Day 1
Why a goblin?
If you want a cliche first mob in a game, don’t you usually expect a slime? Or at least a cute little rabbit or something?
But no. I got the one with a knife. So I did the only thing I figured I could.
I ran.
Or tried to. The moment I turned around I stepped on my own hair and tripped.
“Damnit!” Long dark blue hair. Pretty, in an anime kind of way, but being almost to my ankles was a bit overboard don’t you think?
I got back up and tried running again. This time I stumbled over my own bare feet, only catching myself with my small hands.
“Oh come on, work. This is not a good time to be clumsy.” Pushing off I ran again, finally putting some distance between me and the goblin. Looking back I saw it slowly running after me with his knife held over over head.
{Lesser Goblin}
{Level 7}
‘Wait, stats?’ Was this really a game world? No health points though… Looking forward again some more words showed up in my vision like a HUD.
{Taishi} {Title - None}
{Level - 20} {Mana - 58/58}
‘That’s me, so this really must be a game.’ Or maybe a dream, but my skinned knees hurt so there’s no way right? Either way I didn’t want to die just after I got here. What I saw ahead of me didn’t seem to give a choice though.
A cliff. All around me was desert, even in the distance, so it was only by chance that I noticed in time to stop. Unfortunately I was also trapped at a place where the cliff jutted out.
‘Great. I wake up in the middle of a desert with a goblin on one side and a cliff on the other.’
Not having any other choice, I turned to face the goblin. Greenish brown skin and wearing shoddy leather, I couldn’t help but notice he wasn’t much taller than me.
Of course normally I wasn’t this short…
As he neared I quickly planned. ‘All I need is to avoid that knife.’ Thinking through my options I settled for the one most likely to hurt the least and sprinted at the foe.
Now, I had never really fought anyone before but I did have fun against a punching bag occasionally. One time I even broke the bolt it hung from. It was that strength I needed right then, even if I did weigh half what I used to.
The moment I got close enough I jumped, kicking with both feet and all my weight behind me.
*fwump* The direct hit on his chest knocked both of us to the ground.
*clang* ‘Huh?’ Picking myself up quickly I turned toward the noise and saw the goblin’s knife just laying there. ‘Weapon!’ It was like a large chef’s knife, but severely rusted. Wasting no time I rushed to pick it up before facing the threat.
I needn’t have bothered though. As I watched the goblin lay there clutching his chest and even started gurgling blood.
“Ew.” For a game that was disturbingly realistic. What happened next though wasn’t.
After a few seconds the goblin seemed to finally die and grew still, but that didn’t end it. Small pieces of him started flaking away, gradually picking up speed until the whole corpse, leather and all disintegrated. All that was left was a faint wisp of something before that too sank into the ground.
{Skill Unlocked - Unarmed}
‘That’s it?’ A skill. No exp, no loot, not even a status message saying “goblin defeated” or how much damage I did.
‘What kind of crazy game is this?’ I sat down to rethink what was going on, and immediately felt something odd. ‘What the hell?’ I reached behind me and grabbed…
A tail…
“Ah!”
That’s when I realized I wasn’t myself anymore. I was small, had blue hair and a long furry blue tail. On top of that I was wearing a white dress down to my knees.
‘Dress?’ Of course I had to check and sure enough… ‘I’m a girl…’ Not just a girl either. I had a tail. Reaching up I felt my head and sure enough…
“Cat ears? How the hell?” I had no idea. I couldn’t really pinpoint my last memory. Maybe I was dreaming? But that fall earlier hurt. And those pop-ups.
‘Don’t tell me I tried a VR game and it screwed up.’ It was the only thing I could think of. I knew people were experimenting with VR, but the tests hadn’t been successful yet. Or did something happen in the time I can’t remember?
“Great. Is there a GM out there? Or someone who could explain what’s going on?”
Not hearing anything, I searched around and found only a small piece of paper in my dress pocket.
“Welcome to Flora. Enjoy your new life.”
“What? That’s all I get? Flora? What the hell is that? Why am I a girl?” Not getting any answers had me nearly panicking. “Menu. Shit, log out? Fine, at least let me see my stats then.” Right as I muttered that my vision was bombarded with info.
{Taishi} {Title - None}
{Level - 20} {Mana - 58/58} {Age 15}
{Jobs - None} {Condition - Normal}
{Weapons}
{Strength - 9}
Goblin Knife
{Toughness - 6}
{Endurance - 19}
{Equipment}
{Dexterity - 18}
White Dress
{Intelligence - 43}
{Combat Skills}
{Unarmed - 0}
‘Whoa. Okay that’s a lot. Hmm? Fifteen years old, but I’m really small for…’
‘I’m a loli… ‘
So not only was I changed into a girl, I was tiny for my age. And a cat girl no less! My stats even seemed to reflect my size. Ignoring the relatively high intelligence, my strength and toughness were pathetic.
‘Does that mean I’m a mage type?’ There’s mana so there must be something to spend it on. But still, no exp or hp indications.
“This is too weird.” Not really knowing what to do I got back up and looked around. Desert as far as I could see, with the occasional dry bush. It was the same below the tall cliff except when I looked far to the right.
A town. Or maybe a fort, with high walls that blended in with the desert it was hard to tell. Convenient though. Maybe a few kilometers away, but I had to find a way off the cliff first so I walked. Still barefoot I walked along the cliff edge towards the town.
As I walked I realized how easy it was to balance with a tail. Even though I was still not used to my short legs I could do any number of silly tricks. Still, I was careful not to get too close to the cliff’s edge. I might have been a cat girl, but I doubted I would survive the huge drop.
It was odd though how I felt every stone under my feet. Going around barefoot wasn’t really something you did in a city, so it was a new experience for me. I didn’t know if it was because it was just a game or if it was a perk for the cat race, but even when I stepped on sharp rocks it didn’t hurt.
The dress too was easier to get used to than I thought. It didn’t sway too much thanks to my tail going through a ‘sleeve’ in the back. It was simple though, much to my relief, no frills or designs sewed on.
Some time later I finally reached a road. Made of sandstone, it carved its way into the cliff side making an almost perfect ramp down to the ground below. Not wanting to waste time I walked down the sloped side and tripped, yet again. I only slid a little bit, but it felt like my tail hit every rock possible.
“Ow, ow.”
“Are you alright little one?”
‘What? Someone saw that? Wait, I can understand them!’ Grateful to see I had at least been given underwear, I fixed my dress while I replied. “Yeah, no harm done.”
“Good, but what are you doing out here? It’s dangerous you know.” I finally got a good look at the woman talking. Tall and well built, wearing a full set of leather armor, a big rucksack on her back and a large shield and sword at her sides. Her brown hair was cut short, and her face matched her more stocky appearance. She looked maybe twenty years old.
“I don’t really know. I just woke up out there.” If this was another player like me I could get some info but…
“Woke up? A bad teleport perhaps? Let me have a look... Hmm, older than I thought, but what’s with your int? Are you a scholar?”
“What? No, I don’t think so.” Surprised she could see my stats I tried looking at hers.
{Status - Hidden}
“Huh? How is your status hidden?”
“What? Are you sure you didn’t hit your head and forget something? You should know that much by your age.” She stood in a scolding manner.
“Sorry, but I have no idea what’s going on.” I was so confused by what was happening, but at least I ruled out this lady being the same as me.
“Okay tell you what. Come with me into town and we’ll talk there.” With that she bent over and picked me up, carrying me on her side. I felt like a kid.
“Uh miss? I can walk just fine.”
“No way. People would talk if they saw me making you walk barefoot like that. Well, not like I’d listen, but… Oh, why don’t you put that knife in my pack there?” By the way she picked me up I could tell she was strong so it wasn’t like I needed the knife. It was awkward though, being that close to a handsome lady like her. Worse yet, my status had {condition} labeled and I wasn’t sure how detailed it could get. I could be in trouble if I got turned on.
“Miss, if you can’t let me walk, could you tell me how to hide my status?”
“Ah, okay. It’s not hard to do. Hmm, think of your status and the words that show. You see how they are white? That means they are public. To make them private just think of what parts you want to hide and they should go grey.”
‘Was it really that easy?’ Giving it a try, I thought about hiding my stats, and equipment, and sure enough they went grey.
“Yup, that’s all there is to it. Most people hide everything but what they’re comfortable showing to strangers. Like shopkeepers show their job so customers can talk to them.”
“What about you? You hide everything.”
“Ah.” The woman turned away scratching her head before continuing. “Well, if I leave my stats visible people always try and ask me to join their hunts. Also, I don’t like people knowing my name unless I know them.”
‘Well that makes sense.’
“Even though your status is private, immediate family and those you specifically allow can still see it.”
“I don’t have any of those, or at least not any I want to see.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Oops, that put a damper on things. I could tell this woman was nice, but I didn’t want her to pity me. I just needed to figure out what was going on.
“So, any plans for when we get to town?” With the pace she walked, it wouldn’t take long to get there.
“I have no clue. It’s not like I have money or anything. Just this dress and that knife.”
“Did you wake up with the knife? Or…”
“Ah, no. Shortly after I woke up I was attacked by a goblin.”
At this her eyes went wide. “A Lesser Goblin I hope”
“Yeah. I nearly ran off the cliff with it chasing me.”
“Oh my. Well I guess since you have the knife it means you killed him. I’m curious. How’d you do it?”
“Um, well…”
“Hmm? Go on please. I really want to hear how a girl killed her first goblin.” So I told her all about how I did it, only stopping when she started laughing. “You jump kicked it? Haha, you’re lucky it was a lesser goblin then. Hmm, what were your skills like again?”
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I made them public again for her.
“Well, your stats are fairly low other than int. Only level 0 Unarmed though? I’m surprised it only took one kick with that.”
“I got that when the goblin died.”
“So that really was your first monster kill...” After that she went quiet. For a while she walked without saying anything to me, and I was relieved. I didn’t really know what to talk about.
After a short time we neared the gate. Under it there were guards in metal and leather armor checking travelers entering and leaving with what seemed to be a circle pattern on a table.
Not a single guy to be seen. Was this an Amazon town or something?
“Um, miss? We’re here.”
“Huh? Oh, right. Sorry. Go ahead and hide your status again if you want. When we get to the guard, you just need to answer her then touch the symbol. It will show the guard your name, job, and current status. That’s it.”
‘Symbol, like magic symbol?’ “Okay. I guess it’s to catch criminals and such?”
“That’s right. You catch on quick for a kid.”
“Well…” How was I supposed to answer that? Still, it felt like crossing a border, and everyone hates border security.
When we finally reached the gate, the guard handling the inbound travelers looked up and waved us to her.
“You’re back early Selena. And who might the little one be?”
‘So that’s her name.’
“Hi Jils. I picked her up at the cliff pass. Figured I’d help her out a little bit.”
“That’s nice of you. But what was she doing all the way out there? Oh go ahead and touch, Selena.”
And so Selena, still carrying me, leaned over and laid her palm on the circular shape carved into the table. I didn’t see anything but the guard seemed pleased.
“This little girl woke up on the plateau, but doesn’t know how. I figured I’d help a bit.”
“Ah. That’s quite unfortunate. Um, little miss. Would you mind touching this for me? It won’t hurt.”
“Sure” Of course my size seemed to make everyone want to baby me. What could I do to prevent that? I reached out and Selena bent over again so I could reach. Touching the table, I felt a little tingle and saw my name, job and status float and turn so the guard could read them. While looking I noticed my mana drop by 1.
“Taishi? Huh, I’ve never heard that name before. I can’t imagine you were born anywhere around here. Well, you’re good to go in, but try to behave alright? This town can get pretty rowdy sometimes, and even if by accident you could get hurt.”
“Thanks miss.”
“Thanks Jils. I’ll see you around.”
“Take care. Oh, and welcome to Krale.”
The huge sandstone walls gave way to a busy town of similar stone buildings. Thankfully it seemed to cool down inside the walls. As Selena walked we got a few glances, so I asked, “Selena? Um, could you put me down now?”
“Oh, sure. The roads here shouldn’t hurt your feet, but be careful not to get stepped on. There’s only an hour or so until the sun start to set, so where do you want to go?”
“I have no idea. I’m not really hungry yet, or tired.”
“Okay, how about we go clean up then?”
That sounded good to me. My hair was still full of dust and dirt, and the dress wasn’t much different. I even felt the dirt in my tail.
‘So realistic.’ I could feel every little thing. Did virtual reality really advance that far without me noticing?
I followed Selena to a rather large building in the center of town. Just inside was a lobby where we paid and deposited our weapons and Selena’s pack. As we rounded a corner though, my heart dropped.
It was a huge indoor bath, and there weren’t any censors.
‘Is this an adult game?!’
Selena gave me no time to ogle, and walked me to the side where a bunch of wooden lockers were lined on the wall.
“Here we go, just put your stuff in here and I’ll seal it.” She opened up the locker and started unbuckling her armor.
I could only stare. Here I was, a guy stuck in a girl’s body, and I was getting to watch a handsome young woman undress in front of me. I froze. You would too in my condition.
“What are you doing? Come on, you can’t get into the bath wearing that.” Wearing only an undershirt and panties, Selena turned to me and grabbed my dress, yanking it over my head in a smooth motion. I felt my whole body flush as I covered myself.
”Oh come on, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Take those off too,” she said, pointing at my last piece of cloth. Then she turned back to the locker and quickly stripped her last bit of clothes off and into the locker. After a pause, I finally moved and put my own in before she closed the locker with a faint light. Then she lead me to the bath.
Selena was quite muscular under all that armor, but well proportioned, not like a bodybuilder. She even had a respectable chest but not anything you’d call ‘big’.
I won’t describe the sights I witnessed. Let’s just say there were girls of all ages, very few overweight women, and no one hid anything. There were even a few other cat girls there. I was in a constant state of shock and could hardly wash myself. Even as I cleaned up I still felt dirty just being there.
I can tell you about the bath, though. It was much like a shallow pool. Warm water flowed from the center outwards, carrying away any dirt and soap through a grate. When I asked Selena how it worked, she said that every locker had magic symbols that when you supply mana it locks, washes what’s inside, and also uses that mana to supply fresh water to the bath.
Apparently houses and inns also have plumbing that works the same way, though most only use it for the kitchen and toilet. Thank god though. I might have died if the toilets were buckets or some such.
Selena helped me with my enormous amount of hair, and I didn’t look much at myself. Last thing I needed was getting aroused at my own body. My ears and tail felt funny though, even ticklish so I washed them myself.
After finishing and getting dressed again, I asked Selena, “If so much is done with mana, don’t people ever run out?”
“Not often, no. Remember how that symbol at the gate drew mana from you? You should already have that back by now. Generally, a person regains their mana gradually, never taking more than a day to refresh.”
I somehow managed to get through the ordeal without fainting or staring. To this day I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments.
Outside again, I finally felt myself calming down. Looking around, I realized the bath we were in was the size of the whole building. Did guys have a separate one? But as I looked I couldn’t see a single guy anywhere. Though there were quite a few wearing large cloaks hiding themselves, they all had the telltale shape.
‘Is this seriously a town of Amazons or something?’ This was too weird, but it dawned on me that maybe this was the reason I was a girl.
Something else I noticed, blue hair was rare, but not unique. Of the hundreds I had seen, maybe two shared my hair color. Along with blue there were green and pink, even a purple. It was a real eye opener.
“Well, little one. It’s going to be dark soon, so why don’t we head to the inn I’m staying at? If you have any errands you want to make, I can help you with them tomorrow.”
She was right. The sun was already under the town walls, so I figured I’d stick close and maybe ask some crucial questions once we were alone.
We walked a few streets down the road and into a small inn. Selena payed for the night’s dinner for two (it seems she had the room reserved previously) and we headed upstairs to the small room. Immediately I noticed there was only one bed.
“Um, Selena. I don’t mean to sound rude but, where I am going to sleep?”
“Oh, well if you don’t mind you’ll be on the bed with me. I don’t have extra blankets to sleep on the floor, and the area here gets pretty chilly at night. Plus, you’re so tiny we can both fit easily enough.”
“Oh, okay.” She had a good argument, but would I really be able to sleep next to her? My tail also worried me.
Shortly afterward the dinner arrived and I was glad it felt similar to food I was used to. Simple stew of meat, potatoes, and carrots with a thick slice of bread.
During dinner I asked Selena about the world.
The world was called Flora. The times were similar to earth, but one day was 25 hours, a month was 35 days, and a year was 10 months. I later did the math and one year on Flora was almost exactly the same as on Earth.
Seasons were similar as well, with it currently being early spring. The town of Krale was near the equator though, and never really felt the winter.
What really surprised me though, was that Selena had no idea what a moon was. No moon, how does that work? Were the devs really that lazy? At least the stars were bright enough to make up for it.
As for monsters, they spawn wherever there aren’t people.
“Spawn?”
“Yes. They don’t give birth like animals or people do. Instead they spawn from the ground.”
Maybe because I wanted to tease Selena, I asked “Then how do people do it?”
“Oh, well you’re still too young to go into details, but when two women become wives one or both of them can get pregnant.”
‘Oh god. Is this truly a world without men?’ Same sex couples were commonplace by the time I grew up, but if two girls could get pregnant what place would men have?
“Oi, you really weren’t taught anything were you? Don’t worry about it. You can’t get pregnant until you start having periods anyway and they don’t start until you’re about my age. Around 19 or so.”
Okay, if this was a game they put way too much work into the details there. But that meant I had four years or so before I had to worry about that problem.
“What about males?”
“Males? Oh little one, only animals have male and female counterparts. Though some people do say God could be our male.”
That settled it. This was a world of only women. I could handle a town, but the whole world? What kind of company would greenlight a game like that? Although, it would explain why I was a girl, but why was I so small? If I had to create a female character… I would…
“Hey Selena? Do you have anything I could look at myself with?”
“Well I don’t have a mirror but my sword should work well. Why, what is it?”
She handed me her sword but unsheathed it only enough for part of the blade to show. Using that I looked at my face. Bright blue eyes, perky cat ears and a cute face, no wonder I got looks, but that wasn’t all. Thinking back I realized I recognized it.
This was a character I once made for a game. It was years back, but I got bored one time and made a female character to see a different storyline.
No wonder. That had been the only female character I played for more than a few days. The reason being that I had achieved a unique class that I wouldn’t be able to get again so I stuck with it.
The class was Berserk Mage. A class that excelled when farming solo. Using two weapons, it ran into packs of enemies and used area of effect spells around itself. It melted small fry quicker than most classes, but since it used agility and mana regen instead of strength or intelligence, it sucked at taking out stronger foes. Not once did I ever defeat a similar level boss without lots of help.
‘Is that what I’m supposed to be? If so, then I might actually have fun in this world.’
“Hey Selena, this world has magic right?” I asked as I handed her sword back.
“You ask as though you weren’t born here yourself. Of course we have magic. Every living animal and monster has mana which can be used that way.”
“So I could learn magic? Like fire and ice?”
“Yeah, but unless you’re a complete natural you need to get lessons from the clerics. Unfortunately I haven’t even been able to save up enough for that, though I’m close.” As she finished Selena let out a big yawn. “Excuse me. How about we go to bed now?”
It sounded like a good time for it, so after a quick and very awkward trip to the restroom I changed into a spare shirt Selena offered. I was worried she would sleep naked after the baths, but she actually had complete sleepwear.
It took some time to get used to laying next to a girl, but eventually my first day came to an end.