After laying the sleeping Orca on the bed, I smiled.

I had been wondering how I could get the students to spread the word about the counseling room.

Thanks to her sudden appearance, all my worries were solved.

I never thought I could interact with a playable character in such a way.

It was an unexpected harvest.

"The prologue seems to be just around the corner."

I was certain after seeing how the class president dealt with Orca.

She knew Orca was a demon-possessed and knew her personality was bad, yet she felt obligated to follow her as a classmate.

This is exactly how it was right before the prologue started.

The class president's attitude towards Orca can be divided into three stages.

First, the period depicted in flashbacks, where she passionately tried to rehabilitate Orca.

That phase has passed. The scene I just saw was far from passionate.

Then there is the current phase. She knows Orca is dangerous but hasn't seen it firsthand.

Although she has abandoned the prejudice that demon-possessed are dangerous, she is beginning to feel that Orca as a person is dangerous.

She feels obliged to follow Orca, thinking something might happen if she leaves her alone.

Finally, there's the phase after the prologue ends. This is the phase most users see.

The class president realizes why people fear the demon-possessed, feeling afraid of Orca yet still approaching her out of obligation.

Orca usually mocks the class president, saying she is just like everyone else...

Even so, the fact that the class president is one of the few NPCs who can interact with Orca shows just how stubborn she is.

"Alright then..."

The idea of hypnotizing someone felt like I was arbitrarily manipulating them, so I avoided it.

That's why I didn't hypnotize Orca immediately after meeting her.

I preferred the Orca who stood up on her own from past pains, not the one forced into happiness through hypnosis.

Even if I resolved an incident through hypnosis, if it were ever broken by some event...

Ultimately, it would leave a person trapped in the past without any development.

So, I wanted to use hypnosis as a tool to make it easier for students to approach.

However, exceptions always exist.

There are times when someone must be hypnotized to restrict their actions.

"It's about time she wakes up..."

I hypnotized Orca with four commands.

First, that she would see nothing to drink other than the tea I made.

Second, that she would feel increasingly thirsty as she looked at the tea.

Third, that upon drinking the tea, she would fall asleep, completely relaxed.

The fourth command... I'll discuss later.

Fortunately, Orca didn't seem to notice any discomfort from the hypnosis...

But that made it all the more pitiful.

The fact that she didn't notice any oddity despite briefly blacking out indicated that this happened often to her.

She should sleep well. Knowing why she couldn't relax, I gently stroked her hair as she slept.

Perhaps feeling my touch, she opened her eyes and our gazes met.

Not her usual red eyes, but her black ones.

"Die..."

"Stop."

"?!"

"You won't be able to move from now on. You can only move when I allow it."

"What is this...! What have you done! Release me, or I'll kill you!"

"Haha, sorry, that's impossible."

Realizing she couldn't move her body, which wasn't bound by anything, she shouted at me to release her immediately.

But I didn't give in to her threats.

I ignored them.

"You'd kill me if I released you anyway, right?"

"Ugh...! Release me now!"

"Seeing you don't deny it means I was right."

The reason Orca suffers from insomnia is that a demon resides in her body.

Even while sleeping, if she sensed the demon trying to emerge, she would remain tense to suppress it.

If she ever lost control, it would be disastrous.

...Of course, the demon wants to destroy and ruin the world.

So it tries to take over her body whenever she relaxes or falls asleep.

That's why Orca has insomnia.

The demon constantly tries to take over her body day and night.

Orca doesn't sleep properly to prevent this.

She has been doing this for years, even after the game ends, as the setting suggests she still suffers from insomnia.

"Honestly, even demons should let people sleep."

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die..."

"...Sigh."

She didn't respond to my words, just continued to demand I remove the spell, getting more annoyed.

Even though she'd try to kill me the moment the hypnosis was broken.

As a fragile person, I wouldn't be able to react if I released the hypnosis.

I had no choice but to hypnotize her immediately to restrain her.

"Alright, I'll release you."

"Really?! Good! You must be exhausted from using such strange spells! As a reward, I'll tear your body apart as painfully as possible!"

"But there's one condition."

"...Condition?"

"Yes, a contract. Can you agree?"

Demons have two main characteristics.

They must honor contracts.

And they cannot lie.

Knowing this well, the demon possessing Orca calmed down and spoke to me.

"...What's the contract?"

"It's not difficult. If I release you, you have to engage in a simple bet with me. That's all."

"...Really?"

"Yes."

She seemed suspicious.

Well, anyone would be, considering someone who subdued a demon suddenly offered an easy contract.

But seeing no other way, she nodded.

"Alright. The contract is established. What's the bet?"

"Hmm, let’s see. How about alternately doing good and evil deeds, and then deciding which feels better?"

"...Are you serious?"

"I'm serious. The loser has to follow the winner's orders for life."

"What are you thinking? Fine, it's not that hard."

The demon suddenly destroyed my laptop on the desk, scattering it across the floor.

Then she carefully picked up some pieces and put them in the trash.

"The contract is fulfilled, idiot. You didn't specify the magnitude of the deeds. I'll listen to any last words."

...My laptop.

It had so many games on it...

Tears welled up in frustration.

What a nasty creature. Truly demonic.

To soothe my bitter heart, I decided to be a bit spiteful.

"...The contract isn't over yet, Hayes."

"How do you know my name...?!"

She was shocked that I knew her name.

It made sense.

If someone kills a demon-possessed person without knowing the demon’s identity, the demon doesn’t die.

So how can you kill a demon?

You find out its name. Killing the host after knowing the demon’s name will destroy the demon too.

Naturally, demons are very wary of people who know their names.

The fact that a human in front of her suddenly called her name must have been startling.

...Well, I had no intention of killing Orca.

It was an unnecessary worry.

"Does it matter? Just answer the contract terms."

"Knowing a demon’s name is just... Who are you?"

"Maybe I'll tell you if you answer."

"...Doing good felt better! Satisfied?! Now answer... what?"

Gotcha.

I smiled victoriously.

"I won."

"Wait. What was that? That was wrong. I definitely said doing good felt better...?! Wait. Something’s wrong..."

"Demons can't lie, right?"

"...!"

Seeing my smile, Hayes seemed to realize I had pulled some trick.

"You, you... What did you do...!"

"Hey, I didn’t do anything to Hayes."

Right. I did nothing to Hayes.

Only Orca was hypnotized.

...The fourth hypnosis command was that she would feel immense happiness when doing good deeds.

Of course, hypnosis on one person can't affect another...

But if two minds share one body, it's a different story.

They share the same brain.

There’s bound to be some influence.

"Alright then... Shall we exercise the winner's rights?"

"Wait. Let’s talk..."

"From now on, until you are extinguished, you are forbidden from committing any evil deeds."

"You, you...!"

The contract was established.

Just as I wanted.