She’d just opened the shop when the screen, which had been all pink and sparkly, suddenly went black.

Then a woman’s image appeared. She had snow-white hair and skin, and wore black from head to toe.

She was as tall as the Eight-Foot-Tall Lady, and even more voluptuous.

But floating in front of her was a hideous PowerPoint presentation so poorly designed it could’ve driven its creator to despair:

“No 998, no 198! Just let the Mother Goddess take a look at your cute little panties, and you’ll get 1,998 points plus a sweet, gentle wife!”

Zhuohua scratched her head.

For some reason, a strange intuition told her that the Mother Goddess was the one who’d given her this system.

I see. I knew nothing in life came free.

She nodded, then looked at the Mother Goddess. “Mother Goddess, may I ask why you gave me this system?”

There was no response.

This really did seem to be just a PowerPoint presentation.

Zhuohua’s brain short-circuited for a moment. Then she simply took off her pants.

“Mother Goddess, your tastes are really weird. You actually want to see the panties of someone who’s been disfigured?”

Maybe it was her imagination, but Zhuohua thought she saw the beautiful woman’s lips curl into a smile.

Just as Zhuohua tried to get a closer look, the black screen, the Mother Goddess, and even the system interface before her eyes all vanished, as if everything she’d just seen had been an illusion.

At the same time, the space before her eyes rippled and warped. The air itself seemed to twist and freeze for an instant.

“Bang!”

A package appeared out of thin air, coming to rest quietly on the gray concrete floor.

It had torn through space, yet looked utterly ordinary.

It was wrapped in a flimsy, pale cardboard box, just like any package bought from Taobao.

Zhuohua swallowed.

She tiptoed over to the side, picked up an empty beer bottle left behind by the previous tenant, and threw it at the package.

The bottle thumped against the box, nudging it farther away. Then it hit the floor and, carried by its momentum, rolled into a corner.

Nothing happened. It really did look like an ordinary package.

Zhuohua fetched a kitchen knife and slowly approached. Then—

She opened the package with her bare hands!

Opening packages with your bare hands is an essential skill for every modern woman.

Zhuohua hadn’t yet reached the advanced level where oversized boxes were beneath her notice, but she could open packages smaller than an instant-noodle cup with ease.

“Crack, crack…”

A tiny gap opened in the package.

Her movements froze.

Then Zhuohua snatched her hand back and leaped away like a startled kitten. She huddled in the corner, keeping a safe distance from the package.

Have you ever seen a black octopus?

Zhuohua had now.

She’d only caught a brief glimpse of a few tentacles through the tiny opening, but it was enough to make her heart pound.

Something that was most definitely not human—and countless times more powerful than any human—was inside that cardboard box.

For a moment, fear took hold of Zhuohua.

…I don’t have to open it, do I? The Mother Goddess gave me points, after all. Maybe there’s something good in the shop.

Maybe I should get out of here right now and run as far away as I can.

But things didn’t go her way. Zhuohua’s actions seemed to trigger some kind of seal, and a black liquid quickly spread across the entire box.

In less than two seconds, the pale yellow box had been completely eaten away, leaving nothing but a puddle of black sludge.

And the true form of the 【Wife】 was revealed before Zhuohua.

This evil being, come from the void and infused with the might of an evil god, opened its fanged maw and let out a terrifying roar—the first sound to reach this fragile world!

“Meow~”

It was an octopus with a cat’s head!

Its upper half was a fluffy, soft little black cat, while its lower half was made up of pitch-black tentacles lined with suckers!

Zhuohua, who’d nearly been scared senseless, took a deep breath.

It could’ve scared me to death outright, but instead it gave me half a cat.

Mother Goddess! You’re so kind!

After that wild emotional roller coaster, Zhuohua’s legs gave out, and she dropped to the floor with a thud.

The octopus cat was looking curiously at the human in front of it.

Instinct told it that this creature could be food.

But a deeper instinct told it that this creature was its 【partner】.

Some powerful being above it had told it that 【partners】 were not to be eaten.

“Clang!”

When Zhuohua fell to the floor, the kitchen knife slipped from her hand and hit the ground with a clear ring.

The octopus cat tilted its head like an adorable little kitten. Then, with lightning speed, it shot out a long tentacle and wrapped it around the knife.

Then it brought its little black nose close and sniffed along the knife’s sharp edge.

Zhuohua stared blankly at the octopus cat.

She knew it was definitely no ordinary creature. But its cat head and fluffy little chest were just so cute that she didn’t want it to get hurt.

Besides, a creature that could crush her with ease was the last thing she wanted to hurt. If she did, she’d probably be the one getting hurt next.

Zhuohua hesitated, then slowly reached out with a pleading hand and tried to warn it. “Wait…”

“Crack!”

Before she could finish, the adorable little kitten opened its mouth in a way that defied all biological laws. Its gaping maw was big enough to fill half the living room and more terrifying than a prehistoric dragon’s. It swallowed the knife in one bite.

“Nice and crunchy!”

It chomped up the gleaming sharp knife and swallowed it just like that.

The little kitten even stuck out its pink tongue and licked its lips, as if savoring the taste.

Zhuohua closed her mouth.

So it wasn’t a kitten. It was a devourer of worlds.

If Darwin saw this, would he climb out of his coffin in horror and tremble alongside her?

Having dealt with the kitchen knife, the little kitten turned its gaze to Zhuohua.

Its body suddenly blurred, like a TV with a bad signal, and several flickering gray-white lines appeared across it.

With a sharp “zzzt,” the little kitten disappeared.

The next instant, the octopus cat appeared right in front of Zhuohua!

Zhuohua shuddered in terror, but she was already backed into a corner with nowhere left to go. All she could do was frantically call for the system.

But the system seemed dead. No matter how much she called, it wouldn’t appear.

A thousand curses raced through Zhuohua’s mind. She stared at the octopus cat right before her and closed her eyes in despair.

Then the fluffy little thing rubbed against her.

Zhuohua slowly opened her eyes. The little kitten seemed to have found someone it liked, nuzzling its soft little head against her full chest.

Zhuohua: ?

Whoa! You pervy cat!

Just then, the long-awaited system interface suddenly popped up, and lines of pink text appeared:

“Congratulations! You’ve successfully bonded with your 【Wife】!”

“Raising your 【Wife】’s affection for you will earn you points.”

“Your 【Wife】’s affection for you is directly proportional to her appetite for you.”

“Every night at 12:00 a.m., the system will automatically draw out any of your 【Wife】’s affection above the base level and convert it into points.

But if her affection gets too low, your 【Wife】 will get angry. Host, be careful to keep her affection balanced.”