Unaware of the changes unfolding in the household below, Jason eased into his room and plopped down on the bed. He’d managed to avoid any real trouble in school today, and his only real shame had came at lunch as he enjoyed a nice lunch with his friends. Everyone was talking about their characters in Winter’s Tale and all the great adventures they were having and such in game, and he’d been to embarrassed to tell them about what was actually happening with Drun.
“Guess what guys? Apparently the character I play runs around and does things when I’m not online, is married, and has children. Oh, and as if that isn’t odd enough, I’m a smith who can’t make anything except ruined junk. On the upside, at least his wife hates me!”
My god, he’d die from embarrassment if something like that were to ever leak out to his friends! William was dragging Heather all over the land, Darryl had met Seraphine’s character in game. Only him and Kyle had managed to pick places where the others couldn’t get to them easily and interact with them, and he was worried to death that might change at any moment. The way William was bouncing all over the lands, who knew where he was going to end up next!
A look of determination crossing his face, Jason grabbed up his VRIG and sat down on the bed. Pulling the helm up over his head, he leaned back on the mattress and took several deep breaths to calm himself. “Log in, Winter’s Tale,” he commanded softly as his device booted up. Even as much as he dreaded confrontation, he was determined he was going to have to settle things once and for all and take control of at least one part of his life for a change – even if that was just his game life!
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The moment Jason’s awareness shifted to becoming Drun, who was in the smithy, his resolute resolve melted like ice caught in a blazing inferno. Boobs! Boobies! Ta-tas! Whatever you wanted to call them, there they were, bare and uncovered, layered in a glistening sheen of sweat, with a tightly braided beard dangling between them. With his mouth agape wide enough to place a boiled egg upright in it, all Drun could do is stare in amazement.
“Hey, ghost boy! Eyes up top,” Cedine commanded, yanking on his beard and forcing his head up until they were looking eye to eye. “Don’t be getting no stupid ideas, brat. These aren’t for you to be touching. They’re off limits! Understand me?”
“Yes… Yes, ma’am,” Drun stammered, blushing brightly. “How’d you even know it was me?” He just couldn’t understand how she’d know that he’d taken back possession of her husband’s body so instantly. Did all NPCs know when a player was in them, instead of the character running on auto-mode? Somehow, he didn’t think so, or else Cedine would’ve never needed to tell him to wear a blue armband.
“Ya quit ya singing,” Cedine told him, snorting. “I talked to my Drun about your stupid spirit and what was going on. Foolish idiot thinks it’s something to be proud of. ‘I be chosen by the gods or some other great spirit, to be their vessel on this earth. As long as they don’t hurt me family, I think it’s one of them things that can help bring honor to our family, our line!’”
“Dumbass man said he wouldn’t fight with ya, and would help ya support ya friends, as long as you agreed to a few of his rules as well,” Cedine told Drun firmly.
“What rules?” Blushing brightly, Drun had lost all thoughts about standing up and asserting his dominance. Boobs! Bare, bouncing, sweat-glistening boobs!! All he could think about was the full view he’d seen, and it took all his willpower to keep his eyes focused up on Cedine’s, without letting his gaze fall down for another view.
“First, I’m off limits,” Cedine reminded him sternly. “I married that stupid jackass, not you. No touching, no kissing, nothing inappropriate like that at all, or else the deal’s off.”
“That’s fine,” Drun agreed, blushing brightly. Given the chance, would he? Cedine was a bearded dwarf after all – and that wasn’t what anybody considered to be a high standard of beauty or sex-appeal in the world. On the other hand, there was boobs! Could he really resist the lure of such a powerful thing?
Slowly, he found his eyes starting to wander downwards for another glance – just to make certain he could resist temptation, of course! “SMAAKK!!” Cedine’s open palm slapped hard against his jaw, the surprised shock snapping his head back up and forcing his eyes back up to meet hers as she glared daggers at him.
“Second,” Cedine went on, as if nothing had happened at all, “you can’t do anything which will get anyone in our family in trouble or tarnish our reputation or honor.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“I’m not a bad guy,” Drun assured her, rubbing his cheek lightly. “I’m not interested in doing anything which might get me a red name. I’m not a PKer, thief, assassin, or crook. I just wanted to learn how to make stuff to help my friends out, if I can.”
“And what’s your friend’s purpose,” Cedine asked, wrinkling her forehead, looking very worried and serious. “Are they up to no good? Why come here and take over the people of this land? What’s their purpose?”
Blinking, Drun look stupefied for a few moments as he considered it. What was their purpose in playing Winter’s Tale? Unlike a lot of games, Winter’s Tale didn’t seem to come packaged with some great evil out there for the characters to level up and fight. No demon lord, evil invading army, or dark alien threat. Winter’s Tale had simply been packaged as, “a game where anything is possible”. It really didn’t seem to have some great underlying theme, with a plot that eventually channeled the players into ever smaller zones as they leveled up, until they all encountered and did battle with the final boss of the highest tier raid zone.
What exactly was their purpose in playing Winter’s Tale? It was an open ended environment with no end goal in sight. The only answer Drun could come up with was “just to have fun”, but he didn’t think Cedine would like to hear that one the most. ‘Oh, hi Cedine. Me and my friends, we’re just bouncing into your world, possessing the people you seem to know and love, and making them do whatever we feel like because we’re bored. It’s all just for fun. Ha ha! What a great honor for your husband to be chosen for my entertainment!’ Somehow, he just didn’t think an answer like that would go over too well!
“Well?” Impatient for his answer as the moments dragged by, Cedine grabbed him by the beard again, gripping it firmly in her fist.
“It’s… It’s supposed to be a secret!” Not certain what else to say, and not being a very good liar, Drun tried to stammer out an excuse.
“A secret?” Cedine twisted her fist, pulling his beard tight in her grip, and forcing his face down closer to hers. “Ya come here and possess my husband, and then try and tell me it’s some secret? You’re going to tell me this secret purpose, before I go find a priest and have them exorcise you back to whatever hell you came from!”
“I didn’t come from hell,” Drun tried to reassure her. “The truth is…” Biting his lip, Drun’s mind ran in circles as he tried to think of what to say. “The truth is, we came here to stop one of our great evils which escaped from harming this world. Darth Vader was defeated by Chuck Norris and body slammed into the blazing heart of a Star-Destroyer class shop. His spirit escaped the hell it was supposed to go to, thanks to Lex Luther and Dracula teaming up to defeat the Grim Reaper, and then it fled here with a whole swarm of other evil spirits.”
“My friends and I are here to stop them before they can rise to power and bring chaos and destruction to your world,” Drun finished, trembling slightly, expecting her to laugh at him any moment.
“So evil spirits have invaded our world…” Letting go of his beard, Cedine turned and slowly paced back and forth, rubbing her chin and mumbling to herself in deep thought. Rubbing his own chin to ease the soreness out from her rough handling of it, Drun stared shamelessly, taking in each move, each wiggle or bounce, as Cedine paced back and forth.
“I guess that makes sense,” Cedine finally decided, turning and placing her hands on her hips. “You don’t seem like an evil bastard spirit, or else ya’d just do whatever the hell ya wanted. Ya would’ve murdered me, robbed this place, and then went on ya merry way. I’ll trust ya – fer now!”
“Tha… than.. thanks,” Drun stammered several times, staring hard. “I… I… I really don’t mean… mean you any harm. Or.. Or… Or your family!”
Watching him blush and stammer, Cedine slowly shook her head from side to side. “Take a damn good look, ya perverted ghost bastard, and get it out of ya system. It’s too damn hot back in here with all the damn doors and bays shut, and we can’t leave them open and let the damn people find out a worthless bastard like you has taken over my husband and can’t even make a damn frying pan proper!”
“Feast ya damn eyes on these perfect puppies,” smirking lightly, Cedine placed one hand under each breast and then lifted them slightly, “and then let’s get to work teaching ya how the hell ta be a smith – as long as you agree to my idiot husband’s last request!”
“What… What re.. request?” Drun was scarlet from head to toe and fidgeting from foot to foot like a young child wanting cotton candy at a carnival.
“Ya got to share whatever knowledge ya have in that spirit mind of yours with us. Ya might not even know it yourself yet, but Drun believes you might have knowledge from whatever previous life or world you came from, that he could end up using in his work here. He’s willing to let ya use his body to help ya friends with their armor and gear, but ya got to share your mind with him. With us,” Cedine corrected herself, shaking her head slightly from side to side. “The idiot bastard doesn’t even remember when you take over his damn body. He said it just reminds him of when he’s drank too much one night and then it’s all gone the next morn.”
“Ya share ya thoughts and knowledge with me,” Cedine stressed, “and Drun won’t complain about sharing his body with ya.”
“Sure,” Drun agreed, finally turning his back to Cedine. She might just stand there like it wasn’t a big deal – and maybe in some ways it wasn’t; after all, he was inside her husband’s body right now – but it wasn’t something he could accept all at once. People just didn’t run around like that back home – at least not unless they were blond haired, at a lake, and trying to attract some psycho killer!
“I don’t know if anything I know will be useful to you or your husband, but I’ll share what knowledge I can with you,” Drun promised solemnly as he tried to calm the blush down out of his body.
“Good!” Cedine laughed lightly and gave out a slight sigh of relief as if she’d half expected him to refuse. “Now,” she commanded firmly, “get ya perverted spirit ass over here and I’ll get ya started on the basics!”