Chapter 76: The Girl Wears a Collar at Night 

A soft whimper escaped her lips.  

Time was running out, no matter how much she wished to stall.  

Moments later, Su Nian sought out Emma, her voice steady as she asked where she could find a new maid outfit.  

“Oh, Miss Su Nian, why would you need a maid outfit?” Emma’s brow furrowed with confusion, her tone laced with concern.

“You only need to rest and enjoy your stay here. Leave all the work to us maids.”

She seemed to think Su Nian intended to clean or take on some task, as if her own efforts had fallen short.  

What could Su Nian say?  

Could she confess the truth—that the master of Shadowmoon Manor was a vile, horned demon, a perverse creature who demanded she don a maid outfit and visit his chambers to indulge his twisted desires?  

“N-no… it’s for a performance,” Su Nian blurted, her mind racing to craft a plausible excuse.

“I had an idea and wanted to try it out.”  

“I see!” Emma’s face brightened.

“I’ll fetch one for you right away, Miss Su Nian. Just wait in your room.”  

Back in her quarters, the maid outfit arrived swiftly.

Su Nian slipped into the bathroom, letting the warm water of a long bath soothe her nerves.

But as the clock ticked closer to the hour the horned fiend had decreed—nine o’clock at night—her heart grew heavy.  

Unbeknownst to the people of Academy City, the radiant magical girl idol, the genius mentor who earned rapturous applause at her first lecture, was forced to endure a humiliating ritual each night, slinking to her master’s room like a shadow.  

Su Nian adjusted the maid outfit, her fingers trembling as she steeled herself and opened the door.  

She peeked into the wide, empty corridor, her heart pounding.

Only when she was certain no one was around did she dare step out.  

If anyone saw her, dressed in this maid outfit, heading to that wretched demon’s room, the misunderstandings would be unbearable.  

At his door, she hesitated, her hand hovering.

But at last, she knocked.  

“Knock, knock, knock.”  

The door swung open, and Chu Tian’s face greeted her, a wicked smirk curling his lips.  

“Not bad,” he said, his eyes raking over her.

“This outfit suits you.”

With a casual tug, he pulled her into the room and shut the door behind them.  

Su Nian stumbled inside, instinctively trying to wrench her arm free from his grasp.

But she knew resistance was futile.

Swallowing her disgust, she stood rooted to the spot, her heart a storm of loathing.  

“Ding-dong! Absorbed disdainful emotions. Annoyance value +115.”  

The system’s chime rang in Chu Tian’s ears, souring the fleeting pleasure he’d felt seeing her in the maid outfit.  

Disdain again, was it?  

‘Hmph. Just wait.’  

In the next moment, Chu Tian strode to a nearby table and picked up an ornate box.

Inside lay the item he’d prepared for her.  

It was a black leather collar.  

A metal ring on the collar connected to a slender chain, its other end attached to a leather handle—clearly meant for his grip.  

Without a word, he approached her, the collar in hand.  

“Put this on,” he commanded, his tone brooking no argument.  

Su Nian’s eyes widened, disbelief etched across her face as she stared at the collar.  

‘No. Never.’  

In this world, where slavery was a grim reality, collars were the mark of the enslaved, shackled to their masters’ whims.

In her past life, such things were for pets—or, in rare cases, for those with peculiar tastes.  

She could not—would not—wear it.  

“No… this isn’t something people wear where I come from,” she said, forcing down her rage and humiliation, hoping to reason with the monster before her.  

“Oh?” Chu Tian’s lips twisted into a perverse grin.

“Then it’s perfect.”  

“You have no right to defy your master,” he added, his expression darkening, his eyes glinting with menace.  

Fear flickered in Su Nian’s chest as she met his gaze.

She took an instinctive step back, but he seized her wrists, his grip unyielding.  

As he moved to fasten the collar around her neck, she thrashed against him, her strength pitiful against his.

Her only weapon was magic.  

Fury and defiance surged within her.  

‘What if… I fight?’  

Her current status: Bound, Healthy, Free, Masochistic Constitution, Virgin.  

Aside from the masochistic trait hindering her combat ability, she was in decent shape.

With 130,000 humiliation points, she could temporarily boost her power.

A plan formed in her mind: unleash a sneak attack with a Rank-S spell, ‘Illusory Flame Spirit Burst’, while using her points to purchase a Wisdom Fruit and Mana Potion.  

But the cost would be steep.

Her dream of amassing a million humiliation points to ascend to Saint-tier would crumble.

Worse, the consequences could be catastrophic—her photos leaked, her parents’ safety threatened.  

Could she even win?

The risks loomed large, and though the demon’s actions pushed her to the edge of her limits, she hesitated, torn by indecision.  

Just then, the system chimed again.  

Su Nian’s heart sank.

In moments like this, a system prompt could only mean one thing: a task from her master.  

As expected, the notification confirmed her fears.  

“Ding-dong! Master’s Task Triggered: Wear the collar for the first time and complete the activity.”

“Reward: 50,000 humiliation points and activation of a daily task.”

“Daily task completion grants 5,000 humiliation points. Failure or refusal will result in one month of weakness.”  

The spark of rebellion in her heart flickered, then dimmed.  

She feared not only the demon’s threats—spreading compromising photos, endangering her parents—but also the system’s penalty for refusal.

And then there was the allure of the rewards.  

Fifty thousand points for the first task was tempting, but the daily task was even more enticing.

Five thousand points a day.

A hundred fifty thousand in a month.

Three hundred thousand in two.  

Her pulse quickened, not from fear but from a twisted blend of shame and calculation.

The million points she needed for Saint-tier, the power to break free from this demon, suddenly felt within reach.  

Time was her enemy.

If she progressed too slowly, even reaching Saint-tier might not be enough to defeat him.  

Though this crossed every line she held dear, the cost of freedom demanded sacrifice.  

‘How humiliating.’  

“Click.”  

The soft sound of the metal clasp locking echoed in the silent room, sharp and final.  

In that moment, standing before the horned demon, Su Nian felt like a tamed pet, leashed and controlled, utterly at his mercy.  

‘Why?’  

This monster was her sworn enemy.

Why must she endure such treatment at his hands?