What is the most valuable thing in this world?

Is it family? Is it friends?

No.

It is money.

At least, that was the case in this godforsaken world.

Family did not protect me. No, perhaps they never even intended to. They vanished without a trace, leaving behind nothing but a mountain of debt.

From that moment on, my life was no longer about living, but about paying for the sins others had forced upon me.

I clung to life with everything I had.

I worked from dawn until night, earning money until I was breathless. To pay back a debt I never borrowed, to live a life that wasn't mine.

But debt was a monster.

Instead of shrinking as I paid it off, it only grew larger.

No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't see the bottom, and the word 'hope' had long since vanished from my dictionary.

Eventually, I fell to my knees.

I had no reason left to live, and no way left to survive.

I was going to die.

That was when it happened.

As if he had been waiting for me for a long time, a being revealed himself before me.

A demon.

He spoke with a kind smile.

"Just do me one favor at a time."

"And each time, I'll give you the money you so desperately want. Simple, isn't it?"

Was there any reason to refuse?

No, I never had a choice to begin with.

Refuse the contract, and die.

Accept the contract, and live.

I took his hand without hesitation.

...I didn't know then.

That I hadn't avoided death, but had walked into an abyss far deeper and more terrible than death itself.

Nothing in this world is free.

Especially when it comes to a demon's favor.

Every favor comes with a price to match.