Private/Closed Hyper Zero Fantasy World- The Sirius Crusaders

[Retro Master]

‘Damn, Jay really isn’t afraid of taking charge and ordering her men around. I wonder what’s she like when in complete control?’ Eriz didn’t mind taking orders from those who wanted the same thing and was pleased too hear his services could be put to better use. After all, the robot had just been spraying the dragon for the past few moments as his teammates were the ones actually going in hard. Now it was finally his turn to get deeper into the action and he couldn’t falter now. ‘Alright, once there’s an opening, I need to get in there and do it fast. Just apply the lub- wait, what the fuck?!’

Eriz began moving as Jay had lifted into the air once more, attempting to get in the best position for when the opening arrived. Part of him also doubted if Jay was being serious about the lubricant. Maybe it was a joke? However, this was no time for jokes and Eriz could only assume Jay had been serious with the orders. Now he had too consider which lubricant would be best to use. Dry or wet? Oil or grease? Being a robot for the first time, Eriz had purchased quite a few lubricants to test each of them out. They came with their own positives and negatives, especially in certain situations. As for right now, there were some factors he had too consider before the choice was made.

If he remembered correctly, dry lubricant goes on wet but dries pretty quickly. Considering how hot it was already, the drying would be nearly immediate. Wet lubricant were better for more wet and humid conditions. It was also quite sticky, but if the stones got stuck inside... then that was the dragon’s problem. There was also oil and grease, something Eriz still had yet to wrap his head around. First off, he had purchased the most basic sets, each giving him medium viscosity. Basically meaning as long as the penetration didn’t go insanely fast but not boringly slow, nothing ‘strange’ would happen. A positive about grease was that it adhered better than oil and worked well in the heat. In the cold, grease can get hard and takes a lot more energy too heat up. Oil was actually used better for higher speeds while also keeping the body parts working efficiently in the cold.

Most of this information was found by skimming through the item descriptions in his inventory as fast as he could. Choosing the wrong lubricant could ruin their chances and Eriz didn’t want to risk that. However, that feeling completely changed when he saw Jay eventually collapse after being saved. Soon after, a sudden realization came too Eriz. It made him question if whatever system his robotic brain ran on was functioning correctly. ‘I’m such an idiot! That dragon is not even a robot!’ He had been thinking about it the wrong way. In the end, any lubricant was still a lubricant and the dragon wasn’t made of iron. As long as the lubricant he chose didn’t dry up immediately, then things would go smoothly.

“Alright, I think I got this.” The problem was, now that Jay was down, there wasn’t much distracting the dragon from noticing him. Eriz took one good look at the dragon and realized he was about to get cooked when it tilted it’s head in his direction. “Oh shit...” The robot began running away before the dragon literally started spitting fire. “Never mind, I don’t got this!” Eriz exclaimed with the large flames hot on his trail.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Falcon ducked behind a boulder for cover, glancing around to see Eriz on the run from the Three-Horned's fire breath.
"Oh, come on guys... I'm going to regret this..." Falcon muttered. Pressing a switch on his Plasma Skorpion, the machine pistol morphed and grew to a full-sized assault rifle, bearing some visual similarity to an AK-47. Leaning out from behind the boulder, Falcon took careful aim and fired a barrage of plasma bolts at the Three-Horned's reverse scale, lit up yellow by the Cronos Goggles. He was purposely aiming for the reverse scale, but not just to deal a huge amount of damage. He had a theory to test.

The plasma bolts hit the Three-Horned, and the dragon quickly stopped it's fire breath attack to glare angrily at Falcon. The leader of the Sirius Crusaders ran as the Three-Horned swiped down, destroying the boulder that Falcon had been hiding behind moments earlier. Falcon slid over another boulder and ducked behind it, with Page right next to him.
"Whew! That was a close one!" Page exclaimed.
"Page. I need you to go over to Jay and help her out. Give her some support." Falcon said, peeking over the boulder. The Three-Horned seemed to have lost Falcon, and turned back to toast Eriz some more. Falcon opened fire with his Plasma AK again, this time only barely managing to strike the reverse scale. The Three-Horned whipped back around, and this time it was it's tail that attacked. Falcon wasn't able to completely avoid the attack this time, the shock wave knocking him back and his health down.
"Me?! What can I do?! It's been so long since I've seen the sun I don't even have enough magic left for a healing spell! And plus that thing is huge! It'll eat me right up!" Page complained as Falcon once again crawled for cover.

"No, it won't. It won't even notice you, you're way to small." Falcon said. Page crossed her arms and pouted. "Can't you do something to help Jay out? A speed spell? An agility spell? Anything?"
"Well..." Page paused, thinking. "I got Pixie Dust."
"Pixie Dust. Good. Now get going." Falcon said. Page sighed, and gave a small salute before flying off. Falcon prepared himself to move and attack again, but turned to find Rairah just lying there. What the? What the heck was she doing here? Hadn't Swirl or Raigh caught her or something? What was she still doing here? The Cronos Goggles revealed that Rairah was in fact inflicted by the Crippled Status. Yikes.
"Eh... You okay? Need some help?" Falcon asked, glancing over the boulder.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

"It's fine, Eriz," sighed the succubus. "I'll just go in dry!"

That's what Jay gets for trying to give her looping teammates something to do. It really was up to her and her alone to finish this dragon. So when Swirl apologized and offered to help her break the Loop this time—but again, he was just saying that, then standing around like before, when she'd already given the command "go and distract the dragon if you're not doing anything"—Jay didn't believe a word of it.

"I'm into weird stuff, Swirl... and we can... try it sometime... but I'm not... a scatophile…~" she flirted through the pressure that she endured, making it clear that she wasn't having any more of his bullshit. "I know... that's kind of hard... to believe, since I'm trying... to get in the dragon's booty right now..."

Talking like a coprophile, crawling like a crocodile, the succubus inched closer and closer to the promise land, where she would nut in its butt, blast in its ass, skeet in its seat, let loose in its caboose. "Nut" meant that she was nuts for trying this, and she would channel that craziness into her next attack. "Skeet" meant that Jay was the size of a skeeter compared to the Three-Horned, but she would sting as hard as she could.

"That's right, Jay..." said a voice. "You finally get it. When I say break the Loop, you must do it right away. Don't wait for anyone else to post. They won't do shit."

The phantom woman from before was standing above the prone succubus, taking steps back to stay just out of reach while encouraging her to keep going.

"Falcon... is distracting... its tail. Eriz… is taking the heat. My teammates are doing... a good job," Jay managed. Her delicate forearm trembled like a toothpick under enormous weight, and the demon felt that her whole body would crumble to dust at that moment, as if her own sweat were holy water and she were killing herself by continuing on. It became more than a feeling when she was showered with sparkles. Was this it? Was her body eroding away, fading into nothing?

"Doctor, you were Paged..." smirked the ghost. "I stand corrected. Your friends are doing something. Now don't let their efforts go to waste. That's where you're going, you scatophile, you. Make it to the promise land! Because not landing a shot in its ass means breaking your promises. So examine that rectum, Dr. Jay L. Bate, number-one dragon proctologist in all of Hyper Zero Fantasy World!"

Jay wasn't sure if it was the Pixie Dust that made her weigh slightly less, or the apparition's oddly phrased words of encouragement. But the ghost and fairy both disappeared, leaving behind a ragged succubus, looking worn in that feminine disguise of hers but not any less grateful.

"Thanks... for lightening my load... no more crawling like a reptile... I don't need to mimic you..."

She tried to pick herself up to a crouching position, taking a few encumbered steps before her knees again buckled, tumbling forward, landing on her back and directly under the Three-Horned's back door. Its tail was still writhing wildly, and its fire-breathing head was still lowered to the ground.

"I'm not... a doctor... I like to think of myself... as a policewoman... and I'm busting this door..."

This was it. This was her chance. Everyone else's attention was on Rairah, because men liked vulnerable women. The lady cop usually played the part, but right now she would get this dragon laid, out on the ground in a disintegrating heap of pixels.

"Kingus... Kongus… Dingus... Dongus... Swingus... Schlongus... Rightus… Wrongus… I'veneverseensomethingsotightandwrinkledinmylife-us!"

She extended her hand and aimed her palm at the beast's orifice, the space between them tearing open. The stored stalactites shot out from the rift and entered a darker one, the final destination, fisting it like a Master Hand. There were soft tears clouding the monster's eyes, its roars sounding more like moans.

What the fuck! This Three-Horned Faggot is enjoying this!

Jay didn't have much room to talk, but she was appalled. That, however, did not deter her from pounding away at the 60% left of the boss's health. 50%. 40%. 30. 20. Each pointed stone went in like a flagpole claiming those two giant hills for the Demon World, again and again, reminding everyone that this was succubus territory.

With her free hand, Jay scrolled through the interface that appeared before her and took out the Jackknife-in-the-Box. She mounted it on her knee and began winding it up, knowing exactly what was coming.

Not harder than her, of course, but the dragon slammed its tail down in a moment of desperation. The spiked jack was prepared to meet it in the air, stabbing the caudal flesh and keeping it from snapping onto Jay. The pointy head plus the two knife-wielding arms was a three-pronged counter to a Three-Horned Dragon.

10%. The boss was utterly helpless now, nothing stopping the succubus from blowing her load. She became lighter with each attack, while the enemy grew weaker. It roared in pain, its own cave a prison and Jay its cellmate.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Physical Education."

The final stalactite went in, and the tearful beast fell forward, face blushing, breathing heavily, sweating through its blazing aura. But the tears soon dried, the blush soon faded, and its breath soon stopped. Health depleted, devoid of cyberlife, numbers scrolling down its vanishing silhouette, the monster disappeared into thin air, dropping all kinds of items. Vials of Dragon's Tears, Dragon's Horn, and... Dragon Balls? Wow. Jay made the Three-Horned's balls drop.

"I... did... it..." she wheezed. "In... more... ways... than... one..."

The exhausted succubus looked up from the pile of items, at the faces of her teammates, and for a second she thought she saw the phantom among them, her featureless visage gleaming with pride. When she blinked, it was gone.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Watching Jay absolutely destroy the dragon as well as the destruction it was causing from a safe distance away, Raigh wiped the sweat from his forehead and whistled. "Whoa man, that's a lot of damage." He said as he watched the dragon's heath drain to zero. The dragon vanished as it dies and Raigh watched Jay fall on the pile of items the dragon dropped. "Great job Jay!" He shouted her way once it was over. "That was not the prettiest way to kill a boss but hey, it worked. Why did the game designers even make it possible to attack a monster's butt anyway? Actually I never stopped to realize how realistic this game is." Raigh thought to himself before looking towards the loot. He saw something he liked, a dragon fang. "Hey a dragon fang! I've been looking for one of those." he said before holding up his arm. A mechanical beetle appeared on his arms and took off towards the fang. The beetle would grab it before taking it back to its master. Grabbing the dragon fang, Raigh looked back towards Rairah. "Any of you guys have a healing item or did the dragon drop any? Rairah could really use one right now." He asked the rest of his teammates.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Upon hearing the roar from the Three-Horned, Falcon looked over the boulder to see Jay unleash pure destruction onto, er, into the rear of the Dragon. Watching as the Dragon's health dropped rapidly, Falcon let out a whoop.
"Yeah, Jay! Finish this guy off!" Falcon cheered. The Dragon let out a final (strangely blissful) roar before collapsing and dissolving into numbers, typical death animation of a boss monster. The loot dropped, mostly standard stuff. At the center, a large chest was dropped as well. Most likely the gold and treasure from the Dragon. Falcon didn't notice it, but a large key had dropped as well, landing next to the chest. The leader of the Sirius Crusaders ignored the loot for a moment, instead walking over to Jay with a grin. Page flew over as well, landing on Falcon's shoulder and giving both Falcon and Jay a small salute.
"Mission accomplished!" Page said.
"That was great! If you didn't step in like that we probably would've ended up toast, for sure." Falcon said to Jay. He took a look around, doing a quick head count of the remaining members before turning back to Jay. "You can have Kenzen's cut of the money. It looked like his connection got cut at the start of the match anyway."

At the other end of the cavern, something unusual was happening. Where there was just a blank wall, a soft blue glow appeared. It slowly expanded, tracing the outline of a door and a key before pulsing.

 

[SageNeb]

Zzzt Zzzt. Kenzen's character suddenly appeared in the middle of the cave.

"OK guys, I was having trouble with my connection but I'm ready to- oh wait the dragon's already dead."

He gave a small sigh and then walked over to Falcon and the chest and noticed the glow on a wall which turned into an outline of a door.

"Wait, can you tell me one thing before we go through that door? Who got the kill?"

Maybe if it was one of the strong people of the guild I'd at least feel less embarrassed...

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

"We didn't end up toast..." Jay sighed. "But it was still a dry experience...~"

She herself had told Eriz it was fine, so she wasn't really complaining. Even if it were in the succubus's nature, she was too exhausted to do so, too exhausted to even focus on the items that the dragon had dropped, because all she was catching was her breath. So Jay ignored the loot as Falcon did, and locked eyes with him.

"It wasn't as easy as it looked... Neither was the dragon, because it wasn't letting just anyone inside. Not those little bullets..." she teased. "Come on, Falcon, I know you've got a bigger gun in your pants. You're our leader, after all~"

Despite her quips, Jay couldn't have asked for a better climax. In hindsight...

…

She really needed to word her thoughts better, because staring up the dragon's behind wasn't something she wanted to think about. The hot-blooded succubus toyed with her human, robot, and elven friends, but not with cold-blooded lizards. Of course, she couldn't grimace and hesitate in the heat of the moment, when there was a boss to defeat. But in hindsight...

The battle with the Three-Horned had been incredibly boring, however hard-fought. For a long time, their attacks were doing next to nothing, even though they were hitting all its weak spots. There was no medium, but a very real tedium that they had to overcome. Only when the intervening spirit had contacted her directly and warned her of this Loop did Jay fell the dragon, compensate for the boredom, stick a sharp edge up the monster's seat when the fight hadn't kept the succubus on the edge of hers. The sudden triumph turned everything around, threw the notion of wasted efforts into the waste basket.

But the Loop still held one thing, if not Jay herself, and that was her fascination. What was it anyway? Was it even real? She didn't know which world the phantom came from, but she'd canonized the phenomenon in this world as an omnipresent spell cast by the Demon Lord. The Loop was creating smaller loops in her mind, unanswerable questions. Had the Mycenaeans lost to the dragon, or had they succumbed to the curse?

"Anyway..."

Jay was outwardly oblivious, always revealing her body and seldom revealing her mind, but Falcon was about to get a rare glimpse into what she was really thinking.

"The boss we defeated wasn't the real enemy. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but halfway into the battle, someone spoke to me. She told me about a Loop, a kind of dark spell that affects the will to fight. Maybe it weakens our attacks, too, because we were hardly fazing the beast a second ago. The spirit that came to me said that in order to win, I had to break it, or else we would be stuck here forever. What I'm trying to say is... today we defeated a force much more powerful than the Three-Horned Dragon. One that might come back in the future. I was serious when I said it wasn't as easy as it looked..."

She knew that all of this was hard to believe, but the succubus hoped that her leader would understand. Or that someone else might. Perhaps others in the guild had sensed it, too.

"...But you already know I'm Sirius. I'll always stay by your side, whatever the crusade!~"

Just like that, a cheerful Jay pivoted confidently away from Falcon, not a hint of earlier doubt on her blushing face. It was as if the world had unfrozen, and everything she'd just told him had been his imagination. Whether he knew it or not, however, Falcon had helped the succubus get a lot off her chest, because those gigantic melons weren't about to make room for anything else.

"Kenzen, I've missed you sooooo much!~"

She greeted the reconnected player, and so did they, bouncing up and down as she ran over to him. Jay hugged him close and buried his face in her breasts, cutting off poor Kenzen's air right after his connection.

More like lucky Kenzen! Who wouldn't want a face full of cleavage, first thing when they log on?! I'm irresistible! It’s not sexual harassment when a woman does it! Female privilege!

If he was hoping to feel less embarrassed upon finding out that she'd gotten the kill, the demon would balance that out with her antics. His question gave her the perfect opportunity to flaunt her battle prowess, even though she honestly cared more about her appearance.

"That would be me, Kenzen! Because the biggest asset to the team..." Jay paused, letting him breathe, but narrowing her expression provocatively, "...is the one with the biggest assets."

Of course. Any time she tried touting other qualities, she'd only end up talking about her looks again, because those were really all that mattered. So her victory over the dragon meant less to Jay than her present defeat.

"...Which is why," continued a pouting succubus, "this treasure is such a problem. I don't like not being the biggest chest in the room! Let's go to a different one!"

 

[Retro Master]

‘Wow, she actually took it up the ass.’ Eriz should’ve known Jay could handle it all on her own. No lubricant from the robot was needed to please Jay and the dragon for that matter... which was undoubtedly weird. In all seriousness, though Jay had finished off the boss herself, it was a monumental success for the entire team. Everyone had contributed in the battle.

“Nice job team!” Eriz spoke up in his monotone robotic voice as he made his way to Falcon, Jay and Kenzen. He hadn’t really remembered if Kenzen had been there or not. The black and blue haired human must’ve provided some extra help to receive such a powerful hug from Jay. ‘Lucky bastard.’

Taking a moment to look away from the scene, Eriz’s optics caught the attention of a mystical blue glow appearing on the other end of the cavern. Looking closely, it seemed to form a door, as well as a key hole before it began pulsing. ‘Interesting.’ Eriz then looked over at the loot and chest, scanning most of it with his level two optical headgear from afar. Most of the loot seemed like standard stuff and the chest didn’t surprise him much as well. However, as he looked over the loot once more, Eriz tracked something that his systems couldn’t directly identify. A key.

“Yo, Falcon check this out.” Eriz called out to his leader as he gestured towards the key. It was fairly obvious what the key was for but being a member of the clan, it was only right if he brought it up to the leader first. “I’m pretty sure we can use that key to get through the door.”

 

[SageNeb]

"Kenzen, I've missed you sooooo much!~"

Wait I recognize that voice. That's J-

To say that the human was surprised would be an understatement. As soon as she hugged him he closed as eyes as he felt the air flow out of his lungs.

W-why can't I breathe!

He opened his eyes and was confused by the big spheres in front of him and touched them to see what they were.

Squishy...? Wait... isn't this Jay...?

Suddenly Kenzen's face turned tomato red and his nose threatened to bleed when he was allowed to breathe by Jay.

"I'm s-sure you-"

Before Kenzen finished that statement he suddenly passed out, his face still bright red.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

Wow. I didn't think Kenzen would cop a squeeze like that. What should I do? I mean, it's technically sexual harassment, and as a lady I should slap him, but I live most of my days as a dude. This is a rare chance to be who I really want to be... so I should enjoy it to the fullest and accept any physical contact I get. Right?

The human made Jay question her womanhood. She couldn't slap or sternly reprimand him, because that would kill her fun, flirty vibe. But she couldn't enjoy it too much either, or Jay was not a self-respecting woman. The man behind the character was learning that there was more to being female than simply looking the part.

Jay looked aside and blushed innocently as Kenzen panicked, straightening her arms down to her middle and interlocking her fingers like a shy schoolgirl confessing her feelings. Her eyes trembled, not with the tears of someone who had been violated, but with the softer tears of someone who had been touched.

"O-oh... I didn't think you were that happy to see me..."

She neither accepted nor rebuffed him, meeting him halfway and making it look like this would be something she'd think about. Sure, the demon was contrasting her confident self by acting coy, but her teammates were used to her changing faces. Except for Kenzen, apparently, who passed out.

"Oh no, Kenny! Are you all right?!" Jay worried, reaching for him with a delicate hand after he collapsed.

Why am I even surprised? The majority of people who play this game are virgins.

"I'll find a healing item!" the succubus promised, beginning to dig through the heap of treasure. Because women were generally better at multitasking, she stored their share of the loot in her inventory as she searched. She would keep her financial assets there and her physical ones out in the open.

"Oh! Raigh, catch! This will make Rairah better!"

Jay hadn't yet found what she needed, but she'd stumbled upon the Dragon's Love Potion. It would heal the cat girl, all right... but not without some side effects. She would temporarily fall madly in love with whoever administered it, and the lust on her breath would become as potent as a dragon's fire. Rairah would pounce on the dark elf and plunge him into the darker depths of the female body. The succubus had kept up her innocent act, so they wouldn't suspect what she was plotting.

That phantom lady really wanted to see them kiss, and I feel like I owe her one.

 

[sSoul]

Swirl essentailly just sat on his hands now, really feeling useless, anything he had done was eclipsed by other people's amazing efforts, it made him feel like a lesser, and to an extent, he might have been.

Everything I do is just made irrelevant to what my guild mates do, heck, Raigh is going to give Rairah a love medicine, and I feel too guilty to step in. I had multiple oppourtunities to get serious worth that sort of relationship, and now I failed. Maybe I should go on my own conquest, without the aid of anyone, so when I come back, then my worth to the guild would be more established.

The player still had the same smile he always had, but it was essentially him putting on a mask to hide his multiple feelings, he had nothing to say, nothing to do, he contributed virtually nothing to the defeat of the dragon, and anything he did was then ignored by other's actions. So, one could say, it was like he never existed in the first place, or he rather just stopped responding.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Falcon listened to Jay's thoughts, a little confused. Someone spoke to her? Like... a player or NPC? Or an admin or something? She said it was a spirit, so maybe an NPC or Admin? Before Falcon could ask Jay what she meant, or to elaborate, she had gone back to normal and walked away. Falcon watched as Jay gave freshly spawned in Kenzen a facefull of cleavage before deciding to carry on and start collecting the dropped items. Falcon wanted to just write it off, but it really was rare for Jay to talk like that. No innuendos, no sex jokes, just straight talk. Odd. But the more Falcon thought about it, the more he became convinced that something odd had happened during this boss fight.
Dude, you're making something out of nothing. The Three-Horned was tougher then you expected, but Jay found it's weak point and took it down while we distracted it. That's normal... right? Then again, Jay had said something had talked to her. Was it some leaked new feature for the next update?

Falcon decided to figure it out later as he picked up a Dragon Balls, inspecting it in his hand with a slightly disgusted look on his face. Jeez. These were some realistic Dragon Balls. As Falcon cleared away the items, he noticed a blue, glowing rune on the floor. Oh, good. The portal to the surface. It spawned after a boss was defeated, and Falcon was quite glad it did. He wasn't sure the Crusaders would be able to make it back up the Dungeon the long way.

"You, Falcon, check this out." Eriz said. Falcon looked up to see him point out something quite unusual. A blue, glowing door on the other side of the cavern that hadn't been their before. Falcon pulled up the minimap, examining the floor before looking at Eriz in confusion.
"That's weird... The minimap says there shouldn't be a room over there. The stairs to the next level are on the other side of this floor, this room's just a dead end." Falcon said, walking over to Eriz. He picked up the key, which was about the size of a dagger, and walked over to the door.

"Let's take a look to see what's behind door number one, shall we?" Falcon said to Eriz. More treasure? A new continuation of the Dungeon that went deeper then the 75th floor? That seemed pretty unlikely, considering they were on the 50th floor now. Falcon drew his Photon blade as he got ready to open the door. "Cover me."
Falcon put the key into the door, and they slowly opened to reveal a room full of glowing, blue crystals. In the center, however, there was another thing Falcon had never seen before. A large crystal pillar stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and within that pillar there was a young lady, a teenager, dressed in ancient clothes. She looked like she was asleep, and in her hand she was holding a staff. The girl had dark blue hair that came down to just over her shoulders.
"What the heck...?" Falcon muttered.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Raigh was still standing near the collapsed Rairah when Jay threw the potion his way. "Oh thanks Jay." Raigh called out as he caught the potion Jay threw him. Raigh observed the the potion in his hand, it had a pink color which seemed to glow slightly. “Huh, I’ve never seen a healing potion of this color before, must be a rare item.” He thought as he knelt down near Rairah and brought the potion near her face. “Hey Rairah, drink this.” He said as he gave the potion to her.

 

[_obsequious]

June.. honestly hadn’t done much.
After scampering away from the dragon’s tail, she’d stuck to the background, rapidly firing her arrows, allowing Jay to do her thing and ultimately wreck the Three-Horned.

After the mess had been cleared, they all had migrated towards each other, discussing the feats of the battle and congratulating each other. June kept her mouth shut, ultimately saying nothing, and behind the VR screen was quite the disappointed Juniper. What was wrong with her lately?

The little elf’s ears twitched feebly, her gaze askance, before straightening herself up with a determined look on her face.
Next time-! Next time I won’t let them down!

She followed the group until Falcon asked for backup, and she reluctantly drew her bow, shuffling behind him as he cracked open the door.
At the sight of the mystery girl, June slowly lowered her bow, a puzzled look crossing her face. The fact that the room shouldn’t have existed was already weird enough, and now there was.. a person? What?

 

[kyuukestu]

Spectating with a dead gaze as her guildmates rushed to loot the dead body of the dragon, leaving her crippled and on the verge of death, Rairah briefly wondered why she even bothered to risking her life? Was she some sort of masochist? Nai wa, she definitely wasn't into this sorta neglect play. So when Raigh finally attempted to feed her a restorative potion, she gave him the most deadpan look a functionally crippled virtual avatar could -her face frozen in place like she'd glitched out and was stuck on one frame- which was to say it was perfect.

Despite her utter dissatisfaction at the situation, the odd glowing pink liquid still managed to trickle its way down her throat. Out of the corner of her eyes, she watched her UI (user interface), pleased with the way the red bar representing her HP steadily filled. 5%...10%...25%...50%... At that point she received a notification;

Your [Crippled] Status had been lifted!
You have been afflicted with the [Frenzied] status!
​

Confused, but not particularly concerned, Rairah propped herself onto her palms and into an upright position. She had half a mind to waltz over to the Dragon's drops and see if there would be anything of use but- was it getting hot in here? Unknowingly her coffee colored cheeks and been spiced with the faint red of saffron, a light blush effusing onto them. Her eyes rippled with barely spilled tears that only seemed to cast a slight film over her jewel-like pupils, causing them to sparkle lightly like rubies and garnets laying still beneath the casting of a crystalline pool of water. Her mouth opened and closed as soft, barely audible pants brushing her lips. The sudden change in her breathing rhythm caused her her chest to rise and fall, and with a rather sultry sigh, she slid her tongue across her lips, leaving them glistening.

​

 

[sSoul]

Tired from doing nothing, Swirl decided to stand up and, well, do something. He had recognized June's disappointment in herself, and that resonated with Stephan, who was beginning to feel the pain settle in. Fortunately, he was distracted by the strange, almost half asleep woman in this already strange room, keeping it tucked in the back of his mind to talk to June later.

"Hello, Miss, are you okay?" Swirl waved his hand in front of the half awake woman, he then turned to Rairah, who was now suffering the side affect or the potion.

And so it begins.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Raigh glanced at the deadpan look on Rairah's face when he went to give her the potion. "Seriously, why does she seem so pissed off?" He though as he looked at his teammate. When Rairah drank the potion and stood up, Raigh also got up. "There we go." He said to himself before noticing the visible changes that were happening to her. He looked to the bottle he was holding. "Wait, what is this stuff actually?" He though as he opened up the item's description.

The Dragon's Love Potion, restores up to 50% HP to whoever consumes it, applies the Frenzied status on whoever who consumes it.

"Huh, well this teaches me for not bothering to read item descriptions." Raigh thought to himself as he read the item description. "Wait, Love potion?" He though before continuing read.

The consumer would temporarily fall madly in love with whoever administered it

After reading that part of the description, Raigh glanced up towards Rairah and slowly started backing away. "God damn it Jay." He though.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"This is weird... I don't think she's a player..." Falcon said, approaching the crystal that held the teenager. It was one clear, solid crystal, and it almost looked like the rock formation had grown around the girl. Falcon turned to Swirl, who was trying to communicate with the girl. June had also followed them in, and looked just as confused as he was.
"You ever seen anything like this before?" Falcon asked Swirl and June. Because he sure hadn't seen anything like it. Well... maybe not. This dungeon was the same dungeon Falcon had found Page, when she was encased in a Sun Crystal. He looked over at the fairy on his shoulder. Could Page have something do with this? No. That's ridiculous. Falcon had never heard anything like a companion leading a player on to a bigger quest.

Falcon tore his gaze away from the woman trapped in the crystal to look around the rest of the room. It seemed like this really was the only main part of this room. He turned to Swirl and June.
"Should we try to... break it open, or something?" Falcon said, gesturing to the crystal encasing the girl. He really didn't know what to do in this situation. "Or should we, like, leave it for later?"

 

[sSoul]

"Well you can leave it, cause I'm going to break the crystal," Swirl began to twirl his U.N.I.T pipe and he took a swing at the Crystal, causing it to shatter. He expected the woman to be slightly unconscious, to which he was okay with carrying her all the way back to the guild hall.

"So, shall I make the phrase "picking up chicks" literal and carry her to wherever we're going?"

 

[Retro Master]

Like June and Swirl, Eriz had also followed Falcon as backup and stood on standby while the crystal was being analyzed. Inside the crystal was a trapped girl holding a staff. He hadn’t seen something like this in game before which only made him more suspicious. The robot still kept its weapon up after Swirl had shattered the crystal.

There was always a chance the girl was some type of hidden mechanism and would attempt too destroy them in some way. Maybe all it took was a simple touch for the extermination process to be activated. ‘Nah, I’m just being paranoid.’ Eriz blocked out that thought and decided to just let the events play out. It was probably just some easter egg or something extremely rare.

“Just be careful Swirl, she could fuck us up if you touch her the wrong way or something.” The robot still continued to aim his weapon at the girl. If things started getting rough, then Eriz was prepared to blast her right in the face.

 

[kyuukestu]

While the vast majority of the guild got down to important business, messing with the fairy-like feminine figure that'd spawned after the boss' defeat, Rairah was instead rising to her feet with an almost drunken stagger. As Raigh hastily retreated, she followed, attracted to him like opposite ends of a magnet. Having discarded her cloak during the battle with the dragon, only the skin tight gear underneath was left. Thin and damp with sweat as it was, her gear seemed to become opaque, not quite transparent but giving off a similar appearance that stimulated the imagination. Her clothing stretched and adhered to her skin as she walked -rather- glided across the room, the flush on her face growing stronger and her breathing more labored. Her hips swayed sensually, only surpassed by the lofty careening of her tail as it followed behind her.

In but a few short moments she closed the distance between herself and Raigh. Throwing her arms outward she rested her forearms atop his shoulders, moving to lock her fingers behind his head. She slid closer to him, pressing her body to his and tipping on her toes as if to plant a kiss across his lips. Her own lips, however, fell short, as rather than Raigh's lips, they fell onto his neck -the girl's eyes now sparkled like Alexandrite cat eyes, a predatorial gleam spilling forth from their depths. Sultrily, she purred into Raigh's ear, "...delicious~"

Seeming lost in a fantasy of her own, the potion having ignited a burning passion within her -one more bestial than human- she glistened her lips with her tongue and opened wide. Sharpening fangs revealed themselves for the briefest of moments before attempting to bury themselves in Raigh's neck, her fingers -previously intertwined behind him- now grasped at the taller male's back, five pairs of claws attempting to secure a hold on the girl's -no, the huntress'- prey.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Faith watched as Fairah closed in on him as he was backing away. “Oh crap, she’s getting closer.” He thought. Seeing as Rairah dropped her cloak, Raigh was able to see the full curvature of her body as her skin tight suit was the only gear that was left. “Wow, her body could rival Jay’s.” He thought before realizing what he was doing. He scratched his head. “Damn it Raigh, what are you doing? Don’t admire the body of the girl you accidentally drugged you idiot!” He shouted in his head. A slight blush appeared on Raigh’s face when Rairah closed in on him and pressed herself against him, the blush grew darker when her face wa pushed forward. When the beast girl’s lips touched his neck, a tingle went down the dark elf’s spine. “Oh man, this is awkward. Well if all she’s going to do is cuddle me, then I guess it’s not too bad. I’ll apologize to her when the effect wears off.” He thought.

But then, he heard a word escape Rairah’s mouth into his ear. “Huh?” Glancing at Rairah, he noticed her bearing her fangs and hear her claw deploying. His eyes widened. “Oh crap!” Raigh ducked down to escape Rairah’s grasp then performed a back roll to get away from her. “Crap, when did Rairah become a vampire?” He said to himself with a confused and shocked expression. “Back to the original plan then.” He thought before turning around and running away, activating his invisibility cloak.

 

[kyuukestu]

Having long transcended the boundaries of mere 'friskiness', the Cat girl's eyes gleamed with the distinct hunger of a starving predator. Perhaps it'd been the fault of the potion, or perhaps the fault of the girl's race, but it was more than easy enough for the girl to slip into a feral state driven purely on instinct. Although Raigh had disappeared from her sight, he'd not yet escaped her senses. Without a doubt, she had some of the best senses the guild had to offer and her Beastkin heritage played no small part in that. Her sensitive nose twitched, and a second later her body followed suit, all her muscles tensing as she pounced, claws poised to sink into the fleeing Raigh. She snarled with feline glee, clearly more than willing to play with her food -to death.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

Noticing Rairah picking up on his location, Raigh scratched his head. "Of course, I forgot she has heightened sense due to her race, darn it." He thought before running to a big rock in the middle of the room. Raigh hopped over the rock and continued running. "Alright, with that rock in the way and the way she's pouncing at me right now, Rairah will either run into it face first or maneuver over it." He thought. "I would prefer the first outcome but the second one is more likely to happen." He added.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

As the pile of items disappeared, so did Jay's hopes that she would find something to make Kenzen better. It was the succubus's maternal instinct that kept her by his side, or if the man had not yet developed one, a paternal sense of responsibility. Everyone else had flocked to the mysterious room, but she didn't blame them. They wanted to bust down some doors, too.

When she heard talk of picking up chicks, however, Jay had a change of heart as quick and sudden as flipped syllables. Hers was veiny with envy now, seeing all the attention that the comatose girl was getting from inside her little crystal. Swirl whipped out his pipe and smashed that. Eriz was prepared to blast her right in the face. She cared less about how her teammates were treating the stranger and more that they were treating her at all. Jay's dress was revealing, but this was a contest of innocence, and the sleeping beauty encased in gemstone far outstripped her. The succubus had just suffered a second-round defeat, after the treasure bested her in a game of chests.

But Jay wasn't Kenzen. She wouldn't fall so easily. Having clawed away at the spoils of battle until there was nothing left, she rose and left her unconscious teammate where he was. Jay advanced slowly and deliberately, the dim torchlight of the cave groping at the silky folds of her dress, the click of her heels punctuating her undulating, hourglass figure like a clock hand marking the second. Closing in on her comrades, she felt the need to remind them the timeless beauty, however, of an immortal demon.

"You're correct, Falcon... She's not a player," began Jay, planting her heel in a pile of crystal shards and concluding her predatory advance. "Swirl just crushes a lot... Now, we already have Kenzen to carry, so leave this girl right h-"

The succubus's hand flew to clutch her left breast. Her heart had been pumping with jealousy, knocking faster at the door of her chest, but hers was now being torn open. Still, blood clots closed smaller doors within; the electrical impulse revolving in her heart slowed, an infarction.

No, something else. Everything that stopped in her heart started in her brain. A new revolution had Jay's head spinning. She was looking straight ahead, but her surroundings were shaking as if she were tumbling down a pipe, and not Swirl's familiar U.N.I.T. The same image stacked blurry copies of itself onto her vision, over and over, but the duplicate was at a new angle each time. If the world was one grand animation, Jay had slowed to a midpoint where she could sort of see the frames.

Frames of what she could only describe as a biomechanical abomination, with a green jacket, armblades, flowing dark hair, a microchip pendant, ferns embroidered on his cap, and blue tribal markings on his scowling, bespectacled face. His expression didn't change, but a reverse echo worked itself into the distortion, a series of chopped syllables that gradually became words.

"If you find it difficult to exercise discretion, someone else must do it for you for a while."

An echo followed them, too, breaking the words apart once more, syllables hanging in the air like needles, and Jay crumpled to the floor, as if they'd plunged into her limbs and pinned her down.

You have been afflicted with the [Moderated] status!
​

Moderated? What did that mean? Had the succubus seen something she shouldn't have? Did the game admins interpret her communication with the phantom woman as a hack and take action against her character? The cryptic notification featured prominently among her obscure surroundings, but Jay's senses slowly returned to her as soon as it disappeared.

So when she turned over on her stomach and tried to push herself up, she didn't immediately wince at the crystal shards digging into her palms. Just as she'd recovered from her earlier, alternate state of consciousness with a renewed determination to slay the Three-Horned, so, too, was Jay oblivious to this new pain. Her objective now was this: to reverse what she'd set in motion and stop Rairah.

But the succubus barely even got to her feet. She was no longer fully in control of her body, her head throbbing as a second presence asserted itself in her mind, an outside will much stronger than the apparition.

To say that Jay pressed forward would be an overstatement. Perhaps the earlier poise in her step had drained like sands from her hourglass figure, for she swayed weakly as she approached the cat girl. If Rairah had become a vampire, Jay was a challenging zombie, and this dungeon was the underworld.

"Rairah…"

Sorry, ghost bitch, but I have to put a stop to this. Whatever's about to go down... I can't let it happen. I just can't. I don't know why. I just have a feeling.

"Look at me, Rairah. Stop chasing boys. I tossed Raigh that potion. I'm the one you want," taunted Jay. "And I'm the one who's going to put this kitty down~..."

The succubus produced her Lipstick. But instead of applying it and relieving that tired smirk, which alone wasn't effectively communicating her determination, she traced a magic circle in the air. Standing in Rairah’s path, she hoped to absorb the frenzied feline into the pocket dimension and subdue her peacefully. Finally, with all the air that her lungs could summon, Jay recited the incantation.

"Racismus Casualis Putastoppus Shenanigansus, StellarWindius Elsydeonus!"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Falcon sighed, scanning the unconscious NPC with his Cronus Goggles.
"Well, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her-" Falcon was interrupted with the approach of Jay. To Falcon's surprise, Jay collapsed mid-sentence. What the?! They had beaten the Dragon, what was happening now? A second later, however, Jay was back on her feet. Something seemed... off about her. It was nothing that the Cronus Goggles could pick up, but then again they were only level 1.

"Jay, hold up-" Falcon said, but the Succubus was already making her way back into the main area. Speaking of the main area... something seemed to be happening. Falcon turned to Swirl.
"Take the NPC. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her, so she should be good. Eriz, June, on me. Something's going on." Falcon said. The leader of the Sirius Crusaders turned and headed back into the main cavern to see what looked like Rairah going berserk. A quick scan from the Cronus Goggles revealed a Frenzied status inflicted on the Beastkin. Great. Just what they needed. They worked hard to take down the Three-Horned, only for one of their members to get Frenzied. Fantastic. Jay called out to Rairah, sending a spell her way. Falcon drew his Plasma Skorpion, leveling the weapon at Rairah. He really didn't want it to come to this, but if he had to he'd shoot Rairah. Better for her to lose her XP than everyone else. Wait... wasn't Frenzied a status that wore of after some time? All the group had to do was survive...

"Rairah! Calm down! It's your teammates!" Falcon called out to her.

 

[kyuukestu]

While she might not have been the best combatant in the battle against the Dragon, she wasn't the best at dealing with large bulky creatures. However, lost in a state of frenzy against her own guildmates, Rairah's agile and flexible body was able to display its utmost. Unfortunately, much of this dexterity went to waste as the cat-girl arced through the air, no footholds with which to maneuver. Perhaps it was a matter of coincidence or meticulous planning, but the succubus happened to place her wide open pocket dimension in a spot where Rairah neither had the state of mind, nor necessary tools to dodge it. Silently, and anti-climactically, the feline figure was swallowed by the magically induced rift in the very fabric of space-time.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

"That was... surprisingly easy. I usually make things hard..."

Jay was breathless after the incantation, but only because the added weight of Rairah knocked some wind out of her. Not one of her guildmates had fallen to the dragon, but somehow the Sirius Crusaders ended up with three people to carry. Trapping the cat girl, the succubus was as much a danger to her own comrades as to the enemy. It wasn't friendly fire, what she did to Kenzen, because the fire she ignited within him was of the more-than-friends kind.

But she was on the brink of collapse herself. She endured the mental pressure of Rairah in her pocket dimension and the incessant throbbing of moderation, no one to carry her now. How quaint, that the same Jay who constantly objectified herself stood on her own, an unlikely symbol of women empowerment. The others were back by the mysterious room, scared to pick up a harmless girl. She'd preferred to leave her, but Falcon made a decision and that was all the reason they needed not to hesitate.

If not, their inspiration was right in front of them: an encumbered succubus, pressing on despite her current state and leading them out of the cave, all 75 floors of it. The titillating fantasy of dark dungeons and scantily clad women ended here. The light, and not Jay, did all the revealing now, stripping away at the cave's darkness and showing them the exit. The Sirius Crusaders had ascended from the lowest levels and the tightest spaces, which trapped the resounding bellows of the dragon and aggravated the confusion of the tenebrous cyberhole to the point that she was seeing phantoms. Even after they slew the Three-Horned and made their way out, the heights of the dungeon rippled with the sound of the tiniest drop.

So when Jay finally stepped into the light, the chirping birds and virgin forests were as much of an anticlimax as Rairah's defeat. She barely had time to squint when her fat Tits plopped onto her shoulders and chirped along, having eaten their fill of glowworms and causing their master to wince. But they rested only for a moment, fluttering over to the grand fountain fronting Surface Town and washing down their meal.

First, Jay caught up. Second, she caught herself, because the fountain was where she'd release Rairah and the relief of reaching it nearly brought her to the ground. The cat girl should have exhausted herself by now, running frenzied in an endless space.

"Feelingoodus Ilovehummus, Ontheupswing Pendulumus, It'sagoodday Seasoncomeus, Jaylikespipesoswirlcanplummus! Catsdon'tlikewatersoI'mlettingrairahouthereandit'lldampenherfrenziedmood-us!"

She stretched her palm out weakly, dropping the espresso-skinned feline unceremoniously into the water like a coconut. With a second weight off her shoulders, the succubus was prepared to relieve herself of one final burden: all the guild's treasure, in the shops of Surface Town.

 

[kyuukestu]

Knee-deep in a public fountain, water soaking right through her leather and cloth gear, Rairah's expression and mood were anything but pleasant. Having been unceremoniously dumped here, she now dripped with water just as her face dripped with irritation. While under the influence of the [Frenzied] status, her body had moved on essentially autopilot, but she remained fully aware of her surroundings and had absorbed everything that happened. First things first, she brought her hands together, her fingers intertwining, then she squeezed, sending a jet of water squirting towards Jay's face.

Without a single word, she dragged herself out of the fountain, chocolate arms gripping the pool's edge as she vaulted out of it. There might've been no other way to save her, but she was still, understandably, upset with today's earlier happenings. A stance she made quite clear when she stalked off into the city without sparing another glance at any of her guildmates -the dripping water leaving a trail in her wake. As she'd walked a fair distance away, she swiped her hand through the air, triggering the system menu to appear before her. With motions she'd performed no less than a million times before, she maneuvered through the menu and logged off.

Back in the real world, Lysia-Ann pulled her VR headset from her head, placing it gently down on her bed. She picked up a pillow, chucking it across the room, listening to the muffled thud it made as it collided with the wall. Her breaths heavily, she jumped off her bed. "...Guess I'll cool off for a bit before logging back on."

Her decision made, the girl stalked out of her room and down the stairs of her house. She paced through the kitchen, pulled open her fridge, and pucked a canister of Ice Cream. She slid the bucket of creamy sweetness across the nearby table, and spun over to a cupboard, withdrawing a glass bowl. She closed the cupboard, her attention falling to the draws beneath from which she brought out a spoon. Gouging out several scoops of Black Cherry Ice Cream, she plopped them into her bowl and then plopped herself onto her coach. One swift jab into her bowl later and a spoonful of Black cherry was en route to her mouth.

She spent 15 minutes immersed in some much-needed me-time. As she finished she deposited both bowl and spoon into the sink and ran some water over them. Before long, she'd trecked up the stairs back to her room and was back on her bed, the VR headset obscuring her vision as it settled onto her head. Within moments, Rairah returned to the world of Hyper Zero -still dripping wet.

 

[Grand Master Koop]

After Jay had put Rairah into her pocket dimension, Raigh hopped over the rock and followed the rest of his guild to the surface. He watched as Jay seemingly released Rairah's frenzied status and dropped her into the fountain. "Alright then, now that Rairah has calmed down, I really should apologize for what had happened back in the dungeon." Raigh thought as he walked up to the beast girl. Beofre he could say a word, He saw Rairah storm off pass him and the rest of the guild then log off. "Crap, she must be really pissed about this. I hope she logs on again so I can properly apologize. In the meanwhile, I'll get something done." He thought before turning around. Raigh noticed the jet of water Rairah squeezed towards Jay's face but mostly ignored it and made his way to the blacksmith shop.

Raigh went into the shop to turn his new dragon fang into a dagger. He had always known it would be beneficial if he had a melee weapon on him just incase the enemy snuck up on his but never found anything of interest, until now. Walking out of the shop with his new weapon in hand, he sat down on the side of the fountain, waiting to see if Rairah would log back on.

He sat there playing with his new dagger, spinning it around in his hand, until he noticed the familiar beast girl reappear in the game world. "Hey Rairah, you're back." He exclaimed, running up to her. "Look, I truly am sorry for what happened in the dungeon, I didn't know what potion Jay threw to me and since you were on the verge of death I kind of just went with it." He apologized.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Falcon stepped out of the Dungeon, taking a breath of the fresh, mountain air and feeling the sun on his skin. It was pretty crazy that this game could trick your mind into feeling something like that. Page jumped off his shoulder and flew around, laughing happily.
"Finally! We got out of that dark, musty cave! Light! Fresh air! Man oh man, I thought we were never going to make it out of there!" Page said, landing on Falcon's shoulder and stretching her tiny arms. Falcon ignored the fairy and instead walked over to Jay, patting the Succubus on the back as he walked past.
"You did good, Jay. Thanks for pretty much carrying us out of there. And, uh, literally carrying Rairah out of there." Falcon said to Jay. "I'm heading to the markets. You should probably get yourself a healing item."

With that Falcon gave Jay a thumbs up and a smile, then headed into the market place. It was as one might expect a marketplace to look in a fantasy world. Colorful stalls were set up in the square, each selling things from foods to laser weapons to treasures. It truly was a feast for the eyes, as players and NPCs of all races milled about. Stall owners called out to players, displaying their wares. Magical and mysterious mist seeped from dark store doorways. Falcon paused at a stand selling smaller guns, a particular one catching his eye. It was in the Plasma family of guns, and looked like a little bit of a larger version of a Plasma Skorpion. Falcon checked the gun's stats. It was a Plasma Arachne, and it seemed to give up damage for a little bit of a longer range. It was already at LV2, but Falcon decided against it. He was pleased with how his Plasma Skorpion was coming along. Much to the stall owner's disappointment, Falcon left from the stall and continued walking through the square.

 

[kyuukestu]

A land of Sandy desert dunes, where hot arid winds whipped up dust clouds and withered brown vegetation struggled for even the smalls droplets of moisture- while Rairah may have still be drenched, her response and tone were as dry and drab as they got- "Oh..."

Her voice was flat, her eyes almost glazed over with disinterest, and a thoroughly deadpan expression was plastered onto her face. Clearly, she was still having none of that apologetic nonsense right now. While it might've somewhat eased her displeasure that it hadn't been intentional that she'd been drugged, the fact that it was unintentional did nothing to actually address the issue itself, and an apology could only go so far. Words were simply words, and it would take more than that to soothe the irate cat-kin.

Disregarding Raigh, her first priority was to dry herself off. Spinning on the balls of her feet, she reoriented herself, her tail, swathed in pink fur whipping through the air, splashing water in all direction. She move with poise, her destination a public bathhouse on the far side of town. She'd been sticky and sweaty even before Jay had doused her with pool water that had who knew what thrown into it by the passing civilians, and she opted to take a nice cleansing bath before doing anything else.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

A sea of ever-advancing waves, rising and falling with endless purpose, sustaining every living creature beneath their surface unlike the motionless slopes of the cruel desert—while Rairah didn't enjoy being wet, Jay certainly did, and her response escaped her lips with as little resistance as flowing water—"Ohhhhhhhhhh~..."

When Falcon's hand patted her wing—her most sensitive area—the sighing succubus was cut short, however. She clenched her teeth suddenly and threw her head back, overwhelmed with pleasure. Her leader then heaped praise onto her melons like cherries on top, turning her face peachy.

Right then Jay looked ripe for the picking, but she pushed against the fountain's rim and picked herself up instead.

"I could get myself a healing item..." she considered. "But... I feel better already, Falcon~..."

Rairah was really the only one who wasn't feeling any better. Seriously? In the end, she had gotten a free ride out of the dungeon, everything working out in her favor. While the feline's ingratitude was astounding, Jay found her tacit dismissal of Raigh amusing. A lesser female still made a fool of any male.

Where Jay was heading now was the place that men made fools of themselves, because a single fool in Raigh wasn't sufficiently entertaining. Apparently two unconscious characters in Kenzen and the NPC girl weren't enough, either. The succubus had been too exhausted to look back at who was carrying them, but both were conveniently resting against the fountain by the time she started toward the saloon.

Indeed, she found way more passed-out players there than in her party. Falcon was browsing the colorful stalls outside intently; these people were staring into their colorless glasses absently. Clearer than booze was the fact that many of them were afflicted with the [DRUNK] status. Why would anyone get wasted in a game, and during the day, no less? Of course, there were dregs in any society, and even the flourishing Surface Town had characters stuck at the miserable bottom.

The bartender, however, didn't look any bit as surly as his guests. Walking in Jay had expected to see a scarred, stubbled, beefy man, but the brown-haired, blue-eyed boy drying glasses at the counter couldn't have been older than 19. His tension at her approach further revealed his inexperience. His eyes immediately drifted down when the stunning, lavender-haired succubus sat directly across from him.

"Excuse me," began an expectant Jay. "I'd like two jugs of milk."

"So would I..." the boy responded dreamily.

But his dumb smile quickly faded as he realized what he'd just said.

"W-wait! N-no! I didn't mean it like that!" he panicked. "I-I... sure, I'll... have them right out for you."

"You remind me of Kenzen!" she giggled. "You're both so shy around me~"

"...Kenzen?" the bartender continued uneasily. "Who's that?"

"Oh, he's one of my cute guildmates. But if his connection wasn't bad enough..." the succubus whined, casting her eyes aside dramatically, "I feel like we're not connecting on a personal level either. I ran to hug him, he gave me a little squeeze, and then he... he passed out me."

"He passed out?" the boy repeated, relaxing a bit upon hearing something he could relate to. "People pass out on me all the time. I don't squeeze them, though! You'd have to be pretty messed-up to take advantage of people when they're drunk... and we don't hire guys like that here."

"I mean, that happens a lot in real life, but why would you get drunk in a game?" asked Jay, pressing a curious finger to her cheek.

"Well," surmised the boy, setting down two glasses of milk before her, "when you get wasted in real life, there are consequences. But in Hyper Zero Fantasy World, you can drink as much as you want, log off, and feel just fine. Maybe that's why people do it. I don't mind in the slightest, because it gives me a steady flow of in-game money. I'm not strong enough to be in a guild like you, so that's how I get by."

"There's something for everyone," summarized a shrugging succubus, tipping a glass into her lips. The milk slipped down her throat and she, into silence.

"Must be why Hyper Zero is so popular," agreed the bartender. "Tuition costs are rising in real life, but here you can be anyone you want, without a college degree."

"How deep," Jay remarked. "...Just the way I like it."

"I guess... you have a pretty dirty mind, too," the boy laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"See? There's no need to be shy around me, if we have that in common~" responded the smirking she-devil. "But I also have a dirty mouth. Won't you fetch me a napkin? If Rairah were here, I'd have her do it, since she's part dog."

"Don't worry. I've got one," he assured her, plucking what he thought was a clean serviette from under the counter. Instead, he'd handed her a dusty invitation with looming, cursive letters—a card that appeared more foreboding than inviting.

"What's this? A ticket to Hell?" Jay wondered. "I'm a succubus, so I can go home without one~"

"Oh! That's... well, a mysterious old lady came by a few days ago distributing these strange cards, and she gave me that. Apparently it's some kind of side quest… at a certain 'Cursed Tower,'" the young man explained. "Even if I'd heard of it, I'm not a fighter, so I don't have any use for this. You can hold onto it, if you want. ...And here's the napkin I was looking for."

"That, and a free side quest?" she processed gleefully, patting her mouth with the cloth. "Then I couldn't have asked for a better experience. It's really been a blessing. One small thing, though..."

"What is it?"

"I asked for jugs of milk, not glasses."

"To be fair..." he paused, mustering the confidence to crack a joke, "I didn't get any jugs either."

In response Jay cracked a smile, further delighted that he was more comfortable now. Here, where the bright town turned to rustic, brown saloon walls, she'd brought out his true colors. It didn't take long for men to open up to her.

"Jugs," she riposted, "are one of those rare things that are better in real life."

 

[sSoul]

Now that Swirl was back, he decided to go home to think over his poor performance. Soul would have come with him, as he always did after a mission. Once alone, the player logged off and the real Swirl, Stephen, began to think on his own.

Today I did terrible, I think I might have been the most useless player there! Maybe I shouldn't even go to theas things... No, it was just one day, you'll do better next time, in fact, I know how to make myself feel better already.

Stephen relogged in as Swirl and began to head to a bar, the exact same one that Jay was at in fact. Ignoring the succubus, the player had to place his order.

"Hey, I just need one bottle of your strongest stuff," One of the bartenders didn't even bat an eye or strike up conversation. Swirl got his bottle and began to drink to his hearts content.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

Jay sipped her second glass of milk as Swirl passed, ignoring her and sitting alone. The only thing that could make him feel complete, he’d decided, was the strongest booze that the bar offered. Her guildmate resembled the drunken, defeated faces that frequented the saloon, hardly the look of a champion whose party had just slain a Three-Horned Dragon.

But Jay stayed proud, finishing her milk and setting the empty cup triumphantly onto the counter. Finding with a napkin the spots of white liquid all over her lips and, with a scrolling finger, all the guild’s earnings, she produced enough coins to pay for both Swirl and herself.

“Thanks again,” chimed the succubus, sliding them forward. “And while you might not be an adventurer yourself, your eyes sure do like to wander.”

At this the bartender smiled sheepishly. The young man wasn’t about to prove her point a second time. So his eyes didn’t fall as Jay rose. She found a new seat next to Swirl, who felt empty and was filling himself with the wrong kind of substance.

“The only person who should be doing that,” quipped Jay, “is Rairah, anytime I feel like slipping her a mysterious potion~”

There was not a hint of gravity in the frisky succubus’s tone. She simply approached her heavily drinking comrade with a tease to lighten the mood. Whether that was her real reason would remain unknown to him, since she was so hard to read.

“It’s not polite to ignore people. Don’t you know that blowing people off is my job?” Jay continued. “Of course, I might’ve stolen yours by slaying the Three-Horned, so I guess this is payback~”

She, however, could read exactly what was going on. Jay herself had called him out on his loitering during the fight. But Swirl shouldn’t have any sorrows to drown over this. They were a team, and their victory was ultimately his. Jay had tamed the dragon’s whipping tail and could just as easily stop his self-flagellation. Instead of obviously cheering him up, the she-devil stuck to cheeky remarks to irk her guildmate out of his slump and into telling her whatever he needed to.

 

[sSoul]

Now afflicting himself with the drunk status, Swirl turned over to Jay L, somewhat annoyed as he specifically trying to avoid his guildmates.

"You know, you're kind of the last person I wanted to see at this moment, but I won't shoo you away, that's just plain rude. So, have you come to gloat?" Swirl sarcastically commented to the succubus. Normally, he wpuld hsvr ay least trued being polite, but ue was drunk, and drunkedness made him brutally honest..

"It’s not polite to ignore people. Don’t you know that blowing people off is my job?” Of course, I might’ve stolen yours by slaying the Three-Horned, so I guess this is payback~” Naturally, the armored player had his own snarky remark in store for her.

"You could consider it as payback. And I do apologise for being rude, but can you blame me? I've watched a lot of team sports to know that deep down, winning isn't enough for some people, they have to be the reason why the team won. You saw it, I was making promises that I even knew I couldn't keep, and plus, even what little I did do, everyone else did better, it was like I wasn't even there!" Swirl raided his voice on the last part of the sentence, almost choking back some angry tears, "Once again I'm sorry about that outburst, usually I'm not that loose with my emotions, but hey, I felt like I needed to blow off some of them, plus your easy to talk to, somehow,"

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’m always loose,” Jay assured Swirl. “Honestly, you’re much worse at being drunk than fighting, if you’re apologizing to me.”

The succubus appreciated it to an extent, that her comrade hadn’t drowned his manners along with his sorrows. But the words that came from his mouth made as little sense as anything else an alcoholic would say.

“That everyone did better than you is an overstatement. June? Lerry? It’s like they disappeared midway into the fight. In fact, everyone, including me, was accomplishing nothing at one point. And don’t even get me started on Kenzen. He disconnected and missed the whole thing.”

For now she avoided outright trying to make him feel better, stating facts instead. Jay didn’t deny Swirl’s poor performance, for they both knew that he could’ve done better. Acting on her demonic instincts and lying to lift his spirits would only get him to distrust her, close himself off.

“Maybe the reason,” she cooed suggestively, rising from her new seat, “that Kenny doesn’t feel as bad as you... is the way I rewarded him~”

Smirking provocatively, stepping forward with a suspenseful click and looming over the sulking Swirl, the she-devil reached as if she were pulling him into an embrace and burying his problems in her chest... only to place a caring hand on his armor. Her other one slid the bartender’s invitation forward, finally playing, after a series of subtle quips and poker faces, the dusty card that would flush his negative emotions.

“Instead of dwelling on the past, look toward the future,” she continued more seriously. “What I have in my hand, Swirl, is a side quest. At a place called the Cursed Tower. You feel like you’ve failed today, but here’s a chance for redemption...”

“...Not that a demon would know anything about it. Maybe we could go together,” Jay added. “Sometimes it feels like we’re mere characters writing parts of a story, not knowing what to do next. Sometimes, it feels like you and I are the only ones moving things along. If we’re all that’s left by the time this is over, we can head to the Cursed Tower. Just the two of us.”

Speaking in riddles now, leaving it up to Swirl to understand or dismiss them in his drunken indifference, she slipped her hand away from his back, spun on her heels, and proceeded to the door with the poise of her approach. There, Jay stopped and turned to face her guildmate one last time.

“I wouldn’t buy any more drinks if I were you. The fact that you’re still saying sorry despite the booze means you can really hold your liquor. Try getting wasted, and you’ll have wasted all our treasure. Not a step in the right direction if you want to contribute to the team,” teased the succubus. “Besides, you owe me one later...”

With a sweep of her dress, she exited the saloon, the light tracing her undulating figure and glossing her beautiful lavender hair.

 

[sSoul]

Swirl began to craxk a smile, especially since he was reminded that he wasnt the only one that did less than they could. The pipe warrior was about to say thank you, but the succubus fourtunately wasn't finished.

“Maybe the reason,” she cooed suggestively, rising from her new seat, “that Kenny doesn’t feel as bad as you... is the way I rewarded him~”


At this moment, as Jay was pulling Swirl into her embrace, he let it happen. He was already drunk, plus when else was he going to get this kind of s chance, moght as well enjoy it.

“Instead of dwelling on the past, look toward the future. “What I have in my hand, Swirl, is a side quest. At a place called the Cursed Tower. You feel like you’ve failed today, but here’s a chance for redemption...not that a demon would know anything about it. Maybe we could go together. Sometimes it feels like we’re mere characters writing parts of a story, notknowing what to do next. Sometimes, it feels like you and I are the only ones moving things along. If we’re all that’s left by the time this is over, we can head to the Cursed Tower. Just the two of us.”
The offer sounded perfect, extended alone time with Jay was an offer he couldn't refuse, plus one more adventure couldn't hurt.

“Besides, you owe me one later..." At this, the armored player couldn't help but give a response to that.

"Well I'll be happy to pay that debt!" He streched after sitting down for so long and also began on his way home.

 

[E.K.A.N.S.]

Was it called Surface Town because everyone here was superficial? Straight out of chasmal Hell, the succubus welcomed the gawking males who lost themselves in her deep, cleaving Heaven. She even put more bounce into her ass to further excite the boys as she sauntered by. Jay was just passing out free candy—the most innocent gesture.

Well, eye candy. But that was all it was; any player who mustered the courage to talk to her couldn’t follow into the female section of the bathhouse. So they stayed floating in their sea of nerds as she escaped them, swaying smoothly as if she were swimming away.

Showing off never ceased being fun. But when Jay stopped in the mirror of the changing room and saw her nude reflection, she simply sighed. The man’s new body had become less of an object to him, now that he lived and breathed with it. There, she came to the same conclusion as when Kenzen had squeezed her; there were more layers to a woman than the physical, and the simple removal of clothing didn’t change that.

The demon wasn’t disappointed with herself, however. She proudly flicked her hair and continued to the bath, though her appearance was no longer her sole source of confidence. Wading into the water with a subtle, satisfied sigh, she drifted to the spring’s edge and settled with her back against the stone, her assets bobbing at the surface. Jay had yet to fully figure it out, but as far as the game knew, she was a woman and belonged on this side of the bathhouse. Even if a disguised, heterosexual male did sneak in here, his character’s female anatomy would prevent him from forcing himself onto any girl.

Okay... Justin Bieber warned me about this. I can’t like the way I look that much, or I can go and love myself. I’m still an attention whore... but fuck being a TOTAL narcissist.

 

[kyuukestu]

Having been on her way to the bath long before the thought had even popped into Jay's head, Rairah was naturally already there by the time the succubus, or perhaps succubi (Rairah couldn't imagine that a single person could manage to be so sultry, perhaps Jay was one of those accounts that had multiple users. A whole focus group dedicated to the peak of PG-16 eroticism) had made her entrance. Obscured by the steam, it appeared the Succubus hadn't quite noticed the Beastkin. However, given the way the devilish female had entered the bath, the opposite couldn't have been truer. Jay had entered as if she was afraid people wouldn't notice her. The faintly suppressed expression of smugness on her face and her almost ostentatious gait ensured that just about anything with eyes had them drawn to demon's visage.

Settling into the bath while tucking herself away by a sizeable stone, her built-in flotation devices showing their worth, Jay appeared to have lost herself in thought. As opposed to her more exhibitionist guildmate, Rairah remained quite reserved. Her own bosom was held tight to her body by the towel she had wrapped around her torso which also covered down to her thighs. She slouched slightly, her shoulders emerged in the warm water. Locks of pink hair floated around her position coiling around her bare shoulders and drifty idly within the bathwater. She'd crossed her legs beneath the water's surface, seeking the most comfort out of her position. As a result, while one leg remained submerged in water, the hovered in the air, the smooth mocha-colored calf swaying idly. With Rairah's posture, the water from her legs rolled down her calf, following the smooth contour of muscles as it traversed her skin and gathered in droplets on her toes. Slowly but surely a steady drip had formed between Rairah's wriggling toes and the bathwater.

While her body remained unmoving -for the most part- her tail had a mind of its own. The fluffy -now soggy- pink appendage dangled between Rairah crossed legs, occasionally peeking from the water and slapping against its surface. The half-catkin was actually in a rather jolly mood with the tranquil air of the bathhouse and the near therapeutic nature of the open-house bath. Her earlier tantrum had been a matter of displeasure, but while she certainly wasn't pleased about it, she wasn't so petty as to hold a significant grudge over such a matter. She'd been a victim of circumstances, and she could accept that.