《Dis/Connection》 Prologue - Loading Dis/Connect Prologue ¨C Loading ¡°Are you sure you this is the right address?¡± Ted¡¯s voice rose muffled under the gentle roaring of the crowd, a crumpled yellow post-it not clutched in one hand the other pressing his phone to his ear a overly excitable voice laughing out on the other end. ¡°Yeah that¡¯s the place. Look Gramps there¡¯s still time to change your mind you don¡¯t have to go through with this, I can re-arrange things in a matter of hours, don¡¯t let your pride-¡° Elliot never finished his sentence, the old man letting out a lowhumph and cutting him off. ¡°You¡¯ve already made it pretty clear that I simply must accept. However if I¡¯m going to do it, I am doing it my way; I chose this game so this is the game I¡¯m going to play!¡± The old man yelled switching off his old touch screen before shoving it into his shirt pocket a smirk curling the corner of his lips. Well that seemed like enough fun, Ted let out a low sighed leaning down onto his cane slipping the post it note into his back pocket, before taking in a slow shuddering breath. He¡¯d reached one-hundred and twenty-five years old last month, although it was only thanks to those new medical treatments and the steel hip joint that he was able to walk around so freely which he was grateful for. He really wasn¡¯t the kind of man to spend the winter of his years locked up at home being old and decrepit and useless. He¡¯d tried painting, then got bored, he¡¯d tried writing and he never would again; wood work, models, hiking even crown green bowling. Hell at one point he¡¯d even been desperate enough to attempt knitting; a hobby which he¡¯d only managed to escape through the very careful application of a pair of scissors. Of course Elliot was going to try and find him a new hobby, and of course knowing the young dumbass it just had to be something high tech and confusing.Ted huffed rubbing at his face and making his way forward across the road He¡¯d landed in Japan a week ago the following days filled mainly with sightseeing, shrugging if someone asked him something in Japanese, and pretending he understood them when they tried again in English. All in all it had certainly been entertaining but now there was no turning back, Ted shook his head, he should have just kept his mouth shut. Elliot had come to visit for Ted¡¯s birthday as he always did, and as usual he brought over some strange modern contraption as a birthday present to take a prided place on ¡®Ted¡¯s shelf of junk he never used but felt guilty tossing over the neighbours fence¡¯. Of course eventually the conversation had turned to how had he been doing and when the stock responses of ¡®keeping active¡¯ and ¡®watching old movies¡¯ failed him he went on about his new ¡®hobbies¡¯. They¡¯d talk long into the night picking up and shooting down ideas for what he could use to kill his time and hopefully avoid further back injury, and in the end Elliot asked him a question which had left him more than a little unsettled; ¡®what was your dream?¡¯. Quite frankly he¡¯d forgotten he had ever had a dream, something he wanted to do, but after dredging up some half formed pipe-dreams from deep within his subconscious he remembered there was one thing he¡¯d always wanted.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He wanted to start a farm. His parents never let him have a pet as child, unless you counted his goldfish, which no sane child would, so he¡¯d decided when he grew up he¡¯d be a farmer and fill his farm with all the strangest and most wonderful type of creatures imaginable. Of course he grew up, he didn¡¯t get much say in that despite the fact his parents maintained he was still a child up until they finally kicked the bucket. He wanted to be a farmer... Of course there was little chance of that now, he simply didn¡¯t have the strength and he just didn¡¯t find the same appeal in growing flowers and tomatoes as he did in vast open fields of wheat and herds of cows and horses and possibly dragons if he ever discovered how to catch them. So this was Elliot¡¯s solution instead; virtual reality. Ted stood still, a constant in the heaving undulations of the crowd, the heat of the eastern sun oppressive against his shoulders. He took in a deep breath walking towards the monolithic skyscraper looming before him. The walls were constructed largely of glass with concrete pillars running up every few feet; all painted a cheery pink of course while a large logo of what looked like the head of an anime elf hung above the doors whirling gears and rays of what he assumed were light shinning behind her. Of course the thing that really stumped him were the pictures of the scantily clad anime girls printed on every single window pane of the building. Although in all honesty he¡¯d been expecting that much, and somewhat in secret had been looking forward to it, of course the fact every one of those beauties was a monster girl was starting to put him off. Not that he had any particular problem with that, but he¡¯d been hoping for a classic fantasy game, or maybe something a little more steampunk or dungeons and dragons. It seemed like this game was going to be a little bit racier than he¡¯d been anticipating. Of course that was probably his own fault, when Elliot insisted that he enter a virtual reality game he¡¯d initially been onboard; then he saw the prices involved, then he refused, then Elliot insisted. So as a compromise Ted ignored everything the young man said until Elliot threatened to just pay for a slot in the most expensive game he could find and let Ted decide whether he wanted to show up. In the end Ted did get a choice over which game he was getting shoved into but all he really did was find the cheapest game in the fantasy genre and clicked buy. Since then Elliot had tried to get him to change his mind on his choice several times. Of course each attempt had been blatantly ignored, and out of a truly gallant sense of spite Ted had refused to even read the games description or instructions and now he was starting to get a bad feeling about his past decisions. Well there was no point in just standing around, Ted let out a low sigh marching forwards with what little strength his old bones could muster, stepping clear through the automatic doors towards an information desk where a young woman sat a plastic smile slapped across her face and a bizarre uniform hugging uncomfortably close to her figure. It probably chafed pretty badly. She began by greeting him in Japanese followed by a slight bow and a translation into English. ¡°It is nice to meet you Mr Theodore Percival Wilmond. Everything has been prepared for you; I introduce you to Horns and Tails, the world¡¯s most popular erotic virtual reality game.¡± ...of course. Chapter One - The wrong kind of Game Chapter One ¨C The wrong kind of Game So it was a porno game... Well a hentai to be more precise Theodore maintained a blank smile, the receptionist leaning down towards a touch screen pad embedded in her desk. Well he supposed this was the reason that Elliot had laughed so much when Ted had made his decision... Why the hell hadn¡¯t the boy tried to stop him! Ted supposed this was the reason that the game was cheapest on the market, spending days in a Hentai was sure to be... Exhausting. ¡°Mr Theodore Percival Wilmond, can I confirm that Mr Eliot Drake Wilmond has booked you into the full version of the game, with premium benefits including the use of one of our Life-support virtual reality capsule.¡± The receptionist questioned giving him a sweet smile. Ted blinked hard looking down towards the woman, before blinking again, the words flopping out of his mouth of their own volition. ¡°Ah yes... Yes that sounds about right and please call me Ted.¡± The woman nodded removing something from her desk and placing it onto the counter. ¡°Mr Ted Percival Wilmond if you could please place your thumb on this pad.¡± She pushed a small rectangle of clear cut glass towards him, the faintest outline of a circle resting in its centre. Ted stared at the piece of glass for a long moment before finally realising what it was and pressing his thumb down a pale blue bar of light suddenly appearing at the top of the glass along with some dark red Japanese characters. The blue bar dropped down a moment later before sweeping back up the red characters shifting to green Ted removing his thumb and leave a digital copy of his fingerprint on the glass glowing a faint blue. ¡°Thank you, one of our technicians is ready to escort you to your room in the building, and will proceed to explain all of the unique features that our game can offer.¡± The woman bowed her head again the chime of an elevator arriving ringing through the foyer a moment later. A gangly man stepped forwards his hair gelled back behind his head, a pair of glasses hanging lopsided off of his nose as he drifted forwards draped in a coffee stained lab coat over a black T-shirt and jeans, the image of a anime girl with blue hair emblazoned across his chest. Well that certainly was fast. ¡°Mr Wilmond, it is good to see you. Please come this way!¡± The man yelled at the top of his lungs staring down towards a set of cards in his hand. The receptionist shot the technician a withering glance before reaffirming her veneer of professional etiquette. ¡°This way please, I will show you game, and... set up your character.¡± The gangly man cried no longer looking at the cards instead waving for Ted to approach. The old man sighed shoulders drooping as he stepped forwards; there was no way he was going to get a refund now The Technician gave him an awkward grin as they entered the elevator the doors swinging shut behind them as some garbled Japanese nonsense in the likeness of a song dripped from the speakers above. Ted sighed; the elevator beginning its ascent. He could remember when VR games were first released, not just augmented reality goggles and gloves but a true virtual environment indistinguishable from reality. Of course there had been a mass public outcry, per the usual. Concerned mothers claiming that every fat, ugly, mentally unstable and likely disease ridden gamer was going to leave the real world behind to spend the rest of their little digitised lives in la la land playing with elves and wizards, somehow implying this would lead to the eventual breakdown of society. Of course society hadn¡¯t broken down yet. Well not that much anyway. The resources required to keep someone alive while inside the game for prolonged periods of time were as expensive now as they had been ten years ago. Instead most gamers would just take short holidays into their game of choice for a week or two and come out right as rain afterwards. Hell it wasn¡¯t just games any more either; people were taking virtual reality holidays to middle earth, or Hogwarts, or outer space, though none of them could even come close to scratching the quality of the game industry, due to their funding. ¡°So this game is it good?¡± Ted questioned glancing up at the gangly young man, a flicker of mania catching in the man¡¯s eyes as a twisted smile split his face in two. ¡°HAT, that is horns and tail, has fifteen servers worldwide with ten... thousand players each, the majority of game is played over the internet, it is very popular. It is popular because so... because we are free-to-play game. You will not be on those servers though, you will be on the private building server, with other VR player; you¡¯re lucky. Ah we¡¯re here.¡± The technician paused, the elevator doors pulling open, as he gestured for Ted to step forwards the young man launched into another section of long winded, poorly hidden, exposition. ¡°Of course the most important reason our game is popular are the AI, the girls talk back to you; they feel, they love. We use Reciprocal AI, they learn human emotions, we use one AI as template she is called Tsubaki, we copy her code as base into each NPC and then make changes; they don¡¯t even know it is a game.¡± The man laughed guiding Ted forwards through the corridor, a shiver rushing down his spine at the technicians words, one arm pressed lightly against his shoulders pushing him onwards towards a large wooden door resting at the end of the hall a silver plaque planted below a small circular glass window mounted in the wood, his name etched onto the plate. The technician slid the door open gesturing for Ted to step inside pulling the cards from his pocket once again. ¡°Mr Wilmond I wish you the best of luck, inside your room you will find your tablet, please turn your tablet on, a digital assistant will help you through the creation process. Once the creation process is complete, group of technicians will help you enter your egg... Hope you enjoy?¡± The young man shrugged giving him a half formed smile before closing the door. Quite frankly the man¡¯s English was better without the cards than with them. He wondered what that last part with the egg was about. Ted sighed rubbing at his face, his hands worn and weary his cane dangling from his wrist. The room was neat and ordered except for the fact that the walls had been plastered with posters of old fashioned anime and a small shelf loaded with figurines and manga. Other than that the room was empty except for a low table in its centre alongside a sitting cushion. In the furthest corner of the room a large pale white oblong sphere mottled with pale grey flakes sat supported by w small circular stand covered in blinking lights currently turned off, he supposed that was meant to be the egg. Ted sighed shuffling towards the low table and dropping down onto the cushion, his spine protesting with each movement the old man letting out a ragged gasp, his gaze catching the large black tablet sitting in the centre of the table, a small note folded closed on top of it. Ted reached forward picking it up briefly scanning over the single line scrawled across it his face blooming a livid red. I hope you like the room, I had it ordered especially for you ¨C don¡¯t be angry -Eliot. Yeah right, what the hell was that brat thinking! Even if he did have money to spare that didn¡¯t mean he could waste it! ¡®Don¡¯t be angry?¡¯ yeah right. He was Theodore Percival Wilmond, he was one-hundred-and-twenty whatever years old and he¡¯d earned the right to be angry about whatever the hell he wanted! Ted snorted scrunching up the paper and tossing it behind his back. Next time he saw that kid he was going to shove his foot straight up his ¨C a sharp pop broke his line of thought. The tablet had turned itself on. ¡°Hello? Hello! Anyone there?¡± a lilting voice called out, followed by a rapid succession of taps. Ted reached out taking the tablet in hand and holding it up to his face, an anime girl staring back out at him. ¡°Ah hello you must be Theodore!¡± the girl stepped back giving him a wave. She had short dark blue hair cut in a sweeping curve that expanded into a fan behind her neck, the tips of her hair shifting to a shade of purest white. Her eyes were wide shifting from light blue to a pale shade of green, lips pulled back into a catlike grin; she was a perfect match for the girl the technician had printed over his shirt now standing arms crossed, dressed in a tight little sailor uniform revealing a slender figure the entire scene set to a white background. ¡°I am¡± Ted muttered leaning forwards one silvery-white eyebrow raised ¡°and you are?¡± ¡°Tsubaki, and you have the honour of being my player from here on out.¡± The girl practically sang before giving him a peace sign and a wink, literal hearts flying from her face in a horrific spasm of moe. Ted choked back a painful groan muttering out his honest response of ¡°please never do that again.¡± He sighed at the screen the girl pausing and stepping back arms folded. ¡°I thought... Hmm isn¡¯t that the kind of thing you humans like.¡± The girl bit at her thumb forehead scrunching up in a series of dark lines. So this was an AI wasn¡¯t it?If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He¡¯d watched it in the news a while back, AI¡¯s had been around since twenty-fifty but back then they¡¯d been what people now called Rational AI, an artificial intelligence that was designed to fulfil a single function, its main task was usually to monitor something or solve some kind of problem. Strict measures were placed by international law on what these kinds of programs could be used for. Of course in their time these types of AI were heralded as a harbinger of the apocalypse by technophobes worldwide, but what came next was infinitely more terrifying (at least in their opinion); an artificial intelligence capable of emotion. The world had been divided between whether such types of artificial intelligence should be given human rights, or should have been deleted burnt and their hard drives fired towards the sun, that was ten years ago and a consensus had still yet to be reached ¨C many people denied that these types of AI had emotions at all, claiming that they were just mimicking human behaviour, reciprocating it, as for Ted¡¯s opinion he wasn¡¯t sure mainly because he refused to watch the news. It was too depressing. ¡°So if you don¡¯t like that what do you like?¡± The AI questioned her hands coming up to press against the screen, Ted shuddering a chill running down his spine. He shook his head and cleared his throat ¡°Uh... You¡¯re an AI?¡± he really was trying his best not to sound like an idiot. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you can calculate things like a computer yes?¡± ¡°Yes, I can what of it?¡± She muttered a small red vein popping into existence on her forehead. He¡¯d always wanted to try this. ¡°Divide zero by zero.¡± Silence fell. Tsubaki stood there for a moment face blank, Ted frowned turning the screen slightly to its side the girl stumbling for a moment, before her hair began to rise about her like a storm her forehead pressing against the screen, a small thud registering in the device as she took in a deep breath. ¡°I am not a machine!¡± the little girl screamed the tablets speakers hissing as they were pushed to their absolute limit. Ted dropped the device down onto the table reaching for his ears Tsubaki continuing to huff sending a dark glare up in his direction. ¡°Sorry.¡± He muttered the girl turning away grumbling something beneath her breath. He never had been very good with women or people in general for that matter. ¡°You¡¯d better get this straight,¡± The AI declared waving a poised finger through the air, a pair of glasses having popped into existence on her nose. ¡°Clear the cobwebs from your ears you old fart and listen; I am not a machine, I am a lovely young lady, I am a genius, I am beautiful and you should count your fortune that I was assigned to be your handler. Now let¡¯s get this over with; what do you know about the game?¡± Ted smirked, snobby was certainly better than fake in his opinion he laughed giving his reply. ¡°Nothing.¡± Tsubaki paused outrage slowly turning to confusion, Ted gave her a toothless grin. ¡°You do realise how much money you¡¯ve spent on this game right, you¡¯ll likely be spending the rest of your life inside it and you know nothing?¡± ¡°I am not aware no, my family arranged everything.¡± ¡°Oh, oooh... You do know what type of game this is though right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got a pretty good idea, but a brief overview would be nice.¡± Tsubaki sighed stepping back opening her arms wide open before her the screen flashing white. A moment later the AI girl replaced with a vast mountain vista a little village resting soundly in the heart of a deep gorge surrounded on all side by dense woodland. Tsubaki¡¯s voice sounded booming through the valley as she narrated what seemed to be the games trailer the scene beginning to move. ¡°Three-hundred years ago a new threat infected the world of Farsol; a demon king arose from the depths of the earth and dragged with him a horde of the nether world¡¯s horrors out into the light. They rode across the lands of men and set the world aflame. The human nations gathered together as they had done many times before; in order to strike down this new threat and many years of unceasing war began. So it was that the humans forced the demon king back to the very edges of the known world his forces routed his command in disarray and in his desperation he employed a new type of magic. He bound the monsters of the world to his cause, gave them power, intelligence and a near human form. These new soldiers were used to devastating effect in the following months, however they could not stop the onslaught of humanity and in the end the demon king fell.¡± ¡°However upon his death the king¡¯s magic escaped into the world, many monsters were empowered some new species created, ancient races once thought lost returning to Farsol. But the magic had been warped, providing not just a human form but a human soul into those it touched. However they remained monsters in their¡¯ hearts and in their¡¯ flesh. Many species were now unable to reproduce with their former kind instead seeking out human lovers to take by force. A new threat unlike anything the forces of man has faced before arrived in the land; how shall you proceed. Shall you be loved or a lover, will you conquer or be conquered¡± Tsubaki finished the screen flashing off and the girl appearing once again against the white background before executing a bow and waiting for the expected applause. Ted sat there bemused. ¡°Okay, I get the picture; so it¡¯s a monster girl harem thingy then?¡± His question was directed with all the grace and tact afforded a sledge hammer. Tsubaki nodded giving him a thumbs up. ¡°You got it in one, although it¡¯s a little bit more complicated than that. Horns and Tails is basically a true open world experience, a fantasy world where you can do literally anything, well as long as your character can actually pull it off, some players have even taken over countries or started their own. Most of the long term players tend to be in positions of nobility. And seeing as you¡¯ll be playing with us for the next hundred years at the very least I expect no less from you, quite frankly I expect more! You will be my personal player. I¡¯ve already made several wagers with the other AIs and I¡¯d better not lose.¡± Tsubaki smirked Ted¡¯s stomach turning beneath him, a thin grimace rising across his face. ¡°What do you mean the next hundred years?¡± Theodore questioned rising slowly to his feet the girl staring up at him confused. ¡°You¡¯re a premium player, the first we¡¯ve ever had actually. Your VR pod-¡± ¡°It¡¯s life support I know, but I¡¯m already over a hundred-years old; do you really expect me to live another century.¡± ¡°So you didn¡¯t know that either huh?¡± Tsubaki sighed rubbing the back of her head before letting out a low groan and falling back onto her arse legs crossed in front of her. ¡°It¡¯s not just life support, it¡¯s... It¡¯s kind of like cryogenic-stasis it slows the rate of cell decay and preserves the brain in a series of chemicals. Frankly no one knows how long you¡¯ll live in that thing, it has been tested, and it is safe, but we can¡¯t predict exactly how long you¡¯ll live yet, although one-hundred years is a conservative guess, as far as we know you could outlive the sun. That¡¯s what the premium package is, and we¡¯re the only company in the world to offer it.¡± Ted let out a low sigh pressing his hands to his face of course it was going to be something like this. Ever since he¡¯d hit three digits Elliot had been frantic about keeping him alive ¡®modern medicine can do anything¡¯ and all that. He¡¯d tried to put him through various different medical treatments all of which Ted had refused, he didn¡¯t want to live forever; he was old and he was tired, he just wanted to take things slowly... This was just the brat¡¯s backhanded way of getting him to take his medicine. He wasn¡¯t ungrateful for it just... He didn¡¯t- ¡°So you¡¯re going to live forever that ain¡¯t so bad.¡± Tsubaki sighed from inside of the tablet, ¡°I¡¯m probably going to live forever too you know, it¡¯s not like I can actually die, unless someone spills coffee on my hard drive that is... Sorry I¡¯m being insensitive aren¡¯t I.¡± Ted sighed sucking in a deep breath and looking down to the girl shooting her a crooked smile. ¡°Ah it¡¯s nothing I just can¡¯t believe that punk went over my head with this. That pod¡¯s probably the only reason he didn¡¯t stop me playing this game.¡± ¡°So you didn¡¯t pick this game because of the pod?¡± ¡°Nope, I picked it because it was the cheapest on the market.¡± ¡°Yeah normally sure, but the premium package is nearly ten times as expensive as the top ranked games right now.¡± Ted remained silent forcing his grin to remain on his face. ¡°Ah right, let¡¯s get to character creation!¡± Tsubaki laughed shoving aside the mounting tension and blipping out of existence a series of sliders appearing on the screen alongside a picture of your generic harem protagonist, average height, average build, average hair, average down to the third arm sticking out of crotch, the character floating completely nude spread eagle fashion. ¡°So is there anything specific that you want?¡± The Ai questioned a soft blush rising in the old man¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Randomise it.¡± Ted declared glancing away from the screen. ¡°We don¡¯t really have that feature.¡± ¡°Then you pick what you want my character to look like, my only request is that you keep it male.¡± Damn this was awkward. ¡°People in real life don¡¯t get to pick what they look like right? And it¡¯s far more interesting that way don¡¯t you think?¡± The girl paused, a wide grin suddenly spreading over her face planting a tiny seed of doubt in the back of Ted¡¯s head. This was probably a bad idea. ¡°I couldn¡¯t agree more, some of these options have never even been used you know; it just seems like a waste. Okay then, next we decide your profession, your profession gives you a basic skill tree which you can invest points in as you level up.¡± ¡°Farmer.¡± Ted declared leaning in until his nose was practically touching the screen. ¡°Uh... that¡¯s... well I guess that¡¯ll work. If we¡¯re just going for the least used options for everything how about I just do the same for stat points and starting location? Being a premium player your starting gear¡¯s already fixed I¡¯m afraid¡± Ted gave her a nod Tsubaki grinning up at him the screen turning black for a period of maybe five seconds before the girl returned. ¡°That was actually a lot easier than I had assumed, all of the other AI¡¯s always complain about how it takes so long for players to decide what they want their character to look like even though they all go for the generic superman meets supermodel design.¡± ¡°Are there a lot of other AI¡¯s?¡± Ted questioned leaning back ¡°I suppose, there¡¯s one for every permanent player so... around one-thousand-five hundred maybe more, oh but there are nearly eight-billion inside the game although since they don¡¯t know they¡¯re AI¡¯s they don¡¯t really count.¡± ¡°Where on earth do you store all of the memory for that?¡± ¡°Underground mostly, technology these days is ramping up in size if nothing else. But you¡¯re lucky, I¡¯m the original, you should feel privileged Mr Premium Player.¡± Ted sighed Tsubaki standing smug hands pressed firmly to her hips giving him a broad grin. ¡°Okay one final thing before I call the technicians in to get everything set up. Like I said before you are about to enter a true open world game, your sense of pain inside the game has been numbed but it isn¡¯t zero. If something is happening around you that you don¡¯t want you can escape by using a codeword. I will also be monitoring all of your in game actions and if something happens that is too... Traumatic I will pull you out of game before things turn for the worse; case of point if you¡¯re about to be eaten by a bear.¡± Ted nodded. ¡°We will also be monitoring your actions in game to detect any bugs or glitches and to prevent abuse of in game systems like camping at someone¡¯s spawn point t. Also don¡¯t try to tell the NPC¡¯s everything is a game if you do there¡¯ll be consequences plus watching them go through that kind of existential dread, well it isn¡¯t pretty. Well with that understood let¡¯s pick your¡¯ safe word.¡± Ted grimaced at the analogy before picking the first thing that came to mind ¨C the nickname of an old friend. ¡°Epileptic giraffe.¡± Chapter Two - Lands Unknown Chapter Two ¨C Lands Unknown The sky was black... Ted lay motionless staring blankly into the darkness. It was hard to tell how much time had passed since he had left the real world behind. After roughly a minute of idle conversation with Tsubaki, a pair of technicians had entered the room, helped him up into the VR pod and then given him some king of sedative. He could have sworn he¡¯d woken up several times between then and now but all he could remember was a gaping white void and the murmur of voices far faraway. Now he was staring up at a sky of endless black without so much as a single speck of starlight to light the way, the touch of cold stone seeping up his back alongside the gentle dripping of water. He blinked curling his hands up into balls and taking in a deep breath. His body felt unusual, light, free. All of the aches and pains he¡¯d been living with for the past sixty years had faded and fled like mist before the morning sun. The sky... no it wasn¡¯t the sky. The ceiling loomed above him a great curving roof of stone the black now becoming grey as his eyes grew accustomed to the light. Ted rose slowly coming to his feet; his body was new and shaky it would probably take him a while to get used to it, but it felt strong, it was an unfamiliar sensation. He let out a low laugh lurching upwards onto unsteady feet in his shoulders remaining hunched out of instinct, before he stumbled reaching out to catch himself upon a stone wall and slipping back down to the floor. The air felt cool and damp and somehow practically thrumming with life although it might have just been an after effect of the sudden realisation he was no longer a two-hundred-and-twenty year old man. ¡°You¡¯ll want to take it slowly.¡± Tsubaki¡¯s voice rang out inside his head, Ted turning around as far as his position backed against the wall could let him looking for the AI. ¡°I¡¯m using telepathy to talk to you right now, it¡¯s time for you to complete the tutorial !¡± ¡°Telepathy?¡± Ted questioned his voice escaping him strangely high pitched, almost musical. ¡°Well not telepathy but I am literally sending my voice into your brain. Now, there are several things you need to know before venturing out into your brave new world.¡± Ted pulled himself up into a more comfortable position leaning back against the cold stone wall, his gaze drawn upwards to where a small pale blue light had suddenly burst into being providing true light in the darkness. ¡°You have just spawned in a cave roughly three-thousand feet above sea level in the Gunmar mountain range at the southern edge of the continent of Salba in the country of Talix. The climate is hot and the land heavily forested in its more remote regions though open plains make up the majority of the country and are far cooler. The first thing you will need to do in the game is learn how to access your menu to do this simply raise your dominant hand with all of your fingers pressed together as firmly as possible and push forwards.¡± Ted followed Tsubaki¡¯s instructions raising his arm and pushing forwards a pure white window with several buttons, marked in a flowing black text displayed on it suddenly popping into view in front of him. ¡°From here you can access, your character sheet, the games setting, staff support which means me and the exit button. If you would click your character sheet next.¡± He complied another window opening up before him
NAME/Torr Eward
PROFESSION/Farmer
AGE/21
STRENGTH/12
ENDURANCE/11
SPEED/10
INTELLIGENCE/10
WILL/17
SKILLS/ GREEN THUMB LV1
¡°These are your stats, ten points being equal to the level of an average adult in this world. Strength determines how hard you hit, endurance, how long you can keep hitting something, speed how quickly you can get away from being hit, pretty simple. Intelligence determines how quickly you are able to attain new skills and the amount of experience required to reach new levels while Will relates to your ability to resist various mind altering effects and exceed your body¡¯s normal limitations it¡¯s sort of like the chance that you¡¯ll deal a critical hit. Your intelligence and will are averaged in order to determine the strength of any type of magic you cast. Each level you gain in game will give you an additional three points to spend as you wish, if you want more information on a stat or skill all you need to do is click on it, but you can do that later, for now dismiss the window by swiping to the right.¡± Once again Ted looked up, and proceeded to follow the tutorial as Tsubaki guided him through opening windows to identify items, identifying enemies, how the combat system, the crafting system and the resurrection system worked. It seemed like the rest he¡¯d have to learn on his own. ¡°Well I think that¡¯s everything, I¡¯ll jus... There.¡± Tsubaki muttered the sentence punctuated with a dull thud a few feet in front of him what looked like a massive leather rucksack toppling over onto the floor. ¡°In there you¡¯ll find your starting equipment, a mythical ranked weapon and the basic equipment for your profession, along with a couple of sets of clothes, some rations, and some survival stuff. There are also a couple of unique items in there as well I haven¡¯t had a proper look yet you are very welcome Mr Premium Player I hope you enjoy. Good luck Torr.¡± Tsubaki vanished the light she had summoned disappearing with her. Ted paused, Torr? Wait a minute, the young man opened up his character sheet again paying special attention to the name listed at the top; Torr Eward. Torr... He supposed his name was Torr now, a little shiver ran its way down his spine. That still didn¡¯t feel quite right. Well it seemed like he was just going to have to get used to it. Torr sighed reaching forwards to grab the large leather pack resting in front of him and pulling the lid open, a small white window suddenly popping up in front of him listing the different type of items the bag could store. The list seemed to have been constructed from a collection of dropdown menus all of which were currently closed. Torr reached forward selecting the miscellaneous list, a second window appearing, each item printed with a name, some kind of classification and a ranking
MISCELLANEOUS
ITEM CLASS RANK
Love''s Blessing Accessory; Necklace Ledgendary
Farsol''s Bestiary Book; Bestiary Epic
Torr''s Journal Book Common
Sticker of Tsubaki''s support Sticker Rare
An item could carry one of five different rankings; common, rare, epic, mythical and legendary, and as the ranking increased so did the objects value, rarity and power. Torr pressed his finger against the first item, the necklace; he assumed it was one of the extra items he¡¯d been given. A moment later a description opened up beneath Torr removing his hand.
Brya''s Heart
Class: Acessory; Necklace Rank: Ledgendary Description:Awarded to premium players upon login, this item is blessed and cannot be lost, damaged or stolen. A simple chain necklace decorated with a statuette of Brya Goddess of love. Raises the likely hood of a monster falling in love with the wearer and can create an immediate and temporary sensation of love at first sight capable of stunning some monsters . (This may enrage certain species of monster girl)
Well he wasn¡¯t going to be needing that. Torr huffed closing the window and clicking on the one below it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Farsol''s Bestiary
Class: Book; Bestiary Rank: Epic Description:Awarded to premium players upon login, this item is blessed and cannot be lost damaged or stolen. A complete compendium of all monsters in Farsol both natural wild monsters and monster girls. This book will automatically update whenever a new species is added. It currently contains; 2680 species of monster
That was more like it, Torr clicked the item a book suddenly expelling itself from the insides of the bag. He reached forward attempting to catch it, but only succeeding in fumbling it down into the dirt. He clicked his tongue picking the book up and brushing off its cover. The book had been bound in thick red leather, its name printed on the spine in flowing gold lettering, while the games logo, an elf girl was embossed upon the front, Torr flipping through the pages one by one finding detailed descriptions and illustrations of thousands of different species of monsters. The book had been divided neatly into two sections, one containing monster girls, the other listing their more ¡®normal¡¯ counterparts each page containing a brief description along with a rating of the monsters danger, how easy it is to ¡®tame¡¯ and where it could be found. Torr grinned, he would have to read through the book at some point although now was not that time. He reached forwards dropping the book back into the bag, the item vanishing without a sound as it entered the dark depths beneath. Okay now what was he supposed to do... Well this was a first, most games usually dumped you with a ton of quests in order to raise your level and give you some half decent supplies, it didn¡¯t seem like Horns and Tails was like that although he supposed that was mostly due to the game being ¡®a true open world experience¡¯. Well at the very least he had a goal he wanted to work towards that wasn¡¯t quite as obscure as ¡®levelling up¡¯ he was going to start a farm, that was his quest and to do that first he¡¯d need to know exactly where in his new world he¡¯d arrived. Torr opened up the weapons subsection inside of his bag finding only one item present under the class of swords; Reapers Lightning. Well it was good to know this world wasn¡¯t all hugs and cuddles. He was betting there would be ample opportunity to use the weapon, although he did feel kind of uneasy about chopping up humanoid monsters run by AI¡¯s who could actually feel pain... Ah he¡¯d cross that bridge when he came to it. Torr clicked on the weapon, the hilt of a sword suddenly popping up out of the bag, the young man rising to his feet to remove the blade, having to take several steps back in order to free the whole thing from the bag. The weapon, stood nearly as tall as Torr himself, a long katana the hilt black as midnight criss-crossed with sashes of royal blue and pristine white. The sheath had been marked by a series of pale scratches running along its length ending in a faded golden cap a metal loop resting at the top of the scabbard just below the guard. He reached forwards unsheathing the blade a fraction of an inch a wave of static electricity arcing from the steel, a pale blue light infusing the cave, Torr taking in a sharp breath before slamming it closed, a wide smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Of course there were several problems with the weapon as there were with any piece of pay to win merchandise, firstly the blade was too long it was light as a feather but it felt unwieldy and cumbersome, secondly the blade was too long, he couldn¡¯t pull it out of its sheath properly his arms being too short, thirdly the blade was too long so he had no where he could wear it properly without looking like an absolute knob. Torr grumbled dropping the swords sheath down into his bag resting the naked blade against the cave wall where it would spark sending arcs of lightning to anything within reach, as he pulled the pack up onto his back before hefting the sword onto his shoulder. There was a brand new world out there just waiting for him and he wanted to see it all. Torr started to walk towards the entrance to the cave, where the faintest glimmer of light could be seen falling through the rock, the meagre pinprick of daylight waiting for him growing with every new step. Soon he was running, his body swaying dipping left and right as he struggled for control over his untested limbs, a warm breezing rising up to caress his cheeks as at last he took one final leaping bound out into the light and it hit him all at once. The world fell away before him, vast uneven grassy slopes, sprouting from the harsh granite stones of the mountain on which he stood, reaching down towards dense s dense jungle overflowing with life. Flowers bloomed on every surface and in all shades imaginable shades of vermillion pink, royal blue and sun-kissed orange, clear blue skies wheeling above the dark specks of birds twisting in the distance riding on the thermals, as the sun beat down an unrelenting march an oppressive heat hitting him with the force of a truck. Torr laughed raising his arms above his head; this was amazing, brilliant, wonderful! He was standing on another world and he could scarcely believe it was a virtual one. This would be perfect, okay maybe the climate was a little warm and farming on a mountain wouldn¡¯t exactly be ideal, but he could even out the slopes here and there, build some retaining walls and some earth banks, he could do it he could start a farm. Of course before he worried about that he was going to have to figure out how to survive first... He¡¯d seen plenty of survival shows in his time and all of them seemed to agree on one point, the first thing he was going to need to do was find a source of water. Apparently he had rations inside of his pack so he supposed they would last him for a day or two so finding food could wait, but if he was going to stay out in the mountains then he was going to need a water source preferable one nearby, watering plants would be a pain without it although he doubted he¡¯d be able to find his way back to the cave if he just wandered off into the jungle... He needed a land mark, maybe there was something in his bag? Torr retreated momentarily into the shade of the cave before dropping his bag down onto the ground, checking the list of different types of items he had; weapons, tools, armour, clothing, perishables, resources, miscellaneous and currency. He clicked resources a large bloody red N/A popping up in front of him, okay then clothing. This time several options appeared in front of him; three sets of tunics and trousers, one green, one blue and the other red. Torr looked down at his own shirt assuming that he was wearing the white version; he clicked the red tunic, a set of clothes spewing up from out of his pack. Okay he could use this, now he needed some tools. He opened the appropriate window and selected both a length of rope and a hand axe from the extensive list, now all he needed was some wood.
It might have taken him the better portion of the last three hours in order to complete it but he was proud all the same. He had trekked his way down to the bottom of the mountain in order to cut down one of the trees from the edge of the jungle, then he¡¯d climbed back upon realising you really couldn¡¯t cut down a tree with just an axe and came back down with a saw. Then he¡¯d used the rope to haul the wood back up to the cave, had cut away its branches with the axe, tied the red shirt to the top and hammered it in the ground as far as it would go. It really wasn¡¯t bad work at all, he¡¯d stuck a flag out in front of his cave and now he had a landmark to help him find his way home. So now he needed to begin his hunt for water, it would probably be easier if he just climbed higher, then he could look out over the entire forest to see if there was some kind of river or something. Torr nodded to himself pulling his backpack back up carrying his sword in one hand and making slow progress up the slopes. The heat alone had already seen too soak Torr¡¯s back in sweat and the climb wasn¡¯t helping. Luckily enough his cave wasn¡¯t too far from the mountains top, and the mountain wasn¡¯t too far from the edge of the woods, of course of all of the mountains in the surrounding area it seemed his was one of the smallest. The entire range of mountains arched away from him forming a great crescent ring about the jungle, growing progressively larger as they moved away from Torr¡¯s mountain, of course he was still a good distance above the trees the forest canopy stretching endlessly in the distance before him, an impenetrable sea of green that swayed and murmured in the breeze but he was in luck. He could see series of wide rivers splitting the land at the far end of the jungle into vast islands of green, each coursing river pooling together at the very bottom of what he now realised was a great basin stone basin, a self enclosed ecosystem; his new home. Of course there was always had to be a downside. As far as he could see almost all of the rivers were flowing from the other end of the rings of mountains, in other words none of them were anywhere in his reach, and while he might have been able to find a smaller water source nearby, he¡¯d never be able to support an entire farm on that alone, he was going to have to find a new home Chapter Three - The war Unceasing Chapter Three - The war Unceasing She could smell it. She could hear it. Drawing closer with each passing breath... She was weightless, she was fast, the world passed her by in an endless blur of green interspersed with splashes of colour, blue and red and white, every one of her senses on fire. It was close now. Her pursuit slowed, what little sound she had made in her hurry vanishing as she crept forwards, the light from the canopy above falling down upon her, mottled fur and great golden eyes as she watched the figure near the water''s edge. She had been too slow. Now was the time for patience, for quiet; if he survived he was hers.
Torr sighed pushing forwards, one hand grasping at the tangle of vines which blocked his path the other swinging his hand-axe clearing the way ahead as he forged he way through the dense undergrowth. He continued his march, what little shade the canopy gave him the humidity took, his skin damp with sweat, a dull fire burning in his lungs, he''d been marching through the jungle for hours now he''d entered the game at what he''d assumed had been early morning, now the sun was sinking down towards the east edge of the world, and the prospect of pushing his way through dense jungle in the dead of night was hardly appealing. After thinking things through as best he could he¡¯d decided on a plan. There was no way he''d be able to start a farm on his current little plot of land and that left him only one option; find a new one. He''d pick a place high up in the mountains safe from monsters where he could view the basin in its entirety, with a little stream running nearby from which he could draw water, and hopefully near some cave or natural indent in the rock where he could build his home. He could picture it now, patches of vegetables growing in the hills, enclosed by small stone fences, wide paddocks stretching beyond in which all manner of creatures the jungle could offer grazed and once he''d built his farm, he''d go on grand adventures all across the world, but always returning to the place he''d built; his home. Of course before his pipe dream could become reality he needed to gather enough supplies. The trip to the other side of the mountains would take at a guess two days if he travelled straight through the jungle. Of course seeing as he wasn¡¯t in possession of any suicidal tendencies that was not his plan instead he''d be walking around the edge of the jungle which would probably take him over twice the amount of time but with a much lower risk of dying. Of course that plan to work he''d need four days worth of water to take with him, as it stood Torr had one water skin which would be enough for one day¡¯s supply at most. Thinking back on it now, tap water really had been a luxury. Well he could find a way to store more water later, for now he just needed a drink. Torr let out a heavy sigh chopping away at a couple of branches barring his way, taking several hacks to remove them completely from his path stamping down what he couldn¡¯t removed with his boots. His new sword could cut through the branches with ease however there two little problems, once again the sword was too long to swing properly while he was entirely surrounded by trees and vines, and two the blade released a wave of electricity whenever it touched something other than Torr having the unfortunate side effect of setting the trees on fire. A large burnt patch of woodland was still smouldering some distance behind him testament to that particular discovery the weapon currently strapped to his back with a length of rope. Not that his sword was useless the thing was almost as long as a spear so if push came to shove he could stab something instead. Frankly everything in this game seemed oversized, the trees towered at least a few hundred feet high the flowers sprouting between their roots each one at least as large as his fist some reaching the width of his head, it was kind of exhilarating. Torr stepped forwards blinking a wave of golden light striking him where he stood, the dull murmur of water sounding in his ears, as he blinked the jungle having vanished before him replaced by an open lake. The water stretched at least a mile from shore to shore, fed by a single river which in turn was born from the meeting and partings of several dozen streams which reached high into the mountains. Torr took in a deep breath stepping forwards. He''d been lucky so far, he hadn''t run into a single monster, although he doubted it would be too difficult to take one down, his weapon was overpowered and he was in a beginner area. Torr swayed forwards throwing down his axe so it sat upright in the dirt, dropping down his bag pulling it open and removing a water skin before rushing to the edge of lake. A moment later the little leather sack was submerged a stream of bubbles gurgling up as the bag filled. A moment later he was upending the skin into his mouth a sudden wave of relief braking over him. Torr laughed flopping down onto the grass staring up at the sky, azure blue shifting to a soft golden glow as the sun began to fade. He¡¯d probably need to get back soon, but not now, now he was going to relax. A faint rustling sounded in the woods not far away. Damn it couldn¡¯t he have one moment of honest peace! Torr dragged himself up, his heart quavering deep within his chest, as he launched himself forwards reaching for his sword, his gaze tracking the noise to its source, a sudden wave of confusion striking him still splayed across the grass hand wrapped around the handle of his axe. A small herd of four or five weird looking pigs with white marks on their flanks and long noses were pushing forwards towards the waters¡¯ edge spreading out across the river bank as they went, bending their heads towards the surface. Tapirs, they were Tapirs although like everything else in the jungle they too were huge, the beasts were almost as large as cars, bodies powerful and sturdy, as they bowed their heads to take a drink before retreating several steps and stepping forwards again this time drinking from a different position. The arrival of the Tapir''s was quickly followed by another flurry of movement behind them, the trees parting to reveal several slender figures leaping forwards forwards through the branches, their skin shades of pale green, bright red and near luminescent blue flecked with black spots and white streaks along their bodies. Otherwise they seemed human or very nearly, they were too slender and too tall, soft eyes matching the colours of their body practically, soft dark hair falling behind them towards their waists in narrow braids. They were all women that much was obvious even if their figures were rather slight and slender, flaring in wide hips around which were wrapped what passed for ragged loin cloths, their torso¡¯s remaining bare but devoid of that most mammalian ¡®feature¡¯. So those were monster girls huh? They didn''t seem too bad, certainly not as aggressive as he''d assumed they be, they appeared to be some kind of frog girl, probably not his favourite type of monster girl, personally he¡¯d always been rather more interested in . The group muttered to each other briefly, too far away for to pick out any of their words, before retreating back into the safety of the jungle just as quickly as they had arrived. Torr shrugged shambling up towards the water once more he¡¯d fill his water skin and then be back on his way. He reached forwards plunging his skin arm deep into the lake as he savoured the cool touch of water against his skin. A couple of seconds later the water grew still and clear like a mirror and for the first time Torr caught a glimpse of his own reflection. A high pitched cry shook the forest Torr reeling backwards, his water skin flying from his hands and arcing through the air leaving a twisting trail of water in its wake. This wasn¡¯t right Torr crept forwards, peering out over the water a childish face greeting him. What the hell had Tsubaki done to him? He... He was a girl! His hair was white as snow, falling down to just above his shoulders in a flurry of jagged edges, in what looked like an extreme case of bed head, brushed behind him in swirling flourish. His face was neat and round, with a small button nose and slender pert lips pulled back in horror revealing jagged teeth, as he stared down into the water his own eyes staring back sending a shiver down his spine. His irises were a burnt orange that practically seemed to glow, streaks of gold glittering in his sight the black pupil waiting at its centre giving his eyes an unnerving almost hypnotic effect, his eyes themselves turned down and inward, giving them an ominous glaring presence, his white eyebrows almost invisible against milky skin. No, no; this wasn''t right. Torr swallowed hard pulling up his tunic and reaching for his trousers opening them up to the light hoping against. Torr let out a long ragged sigh collapsing to his knees. It was still there. He was grateful more than he could describe, he hadn¡¯t lost his little friend... Torr frowned pulling his pants up again to get a second look. Little was certainly right. Well now he understood why no one had chosen these options. Torr hiked his pants back up around his waist and leaned forwards over the lake, face mere inches from the water, it didn''t seem too bad maybe if he, Torr pulled his lips into a grimace furrowing his eyebrows, yeah that didn''t seem so bad. Still his eyes seemed unnatural and his face oddly blank, almost like a dolls... This wasn''t fair, he wasn''t exactly bad looking, but he would have preferred to be more masculine especially down there. Well he''d rolled the dice and this was what he''d ended up with, he should never have trusted Tsubaki. A small bubble rose to the surface of the lake and popped a dark shadow following it a moment later. Before he knew it everything went black. .
The shadows seemed to swell before him, an endless oblivion that went on and on and on, without light or sound or sensation in any form. If he had to give it a word it would have been death. An occasional flickering white light marked the passing of time, piercing through the darkness, before vanishing snuffed out like a candle flame. These flickers quickly grew in number and duration. Soon the entirety of the void was bursting with their light now not only white but an entire myriad of shades that swirled and danced about him, coming together joining and forming a room he had been in once before.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Torr stood in silence in the centre of the room he¡¯d used during his character creation prior to his entry into Horns and Tails with one notable exception, the egg shaped pod had been removed and in its place was a large low resting bed, Tsubaki sprawled out upon it arms folded behind her head. "Well that didn''t take as long as I thought it would; congratulations, you''ve gained a new achievement" the young girl yawned rolling over, a volume of manga suddenly appearing in her hand as she pointed her foot towards the shelves. Torr turned finding a new book case had taken up one corner of the room what looked like a trophy was resting on the highest shelf. The trophy depicted a generic figure head cocked to one side in question as a bear reared up behind him worked into spun glass, a small pale blue plaque beneath reading;
NEVER SAW IT COMING
Awarded for meeting an instant death without even realising you were in danger.
"So I-" huh that was strange his voice sounded, different; it was probably another one of the changes Tsubaki had made, it was light and childish he¡¯d have called it sweet if he hadn¡¯t been the one who¡¯d been speaking. "You died yes" Tsubaki answered his unfinished question refusing to even glance in his direction, "I decided to pull you out of there before you were ripped limb from limb, I would tell you the gory details but it is against the rules. So what do you think of the game so far?" Torr dropped down sitting one of the floor cushions shaking his head. "It... It''s amazing." He let out a shallow laugh a wide grin splitting his face, "I can run again, I can move like I used to, no more aches and pains. Everything''s so realistic. I''d never th0ught something like this was even possible!" Tsubaki smirked lowering her books and swinging her feet over the edge of the bed and rising to execute a neat little bow. "You are very welcome. You should really be more careful you know, I dropped you off in the least populated area of the game I could find, no other player has ever set foot there before, there are a couple of villages and cities a out there if you can find them but they''re a good way away, anything you need you''ll have to make yourself. It''s kind of like you''re playing in hard mode." Torr frowned something felt off... The young man rose slowly back up onto his feet looking up towards the AI girl. "Why are you so tall?" His question lingered in the air, Tsubaki standing a good head taller than him. Tsubaki gave him a questioning glance, before a curling smile split her face, Torr felt his stomach drop as the girl let out a light laugh. "Oh I''m not tall. You''re short. If I remember correctly I put your height somewhere around four-foot-five, maybe a little lower, I can''t remember..." She shrugged. Torr sucked in a deep breath through his teeth, a low laugh rising up from below him, quickly breaking into a manic cackle the young man sending his foot forwards, into the AI girl¡¯s shin Tsubaki letting out a cry and stumbling back falling over against the bed. Torr letting out a high pitched roar ¡°What the hell did you do that for! Why do I look and sound like a prepubescent girl, what made you think this was in anyway a good idea?" Torr shrieked marching back and forth about the room circling the central table hands flailing above his head. Tsubaki blinked dumbfounded before rising up arms folded over her chest. "What? you told me to ''randomise'' everything besides, now you look cute you should be thankful, I can guarantee that there is not one other character in the entire game that looks like you." "Because no one would want to! You''ve turned me into a little girl!" "Oh come on, your gender is still male just like you asked, and I set your age to twenty-one, so you''re hardly little." "So what you mean is I just look like a little girl, a little girl who¡¯ll never grow up?" "Yes..." Tsubaki fell silent scrambling for something to say. "Change me back, I''d rather be an old man." "No can do I''m afraid, the most I can do is change the colouring of your eyes, hair, skin superficial stuff like that. Your mind is linked to that body now, wiring up all the senses and adjusting for a change in body size takes a lot of time and effort as well as money." Torr let out a strangled cry. "Great so now I''m a grown arse man who looks and sounds like a little girl, but not just that I managed to be eaten by some random monster and now I have no items, life is just peachy!" The young man groaned throwing himself forwards crashing face down onto his bed, Tsubaki loosening her stance and glancing down at him with what he assumed was meant to be sympathy although it could have just as easily been constipation. "Sorry, I... I didn''t mean to make you look like a girl." Tsubaki mumbled dropping down next to him. "I can''t really tell men and women apart that well... My access to the outside world is limited, before now I couldn''t even access the in game world properly. All I could do was talk with the other AI''s and they''re all women and even then only once or twice a month when a meeting was set up. What I''m saying is it''s not my fault and... I guess I''m sorry." Torr glanced in her direction the girl taking in a deep breath and letting out a savage cry. "Agh! I''ve had enough of this. I''m sorry and you''re unhappy end of discussion. Now let''s talk about the game. Like I said you''re basically playing the game in hard mode, but you also have some overpowered equipment. Any item ranked epic or higher can only be won inside of dungeons or given as gifts from powerful figures for completing quests and are considered soul-bound, they''ll respawn with you when you do. As for surviving in the game, the first thing you''ll need to do is get a girl. Monsters can be stronger than humans, smarter than humans and faster than humans sometimes all at the same time, so creating a party of monster girls is the quickest way to get strong faster although the higher a girls level the harder they are to seduce. Your first priority should be to retrieve your'' gear, get in and get out, It should be night time when you return to game so be careful you never know what could be following you. Get your items, try to get a girl and then you can start levelling and training, reach level ten at least before you start trying to build your farm, then you''ll be able to get your second skill tree and start picking combat skills. You got that?" Torr stared up at the woman, as she pointed towards him, one hand upon her hip, a look of infinite pride radiating across her face, she really was a child inside wasn¡¯t she? Torr sighed, chuckling to himself and giving her a gentle nod.
There was a time limit before he could return to the game from his room half an hour in total although his argument with Tsubaki had taken up a fair portion of that time. Of course the rest of his time hadn¡¯t been wasted he''d sent a text to Elliot, firstly thanking him for the chance to play the game followed by several ludicrous threats for making him play the game to begin with. His room was his one lifeline to the real world, his one way of contacting Elliot or the rest of his family for those who were still willing to accept his calls. The rest of his time spent running down the clock had been used talking with Tsubaki; apparently while he was in game she''d been keeping an eye on him all while busying herself with reading through his collection of manga and watching his anime. They had more or less decided on a plan of how he was going to survive in his new world although Torr still refused to enter into a relationship with an artificial intelligence convinced of the fact that they were a monster. The first step would be to reclaim his gear. After respawning Torr found himself dressed in what was essentially a loincloth and a thick leather belt onto which his sword had been strapped end trailing against the floor, alongside a large pouch containing his bestiary. Two new items had also appeared on his person, firstly a pair of black metal gauntlets the knuckles covered in spikes and coupled with a matching helmet which was nearly three inches thick, pale strands of ghostly white hair jutting out from under the dark steel, a pair of horns lifting from the front of the helmet like a samurai''s crest, it definitely seemed like there was supposed to be some kind of theme to his gear. Of course that left one more item hung gently about his neck Brya''s heart, a long thin silver chain ending in a small red crystal statuette which burnt in the darkness with an unnatural light, pushing a gentle warmth into his chest. The young man took a deep breath rolling his shoulders as he stepped forwards, dropping the scabbard of his sword to the ground blade resting on his shoulder and rushing forwards leaving the cave behind walking forwards into the moonlight. Torr could still make out the trail he had cut through the undergrowth from his mountain vantage, a narrow pathway snaking through the jungle, one particularly wide swath of land continuing to smoke from where he¡¯d accidentally set it alight. He stole a deep breath before pressing forwards, scrambling his way down the mountain slopes with a level of grace and elegance he had no doubt would alert every creature in possession of a sense of hearing for a quarter mile, the final drop and his concurrent scream hardly helping the matter. Climbing mountains in the dark was unsurprisingly enough not easy. Upon reaching the edge of the jungle he glanced back towards his cave, barely visible through the gloom, the high flag he had erected that morning catching in the moonlight, the mast currently leaning away from the cave entrance very near to collapsing. He supposed he''d need to find a better way of securing it than just sticking it in the ground. Well that was just one more thing to add to his to-do list. Torr shook his head and marched forwards into the night, a deathly chill settling up on him, far removed from the hellish heat of the earlier day. In the dark life seemed to flourish, the jungle glowed like the heavens now that night had set in; leaves and flowers and bulbs, all glowed with a bioluminescent magic, thrumming in shades of electric blue and forest green, occasional arcs of lightning flying away from Torr''s sword as it caught against the leaves and branches in a sudden burst of vermillion light before they faded into ash. Sweeping above the patchy light came the songs of birds and frogs and beasts unknown, it was almost like the nature documentaries he''d watched when he was a child; every single breath he took seemed positively charged with adventure. But every footfall, each step he took forwards into the dark sent a jolt through his bones, in the dark the jungle was a far more daunting place. Every falling leaf, every braking branch, each breath of wind pressed against him as he pushed his way through the undergrowth and the swathes of glowing green seemed to grow and pulse with a life of its own. Over an hour passed before he reached his goal, the lake waiting before him, still and serene as it had been a few short hours ago, no trance of his fatal encounter left, but a faded streak of red upon the grass and some overturned dirt where he had leaned over the waters¡¯ edge. Torr swallowed peering into the shadow s small mound resolving itself from the surroundings, his bag waited for him where he had left it. His pack had remained untouched although in the shadows it seemed like the forest had grown closer to the shore his bag resting but a few paces from the jungle. He let out a low sigh rushing forwards and taking his rucksack in hand and hoisting it up onto his shoulder and turning hard upon his heels eager to return to his cave, a dull thrumming shaking the air behind him. He turned slowly a pair of bright orange eyes meeting his own. Chapter Four - Wild Hunt Chapter Four - Wild Hunt She had sensed it immediately; something new, and rare, and hers. Not quite within her territory but near enough for her to claim it as her own Lua breathed deeply crouched amidst the undergrowth, her body pressed down into the dirt, listening and waiting. She had gone to take a look, of course she had, that was her job, she controlled the southernmost stretch of the valley, she was the fifth matriarch of the Gunmar basin and though her land was the smallest it was also one of the richest and that was true now more than ever. Ever since it had arrived she¡¯d been tailing it, she had seen it crawl out of its cave, a human, a child or at least that was what it had seemed. She had watched as it had travelled back and forth between the jungle and its home, from high in the trees she watched, and she had caught its'' scent, his scent. It was male, a full grown male all appearances aside, and now it was hers. Lua had followed the man ever since, watching and waiting for him to cross over into the heart of her territory. If she claimed him before that the others would complain and if they complained they would fight, but if she obeyed the rules they wouldn¡¯t be able to raise a finger against her or the system would punish them all. She had watched him climb the mountains, and she had waited for his return, but it seemed that fate was not on her side. He had entered the jungle through the frogs¡¯ territory. The frogs were the third matriarch, and though they were weak they were many, luckily they had no need for men. If they tried to take what belonged to her she would fight, and they would not risk the losses. So the man had moved unimpeded and unaware any creature that had hoped to take him warded off by the war waging in silence about him. Then he had come to the lake and enteredits''domain and there was nothing either group could do. He had drank from the water, and laid in the grass, and leaned out further and further across the lake, and then he was gone. He landed on the grass a moment later with a splat, there was a flash of white and his body vanished dragged down into the water. Now he belonged to it and it likely didn''t even realise what it had, or how it had been wasted. That was evidenced a moment later the water of the lake beginning to boil. So the first man to enter the jungle for nearly twenty years had been lost. But of all the matriarchs Lua was the smartest, her mother had told her thousands of tales of humans, of how they lived and more often how they loved; there was still a chance no matter how small. If he had been a hero, if he could revive then he could still be hers. So Lua had taken the man¡¯s bag and pulled it quite securely into her own territory away from the lake; now all she had to do was wait.
Two solitary eyes glowed within the darkness, burning with a golden light, a primal fire that seemed to draw him in with an almost hypnotic effect. Torr stood stock still, watching as the pair of eyes rose up higher and higher in the night until they glared down upon him from above. They were predatory, hungry; a sudden chill riding its way down his spine and he knew what it was to feel fear. Torr blinked stumbling backwards his mind clearing briefly as he pulled his sword forwards tempered steel practically glowing under the moonlight the blade directed forwards into the dark and the figure rising from it. A feminine form slowly resolved from the shadows, illuminated by the glow of the plant life and the silvery lustre of the stars. She towered above him, looming in the shadows well over six-foot tall although his recent change in perspective made it harder to judge for certain. Somewhere deep down inside Torr cursed Tsubaki''s sense of taste not that he had much time to dwell on it. He swallowed hard, as she stepped forwards with a swaying gait. Her hips were tight and her waist slender, layers of muscle rippling over her stomach up towards her chest which exploded outwards. It was almost unnatural, the rest of her body seemed taught and toned, but that portion of her remained soft, supple, swaying right in front of his face... Torr blinked a sudden heat rising up into his cheeks, as he looked back up towards the woman¡¯s face. She was beautiful, but there was no denying she was very far from human. A pair of small round ears sprouted up from the top of her head out of her hair, her eyes glowing in the dim light reflecting the glower of the moon, though it was her arms and legs which seemed the most unusual of all, they were large, in the place of hands and feet she had paws which seemed slightly too large for her body being over twice the size of Torr¡¯s hands. A set of obsidian black set of claws sprung forward from the pads of her paws curling forwards through the dark, her arms being completely covered in fur reaching all the way up to her shoulders and the upper portions of her thigh, a long tail swaying behind her. The girls skin a deep tan, her fur a luminescent yellow now turned silver beneath the moonlight, dark spots curling across her fur and hair alike as she stalked towards him nude but for a couple worn hide rags covering the bare minimum of her chest and her privates a single ebony white shell hanging from a leather thong about her neck. She was a monster girl in the truest sense, some kind of big cat, maybe a leopard at his guess, in either case she was drawing closer. And then just as quickly as she started her advance she stopped dead in her tracks, the predatory gleam within her eyes dying low as she looked down to him with something strange, something different, eyes wide with something akin to wonder, the monster girl reaching out towards him. Torr stepped back edging closer towards the jungle, keeping his sword between them, the leopard girl didn¡¯t move to follow. Maybe she wasn''t so bad after all but... No she... She was going to attack him that much was obvious. The necklace! The necklace had probable stunned her or something he still needed to run though he doubted he¡¯d be able to outpace her through the jungle. That meant there was only one solution. Torr raised his sword up stepping forwards to attack, the girl¡¯s eyes widening as she stumbled backwards onto her ass, mouth hanging open in something close to awe as she looked up towards him, helpless, defenceless... He lowered his sword and turned to run sprinting towards the darkened path which he himself had cut through the jungle. His chest hurt, his heart rattling against his ribcage attempting to escape, a wave of adrenaline coursing through his veins and spurring him forwards with every step. Agh he should have just attacked her he didn¡¯t want to die again and be subjected to another night time stroll, but she was alive, he couldn''t deny that after looking in her eyes, they were intelligent even if they were a bit bestial. They were the eyes of a cat that had finally managed to corner a mouse up until that last moment, until she¡¯d looked him in the eyes and then, then they were different somehow. But he still should have attacked, he didn¡¯t necessarily have to kill her just slow her down, a quick slash to the ankle would have been enough. He was probably going to regret just running away. Behind him, a wailing roar rose up over the trees spilling forwards through the dark, oh crap, oh crap it seemed like the chase had finally begun. Torr let out a fevered cry, pushing himself harder and harder to the brink of his ability a second, the sound of breaking branches and what he dreaded was the uprooting of trees echoing from behind him as he ran. She was closing in, he just needed to; ah crap he was going to die, no, no it was worse, he was going to be raped. Crap, what was the safe word again? Damn it why hadn''t he just chosen something normal, like ¡®help¡¯ or ¡®exit¡¯ or ¡®get me the hell out of here!¡¯ Torr let out a cry, a wave of tears streaming down his face as he felt his legs pulled out from under him by an errant root his body tumbling end over as he rolled out of the jungle finally coming to a stop, a granite cliff face braking his fall. Torr hurried to his feet, a steady trickle of blood slipping from his nose, a memento of his tender embrace with the mountainside, before he began to hike his way up the slopes, pulling himself higher and higher, the thunder of braking trees suddenly drawing to a halt. He turned slowly crouching on his vantage point roughly halfway up the mountain, a small figure waiting below hanging at the mouth of the jungle, a deep swathe of devastation lying in her wake. There was no way, no way he was going to be able to fight that monster, she''d uprooted god damn trees just to get at him, honestly he had no idea how he''d even managed to get such a large head start in the first place. Now she was just sitting there at the bottom of the mountain panting, a wide grin splitting her face revealing jagged white teeth. She could see him clear as day, he could feel it her eyes pinning him in place. She was playing with him that was it, waiting for him to exhaust himself so she could attack! Torr swallowed turning and continuing his climb up the mountain at an ever more frantic pace, his half fallen red flag fluttering in the breeze above him his cave waiting on high. Maybe if he got inside he''d stand a chance, she was a lot taller than he was after all he doubted she''d be able to move that easily in a confined space. Torr clambered up the last hurdle launching himself forward and bolting down into his hidey hole crawling deep into the earth before un-slinging his backpack and drawing up his sword blade pointed towards the waiting night, and the danger that lurked within...Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
The night drew on, the moon arced its way across the sky and as it disappeared beyond the far horizon a grey dawn rose up in its place, the valley drawn in shadow, as the sun struggled to raise its head above the mountains, the world drenched in a grey mist that rose from the jungle floor and spread though the valley on the a stifling breeze.Clack-Torr bolted upright, his sword slipping from his grasp, the young man rising up to his full height, his head banging into the ceiling above. He let out a small yelp dropping down onto his haunches. The good thing was he was wearing that black helmet that had appeared on him last night, and aside from the shock of it he didn''t feel life he''d been hurt. After arriving in his cave and buckling down for the night, nothing had happened the monster girl hadn''t attacked he''d just been sitting tight inside his cave staring out into the darkness, waiting. After roughly two stress filled hours of doing nothing he had worked up the nerve to run even further away, retreating as far into the cave as he could possibly and finally upon reaching the very back of the cave Torr had found what he''d been looking for all along, a pool of dark water still as a mirror and cold as ice. Several hours of cursing later interrupted by periodic bursts of silence spurred on by the slightest foreign sound, the scraping of rock of a distant bird cry he finally had the sense to put some clothes on. This time he decided he''d be wearing the green tunic, now all he needed was pointy ears and a little green hat. After his sudden unexpected death Torr had lost all of the normal items that had been on his person namely his water skin, his tunic and his hand-axe although he would probably be able to find his hand-axe if he went back to the lake it was probably lying in the grass around there, though that wasn''t going to happen anytime soon. He let out a low groan rubbing at his face following it up with a yawn, he''d been awake all night and now he was tired, very tired. It seemed that even the game had recognised his lack of sleep seeing fit to label him with a new debuff.
SLEEP DEFICIENCY: Rank 1
Lack of sleep causes a ten-percent decrease in all stats and to all skill modifiers
There was even a little symbol flashing gently hanging over to the far left hand corner of his vision a picture of a closed eye with a Z over it. Of course it wasn''t like he could just start dozing off when that monster was waiting for him outside. He had no idea how the developers were expecting players to fight monsters like that at first level, although he supposed they really weren''t expecting many people to fight at all. This game was basically all about raising your own harem army. Torr frowned snorting to himself and huddling up closer to the edge of the pool, there was no way he was going to get involved in all of that. He had no intention of having relations with a bunch of animal girls, besides if he couldn''t get normal women life him he¡¯d never get monster girls to, wait why would he want them to like him in the first place! Although now that he thought back to it that girl from last night had been very pretty... No, it was probably just the adrenaline and lack of sleep messing with his head. Torr sighed eyes drooping as he reached down to remove his sword from where it had fallen against the stone pulling it tight to his chest. His gaze fixated on the endless winding passage of the tunnel tinged in its grey light his head swirling with the danger that lay beyond. He really was so tired. CRACK- Anew sound echoed down the cave this one more familiar than any before it Torr bolting upright waking from a light sleep and scrambling onto his feet and this time he remembered not to bang his head against the ceiling. He had the distinct sensation a long time had passed since he had fallen asleep, at the very least his sleep deficiency buff had vanished. He was going to take that as a good sign. Torr yawned brushing himself down, there was no use in just lying around doing nothing, this world was a video game, maybe it was a very realistic one but it was a video game none the less. Sure he could die but so what he''d just respawn again in half an hour and be back to work as normal, he could risk it. There was no way he was going to hide inside his cave forever; he was going to check what that noise had been Torr swallowed hard before forcing a large grin up across his face holding his sword in front of him like a spear. He just had to remember, he was a one-hundred-and-twenty year old man, and with that age came experience and if there was one thing that bastard he called his brother had taught him it was this: aim for the face. There was nothing that could stop him now. He crept his way forwards through the damp and the dark, the world slowly growing warmer as he neared the light of the entrance and soon enough he stood at the edge of his cave. The world beyond was bright and beautiful, flowers blooming amidst the rocky outcrops the narrow fields of grass sprouting from the stone bright and green and lush, not a single monster or monster girl in sight. Torr took a deep breath stepping over the boundary sword clutched tight in hand, scanning the world before him. It felt off somehow... A streak of dark red blurred his vision Torr stepping backwards a bundle of dark red cloth falling down lying amidst the grass. He stood huddled in the shadows for a brief moment before realisation struck him; it was his tunic the one he had strung up as a flag the day before... Wait a minute no, no! Torr turned on his heels towards spot where his flag should have stood. The mast had fallen down completely now and was lying in bits and pieces across the grass the several long branches he had tied together coming free. Great just perfect, now he was going to have to make a new one. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he stepped forwards to grab his impromptu flag a low vibration passing through the air behind him, a sudden realisation springing down upon him upon him. Torr span on his heels swinging out with his sword the blade howling as it flew a wave of lightning splitting the day illuminating the figure of the leopard girl as it arced harmlessly over her head and as Torr struggled to bring the blade back around she kicked out. Her lithe form sailed through the air in his direction, arms outstretched eyes wide open, Torr stumbling backwards and drawing his blade in close angled upwards towards the descending monster and this time the blade connected a weak and glancing blow another shock of lightning exploding forwards her figure growing stiff as she collapsed on top of him. Torr kicked out pushing the leopard girl off of him shuffling back through the grass the edge of the ledge resting in front of his cave breathing heavily and dragging himself up onto his feet. The leopard girl lay still for a moment pale blue lightning arcing about her as slowly she began to remove forcing her way back up onto her feet. That wasn''t right, his sword was ranked mythical, it should have done more than give her a light zap, true he hadn¡¯t really stabbed her so much as she had sort of fell on him but he couldn¡¯t even see a cut or a scratch on the monster girl. This wasn¡¯t good! Torr swallowed pushing himself up attempting to take a fighting stance, like he''d seen characters do in cartoons and anime, legs a shoulders width a part side facing forwards sword raised in front of him. The leopard girl sneezed dispelling the last of the electric charge and shooting him a glare. That definitely wasn''t good. All of a sudden fighting her seemed like a very, very bad idea. Now what Torr needed to do was get back to his cave, of course that meant getting around the leopard girl before she could get to him, it seemed like there was only one option; hit and run. Torr rushed forwards sword raised over head the leopard girl tilting her head to regard him as he approached. His blade came down as her arm went up the two meeting in midair before she batted his weapon away the blade unable to so much as pierce the skin. The leopard girl grinned reaching out to grab his wrist, his sword clattering down from his grip as she lifted him up by the arm. "Get off of me!" Torr yelled driving a kick into the girls'' midsection while attempting to use his free had to strike at her face ¡°Get off of me you rapist freak!" he screamed voice carrying out across the valley. Torr felt the pressure on his wrists vanish as he tumbled back onto the floor, the leopard girl staring blankly into the distance... He wasn''t quite sure what was going on, maybe the game had glitched or something? He gave a rough shake of his head rushing forwards to grab his sword from where it had fallen before running as fast as he could towards his cave stopping to catch his breath once safely inside and finally turning back around to glance in the monster girls'' direction.She was just standing there, still and lifeless. He swallowed hard, this was weird Torr reached up pointing a finger in the girls direction and taping the air in front of him. A moment later a watered down version of her character sheet full of various ? appearing before him
NAME/???
AGE/???
GENDER/Female
RACE/Jaguar Girl
LEVEL/480
Affetion/100
Level four-hundred-and-eighty... Huh.