Chapter 1: Introduction
The first thing I registered was heat. Thick, wet heat wrapping around me like a damp blanket, pressing against my skin with every breath I took. The second thing was the sound; a cacophony of chirps, buzzes, and distant squawks that seemed to come from every direction at once.
My eyes snapped open.
Green. Everywhere. Towering trees with broad, waxy leaves blocked out most of the sky, their branches intertwining overhead like a living ceiling. Shafts of golden light pierced through gaps in the canopy, illuminating patches of moss-covered ground and clusters of enormous, vividly colored flowers. Oddly shaped insects darted between the foliage, their wings catching the light.
I sat up fast, my head swimming. The ground beneath me was soft, springy moss that gave way under my palms. The air smelled of earth and something sweet, almost cloying, like rotting fruit and perfume mixed together. My skin prickled, and that was when I looked down.
I was naked.
Completely, utterly naked, sitting in the middle of a jungle in a video game. Or at least, what I hoped was a video game.
The jungle. The impossibly vibrant colors, the way the light filtered through the leaves in that almost too-perfect way. This was the same jungle I'd seen in the game's background art. The loading screen. The promotional stills that had been so faded and grainy on the cracked case that I'd almost put it back on the shelf, right next to the dusty copies of other forgotten titles.
Instead, I'd bought it. A little erotic adventure game from who knew when, hidden at the back of a cramped game store, its packaging barely held together with yellowed tape. The clerk had looked at me strangely, like I was picking up something cursed. I'd laughed it off, brought it home, and plugged it in.
The setup had been simple. Create your character. Pick a gender. I, in a moment of tired, post-work mischief, had selected the female avatar. Just to see. Just for the joke.
And then the game had started, and something had... pulled.
A jolt of memory, sharp as static electricity. The darkness. The feeling of being stretched too thin, like taffy being pulled apart by invisible hands. The sound of my own voice, tinny and far away, shouting something I couldn't remember.
I pressed my palms against the moss and forced myself to breathe, in and out, counting the beats. Okay. Okay, Sam. Think.
"Menu," I said aloud, my voice sounding strange in the heavy air.
Nothing happened for a beat. Then, a translucent blue screen materialized in front of my face, hovering inches from my nose. A familiar interface, only slightly glitched around the edges, flickering like a faulty bulb.
Player Profile.
Name: Samantha (Character Name)
Race: Human
Class: Adventurer
Level: 1
Stats: All zero.
I stared at the word Samantha. Right. I'd picked a female avatar. That was the word next to gender. Female. Registered as female. I'd chosen that deliberately, for laughs. So why did it suddenly feel like a weight pressing down on my chest?
I dismissed the window with a mental command, and it vanished with a soft shimmer. I looked down at myself again. My body. My actual body. The same flat chest I'd had this morning when I'd checked myself in the bathroom mirror. The same shoulders, the same arms, the same everything. I was still male. Physically, undeniably male.
But the system had me registered as female.
"What the hell is going on?" I muttered.
I stood up, brushing moss from my thighs. My legs wobbled under me; the ground felt too solid, the gravity too real. This wasn't a screen. This wasn't haptic feedback. I could feel the air moving across my bare skin, the gritty texture of dirt under my feet, the faint sting of a mosquito bite already forming on my shoulder.
Is this a glitch? Some kind of corrupted save file that pulled my consciousness into the game, but kept my body? A half-finished isekai, where the system expected me to be a girl and I was stubbornly, inconveniently still a man?
I took a step forward, then another, testing the ground. The moss gave way beneath me, soft and forgiving. I could feel everything. Every leaf brushing my arm, every beam of sunlight warming my skin. If this was a game, it was the most immersive one I'd ever touched. But the glitching profile window, the mismatched registration, the nagging sense that something was deeply wrong; none of it felt like an intended feature.
A rustle came from the undergrowth to my left. I froze, heart hammering. My mind raced through possibilities. Predator. NPC. Whatever spawned in this kind of game when you were naked and defenseless at level one.
The bushes parted, and a figure stepped out.
She was an NPC, unmistakably so. The slightly too symmetrical face, the eyes that tracked me with just a hint of programmed curiosity, the outfit that looked like it had been designed for a fantasy RPG rather than practical survival. A green tunic, leather boots, a small satchel slung over one shoulder. Her hair was a deep auburn, braided and pinned back with wooden clips.
Her eyes widened as she took me in. "Oh! Oh my, are you alright? You poor thing, you're..." She paused, her gaze traveling down my body and back up. A smile spread across her face, warm and kind. "You're completely unclothed! How did you end up out here like this?"
I opened my mouth, ready to explain. To say I'm a guy, I'm not supposed to be here, there's been a mistake. The words were right there on my tongue.
The woman stepped closer, already unclasping her satchel. "Not to worry, I have something for you. We can't have you wandering the jungle in your birthday suit, can we?" She chuckled, a light, musical sound. "The creatures out here are bad enough as it is. The last thing you need is to catch a chill on top of everything else."
The NPC woman pulled a folded bundle from her satchel, but before she could hand it over, she paused, tilting her head. "You're an adventurer, aren't you? Level one, no equipment, no supplies." She said it as a statement, not a question, her eyes glazing over for just a fraction of a second, the way NPCs did when reading a player's stats. "Well, we can't have you earning your keep without a proper start. Let's see if you have any beginner quests."
A translucent window flickered into existence before my eyes, burning blue in the jungle light.
Beginner Quest: The Adventurer's First Task.
Objective: Provide manual pleasure to the next 3 travelers you encounter.
Reward: 5 copper coins.
I stared at the glowing text. Then I blinked. Then I stared some more.
"Give handjobs to three travelers?" I said aloud, my voice cracking on the word handjobs.
The NPC woman smiled, entirely unhelpful. "Every adventurer starts somewhere!"
"This is not right," I muttered to myself, my hands balling into fists at my sides. "I can't do this. I can't. I'm a guy. I'm a man, I have a dick, I'm standing here naked with a dick, and the game wants me to give handjobs? I can't even give a normal handshake to people without making it weird, and now I'm supposed to what? Whip it out and get to work?"
The woman was still smiling at me, completely oblivious to my existential crisis. "The first traveler should be along any moment now. The road through the jungle gets quite busy this time of day."
"Great," I said. "Fantastic. Tell me, is there a job board? A 'find my lost cat' quest? A 'deliver these letters to the village' quest? Something that doesn't involve my hands and a stranger's genitals?"
The woman tilted her head in that NPC way, like I'd asked her a question she didn't have an answer file for. "The quest system assigns tasks based on your level and class. That's what was offered."
"Right. My class is Adventurer. My level is one. And my assigned task is..." I trailed off, unable to even finish the sentence.
Footsteps thudded on the mossy ground behind me. I spun around, heart leaping into my throat.
A man emerged from the undergrowth. He was large, broad-shouldered, with a thick beard and arms like tree trunks. He wore worn leather armor and carried a heavy-looking axe at his hip. His eyes swept over me once, lingering in a way that made my skin crawl.
"Oy," he said, his voice a low rumble. "Naked lady. You're in my way."
"I'm not a lady," I said, but the words came out small and useless.
The man stepped closer, close enough that I could smell the sweat on him, the faint tang of leather and woodsmoke. "Give me a handjob."
The quest window pulsed at the edge of my vision, the text shimmering as if in anticipation.
I looked down at myself. My naked, male body. My flat chest. My exposed cock, flaccid and unimpressive, hanging there like a traitorous witness to the absurdity of this situation. The man was looking at my face, not my crotch. The game had registered me as female, and so had he. My body was a separate fact, something only I could see.
"Oy lady," the man said, impatience creeping into his voice. "Give me a handjob now. You are here for that, right?"
I swallowed. My mind raced, trying to find a way out. Could I fight him? He had an axe, and I had nothing. Not even clothes. Could I run? Into a jungle full of unknown dangers, naked and unarmed, at level one with all stats at zero?
No. I had to do this.
I turned to face the man fully, letting out a soft sigh that came from somewhere deep in my chest. "Alright," I said. "Alright, you win."
The man grunted in satisfaction, undoing his belt with practiced ease. His trousers dropped to his knees, and I tried very hard not to look. I failed.
Look at me, I thought, my hand reaching out with a reluctance that made every muscle in my arm feel like lead. I'm a guy. I was born a guy. I've had a guy's body my whole life. And now I'm standing in a jungle, naked, about to give a handjob to a man who thinks I'm a woman, because a corrupted video game told me to.
My fingers closed around him, and I immediately regretted every decision that had led me to this moment.
The man sighed, a low pleased sound. "Yeah, that's it. Careful now."
My insides screamed. My hand moved mechanically, up and down, as if it had a script of its own. The quest was driving it, I realized. Not entirely, but enough. My muscles twitched with a will that wasn't mine, guiding my grip, adjusting my pace.
"Faster," the man grunted.
I looked up at him, and I saw the way he was smiling down at me. Not malicious, not cruel. Just pleased. Like I was a convenient service, a roadside shop that happened to be open.
The absurdity of it hit me so hard I almost laughed. Five copper coins. That was the reward. A handful of change, in game currency, for this.
My hand kept moving. The man's breathing grew heavier, his hips beginning to shift with my rhythm. I closed my eyes and thought about anything else. The game store. The dusty shelf. The clerk's strange look. The click of the cartridge slot. The flash of darkness.
"I'm sorry," I heard myself whisper, and I wasn't sure who I was apologizing to.
"Don't apologize," the man grunted. "Just keep going."
I kept going.
And when he finished, with a grunt and a shudder, I pulled my hand back and wiped it on the moss, trying not to think about where it had been. The quest window flickered.
1/3 travelers complete. One copper coins pending.
The man tucked himself back into his trousers, redoing his belt with clumsy, satisfied movements. He tossed a coin at my feet; a small bronze disc. "You're good at that," he said, as if commenting on the weather. "Get yourself some clothes, yeah."
Then he walked away, disappearing into the undergrowth without another word.
I stood there, naked, staring at the bronze coin in the moss. The NPC woman was still there, still smiling.
"One down," she said cheerfully. "Two to go."
The second traveler came not long after, a wiry merchant with a pack full of trade goods, who barely looked at me before he was untying his belt. The third was a young hunter, barely older than me, who stammered and blushed even as I worked, which somehow made it worse. They were easier, like the quest had started to guide my muscles into a rhythm my brain could ignore. My hand knew what to do now. That was the part that terrified me.
Each one tossed a coin at my feet when they were done, mumbling something pleasant and walking away like they'd just paid for a cup of ale. I scooped up the bronze discs from the moss, counting them with fingers that trembled slightly.
One coins for each service. Three total. Plus the five from the quest completion, which appeared in my inventory with a soft chime and a notification I barely glanced at. Eight copper coins. It sounded like a lot until I thought about what it had cost me.
I wiped my hand on the moss again, then on my thigh, then on the moss again. The sensation didn't go away. The ghost of it lingered on my palm like a stain you can't quite scrub off.
The NPC woman was still there. She'd watched the entire proceedings with the patient smile of a tour guide at a historical site. "You've completed the quest," she said, and a window shimmered open in front of me.
Beginner Quest Complete!
Reward: 5 copper coins.
You have learned: Basic Hand's Touch (Passive)
Level Up! You are now Level 2.
New Stats: Strength 1, Dexterity 2, Charisma 3, Allure 4.
"Take heed, adventurer," the woman said, her voice taking on that slightly stilted quality NPCs got when delivering important information. "Three copper coins for your services, five for the quest, and you've grown from your experience. But you'll need equipment to progress. The village store is just past the treeline to the east." She nodded in that direction, and I followed her gaze, seeing a break in the dense foliage where a worn path curled away into the trees.
"What's the store called?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"Laria's Goods. Run by Laria, naturally. She'll set you right." The woman beamed at me as if she'd just given me directions to paradise. "Good luck on your journey, adventurer."
I stared at her for a long moment. "You're not going to give me any clothes? Nothing? Just directions?"
She tilted her head, that programmed curiosity flickering across her features. "The store sells clothes. That is what stores are for."
"Right. Of course. Why would I expect a random NPC to have the basic decency to help someone standing naked in front of her?"
The woman's smile didn't waver. I took that as my cue to leave.
The path through the jungle was soft underfoot, the moss giving way to packed earth as I walked. The canopy thinned, and I could see patches of sky, a pale blue tinged with the pink of late afternoon. My skin prickled with the feeling of being watched, though I saw no other travelers on the path. The sounds of the jungle surrounded me, chittering and buzzing, the rustle of unseen things in the undergrowth.
I walked with my arms crossed over my chest, which was ridiculous since I had nothing to hide. Or everything to hide. I wasn't sure anymore.
The village emerged from the trees like a postcard. A cluster of buildings with thatched roofs, wooden walls weathered to a soft gray, smoke curling from a chimney here and there. A few villagers milled about, most of them grouped around a well or loitering outside buildings with clearly labeled signs. The store was easy to spot, a large wooden structure at the edge of the square, with a faded sign swinging gently above the door.
Laria's Goods, read the painted letters.
I pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The shop was cluttered in the way of fantasy game stores, shelves crammed with goods that ranged from the practical to the absurd. Potions in oddly shaped bottles, scraps of leather armor, bundles of dried herbs, a rack of weapons near the back that gleamed dully in the lantern light. Behind the counter stood a woman with gray-streaked hair and sharp brown eyes, wearing an apron over a simple woolen dress.
She looked me up and down, her gaze lingering on my nakedness with well-practiced neutrality. "You're a new adventurer, are you?"
"Yeah."
I wandered the aisles, my eyes scanning the shelves. The food section first, because my stomach had started to grumble in a way that felt far too real for a video game. A loaf of bread, three copper. A hunk of cheese, two copper. A dried meat strip, one copper. All of it was affordable, individually.
Then I found the clothes.
The cheapest item was a simple tunic, rough brown fabric, priced at eight copper coins. Ten. I counted my coin purse again. Exactly eigjt copper. I could afford the tunic but have no copper then.
Then I saw the weapons rack. A wooden training sword, fifteen copper. A knife, twelve. A basic staff, fourteen.
My whole quest reward couldn't even buy the cheapest weapon. And if I bought clothes, I'd have almost nothing left for food.
I stood in front of the tunic rack, my fingers hovering over the rough fabric. My other hand went to my bare crotch, a gesture of pure instinct, protecting something none of the NPCs could apparently see. The realization struck me like a physical blow.
"Excuse me," I said, turning back to Laria. "Do you have any, uh, men's clothing? Like, trousers with a, you know." I gestured vaguely at my waist. "A compartment."
Laria's eyebrows rose. "Men's clothing? But you're a woman, dear."
"I'm not," I said, and it came out as desperate as it felt. "I'm a man. Look at me. I have a cock. Here, I can show you if you don't believe me."
I reached for my waist, ready to demonstrate, but Laria looked as she saw nothing. I looked down. My body was there, exactly as it had been. Flat chest. Same skin. And my cock, clearly visible, hanging there between my legs like it had always done.
But Laria was shaking her head, patient and amused. "I can see you're a woman, dear. There's no need to be embarrassed about your body. We all come in different shapes and sizes."
"Shapes and sizes? I have a literal penis."
She humored me with a smile that suggested she thought I was either senile or simple. "The clothing racks are sorted by gender, I assure you. The women's section is to your left. The men's is to your right, but I'm afraid I can't sell you men's clothing. The system won't let it process."
The system. I felt ice slide down my spine. "The system won't let it process? So you do know there's a system."
Laria's smile went blank for a fraction of a second, the NPC equivalent of a loading screen. "Of course. We all live under the system's grace." Her expression cleared, warm again. "Now, did you want to browse the women's section?"
I stood there, hands hanging at my sides, the weight of the truth settling into my bones. The game had registered me as female, and that registration extended to every shop, every NPC, every rule in this world. I could show them my body until I was blue in the face, and they'd still see a woman.
"Fine," I said, the word tasting like ash. "Show me the cheapest thing you've got."
She led me to a corner of the shop, where a rack held what could generously be called clothing. A piece of fabric that looked suspiciously like a breast band, made of rough linen, and a loincloth made of the same material. The loincloth was small, triangular, with leather ties at the sides. It was clearly designed for a woman's form.
I picked it up, feeling the coarse fabric between my fingers. "This is it? This is the cheapest?"
"Eight copper for the set," Laria said. "It's all I can offer at that price point."
Eight copper. My entire quest reward minus the coins the travelers had thrown me. If I bought the clothes, I'd have nothing left. No bread. No cheese. Not even a meat strip. No way to buy a weapon, even the cheapest one.
I looked at the loincloth, then down at my own body. There was no compartment. No opening that would accommodate what I had. If I wore this, my cock would either hang out the sides or be crushed flat against my thigh beneath the leather ties.
"Do you have anything else?" I asked, hating how weak my voice sounded. "Anything with a different design? Something with, I don't know, more coverage?"
Laria shook her head. "This is the lowest price point I carry. The next set up would be the linen dress at fifteen copper, or the adventurer's tunic and breeches at twelve copper for the set, but those are men's clothing." Her eyes glazed over for a fraction of a second, then cleared. "The system flags it as a mismatch."
"It's not a mismatch. I'm a man."
A pause. A beat of that programmed nothing. "I understand you're having a difficult time, dear. Why don't you try the clothes on? See how they feel?"
I stared at the piece of fabric in my hands. My options were stark and ugly. Buy these rags, wear them, and hope I could figure something out. Or stay naked forever, exposed and defenseless, and try to find a way to fix whatever glitch had trapped me here.
I pressed my lips into a thin line and nodded. "I'll take them."
The transaction was agonizingly simple. Eight copper coins slid across the counter, and in return, I received the two pieces of rag. I took them into a small changing alcove at the back of the shop, behind a curtain that didn't quite reach the floor.
I stood there, staring at the clothes. A breast band that would do nothing for me because I had nothing to hold up. A loincloth with side ties, clearly designed for hips and curves I didn't have.
I put them on anyway.
The breast band wrapped around my chest, itchy and too tight against my skin, and did nothing except make me look even more ridiculous. The loincloth was worse. The leather ties bit into my hips, and the triangle of fabric covered nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was no room for my anatomy, no clever fold, no hidden pocket. My cock hung out the side, exposed to the air, wedged uncomfortably against the leather strap.
I looked down at myself and almost laughed. I looked like a terrible cosplay of a badly designed video game character, and that was exactly what I was.
Back in the main shop, Laria nodded approvingly. "A fine choice. Very practical for jungle travel."
"Practical," I repeated flatly. "Sure. Is there a tailor in town? Someone who could modify these for... better coverage?"
"Modifications require the Tailoring skill," Laria said. "You haven't unlocked that yet."
"Unlocked. Of course. Because everything in this world is behind a skill wall." My hand pressed against the loincloth, trying to adjust the angle. It didn't help. "And how do I unlock it?"
"Level ten, I believe."
Level ten. I was level two. It would take eight more levels of quests like the one I'd just completed to even dream of reaching that threshold.
I looked down at my hands, the same hands that had been on three strangers' cocks in the last hour, and I thought about level eight more levels.
"Great," I said. "Just great."
"Great. Just great."
I adjusted the loincloth strap for the fifth time, trying to find an angle where the leather didn't bite into my hip. There wasn't one. The triangle of fabric remained stubbornly useless, my cock wedged against the side strap like it was trying to escape the whole situation. I couldn't blame it.
The shop door swung open, letting in a burst of humid air and the sound of jungle birds. I turned, expecting another customer, and found myself staring at a familiar face. The auburn-haired NPC from the clearing, the one who'd handed me the quest and watched the whole mortifying ordeal with that unshakeable smile.
"Adventurer!" she said, as if we were old friends reuniting after years apart. "I thought I might find you here. Mira, by the way. We never properly introduced ourselves."
"Right. Mira." I shifted my weight, trying to find a stance where the loincloth didn't ride up. "I bought clothes. See? Clothes."
"Lovely choice," she said, beaming. "You've leveled up since we last spoke, haven't you? That means more quests are available to you now. I thought I'd come and show you what's on the board."
She snapped her fingers, and a translucent window shimmered into existence between us. I leaned in, scanning the list.
Adventurer's Available Quests:
- Serve at the Velvet Rose Bathhouse. Reward: 15 copper. Details: Attend to five guests' bathing needs with your body.
- Pleasure Companion for the Merchant Caravan. Reward: 25 copper. Details: Accompany the caravan for three days, providing full services as needed.
- Milk the Minotaur. Reward: 30 copper. Details: The minotaur at the northern farm is producing poorly. Use any means to improve his yield.
- Assisting at the Old Creek Farm. Reward: 20 copper. Details: Help the farm household with their daily needs for three days.
- A Night at the Mermaid's Rest. Reward: 20 copper. Details: The innkeeper requires entertainment services.
"It's all sex stuff," I said flatly. "Every single one. Milking a minotaur? What does that even mean?"
Mira tilted her head. "I believe it involves milking him. With your mouth." She said it the way someone might explain a recipe. "Overall the board has a theme, yes. Erotic quests are the most common for woman in this world."
My eyes swept back to the list, desperate for anything that didn't make my stomach turn. The final option caught my attention like a lifeline: Assisting at the Old Creek Farm. Daily needs. Twenty copper. It sounded normal. Boring, even. Chores, feeding animals, maybe fixing a fence. A wholesome, mundane task in a world that apparently ran on depravity.
"That one," I said, pointing. "Farm work. Normal farm work."
Mira's eyes glazed over for a moment, reading the quest file. "Old Creek Farm? Yes, that's available. The farmer there requested a helper." She smiled warmly. "A wise choice. A bit of honest labor will do you good after your first day, I think."
"Right. Honest labor." I could already feel the blisters forming on my hands, and I welcomed them. Anything was better than another quest involving my mouth or hands in someone's pants. "How do I get there?"
"East out of the village, past the mill, follow the creek until you see the red barn. Can't miss it." Mira gave me a little wave. "I'll be around if you need me. Good luck, adventurer."
She vanished into the afternoon sunlight, leaving me standing in the shop with a renewed sense of purpose. For the first time since I'd woken up in this jungle, I had a plan. Work a farm. Earn ten copper. Maybe buy better clothes, something that actually covered my dick. Save up for a weapon. Find a way out of this mess.
I followed the creek east.
It was a proper homestead. A two-story wooden house with a stone chimney, a large red barn with a hay loft, and fenced pastures where a few cattle grazed lazily. Chickens scratched in the dirt near the porch, and a large vegetable garden stretched out behind the house, full of leafy greens and trellised beans.
A man emerged from the barn as I approached. He was tall and broad, with a weathered face and thick forearms, gray streaking his hair and beard. Worn overalls, muddy boots, a straw hat pushed back on his head. He looked exactly like a fantasy farmer, down to the friendly smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
"You must be the new helper," he said, wiping his hands on a rag. "Name's Orin. This is my farm."
"Sam," I said, and the name hung in the air for a moment. "I mean, Samantha. That's what the system says."
Orin didn't seem to notice the hesitation. "Good to have you. My wife's inside fixing breakfast. You'll meet her later. First, let's get you set up with the details of the work." He pulled a folded piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it over. "Contract's already signed on your end, I expect. Quest acceptance and all that."
I took the paper, unfolding it slowly. The writing was neat, formal, the kind of script you'd see on an official document. I read it. Then I read it again.
Old Creek Farm Contract.
The undersigned agrees to provide the following services to the household for a period of three days:
- Morning service, two times daily.
- Evening service, one time daily.
- Additional service as requested.
Total compensation: 10 copper coins.
I stared at the words, my brain refusing to parse them. "Service? What does 'morning service' mean?"
Orin looked at me with the same patient smile I'd seen on every NPC's face since I'd arrived. "You'll be pleasuring me, dear. Orally. Two times each morning, once in the evening. That's what the contract says."
The paper crumpled in my fist. "No. No, no, no. I took this quest expecting farm work. Chores. Feeding the pig, picking vegetables."
"The vegetables are picked," Orin said mildly. "The livestock is fed. The deed is signed, and the quest is locked. You can't abandon it now, I'm afraid. The contract's binding."
He said it the way someone might apologize for the weather. Gently, kindly, with no ill intent whatsoever. That almost made it worse.
I checked my quest log. There it was, glowing in blue light: Assisting at the Old Creek Farm. In Progress. 0 of 3 days complete.
"Abandon quest," I muttered under my breath.
A warning flashed before my eyes: Abandoning a contract quest will result in a permanent 50% reduction to all stats. You will also be marked as a contract-breaker, restricting future quests. Proceed?
Fifty percent stats. Contract-breaker. No future quests. I'd be stranded in this jungle wearing a loincloth that didn't fit, with no way to earn money, no way to progress, no way to find a way home.
I looked at Orin. He was watching me with that placid, expectant expression, like a dog waiting for its walk.
"Alright," I said, the words dragged out of me like a confession. "Alright, I'll do it."
Orin's smile widened. "Splendid. The barn's quiet this time of morning. Why don't we start now, get the first one out of the way before breakfast?"
Orin led me into the barn, past stalls of sweet-smelling hay and the soft lowing of cattle. A ladder creaked under his boots as he climbed to the hay loft, and I followed like a man walking to his own execution. The loft was warm, dusty, golden light slanting through the gaps in the wooden walls. Hay bales were stacked in neat rows, and the air smelled of dried grass and old wood.
He settled himself on a hay bale, spreading his knees with a casualness that made my stomach clench. "Come here, then. No rush. We'll take it easy the first time."
I knelt on the hay, the coarse fibers scratching against my bare thighs. My hand shook as I reached for his overalls. The denim was worn soft, the brass buttons familiar under my fingers. I undid them one by one, my movements slow and mechanical, and pulled the fabric down.
He wasn't wearing anything underneath. Of course he wasn't. This was a game, and games didn't bother with underwear unless it served a purpose.
I looked at his cock, half-hard and already thickening, and I felt the world tilt. This was real. This was actually happening. I, Sam, a man who had never even kissed another man, was kneeling in a hay loft with a farmer's dick inches from my face.
"Do I have to..." I started, and my voice cracked.
"Just take it in your mouth," Orin said gently. "It gets easier. You'll see."
I closed my eyes and leaned forward.
The first touch was strange. Warm. Skin on my lips, soft but insistent, pressing against me with a weight that made my chest tighten. I opened my mouth, and he slid inside, and I had to fight every instinct that screamed at me to pull away.
It wasn't disgusting. That was the worst part. I'd braced for revulsion, for my stomach to turn, for my body to reject this act with every fiber of my being. But it was just... warm. A little salty. Not unpleasant, really. My tongue pressed against his shaft, and he let out a low, pleased groan, and I felt a strange, unwanted thrill at having caused that sound.
I'm a man, I thought desperately, even as my mouth moved on him. I'm a man, and this is wrong, and I shouldn't be good at this.
But I was. The quest had given me a new skill, Basic Oral Technique, and it showed. My movements were smooth, practiced, as if I'd done this a hundred times before. My hand wrapped around the base while my mouth worked the tip, and a beat later, I realized I was humming. Humming. Like I was trying to please him.
I was trying to please him.
The shame hit me like a wave, hot and acrid. I pulled off, gasping, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "I can't. I can't do this."
Orin looked down at me, patient as ever. "You're doing fine. Better than fine, actually. Just relax. It's not supposed to be a punishment."
"It is for me."
"Is it?" He tilted his head, that NPC curiosity flickering across his features. "You seem to be getting the hang of it."
I stared at him. He stared back. The silence stretched between us, broken only by the sounds of the farm outside, and I realized with a horrible, creeping certainty that he was right. I was getting the hang of it.
I took him back in my mouth.
The second time was easier. The third was easier still, a rhythm emerging, my head bobbing in a motion that felt natural despite everything. When he finished, I swallowed without thinking, and I hated how my body didn't even hesitate.
He patted my head like I was a good dog. "There you go. See? Not so bad."
I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand and didn't answer.
The morning service was twice. The second time, an hour later, was quicker. I'd already learned what he liked, the pace, the pressure, the way he groaned when I focused on the tip. My skills had leveled up. Basic Oral Technique, level two. I noted it with a numb, dispassionate clarity.
By the evening service, I was starting to lose count of how many times I'd knelt in that hay loft.
Day two blurred into a haze of routine. Morning service, twice. Breakfast with Orin and his wife Elara, a plump woman with a kind smile who seemed to know exactly what I was doing with her husband. She never mentioned it, but she'd give me an extra biscuit at lunch with a wink, and I'd eat it without tasting it, my mind somewhere far away.
The blowjobs, I discovered, had become easy. Almost boring. My mouth knew what to do now. My hands knew where to go. I could think about other things while I worked, counting the cracks in the barn's wooden beams, planning what I'd do with my wages, anything to keep my mind occupied while my body went through the motions.
That was what frightened me the most. Not the acts themselves, but my growing indifference to them.
On the third day, I knelt in the hay loft and took Orin in my mouth without being asked. He was barely hard, and I worked him up with the same casual expertise I might have used to tie my shoes. My mind drifted to the quest board, to the options waiting in the village. The bathhouse. The caravan. The minotaur.
I pulled off, jaw aching, and looked up at him. "How much longer?"
Orin smiled down at me, his hand resting on my shoulder with a warmth that made me want to scream. "This is the last one. You've been a fine helper, Samantha. I'll have your wages ready when we're done."
Fine helper. The words echoed in my head as I took him back in my mouth. Fine helper. Three days ago, I'd been a man with a job interview scheduled for next week. Now I was a level two adventurer in a loincloth, blowing a farmer in his hay loft, and I wasn't even bothered by it anymore.
That, more than anything, was what broke me.
I finished him off with a neat, practiced motion, swallowing without thinking, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. When I stood, my legs were steady. My hands didn't shake. I looked at Orin, and I felt nothing.
"Wages," I said flatly. "I'd like my wages now."
He counted out twenty copper coins into my palm, each one warm from his pocket. I closed my fist around them and left the barn without another word. He also gave me ten extra for each blowjob, and a half for cumming in mouth.
Outside, the sun was high and golden. The chickens scratched in the dirt. The cattle grazed in the pasture. Everything looked normal, peaceful, exactly as it should have been.
I stood there with my fingers wrapped around total 30 and a half copper coins and realized I had become something I didn't recognize. Three days. It had only been three days, and I'd already lost the part of me that had fought against this.
I needed to find a way out of this game, I thought, with a clarity that felt like glass.
Before I lost the last piece of myself for good.
I stood there for a long moment, the copper coins warm in my fist, the sun beating down on my bare shoulders. Twenty copper for the contract. Ten more for the extras. And half a coin for swallowing, which the system had registered with a calm efficiency that made me want to smash something.
Thirty and a half copper coins. Enough to buy food, maybe a weapon if I saved, maybe better clothes if I was careful. But not enough to fix the growing pit in my stomach, the one that had nothing to do with hunger.
I started walking back toward the village, my sandals scuffing against the packed earth. The path was familiar now, the same trees, the same birdsong, the same oppressive green. I'd walked it yesterday and the day before, my mind elsewhere, my body going through the motions.
The village came into view, and I almost didn't see her at first. Mira was leaning against the well in the center of the square, her auburn hair bright in the afternoon light. She straightened as I approached, that infuriating smile already in place.
"Adventurer! You finished the farm contract. Well done." She clasped her hands together. "How did you find it?"
"Fantastic," I said flatly. "Really enriching experience."
Mira nodded as if I'd given her a glowing review. "I came to find you. There's something I should tell you." Her eyes took on that glazed quality, the NPC loading new information. "The quests available in this village are limited. Most adventurers move on to larger settlements once they reach a certain level. The city of Verdant Hollow is three days east of here. There's an adventurer's guild there with a much broader selection of quests, better equipment, better pay."
"Better quests," I repeated. "Like what, exactly?"
"Standard adventures. Escort missions. Monster hunting. Dungeon clearing." She rattled them off like a shopping list. "And opportunities to earn silver & gold instead of copper. The kind of money that actually lets you progress."
Monster hunting. Dungeon clearing. Actual combat, actual danger, actual things that might let me level up and find a way out instead of just servicing every NPC with a pulse.
"How do I get there?"
"Follow the main road east from the village. It's well-traveled and safe for low-level adventurers. You'll reach the city gates in three days if you keep a steady pace." Mira tilted her head. "You should stock up on supplies before you leave. The road has inns, but they charge premium prices."
I nodded slowly, turning the information over in my mind. Three days of travel. I had thirty copper coins. Food for the journey would eat into that, but if I was careful, I could make it work.
"Thanks," I said. "I'll head out now."
I turned and made my way to Laria's Goods. The bell above the door chimed as I stepped inside, the familiar smell of dried herbs and leather washing over me. Laria glanced up from the counter, her sharp eyes flicking over my loincloth.
"Back already? You've got more coin now, I see."
"Yeah. I need food. Enough for three days of travel." I counted my coins as I approached the counter. "What's the cheapest option?"
Laria reached under the counter and pulled out a small cloth sack, the kind that looked like it had been packed a hundred times. "Dried journey rations. Enough for three days if you stretch them. Seven copper per day's worth, so twenty-one copper for the full trip. But you'll need a map too for travel."
I did the math in my head. Thirty point five minus twenty-one left me with nine and a half copper. Enough for nothing useful. A map would cost more I had no idea how to navigate this world without one.
"Is there a map? Cheapest one you've got."
Laria nodded, retrieving a folded parchment from a rack behind the counter. "Twenty copper. Shows the main roads from here to Verdant Hollow and a few of the landmarks along the way."
Twenty for the map. Twenty-one for food. Forty-one copper total, and I had thirty and a half. I was ten short, and that was before considering any emergency funds.
I looked down at the coins in my palm, then up at Laria. "I need more copper. Is there anything quick? One day, maybe?"
Her eyes glazed over for that NPC moment, reading the local quest board. "There's an old man at the edge of the village, Aldous. His regular caretaker is out for a day. He needs someone to keep him company, and he pays fifteen copper."
"Company," I repeated. "That's it? Just company?"
"A specific kind of company," Laria said, and the glazed look deepened. "He's requested a companion for the day. Naked, beside him. He likes the warmth of another body in his bed at night."
I stared at her. "So it's a sex thing."
"It's an old man thing," she said mildly. "Fifteen copper base. Scale with your skills, so you'll likely earn more. It's the quickest one-day quest available."
I thought about the path east, the three days of travel, the city of Verdant Hollow and its adventurer's guild. I thought about monster hunting and dungeon clearing and the ever-distant possibility of finding a way out of this place.
"Fine," I said. "Tell me where he lives."
His cottage was at the edge of the village, a small stone building with a crooked chimney and overgrown rose bushes crowding the path. The door was unlocked, so I pushed it open and stepped inside.
Aldous was sitting in a wooden chair by the window, a thin blanket across his lap. He looked like a strong wind might tear him apart. White hair, deeply wrinkled skin, pale eyes that tracked me with surprising sharpness when I entered.
"Ah, the girl from the farm," he rasped. "Orin's been bragging. Come here, let me see you."
I stepped closer, and his eyes traveled down my body, lingering on the loincloth. "Take that off. The quest says naked."
I undid the leather ties, letting the rag fall to the floor. The air was cool against my skin, and I stood there, exposed, the way I'd grown accustomed to over the past three days. The shame had dulled. That was the worst part.
"Better," Aldous said, nodding. "Much better. Now come help me to the bed. My legs aren't what they used to be."
I helped him up, my arm around his thin shoulders as I guided him to a narrow bed in the corner. He settled against the pillows with a satisfied sigh, and I stood beside him, unsure what to do next.
"Time to sleep," he said. "Quest says I need you here beside me. That's part of it."
I lay down on the narrow mattress, my skin touching his through his thin nightshirt. The warmth of his body seeped into me, and for a moment, it was almost peaceful. Then his hand found my hip, and his breathing changed.
"One more thing," he said softly. "The quest includes this. You know it, I know it. Best to get it over with."
I knew the motion by heart now. I slid down in the bed, pulling aside his nightshirt, taking him in my mouth with the same practiced ease I'd used on Orin. He was soft at first, then slowly hardened, his hand resting in my hair with a gentleness that made my chest ache.
He finished quickly, a soft groan escaping his lips, and I swallowed the way I'd learned to. I get a half coin for swallowing, then why not. It is just a salty liquid. So why not?. He patted my head, same as Orin had, and I lay back beside him, staring at the ceiling.
When morning came, I dressed and took my payment. The system logged it as I stood in his doorway.
Quest Complete. Base reward, 15 copper. Skill bonus, 3 copper. Clean swallow bonus, 3 copper. Level appreciation, 3 copper. Completion bonus, 1 copper. Each additional swallow bonus, 1 copper. Total: 27 copper.
Twenty-seven copper. I counted it twice, then three times, folding the coins into my palm until they bit into my skin. Combined with my remaining nine and a half, I had thirty-six point five copper.
Enough. More than enough.
I bought the map from Laria, its parchment folded into neat quarters, the route highlighted with a shaded path running east. I bought the three days of rations, packed in a small cloth sack that smelled faintly of dried meat and hard cheese. I ate a few bites of bread on my way out of the village, tasting nothing, chewing mechanically.
The road led east, past the well, past the last houses, into the green wall of the jungle. I walked with the map tucked into the breast band of my new clothes, the loincloth's strap chafing against my hip. The sounds of the village faded behind me, replaced by the chittering and buzzing of the wild.
One step. Two. Three. The city of Verdant Hollow was three days ahead, and beyond it, maybe, a way out of this thing.
Menu:
Name: Samantha
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 19
Class: Adventurer
Level: 3
Stats: Strength 1, Dexterity 2, Charisma 3, Allure 4
Skills: Basic Hand's Touch II, Basic Oral Technique II, Expert Swallowing
Copper: 36.5