Witch's Embrace

Heidi withdrew all her tentacles, and her split face reassembled itself. In the blink of an eye, she transformed from a terrifying, ghastly monster back into the sweet, gentle, and understanding nun, the big sister.

Compared to before, she now appeared with a rosy complexion, her expression filled with unparalleled joy and satisfaction, as if she had just savored a sumptuous feast or fully indulged in her desires.

She looked down at the nearly unconscious Hawthorne beneath her, cupped his face with sympathy and reluctance, and softly said, "Rest well, dear Hawthorne. You are my most beloved delicacy, and you can't just die so easily."

Hawthorne stared blankly at the ceiling, his eyes empty, as if his soul had departed. Heidi, familiar with this sight, paid it no mind, stepped back gracefully onto the floor, maintained a devout and elegant posture, and slowly exited the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Hawthorne, still lying motionless on the bed, looked as if he were truly dead.

Time passed second by second, and the sun outside gradually moved southward until its harsh rays shone upon his face and eyes, prompting him to blink and painfully turn over.

Then, his body curled up like a shrimp, spasming, with his hands clutching his head, breathing heavily, heart pounding, and a fine layer of sweat formed on his forehead.

So painful...

Is this truly the terrifying witch that draining souls?

The kind of pain as if the brain were being torn apart... for a moment, he truly thought he was going to die.

This experience... has definitely left a psychological scar, and in the future, he might not be able to rise again...

His body trembled slightly, and after a long while, the pain of his soul being drained finally subsided. He lay weakly on the now disheveled bed, staring at the ceiling, his eyes filled with confusion about the future.

Damn it, ending up here, no matter how you look at it, the future seems utterly bleak...

According to the game settings, before being subdued by the player, each witch in this convent would consume the souls of over a hundred civilians each year—and since they specifically targeted orphans and vagrants, given the city's terrible law enforcement, they had never been discovered.

So, presumably, the original owner of this body was a poor soul marked by a witch, and by yesterday, had already been drained of his soul and died, right?

Will I meet this same end?

No, I have to at least try...

Escape?

Not likely. Not to mention that this new body of mine is rather weak, there are also the protective spells set up by the witches within the convent, which I, completely clueless about magic, cannot hope to handle.

Even if, against all odds, I managed to escape, how would I continue to survive in this unfamiliar and crime-ridden city full of gangs?

As for trying to imitate the original protagonist and conquer them one by one?

That's even more impossible. I'm not one of those who are endowed with the blessings of the gods of order, capable of overpowering the witches on sheer strength alone...

Hmm?

Suddenly, he froze in realization.

At that very moment, before his eyes, some blue threads slowly appeared, gradually forming into a massive blue screen.

At the top center of the screen, large words in English read "Convent Construction System." Below this were two main sections: "Personal Attributes," and "Convent Status."

In the bottom right corner of the screen, the words "Purification Points: 0" were displayed.

This panel, aside from missing the "Daily Gift" option and having "Gold Coins" changed to "Purification Points," was almost identical to the status panel from the game "The Witch's Convent" he played!

Seeing this, Hawthorne was momentarily stunned, and he felt another sharp pain in his head. But along with this pain, certain memories began to surface.

Oh right, when that witch was draining my soul earlier, I did hear the system initialization voice.

It seems that every time my soul is drained, I lose part of my memory, and unless I make an effort to recall, I can't retrieve it.

Hiss...

He couldn't help but feel a wave of fear, but then, looking at the blue screen before him, his heart began to race uncontrollably.

It seems I have a cheat even more remarkable than the original protagonist's!

"System!"

He called out softly, a series of questions tumbling out: "System? What is your origin? What can you do? Are you intelligent? Can we communicate?"

The system gave no response, as if it merely contained a pre-recorded voice and the rest was left for the user to explore on their own.

Luckily, the interface seemed user-friendly, and it didn't look too difficult to navigate.

With this thought in mind, he first opened the "Personal Attributes" panel, and a new interface appeared, with a scrollbar on the right side of the screen. A series of data was displayed before him:

Host: Hawthorne

Gender: Male

Race: Human Subspecies (Green-Silver Clan)

Age: 15 years

Height: 1.69m

Weight: 49.7kg

Strength: 8

Agility: 9

Constitution: 7

Intelligence: 13

Perception: 12

Charisma: 20 

Hawthorne was taken aback.

Wait, is my charisma really this high?

No, it's this kid's charisma that's high?

Also no, now that the soul has changed to mine, it should be my charisma...

His mind was racing with thoughts, and then he noticed that next to each attribute, there was a small plus sign and a question mark.

He reached out with his finger and tapped the question mark. A line of explanatory text appeared before him:

"Charisma attribute represents the sum of a person's appearance, leadership ability, and natural attraction to supernatural magical energies. The average charisma of a normal human is 10 or 11. Values above this are considered exceptional, and a normal human's charisma will not exceed 20.

High charisma not only attracts same-species creatures, but also different-species creatures, elemental beings, and even deities and demons."

Hawthorne suddenly realized that the original owner of this body met such a grim fate because their high charisma attracted the witch.

After all, according to the game's settings, Heidi is a deep-sea witch born after the power of the Deep Sea Origins was tainted with evil.

Understanding the significance of charisma, he looked at his various attributes and cautiously tapped one of the plus signs.

Immediately, a dialog box popped up on the screen, containing the words: Insufficient Purification Points.

Alright, it seems that these "Purification Points" are the only currency for using this system.

But how do I acquire these points?

He tapped on the "Purification Points" words in the bottom right corner, but nothing happened. Frustrated, he held the scroll bar on the right side of the screen and slowly pulled it down—

New attribute entries appeared in front of him:

Occupation: None

Occupational Ability: Purification

Specialization: None

Spells: None 

Oh, it seems this is it!

He then tapped the little question mark next to "Purification," and an explanatory text appeared before him:

"Core ability of the host, capable of purifying the bodies and souls of evil creatures, enslaving them as soul servants, and obtaining Purification Points."

"Activation Condition: Mentally recite 'Purify' and maintain physical contact with the target."

Alright, it seems the gameplay of this system is somewhat different from the game.

He then opened the second main section, and as the page switched, a familiar in-game construction panel appeared before his eyes: Level 1 convent, covering an area of 2,200 square meters, requires 10,000 square meters for an upgrade, and costs 1,000 Purification Points. Currently available to build are kitchens, dormitories, warehouses, prayer rooms, etc., and upon reaching Level 2, clothing workshops, trading posts, and altars can be built...

The familiar panel and terms triggered his memory, and he felt a bit excited, recalling how last night he had painstakingly devised the best upgrade route for a pure love playthrough: don't build any Level 1 structures, immediately start with fundraising and extortion, then clear the goblin cave in the rubble zone, save money and upgrade directly to a Level 2 convent, and unlock the trading post and clothing workshop...

Wait, no!

Hawthorne pinched himself hard, took a couple of deep breaths, and forced himself to calm down.

Good times are still far away; it's uncertain if I can even get past this immediate crisis!

The most urgent thing right now is to Purify Heidi and turn her into my servant!

Even though I've got a cheat, it can't provide me with any power just yet. I am still very weak, so I must have a plan.

I need to catch her off guard, first make Heidi lower her defenses, and then suddenly use "Purification."

After that, it's best to maintain a position where she has difficulty moving and casting spells.

Spells typically consist of "gestures" and "words," the former requiring a set of hand movements and the latter needing to speak audibly. If either is prevented, the spell fails to cast.

So, during the surprise attack, it would be best if I am holding her hand or kissing her.

To meet these two conditions, it would be best to trick Heidi into, um...

While she's biting me, it definitely won't work. If she reacts sharply and actually bites down, that would be counterproductive.

It would be best while holding hands and kissing, but what kind of excuse can I use to make her kiss me...

He pondered intensely, scrutinizing the feasibility of each plan in his mind, the credibility of each reason, and the various details when actually implementing the plan.

Damn, in my past life I didn't have any experience with seducing such terrifying women!

The sun continued to move southward, and the sunlight gradually reached its strongest at noon. He rubbed his temples, his head aching a bit, feeling that his brain was somewhat overwhelmed.

Just then, the door to the room was opened again.

Hawthorne sprang up from the bed as if triggered, turning his head to see Heidi standing at the door, holding a basket.

Seeing that he could still sit up, the wicked witch from the deep sea, disguised as a nun, displayed a warm smile: "Great, it seems you're recovering well."

She paused, then softly continued: "Are you hungry? I made your favorite carrot bread and fresh shrimp wild vegetable soup. Eat it while it's hot."

Hawthorne's heart was racing; his plan was far from ready. Yet, forcing himself to maintain composure, he curved his lips into a smile, gently nodded, and appeared incredibly obedient and docile: "Mm!"