked more like a haunted house than anything else.
“Pfff-!”
But for as stupid as I felt, all I could do was laugh.
“Ahahaha! Who am I kidding? A succubus, really? I really thought some kinda sex demon was just gonna show up and-”
And then the candles died, and the very light of the moon seemed to disappear, plunging my home into pitch black darkness.
"Ugyah?!"
I know how stupid my yelp sounded. Cut me a break, I was terrified.
It was ridiculous, I knew that this was just a coincidence. There was probably a draft in the apartment, and the moon…uhh…was behind some clouds so thick that no light whatsoever could penetrate it. It definitely couldn't have just disappeared, anyway.
Still, suddenly not being able to see a thing right after performing a ritual all about calling forth a demon left a chill running down my spine. I was sure I'd laugh about it when all was said and done, but in that moment, I felt completely paralyzed with worry.
“C’mon, get it together. You just make things vaguely spooky and now you’re letting it get to you. Of course this wasn’t ever going to do anything, dummy. Go turn on the lights, and-”
And then, as suddenly as the light had vanished, the moon reappeared in the sky, bigger and brighter than I’d ever seen it before, bathing my apartment in cold, pale light.
“Bwah?!”
Look, just…pretend the yelps didn’t happen. How was I meant to keep my cool at a time like this?
Shit, how could anyone stay calm when they saw what the moon was shining a light on for me?
But right in the middle of my summoning circle, sleeping away without a care in the world, was a blue-skinned woman with long, fluffy white hair; an impossibly curvy figure; a pair of massive, twisting horns; a long, thin tail ending in a heart-shaped tip; and a huge pair of batlike wings jutting right out of her back.
Every neuron in my brain was going wild. No, I’d never actually seen a succubus, but even I had an idea of what one would probably look like, at least if the collective unconscious and my pages and pages of Pixiv favorites were anything to go by.
And undoubtedly, the impossibly beautiful woman before me fit that to a T.
Against all odds. No matter how hard I myself doubted it would work, that dubious ritual had actually panned out.
I, Rina Saeki, had summoned a succubus.
