The Socially Anxious CEO Relies on Tentacle Cuddles to Stay Alive

[Please add these upcoming serials to your favorites: "After an Unsettling Tentacle Monster Mistook Me for Its Servant" and "The Cannon Fodder Keeps Getting Bullied by Monsters [Quick Transmigration]"!]

Ruan Jing was an animal keeper by profession, but unfortunately transmigrated into the body of a doomed CEO with paralyzed legs and little time left to live.

He was also bound to a System. To defy fate and change his ending, he had to cuddle up to target creatures and gain their fortune.

He thought the task would be easy. It was just his old job, after all!

But when the target creature appeared in front of him, Ruan Jing was completely dumbfounded.

What... is that thing?

System: "Congratulations! You've successfully adopted a Cthulhu monster!"

It was an Outer God from the dead depths of the sea, an indescribable source of terror whose true form was immortal and indestructible.

System: "You have to cuddle up to this creature."

Ruan Jing: "..."

This was way beyond anything he could comprehend. If it slapped him dead in one blow, would that count as "cuddling"?

Fortunately, Cthulhu was still in its juvenile state and couldn't easily "slap" him to death, so Ruan Jing had to strike first and cuddle it as much as he could.

The little Cthulhu was about the size of a palm, sinister and cruel by nature, and especially vindictive.

He treated it like a rebellious little puppy, waiting until it let its guard down before beginning its daily training.

"Sit."

The little Cthulhu's tiny tentacles pressed against the floor. It was so gentle and obedient it was frightening.

"Good job!" Ruan Jing said, stroking its tentacles and praising it without reservation.

The tip of a tentacle quietly curled around his finger, then reluctantly let go.

System: "Congratulations on a successful cuddle. You've gained three months of life."

Many years later, one day.

The bedroom was pitch-black. Countless gigantic Cthulhu tentacles stretched to the ceiling, swaying in front of him as an overwhelming, terrifying pressure bore down on him.

The tentacles "sniffed" his scent, as if asking in a wounded voice: Don't you want to play the handshaking game with me anymore?

Ruan Jing, who acted socially anxious around others, shakily reached out his hand, then tried to pull it back halfway...

The tentacles were faster. They seized the opportunity to wrap around his wrist, gradually tightening until faint red marks appeared on his pale skin.

Ruan Jing panted weakly, worried that if he kept cuddling it, he wouldn't survive.

System: "No, if you want to, you can gain 'eternal life.'"

Socially anxious human, the pursued one x sinister Cthulhu, the pursuer

* The pursued one will recover the use of his legs later. He'll be able to stand!

* The pursuer has a human form.

* Check out the author's completed novel, "Saving the Male Protagonist by Slacking Off [Quick Transmigration]."

Please add the author's upcoming serial, "After an Unsettling Tentacle Monster Mistook Me for Its Servant," to your favorites!

Blurb:

Fu Yun is an erhu player with a modest reputation in the industry. Unfortunately, his master passed away too soon, and all the creditors and enemies connected to him came looking for Fu Yun.

In the chaos, he accidentally brought a terrifying creature home.

Then it refused to leave.

"You have two choices: become my servant, or... die."

Forced by the threat, Fu Yun agreed on the surface.

The nonhuman creature's tentacles were dark, damp, and cold. It had awoken lazily from its long slumber underground and now casually strolled through outer space on the ceiling.

It naturally claimed his chair, table, and drinking glass as its own.

"Fu Yun, wash some fruit for me."

"..."

"What's a spa? I want one too."

Fu Yun looked at the tentacles filling the entire room and imagined the impossible amount of work. By the time he finished massaging it, he might well be dead on the spot.

"We can't afford that with our household budget," he said coldly.

*

Before every performance, Fu Yun practiced his pieces at home.

The erhu's mournful music was just like his situation now.

He finished a piece, completely absorbed in the music.

The nonhuman creature turned into a puddle of liquid.

"?"

"Don't come over here!" it said, drifting a big step backward as Fu Yun approached.

It turned out that the music of the erhu could affect the nonhuman creature's form and behavior to varying degrees.

After that, Fu Yun gradually got used to having a nonhuman creature at home.

Meanwhile, the nonhuman creature grew increasingly clingy. Sometimes it even took the initiative to pester him into playing the erhu.

Until Fu Yun began to notice something was off.

One morning, he got up and saw the nonhuman creature by the bed, its tentacles holding his shoes as it carefully helped him put them on.

Fu Yun stared at it speechlessly. "Take a good look at who I am."

"Master."

"..."

"Oh, this is just an interesting game. It doesn't violate our contract."

Cool on the outside, warmhearted and crafty, erhu-playing dog trainer, the pursued one x sinister, vicious, devoted deep down and a little weird, nonhuman dog, the pursuer

Theme: Pursue your dreams and love life.