Clark stood stock still, as naked as a newborn baby, while still cursing at divine bureaucracy.
The cool forest breeze fluttered past, brushing across his skin with the cold indifference of nature itself. He shivered. Not from shame, he'd long since abandoned that back on Earth, but from the realization that he was truly, irrevocably, utterly alone… and exposed.
Thankfully, it wasn't all complaints that he had. He was still thankful... albeit not fully. His body had returned, his senses were back, and his, ahem, member was in better condition than in his previous life's.
But none of that would matter if he kicked the bucket before even taking a step out of the woods.
The forest around him was lit with a fading golden hue. The kind that made everything look romantic and deadly at the same time. A painter's dream. A survivalist's nightmare.
The sky was beginning its descent into twilight, casting long shadows between the trees. The wind carried a cocktail of forest scents: crushed leaves, damp soil after a drizzle, and… was that blood?
Yes. Faint. Metallic. Almost tangy. Like someone had spilled a smoothie made of murder somewhere nearby.
That scent. That chill. That vague pressure, like something was watching from the shadows. It was the kind of feeling that slithered down your spine and made your bladder politely tap on your brain like, "Hey, uh, maybe find a toilet? Like, soon?"
Slowly, he turned toward the rustling bush behind him. Every movement was deliberate. Every muscle tense. He gulped. Hard. Because in worlds like this, an isekai fantasy RPG-lite murder simulation, you didn't relax. Not ever. That's how you became tutorial fodder.
"Okay… quick recap," Clark whispered, scanning the treeline with darting eyes. "No welcome party. No divine intervention. No talking slime to bonk for XP. Just me, naked and vulnerable, radiating sex pheromones. And this creepy bastard approaching me through the bushes like a discount horror movie intro!"
He winced.
Nine out of ten times, he was sure that this situation where an "enemy" approached right after being dropped was caused by his curse, Incubus Essence.
"That freaking sex fiend of a goddess," he hissed under his breath, "is trying to get me killed before I even hit level one!"
Snap!
A twig broke. The sound was much closer than the earlier rustling.
Clark froze, eyes zipping toward the source. A large shadow was approaching from within the trees. His breath caught, his heart doing jazz hands inside his chest.
"W-Who's there?! I'm warning you! I'm armed with… uh… confidence!"
Without delay, from the shadows stepped a lone figure: a woman with ponytailed brown hair, clad in a worn traveler's cloak.
Leather armor hugged her figure, and a longsword was strapped to her back. She had that hardened, no-nonsense look usually seen in veterans. Dirt on her cheeks. A scar on her chin. Classic adventurer vibes.
And most importantly…
"Oh, gods and goddesses! Boobs!"
It was like his eyes had been forcibly hijacked by a perverted director screaming "Zoom in! Enhance! Add sparkle effects!" in real-time.
They bounced with each move.
He panicked.
"Oh no!"
The woman stopped a few feet away, eyes narrowing as she took in the sight of a pale, scrawny boy, butt-naked, standing still like a confused deer under a car's headlights.
"…Boy, are you okay?" she asked, tone guarded.
"Boy...?" Clark wondered, before snapping back to reality.
He scrambled to cover himself with both hands, trying to appear innocent. Which, in hindsight, was probably impossible when you radiated irresistible Incubus pheromones like an open bottle of sex cologne.
"I-I'm fine! Lost! Just lost! I'm... uh, a magical forest orphan?" he blurted, throwing out the most believable trope he could think of.
Her expression softened slightly. A mix of pity and suspicion.
"You're… glowing though?" she said, stepping closer.
Clark panicked. The special effects from being dropped by the goddess had yet to fade! He quickly rolled his tongue, blurting out whatever excuse crossed his mind.
"I-I'm not someone suspicious! It's a skin condition! Called, uh… Mana Luminaria Syndrome! Very rare! Very tragic!"
Listening to his bullshit, her brow furrowed. No way she'd believe that.
But then, something changed. Her pupils dilated. Her breath caught, as her eyes tracked the large junk Clark could barely cover with both hands. She wobbled just a little, like someone tipsy from eating too much chocolate.
At that moment, Clark felt it. The Curse of Incubus Essence was affecting her!
Like turning the dial on a scent diffuser from "lavender" to "orgasm," his Incubus Essence began to cloud the air between them.
She blinked rapidly, cheeks flushed. Her hand twitched near her sword hilt, probably from instinct, not threat.
Wordlessly, she unfastened her cloak and...
"Cover yourself. You're... distracting," she muttered, tossing it toward him.
Clark let go of his crouching tiger and caught the coat, wrapping it around himself with the desperation of a man avoiding arrest for indecent exposure. But now that the woman had removed the battered robe covering her body, he instead had new worries to mind... and to stare at.
"T-Thank you. Really. I owe you one," he said, trying not to sound like a hentai protagonist, while being careful not to gaze at her explosive body for too long. "And I swear I'm not... contagious."
The woman smiled thinly, then shook her head as if trying to clear a thought.
"…Name's Kara. A Spellsword, Silver Rank," she explained in a gentle voice. "I've got a camp nearby. You can rest there for now. I'll escort you to the nearest town tomorrow, after I'm done with my task."
Clark's heart soared. In his mind, the sound effects going "Tet tereeet~!" echoed loudly (his imagination only). He encountered a companion character! And quite a capable one!
He smiled, standing upright. "My name's Clark. Clark Anima."
"…Sounds foreign," she commented.
"I'm Japanese!" he replied, even though he wasn't.
With Kara leading the way, the two chatted casually as they breezed through the forest.
Clark kept his distance. One, to be respectful. Two, because every few steps Kara gave off a great jiggle. Like jelly under attack by a magnitude six earthquake.
Although their walk wasn't all fun and jiggles. He quietly prayed she wouldn't just lose it and jump him mid-hike from his Incubus Essence. If she pounced on him, Clark was sure he wouldn't fight back. No, scratch that. He'd struggle the best he could, but would definitely fail in the end.
"If immortality's the price for banging this muscular beauty... it might be a fair price." He thought, jokingly.
Just as the sun was fading away, giving into a deep purple forestscape, the camp came into view: a clearing with a makeshift tent, campfire pit, and a few animal pelts. Listening closely, the sound of running water could be detected, probably a short distance away.
"This is my camp," Kara motioned toward a log nearby. "Sit down and rest. I'll prepare meals for now. We'll head out at first light tomorrow."
"You're really kind, Lady Kara. Most isekai protags I've seen get jumped by bandits first, or fall off a cliff, or accidentally marry a slime girl."
Kara raised an eyebrow, smiling but obviously confused. "...What?"
"Nothing. Just, uh, genre commentary."
Clark watched her from across the orange-burning campfire. She moved efficiently. Skin glistening slightly with sweat, muscles flexing under her armor. Dangerous, competent, and just barely holding herself together under the effect of his curse.
But she hadn't made a move. That meant one thing: self-control.
She was strong. Mentally, at least.
🔷🔷🔷
Hours passed, with the two of them slowly getting to know each other.
Chatter filled with knowledge and laughter spread between them. Kara tried to get to know Clark, while he tried to extract useful information from her, like the basics of magic, for example. A give and take of sorts.
"You're a funny guy..."
Kara sat with her sword propped beside her, watching the fire. Then, without a word, she stood up... and walked over to him.
The atmosphere was just right for that kind of event. Clark sat up, heart thumping.
"Is it finally happening? Is she going to—?!"
Kssshhh-kerthunk!
But the next moment, while staring at Kara's smiling face, instead of soft whispers... steel pierced through his heart.