"Let's go, Liu Yang. Time to cross this damn forest…" he muttered to himself.
He pushed forward, step by step, his hands moving the branches out of the way. Each branch slapped back, leaves scratching his arms, but he kept walking.
Behind him, she followed close. Her arms crossed over her chest, her head tilted down, but her eyes locked straight on his back. Quiet. Too quiet.
Liu Yang's thoughts kept circling, round and round. "What the hell am I even doing? Am I lost? Yeah, probably. I'm the definition of lost."
"What the hell am I even doing? I don't know this world. Not even a little. It's like someone ripped random pages out of an encyclopedia, shoved them in my face, and said 'figure it out, dumbass.'"
He had no idea about this world. Just pieces, broken and small, like someone ripped out pages from a book and tossed them at him. Nothing clear. Nothing whole.
Who was king? Who was queen? Was there even a king or queen? State? Kingdom? Country? Empire? What the fuck was his goal supposed to be?
"What the fuck is my goal supposed to be? Am I supposed to grind levels? Beat bosses? Collect waifus?!"
His chest rose, and he let out a long sigh.
"Gosss… too many damn questions…" he whispered.
Then the thought came. "What if I ask her?"
He froze mid-step. His head shook fast, side to side. "No. No no no no. ABSOLUTELY not." His hands even waved in front of him like he was rejecting an invisible pop-up window.
Last time he asked, it cost him one full hour of sex to silence her for only three hours. One. Hour. Just to shut her mouth.
"That's… that's not a trade, that's torture disguised as a hentai side quest."
So he walked. Step by step.
He thought to himself—he'd find the nearest village first. Maybe there he could see real people, hear real voices, and start to figure out how this world even worked.
He could gather little things, small pieces of truth, and put them together slowly by himself. Step by step.
"I'm gonna enjoy the silence while it lasts."
But then a question slammed into his head and it felt heavy like a stone hitting his head.
"Oh great, how the hell am I even supposed to go into a human village?" he thought.
His lips curled into a grin before he even realized it. His head tilted back, and the laugh ripped out, loud and broken, spilling out like a man gone crazy and laughing like a man who'd just snapped a few screws loose.
"Ha ha ha ha… oh Liu Yang, you damn fool… you really are a clown. Walk into a village looking like this? What's next, knock on their door and say hello, please don't stab me, I am friendly demon?"
His laugh rolled harder, sharp and ugly, bouncing off the trees.
She froze behind him, her eyes wide, her face pale. Her arms hugged her chest tighter as she stared. She took a step back, spooked. For the first time, she looked scared of him, not for him.
A beep cut the air. A glowing System screen popped up in front of his face.
[Reminder: Host possesses the skill — Charm Morph (Female DLC Pack)]
His laugh snapped off all at once, like someone grabbed his throat and twisted it shut. The sound died ugly in the air, leaving only the faint rustle of leaves.
His head dropped down, heavy, slow, like the neck was made of rusted hinges. It creaked in his bones as it bent.
His eyes rolled down, sharp, locking straight on the glowing screen floating in front of him. The grin on his face was gone. His mouth hung half open, stuck between shock and anger.
His lips twitched. His teeth clenched. "Oh great. Wonderful. Perfect. A whole DLC pack. And female too."
"What am I supposed to do, go cosplay as some pretty village girl and start shouting Nyaa~ buy me bread, mister?!" His hands shot up by his cheeks, fingers bent like cat paws. He tilted his head to the side, sticking his tongue out a little.
His shoulders hunched forward, swaying side to side like some cheap street performer.
A thin ray of sunlight pierced down through the trees and hit his face, lighting up his dumb grin like he was standing on stage.
He even swiped one paw in the air, like a cat trying to scratch somebody.
Her eyes went wide. She froze in place, her arms stiff by her sides. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. It was like her lips wanted to move but her mind slammed them shut, holding the words back.
She didn't know it, but it was his passive skill working, the strange power that shut her mouth when it wanted.
Inside her chest her heart pounded hard. I-Is master… preparing? Her cheeks flared red hot, her breath came quick. "M-master… y-you… you're already… th-thinking of the… of the next… p-position…?"
She squeezed her hands together, her fingers twisting, her knees rubbing, her face so red it almost smoked.
"I-it's too fast… b-but… if master… w-wants… then… I… I'll…" she trailed off, her inner voice so soft it almost drowned in her own heartbeat.
However, inside his head he groaned hard. "System, you're killing me. Out of all the skills in the world, you give me this. Not fireball, not dragon punch, noooo… you give me a skirt."
[Didn't you always pick the female avatar in every game, Host?]
[Why back off now, when it's finally real life?]
Liu Yang's eyes twitched, his jaw dropped open.
"Wha—t-that's different! That was for fashion! For roleplay! For… uhh… bonus stats!"
[Cope harder, Host.]
"…"
His whole face went blank, like his soul just fainted a little.
The System screen blinked right in front of his eyes, glowing sharp.
[Host, you don't have a choice.]
[Either activate Charm Morph – Female Avatar Pack and walk into the village…]
[Or walk in as yourself and let the whole village call for more Demon Hunters.]
The words on System screen flashed again.
[What will you choose, Host?]
[Play as Girl? Or Fight?]