My axe slammed into the robo-goblin’s guts, spilling out its insides. Gears, cogs, and black oil spilled out, staining my axe and cluttering the hard stone floor of the cave with more assorted junk.

  “I asked for a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, and this is what I get?” I mutter to myself as a notification pops up, “You have gained 120 exp.”

  I touch the corpse with one hand and spoke the magic word, “Autoloot,” immediately the corpse fades away and my backpack gets slightly heavier as twelve gold coins are added to my inventory. “I’m so glad I don’t have to dig around inside each of these things,” I mutter.

  My lantern, hanging from my backpack, flickers, and I realize it is time to refill the oil. I calmly remove the shoulder straps and put the large pack down, digging around inside the random assortment of loot and gear for a spare flask of oil. “These robo-goblins have oil for blood, and they never drop any oil flasks?” I complain. Boy, I sure do love talking to myself, maybe it’s the oppressive silence and darkness inside this near-endless dungeon crawl, I think to myself.

  “Um, hi Sam, what are you doing?” A familiar voice asks, startling me into spilling the contents of my backpack across the rough stone floor.

  “Ah, sorry about that, didn’t mean to scare you,” Margaret tells me, as she bends over to pick up some of the stray items, quite deliberately wiggling her attractive elvish ass at me as she does.

  “What are you doing in my dreams again?” I ask, “Didn’t Doppel put up security or something?” I frown at Margaret’s ass, marveling at how she manages to turn something as mundane as picking up random junk into a tease. Maybe it’s how her skirt is almost short enough so everything is fully revealed? Or is it more like a mid-thigh long layered shirt with nothing underneath? Either way, there is not much left to the imagination, I conclude. Belatedly, I realize that I did have the option of looking away, and I do so until she straightens up, holding a pair of healing potions and a canister of oil against her generous bosom.

  “Are you dreaming though? I mean, as a technical question. It’s been twelve hours, and Doppel is running out of excuses for why she doesn’t want to do magic tricks for Il’antra. It sort of looks like Il’antra wants you to be her padawan or something. At this point, we’re almost sure you’re just lying in bed with your eyes closed, not actually sleeping, but Doppel can’t safely enter your dreams for technical reasons related to brain wave resonance?” Margaret made it sound as if she wasn’t sure she believed the techno-jargon Doppel had used as an excuse. “So, Doppel decided it was safer to send me, just in case. You want to wake up and go take some magic lessons from a crazy Ulderani mage?” Margaret asked me.

  “Um, yeah, I’d rather not. That bitch literally gave me nightmares.” I tell Magaret, frowning and crossing my muscular arms over my chest. The tenth-floor boss had born a striking resemblance to the Ulderani woman. “And I’d rather play a barbarian than pretend to be a mage.” I was all the way up to level 19, only a few more robo-goblins until I hit level twenty, and then I’d finally be ready to clear this floor boss. “Status screen,” I mutter to check my character’s progress.

Name: Sleeping Sam Class: Barbarian Level 19 HP - 235/256 MP - 0/0 Exp - 26,511/27,000

  There was only 500 more exp until I hit my level 20 power spike.

  “Are you… playing an RPG?” Margaret asked incredulously.

  I shrugged. “Maybe, I mean, when I woke up in this VR world I was in my Sleeping Sam body, but I still had my memories. Then I got bored, started imagining things to fight with my axe. Lucid dreams are boring if you don’t actually do anything. Then I realized it didn't feel satisfying to kill random wildlife without progressing somehow. That’s when I decided to import some rogue-like RPG elements into my dream, created a character sheet, and here we are."

  “Ah.” Margaret looked lost in thought as she wiggled her fingers over some sort of screen only she could see, “This isn’t an existing game, Sam, you’ve used Ulderani tech to code something interesting. The computer just sort of dredged your subconscious for what you expected to see and filled in all the gaps. I don’t ever think I’ve ever seen anyone code a game like this, but it’s stable. A permanent VR world with its own rules and systems that won't go away unless you delete it. It’s like a dream-game hybrid. Hard to tell where the dream ends, and the computer game begins. You might end up discovering things about yourself that you didn't want to know in here,” She added pensively.

  “So, what, that’s not how most VR games get coded?” I asked.

  “Hell no, usually it takes years, millions of dollars and a team of programmers. This is great, why hasn’t any Shipbrain tried this before?” Margaret asked, sounding excited.

  “Maybe they have and they didn’t feel like sharing their subconscious with a wider market? Most of the bosses and things are pulled from my fears and phobias. The first nine levels were just all about robot-spiders.” I shuddered.

  “That sounds awful. Why would you torture yourself and keep playing?” Margaret asked, examining me closely.

  “I’m tired of being afraid,” I mutter. “I don’t know. It feels like when I panic, when I’m scared, that’s when my magic is strongest and I have the least control. I was hoping to level up my courage maybe. Sounds silly now that I say it out loud like that though.” I admitted, feeling self-conscious.

  “Ah, it is my turn to play cheerleader and armchair psychologist? Sam, you’re very brave, stop feeling sorry for yourself and go face reality.” Margaret told me with a straight face, then broke up laughing. “No way, I can’t do it. Me? Telling you to go face reality? I’m a broken mess, Sam. You do not want me to play your shrink. Trust me on that.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “You’re not that bad, Margaret. A little over the top, and a bit of a slut, sure. But broken? You don’t seem broken to me.” I told her.

  “Yeah? I’m pretty fucking broken. Let me prove it.” Margaret paused, cleared her throat, and stretched a bit, reminding me somehow of an actor getting ready to play a part. “Hey, so since we’re here in VR, want to fuck?” Margaret asked me with a leer, her tone and demeanor changed back into the abusive sexy enchantress I remembered from that first encounter.

  “Oh my God, Margaret, what do you think you’re trying to prove here?" I complained, "I’ve already accepted that my sexuality is bi-curious, especially given how often I am a beefy man in my dreams. You’re not going to make me panic just by throwing yourself at me.”

  “That sounds like a challenge,” Margaret said with an evil grin. She undid the clasp holding her flimsy clothes and stood proudly, defiantly naked, flush perky breasts, smooth curvey skin fully exposed. “I think you’ve still got issues about what I did to you. Work them out. Work out all your frustrations by messing me the fuck up, with your dick.” Margaret said, leaning in closer.

  “You’re a goddamn slut, Margaret, and I’m not falling for it. Begone Thot!” I told her, proud of myself for having found an obscure 21st-century meme that I was reasonably sure Margaret had heard. More annoyed than angry, I pushed her away as she reached out to trail her fingers along my chin.

  “Oh verbal and physical abuse, I love it!” Margaret said with a sexy shudder. “Abuse me more. Wait, no this place isn’t right. Teleport!” Margaret chanted, using her magic to teleport us to… a sex dungeon. The room was actually a bit like a supersized version of the old Shipbrain’s room, with the addition of more exotic-looking sex torture toys, all sorts of chains, whips, and even a piston-powered sex machine?

  “For the love of God, Margaret, why are you like this?” I asked, exasperated.

  “Didn’t you say you were conquering your fears? Now get over here and conquer me.” Margaret said as she hopped on something that looked like a rack. The manacles snapped into place. “See this is easy mode. I’m already stuck here, just work out your frustrations on me.” She groaned a bit breathlessly as the manacles wrapped around her legs and the padded frame splayed her open, pulling her legs apart to hold her helplessly exposed, her wet, luscious, pink lower lips on full display.

  “This is so wrong, Margaret, I’m not into this. I don’t even know why you find it fun to tease me like this. It’s not at all romantic or sexy.” I sighed, turning away from the lewd display, trying to find a place to safely rest my glaze. There were a lot of mirrors though, and Margaret was visible in a lot of them.

  “Fuck romance, fuck sexy. Sex is about you slamming that hard piece of flesh into me while I’m stuck here helpless. It means nothing, no emotional attachment. I’m not looking for a fucking boyfriend, Sam. Just nut up and make me cum, or wake up. Either way, I win.” Margaret told me angrily.

  “Alright, I get it now.” I said, angry myself, “You’re going to force me to do this unless I wake up and deal with the crisis in the real world?”

  “Sam, don’t go trying to turn yourself into the victim. There are no victims here. You’ve got your wits, I’m strapped to this evil gyno chair. Either fuck me like the dirty slut that I am or wake up. Your choice. I’m not forcing you to do a damn thing, well except maybe I’m forcing you to stop playing that bizarre RPG you made out of your dreams.”

  “And if I fuck you.” I said with a growl, “Will you get this out of your system and go find some new fuck toy to torment?” I asked her.

  “Maybe, yes,” Margaret said with a shrug that made her perfect breasts jiggle. “It’s worth a shot. Either way, if you do this thing, just remember; There is nothing between us Sam, don’t go tangling up your emotions. I’m not monogamous and I don’t expect you to be. This is just a fucking game.”

  With a growl, I ripped off my loincloth and stood exposed, fully aroused. “Is that what this is about?” I asked angrily. “Are you just trying to prove that I was wrong to get upset at what you did last time? Prove it didn’t matter?”

  “Sam, for the love of Satan. I’m just fucking horny. Either jam that thing inside me or I’m going to summon a fucking orc. I swear to Lucifer, your eyeballs will bleed when you see a gross orc raping me while you’re stuck here watching. That’s the alternative now.” Margaret informed me.

  I shuddered, she would. “Alright, you win. But, you know what? Fuck you, I’m going to make you enjoy some nice gentle sex.” I told her. With that, I kneeled between her exposed lower lips and started ravishing her with my tongue. I’d had very limited experience in this sort of thing as I had leaned a lot more hetero in my past life, but I knew what I liked when men did it to me.

  “What are you doing?” Margaret asked, sounding genuinely confused, “You’re raping me wrong.”

  “Fuck you, Margaret,” I muttered around the tiny pearl hidden in her depths, I remembered what she had done to me and I decided to play around, lengthen my tongue, and then duplicating it inside my mouth so that it felt like she was being stimulated by many tongues at once.

  “Ahhh, fuck.” Margaret groaned. “That’s good. I mean, considering how boring you’re being right now...”

  “Oh, and by the way, I’m making you taste like strawberries.” I informed Margaret, “Just for fun, because I’m not a fan of the normal flavor.”

  Margaret snorted in disbelief. “Come kiss me, I wanna taste.”

  “Nah-uh, you’ll bite my tongue off,” I told her. Then I bent down to dig back into giving Margaret a multiple tongue-lashing as she squirmed and moaned, forced to feel good against her will.

  “This… ah… dumb… vanilla sex… isn’t going to make me… oh… cuMMMM!” Margaret squealed as I forced her over the edge. Her orgasm making her squirm helplessly. “Shit.” She muttered.

  I grinned in triumph as I moved up between her legs to gently lick a nipple. “Relax, I’m going to take it nice and slow, see how many times I can make you climax with kind gentle love-making until you beg me to stop.” I waved my hand and her restraints fell away, leaving her free to leave if she felt inclined.

  Some part of me realized this wasn’t really like me at all. But, maybe Margaret was right, and I needed to take back some control by working through my issues. I was tired of feeling conflicted all the time. Worrying about right and wrong, how I should or shouldn’t be behaving, that it felt so liberating to just do the wrong thing, let myself be a little bit bad.

  “I honestly have no idea how to feel about this,” Margaret admitted. “But shit, you know what? Do your worst, I can take it!”

  “That’s the spirit,” I told her as I slowly slid myself into her depths, marveling again at how incredible it felt to be wrapped by her warm wet insides. Then I gently grabbed the little nub of pleasure between her legs and rubbed it up and down softly as I moved slowly in and out. I’d once found a boyfriend in college who’d done this to me and it had blown my mind.

  Margaret groaned helplessly as she felt the double stimulation. I was going to have a lot of fun with this, I thought to myself, trying to find just the right angle to rub against her G-spot with every stroke...