So You're Asking Why This Is a Trash Game?

SMACK—

"Hngh!? …Shit."

The sudden moan short-circuited my brain. Then I was shocked all over again when I realized the sound had come out of my own mouth.

What kind of move was that supposed to be, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyway — hitting myself and then being surprised by it?

…It was such a vivid dream that I'd slapped my own cheek looking for an escape hatch. How many times had I done that now? My face stung with a dull heat, and no matter how many times I repeated it, I was starting to understand that the gesture meant nothing.

Somehow my knees went a little weak every time I smacked my cheek, but that wasn't the important part right now.

"Ugh… don't mess with me…."

Whether I liked it or not, I had no choice but to accept it. A place as familiar as my own bedroom was spread out right in front of me — how was I supposed to deny that?

…This was Aeternia. One look at the sky, where the sun and moon were snuggled up together like a couple, was all the proof I needed.

I sank down onto the dirt, tipped my head back, and stared blankly while my thoughts churned. Every so often a breeze would catch the long black hair spilling down my back and set it swaying.

……

Anyone could see this was Lisette. Looking at her this close up, from the inside, was enough to drive me crazy in a whole different way.

A scrap of cloth that barely covered my chest, and every time the wind blew, the sensation between my legs was horrifyingly empty.

I wasn't sure you could even call this a proper outfit, and thanks to these damn panties, a weird little moan kept slipping out of my mouth every time I took a step.

"Filthy tight…."

I nodded my head up and down over and over, trying to decide if this was real.

"Huuuuh…"

No matter how many sighs I let out, no matter how much time I killed, nothing changed. …I already knew that, and I still sat there doing it for a long while.

Something that was supposed to be there was gone, and there was nothing I could do about it. The companion of my entire life… ugh. I checked again and again. Still nothing.

I understood now, with perfect clarity, just how important that thing had been. Every time I took a normal step, the panties rode up into the cleft between my legs. Anyone could tell these things had been designed wrong. Honestly, they were just a T-back.

…For the first time, I regretted ever starting an adult game.

Being a succubus was a pretty rough job, huh. Yeah.

For a second I even considered just stripping the cloth scrap off and walking around naked. It honestly seemed like it'd be easier to move that way.

I dropped the idea immediately. The second I took it off, a pack of raging hard goblins came charging at me.

This damn body just had to be a succubus, so apparently it pumped out yin energy nonstop even when I stood still. And if I took the clothes off on top of that?

That was a walking aphrodisiac.

Fighting, at least, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't a problem. Trash mobs like goblins went down easy enough.

It was less that I was thinking my way through combat and more that the body reacted first and carried the fight on its own.

The movements were a little different from the Lisette I'd watched inside the game. Probably my own muscle memory bleeding through.

For the first time, I was glad I'd done so many sports growing up. Well done, past me.

So there was really only one problem. Not a bunch of things — just one.

This goddamn lewd body.

SMACK—

"Nngh……."

……Still. I had things to do. If I kept going this way, there should be a small village. First priority: find some clothes that could actually cover this body.

I'd stopped by that village countless times while farming Lisette deaths, so I remembered the direction perfectly.

……Ah.

Was this karma?

"……A demon?"

"Ah, yes. Hello."

"……."

I said hello. Could you maybe say it back? You're making this awkward. ……Person? Whatever.

"I didn't come here to cause any trouble. I don't even have the strength for that."

"……Ah, right…."

She was looking at me with the most untrusting eyes. Hey, young lady. A decent person like me…

……Lady?

Why did it say virgin floating over her head?

"Um… did I do something wrong, or……."

"Huh? Oh, no. Nothing at all…."

The surreal sight left me staring blankly at the woman in front of me.

Yeah, this was definitely inside the game. What even was all that….

I felt like I'd accidentally peeped into a woman's private life. No — why was the game even showing me this kind of information?

It could've at least shown me my own status window. Zero info about myself, and it dumps someone else's dirty laundry on me? What was I supposed to do with that?

…And what were those locks, anyway? Now I was curious.

……

…That wasn't the priority right now.

I'd figure it out gradually. I was going to run into plenty of people from here on out.

I'd been through this neighborhood enough times that I didn't bother asking for directions.

If I kept chatting, that trust number would probably go up, but I decided against it. I didn't even know what raising it was good for.

Right now I needed something — anything — to cover this sticky lower half.

Hurry. Just hurry….

"Ahh…."

Would you shut the hell up.

Please…….

Ding—

"Oh my, welcome. What a cute little demon girl."

"…Hello."

I wasn't a demon, and I wasn't a girl. ……Whatever. I'd roll with it. She seemed a lot nicer in person than she ever had in the game, though.

Alright — I'd already exchanged the magic stones from those goblins, and this much money should cover a normal set of clothes.

Pants.

Pants, no question.

I didn't need anything else.

Ah, yeah, this should be comfortab—

"……Ugh, expensive."

Why? How? Why did a pair of completely ordinary-looking pants cost fifty gold?

"I think a skirt would suit you better, miss."

I'd gotten so absorbed browsing the clothes that I'd forgotten about the shopkeeper for a moment.

At some point she'd pressed in right behind me, her voice sliding out soft. She turned this way and that, looking me over — there was no malice in her eyes, but still….

"Nn……."

Embarrassing. This was genuinely, mind-breakingly embarrassing. A scrap of cloth was still the entirety of my wardrobe.

Even if it wasn't my body, this was mortifying.

And if she looked that closely…….

"Oh my."

……Ah. Right.

Belatedly, I clapped a hand over my crotch. ……She'd seen it. She'd definitely seen it.

I hoped she wouldn't get the wrong idea. I was absolutely not some exhibitionist who got off on people staring while I wore an outfit like this.

It was just… just that the clothes were so tight my crotch had gone into heat on its own.

…Thinking about it that way made it sound even weirder.

"You're going to put pants on like that? They'll get soaked."

The sultry little smile on her face as she looked at me finally let the full wave of shame crash in.

What, did she think I was some succubus who went into heat at all hours of the day? I really wasn't. It was just these damn panties.

But then — shouldn't I be buying underwear first, not pants? …I really had been walking around without a single thought in my head.

Ah… my head hurt. I should go back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out and kill a few more goblins. Blow off some stress while I was at it. And, belatedly, figure out what I was actually supposed to do first.

"I, uh, I'll come back later."

"…Oh? Hold on a second, miss. How about this, then?"

A hand caught my wrist just as I tried to walk out. She stepped in front of me and looked down, half-lidded eyes boring straight through me.

What. Why. Why are you looking at me like that….

"I'll do it for free. I've always wanted to dress up a demon girl at least once."

Huh?

"……Free?"

…Well. Hmm.

It was absolutely not that the word free had hooked me.

I just really, really did not want to see that green goblin stuff again.

…Truly.

"Aaaaaah……."

A string of empty, broken little breaths tore out of me one after another. I tried desperately to reject the clothes that had entered my field of vision — which was to say, the clothes I was currently wearing.

"I'll be looking forward to your next visit~"

I pointedly ignored the woman smiling in satisfaction as she saw me off.

Never. No matter what happened, I was never setting foot in this place again. What I'd wanted was everyday clothes. The kind of outfit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that would look natural no matter where I went.

This was not that…….

I needed to get out of here. Fast. If I stuck around the village dressed like this, I had a feeling people were going to get certain ideas. Subjective as that assessment might have been.

…But was this why she'd told me to come back? Damn, she was good at her job.

Still, it was better. At least something wasn't digging into me with every step the way it had before. I could walk. That was genuinely important to me.

Ah. So cool and free. This strange sense of liberation….

……Cool?

"Uwah— A-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH——!!!!"

What was with that girlish scream? No — no, that wasn't the point——!!

"Underwear! Where's the underwear!?"

I yanked the shop door open and shouted at her without preamble. My lower half was weirdly, alarmingly breezy. Forget easy to move in — this was full-on slutty dresser territory…….

"…Oh? I thought you'd left it off on purpose. Did you just forget?"

"……What?"

On purpose? Of course not.

I'd just… forgotten…….

"……I'm sorry."

I was so embarrassed I wanted to die……. What on earth did she think of me….

"Heehee. Your boyfriend would've loved it."

"I don't have one of those—!!"

Boyfriend? I was a guy.

……Was I?

I didn't have any particular business left in the beginner village. It was basically just a tool for understanding the game systems anyway.

So I left right away. I'd managed the most urgent problem — the outfit — one way or another.

I'd flailed around for a bit thanks to the suddenly different body, but at the end of the day, the essence of this situation was that I was inside the game I'd been playing.

Missing the real world was definitely part of it… but since things had turned out like this, shouldn't I try everything I could? Maybe along the way I'd figure out how to get back.

It was only a hope. But hope beat having nothing.

First stop: the very first stage, Liabet. I had the entire storyline memorized, so that shouldn't be a major issue. I'd probably need to level up some, but grinding the monsters I ran into along the way should take care of that.

Rustle—

Ah. Perfect timing.

Early on you only got goblins, or at worst a stray orc that had wandered off from its pack, so whatever it was, I could handle it. Nothing beat live combat for getting your battle sense back.

Variant types didn't show up until later, so I didn't think I'd lose to anything I ran into right now. …Probably?

Anyway — first I needed to figure out what had made that sound…

"……Hup—"

Between the trees, a disgustingly familiar silhouette came into view.

……

I'd forgotten. No — I genuinely hadn't even thought about it.

Of all things, I'd blanked on that? Was that even a thing a person could do?

If I ran into her right now, my future wouldn't just go dark — there was no telling what might happen.

Either way, I had to slip out of here quietly. No matter what.

As quietly as possible……

CRACK—

……Heh.

I was so screwed.

"Looks like you saw something you weren't supposed to."

"……Ah—ha… hello?"