Nymphsaga/Invitation to the World of Nymphs

Invitation to the World of Nymphs

"Is it too childish?" That had been a common concern amongst the fans of modern virtual reality gaming ever since the brand-new MMORPG Nymphsaga was announced to the world. The new adventure game made and designed by a global gaming giant "Mormia Studios" had become famous even before its release, and the debate happening online was hotter than ever on the eve of its release. It wasn't all just criticism, as the game had also gained massive support from some communities, thanks to its bold stance on playable characters, who all were little children. Because of this, it was quite clear to everyone, believers and skeptics alike, that this game would not be for everyone.

The game was heavily inspired by its much more popular "Big Brother" in "Mormia Online", which had been dominating the virtual reality gaming and roleplaying scene for over ten years. Nymphsaga's plot was expected to be much simpler, and its setting smaller in scale compared to the absurdly massive sandbox that is Mormia, where you had all kinds of content from casual adventures and massive raids to player-versus-player tournaments. The story - the details of which were meant to be left as a surprise - was about a struggle for survival, told from the standpoint of Nymphs, a race of childlike creatures resembling fairies against whatever dangers they would discover in the world of Phantasm. The game was also promised to juggle around - and be a testing ground for - revolutionary game mechanics that would tie every individual's actions to the whole world around them. For example, when a player would complete a significant task - or fail in their quest - the entire player base would be affected. Killing a raid boss would result in the raid boss staying dead for a very long time, if not indefinitely, but that's just one example.

However, its most significant difference from its predecessor was in how the abilities worked. The highly intelligent "Ability-assistant Software" - popularized by "Mormia Online" - had been completely removed, meaning that the players could no longer rely on a system that would automatically enhance and automate their bodily movements to help in combat. In other words, the system that could, in theory, turn even a beginner into a master swordsman without training, had been replaced with a system where that training would be a hard requirement, putting a great emphasis on raw talent and hard work, just like in the real world. On the flip side, the few abilities that the players had would be a lot more powerful, especially when executed correctly. The point was to make the skill cap much higher, all this considered.

Not much else of substance was known before the release, but finally, after years of closed development, the game reached its next logical stage with the beginning of its closed alpha test. Getting to experience this world early was a privilege meant for a lucky few, with less than one percent of the applicants being allowed in, either by a chance of lottery or as a special invitation for those who had loyally been playing "Mormia Online" and reaped success and rewards within it.

Amongst the lucky few is a middle-aged lad from rural southern Ireland, about to take his first step into this new and exciting world. In fact, it's not going to be just a first-ever step into a new, fresh, and completely unexplored world, as it's going to be a first-ever for him in other respects as well. Not only will he become a child, just like everyone else, but on top of it, he will also assume a female avatar for the alpha test, something that's utterly abnormal to him. 'It's not like it's going to matter after the test period is over since I'm not going to keep this character', he reasons as he does the finishing touches to his avatar. 'That's the last I'm going to be able to look at her after I log in', he realizes as he remembers he will be locked into first-person gameplay inside the game, with no third-person camera as a quality of life feature. Nodding confidently, he completes the character creation, telling himself it will be an awesome experience.

He doesn't have to face a new and exciting world alone either and has the pleasure of exploring a new game with two of his old mates from the Guild, and his excitement to meet them online is palpable. His friends - one living in Stockholm, Sweden, and another in Kyoto, Japan - will meet him as soon as the game launches. They even know where they will meet, as the map of the starting zone with all its services and facilities has been available to the public for a long time.

Wondering if he's going to be the first in the meeting place, or perhaps even the last, he puts on his new, upgraded VR headset, turns on the power, and then, as the servers finally go online, he dives into the world of Nymphsaga.

---

A strange sensation fills the body of our young hero, now a heroine, a feeling one would perhaps compare to a sudden awakening from a long, long slumber. He, or now "she", finds herself wide awake as if snapping out of a nightmare, in a standing position, with sounds and a pleasant scent of nature invading his senses. A calm wind strokes her hair, and she takes a deep breath, amazed by what she's experiencing. It feels nothing like the game she was used to playing in the past. Of course, Mormia looks realistic, and it even manages to mimic some senses a human would feel in the real world, but what she feels in Nymphsaga brings the realism to a completely different level. It doesn't just feel like ten years of development to him; no, it feels more like a leap of ten decades of technological improvement. 'There's just no way a videogame can feel this realistic', she wonders in awe. 'It's like I'm still in the real world.'

Her attention is drawn to her new pale and petite body, the girl called "Rain". The name really is just a shortened version of "Rainmaker", the name of her character in Mormia.

Standing at 130 centimeters (About 4'2" feet for my American friends), which is meant to be average for a Nymph, Rain has a flat chest and surprisingly plump, juicy hips and buttocks. She packs a lot of meat in her hips - at least for a child - which is by no means a negative thing, as the person inside this avatar is a devout ass man. She touches her short yet pointy elf ears, surprised at how sensitive and tickly they are, and then moves on to inspect her bright-red, unnaturally fiery hair. Reaching all the way to the bottom of her ribcage, it has been braided masterfully into two trails. Lastly, she adjusts the black-framed glasses she's got on top of her little knob of a nose and tries turning and walking around a little.

For a moment, Rain wishes she could look at herself in a mirror, just so she could see her cheeks mottled with freckles and her large, shy, and tired-looking eyes with dark, almost black irises shaped like cogwheels. She has to admit to having a bit of a "resting bitch face", as they say, but based on what she remembers from the character creation screen, that face is cute beyond measure.

With her eyes still locked on her new body, her hands finally find the courage to touch the goods. With her plain white zip-up hoodie covering her entire upper body well, she can get a good feel of her shape, even tapping her flat chest and belly several times. Turning and moving around, she notices her cute black mini skirt flutter, and she raises her knees to get a good look at her black-and-white striped knee-socks and plain white casual shoes. As she does a couple of upward, standing jumps, a wild thought suddenly crosses her mind: 'Can I inspect myself without clothes?'

Unable to fight the allure, she pulls the cross-shaped zipper down, finding nothing but an uncensored bare chest of a little girl underneath. There are no undergarments, no sports bra, nothing at all; just a bare, flat chest, and the sight of it causes her to inhale from shock, and exhale a soft whisper. "Holy shit", she utters, still staring her own body down in shock, with wild thoughts running through his mind. 'I knew this game is not suitable for minors, but seriously, what the fuck!? A child's bare chest!? I was expecting unremovable underwear or something! Isn't this shit illegal in some countries this game is marketed in?'

A smirk appears on her lips as she then asks herself, 'if my chest is like this, how about the rest of my body? Is everything going to be uncensored? Even genitals!? Could I be able to get completely naked!?' As a closeted pedophile - or as she prefers to call herself, a "lolicon" - she hopes the answer is yes, because the man inside that avatar has never seen an actual, naked prepubescent girl with his own bare eyes.

She quickly snaps out of it, pulling the zipper up - almost expecting to be noticed by someone - but as she looks around, carefully observing the world around her avatar, she notices her quiet solitude. Standing on a beaten path running through the green thicket, all around her are small trees and shrubs, bushes, and flowers in bright colors, which all help her hide on the roadside.

Confident she wouldn't be seen by anyone walking down the road, she walks into the bushes, and slowly reaches her tiny hand between her legs. Underneath the avatar's silky underwear, she feels the softness of her new genitals, warm to the touch, even with a thin fabric of luxurious panties between the finger and her vulva. 'No fucking way', is her first immediate thought, but she doesn't stop there. She pulls on her panties to see if she can strip them down, only to find the answer to be a loud and resounding yes. 'If I can remove my underwear, can I get completely naked?'

With her heart still running a marathon and her face feeling like a million degrees, she nervously decides that such intimate discoveries are better saved for another time and place. After all, she has two people she's supposed to meet, and she doesn't want to keep them waiting. But even as she leaves the bushes, the thought just doesn't go away. Unlike Mormia, which had no genitals or removable underwear, Nymphsaga has both, down to an uncomfortably realistic degree. This wasn't even something that was advertised. 'I'm basically a real girl now', she tells herself over and over again. 'But that's fine', she finally adds. 'It's not a big deal. Just not what I expected.'

Next, to find where she is and where the meeting place is, she decides to open the user interface. As she's used to, the interface can be opened with the so-called "Swipe Spell". To cast it, one must swipe their hand horizontally for a length that exceeds the span of their shoulders. For her, it's an easy feat to accomplish, but one must never forget that the fingers must be pressed together, or else risk looking like a fool swinging their arm aimlessly.

A holographic screen - about the size of a fifty-inch television - appears in front of her. The main page of this interface is always a map, which can be zoomed in and out, working similarly to a navigator application on a smartphone's touch screen. He quickly figures out his location, checks where she's headed, and with no navigator to help her outside the map, she plans a route for herself to get from point A to B. Luckily, it's not a long walk, and she only has to take two turns.

As she finally leaves the thicket, she finally gets to observe what the world around her looks like. Around her is Grove, the starting zone for the players of Nymphsaga, said to be the last remaining safe bastion for Nymphs in Phantasm, and she finds herself awestruck by the sights of this bright green, broad-leaf forest. Unnaturally large trees fill her vision as far as the eye can see, with their long branches, along with millions upon millions of leaves, offering a breathtaking blanket above the forest floor, and while she can see many thickets similar to the one where she came from, the forest is dominated by neat meadows and flower fields, in the middle of which the public roads and paths zig-zag through the woodland. Wild berries and fruits also appear abundant both on the roadside and in the meadows, and she doesn't hesitate to take a bite of an apple she picks up along the walk. 'Taste's just as good as in the real world', she realizes, holding her hand over her mouth in surprise.

Based on pictures she remembers seeing online, most houses outside the central district resemble treehouses and are either entirely or partially built inside these trees. Although the area she's currently in is very sparsely populated, she can see some of them along her walk. As for the Nymphs inhabiting these houses, she only comes across a few. The dozen or so Nymphs she comes across all appear to be fellow players, and to her surprise, they all also appear to be female. 'Are female avatars really that popular as opposed to male ones?', she wonders.

And then, she finally makes it to her destination, an X-shaped intersection in the middle of a well-maintained public garden, with a small fountain marking the location. After double-checking the map and confirming she is indeed in the right spot, she tries looking for her friends but finds absolutely nobody else around. Assuming she's the first one to arrive, she decides to spend her free time wisely studying and making decisions on what kind of a "role" she is going to fill. So, she finds a comfortable-looking tree to lean her back against, ensuring she would be easily noticed by anyone passing her.

---

Having chosen her class as Soldier and having picked her starting weapon, Rain continues to enjoy the sounds of nature and the occasional cute, soft-spoken voices of the players passing by, with a steel claymore by her side. 'It's been like ten minutes since I came here', she complains as she grows slightly impatient, maybe even a little worried. Mixed into the sounds of the forest is a set of little feet, which slowly approach our Irish heroine. Rain opens her eyes and sees a confused-looking girl of mixed Asian heritage staring back.

This girl is only a couple of centimeters shy of being as tall as Rain. She has a near-identical body composition in general, but her skin tone is a little bit darker than that of the pale-skinned Rain. Also unlike Rain, who has abnormal eyes and ears, Wendy looks like a normal human female with her dark blue eyes and jet-black, straight and smooth hair, long enough to reach her hips, tied to twin tails with a pair of seemingly invisible elastic hair ties. She has a skintight sleeveless black shirt on, which barely covers her belly button, and she's wearing blue and short ripped jean shorts. Her shoes are almost identical to those that Rain has, but her socks are much shorter.

Realizing this girl can't be none other than her half-Japanese, Kyoto-based friend, Rain says: "You're late."

"Come on, I had a long walk", the girl says and sighs, exhausted. "In any case, I see it happened to you too."

"What happened?" Rain asks, leaning forward as she decides to stand firm without the support of the tree against her back.

"You're a girl!" the girl replies loudly.

Rain's brow lowers ever-so-slightly as she lets out a quiet but audible "Duh".

"And I'm a girl too!" the girl continues, sounding almost shocked at her own proclamation.

"Is this some kinda roleplay?" Rain mumbles and continues to look at the girl with a bored look in her eyes. "I can obviously see you're a girl."

"Are you kidding me? I made a male character! Didn't you?"

Rain's expression remains unchanged, but she falls silent as her mouth opens ever so slightly in surprise. She can't even muster up the courage to utter one syllable. In a moment of slight embarrassment, she does her best to keep her lips at bay to not show the smiling arc on her face. "No…" she finally says. "This is the character I made…"

"You were a girl from the beginning?" the girl says and begins to laugh. "Fucking weirdo."

"Oh, fuck you too", Rain says, still borderline emotionless, which is a theme and a personality trait for her. She is a foul-mouthed, poker-faced joker with an unquenchable lust for banter and jest. While she can make fun of absolutely anything, even the things that some would find inappropriate, she doesn't convey a lot of emotion through her facial expressions. Still, she's not a mean girl, although she's often mistaken for a jerk. Her soft-spoken voice, spoken with a noticeable Irish accent, also mirrors this general lack of emotion. "You're one to talk", she then adds, "considering you made a girl too."

"No, no, no, I didn't make this character!" the girl complains loudly, being the polar opposite of Rain as far as her mannerism goes. Still, despite being lively with her facial expressions and bodily movement, the way she animates herself is calm and collected, even elegant. The only thing that seems to be slowing her naturally enthusiastic self down is her new, cute, and high-pitch voice, which appears to be disturbing her somewhat. "I used that weird feature where I uploaded my own face and let the AI generate my character based on that."

"So did I", Rain says, nodding. "And then I pressed the gender-swap feature, just like you did."

"But I did NOT! I - made - a - BOY!"

"Okay, this is definetily roleplay", Rain says. "So, what should I call you?"

The girl sighs exorbitantly, hiding her embarrassment with a facepalm as she pleads: "Just call me Kensuke like you always do."

"No way. That's a boy's name."

"I'm not telling you the name this stupid game gave me!"

"In that case, I'm naming you", Rain says, forcing a coy smile and offering her hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you, Ken-chan. I'm Rain."

"Fine", the girl whispers and sighs begrudgingly, still refusing to shake Rain's hand. "It's Wendy. I guess you took inspiration from your usual in-game name."

"Yeah, but why did you pick Wendy?"

Wendy replies with a death glare, but instead of going in on a tirade about how she didn't pick that name, she responds: "I dunno, probably because I usually name my main "Wendigo"…"

"So, do you mean to tell me you seriously got turned into a girl?" Rain asks, confused.

"Yeah…" Wendy responds meekly, pouting. She sees a forced, boisterous smile on the face of Rain, who is faking laughter. "Yeah, you know what? Fuck you. This isn't funny."

"Actually, it is."

"You fucking leprechaun bastard."

"Shut up, Godzilla."

"But how does that happen?"

"How should I know!?"

"But like", Rain says, eyeing Wendy's body up and down closely, "maybe you accidentally changed your gender as you pressed "Accept" or something like that."

"Well, maybe that's possible", Wendy admits, trying to think it through. 'I'm pretty sure I didn't, but maybe it's not entirely out of the question?' While trying to remember exactly what she did as she completed her character creation, she notices how closely Rain is inspecting her. With a shaky voice, she asks: "What are you looking at anyway?"

"Oh, I was just thinking that you're, like, super cute", Rain responds without hesitation.

"Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?"

"No, I'm trying to encourage you to look positively. What's wrong with being a girl anyway?"

"Nothing per se, but like… these girly clothes are so uncomfortable, okay? And my voice is all weird! I just… can't help but feel self-conscious because of how unusual this feels!"

"You'll get used to it", Rain says, giving her friend a thumbs up.

"Easy for you to say, mister "I'm going to play as a loli"."

"Oh, you."

"But maybe you're right. It's not that big of a deal", Wendy admits, shaking her head while shrugging. "Just not what I asked for… or even consented to…"

That's when they both notice a third girl approaching them. With skin as pale as Rain's, she appears elvish with her long, pointy ears, straightened blonde hair, bright green eyes, and a taller, more developed stature, with a pair of tiny, budding breasts. She's dressed in a creamy white dress that closely resembles a cheongsam, a traditional body-hugging Chinese dress, paired with long, white boots and knee socks of the same color. Confused and without saying a word, she stares at both Rain and Wendy questioningly.

"Is that you, Sven?" Wendy finally asks, to which the blonde girl quietly nods. "So, ummm… did you get turned into a girl too?"

"H-huh? Oh, yeah… both of you too?"

"Just me, actually", Wendy says, shrugging as she smirks at Rain. "He actually created a female character."

"And I'm pretty sure you're both conspiring against me to make me look like a fool", Rain says. "Anyway, what's your character's name?"

After quietly thinking about her response for a while, the girl finally responds with just "Angel". She's overall a very quiet and timid girl. Her demeanor is closeted, shy, and overall lacks confidence, especially around strangers. She only drops her guard and acts cheerful around her close friends. "But don't laugh, okay? And don't actually call me that either… I don't like this… I can't accept this as me… I just want to log out…"

"Don't be boring", Rain says. "We have only started."

"Yeah, I mean, this is just an alpha test", Wendy says, trying to reason with Angel, who looks very sad and upset. "I didn't consent to this avatar either, but it's not THAT big of a deal, right?"

"Besides, you're cute too", Rain says. Her words make Angel blush in embarrassment and render her unable to speak anything in return.

"Way to read the mood, Rain", Wendy scolds. "I swear to god, you're the most insensitive person I know."

"I'm actually very sensitive, in more ways than one", Rain jokingly says. "But as you said, it's just an alpha test. Maybe there's some bug with character creation or something, which will be fixed with the full release."

Angel tries to smile and gives Rain a single nod. "And at least we're all in the same boat. I would've felt super awkward if I was the only one who was a girl…"

"Well, since you put it like that…" Wendy quietly comments as if speaking to herself.

"Let's stop wasting time", Rain says. "Where to, boss?" She refers to Wendy as a "boss" since she happens to be one of the high-ranking officers in the guild they're from. On the other hand, Rain and Angel are just simple "raiders", and both of them hate organizing things in general or lack the qualities suitable for leadership.

"Let's head to the outskirts to test out some of our new skills", Wendy suggests. "Speaking of which, what classes do you guys plan on picking? I wanna be a Ranger and dual-wield guns."

"I already picked my class as Soldier", Rain says as she picks up her sword from the ground.

"I'll be a Caster", Angel says. "I wanna try something new, so I'll be a healer for you two."

Wendy smiles happily. "Great. This should be a good party then, provided Rain actually tanks for us."

Rain thinks about Wendy's suggestion for a minute. "Well, it's not what I had in mind, but I guess I am the de facto tank of the party."

That's when Wendy notices Rain's sword. "How did you get your weapon already?"

"Just open your UI and click on your bio", Rain explains. "It'll give you options for your class and your starting weapon."

Wendy does as instructed and makes her choice. Two pistols appear in her hands, and a small floating window appears in front of her with her starting spell, called "Reload", which can be used to convert her mana into magical bullets. "I've never actually held a gun", she realizes and takes aim at an apple on a tree. After about five seconds of focusing on her target, she manages to miss her mark and sighs. "I'm gonna need a bit of practice if I want to actually be able to kill anything with these."

"Why are there pistols in a high-fantasy game anyway?" Rain asks.

"Yeah, feels a bit weird", Wendy responds, looking at the futuristic weapons in her hands. "I mean, I create bullets from mana, but these guns don't look like anything out of a fantasy game."

At the same time, Angel also makes her choice, but after picking her class and her starting weapon, which is a simple wooden staff, she finds out that, unlike her two friends, she has one more choice to make. The game won't just give her a set of spells to go with her weapon and wants her to choose her starting spell set to accompany it. To do this, she must choose a "Spell Crystal", which will unlock one element for her to use. "I guess I'm picking the Holy Crystal", she says, "as it says that the holy spells can be used to heal allies and damage some enemies."

"I'm guessing you've got more than just one spell then", Wendy says.

"I've got two different heal spells", Angel says.

"How do you deal damage then?" Rain wonders.

"I guess I don't yet?" Angel responds with a soft giggle. "Or maybe I'll bash my enemies with this staff."

"Oh, don't worry", Rain says and gives her sword a spin. "I'll kill everything, and you'll just focus on keeping me healed, mkay?"

"Well, I suppose I'm going to need to train for this new role", Angel admits.

"Yeah, and leave something for me as well", Wendy says as she gives Rain a friendly tap on her back. "If you won't, I'll just use you as my target practice dummy!"

"By the way, how do I pick up my talent?" Angel asks. "It says "Not yet available"."

"I'm guessing we need to level up first", Rain says.

"How about we get on with it then!" Wendy announces, trying to pep herself up. "I'm dying to do something practical, so let's move out."

"Sure", Rain says. "We should have plenty of stuff to kill north of here."

---

While Grove is part of a more extensive zone called the "Misty Forest", it doesn't have a distinct border to separate it from the wilderness as far as the woodlands go. Instead, it has a great magical barrier to keep the starting zone separate from its more dangerous surroundings where more dangerous enemies wait. To penetrate this barrier and venture past it, players must first reach level two. This serves as a tutorial of sorts for beginners, as the developers don't want to rush players straight into the deep end.

As our three heroines move toward this barrier, the forest turns thicker and harder to navigate, and the first enemies start to appear, ranging from deceptively cute yet deadly critters like rats to giant insects, the largest of which are the size of an average house cat. None of these foes pose a danger to the three heroines. Despite finding the "grind" toward the next level a little bit tedious, they manage to have a lot of fun together and get an excellent hang of the few abilities they have.

While they have known each other for over a decade and are good friends, they don't actually hang out a whole lot outside their guild's events. Kensuke has his girlfriend, with whom he likes to play player-versus-player content, Sven has his close group of friends he also knows from real life, and Gregory, the man behind Rain, finds solace in playing solo content, with his own company as his greatest ally. When they get together, they usually find themselves in a large group setting, with many other guild members around as well, so for them to team up in the way they do is a rare occurrence.

Since they have known each other for years, they also know each other's playstyles very well. Rain likes rushing toward her enemies haphazardly like a blood-crazed berserker and prefers fast-paced gameplay, and since she chose to be a blade-wielding Soldier, she has no intention of changing her ways. Even without the high-end equipment her character in Mormia has, she's still like a bullet train that has gone off the tracks. She's incredibly agile and nimble, even with a heavy weapon, and has no trouble getting used to the different combat style, which doesn't rely on any assisted software.

Wendy, on the other hand, is more organized, and most of the in-group communication comes from her. She's very much used to this role as an occasional raid leader, and while she's not the greatest at dealing pure damage, she is exceptional when it comes to surveying and reading the constantly changing battlefield. You could say that her abilities when it comes to leadership contribute to the overall performance of the people she groups with more than her actual damage. Rain and Angel know this, and always adjust their tactics accordingly when Wendy says so. That's how much they trust her judgment. As for Angel, she used to be a rifleman in Mormia, so her role is very different from what she used to. Like Wendy, she's very calculated and observant, but she focuses her observations on a much smaller scale. She's very good at exploiting the weaknesses of her enemies in one-on-one situations. As a supporting spellcaster, one would think that this style would make healing difficult for her, but that's not true at all. She's very good at reading the ebb and flow of the battlefield and gets the hang of her new role quickly.

Speaking of healing, the game has no health points. Instead, it has two primary resources, which are stamina and mana. The Player's stamina bar works as the de facto health bar but can't be compared to health as it is known in your typical RPGs because it's also a spent resource. It's used for virtually everything, from abilities to something as simple as running. It automatically regenerates slowly, even while being consumed, and its generation increases while recovering. If it runs out, its generation will be locked for a few seconds, leaving the player "Fatigued" and unable to cast any spells or abilities, even those that don't rely on stamina. Needless to say, it's critically important to never run out of it completely. All healing effects, whether in the form of spells or potions, recover stamina, either instantly or over time. Overtime spells are more efficient to use, while instantaneous effects meant for quick recovery are costly.

While the three classes in the game all share these two resources and even use them in a similar manner, they all rely on them to different degrees. Soldiers are the only class in the game who use stamina as their primary resource, which is why they also naturally recover stamina twice as fast during normal conditions, and three times as quickly while "resting". Mana is also used to power up many abilities, but for Soldiers, its regeneration is halved. Meanwhile, for Casters, every ability consumes mana. This is why Casters recover mana two times as fast as normal in all conditions. Lastly, Rangers use both in equal measure, but neither to a great extent. That's why they have no boosts to their recovery either. They use stamina primarily for moving around, which depending on their weapon and playstyle, they might have to do a lot. Meanwhile, mana is mainly used for creating ammunition but also for some select special abilities. Shooting itself doesn't cost resources, ever.

Suddenly, with one-third of the progress toward level two still ahead, the three girls receive a message about a quest, which can be completed by heading towards the central plaza of Grove.

"Oh, we finally got something", Wendy realizes. "Should we go back to see what's up?"

"Can we level up first?" Angel asks. "It's a long way back, and I don't want to waste time."

"Yeah, let's be efficient about our business", Rain says, agreeing with Angel.

Wendy, who is the odd one out, complies. "Fine. Let's reach the next level first."

"By the way, don't you find it strange that these monsters don't drop any loot?" Rain wonders. She asks this because when the enemies die, instead of leaving behind corpses, they disintegrate into the air, scattering as particles into nothingness.

"It kinda is, but it was also announced", Wendy reminds.

"Really?" Rain asks as she tilts her head. "I can't remember that."

"It was about Grove only. We will get loot once we get behind that barrier."

"Whaaat? That's bullshit", Rain complains. "I want a new weapon already. This one blows."

"By the way", Angel begins, "have you put any thought into your professions? I heard they play a huge role in this game, as most of the high-end stuff has to be crafted."

Wendy thinks for a moment. "I haven't decided on anything yet, but Scouting seems useful, as it can be used for mapping unexplored areas effectively. The only problem is that it can't be used to make money…"

"Oh, I heard that scouts can discover additional treasure to balance this out."

"Really? One of us really must pick it up then", Wendy decides. "I'll do it."

"I thought cooking would also be useful", Angel says. "Magically enhanced meals can boost our performance."

"I was thinking about enchanting, which can be used to strengthen equipment", Rain says.

As they discuss their possible choices, they continue to fight their way forward to the next level, and as they get used to their new weapons, abilities, and small childish figures, they get increasingly faster and more efficient at gaining experience. The instant they reach level two, they get another quest, which instructs them to head to the outskirts of the central plaza towards an armory to get a reward box for leveling up, presumably containing new equipment. With this update, they all head back toward Grove.

Also with the first level-up, they all get their first talent, "The Wings of Phantasm", which is universal for all three classes. It gives Nymphs wings, literally. After all, Nymphs are fairy-like, like advertised. These wings can be toggled on and off whenever and wherever with a simple spell, but instead of requiring stamina or mana to use, the spell primarily relies on the third resource, which is called "Source". This leaves Rain, Wendy, and Angel slightly confused, as none of them have access to this resource or even have it listed on their character bio alongside stamina and mana. Figuring they could find out what this source is later, they move on to study the other talents.

Each class has its own specific set of talents, of which there are eight to choose from, but as they study them together, they notice some overlap, with certain talents being usable by different classes. Nymphs can only pick two unique talents at a time; one at level three and one at level four, giving each lass a total of twenty-eight different talent combinations to choose from. This also means that once players get to level four, they reach the max level, after which they must rely entirely on their professions, training, learning new abilities, and getting better equipment to get stronger. New skills and abilities must be acquired through consumable spell scrolls, which can be crafted with professions, bought directly from a library using gold coins, or looted on adventures.

The way back to Grove is a long one, but studying their future choices alongside the walk, the distance feels like a minimal factor. After all, time flies fast when you're having fun, and fun do they have. Even Angel and Wendy, who were devastated to find themselves in avatars they didn't consent to, don't seem to care anymore.

As they reach the first residential areas, they all get a simultaneous notice on a quest update, which none of them is pleased about. The quest they got while leveling up, instructing players to gather at a central plaza, appears to be over already. In fact, it was over even before the notice popped up. The notification was about the quest disappearing from their logs.

"Oh, was it part of some event?" Angel asks, surprised.

"Well fuck me sideways", Rain says and sighs. "I guess this is what they meant by the world changing constantly. We have to learn about what was going on second hand now."

"Yeah, let's hope some player tells us", Wendy says, as she checks out the details on the other quest and where they should be going specifically. "No reason for us to go to central anymore, but the other quest is very close."

Just five minutes of walking later, the three girls find themselves next to a building built inside a stump of a massive tree well over twenty meters in diameter. Carved to its side are five shopping booths, all dedicated to selling different kinds of equipment, but only one appears occupied by a vendor. The three girls walk up to this Nymph, sitting down with a smiling, yet surprisingly emotionless look on her face, with a blank stare in her eyes. At first glance lifeless, she's not moving at all, but appears to be mumbling something to herself in a state of shock.

"Is that an NPC?" Rain wonders.

"I guess so…?" Wendy frames this sentence as a question since she's not sure. "She sure isn't acting like a proper NPC should."

"Maybe she's bugged", Rain says, while figuring she can get inside the booth without a hassle. She walks up to the Nymph, who still doesn't react, and speaks up. "Wake up, sunshine, or I'll report your arse."

The eyes of this girl move as she realizes Rain's presence. "Oh… What do you want…?" she asks.

"We've got a quest to turn in", Rain says and leans forward. "Give me loot."

"Oh, that…" the girl says, sighing deeply. "Leave me be… I need a moment to collect myself…"

"Maybe she's not an NPC after all?" Angel supposes. "But that's strange. There's nobody else here."

"Hey, help us out a little bit", Wendy says and pushes Rain aside to get closer to this girl. Their eyes meet. Wendy looks worried, while this unknown, nameless Nymph dressed like a typical NPC seems totally broken. "What happened?"

"Were you not there…?"

"We were leveling up", Wendy explains, having guessed she probably meant the event. "We didn't make it back in time for the event."

A trace of life appears in this Nymph's eyes as they finally mirror some genuine emotion. She looks heartbroken. "I don't even want to think about it, but… we can't log out…"

"Stop joking around", Wendy says and opens her user interface. She sees the log-out button and pushes it with her finger, but as she does, nothing happens. 'Wait a minute, it doesn't work?', she realizes. 'But the button lights up when I press it. I hope this is just server lag.' After hitting it about a dozen more times, with each tap being more erratic than the last, the button suddenly greys out on her, causing her to freeze from shock completely.

"What kind of cruel joke is this!?" Angel screams, continuing to push the greyed-out button. "It's GOT to work!"

"Oh, it doesn't", the girl says. "Trust me, I've tried everything…"

"But what happens if I reopen the interface?" Wendy asks, but after swiping the window away and reopening it, the button isn't even there anymore. Visibly scared and flustered, swearing in her mind, she finds herself panicking and wanting to cry, asking herself, 'what the hell am I supposed to do now!?'

Rain also looks around the interface in disbelief, with all the pep and excitement she had before having turned into panic. She wants to get out. 'But how the fuck do I do that now?' she asks herself, but deep down, despite not wanting to admit it, she already knows the answer, just like both her friends know. It's not that they don't know how to log out; it's that there is no way out.

Recess I

Excerpt from the Traveler's Logbook; "the Alien World that is Phantasm", entry number two, "My first impressions."

I find myself overwhelmed by this strange world. There are similarities to my world, especially when it comes to greenery and some of the wildlife. In fact, there are a lot of parts of this world that remind me of planet Earth. Some trees are pretty much the same, and I think I even saw a wolf! How the hell are there wolves here!?

But make no mistake about it. Phantasm is an alien world. There is no doubt about it. As I gaze toward the sky, I see an alien sky. I can't recognize any of the constellations, and some of the stars can even be seen during daylight hours, which is confusing because the Type-G star this stellar object revolves around is no dimmer than our own sun. Is it about something in the atmosphere? And then there are the other celestial bodies. I think anyone will first notice the green gas giant "ION-4-945344b", the planet about the size of Saturn that this world rotates around. It dominates the sky when visible and can be seen even during the day. I must also add that we might have to rename it to "c" as there is one more previously undiscovered planet closer to the star than this one!

There are other moons around the giant's orbit besides Phantasm. Some are big, some are small, and as I stated in my entry number one, none harbor life besides this. Clouds in this world take strange shapes as well. They're thin and long in shape, almost like lines in the sand. They are so thin, in fact, that you can see the stars through most of them. They come in all the colors of the rainbow as well, but the colors rarely mix. Instead, they change according to how much light there is. It makes me wonder, does it ever rain here? It sure feels humid, though.

I touched upon the brightness, which also seems to fluctuate greatly. There are periods when the entire world will darken out as the sun hides behind the gas giant for days. Also, speaking of the clouds I mentioned earlier, they seem to store light. While there are places that definitely get very, very dark indeed, most nights in most places are lit up in an eerie, mystical glow.

There is a lot of water scattered across this world, but there are no oceans. There are rivers, lakes, ponds, and swamps, most of which are connected, but I'm yet to come across a single body of water that I can't see the other side of while standing on the shoreline. Mountains are plenteous, and this place seems like it can be hard to navigate on foot. Lucky for me, I've got my hybrid spaceship.

The same, eerie feel that the sky has to it, is scattered all across Phantasm and its vegetation. There is vegetation everywhere, from the poles to the equator. Based on short-term observations made by my satellite launched a year before my arrival, the coldest it ever gets is positive fifteen degrees Celsius (about 60 Fahrenheit), which is about the average temperature of the Earth. Then again, while the climate is much hotter than what I'm used to, it never gets abnormally hot. Overall, temperature-wise, this place feels very survivable to human life. Grass and leaves also take some fascinating colors indeed, just like the clouds do, and not in the way the leaves do during autumn when they change color and fall off. No, there are entire forests of trees with purple leaves and other colors too. Red, pink, light blue, I've seen it all. I've even seen white trees with transparent crystal leaves and a black forest covered in a thick mist. The flowers here are quite remarkable too. They share many familiar characteristics, but I've never seen most of them on Earth, anywhere. Some of them are large, too. Like seriously, do you think Rafflesia is a large flower? Wait until you see what this world has to offer.

My next subject is intelligent life, which there is a lot of. This world seems to be dominated by insects of all sorts, and they are also abnormally large compared to what we have on Earth. This place is rich in oxygen, so the size of the insects is to be expected. It is hard to tell whether these bugs are more or less intelligent than the ones we have on Earth, but most of them seem perfectly harmless at the very least. And yeah, like I said earlier, I saw wolves too, but I could've also been mistaken.

I wrote about plants earlier, and it seems almost as if some of them are intelligent creatures too. It's like they have minds of their own. I've never seen anything like it on Earth! In fact, when I set my boots for the first time in this forest, it didn't take even five minutes for me to get assaulted by a carnivorous bush of all things. It grabbed me by my body and my limbs! Did it see me as food? Well, I shot it dead with my laser. So much of that bastard. It would've probably choked on my plug suit anyway, so I don't feel bad for it, even though I avoid killing living beings in alien worlds.

Different kinds of humanoids seem to be scattered across this world too. While they are definitely at the top of the list when counting down species from intelligent to unintelligent, this entire world seems to lag tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years behind us. They can build huts and tools, and communicate in their own primitive languages, but not much else. One race of humanoids on this planet resembles pigs and rats more than they resemble a prehistoric man. Yeah, just imagine a mix of an ape, a pig, and a rat. They seemed peaceful enough, but maybe that's only because I was observing them from a distance.

There are two kinds of animals, or alien creatures to be more specific, the likes of which I haven't encountered on Earth, or anywhere else in space for that matter. There are these strange blobs of slime which seem intelligent. What are they? How do they work? I have no idea. Then, there are strange creatures that I can describe as nothing but downright demonic. I've only seen a few of them from a distance, and I can feel their bloodlust from afar. What the hell are they? They seem very intelligent to me, that's for sure.

In any case, I've got a lot of exploring and researching to do in this world. I hope to beam down to the surface soon, but for now, I will be observing this moon from the orbit.

Signed, Rachel Parshikov, a space marine.

---

A crowd of about two hundred Nymphs had gathered at the Grove's central plaza, in the middle of which a tall stepped pyramid stood, with a wide staircase leading to a door on the upper half of the structure. A girl dressed in a lavish, quite revealing white robe emerged from inside, introducing herself as High Priestess Geraldina, the leader of Nymphs. More importantly, she introduced herself as the head developer of Nymphsaga and had a short announcement to deliver to everyone:

"Welcome to Phantasm, everyone. Some of you must have realized by now that your avatar has changed. But don't worry. This was intended, as Nymphs are an all-female race. In any case, this planet will be your new home going forward. I hope you will enjoy your new lives as Nymphs."

Then, without further explanation, she returned inside with the stone door shut tight. While some of the players had already learned about not being able to log out at this point, the knowledge and panic didn't go widespread until this speech. After that, it was mass hysteria. A dark cloud fell over Grove and left it in chaos, but as Geraldina's speech left many questions unanswered, nobody knew what this all meant for them. All they knew was that there was something about the situation they found themselves in that didn't feel just horrifying but downright disturbing.

It isn't just the ability to log out that's unavailable to the players, but some other essential game options are also missing. In addition to the map, the only options in the user interface are the user inventory, a character page, a quest log, a small talent tree, a grayed-out recipe book for professions, and finally, the spellbook. The lack of a third-person camera, which had been made apparent from the start, wasn't a surprise to many, but the noticeable lack of an in-game communication system came across as a shock to everyone. There is no instant messaging, no voicemail or phones, no chats, nothing. All communication must be done face to face or by hand-written letters that, in turn, have to be delivered by someone.

The Player's inventory is also small and limited, meaning that Nymphs can't carry much stuff around with them, and instead of being limited to slots, it is limited by item weight. It does offer more space than you would expect a normal little girl to be able to carry, though, which is a good thing, but the amount of space is nothing compared to what one would expect from a video game. The size of the items carried doesn't matter at all, though. It is theoretically possible to store a bed-sized item in the inventory, provided that it doesn't weigh much. Based on what some players learn early on, though, the carry weight can be increased by investing in talents and gear that increase strength, and by physical exercise. That makes many wonder, are the players seriously expected to exercise too?

Furthermore, almost none of the items in-game are bound to any one character. Once conjured, they can be traded - and even stolen - freely. Players can only pick and choose a few items to be "protected", just in case they find something they really want to keep. These protected items cannot be stolen or lost either and will always magically teleport to the player's inventory if left behind.

The character page available for players to observe is really just a page that can't be interacted with in any meaningful way. It summarizes important information about the Nymph in question, including the stats given by items worn, positive and negative status-altering effects, and her class and talents of choice. To equip items, Nymphs have to physically dress themselves up, just like in real life. They can store unused gear and clothes in the inventory to be taken out when needed, but that's about it. On that note, as speculated by Rain before, Nymphs can - and in many cases must - get naked.

The quest log as a feature is mostly dormant, as there aren't many quests around, aside from the one Nymphs get when they hit level two. The concept of quests is mostly unknown to Nymphsaga, as the game relies much more on group activities, training, grinding experience and new items, and situational events. The few intended NPCs and quest givers that the game was supposed to have are real people too, some of them even being developers and company hires who worked on the very same game they're now stuck inside. If there is an exception to this rule, the players suppose it's High Priestess Geraldina, who claimed to be the head developer, but they can't know for sure, as there's no way of getting inside the pyramid or getting Geraldina out of there.

All in all, the game that is Nymphsaga feels more like the real world than it feels like a game. In a sense, it feels more like a fantasy world simulator than a typical virtual reality RPG to the people trapped inside. As Nymphs, their bodies are fully functional and highly realistic, down to the tiniest details, and they will get tired, thirsty, and hungry, just like in the real world. They sweat and get dirty, so in addition to having to sleep and eat, they must also take care of their hygiene, which seems like a hassle to many. Then again, as bothersome as such features may seem at first glance, especially inside a video game, such things are perhaps to be expected from a realistic and inescapable world.

If there is one silver lining to the fact that the Nymphs are trapped, it's the fact that this tragedy has brought the community together. Everyone is trying their best to learn about the world around them, so they can survive and, more importantly, work together. Friendships are formed between strangers, and a lot of information is shared and passed around. All the information stated above, for example, is something that all three of our heroines come to learn during the remainder of the day.

But now, the night is falling. Since there are not many sources of light in Grove besides the colorful and mystical night sky, darkness slowly starts to overtake the woodlands and meadows of Grove, with most of the Nymphs getting tired and sleepy on top of that. This brings me to the last game-related feature I want to discuss: Player housing.

Every Nymph deserves a roof over her head, and since Grove is a big place, there are many options available for them. In fact, there are twice as many empty houses as there are Nymphs in the city. The first home will always be provided for each and every Nymph for free, with only moving and migrating to another residence costing money. They are all single-room apartments similar in size, around 30 square meters or 320 square feet in area, and primarily used for sleeping, taking care of oneself, training professions, and storage, which works as an extended inventory. Every house also comes with an outdoor facility of some sort, which can be either for personal use only or open for all members of the neighborhood to share collectively. Professions also play a big part in housing since they can be used to upgrade homes, add additional rooms, and even add more outdoor facilities for oneself or neighbors to use.

Searching for a place to settle down, Rain, Wendy, and Angel find a fancy-looking tree on the outskirts of Grove with three treehouses stacked on top of each other, all of which are partially built inside the tree. It comes with a charming communal terrace, a customizable yard, and a garden to grow custom plants in, all of which they decide to share with each other for now. Finding them all to be empty, they look no further.

Wendy settles on the top floor, while Rain gets the bottom floor. Wendy doesn't care much about having quick access to outdoor facilities or ground level, so it's the best choice for her. On the other hand, Rain finds the ground level preferable after finding out enchanters can connect tunnels and caves to their homes upon expansion. This leaves Angel with the middle floor, which she quietly accepts.

As far as these three girls are concerned, they have gone through most of the so-called five stages of grief. They can't deny what's happening, and getting angry isn't helping either. There isn't anything to bargain for, but they're not ready to accept what has happened quite yet. All that is left is depression, grief, and a whole lot of unanswered questions. How are they going to get out? Are they ever going to get out? Are they ever going to see their families and friends again? The questions torment their minds.

Wendy leans against the wooden railings of the stairs that lead to the higher floors of this apartment tree and lets out a heavy sigh. "What a day… I'm so done…"

"Wanna chat before we hit the sack?" Rain, who is unsurprisingly all out of jokes, suggests.

"Yeah, let's have a quick chat", Wendy says. "I can go check out my house later."

Angel doesn't seem interested and instead starts walking upstairs toward her new house. "I want to be alone…"

"R-right…" Wendy says as she gazes at her friend, worried. "Good night."

Offering no reply or good night wishes, Angel quietly enters her apartment, leaving Rain and Wendy by themselves.

Wendy is finding it very hard to hold back her tears. "I miss Hanako so much…" Rain instantly recognizes the name of Kensuke's girlfriend in real life but is unable to find the confronting words for her friend. She can sympathize with her on some level, but having been a bachelor living alone all her life, she feels that she isn't even in any position to say anything. "I just want to see her again…" Wendy says, wiping her face with her hands.

"Come here…" Rain finally says and walks closer, extending her arms wide to offer Wendy a hug. "It's okay to cry. I'm not going to make fun of you for it, ever." Wendy nods and leans into her friend for a hug, and what a warm and nice hug it is. "There, there. Cry it all out."

"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into…?" Wendy asks, weeping. "We don't even know anything! What should we even do!?"

"Let's take this day by day, try to stay strong, and try our best to find answers. There must be a way out, so let's not give up, okay?"

"Yeah… I agree… Thanks, by the way…"

Rain isn't sure what Wendy is thanking her for, but regardless, she says: "You're very welcome."

"You know… I often say I hate you and get annoyed by you, but it's the moments like these that I remember how precious you are to me…"

Rain almost feels like burping out a joke about how Wendy sounds like she's proposing but immediately holds herself back, realizing now's probably not the right time. "And you know what… Wen… umm, I mean… Kensuke…"

"You were totally going to call me Wendy just now, weren't you…?"

"Yeah, I admit… but I just wanted to say you're precious to me too. You're such a good friend."

"Thank you, Rain…" Wendy says and smiles as she walks away from Rain's hug. "I-I'm sorry, I must look terrible."

"Like I said, just cry if you feel like it."

"How about you…? Are you feeling fine?"

"…" Rain, who as stated before, barely expresses emotion through her face, isn't prone to laugh or cry. However, her words and tone can't hide her feelings. "How could I be fine with this…"

"Yeah, I suppose. I'm sorry for even asking…"

"It's fine. I'm not offended. I'm just trying to keep up a somewhat positive attitude."

"I should try some of that too, but… it's just so fucking hard right now…"

"Yeah, I know. It's hard for me too…"

Wendy gazes up toward the second floor. "I'm also worried for Sven."

"Same. He's taking all of this worse than both of us. You could totally see that he was holding up the tears all the way through us talking with others, as all he wanted to do was be alone."

"He was so upset at just having his avatar turned into a girl too…"

"I'm sorry if I even ask, but… how about you?"

Wendy begins by sighing deeply. "Honestly? Don't even care anymore. I can deal with being a girl, no problem."

"Yeah, being a lass was supposed to be just an experiment for me", Rain admits, blushing a little. "Never thought I'd be stuck as one, but… it isn't the problem for me either. Being stuck here is the real problem, and would still be a problem even if I were a bloke…"

"Yeah, but to be stuck as something you absolutely don't want to be… it must feel terrible for him."

"In any case, I'm getting tired", Rain says. "Weird that, ain't it? Getting tired inside a videogame."

"Haha, you could say that again…"

"Let's go to bed, okay? Being alone with our own thoughts wouldn't hurt us either."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Rain."

"Oh, and starting tomorrow", Rain starts, giving her friend a thumbs up. "Since you constantly keep calling me Rain, I'm gonna start calling you Wendy again."

Wendy doesn't have the strength to lash out or retort in any other way, so she just sighs and walks away silently.

---

Angel finds herself lying on her bed, hugging a dakimakura found on top of it tightly, not even bothering to change her clothes. She's still in disbelief, but she has no strength to cry. She can't fall asleep either, not for a very long time anyway, which is why she's simply left lying on her bed, waiting for the sandman to put her to sleep.

Meanwhile, Rain returns to her quest for bodily discovery from where she first left off. Now, of course, she is extremely curious about what kind of cute little creature she has become, but even while standing naked in front of a mirror, even though it makes her feel fluffy inside, she finds it difficult to accept that girl as herself. The man behind the avatar still identifies as a man despite his current appearance, which he finds beautiful and even somewhat hot. It's a confusing feeling, he has to admit. Not knowing what to make of it, she decides to just take a quick shower, put something comfortable on, and fall asleep. Running around with a sword in her hands made her tired and sweaty, after all.

This leaves us only with Wendy.

Wendy finds the silence and peace in the solitude of her own apartment she oh so much needed. Walking in, she notices that almost everything is made of wood, like in a log house, with windows and doors being completely circular, almost as if straight out of the Shire of Middle-earth. With no sun to shine its rays through the windows now, the only lights she has are lamps with strange, floating energy balls trapped inside them. As for utilities besides her bed and a small office desk with a chair, she only has a closet for additional storage, another for clothes, a small kitchen corner, and a bathroom. Deciding to visit this room next, she finds the charming little room equipped with a sink, a big mirror, and a bathtub, complete with a shower. While her home lacks contemporary technology, the plumbing looks somewhat modern if you ignore the fact that everything is made out of leaves, wood, and stone.

Immediately after discovering the mirror, Wendy stands straight in front of it, wanting to know what her face looks like, and she's instantly surprised by her cute reflection. Kensuke is not into children sexually, as he likes her women mature and busty, but he also does like cute things and generally finds kids to be charming and likable. Thus the man inside can't help but be enchanted by the cuteness of his avatar. She secretly finds other Nymphs she has seen to also be cute, but this feeling is entirely different when it comes to herself. There's just something completely different about it because while Kensuke can attach the title "cute" to those around him, he finds it difficult to use that word when thinking about himself. But now, thinking about herself, it's the only word she can think of.

"Alright…" she whispers to herself, deep in thought. "Time to get naked."

Her heart begins to race as she strips her top and finds her raw, bare, perfectly flat chest underneath. She's very skinny overall. The only exception to this rule is her hips, which are proportionally wide, but not abnormally so. While she's used to having a flat chest in real life - after all, he's really a man - the bare chest of a prepubescent girl is completely different from that of a man or a boy. She takes her hands and touches her breasts, pushing her palms against them. 'It doesn't feel that weird', she thinks, 'but I can't deny that they feel sensitive.'

She finds herself suddenly asking herself, what the hell is she doing? Is she really doing this? What's more, she can't deny her arousal. Where is it coming from? She wasn't feeling aroused before, but she can't deny that seeing her own half-naked body is making her feel strange. Slowly, she opens up the buttons of her shorts and pulls them down, only to find plain white underwear beneath. Then, without hesitation, she takes off her panties, finding herself entranced. 'It should've been obvious from the start, but I really am a girl, a real prepubescent female.' There's such a small yet proportionally wide gap between her thighs and no sign of the organ she used to be so familiar with. What she sees isn't a mature vulva either, but rather just a puffy cameltoe. She sees it through the mirror so clearly, and she can feel it as well… or the lack of "it", however she puts it. It feels a little familiar but so strange and alien at the same time. It's like she can't accept the reflection as herself even though all the evidence is right there being slapped on her face. 'This really is me now', she has to admit.

She then settles for a bird's eye view, turning and twisting her body to get a good look at her butt. 'Bubbly, yet firm', she thinks and taps her bare bottom softly, surprised by how loud a clap she manages to produce without much effort. 'My ass is actually pretty damn hot', she admits, while rubbing it softly. 'Or, hot for a kid's ass, anyway. If only I were about ten years older. Maybe this would be an even more interesting experience then, although I'm not sure how I would feel about having boobs. And my skin's so damn soft and smooth, and perfectly hairless too.' Kensuke was never exceptionally masculine and had trouble growing facial hair, but he did have body hair and, more importantly, pubes. Not having any of that feels strange, although surprisingly nice to her. 'Never liked body hair anyway, so that's definitely a positive.'

She notices herself blushing in the reflection, feeling the warmth on her cheeks as well. Her heart races faster, and she feels increasingly aroused, all from just looking at her own naked body. But even though she finds herself rubbing her thighs together, she resists. 'There's just no way I'm actually thinking about going all the way and touching myself down there, but since I already got naked… since I'm alone… since I'm curious… since I'm feeling aroused… why not?' Thinking about it deeply, she grins at her own reflection. 'Well, maybe because I'm not a pedo, for starters! What's wrong with me getting aroused by a reflection of a little girl anyway? Although, it's not like I'm putting my hands on anyone other than myself, so maybe… no, no, no! I can't do this! I… I'll just take a quick shower to wash the sweat away. Gosh, keeping up with Rain was so difficult, especially since I'm not used to holding guns…'

Taking a hot shower while horny isn't the best idea as far as trying to resist the urge to do something dirty goes, at least not for her. She ends up rubbing shampoo and soap all over her hair and body, getting a good feel of her soft, silky, smooth, and warm skin, which leaves her wanting it even more, especially as she proceeds to dry her body with a massive, pink towel.

'Yeah, what's the harm anyway?' she asks herself and sits down on the bed, spreading her legs. 'I don't care if I'm a kid. I'm going to masturbate. Besides, this is me! My body! It's not like I'm molesting anyone, right? I bet real kids masturbate too, and that's not illegal!'

She can't see well from the angle she's in, but the fact that there's a very noticeable gap between her legs is apparent from even a bird's-eye view. Visible, easy-to-see genitals have been completely taken away from her and replaced with a cute little mound with puffy lips and everything hidden in between. She gives up on trying to see it properly, asking herself, does she need to see to pleasure herself? The answer is a resounding no. Her hands can reach her groin very well, which is more than enough.

She starts with just one finger, pushing it against her slit. Almost as if opening it, she slides it up and down, slowly and carefully. She can feel the slight wetness of her immature vagina and introduces another finger into play, spreading the puffy little vulva open with her index and middle finger. 'I'm amazed by how sensitive I feel, but apart from my pussy starting to get really wet, this doesn't feel that special. Gee, just spelling it out feels weird: "My pussy". Not something a man should be saying. But maybe if I wanna feel better, I should concentrate on my clit more. Hanako always likes it when I touch it, so it should work for me too.'

Spreading her genitals open even more, she arcs her back forward to see what her clit looks like, trying to expose it better, and while she can get a glimpse of it from the angle she's in, she can't see anywhere as near as much as she'd like. She can, however, get a better poke at her little clitoris, the tip of which is still mostly hidden and tucked away underneath her underdeveloped hood. Then, as her sexual excitement takes an even tighter stranglehold over her curious mind, the pokes turn into rubbing. 'Surely it's going to start feeling even better', she tells herself. She spreads and bends her legs even more, even curling her toes up a little bit as a shockwave of pleasure runs up her spine. The continuous rubbing causes her to breathe heavier, and she even lets out a soft, involuntarily squeal. She finds herself surprised by her own reaction, asking, 'did I really just make that sound? I'm not gonna lie, this is starting to feel pretty amazing.' It makes her want to go all out and experience an orgasm, perhaps even try sticking something to that sweet little hole of hers.

Lying flat on her back, with her eyes now facing the roof, she trades her heavy, closed-mouth breathing for open-mouth panting, and while involuntary at first, this switch doesn't go unnoticed by her. 'Angel's downstairs, so is she gonna hear?' She doesn't know how well sound carries to other apartments, but she thinks it's a good idea to resist her moaning, as difficult as it may be. She knows she really should stop, as she's afraid she can't resist, but she can't. She simply can't. Her fingers are glued to her pussy, and her mind is hooked on what she's feeling.

Constantly playing with her clit, she hasn't even reached down her honey pot yet, but that changes as soon as she introduces another hand into play. Curiosity eventually takes over her, and without hesitation, one finger enters her hole. 'Oh fuck, it's so small…! Holy shit, so tight…! So soft, hot, and so fucking wet all the way inside…!' Her finger can't reach as deep as she wants, but at least she can move her finger around her fleshy insides. Another finger comes to the play, and she sticks both of them in at the same time, spreading herself up as she still continuously rubs her clit. A loud moan escapes her mouth as it just keeps getting better. She stops playing with her clit and covers her mouth as the other hand continues to move in and out of her vagina. 'Oh no, Sven will hear me at this rate! But I can't stop! I wanna cum so hard right now!'

She stops just enough to grab hold of a blanket. She presents it on top of her chest and bites into it in a desperate attempt to muffle her voice down. Then, the play resumes. She isn't too far away from coming all over her fingers. Her head feels blank and hot. 'Oh my gosh, oh yes! This is unreal! I'm gonna come at any moment!' Well, she got that one right, as she really is about to orgasm. Even without experiencing a female orgasm ever before, she can tell from how her body trembles. A sudden, powerful sensation takes control of her as her entire body stiffens up and convulses on its own. Whenever she thinks she has hit the peak and the feeling starts to subside, it's like everything just resets. She can't even tell if it's just one long climax, or a non-stop chain of orgasms. All she knows is that it's the most powerful thing she's ever felt by far and away.

Gone all the way, she slowly starts to cool down and lets her entire body relax. Exhausted, she lies unmoving, still panting and breathing heavily. 'That was so crazy… I'm so spent… but holy shit, did it feel good… I can't even move…'

Not five minutes later, she's already sound asleep, comfortably under her blanket, with drool rolling down her cheek.

The First Expedition

Excerpt from the Traveler's Logbook; "the Alien World that is Phantasm", entry number five, "My final thoughts."

It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to remain objective about my research. I feel like I'm losing my sanity here. But at the same time, I feel like I have a duty to report about my findings, as I am the first human to set foot on this world and this star system in general.

There is something mysterious and unexplainable in the atmosphere. It's some kind of substance, the nature of which I can't seem to be able to analyze properly and tell what it's about, but the intoxicating feeling I get from it is almost like a sickness. It's like I've been drugged, and it's making my body feel feverishly hot. I can't escape it, and I don't know how to deal with it. Nothing I've tried works. That said, my readings also show the presence of another kind of unexplainable substance scattered across this world in different quantities. While the first one feels intoxicating, the latter one appears on my radar but doesn't really seem to have any kind of effect on me. It's probably in my best interest to avoid beaming down to the surface to avoid these things having other unforeseeable effects on my mind and body.

I also have this constant feeling that I'm being watched. Is this another effect these substances have on me? It's hard for me to tell anymore, as I'm not even sure what's real and what's fake anymore. I feel a constant, unescapable, creeping paranoia, but every time I try to find whatever's watching over me, I can't find any sign of it.

As if I wasn't going crazy before, I saw something utterly inexplicable. I saw a human. A human! A little girl! The strangest part was that she was naked for some reason, and in the middle of the forest nonetheless. She looked like she was looking for something or someone, but when our eyes finally met, she seemed scared of me. I ended up running away like a coward. I must really be going crazy since there's no way there could be a human here.

What do I even do about this? Was what I saw real? Should I return for this little girl to have a talk? Would she even understand English?

I will conclude my exploration of this alien world in the coming days, as soon as I finish my readings, and wait for a good moment to leave this cursed place. I plan on using the gravitational pull of the gas giant to catapult myself towards the mothership in exactly 35 hours, as it will be the most fuel-efficient way to escape this place, per calculations of my computer simulations. My desire to stay here has dwindled, and I do not see much benefit in continuing my research here. I will, however, recommend a presence of a satellite to study and monitor this world from afar, preferably from the orbit around it.

Signed, Rachel Parshikov, a space marine.

---

It's the morning of the first full day for Nymphs of Phantasm, and to say that their motivation to start their adventure in Nymphsaga is low is a huge understatement. Nine out of ten Nymphs don't care about crossing the barrier to venture into the Misty Forest, as many think it's better to study the game from within the safety of Grove. Others simply grieve over their misfortune of being stuck in a videogame world, which eats away at their motivation to even try. There are, however, those as well who believe it's in their best interest to explore the world to perhaps get information about the true nature of the game or at least get stronger in the progress of trying.

One person who isn't motivated to go out and explore the world around her in any way, shape, or form is Angel. What's behind her is a long, sleepless night, consisting of mostly lying down, rolling uncomfortably around in a bed, and occasionally crying. She had been thinking a lot about deep philosophical subjects, like what it means to be a human, what it means to be alive, what is real and what is not, and whether living in a simulation can even be considered living. She has even asked herself, is a life stuck inside a videogame worth living? Now, she finds the idea of ending it all more unacceptable than being stuck inside a game ever would be, but she can't shake the question off her mind. Besides, there might be a way out.

After finally getting a few hours of sleep, Angel is woken up by a soft knock on a circular wooden door echoing in her small apartment. Feeling the bright sunlight on her body shining through the thin, see-through curtains on her windows, she's immediately reminded of the mess she is in and sighs deeply. Despite knowing she should probably get up, she doesn't have the mental strength to get to her feet or even answer verbally. Instead, with her back still resting down, and her arm resting on her face, she lies still, hoping she will be left alone for a while longer. However, this is not to be because this time, it's Wendy's voice calling out to her from the other side of the door.

"Are you there? Are you alright?"

"Maybe she's still sleeping", Rain says, with her voice also carrying through the door with clarity. "Let's give her time."

"Okay… but what should we do meanwhile? I don't want to go exploring without her."

"Let's hit the library. There's still probably something we can learn there."

Those end up being the last words Angel hears as she lies down on her back. 'Makes me feel a little pathetic to know they're already up and thinking about going out when all I want to do is lie down and cry a lot', she tells herself, still feeling depressed and overwhelmed by her current situation. Simultaneously, she also realizes she can't keep holed up and feel defeated forever. 'I should probably try being a bit productive too.'

---

As mentioned, much information about the game is being shared between Nymphs. While some of it is due to Nymphs learning about the game independently and continuing to guide and teach each other, a lot of information is also being discovered in the library of Grove, located near the city center. It is considered a public utility that every single Nymph living in Grove can contribute towards. Information learned throughout the game will be included for everyone to read through "Lore Pages", should the discoverer of this information decide to hand it out to the library. While Nymphs are not required to do this, everyone agrees that they should do this when coming across new information, as it benefits the entire community.

Library of Grove, like many other buildings in Grove, is built inside a massive, hollow tree stump, with this being the largest of the bunch by far. Several corridors can be found inside this ring-shaped "building", with the hollowed-out part in the middle serving as a park. There's even a pretty little pond emanating source inside, allowing Nymphs to draw energy from the air around them to use their wings without having to rely on their own source. This comes in handy because some of the higher floors and platforms are inaccessible without flying and, more importantly, because this elusive resource is unavailable to most Nymphs.

While most books on the shelves are full of empty pages, waiting to be filled with information from "Lore Pages" discovered from beyond the barrier, many books can be read and even used. For example, there is a little section in the library for every single profession in Nymphsaga. By simply opening the magical Codex, which can be found lying on a pedestal near the bookshelf devoted to each profession, the Nymph will be given a choice to learn it. They must choose wisely, however, since they can only learn one profession at a time.

As they discussed earlier, Rain picks up "Enchanting" while Wendy picks up "Scouting". Rain gains two recipes, one to craft an enchanted spell stone and another to craft an empty soul stone, both of which are used for enchanting gear. While spell stones are complete products, soul stones are not and must be filled with a soul of a living creature. She also gains a spell to actually do the soul extraction part. (This idea is shamelessly stolen from The Elder Scrolls franchise, where the same exact thing can be done with a Soul Trap spell.)

On the other hand, Wendy is greeted by an empty recipe book in her professions tab but gains two new passive abilities and one useable ability in her spellbook. The first passive ability allows her to earn extra loot when opening containers, while the other gives her the ability to see hidden troves, enemies, entrances, and traps better. Meanwhile, the useable ability is called "Inspect", which can be cast free of charge every minute to learn various stats about a selected enemy.

Learning new recipes works the same way as learning new abilities, meaning they must be discovered from spell books or bought from the library. Still, as neither Wendy nor Rain have any money to throw at better recipes, they decide to leave the library.

As Wendy is already about to head back to her new home, Rain grabs her arm and stops her. "Where do you think you're going?" she asks.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asks, confused. "Not much we can learn by staying here any longer…"

"Let's fly", Rain suggests, with an uncharacteristic excitement gleaming in her eyes.

"Fly? Here? Why?"

"Those texts said there's source everywhere!" Rain says and extends her arms out wide in excitement. "It can be used for flying, remember? Besides, it could be a useful ability to learn."

"Oh, right. How do we toggle wings again?"

"Now that you ask", Rain begins and opens her spell book. "I have no idea. There seem to be no instructions on how to use them."

This leaves Rain unusually confused, as with abilities, there's always an instruction. There must be, as unlike in your typical game played with a controller or a keyboard to input the avatar's moves, Nymphs are the avatars themselves. For example, with a powered-up slash, Rain must imagine herself saying the word "Slash" as she swings her sword to automatically channel mana to her arms and activate the ability. As it is a melee ability, mana is only used to power up her attack's damage, while the actual physical maneuver will drain her stamina.

As Wendy opens up her spell book to look at the spell herself, she's surprised to find instructions. 'This stuff wasn't there yesterday', she realizes and then goes on to check her bio. 'Still no source listed as a spent resource, though. What's up with that? Still, these instructions are kinda ambiguous. "Imagine a state of weightlessness, let your inner source flow, and channel it to your shoulder blades." How do I even let my "source flow?"'

Meanwhile, as Rain closes her own UI, she catches a glimpse of a Nymph with wings. It's the first time she's seen anyone with wings active, and she has to say, they're the most amazing-looking things she's seen in-game so far. Like thin, white crystal shards in the shape of butterfly wings, they shine in amazing, bright colors and emanate pure, visible energy of golden color. They do not seem to be coming out of her back physically, but this "energy" visible to the naked eye connects these crystals to her back with strands of concentrated magic. Rain immediately runs up to this stranger and grabs her hand, bravely telling her to "Hold up".

This winged Nymph with a cute tiara on her head turns to face Rain, at first glance appearing surprised. Her pale hair, colored like a mix of pink and blonde, is long and curly, tied loosely with a ponytail, and her green eyes are so beautiful that they look almost as if they're sparkling. A wide smile appears on her face as she brightly asks: "What's up?"

"How do you fly?"

"I don't know!" the girl answers loudly. Rain tilts her head in surprise and presses her hand against her jaw in thought, which just causes the stranger to laugh. "No, seriously, I have no idea how to explain it! I just, like, kind of knew how to do it or something!"

The stranger's hyped-up and fast-paced voice, spoken with a cute Italian accent, leaves Rain even more confused. "Well… I have no idea how to even toggle the wings…"

"Aww, that's not good! I hope you learn to fly soon! It's so awesome and amazing!"

"Maybe gimme a hint?"

"Ummm, source works kinda like mana! It just happens like magic!"

"Oh, I think I did it", Wendy says and looks at her wings, which are dark blue and black in color, combined with purple-colored energy rays. While the general shape of her wings is the same as with this stranger, all wings are, in fact, unique in shape, kind of like fingerprints. Wendy tries moving them, but they do not seem to do much.

"Sì, sì, exactly like that!" the girl says and rapidly nods multiple times. "Flying is really easy as well! You don't have to move your wings at all! Just imagine yourself flying!"

Wendy closes her eyes and imagines herself in the air. Before long, she finds herself levitating. She can't control her newfound ability well, and just like a baby gazelle learning to stand up for the first time, she finds herself flat on her butt on the ground. "That's actually really hard!" she complains but heartedly laughs it off. "That was awesome, though!"

Rain is left looking from the sidelines, reeking of envy, as she really has no idea what she's doing wrong. She tries her best to muster up some willpower to power up her wings, but nothing works. Arms crossed and pouting, she finally gives up and says: "I didn't wanna fly anyway."

"Come on, don't be salty", Wendy says and continues to laugh. "At least you're better at killing things than I am!"

The nameless girl taps Rain on her back and tries to encourage her: "You'll get there! Don't mind!"

"I'm a little jealous now…" Rain admits, with a long face. "What's your name, by the way? I'm Rain."

"It's Tiara! Nice to meet you, but I've gotta go! Ciao!"

"Well, enough of that", Wendy says, making her wings disappear. "Let's go wake Angel up."

Rain nods at her friend, and they head toward their home. Both of them wave the cheerful stranger goodbye as she joins her own group of friends.

---

Meanwhile, in her home, Angel continues to lie down and wait. She hears voices coming from outside before her friends even get close to her door, making her finally get up. She meets her friends outside the door just as they're about to knock on it.

"Oh, you're awake", Wendy says.

"I actually woke up when you knocked", Angel admits. "Have you found out anything?"

"No, and neither has anyone else", Wendy says with a gloomy tone. "I suppose we should go train."

"Should we continue to train within Grove?" Rain asks. "Since we don't know what happens if we die and all that scary stuff."

"Yeah, now that I think of it, nobody has died yet", Wendy realizes. "Or, at least, not respawned if they have…"

"Well, I don't wanna find out what happens if we die", Angel says. "Anyway, let's go."

"I'm glad you've cheered up a little bit", Rain says and lays her hand on Angel's shoulder. "Keep your chin up, will you?"

"I'll try…" Angel says and nods. "I just hope we find out more about this world soon."

---

The first thing the three girls do before they start training is pick up fruits and berries on the way. It won't boost their stats or anything, but it keeps the hunger away. And best of all, it's all free!

They arrive near the border of the zone and start killing enemies left and right. As soon as they find one, they charge at it. They're slow to start, but once they get rolling and find their groove, they feel unstoppable. With about a dozen enemies dead in their trail - figuratively, since corpses disintegrate - they realize something.

"They don't seem to be giving out any experience", Rain realizes.

"Really?" Wendy asks. She doesn't believe it at first, but when she double-checks her experience bar, which is displayed next to the level on the top right corner of the character page, she also sees it unmoved, at the same exact point where it was the day before. "Looks like you're right, but this kinda begs the question: should we move outside the barrier?"

Rain thinks about it for the moment. "Well, if we want to level up, then yes…"

"…But we don't know how much more dangerous it'll be out there", Angel adds.

"I say we try", Wendy decides. The other two reluctantly agree.

They know they are very close to the protective barrier of Grove, but they can't see it immediately, as it appears invisible from a distance. However, when they get close to it, the dome-shaped barrier finally becomes visible. Since the Grove is a big place, it appears as a transparent wall in front of them, with the curve not even noticeable at first glance. Reckless as always, Rain is the first to approach it and presses her hands against it. Ripples appear on the surface of the magic field, but she cannot "touch" the barrier, or feel it on her hand. "My hand hasn't been bitten off yet, so it's probably safe to pass through", she says.

"How much more difficult do you think the forest ahead is?" Wendy asks.

"Probably not much", Angel says. "I hope…" she immediately adds, almost whispering.

Wasting no more time, they brave through the barrier, and to no surprise, all they see is more forest ahead, with large trees and dense thickets dominating the landscape as far as their eyes can see. True to the forest's name, however, there's a cloud of mist scattered across the forest, which can't penetrate the protective barrier for some reason. Thinking about what comes next, their eyes begin scanning the wilderness. In the end, they decide to stay close to the barrier in case of an emergency, as they still have no idea how dangerous the area outside the barrier really is.

After a bit of walking, they notice something written on the barrier. It's a timer, ticking down second by second, from one hour to zero. This time around, Angel is the brave one to touch the barrier, only to find out it has turned impregnable. A message pops up for her to see, informing her that the barrier can only be accessed once an hour to prevent players from exploiting it.

Hands on her hips, Wendy looks at the message floating like a hologram in front of her. "Would you look at that! We can't cheat and take breathers when we want."

Not knowing what to think of it, Rain just stares at the clock with a hand on her jaw. "Makes sense, I guess, but also sounds kinda dangerous."

"It's still probably a good idea to stay close to the wall", Angel says. "I don't want to get lost."

"Well, let's hope we don't get our arses kicked", Rain says and lays her sword on her shoulder.

"We've been invincible so far, so I wouldn't worry too much", Wendy says.

---

Wendy did some testing with her newly learned inspection ability to dig through information about critters in Grove to get a good idea about their stats so that they would find out how much more powerful enemies outside the barrier are. Turns out, they're two to three times stronger. No, that's an understatement and doesn't tell the whole story. They're two to three times bigger, better, faster, and stronger in every category. It causes some initial worry for them, but after defeating their first couple of giant insects, they quickly realize it's nothing they can't handle, provided they only challenge one or two enemies at a time. Facing more or being outnumbered still could cause problems, but since they haven't come across a large pack of enemies yet, they can't say for sure yet.

Insects remain mostly similar to those inside the barrier, but the critters are replaced by larger animals. Their first real challenge comes in a group of three goblin hunters, a party consisting of a tanky warrior, a bowman, and a healer. These goblins are about a meter in length but weigh more than Nymphs with all their fat and muscle. Fortunately, the three Nymphs manage to land a surprise attack on their enemies for some extra oomph and add another victory to their effortless undefeated streak.

As they kill the goblins, they also gain their first few pieces of loot. Similarly to all other enemies, the goblins disintegrate into thin air, but one of them leaves behind a floating, glowing orb about twenty centimeters in diameter, which works like the player's own inventory. There is a catalog of items dropped by the enemy in this "storage unit", and players can move them to their inventories with a simple tap of a finger. Furthermore, anyone can pick up anything since the loot table is on a "free for all" basis, meaning that loot can even be stolen by other players, in theory. For our three heroines, this is no problem, and they divide the loot amongst each other without any issue. As for what they get in specific, they get a dozen gold coins, an empty wooden cup, and a "Lore Page", containing information about various kinds of low-tier mushrooms in the region. Angel finds this surprisingly useful, given her desire to pick up cooking.

Feeling highly motivated by all their success so far, they show no signs of slowing down despite knowing an hour has probably passed already, and they keep getting further and further away from the barrier. About a kilometer away from it, they find a clear stream of water running through the forest. Suddenly reminded of the seemingly useless cup they came across earlier, they summon it to use as a container for water and stop to drink.

Rain, who stole the cup from right under her friends' noses, jokingly claiming it to be extremely valuable loot, is the first to take a sip. It's a long and messy sip, as she was starting to get very thirsty. She wipes her jaw with her sleeve and says: "Water has never tasted so good." She then hands over the cup for her friends to enjoy, both of who are much more elegant and careful about their business. "Should we head back soon? I mean, we're doing great, but this is also a bit exhausting."

"I was thinking about going on a while longer", Wendy says, "as long as that doesn't bother you."

"I guess it doesn't", Rain says, "but I think I'll need a breather."

"I'll help you with that", Angel says and casts a rejuvenating spell on Rain.

"Thanks. In any case, I'm glad this is easy."

Wendy sighs jokingly and says: "There we go. Now you jinxed it."

"Hey, even if I did, challenges are always acceptable."

"Not when we don't know about repercussions", Wendy notes. "Anyway, we can still head towards the barrier. There are probably enemies on the way anyway." Just as she finishes her sentence, she notices something tiny flying next to her. In fact, there's a dozen of little bright fireflies around her, glowing with a soft, green hue. "What are these? They weird me out."

"They're pretty cute, to be honest", Rain says and extends her finger for one of them to land on. It almost instantly gives her a weak electric shock, which doesn't even hurt. It just feels nice and tingly. "Uhuhu, what a curious little bug indeed…"

"They kind of remind me of those spirits trapped inside the lamps in our houses", Wendy realizes. "And here I thought Nymphs are vegan. They're happy to abuse animals when it suits their needs."

"I don't think Nymphs give a rat's arse about being vegans lore-wise, considering some Nymphs also wear leather", Rain says, shrugging. "Nymphs just have a plant-exclusive diet. That's all."

"I suppose…" Wendy says, nodding deep in thought. "I kind of want a steak now…"

"Don't make me puke", Rain says jokingly.

"There's something else as well", Angel says, pointing her staff at a strange, floating demonic eye, staring them down intensely.

Wendy, without hesitation, shoots it down and kills it with just one shot. "Oh, maybe I should've inspected it first."

"There's more for you to inspect", Rain says as she notices three additional floating eyes staring at them.

"Ewww, that's creepy as hell", Wendy says and inspects one of them. "It's literally called "a demon eye". They serve as eyes for more powerful demons to help them hunt."

"Does that mean there's a demon here as well?" Angel asks and casts a holy spell on one of the eyes while Wendy launches three additional bullets, one of which misses the target. For the record, holy spells, which are used to heal allies, deal damage against some enemies, which includes demons. As with Wendy's bullets, all it takes is one spell from Angel to smite her target down.

A sudden, deafening roar frightens them, and they all freeze like statues in surprise and fear. "Something's coming", Wendy says and reloads her weapons. "Could be dangerous", she adds.

At the same time, Rain nervously moves toward where the sound came from. Emerging from the thicket, they see a bloodred demon charging toward them. It's a humanoid with hands, legs, and even a tail, wearing nothing but black leather shorts reaching up to its knees, and wields a massive sword that resembles a stone slab more than a practical weapon. It has long, black horns protruding from its forehead, and despite its humanlike angry face, it also has a nose ring. The girls find it absolutely massive, about twice their own measly size and probably ten times as heavy, and worst of all, lightning fast. In fact, the demon appears way too fast for them to escape from, so they don't even try.

"Spread out!" Wendy commands and takes aim. She's afraid to take the first shot since doing so would draw attention to her, which is the last thing their group wants. Attention has to be on Rain, who has the ability, the experience, and the means to dodge its attacks effectively while also being able to fight back.

Rain realizes this too, but as the situation is unlike anything she's faced before, she finds herself too scared to even move. Dying in a virtual reality setting is by no means a strange experience to her, but now the element of the unknown creeps into her mind. What happens if she dies? Is death permanent? Will she perish from Nymphsaga for good or respawn? Will she even die, or could something even more sinister happen? The idea of dying in real life sounds absurd, but she can't rule out that either.

Before she realizes it, the enemy is about to swing down its sword to crush her. She rolls off to the side at the last second but is way too scared to even think about striking back. Terrified, kneeling down after a successful dodge, she notices that after a heavy swing, the demon appears defenseless while slowly picking up its sword. It's too late for Rain to attack anymore, but knowing exactly how to approach her giant foe, she peps herself up and confidently waits for the next chance.

She then notices a friendly spell effect on herself, courtesy of Angel's rejuvenating heal to restore her stamina over time, which causes her to panic. Since Rain hadn't taken the full attention of the demon, it sets its gaze on Angel, the physically weakest of the bunch. "God damn it!" Rain swears as she rushes to her feet and starts chasing the demon as it goes after the terrified Angel. "Angel, focus on dodging it!"

Angel is slow to dodge the sword strike, but she manages to get out of the way unharmed. She does fall flat on her face though, which is unsurprising considering her lack of experience in such situations. The demon is quick to attack again, this time without its weapon, as it's looking to grab Angel to its giant hand. Rain sees her chance and strikes the enemy with her sword, catching the attention back to herself. Wendy also takes this opportunity to shoot at the enemy, no longer caring if the enemy will attack her. "As long as we can dodge its attacks, we'll be fine!" Wendy shouts. "Just don't let it wear you out, Rain! Angel, focus only on restoring our stamina!"

With the demon's attention back on Rain, he unleashes a barrage of strikes and slashes. They're much quicker than before and way too frequent for Rain to launch a successful counterattack, but she does an excellent job dodging them. Moreover, Rain notices a clear pattern to the enemy's attacks. There are four quick attacks, a pause, and another quick attack followed by a powerful swing. Such patterns are not unusual for anyone even remotely experienced in virtual reality gaming and are a staple in Mormia as well. The swings will always come from randomized directions, but if Rain can read the signs, which are very easy to spot, she can dodge.

Following the enemy's giant swing, Rain decides to try something reckless and dodges the attack by rolling forward and striking the enemy with her best shot. Now behind her momentarily stunned enemy, she attacks the giant demon's tendons, strengthening her slashing attack with her "Power Slash" multiplier, which proves to be super effective. With the enemy momentarily unable to stand and considerably slowed down, the trio is given time to regroup. Rain already finds herself out of breath, but lucky for her, Angel, who has regained her composure, is back on point with her heals to keep Rain rejuvenated and ready for combat.

"We can do this!" Wendy shouts, summoning and loading a special cartridge to her weapon, which will add a poison bullet to her gun. This bullet will deal massive damage over time and likely taunt and annoy it as well, making Wendy a more likely target for future attacks.

"I wonder if we can execute it!?" Angel yells, sounding panicked.

"Worth a fucking try!" Rain rushes the enemy bravely, but the enemy senses her coming from behind, attacking with a quick surprise slash to start a new round of attacks. Rain stops at the last second, dodging the potentially lethal attack, immediately leaving her shaken. That's when the demon feels Wendy's poison bullet burn through its flesh, and almost as if Rain never even attacked his tendons, the demon rushes towards Wendy, running faster and angrier than before.

"I thought you slowed it!" Wendy complains and finds herself in a desperate attempt to dodge the enemy's swings.

"Yeah, so did I!" Rain shouts and rushes in for a save. She can't get in between them while the enemy is attacking, but she waits patiently for a moment to strike the way she did before, trusting in Wendy's ability to keep dodging its swings. "Angel, top me up!" Rain orders. "I'm going all in!"

"You better! I'm running dry on mana already!"

Rain sees an opportune moment when the demon goes for the final big swing and is momentarily stunned. She thinks about going for the tendons again, but a sudden thought crosses her mind. How realistic exactly IS this game? In Mormia, the game she's used to playing, if one goes for a spot where one can get a guaranteed critical multiplier, like neck, the enemy will take massive damage but will not necessarily die. 'I don't think there are any critical hits in this game, but could I still deal extra damage by hitting the enemy's vulnerable spots? Attacking its tendons slowed it down momentarily, so perhaps a deeper cut will deal even more damage.' She puts her idea to use by going after the enemy's limbs, and with another powered-up slash, she slices the enemy's arm clean off. Suddenly roaring at the top of its lungs, the enemy doesn't even realize that the Nymph's attack is not complete. On her last legs, Rain can only do one final strike before falling to her knees in exhaustion, but she knows it's worth the risk, especially now that she knows she can cut off the enemy's limbs. She goes for the neck with the same slashing attack, executing the enemy and sending its head rolling.

In this sudden moment of relief, all three Nymphs fall flat on their butts and watch their giant enemy disappear into thin air, leaving behind its loot.

"Thank fuck it's dead!" Angel says, still trying to catch her breath. "Are you two okay!?"

"Yeah, just out of breath…" Rain complains and gets back on her knees, sweating and panting. "Fuck, I think I ran all out of stamina in the end…"

"I felt so useless…" Wendy admits.

"No, you were great", Rain says and gives her friend a thumbs-up sign. "Thanks for taking the attention off me when I needed it the most. You were great too, Angel."

"Yeah, thanks for doing the heavy lifting, both of you", Angel says.

"I've always had respect for tanks for doing the hardest job", Wendy says smiling, and gives Rain her hand. "But I'll be honest, I never thought you would actually be good at it."

"Come on, Wendy", Rain says and gets on her feet. "Don't be rude. I'm a literal god of war, and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know", Wendy says and laughs. "You smug fuck."

Angel comes in to click at the loot orb left behind by the demon. "What did it drop?" she thinks aloud and looks at the loot table. There is money, a ring that boosts mana regeneration, a pair of spare underwear, and a piece of lore. "Well, the ring is mine."

Rain steals the panties and immediately summons them. They are a pair of pink and white striped panties. "Wow, they're nice."

"Why are you checking out the panties first…?" Wendy asks, giving her friend a deadly stare.

"I dunno. I just found it weird that it would drop underwear, of all things."

"Do they even give any stats?"

"It says they are cursed panties", Rain says, reading its effects, with a slight blush on her face, one that she can't hide behind her usually emotionless face. "It reads that they will mask the scent of a female at the cost of increased sensitivity."

"Stop fucking around, you pervert!" Wendy yells, blushing even more than Rain. She steals the panties from Rain's hands and begins to read the holographic information window that pops up upon inspection. 'Wait, she wasn't kidding?' she realizes, finding herself perplexed.

"Are you sure you don't wanna give them to me?" Rain asks jokingly. "You always complain that I'm too insensitive."

"I don't think that's what the curse means…" Angel says, holding back her laughter.

"She wasn't actually kidding", Wendy quietly says.

Rain crosses her arms and says: "I may be an arsehat, but I'm not a liar."

"Why would trash like this even exists?" Wendy asks and tosses the panties in the stream.

"No, our precious loot!" Rain says and runs to the rescue. She picks up the panties and wrings them dry. "Don't throw my panties into a river."

"It's almost like you forgot about the lore", Angel says and picks up the little page. "It's apparently from the Bioengineer's logbook."

"Oh, that could be valuable", Wendy says, remembering that she saw a book in the library with such a title, with all of its pages still left to be discovered. "What is it about?"

"Not sure, but it's pretty long", Angel says and sends it to her inventory. "Let's get out of here first and read it when we get home."

"Yeah, this place turned out to be pretty dangerous", Rain says. "Hey boss, lead the way."

"You're the tank…" Wendy says.

"You're the one with an accurate map and a compass."

Wendy points in the right direction and says: "That way."

Rain nods and takes the frontal position in the party.

---

After almost two hours, their adventure for the day is over, with nothing in the forest catching them by surprise anymore. That's a good thing because while they feel like they have all the necessary skills, the fight against the demon left them too damn exhausted.

Now, safely inside the barrier, they immediately head home to split the loot evenly, which they actually got a decent haul of in the end. They mostly got reagents for professions, so thinking some of them could turn out to be useful in the future, they store most of them at home, and the rest they take with them in hopes of finding a shop where they can either trade or sell them.

Then, their attention turns to the lore page they found, and after Angel materializes it, they sit down at their shared terrace at the bottom of the tree, right next to Rain's house.

"Should one of us read it out loud?" Angel asks.

"If you want to", Wendy says and shrugs.

Realizing the ball is in her own court again, Angel sighs. "Didn't say I did…"

"Can we just like", Rain begins and moves her chair closer to Wendy's, "sit closer to each other?"

"As long as you don't make it weird", Wendy says, looking at Rain nervously, who's basically shoulder-to-shoulder with her now.

"Come on, what's there to be ashamed about?" Rain asks, forcing a smirk. "Aren't we all girls?"

"S-shut up", Wendy says, embarrassed, and sets the page in front of her. "Come closer too, Angel. Let's get to the bottom of this little booklet."

With Angel now snuggled up closer to Wendy as well, they all begin to read.

---

Excerpt from the Bioengineer's Logbook; "a Study on the History, Biology, and Behavior of Nymphs", entry number one, "Inception of the Nymph."

Foreword from the translator:

The anonymous author of this translation would like to point out that most of the names, terminology, and measurements written on the source material have been liberally converted from the Altarian language to one that Nymphs are more familiar with. The translation is not perfect, as there are many Altarian words and terms that are unknown to the Nymph's language. Still, the intended meaning and the bigger picture of the original text should not be lost in translation.

Every living being needs nutrients to live. This is a universal constant across the galaxy, even in alien worlds thousands of light-years away from us. Predators eat meat, herbivores eat plants, and then there's us, the Altarians, who feast on source.

As most reading this book already know, source is a form of energy that can be found all around us on the planet Altaria in one way or another. Like moisture in the air, most of it floats inaccessible to us, but it can also be found in plants and living beings, from which it can be extracted for us to enjoy. Over the years, we Altarians have tried coming up with new, creative, and most importantly, exciting ways to consume source. About nine hundred years ago, our ancestors created perhaps the most innovative one yet, an artificial race of creatures known as the Nymphs.

This book is about these Nymphs, and will go through their history, beginning from their inception all the way to the present day, their physical biology and bodily functions, and finally, their behavior as a species. This is by no means a comprehensive study but rather a quick overview of these curious little creatures, meant to be read as a bite-sized introductory piece. This book has been written by a team of researchers and scientists who have been studying these creatures independently for nearly a hundred years, with the purpose of reintroducing the once-forgotten subject of Nymphs to the dialogue of Altarian scientific communities. No matter what, do NOT let the contents of this book fall into the hands of Nymphs, and do not translate these texts to their language.

Created and manufactured in laboratories, Nymphs have been modeled after an alien race we discovered on a blue planet a hundred stars away from home. These aliens are small, frail, and beautiful beings, and our ancestors took a great interest in them when they discovered them, with Nymphs modeled after their children specifically.

Nymphs, at the time of their creation, were a scientific breakthrough of sorts. Despite being relatively small, their bodies are designed to generate tremendous amounts of source, which they can do through their normal bodily functions by converting some of their energy received through nutrition into source. Their source generation is also directly linked to their sexuality, ensuing increased, rapid source-generation when the Nymph goes into heat.

Meanwhile, to extract source from them, all you have to do is have intercourse with them, and thanks to the fact that these aliens reproduce in a manner almost identical to us, this is very easy. Nymphs are, after all, not only small and weak compared to us, but also trained and biologically preconditioned to be submissive to our whims.

With that said, I must ask you this, dear reader: can you think of a more satisfying way to enjoy your daily dose of source than through sex? I sure can't. They were at the time of their inception truly an absolute marvel of Altarian bioengineering genius.

They were, however, considered a financial failure for the company that manufactured them due to these creatures being costly to mass-produce and take care of. The early models were very frail and prone to injuries, which caused a huge percentage of them to be recalled. Furthermore, while Nymphs could be regarded as artificial creatures devoid of basic rights, toys created for our entertainment, many questioned the ethicality of creating living creatures in the lab for the sole purpose of turning them into slaves. That's why, due to the considerable monetary losses and the company's sinking reputation amongst certain communities, they quickly went bankrupt with hundreds of thousands of Nymphs left in their hands.

Since all these Nymphs couldn't be taken care of or integrated into the Altarian society, and since they couldn't simply be disposed of either, the company started working towards finding a new purpose for this now purposeless race. To help with this, they teamed up with an unexpected ally, a team of scientists and researchers specializing in alien biology, who wanted to help find these Nymphs a new home. Together they made a controversial decision to settle these Nymphs in a faraway alien world with two simple goals. They wanted to study how an artificial race would adapt to an alien world, and also test how a world completely devoid of source would react to the sudden influx of this dangerous and addictive substance, which we Altarians take for granted.

The place in question was called Phantasm, a world twenty light-years away from Altaria and the only habitable world in the orbit of its parent star.

Phantasm itself is not a planet, as it's actually a large moon, about eight thousand kilometers in diameter, which orbits a gas giant in the star's habitable zone. At the time of the Nymph's arrival, it was a world shared by many different intelligent species, most of which were primitive and tribal in nature, with only one species of humanoids being capable of creating large-scale civilizations. Still, their colonization of this world was limited due to the tribal races holding territories in vast areas of Phantasm. Nymphs were an exception to this, as they are very smart. They are so smart, in fact, that they exceed anything that Phantasm has to offer in terms of intelligence to this very day.

While everyone knew from the start that Nymphs, along with the source they produce, would shape this world and change it forever, the researchers didn't expect much to happen. Their expectations were dramatically exceeded.

The endemic species of Phantasm quickly developed a deep interest in source, and with Nymphs being the only source of "source", Phantasm quickly became addicted to them. Even the least intelligent creatures knew that to extract source from Nymphs, intercourse was necessary, and some of them were willing to even risk their lives to get their fix. Needless to say, this often came to the detriment of Nymphs, who weren't always willing participants in these acts. In other words, Nymphs became creatures to be hunted, captured, and raped for the sole purpose of drawing source from as sex slaves.

Furthermore, over the course of a hundred years, it also affected both the long-term and short-term evolution of these species, and not in a Darwinian sense. The source would literally mutate the creatures of Phantasm to adapt to a dramatic and sudden change in their environment, shaping them like the invisible force it is. New dominant species would rise in this new world, while some would die out and become extinct. Among these now-extinct species were even the ones we hailed as the only species of this world capable of creating a civilization.

Needless to say, this mass migration was met with universal condemnation for its ethical implications, even more so than the creation and sale of Nymphs ever did. Our ancestors had effectively destroyed a world by introducing Nymphs and reshaped it in a way that could not be considered a good deal for anyone living there. Phantasm had become a prison for Nymphs, who were at the mercy of the beasts preying on them to extract source through intercourse, often rape, and it had become a hell for these beasts whose lives were now trapped in an inescapable cycle of persistent withdrawal symptoms and short bursts of gratification and pleasure. It indeed was a shameful stain on the otherwise pure and peaceful legacy of neo-industrial Altaria. The information about this incident, suppressed by politicians and media alike, was forgotten after a few decades, with further visitation to this star system restricted and strictly prohibited.

When we returned to this forbidden and abandoned star system eight hundred years later - perhaps out of pity, perhaps out of responsibility, or perhaps simply out of pure curiosity - Phantasm had become even stranger and more bizarre. Nymphs have really shaped the world, almost like goddesses of Phantasm. Everything that Nymphs touch becomes laced with source, leaving its lingering effects on the world around them. This world is reeking with source, even more so than Altaria, and most endemic species have evolved to rely on Nymphs for reproduction, as the need for females of their own species has become partially obsolete. Nymphs have also adapted ways to reproduce independently and asexually, but that is a chapter for another time.

In a strange way, modern-day Phantasm is a world of harmony even though most aliens discovering it would probably find it hell and prefer to avoid even approaching it. It's a world that works without the need for outside interference to balance it and help its many residents, and we're sure that if left on its own, it would continue to evolve for millions of years deep into the future. Our primary mission may be to research Nymphs from the perspective of visitors to a strange, source-rich world, and the core principle in our research is to not damage this world further, but that's not to say that we don't like to meddle in their business, because we certainly do.

The next chapters will dive into the two biggest experiments conducted by our team of scientists, which were the biggest changes that the world of Phantasm had seen since Nymph's introduction.

---

The entry ends there, with the other parts still left to be discovered, but even with this limited information, the three girls find themselves shocked by the contents of this page. What they have found is a huge revelation about the Nymphs and the game's very nature, which isn't merely sexual, but sexually predatory. Horrified, confused, and in utter disbelief, they do not even know how to process the information in front of them.

"What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into…" Wendy mutters.

"Yeah, this has to be some kind of cruel joke after all…" Angel says, shaking.

Wendy knows, thanks to her having already explored her own body, that Nymph's realistic bodily functions in-game extend to their sexuality, even though she doesn't want to admit it aloud, so that part doesn't come as a shock to her. Even still, knowing now that the Nymphs are an artificial race created to be living sex toys, designed to generate "Source", some kind of mysterious substance some creatures rely on for consumption, she finds herself feeling sick to her stomach. 'That's me? That's us? That's the kind of world we're stuck in, as literal sex toys for some sick aliens? To be hunted down, captured, and raped?' "Yeah, this has to be a joke…" she says.

Rain slams her hands against the table, uncharacteristically agitated, with fear mirrored in her facial expressions. "We have to tell everyone immediately!" she yells, looking at both of her friends, who just sit frozen still, devastated. "Everyone needs to know!"

"Ahh, I'm so fucking done…" Angel says, feeling like fainting. "I give up…"

"H-hold on, no!" Rain yells loudly and stands up, knocking down her own chair in the process. "What do you mean "give up"!?"

"Exactly what it sounds like", Angel responds, trying to stay calm with Rain yelling at her. "I mean, if this", she says, while tapping at the paper of the table, "is what might happen to us, I don't think it's a good idea to ever cross that barrier."

"So you wanna just stay here!?"

"Do you have a better idea!?" Angel asks, yelling now herself, and stands up too. "What the fuck do you want us to do!?"

"Angel, the way out might be out there!"

"How the fuck do you know that!?"

"W-well, I don't! That's why we have to try and find out!"

"Try what!? How?"

"The same thing we did just now! We're gonna go out there, and - "

"If we go out there", Angel says, interrupting Rain immediately, "who knows what will happen to us! I don't wanna get raped by anything! Especially not by some disgusting alien creatures!"

"Neither do I", Rain responds frantically, "but we can't just sit here twiddling our thumbs and accept our fate hoping things are gonna get better!"

"Did you even read this fucking page!?" Angel says and slams her hand down on it.

"I did, but - "

"Some of those aliens want to capture us! Enslave us!"

"Shouldn't we try to get stronger then?" Rain asks. "To defend ourselves?"

"Why try when we're safe here!?"

"Just in case!" Rain responds. "The enemy could get here as well! Besides, we did great today! I think we should fight back and - "

"Greg, we're fucking children!" Angel shouts. "Fucking weak, little girls!"

"But we've got weapons!"

"So do the enemies!"

"If we're careful, we're going to be fine!"

"Fine? That's what you call barely getting away from that demon? For fucks sake, we killed it by a hair's margin! And what if it had beaten us!? What then!?"

Having only listened on the sidelines, shocked to see two of her close friends in the middle of a shouting match, she finally tries to put an end to it with a yell of her own. "Stop fighting, you idiots!" she screams as she puts herself in between Rain and Angel, who both quiet down with their heads hung low. 'Fuck, I had no idea I could even let out such a blood-curdling scream.' "It's okay to be outraged", Wendy continues, with a lot more calm voice, "but we can't afford to get mad at each other."

Rains sighs. "You… you're right… I'm sorry…"

"It's okay… but my point still stands…" Angel says, repeating herself. "I think we're safer here…"

"We can't give up", Rain says. "So don't even joke about it."

Wendy finally stands up and confronts Rain directly. "I understand how you feel, but I'm honestly with Angel."

"Don't call me that", Angel whispers, pouting.

Wendy sighs and facepalms. "For fuck's sake, sorry… but Rain's… Greg's kinda right too. We can't give up, no matter what, not as long as there's a way out, but at the same time… this is just too much for me…"

"Well, if there's one thing we can all agree on", Rain says, "it's that none of us wanna get raped. Especially not by some weird aliens…"

"Or bugs…" Wendy asks, appearing disgusted at the mere thought.

"That's all I'm saying", Angel whispers.

"So how about we fight back", Rain says and grabs hold of Angel's shoulders. Angel stares Rain down for only about two seconds before she averts her eyes. "I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But there must be a way out."

Angel simply nods, unmoving and quiet.

"Besides, we can fight back", Rain continues. "I know it. And we're in this together. I'm not giving up on you, so don't give up on us either."

"I-it's not like that", Angel says, feeling like crying again. "I'm not gonna… give up on you… either of you…"

"Speaking of being in this together", Wendy says and picks up the paper from the table. "We could be the first ones to find out about this. Like Greg said, we should go tell everyone."

"R-right, we should donate this to the library", Rain says and gives Angel a tap on her shoulder. "And I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to yell at you or anything…"

"No, it's fine", Angel says, brushing Rain's hands aside. "Maybe I needed that pep-talk, so sorry I raised my voice too…"

"Let's do our duty to the community", Wendy says. "After that, we can take a couple of days off to gather our thoughts."

Recess II

While the trio of Rain, Wendy, and Angel are unique in finding written evidence about the perverted nature of Nymphsaga, they are not the first to learn about the danger some enemies pose to Nymphs sexually. During their visit to the library, they hear stories about Nymphs who noticed the enemies coming after them, trying to hold them down and strip them, but the worst story comes from an unnamed party of four Nymphs, where one poor soul actually got stripped naked and raped before fortunately being saved by her friends. With both anecdotal and written evidence slapping everyone in the face, the dangerous reality of this perverted world finally starts to unravel before the very eyes of those trapped within.

Because of these revelations and the fact that some Nymphs have not returned home from their respective adventures, two decisions are collectively made within the community of Grove. First, nobody should cross the barrier alone, and preferably not even as a duo. It is highly recommended that groups consist of three or more Nymphs to ensure that those who get in trouble can be helped. And second, the Nymphs decide they must stick together and make friends with strangers to form a wide network where people know each other. They are all in this together, and to survive, they must help each other in this extreme time of need.

With the rest of the day off for our three heroines, they all decide to be alone with their thoughts for the remainder of the evening. To help herself relax, Rain decides to fill up her bathtub and enjoys a light evening snack. 'It's a good thing I have plenty of food inside this home', she supposes, as she gets ready to strip fully naked.

On her way to the tub, she stops in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection right in the eye. What used to be curiosity and fascination towards her new form has admittedly turned into discomfort. 'It's like, I could try being almost anything, and that was the point of this', she thinks, as she turns away from the mirror, sighing. 'But it's completely different to be stuck in a body like this. Yeah, I can try to convince myself I'm okay with being a girl, that it's not a big deal, but I'm not okay. Not anymore.'

After setting her glasses aside, she submerges herself in water and lays down to close her eyes, continuing to recite the words she read, the stories she heard, and even going through her own experiences, especially when it came to that demon. She starts to wonder, 'what if we lost to that demon? Would we be the ones telling our horror stories about the dangers lurking out there? Would we even be able to tell our stories? Would we have been captured? That could've happened too.'

'So maybe Angel is right to be cautious', she adds, as she opens her eyes and curls into a ball, pulling her knees towards her chest with a hug. 'We may have weapons, be able to cast all kinds of spells and whatnot, but in the end, we're just little girls.' Her hand slowly reaches down towards her groin, and she touches herself, not with the intent to please herself, but simply to get a feel of it. 'I haven't even masturbated, even though up until a few hours ago, I kinda were interested in trying it out, but somehow, the thought of me, a Nymph, being some kind of a living sex toy… the thought that I could be raped… somehow, it's making me less curious about trying or doing anything…'

After about half an hour of laying still, she finally decides to get out of the bath, mostly due to the water getting colder and less comfortable to sit in. In the process of drying herself down, she sighs and tries to pep herself up by giving herself a stiff slap on her face. 'I'm not gonna get raped. That's not gonna be me', she tells herself. 'I refuse to become a victim. Never. Moreover, I can't just hole up in here. I should spend my time wisely.'

She decides to dress up and feeling both clean and dry, she walks straight through her front door with business and trading in her mind. 'Besides, it's not like I can't think about all this stuff while on a walk', she supposes. 'Maybe walking around will even help me get my shit together, and meeting new faces could also be fun.'

---

About fifteen minutes later, near the neighborhood she lives in, Rain finds an adorable little cottage amid giant bushes next to a much larger apartment complex, with a sign depicting a flask hanging from a little tree branch close to it. Guessing an alchemist might live there and thinking she could use some potions on her adventures, she walks up to the door, ready to knock, and with an "Open" sign hanging by a nail on the door, she supposes she can let herself in.

Inside, she finds a tiny yet charming boutique with only a few items on display on its five small shelves, but what it lacks in goods, it certainly has in the atmosphere. From a simple yet colorful layout to a calming scent of lavender, it feels like a place she would just love to relax in. On a little armchair, she sees a brown-skinned Nymph with a southeast Asian complexion, looking straight at Rain with her fascinated dark brown eyes, with a book in her hands. 'Wow, she's kinda cute', Rain supposes, deciding she's going to combine both business and fun in hopes of maybe making a friend out of this stranger.

"Hello there", the stranger says in a calm and collected manner, closing her book.

Rain walks up to her and offers this Nymph her hand. "Hi. Let's be friends."

The Nymph stands up, shakes Rain's hand, and with a wide-arced smile, she responds with a cheerful "Okay".

Rain's eyes widen as she responds: "That was easy."

"Yeah, you're the easiest friend I've ever made!" the Nymph says and giggles softly, in a very feminine manner. "I think I like you already. What's your name?"

"It's Rain."

"I'm Lemon! So nice to meet you!"

"Is this your shop?"

"Yes, it is indeed!"

"It's pretty cute."

"Thank you! You're my sixth-ever customer! I wanted to set up a shop to operate while taking breaks, so I can contribute to the community better."

"That's pretty nice of you", Rain compliments. "Are you an alchemist?"

Lemon nods. "How about you?"

"I'm an enchanter. Just a beginner, though."

"I heard enchanters are pretty rare at the moment", Lemon says, surprised.

"Really? Good for me, I guess. Maybe I should set up a shop for enchanting too…"

"You totally should! You'll be in high demand in the future! But you have business with me?" Lemon's eyes thin a little as she lowers her voice. "Or do you just wanna hang out since we're friends now?"

Caught off surprise, Rain lets out a soft bit of laugh. "Me and my other friends found some stuff we don't need on our adventure, so I'm looking to trade."

"Awesome. I can also make potions out of the ingredients you have!"

"That would be pretty cool, actually", Rain says and walks to the counter with Lemon. Rain goes through her inventory to pick the items she doesn't need but only displays those Lemon could be interested in. While she does, she notices the curious gaze of Lemon, who has taken a deep interest in her for some reason. Lemon is just a little bit taller than Rain, maybe by one or two centimeters. She's wearing a very modest and girly, loose, and comfortable creamy white top and a bright, multicolor pearl necklace. She has opted to wear loose and easy-to-move-in shorts instead of a much more popular skirt, which are black in color. Rain, who is not used to such a curious gaze, finds herself blushing and hoping Lemon wouldn't notice her nervousness.

"This should be all", Rain says, finally presenting her items to Lemon fully.

"That's a big haul indeed! I can make you some stamina and mana potions with these four items, at least. Not sure about the others."

"That could be helpful. Do you take a cut?"

"No, no, there's no need for that."

Rain tilts her head. "I would feel bad."

Lemon, with thinned-out eyelids, rubs her fingertips together softly and says: "Friends do favors for each other's, so it's only fair that I do one for you."

"I guess I have to think of a way to give you a favor back", Rain says, cracking a rare smile.

"I'll be your alchemist. You can be my enchantress", Lemon suggests with a playful giggle. "After all, you already enchanted my heart…"

"That… that totally works", Rain says, nodding, quite honestly feeling flabbergasted by Lemon's words. 'I didn't think making new friends would be that easy. Or maybe she's just special.' "I'm happy to be your enchanter, if you ever need my services…"

"Oh? What's up with these panties?" Lemon asks and picks them up with one finger. Rain immediately realizes she wasn't supposed to display them for Lemon to see, and now she finds herself a little embarrassed. "Oh, they're cursed? What's up with that?" Lemon seems to find humor in them, which is a relief for Rain.

"Yeah, they're weird… I wasn't supposed to show them, to be honest…"

"Why would there be a need to mask the scent of a female, though?" Lemon asks, perplexed, with a finger pressed against her lips. "I don't get it…"

"Wait a minute", Rain says, realizing something crucial. "Have you not heard the news?"

Lemon shakes her head. "I have been working on setting up my shop all day."

"I… I really think you should know then…"

"Is it important?"

Rain nods. "Super important."

"Can you tell me now?"

"Apparently…" Rain starts but stops immediately. She is not even sure how to put it into words. "Long story short, there are some enemies which lust after Nymphs sexually, and want to hunt us down… and do perverted stuff to us… against our consent…"

Lemon's smile disappears. "Really…?" she asks quietly, almost whispering. "Thanks for telling me. That sure is a lot to wrap your head around…"

"Yeah, and kinda scary too", Rain says.

Lemon begins to separate the ingredients she needs for potions from the rest of the items, trying to brush off what she just heard with a smile, but Rain can tell that Lemon's clearly faking it. "You can take the rest of your items away. Take three potions of each type from my shelves. I'll restock later."

Rain nods. "Cheers, Lemon. But are you okay? Having heard that."

"I… I don't know…" Lemon admits and stops all movement. "It sounds super scary like you said, but I don't want to dwell on negative things. I'll have to think about it, and what it means to me…"

Rain nods slowly. "Same."

"Oh, by the way… do you need these panties?" Rain is not sure but ends up shaking her head anyway. "Can I have them? If there are enemies that can sense us Nymphs, maybe masking my scent would be a good idea considering that I wanna be a stealth archer…"

"If you think they'll be useful to you, take them. I for sure don't want them."

"Thank you, Rain. How about you? Are you interested in taking gear from me? There's a ring that's useless for me if you want it."

Rain takes a look at the ring, which boosts stamina regeneration by a little bit. "That's perfect for a fighter. I'll take it."

"Great! It's a fair trade then!"

"I should probably be on my way then", Rain says and turns her body towards the front door. "You motivated me to train my enchanting as well."

"Wait a minute…" Lemon says and walks next to Rain. "Where do you live?"

"Eh…?"

"Mark the map for me", Lemon asks, grabbing Rain's hand, holding it tightly and lovingly. "I'll be sure to visit you if you happen to be home since we're friends and all. I want to know you better."

Rain nods, but there's a problem. "How, though?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" Lemon asks and opens up her user interface while still holding Rain's hand. "If we're in direct skin-to-skin contact with each other, we can share the user interface. See? When I open up mine, you can see it as well." It's true. The user interface of a Nymph appears invisible to everyone else except the user herself, but with this trick, Rain can see Lemon's interface. Rain knows how to mark a map, so she taps her finger at the location of her house. "That's so close! We're basically neighbors!"

"I'll be sure to visit you too", Rain promises. "By the way, who do you usually adventure with?"

"I have just tagged along with random people. I started playing this game alone, so I don't really know anyone yet."

"Well, since I'm your friend now, maybe you can join me and my pals."

"Wow, that makes me so happy! Thanks!"

"Don't mind it", Rain says with a shy smile. "I'll be on my way now."

"I'll see you again soon", Lemon says, letting go of Rain and waving her off. "And thank you for becoming my friend!"

---

Two days pass our heroines by, and they all have to admit, taking it slow was exactly what they all needed to gather and focus their thoughts. Rain and Angel ended up reconciling with each other for their war of words, admitting that they were both kind of right, but even with everyone being in agreement about needing to cross the border to the wilderness to get stronger and learn more about the world around them, they all needed time and practice.

That's why they decided to spend their time wisely training, with Wendy doing non-stop target practice with her guns and Rain deciding to practice with Angel. Just as Angel must be able to read Rain's movements and ensure she doesn't run out of stamina, Rain must also be mindful of Angel's situation at all times as the most vulnerable member of the team. They both know very well that if one of them goes down in a sticky situation, both of them will.

But with that intense training behind them all, they finally feel ready to return to the front lines. They're ready to face the unknown together, push forward and try to uncover more secrets about Phantasm and possibly even how to escape it.

However, with Wendy still fast asleep, that has to wait a while longer.

"It's unusual for Wendy to be the last one up", Angel says.

Rain gazes at the view from the highest floor. "She sure has a nice view from here. It must be nice to just jump down and use your wings to land."

"I haven't even learned how to summon wings yet, and she can fly effortlessly."

"Yeah, I'm really jealous", Rain says and decides to knock on a door. "Get out, Wendy! We're going on an adventure!" There is no reply.

"Should I open the door?" Angel asks.

This time, there is a reply. "N-no, don't come in! I'm almost ready! Just wait a little bit!"

Rain and Angel look at each other, both shrugging. And finally, after a wait of roughly two minutes, Wendy finally bursts out of her little apartment. Both Rain and Angel gaze at her suspiciously, and Wendy lowers her eyebrows, irritated. "What are you looking at…"

"What were you doing?" Rain asks.

"I was just getting up…"

"Why did you tell us not to enter yet?"

"B-because I sleep naked!" Wendy yells, blushing in rage. "Nothing weird about that, okay!? I can't sleep with clothes on! It's uncomfortable!"

"Why are you getting embarrassed over something like that?" Angel asks and laughs. "I sleep with nothing but panties myself."

"I got pajamas", Rain says.

"Really? You!?" Wendy asks and immediately starts laughing.

Rain nods with a serious expression. "They're pink and have cute bunnies printed on them."

"Oh my gosh, this is hilarious!" Wendy yells, laughing. "What kind of adult wears pajamas!? You're such a weirdo!"

"I'm a little girl, not an adult", Rain remarks. "And stop trying to shame me for being a pure maiden."

"There's nothing pure about you", Angel says jokingly, giggling. "You're a self-admitted lolicon."

"Yeah, this pervert probably plays with her brand-new pussy every chance she gets", Wendy adds, holding laughter.

"Whaaat? Of course not", Rain says. "I already said I'm a pure maiden."

"Whatever", Wendy says and starts to calm down. "Let's go already."

"I got my friend to make potions for us", Rain says and offers her mana potions to Angel. "Here you go. I'll hold on to stamina potions."

"Ah, thanks."

"Do you have nothing for me?" Wendy asks.

"No. You insulted me with your naughty remarks and must repent for your sins."

Wendy laughs softly. "Come on, Rain…"

The Second Expedition, the One that Went Slightly Wrong

Excerpt from the Gamer's Logbook; "Exploring the Mechanics of Nymphsaga", entry number ???, "On Ranking Enemies."

While each individual type of enemy in Nymphsaga has sets of stats that vary slightly based on their location, they do not have any levels attached to them. Instead, every foe has a rank which determines their overall difficulty.

Normal enemies go from A to F, with F being the weakest and A being the strongest. To get a general feel of the difficulty, rank F enemies are typically one-shot kills, which is why it is not uncommon for such enemies to come in groups for increased difficulty. Rank C, D, and E enemies usually require Nymphs to be careful not to mess up in order to be defeated, but are generally speaking still easy to defeat in a one-on-one setting.

A and B rank enemies will feel strong to anyone who comes across them for the first time, and can be hard for inexperienced players to defeat effortlessly, but they are not quite elite level yet. Elites are ranked with an S and are typically twice as powerful as normal A rank enemies are, making them truly formidable foes. There are three elite ranks, with the level two and three just having two or three S letters in them, and as the letters increase, so does the overall difficulty.

Lastly, there are bosses, the most difficult of all the enemies, ranked by an X. A boss rated with one X is designed for a group of five, a boss rated XX is for a group of ten, and XXX, the ultimate challenge in Nymphsaga, is for a group of twenty and upwards. It is generally accepted that no matter how fantastic one's equipment is, no single Nymph can ever manage to take a boss down by herself, so while exceptional outliers may exist, it is highly recommended for nobody to even try.

Knowing the enemy's rank before the fight starts is vital, as it can help Nymphs pick up the right strategies from the start, and in some cases, even avoid fights completely.

---

The expedition of Rain, Wendy, and Angel to the depths of the forest continues from where their last one left off, but with a lot more cautious approach. They don't want to get raped, especially not as a result of their own carelessness, so being too careful doesn't hurt. As their first true challenge, they come across a demon similar to the one they killed at the end of their last adventure, but this time, they gain the upper hand by catching it off guard. They kill it without even breaking a sweat this time, which is a massive morale boost for them.

Venturing far past the stream into the yet unknown parts of the forest, the woodland turns thicker and darker. There's an ominous hue in the color palette all around them, suggesting that maybe they shouldn't venture so deep into the forest after all.

"This is a bad idea…" Angel thinks out loud. With a cautious look in her eyes, she observes the forest as if expecting to be attacked at any moment.

"Where are we anyway?" Rain wonders.

Wendy opens up her map, only to see it broken. Alarmed, she begins to mumble without saying anything comprehensible. Rain grabs her arm to see the map herself, which surprises Wendy for a second before she remembers that that's how the map can be shared. "The map's kinda broken, so I'm not sure about the directions anymore", Wendy says. "Zooming out doesn't work either, since it just breaks the map further."

"I vote we rely on our senses and just turn back", Angel says.

With everyone in agreement, and with a good idea of where they came from, they decide to go back and look for a safer place to train in. A while later, however, they realize they can't find the safer part of the forest. Every direction looks the same, so they can't even tell if they're going the right way.

"I think we're lost", Wendy admits and looks at her friends with regret. "Sorry, I'm supposed to be the navigator here, being a scout and all…"

Rain tries to comfort Wendy with a kind tap on her back and nods at her. "Just keep doing your best."

"I'm pretty sure we haven't been here yet", Angel remarks and points at a large, dark-barked oak. "I don't remember that tree."

Neither do Rain or Wendy, they're sure of it. It's very different from the other trees in the area, after all, and has grown partially into a huge boulder. Upon further inspection, Wendy spots a hidden trove of some sort underneath the roots and signals her friends to follow her with a wave.

As they walk toward it, with Wendy in the helm, she hears weird, squishy noises from amongst the branches above her head, and as she turns her gaze upward, she realizes it's already too late to act. Before she can even aim her guns upward, she feels a wet blob of green, heavy slime fall on her face. Very very heavy, in fact. "What the fuck!?" she shouts as she falls down on her butt, sitting on the squishy moss underneath her feet. The slime doesn't stick to her hair, but it creeps down her clothes and skin, entangling around her body, almost as if it were alive. "What the fuck is this thing!?"

Rain takes her sword but soon realizes she can't just charge in and hit the slime, as she would surely hit Wendy. 'Is friendly fire even a thing?' she wonders. 'Based on how realistic everything is, I'd wager yes. I can't save her without hurting her.'

Meanwhile, Angel finds herself panicking, trying to find out if there are more of these slimes.

Luckily for everyone except Wendy, the slime on her is the only one in sight, but unfortunately for her, the slime appears to be a live, intelligent creature. It presses into her body, trying to restrain her, and tries to slide its cold surface under her shirt with a thin, slow-moving layer, which causes Wendy to drop her weapons in surprise as she tries to grab her enemy. 'How the fuck do I get rid of it!?' she wonders while clawing at the slime, but try as she might, her fingers just sink into it, with the slime sticking onto her fingers and even repairing itself after being damaged. Despite the slime seeming physically weak, Wendy finds it impossible to defend against it or shake it off, especially with the heavy slime keeping her grounded on her back now. "It's getting under my clothes! Help me, for crying out loud!"

Rain turns towards Angel. "Try a holy spell! It's our only option!"

Angel realizes this. Holy spells do, after all, work on many enemies. They do not work on mammals such as wolves or native "beastkin" like goblins, but they have worked on everything else so far with varying success. "Worth a try", she responds as she casts her holy spell and aims it at the slime.

Fortunately, the slime explodes into small green chunks, getting destroyed with a single spell. The slime instantly begins to liquefy and evaporate like boiling water turning into vapor, and this bubbly liquid seems to have some nasty, unintended consequences for Wendy. She takes one look at her shirt, which is not only ruined but literally melting, and covers up her soon-to-be bare, flat chest. "My shirt!" she yells as she stands up. Destroyed completely, the shards of cloth fall to the ground, and she turns her back to her friends, beginning to quickly scroll through her inventory.

"O-oh, shit…" is the only thing Rain can say.

"And I have no spare!" Wendy complains after a quick run through her inventory.

"Yeah, me neither…" Angel says.

Suddenly, Rain feels something latching onto her leg, causing a cold chill to run up her spine. As she looks down, she sees another slime having popped out of somewhere. With her leg immobilized and unable to move, she notices even more of them coming out of hiding, realizing they're surrounded by over a dozen enemies. "Guys, there are more of them!"

As soon as Wendy realizes this, she picks a target and starts shooting it rapidly, only to find the slime undamaged by her bullets. She inspects it and learns something horrible. This rank F slime, the weakest of all the enemies in the area, has so little durability that it will literally shatter from any attack, but it is immune to all forms of physical damage.

Not knowing this, Rain kicks the slime with her free foot, but her foot just ends up sinking into it, which in turn causes her to slip as she makes the mistake of putting some weight on her immobilized leg. For her, the situation immediately becomes worse than it was for Wendy, all because of the simple fact that she's wearing a miniskirt. Her butt immediately slams against the physically immune slime, and she continues to slide, falling on her back.

"Rain, they're immune to our attacks!"

"Say that sooner next time!" Rain shouts as she feels the wet, slimy surface of the little green monster press against her vulva through her panties. She panics and closes her legs with force, to absolutely no success. The slime contracts a little bit, but she can't squeeze her legs together, much less get it away from her groin. And then, another slime takes control of her upper body, restricting her movements completely and preventing her from doing anything other than flailing her legs in the air. She can't even lift her body from the angle she is in because of the heavy slimes weighing her down.

A strange and powerful yet unknown sensation overtakes her as the slime rubs against her private parts, looking for a way in, trying to melt her panties to get a better feel of her skin. It rubs her vigorously, causing her body to convulse and bend involuntarily as her most sensitive part is being teased. Her reactions are amazing, and her shaky voice is forced to escape her mouth as she squeals and moans. 'No, no, no', she quietly protests. 'No fucking way am I gonna get raped by this… thing! Whatever it is! But it has already melted my panties completely!' Pressing against her now exposed slit, softly rubbing its wet, oily skin up and down her privates, the slime gives Rain a shock and a scare. Having her pussy rubbed is not a completely unknown sensation to her yet, even though - like she told her friends earlier - she hasn't tried masturbating yet, but what she feels at the "hands" of this creature is nothing like she felt before.

Meanwhile, shaking and panicking, Wendy starts loading poison bullets into her gun, which must be loaded one by one. The gun also has to be reloaded immediately after one shot with a special bullet, making her only means of dealing damage to slimes ineffective. Wendy tries her luck at one approaching slime and sees it explode as the bullet runs through its weak body. 'Not too effective, but better than nothing', she supposes, as she loads a new bullet.

Unable to keep track of her surroundings, she's suddenly ambushed by three slimes attacking her from behind and from the side. Losing her footing immediately and falling on her butt again, she shouts: "There's so many of them!" Then, the shout turns into a scream as she feels one getting down into her pants and into her butt crack. "It's going to rape me!"

The cry for help alerts Angel, the only one effective in combating these slimes, but even though she's highly effective against them, she doesn't have enough mana to kill them all. Having killed all seven of which were coming after her in quick succession, she's completely exhausted with five slimes left to go, two of which are trying to rape Rain and three of which are trying to rape Wendy. Having managed to save her own ass, she realizes this too late.

"I think I might be out of mana…" Angel says with sweat running down her face.

"Are you kidding me!?" Wendy shouts. The slime presses against her butthole like a wet finger, softly pushing against her opening. "It's going into my ass!"

"Bear with it! I-it's going to regenerate! I'll save you both then!"

However, she soon realizes it's not that simple. Mana does constantly regenerate slowly over time, kind of like a cell dividing, but having exhausted it all in a hurry, the regeneration has halted completely. After all, there are no more cells to regenerate, so it has to come from somewhere else.

"I-it's gonna take some time, though…"

Rain feels the slime hardening as it prepares for a wet insertion, as it's constantly teasing her now swollen labia majora and her slightly loosened-up virgin hole. "Just drink one of those potions and kill them!" she shouts, frantically trying to free herself. "I don't even care if my clothes get ruined! I don't want to be raped like this!"

Angel, who had forgotten the mana potions Rain gave her, picks one up from her inventory and drinks it. In an instant, it grants her a minute's worth of regenerated mana, which is almost the full capacity, and just enough for her to save both her friends from being penetrated. Both of them are left exhausted and, more importantly, stark naked. Angel remains unscratched, even from the chunks of slime that fly past her upon exploding.

Rain gets to her feet, hands covering her swollen vagina, which still feels really sensitive from all the stimulation she endured. 'Fuck, that felt nothing like what I tried for a little bit', she thinks, with her fingers feeling up her slimy, and quite honestly wet lips. 'Oh my word, I'm so glad it didn't actually go in…' "Please tell me that was the last of them", she says.

"Better be because I'm out of weapons", Angel says, but just as she says this, she feels the final wrath of the slime, which jumps at her back, wrapping around her torso from behind, forcing her to let out a scream. Wendy shoots it with her poison bullet and finishes the last piece of slime. Angel looks down at her body and sees her dress evaporating, leaving her almost naked. She still has her panties and shoes, which is still more than Rain and Wendy have. "Oh, no…" she says. "They got me too…"

"Shit, now I really want to get out of here", Rain says softly with a bright blush on her cheeks.

"They were slimes, for fucks sake!" Wendy yells. "Slimes! The weakest of all the monsters, and they almost raped us!"

"Y-you don't say", Rain mumbles. "It was seconds away from going into my… m-my pussy…"

"Yeah, and I thought my ass was gonna get it…" Wendy says, panting. "Thank God for our guardian angel, but still, fucking hell! Even slimes can rape us?"

"Y-yeah, that's so disgusting…" Angel says and sighs deeply. "You're welcome, and more importantly… they didn't actually get that far with you guys?"

"I think my hymen is still intact", Rain says softly, almost whispering. "But otherwise, I feel pretty fucking violated…"

"Yeah, same for me. My ass is fine", Wendy says and sighs as she finally gets up. Angel and Rain both take a look at her, and Wendy looks back. "Don't stare…"

"Sorry", Angel says and immediately diverts her gaze. Rain's stare, however, is not so relenting.

"I said DON'T stare", Wendy repeats, covering up her nipples and twisting her body to the side so Rain can't see between her legs.

"You're staring as well", Rain says, with her chest bare, unprotected by her crossed arms.

"Well, it's kind of hard to not look when I'm talking to you", Wendy says, blushing.

Rain smirks and answers: "Right back at you."

"Let's just get out of here", Angel says, "before anything else tries to rape us…"

"Before we go, I want to check what's underneath that tree", Wendy says and heads towards the hidden trove she spotted. "Like, we better had not gone through all that shit for nothing", she adds softly as she begins digging through the bushes to find the loot chest. She suddenly feels both of her friends getting down on their knees beside her, which causes her to freeze in panic. "D-don't get so close to me while I'm naked! It's super uncomfortable!"

"Shut up, and check out the loot", Rain says with a bright, overjoyed, yet smileless expression. Angel and Wendy can see it as well. There are a grand total of five pieces of gear, which don't appear to be typical pieces of gear either. All the items they have come across have had whites name signaling common rarity, but these items have green names, so logically speaking, they must be better! "Holy smokes! Is that a freaking sword!?" Rain asks, but as soon as she clicks it to send it to her inventory, all the loot disappears from right under their noses. Before she can open her mouth again, the ground collapses underneath their feet, causing them to fall into the depths below.

After only two seconds of falling, they all hit the surface of an underwater pond with a splash. With no immediate danger or injuries, they all surface quickly and look up. Inside some sort of a cave, with the only opening above them, most definitely way beyond their reach, they swim to the rocky shore.

"Just when I thought things couldn't get worse", Wendy says and sits down as soon as she gets on dry land. Meanwhile, Rain and Angel get up to a standing position.

"Well, I guess there are perks to being naked", Rain says and inspects her wet hair, readjusting her glasses. "Nothing is worse than wet clothes."

"There's something in the water", Angel warns and grabs Wendy's arm, dragging her away from the shoreline. Realizing this, Wendy quickly gets to her feet just as a long, purple tentacle is about to reach and latch onto her leg. Quickly taking a step back, she sees countless tentacles rise from the dark depths of the pond, gasping as she realizes what kind of mess they all could've gotten themselves into had they stayed in the pond. However, with all three backing themselves into the furthest corner they can find, they realize they're safe from this underwater monster's reach.

Wendy opens up her inventory to summon her pistols and aims at the tentacle monster to inspect it. 'That's an X on my screen', she realizes, as the tentacles retract and dive back into the depths. 'So, a boss fight? I didn't even think this game had tentacles in it, and that thing almost had me.' "Let's not challenge this guy", she says with a shaky voice. "Like, never ever. If even slimes can rape us, then tentacles sure can too."

"Yeah, no objections here", Angel says and nods. "I don't feel like getting raped by tentacles…"

"It's a good thing this fight's completely avoidable", Rain says and looks around. The cave system they are in is a vast one, with roads leading in multiple directions. It's also surprisingly well-lit, and with no other enemies anywhere in sight, very quiet too. "Although honestly, just because we're safe now, doesn't mean I wanna stick around."

"That makes two of us", Wendy says as she opens up her map, only to find out that it has completely stopped working underground. "Map's fucked. We have to pick a route blindly."

"Shh, be quiet…" Angel says and listens carefully, as do both of her friends. In this otherwise quiet cave, they can hear running water, and after searching for the source for a while, they find a tunnel with a little stream running through it. Looking up at this dark, winding tunnel, Angel says: "We should follow this lead."

"It's our best bet yet", Wendy says. "But the question is, does it go upstream or downstream?"

"I bet it goes upstream", Rain says, "since we're underground and the area feels pretty flat."

"Yeah, I agree", Angel says. "Let's not waste any time."

---

They all have to admit that despite their relative safety currently, none of them are acting normally. Acting meek, embarrassed, and shy about everything they say and do, none of them even dare to look at each other for too long to avoid offending each other. While they have silently agreed not to stare, they can't help but steal glances every now and then. They try to do it secretly without others noticing, but none of them do a good job at it.

Angel especially feels a little irritated, primarily because she's the odd one out in the company of two completely immature-looking brats. While a kid herself, she's at the very least somewhat mature with her budding breasts, and she has a constant, unshakeable feeling that her friends just can't help but look at her "tits", as pathetic as they are. Catching Wendy looking at her, she finally speaks out. "Guys… I know we're all men in real life, but please don't stare so much…"

"You stare as well", Wendy remarks, a little offended. "And it's not like I'm aroused by you or anything. I'm not into little kids."

"Then why are you constantly staring at MY breasts and not Rain's?"

"You don't even have breasts!"

"Yes, I do!"

Rain lets out a burst of laughter but tries to hide it by looking away.

"What are you laughing at!?" both Angel and Wendy shout.

"For two straight dudes who like big bouncy boobies, you sure are getting flustered by loli tits", Rain says, unable to resist her smile.

"Speaking of which, you're checking me out too!" Angel blames and points her finger at Rain.

"I don't even mind if you look at me because there's nothing to look at", Wendy says, "but stop trying to act like you're somehow holier than us."

Angel groans and rolls her eyes. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just upset we have to walk like this!"

"Look ahead", Rain says, stopping and pointing at something in front of them. "That's one giant spider web", she adds. In fact, there are a lot of webs ahead, along with some web-covered white eggs attached to them. They all walk closer to the web, observing it closely.

"Do you think you can cut it?" Wendy asks.

"Let's try." With that, Rain summons her sword and takes one good swing at the web, cutting it effortlessly. Her sword strike is not very calculated, and she ends up cutting one of the eggs in half, causing the egg to explode into white, thick, gooey slime, which is now all over the place, also dripping down their bodies. Rain looks at herself, and the first word that comes to her mind is "bukkake", because not only does this slime look like semen, but it also smells and feels like it. 'Not that I know what it's like to be covered head to toe in cum', she adds, grimacing with mild disgust. 'I guess now I do…'

"Did you really have to hit that egg?" Wendy asks with a murderous death glare.

"Hey, I didn't know we would be covered in slime", Rain says and tries to shrug it off. "Wanna go take a bath with that tentacle?"

"Don't even joke about it!" Wendy yells in response, stomping her foot once.

Angel responds with even more outrage as she notices that this fake semen has the exact same effect on clothing that the slimes outside had. Like both of her friends, she's finally left completely naked, with not even a single sock left. She can't do anything other than weep and fall to her knees. "I'm so done with this torture! It's like everything in this place is fucking perverted!"

"At least there's water", Rain says, "so let's wash up."

They do just that. Luckily, the fake semen seems to dissolve well in water, which is uncharacteristic for human semen they're all very much used to. They also try to splash water on the web ahead, but it doesn't seem to have an effect. Now, squeaky clean, they are ready to move on.

"Why did we wash up when we're probably going to get covered in more sperm anyway?" Angel suddenly asks, looking at the sea of spider webs and eggs ahead of them.

"Rain is just going to have to avoid eggs", Wendy says and shrugs.

"Actually, it's your turn to be useful, Wendy", Rain says. "Shoot at the eggs."

"Are you crazy!? Why!?"

"They dissolved Angel's clothes, so I thought they could also dissolve web."

Wendy realizes this and nods. "Let's get back", she suggests. And then, from a safe distance of about five meters, she shoots the bullet at the egg, which explodes with a large, yet contained radius. Rain's guess turns out to be correct, and Wendy's pistol turns out to be the most effective means of getting rid of the web, provided there are eggs in them. For webs that can't be destroyed like that, Rain uses her sword.

"By the way, what could even be behind these kinds of webs?" Angel wonders.

Rain takes one long look at Angel and says: "A spider, duh."

"A huge freaking spider at that", Wendy adds.

"I hate spiders…" Angel admits. "I never liked them in Mormia either. They creep me out big time."

"Yeah, me too", Rain says.

"I kinda like spiders", Wendy interjects. "They're cute."

"How the hell are spiders cute?" Angel asks. "They're super creepy."

"I dunno. I happen to like creepy things."

"I don't want to bring out uncomfortable subjects", Rain says, "but how do spiders fuck anyway?"

"Yeah, you really DID have to go there…" Angel says with a disgusted look. "I don't even want to think about it."

"I don't think they fuck, per se", Wendy says, thinking about the question. "I think they lay eggs or something." Then, she turns green. "Wait, that shit sounds even worse…"

Rain, too, finds herself slightly disgusted. "Sorry I brought this up…"

"You better be", Angel says and sighs. "I'm going to have nightmares from this place…"

---

Moving slowly through the dark, web-filled corridor, they finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Having avoided enemies underground completely, they finally feel like luck is on their side. If the spring is the same one they saw outside, they have a direct route out of the forest, as they know the area near the spring and can actually navigate using a working map.

They do not, however, find a way outside. They're still in the cave, finding themselves at the bottom of a pit. Looking up, they can see a roof of spider webs with trees and sunlight coming through, and looking at the walls, they see more eggs, some of which are huge. There is a lot of web on the walls as well, along with tiny crevices and holes too small for a Nymph to squeeze through. The spring still runs through the pit, leading to a new tunnel on the other side of the pit, presumably leading out of the cave, but with even more spider web blocking their path, they still can't advance quickly. Wendy even notices a spider about the size of a cat, which is revealed to be ranked F upon inspection.

"It's a shame to kill it", Wendy says, pointing her gun at it before the spider realizes it's being targeted.

"Wait, don't kill it", Rain says and lays her hand on Wendy's pistol. "What if there are more? This could be a trap like the chest was."

Angel nods. "If there are more of them, killing one would just make them angrier."

Wendy points her weapon towards an egg attached to the web covering the exit instead. "In that case, let's get out of here quickly." Then, she shoots, and the egg explodes, startling the spider on the wall, and making it charge at Wendy. This time, she kills the spider without hesitation with one precise shot. "Okay, this time, I had no choice."

"You should've let me cut the web", Rain says. "It might've been the sound of your guns alerting it."

"Thanks, captain hindsight", Wendy says with a sarcastic tone.

Angel feels something fall on her back from behind and latch onto her. Feeling the hairy, creeping legs of a spider touch her naked skin, she lets out a panic-infused scream. As Wendy shoots it dead, more and more spiders start to crawl out of their holes and surround the girls, leaving them in a situation almost identical to the one outside. Luckily, with no physical immunities to hinder them, both Rain and Wendy can all fight this time and succeed in killing all the spiders quickly.

Fearing there could be more enemies on the way, Rain rushes to the exit and slashes through the first web. In a hurry, though, she realizes it's not going to be easy to get through all the web, especially with a new half-a-dozen spiders spawning to challenge the girls. She turns towards her friends and shouts: "Let's go back where we came from! I can't get through!"

Before they can even make it toward the exit, a spider way larger and meaner than anything they could've ever imagined appears to block their path. In fact, with each of its legs being longer than a single Nymph, this gargantuan beast towers above the trio like a tank. Still latching onto the wall, it first weaves a web with its legs to block the exit, and then, it turns its attention on the girls.

Then, the giant spider attacks the Nymphs, shooting out a jet of spiderweb, which immediately latches into Angel's body, wrapping her in a gooey wet net like a present, and starts to backpedal up towards the roof. Rain rushes to the help of her friend and manages to cut the web, but Angel is still yet immobilized by it.

"How can we get rid of this!?" Rain asks panicking as she looks at Angel. 'Wait a minute! Those eggs! That white goo! But how the fuck do we get Angel covered in it!?' "I know", she finally shouts. "Move closer to the eggs, so Wendy can shoot one! It should free you!"

"As soon as we get a breather", Angel says, freeing her hands, as she casts a heal on Wendy, who appears exhausted after running around and dodging the tiny spiders. However, with the third wave of them appearing to challenge them, they have to jump straight back to action, especially with the giant spider still having its aim on the Nymphs as well.

Still latched onto the wall, the boss-spider shoots its web again, this time targetting Rain, but she manages to read the incoming shot perfectly, jumping out of harm's way. 'Just like with the demon', Rain realizes, 'as long as I can read the visual clues, I can predict when it's about to immobilize me. Sure, it's incredibly fast, but nothing I can't handle.'

Without anyone having the giant spider's attention, it immediately changes targets and shoots at Angel again. Distracted with healing and slowed down by the pre-existing web still tangling around her naked body, Angel can't even hope to dodge the shot. Again, the spider immediately starts dragging its prey upwards while still continuing its climb towards the roof made of spiderweb.

This time unable to reach and save Angel in time, Rain remembers her wings. She has tried so hard to summon them, but she just can't muster up the ability to do so. If she could fly, she could either save Angel or, at the very least, prolong the inevitable. Grounded, she can't do anything. Wendy can fly, but she can't cut the web, so she cannot save Angel. 'Fuck, can we do nothing!? It already got her, and with our healer gone, it'll probably get both of us soon as well.'

"We'll get you down!" Wendy yells as the third wave of small spiders all lie dead. "Don't worry!"

"Look out!" Rain yells. "There's even more of them!" Indeed, to make matters worse, a fourth wave spawns, with half a dozen new spiders coming after both Rain and Wendy. 'It hurts so much to not be able to save Angel, but as long as Wendy and I remain free, we can save her later.' Dodging the attacks coming from the front and her side, she keeps running around and strikes one down.

Suddenly, she feels a cold splash on her shoulder, and as she takes a look at the small spider who just attacked her, she's relieved to find out that it's only white goo, not actually spider web. Thinking she had been caught for a moment, she lets out an exasperated sigh of relief and retaliates against the last tiny spider, managing to kill it. 'Okay, calm down, it's just cum', she tells herself, with her hands and legs shaking in terror. 'But seriously, if that thing catches me, we're all getting raped.'

Realizing they've been given a short breather, Rain turns towards Wendy and asks: "Can you fly? You could be able to save Angel now."

"Not that high up, I can't", Wendy responds, "but I can shoot the eggs up there."

"How about you shoot this fucking spider instead!?" Angel screams as she's still hanging by the giant spider's web string, already dragged into the midst of the giant spider's giant nest of webs. It acts like a chain, and she can't do anything but struggle. Her weight and movements will never free her, and with every bit of movement, she only makes struggling more difficult. "Just take its attention off me before it fucking rapes me!"

Doing as is asked of her, Wendy indeed takes a shot at the giant spider, but doing so only angers it and forces Wendy to go back on the defensive. Falling into this simple taunt, the enemy fires a pair of web shots from above, one at Rain and one at Wendy. They both manage to dodge, and quite effortlessly so, but as she takes aim at the boss and the eggs above, the fifth wave of small eight-legged horrors arrives.

"Fuck!" she yells. "Quick, Rain! Give me one of those stamina potions! I'm gonna need it after we're done with this wave!"

Running past her, Rain throws one at Wendy, who immediately transfers it to her inventory. "I only have two left", Rain says, "so you better make it work!"

Meanwhile, up in the air, Angel feels a weak tug on the web string and looks up. While the giant spider makes its way back down to target Rain and Wendy, a pair of smaller spiders continue to pull her upwards towards the net. Helpless to do anything to defend herself, she watches in horror as they drag her through a large gap in a web, toward the next set of nets even further up. Fortunately for her, a bullet flies through one of the spiders. 'Oh, thank fuck she hit that one! Her accuracy has gotten so amazing in such a short time!'

'One more', Wendy counts, aiming at the last spider threatening Angel with a shaky hand. 'One more! Just one more!' Worried about the web attacks of the boss spider, she panics at the last second, missing the shot aimed at the second spider, and swears out loud.

Angel lets out a yell as the bullet grazes her skin, causing damage to her stamina through friendly fire, but the bullet doesn't stop there. It continues to fly through an egg above Angel's head, which upon exploding, ends up actually setting Angel free from the hanging net, but instead of falling all the way down, she falls back-first into the web below. Unable to get up, she struggles uncomfortably, with the spider still alive near her, preying on her body.

At the same time, the sixth wave of tiny spiders appears, giving Wendy and Rain more work. Having found their groove properly, Rain and Wendy get through it with flying colors, but that's also when the giant spider finally jumps down and takes a central position in the middle of the room. Left panting heavily in exhaustion, they have to drink one stamina potion each just to continue, and knowing that's all they have left, they become fearful of what's to come next.

'This feels like a boss fight, but no way I have time to inspect this bastard', Wendy thinks, but even without doing so, she can make a few educated guesses. 'With no more small spiders spawning and the giant spider finally down, we must've reached the second phase. I hope that means things are gonna get easier for us.'

Rejuvenated but not knowing what to expect, the two Nymphs left standing take defensive stances and see the spider rotating its body to face Wendy. She shoots at its head, only to find it immune to frontal attacks. Then, just as Rain gets ready to attack from behind, the enemy charges Wendy like a freight train. Wendy, who anticipated a web attack, manages to dodge in the end but falls to the ground in surprise. The spider appears vulnerable after the charge and begins to turn again, slowly.

"Hug the walls so it charges against them!" Wendy suggests. "Preferably on the other side of the room! That way, we also have more time to move."

Rain nods, having thought of the same thing. They stand close to each other, waiting for the next charge on the other side of the room, but this time, the enemy surprises them with a web attack. It catches Rain by surprise, who was waiting for the sign of the charge, completely forgetting about the web attack, and as the string hits her body and immobilizes her, her heart skips a beat in horror. 'It's fucking over for us', she thinks, but before she even gets a chance to yell and scream, she gets splashed by white goo.

"Focus!" Wendy yells, having just shot at an exploding goo-filled egg on the wall.

Rain finds herself horrified and hyperventilating and looks at Wendy with a relieved look on her face. 'I seriously thought it was all over', she thinks, but before she even manages to thank Wendy for saving her skin, the enemy charges. The girls dodge it easily and retreat to the other side of the room. "Maybe it's a web attack first, then a charge, then web again", Rain guesses. "Or do you think it's random?"

"I don't care", Wendy responds, "but if you're not gonna focus, we're both gonna get caught like Angel!"

Rain simply nods and squeezes her sword's hilt with both her hands tight, ready to strike back at the enemy as soon as it charges again. 'I guess it doesn't matter', she reckons. 'Besides, Wendy is right. I've got to focus.'

---

Still being preyed on by the same little spider, it all starts to slowly sink in. Angel knows she won't be saved by her friends, not as long as they have their own hands full, and with her hands tied to her body, and her body tied to the spider web, there's nothing she can do to save herself either. Fearing for her virginity, all she can do is watch as the spider finally reaches her skin. Not even daring to look at the arachnid beast, she shuts her eyes tight, hoping it will at least be painless.

The spider first attacks by spitting and splashing goo at Angel to dissolve some of the wet, mostly to better access her vagina. Using its front legs, it tries to move Angel's legs across the web, but Angel resists to the very end, trying to keep her legs shut and her knees together. In the end, her resistance proves futile, as the numbing poison in the spider's bite catches Angel's hip, causing her to squeal and eventually be unable to feel her legs. Opening her eyes out of shock, all she can do is watch as the spider spreads her legs effortlessly. Teary-eyed, staring at her soon-to-be rapist and realizing the beast has open access to her vagina, she begins to whimper.

Something warm, wet, and slimy pushes against her groin, rubbing and pressing against her slit, immediately sending shockwaves through her body, and she recognizes the feeling all too well. She, like Wendy, has tried masturbating, although, for her, it was all about feeling the need to experience the real thing before she would have her virginity robbed. 'I would've preferred to even lose that on my own terms, and not like this', she mourns, as the spider finally crawls on top of her, now pressing and grinding its member against her genitals. 'It even feels completely different from my own fingers. I can feel everything so vividly and clearly, and I just want to toss, or better yet, escape.' Without her realizing it, the slimy, semen-like substance is also affecting her, causing her body to respond with arousal. Moisture dwelling inside her is reaching her swollen, welcoming lips, and with every little touch and press against her clitoris, her entrance continues to throb and tighten involuntarily as she trembles in fear and weeps. 'I can't even understand how my body can respond to rape like this. This is horrible, yet my body just feels hotter and hotter. I can't believe a monster is making me feel the same way I felt when I touched myself.'

And then, the spider suddenly tightens its grip with all four of its front legs latching into Angel's flat belly, pushing and poking its thick, penis-like organ harder against Angel's little virgin hole, causing immediate discomfort. 'It's pushing so hard it hurts!' She cries out loud and shakes her head in disapproval, arcing her body and struggling fervently, but the rapist latched onto her won't be shaken off. She pleads "please" verbally even though she knows she can't be understood, and with tears continuing to well up in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks, she waits as her fears are about to come true.

With all its force, the enemy inserts its cock deep into the hole of a little girl with a soft, gooey clap, causing Angel to yelp involuntarily. Invaded, deflowered, and defiled, Angel feels it all. Warmth and discomfort fill her vagina from the entrance to her cervix while she bites her lower lip to prevent herself from screaming. She can feel its pulsating member vividly with her internal muscles, as well as the more sensitive outer muscles, 'and oh my fucking God, it hurts', she wails internally. 'I didn't expect it to be that huge! It fucking hurts and it's spreading me open so much!'.

Despite the initial pain, it hurts only for a moment, and after only about a few seconds, it pinches and tingles uncomfortably, but the feeling of fullness inside her vagina doesn't go away. And then, the beast begins to move, starting out slow, with deep thrusts, holding it in place after each time it hits her cervix, pushing it against her with a force unlike she didn't even know possible. After only less than ten such thrusts, it picks up the pace and begins to move non-stop, with similar yet faster and slightly more frequent thrusts. It presses harder, shaking, sinking its legs deeper into Angel's soft torso.

'My body… my virginity… just like that… raped… by a monster…'

She doesn't dare to look but feels her body moving slightly in rhythm, almost as if swinging along the loose web, but no matter what, her thoughts won't go away from what she's experiencing. Every thrust makes her body move slightly, causing her thighs and butt to feel the blunt force each time the spider slams into her, while her tiny little exposed tits shake and wobble like puddings in the rhythm of her rapist.

'It's terrible… affecting my whole body… I had no idea… that it would feel like this… to be fucked… to be raped… by a monster…'

Horrifyingly though, even though the spider moves fast and slams into her with brutal abandon, there is zero pain. The only pain she feels is the one in her heart. 'And how far will it even go before it stops? Will it even stop?' Realizing that there's a possibility the spider indeed won't stop, her heart begins to sink. 'Why aren't my friends stopping it? Can they even stop it? Maybe this is it, after all…'

Still, even through her mental anguish, her body continues to feel strange. Her preteen pussy, being rubbed inside out, causes her to involuntarily experience fantastic surges of pleasure unlike anything she could've ever imagined, and the creature just keeps getting faster. A sudden wave of pleasure causes her to inhale involuntarily in surprise and to hold her breath as she tries her best to resist moaning out loud. 'How can it make me feel like this? What the hell is happening to me!? It's like… my head's going blank because of how intense this feels. And even though my fingers made me feel something similar… this is more. This is so much more.'

She knows why it is. Her fingers were small, slow, very forgiving, and predictable, while this dick is nothing like it. It's big, fast, unforgiving, and unpredictable, and it reaches deeper into her than her fingers ever could, making her feel good in ways she didn't even know possible. Its grinding is driving her towards an orgasm at a hundred miles an hour, and the breaks are broken.

'Even though this is so horrible!' she moans. 'How can it make me cum when I know I'm being raped!? How!? I shouldn't be feeling like this! But my body just won't listen to my brain or heart!'

Her moans grow louder as she's unable to deafen herself at all, and the voices she makes startle her greatly. There's simply no way a young girl should be moaning the way she does, involuntarily nonetheless. She's never heard anything like it, yet now she's making all that noise herself. Feeling pleasure further swelling up inside her, she shakes her head vigorously in tears knowing full well what's about to come next.

Angel climaxes from rape, from a weak monster, from a creature she hates. First, it took her virginity, and then it made her cum for the first time in her life, and yet, it's not even done. It begins to pump semen into her womb. It's not the liquid she was expecting, but instead, it fills her with thick, chunky cum. This substance is thick, like rice porridge, almost as if something is mixed into it. 'And there's so, so much of it… soiling me from the inside…'

She didn't remember her conversation with Rain and Wendy earlier, but now her thoughts go back to Wendy's comment about spiders laying eggs. 'But surely that's not what's happening', she tries to reason, wondering if this spider even is a male or a female, or even something else entirely. The idea of a male spider laying eggs doesn't sit right with her, and since it's clearly a dick inside of her, it's got to be a male. This makes her wonder, 'could I be pregnant now? No, no, that's just simply impossible! We're not even the same species!'

'But at least it's over now…'

It ends up being a fool's hope, as the spider doesn't stop after ejaculating. It restarts right from where it left, continuing to pump Angel's cum-soiled vagina with bestial vigor, as she's left yelling and begging. "No, no, stop!" she yells, still feeling hypersensitive from her orgasm. She tries to free her hands, staring the monster in the eye. But it doesn't stop. It just continues to rape her. Struggling to even shake her hips, nothing she does makes the spider stop. In fact, it just continues to fuck her even harder.

'No! No! Fuck no! It's gotta stop! It just has to! It can't keep just raping me like this! It already came! This has got to be a nightmare! I don't even know what's happening down there!' "Please, anything! Make it stop!" she wails. "Save me! Please!" she yells, hoping that her friends at least will hear her cries. She knows it's probably pointless, but she just can't take it anymore.

---

It pains Rain and Wendy to be unable to save Angel, but they have to focus on dodging and attacking with all they have. Upon quick inspection, Wendy finds out that their enemy is faltering, with only one-third of its health left. Should this continue, they would surely defeat it and save Angel, but it doesn't simply continue with business as usual. The third phase begins, and the duo of Nymphs has to deal with yet another wave of small spiders while the big one still continues to charge at them and try to restrain them, a challenge that is shaping up to be truly unforgiving.

They can't just simply hit the boss while the small ones are attacking, and they can't just attack the small ones while the big one is charging in. They have to avoid both until they get the chance to kill the small ones and then resume. This ends up being easy for Wendy, who can just shoot while running, but in the case of Rain, her weapon swings cost stamina just as much as running does. Indeed, she will regenerate fast, but not fast enough. 'At this rate, I'll run out of steam', she fears, as she stops to stand still, trying to regenerate her energy by resting for a while. With the giant spider focusing on Wendy on the other side of the room, she's allowed this short break. 'I hope that was the last of them', she thinks, as she waits for a good opportunity to strike.

But then, things go from bad to worse. After finishing up the small spiders on her side of the room, Wendy misreads the enemy's attack pattern and doesn't manage to dodge the web shot targeted at her. Immobilized, the force of the shot pushes her back against the wall, locking her in place. "No, not like this!" she shouts, looking at an egg next to her. With her pistol still in her hand, she tries to wiggle free to shoot at it, but it all ultimately proves impossible. 'Fuck, I can't free myself!'

Realizing that Wendy's in peril, Rain has to choose: will she prioritize saving her and risk running out of stamina, or will she prioritize killing the boss? She has no time to think as the giant spider launches its web at her. She dodges by simply sidestepping it to preserve as much energy as possible and prepares for the charge. In this instant, as she gets ready to jump away, she feels like she can do much more than that, maybe even take flight.

In the heat of the battle, she feels like she has complete control of all her magical energy, along with her source. It's as if something has awakened a dormant power inside her during this adventure, but what was it? She remembers how source generation is linked to Nymph's sexuality and how it speeds up during heat. She's not in heat per se, but she did get teased by those slimes outside, which caused her to get wet. 'Was that the catalyst for this sudden surge in source', she wonders, as she tries to remember the instructions to toggle her wings. 'I don't know if this is gonna work, but it's worth a fucking shot!'

The instant she tries, she succeeds. Magnificent crystal wings appear on her back, bright red and yellow in color, engulfed in a pink smoke flickering like a starry nebula. 'It fucking worked!' she realizes and waits for the enemy to charge at her. 'Okay, I'm gonna attack it from above! I think I might be able to do one of those jumping attacks I trained in Mormia!'

She jumps high and takes flight as the enemy charges at her, but she can't control herself well or keep herself in the air for long, so she has to act fast. Seeming almost like an accident, she rotates in the air and performs a whirlwind-like spinning attack, which slices deep into the weak abdomen of the spider. Left stunned by this powered-up strike, the enemy suddenly can't move. Rain lands, almost stumbling to her feet, and finds herself left panting heavily on the ground, collecting her stamina as she can't recover it in any other way. She knows that if the spider recovers first, she will be done for. She knows she can't deal with another wave of tiny spiders either.

None of that luckily happens. The spider appears truly crippled and unable to fight, and with no tiny spiders spawning, Rain figures it's time to launch an all-out offensive. 'No way in hell I'm gonna wait to see if it's gonna recover, or to see if more bad guys spawn!' Rain gets up and practically rushes toward the enemy while it's still trying to get back to its feet. Not hesitating for a second, she goes for the kill, and with one final overhead powered-up strike, she executes the enemy by slicing its abdomen open.

"Did you just use your wings!?" Wendy asks with an overjoyed expression. "Good job!"

"Oooooohhh!" Rain lets out a powerful yet girly victory roar. "We did it!"

"Don't forget about Angel!" Wendy yells.

Rain looks up to see her beloved friend in distress, but as she tries to muster up the strength to jump and take flight, she realizes she can't get her legs up from the ground. In fact, she notices her wings losing their glow and sees them crumble and disappear. 'Was that a one-time only thing', she wonders, and decides to rush to Wendy's aid instead. "Your gun's gonna be more effective", she says, as she takes a swing at one of the eggs containing white goo.

Released, Wendy is quick to regain control of her weapons and aims them up. "Wait… She's going to fall, isn't she…?"

Rain raises her arms up and makes a promise: "I'll catch her!"

"I think you'll get hurt in the process", Wendy says with a skeptical tone.

"I can take it", Rain states and positions herself underneath Angel. "I'll take half of the damage", she continues and raises her arms up as she waits for Wendy to shoot down eggs one by one.

With every destroyed egg, white goo falls down from the ceiling like a semen rain, but more importantly, the web beings to loosen and fall a little by little, no longer able to support Angel's and spider's full weight. Eventually, the web falls apart, with Angel falling down into Rain's arms and the spider trying to hurry away.

"Die, you bastard", Wendy says as her bullet finishes up the final foe.

"O-oh my God, finally", Angel says, weeping, as she hugs Rain tight, with both of them now tangled together, lying flat on top of each other.

"You're safe now…" Rain says and hugs her friend back.

"Thank you", Angel says through her tears repeatedly, practically rubbing her face on Rain's chest. "I'm so glad", she continues. "I thought you weren't gonna make it…"

'That's quite a sight', Wendy admits, as she blushes and looks away. 'And an embarrassing one at that. I get that she's relieved, but still…' "Fucking hell, things really can't go right for us today", she finally says, sighing, still with her eyes averted. "Can you two stand?"

Trying to wipe off her tears, Angel shakes her head. "I think we need help…"

"Yeah, and… I can't really move either…" Rain admits, feeling even more embarrassed by the situation than Wendy does. 'Never thought I'd be able to embrace a naked little girl, although the circumstances are less than ideal.' "We're both kinda tangled in this net together, so… like Angel said…"

"Oh, for fucks sake", Wendy says, with a facepalm as she realizes what she must do. "And you just HAD to catch her…"

"You told me to, Wendy", Rain comments. "Besides, I wanted to soften her fall, and you know it…"

Angel lifts her head, and stares Rain in the eye, still weeping from what just happened to her but now also blushing with shame. "Thanks for that", she whispers as meekly as she can, "for being so thoughtful…"

"I'm just glad you didn't get injured or anything", Rain whispers back. "If that even is a thing that can happen to us."

Wendy knows she can't rip the eggs from the net or the walls without risking getting caught in the process, but she knows there's a lot of goo around. So, she stores her weapons away and sighs as she prepares to get her hands dirty. Literally. She falls to her knees and collects some of the white goo into her hands, with a disgusted look on her face, and she lays her hands on Angel's shoulders, who immediately lets out a surprised squeak. "Please try not to make weird sounds", Wendy says, as she stops for a second.

"Y-you could've used water!" Angel squeals.

"I can't carry that shit effectively!" Wendy responds with a yell. 'Where's that wooden cup when we need it', is the only thought that goes through her mind as she tries to focus on the task at hand, which is rubbing more and more slime on Angel's bare skin in an attempt to dissolve the web. She quickly frees Angel's hands, but it's nowhere near enough. Wendy next looks almost as if going for Angel's body, but she halts. She looks at Angel's naked body in front of her, and she just can't let herself lay her hands on her ribs, waist, or hips.

"Just do it already…" Angel says with an uncomfortable tone. "Nothing you do to me can be worse than what that bastard did to me…"

"I feel like such a pervert for doing this…" Wendy complains but continues to rub Angel anyway. She starts by releasing her legs, then moving onto her chest and belly. It allows her to rip Angel away from the web and separate her from Rain, who's left lying alone on her back.

Now, on her feet, with her shaky legs, Angel leans forward against Wendy and hugs her tight. This causes Wendy to freeze because she's being embraced by a naked little girl. No, it's not just that, since she knows she's a little girl too. Yet, this little girl is taller than her. It's without a doubt a situation she finds extremely disturbing, but at the same time, she completely understands why Angel wants to share a loving, intimate hug. "Thank you", Angel says, still crying, but this time, out of relief, not out of despair. "You both were great…"

Wendy hugs Angel back, trying not to think about how Angel's breasts are pressing against her own. "Just did what we had to", she says.

Rain, who can't look away, just closes her eyes with a huge blush on her face. "Okay, get me up next…"

Angel turns around to face Rain. "I… I'll do it… You don't have to, Wendy…"

"Oh, be my guest", Wendy says and takes a breather, moving towards the stream. She sits down by it and sighs deeply as she begins to clean up.

This leaves Angel with naked Rain lying like a starfish underneath her. There's not much work to be done, but the web fell on Rain like a trapper's net, so she needs at least some help. "I don't think I can do this after all…" Angel says.

Rain sighs and says: "I hate to copy you so literally, but just do it already…"

Angel sighs and looks around to get a heap of white slime. She rubs them against Rain's arms to dissolve the net and immediately moves to Rain's armpits, making her twitch in surprise. "Please, Rain… stay still…"

"But it tickles…!"

"I'm gonna free your upper body now", Angel warns and moves her hands down Rain's slender figure. Her thumbs end up grazing her flat chest, making her blush even more. 'I still haven't gotten over what that creature did to me, and now I'm already doing something like this', she complains, but continues anyway, trying to look away as she continues to work on Rain's lower body to free it. 'But still… at least I'm free… I don't think I would've been able to handle it a whole lot longer… and to think it could've gone so much worse for us! If it did, I would probably still be up there, getting raped… probably alongside my friends…'

After finishing her work, Angel falls to a sitting-down position and sighs loudly. Rain, who manages to sit up too, starts to work to free her legs. "Thanks", is all she can say. "Hopefully, we're gonna be safe after this. No way in hell can we handle another fight like that."

"This stuff stinks literally like cum", Wendy complains with an annoyed expression, "and now this entire place reeks of it. Fucking hell, I can't even wash the stink off me…"

"I feel like I'm going crazy just being here", Angel says and gets to her feet, feeling surprisingly springy. 'Must be the adrenaline, since my heart's still racing', she supposes. "I can't wait to get back to Grove and take a bath. I'm so done with this place."

"Me too…" Wendy says. She wants to ask Angel if she's feeling alright now, but her gut tells her she shouldn't. 'She's acting tough through her tears, acting like everything is okay, but there's just no way she can be alright after that. Like, she got raped by a monster, for fuck's sake. I didn't see any of the action, not that I wanted to anyway, but based on how she screamed and begged, sounding panicked and terrified… it must've been horrible. Probably the most horrible five minutes of her life. And it could've even cummed inside her.' Then Wendy remembers the words from the lore page they found. 'It said many creatures rely on Nymphs for reproduction, so could she actually be pregnant now? Surely that must be impossible…'

---

After a quick breather, they manage to loot the corpse to get the treasures from the giant spider. They get a lot of ingredients and a great-looking longbow with impressive stats, but since none of them seem all that useful to them, they just divide the loot evenly by weight and leave it at that. Then, they sit down to relax for the next ten minutes or so to gather their energy. With only the little stream as a bath, they can't even get cleaned up properly, which annoys them all.

"By the way, Rain", Wendy suddenly says, breaking the awkward silence. "You really learned how to fly."

"Oh, right", Rain says, remembering how she managed to finish the spider off. "I think it's because my body generated more source than normal when those slimes got us, or something like that."

"Well, if that's true, I should be able to use my wings as well", Angel mumbles, having finally been able to stop herself from weeping. However, she does not show any interest in trying, as thinking about a surge in source immediately reminds her of what just happened.

A sudden realization hits Rain. 'Wendy could fly on the second day already', she remembers. 'Why was that? We spent the whole day together, and I can't remember anything happening to us, so if sexual experience is required…' She can't help but smile and blush as she realizes that Wendy must've done something to herself on the first night as a Nymph. 'So, despite all her protests, cries, and complaints about being turned into a girl, she couldn't help but give her girly parts a rub the first chance she got. What a bloody pervert, masturbating in a body of a little girl. I almost want to point this out and tease her about it, but… I guess I'm gonna keep this information to myself. If I'm gonna use this as ammunition to poke fun at her, I'm gonna do it later.'

About five more minutes go by, and they finally decide it's time to move out and leave this wretched place behind. What they find at the other end of the tunnel is something they couldn't be more excited about. It's a safe and familiar-looking Misty Forest, with the same familiar spring running through the woods into an underwater cave, just as they theorized. Knowing which direction it is in, they head towards Grove.

As they approach the barrier, they hear a scream echo through the forest. It's the loud voice of a Nymph in distress.

"Someone's in trouble", Wendy says and draws her guns. "Let's go see if we can help them."

"Why do I feel like this is a terrible idea", Angel mutters, but neither Rain nor Wendy even listens to her. Conflicted, she decides to follow their lead without causing a ruckus, running not so far behind her friends. 'I mean, if that were me screaming, I would want to be saved', she thinks, at least sympathizing with whoever the damsel in distress could be. 'I just hope there's something we can do.'

They find a lone little girl in a desperate situation, naked and on her fours, being raped by a large, gray wolf. It moves with great vigor, and the loud claps of meat pounding against meat echo just as loudly as the poor Nymph's desperate cries and moans do. The girl obviously isn't anyone they can recognize. Her curly hair is bright pink in color and rather long, but this is the only physical feature they can distinguish from so far away.

Without hesitation, they move in, spreading out. "Don't bother trying to tank it", Wendy tells Rain as she taunts the enemy with her crippling poison. "It's weak, so just go for the kill." As an ability, it's very similar to the other poison she uses, but this one slows the enemy without dealing any damage, making it effective against fast-moving enemies. This predictably causes the wolf to abandon its victim, whom it hadn't managed to knot yet, and reassign its priorities toward Wendy. Even while slowed, it manages to move quicker than Wendy can dodge, but before it can even realize it's being targeted by another Nymph, the weak juvenile wolf gets ambushed by Rain and dies quickly.

This pink-haired stranger is left lying on her stomach, with her butt still up and her wet pussy dripping lewd excrete to the ground. She can't move but realizes she has been saved. She collapses almost completely and simply says: "Thank you…"

Wendy gets in front of her and extends her hand to this stranger. "Can you stand?"

"My legs are an absolute mess…" the girl says and tries to smile. "In any case, thank you again… I thought I was in for a long haul…"

"Why are you even alone?" Angel asks with a worried yet somewhat judgmental tone. "It's dangerous out here, you know."

"I wasn't alone", the girl explains as she lays her butt down to sit up and get on her knees. "My party got wiped out by goblins."

"That's awful…" Wendy says with a shocked tone.

"Yeah, there were like eight of them or something ridiculous like that", the girl continues, "and they were led by this giant hobgoblin too."

"So, what happened to the others?"

"I'm not sure", the girl says, shaking her head. "I think I was the only one to get away. I ran away, heading back towards Grove to safety when that wolf got me from behind."

"Luckily, we're almost there", Wendy says and gets up. "You're safe with us."

"Thank you so much… my saviors…" she says and giggles.

"How about your party?" Wendy asks. "Were you guys close?"

"No, not really", the girl says. "None of us knew each other. We just tagged along because we thought we could help each other. Oh, but what're your names? I'm Pink, by the way."

A fitting name for sure, almost comically so. Just like her absurdly long hair, her eyes are also the same color. At roughly 120 centimeters, she is one tiny girl, even compared to Wendy, the smallest of our three heroines. Despite being very girly and feminine, she's very immature from the neck down with a perfectly flat chest, no wide hips, or a plumpy butt to boast about. One by one, all three introduce themselves to Pink, who takes great curiosity in the appearance of her saviors. "By the way, what happened to you? You're all naked too."

"Long story short, lots of slimes", Rain explains. "And spiders."

"You must've gotten pretty deep then", Pink says with a surprised expression. "I haven't seen any slimes or spiders yet."

"We kinda got lost", Rain says, shrugging.

"Yeah, my bad. I was doing a lousy job as a scout and underestimated the area", Wendy says and sighs.

"Don't whip yourself over it", Rain says. "Besides, the part where we dropped into a trap was technically my bad."

"Well, it was just a matter of time until I would've tried picking something up from that chest", Angel admits as she turns toward Pink. "But Pink… are you okay? That wolf raped you…"

"Oh! Totally!" Pink responds cheerfully, but despite the tone of her voice, her body betrays her as she struggles to get to her feet. She then lets out a painful moan and sighs, still trying her best to keep a cheerful appearance. "Ahhh, my body feels kinda weak… cuz it raped me so freaking hard… but I'm… okay! As you can see… just a little shaky! That's all! But I'll be fine!"

'If only it was that easy to shrug it off for me as well', Angel thinks, and hangs her head low with a nod. "Good for you, I guess… but can you walk?"

"Uhhh, yep!" Pink responds. "I think…"

"How about you, Angel?" Wendy asks and turns towards Angel. "Are you okay?"

"Physically, yes, but my heart feels like a mess…"

"In any case, we should probably get moving", Wendy says as she starts to walk. "Aaaah, I'm so tired of this perverted forest! Can't wait to take a fucking bath!"

"That makes two of us", Angel comments.

Following the two closely, Pink only takes three steps before she trips over her feet and collapses to her knees in exhaustion, panting. Realizing this, Rain approaches Pink and taps her on the shoulder. "Come on, it's not a long way home. You'll make it."

"I feel like I'm asking too much", Pink says, suddenly looking all shy, "but… can you actually help me a little? Lend me a shoulder or something…"

Rain recoils and blushes, but otherwise, her expression doesn't change. 'This little girl, this absolutely tiny and immature child, wants to lean on me?' While Rain has to admit, she has some severe pedophilic tendencies she can't shake off, she can't bring herself to do it, especially not in front of her friends. Part of her wants to, and another small part feels like she probably should help Pink out, but she's too embarrassed to lay her hands on such a small child. Pink finally realizes this as well, blushes too, and laughs it off. "Yeah, sorry for even asking… didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable…"

"Sorry, I feel like it's too much…" Rain admits. "I want to help, but I'm tired myself…"

Pink shakes her head. "It's okay. I can walk on my own feet, although slowly."

"It's cool. See? They're waiting on you", Rain says, pointing at her friends. "So just take your time and don't rush."

Wasting no more time, the four Nymphs head home. They are dying to get to the safety of Grove, under the protective barrier which no enemy can penetrate to assault them again.

Recess III

Excerpt from the Gamer's Logbook; "Exploring the Mechanics of Nymphsaga", entry number ???, "On Status-Altering Effects."

Players are connected to the world around them in both a physical and a psychological way, and sometimes this manifests in the form of status-altering effects. Their effects can have either a negative or a positive impact on Nymph's body and can last anywhere from a few seconds to several weeks. There are many sources for these effects, such as "buffs" cast by a friendly player and "debuffs" such as poisons, curses, and weaknesses caused by enemies players encounter. It is also important to note that the clothes and equipment that Nymphs wear also have status-altering effects attached to them, which remain constant effects as long as the item in question is equipped. Most of such effects are positive ones, but some of the more powerful buffs can be balanced with debuffs too.

While most of these effects can be observed through the character page, many of them can be hidden and require a specialist to observe. One good example is the alchemist's ability to detect any poison's or sickness's source, along with the possible remedy to cure the effect, but this is only one of hundreds of such examples. There are even hidden effects that can't be examined by any players through the character page, which must be observed through other means. They are mostly inconsequential but include some important status-altering effects like the one that causes Nymphs to produce source at an increased rate during heat.

It is up to every Nymph to take good care of themselves and keep track of every effect they can, for they may severely impact their performance, and in the worst cases, even prove to be critically dangerous for them. It is highly encouraged of everyone to get rid of any and all negative long-term status-altering effects as soon as possible.

---

As soon as the four Nymphs get to safety, their first priority is getting the stench of cum off them, so they head towards the apartments of Rain, Wendy, and Angel, which are actually pretty close to where Pink lives in. Then, their second priority is to get new clothes, as none of them have any spares on them. Luckily, they can all conduct this business at home as well.

In addition to new articles of clothing that Nymphs can discover, find and create themselves, there is a magical wardrobe function that can restore broken clothes, so the Nymphs won't lose their precious items. When clothes break, they get automatically transferred into inventory but become inaccessible. This makes them semi-protected by the inventory's protection feature, meaning they will only be stored when broken, but never when stolen, given away, or left behind.

When broken, items turn completely useless and lose most of their value. They can either be repaired, as mentioned before, discarded and destroyed permanently, or turned into scrap by tailors to make new clothes from. The cost of repair changes from item to item, with enchanted equipment being significantly more expensive to restore. The magical wardrobe takes money for repairs, while tailors can use their own scraps for repairs instead.

Additionally, any piece of clothing can copy the appearance of any existing piece in the magical wardrobe, provided they share the slot in which they are equipped. This way, fashion-conscious Nymphs can retain their preferred appearances by making their new, less stylish, yet more powerful clothes look like their usual ones. Since none of our heroines' old garments had any magical effects to begin with, they just copy their old clothes appearances into new ones, discarding the old ones for the time being.

As the three girls leave their apartments to conduct some business, they can finally get to see Pink with her clothes, only to find them wildly inappropriate for a child. Her oversized baby blue sports t-shirt looks normal at first glance, but has the numbers six and nine drawn on the back along with her name. The hole for the neck on this shirt is especially large, and it's not unreasonable to think at all that anyone would get a good glance of her nipples wearing this shirt, should they catch her from the right angle. Pink, though, doesn't seem to care. She's wearing a white miniskirt, almost identical to the one Rain wears in every way other than color, and on her feet, she has nice casual white and pink sneakers.

"What's up with that shirt?" Wendy asks with a thin-eyed look as she ponders the deep meaning behind the two ominous numbers.

"I don't know…" Pink says mysteriously. "I made it", she adds, revealing herself to be a tailor, or as others prefer to call them, a clothier.

"Well, if you made it, you must know exactly why it has those numbers in it", Wendy continues, persisting on implying there's something wrong with these numbers.

"The clothes I make have random properties", Pink explains. "I guess the game considers print text to be a random property", she adds and laughs.

"Why not just wear your old shirt?"

"I don't like it!" Pink proudly says, smiling from ear to ear. "It's way too tight. I thought it would look cute when I designed this character, but… I kinda like baggy clothes more!"

Wendy, who still can't get over those dreaded numbers, asks: "Why didn't you just make another one…"

"What's wrong with sixty-nine?" Pink asks, tilting her head.

Left speechless, Wendy just continues to stare at Pink and her poker face. She's acting innocent. "Never mind…" she finally says.

"So pure and innocent", Rain comments.

"I'm sorry I happen to hate this perverted game!" Wendy says, lashing out.

"Yet you masturbated on the first night in the game."

Wendy blushes like crazy, pointing her finger at Rain. "How the fuck would you know what I was doing!?"

"Oh, just a lucky guess… I didn't know for a fact…"

"Is sixty-nine something perverted?" Pink asks, still feigning ignorance. Wendy turns her gaze back to Pink, only to notice a sly smirk on her face, hidden behind her façade.

"Oh, you joker… you're just as bad as Rain…" she says, facepalming.

"I'm just an innocent little child who doesn't know anything!" Pink says with a wide smile and a childish tone in her voice.

"Where are we heading anyway?" Angel asks, switching the topic, turning towards Rain, who dragged her along. "I really wanted to stay home and lay down…"

"We're going to meet a friend", Rain says. "A good friend who will help us. Help you."

"Help… me?" Angel asks, feeling a little confused.

"In fact, we're already here", Rain says.

A cute little hut that Rain is already familiar with lies ahead of them. Lucky for her, the shop seems open, meaning that Lemon must be in. They burst in and find her reading a book on her armchair. She looks absolutely elated to see Rain. "Oh my, welcome! And you bought friends too!"

"Yeah, umm…" Rain begins, fidgeting. "I was wondering if there's a potion that can help with pregnancy…"

"Hold on", Angel says, with a worried look on her face.

A sudden, frightened expression appears on Lemon's face. She rushes to Rain and lays her hands on her shoulders. "Are you fine? How about your friends?"

"Nah, it's this blonde chick right here", Rain says and points at Angel.

"Oh, my good lord, this is horrible, a catastrophe!" Lemon shouts, sounding overly dramatic but genuine and honest.

"There's no way I could actually be pregnant!" Angel shouts.

"Angel, that lore page said monsters reproduce with Nymphs", Wendy reminds, which causes Angel's heart to sink. "Yeah, we don't know for sure, but it never hurts to be safe."

"Speaking of which", Rain says as she remembers how they met Pink. "How about you, then?"

"Oh, the wolf didn't cum!" Pink says brightly. "So I'm gucci!"

"Well… I wish I could help", Lemon says, looking even more worried than before. "But there's no such potion…"

"Well, that's that then", Angel says and sighs deeply as her fear grows stronger.

"I-I didn't even imagine we could get pregnant", Lemon admits, with a horrified, white face. "I mean… they're monsters… they're all monsters…"

"Let's hit the library", Wendy suggests. "We can hopefully find information there." She puts great emphasis on the word "hopefully", as there are never guarantees when it comes to acquiring new information. Moreover, last time they checked, no lore had been released about pregnancy, which is another great hit to their optimism.

"Can I come too?" Lemon asks. "I want to help."

"Are you sure you want to close the shop?" Rain asks, surprised. "I mean, we appreciate you tagging along, but…"

"No, I'll come. I'll help your friends", Lemon says with a confident tone. "Besides, I feel like this is something I should know about too."

They see no reason to turn Lemon down, so they decide to tag along and head toward the library to gather information from other Nymphs.

---

First, on the way to the library, all the Nymphs in this group unfamiliar with each other introduce themselves, and even though they don't really know each other yet, they all get along very well. It makes them all want to think that there'll be a time and place for further introductions and get-togethers, perhaps even in the near future, as they all want to get to know each other better.

They ask Nymphs about their opinions on the way, trying to get information from strangers, but nobody has had to deal with pregnancies yet or has any friends who have. This can mean two things: either Angel doesn't have to worry about being pregnant or was incredibly unlucky to get cummed inside.

As soon as they reach the library, they find it to be surprisingly empty. No matter, they all decide to spread out a little in hopes of finding a suitable book to study individually. Not knowing where to start looking, Wendy stays a minute inside the park in the middle, and as she walks through it, she notices a lone Nymph sitting in the shade underneath a marble pavilion. Wendy decides to approach this glasses-wearing girl with straight, purple hair tied to a ponytail, hoping she could know something.

"What're you reading", Wendy asks.

"Studying talents", the girl replies, with her barely glancing at Wendy before her eyes return to the pages. "Not sure what to go with besides Restoration. Maybe Meditation could be useful for healing too…"

'A healer, huh', Wendy thinks. 'Well, she's kinda like Angel in other aspects as well, being on the taller scale and having small boobs and all.' "Have you read a lot?"

"What gave you the impression?" the girl asks with a deadpan expression. "Do I look like a bookworm?"

"Oh, no, I'm just a little curious", Wendy starts and pauses, with the girl's attention fully on her. Nervously scratching her cheek and averting her gaze in embarrassment, she continues: "I'm looking for information about pregnancy, but I'm not sure where to begin searching, so I thought you might know…"

"That room", the girl says, pointing her finger at a nearby doorway.

"That was a fast response", Wendy says with a surprised expression.

"Well, I've been here all day reading and studying", the girl comments. "I don't just look like a bookworm, you see. But go read it yourself. I don't remember it word for word, but the gist of it is that if a monster cums inside you, you'll get pregnant."

"Every time?" Wendy asks, feeling nervous for Angel.

"Every time", the girl responds, but then thinks about it for a moment. "No, no, I think there were some expectations? Like I said, go read it yourself."

"I should probably spend a day here studying myself", Wendy thinks out loud. "Anyway, thanks a lot! What's your name? I'm Wendy."

"Melody", the girl responds as she returns back to her book. "Now, if you'd excuse me… I'd like some quiet in the library…"

"Right, right", Wendy says as she walks away. "I'll see you later, I hope…"

As soon as Wendy finds the correct book, she gathers her friends around so they can read it together. They all get a copy of it to read through since it's a magical library after all.

---

Excerpt from the Bioengineer's Logbook; "a Study on the History, Biology, and Behavior of Nymphs", entry number ???, "Nymphs, Breasts, and Pregnancy."

During the study into the alien race Nymphs are based on, the original creators of Nymphs discovered that these beings give birth to live offspring. While it's not a trait unique to their species, it is, as far as we're aware, a trait unique to this planet. Every alien we've come in contact with lays eggs, so the designers of Nymphs were very interested in learning more.

During their research, they discovered many unique perks that come with this evolutionary trait, the most obvious of which are the "mammary glands", or breasts, which females of this race - and creatures similar to them - use to feed their newborn with a substance called "milk". We must admit, these so-called breasts must be pretty convenient and a great evolutionary advantage to the boot, but at the same time, they kind of weird us out.

While their mission was to stay loyal and true to this race and create a close copy of them - as authenticity tends to sell very well in Altarian markets - they weren't keen on including these breasts to Nymphs. They thought it would be too much of a turnoff considering that breasts are unique and rare across the galaxy and not considered a traditionally attractive trait in females. It's also why they modeled Nymphs after children, as the members of this race apparently do not develop large breasts until they reach adulthood. They could make a faithful recreation while ignoring an aspect that wouldn't sell. It was a win-win in that sense.

As far as their ability to give birth to live offspring goes, they partially opted in. In some examples, Nymphs can give birth to live babies, but they can also lay eggs. It all depends on the species of males fertilizing their eggs, with the seed of a fellow mammal most often leading to a live baby.

They still opted out of implementing the ability to breastfeed, replacing it with the ability to feed their offspring in another way. It is a very fitting way, to be exact, as it is directly linked to source. The process already begins during the pregnancy, during which Nymphs go to extreme heat and forcefully generate source at an increased rate to speed up the pregnancies, essentially by feeding the baby or the eggs growing inside them. Typically, Nymph's pregnancy is very fast because of the intense power of the source and will last anywhere from a couple of hours to several days.

Increased source generation will often continue even after giving birth, as their offspring can absorb the source from their mothers during intercourse, but it will become more controllable for the Nymph overall. This process of incestuous mother-and-child intercourse is called "source-feeding", and plays a critical role in helping the Nymph's offspring grow into healthy, strong adults.

As stated before, the species of Phantasm have largely evolved to be dependent on Nymphs for reproduction, helped by the fact that Nymphs are designed to be highly adaptable regarding their sexual partners. This, by extension, means that they can be fertilized by almost all creatures native to Phantasm, as well as many other creatures across the galaxy. The only notable exceptions to this rule are with the Nymph's offspring, as well as with young and weak, often infertile juvenile creatures in general, who can't get Nymphs pregnant, no matter how often they ejaculate inside them.

As a final point, why nipples? If they can't produce "milk", why even have them? Well, mostly due to aesthetics and authenticity, but nipples are also an erogenous zone that can arouse these aliens when stimulated. The same logic applies to their bellybuttons, by the way, which all Nymphs have too.

---

Given everything they have learned and experienced so far, nothing on this page really shocks them, but they find themselves a little taken off by the contents regardless.

"If there's one takeaway from this that I can appreciate, it's that I'm probably not pregnant", Angel says and sighs deeply, leaning against the wall. 'Probably', she quietly adds, 'Or rather, should I say, hopefully.' "Not that it will make me feel any better… but I think those spiders were juvenile, or at the very least weak…"

"Let's stay put for a few days just to make sure", Wendy suggests. "And to be honest, we could take a couple of days off anyway. After today, I'm not too excited about leaving Grove."

"I'm okay with that", Rain says and nods.

"It did mention extreme heat", Lemon points out and looks at Angel. "You seem to be feeling alright."

"Well, at least as far as that is concerned", Angel says and sighs. 'It's honestly kinda strange, given how brutally it raped me, but I am feeling perfectly fine already. And I'm most certainly NOT in any kind of extreme heat right now, as this text seems to suggest.' "But that also helps me put worries at rest", she adds, trying to smile.

"Well, all of this was… enlightening, to say at very least", Wendy says and stands up, stretching her body. "Still, the book says nothing about contraception, which worries the fuck out of me."

"Well, the goal is to avoid getting raped in the first place", Rain says, crossing her arms. "Yeah, we kinda fucked up today… but as they say, abstinence is the best birth control."

"So… let's just not get raped!" Pink says. "Ever!"

"Never wanted to in the first place", Angel responds quietly.

Rain suddenly turns towards Lemon, opening up her inventory. "Oh, I just remembered! I've got a present for you."

Lemon seems surprised. "A present? For me?"

"Yeah, because you came with us to help."

"I wasn't much help, though", Lemon says meekly.

"It's the thought that matters", Wendy says, smiling. "You're a ranger who uses bows? We don't want it, so just take it."

"A bow?" Lemon asks, surprised. She indeed uses bows, as she is a so-called "stealth archer". Rain takes the bow out and presents it to the very excited Lemon, who by one glance alone, can tell it's much better than her old one. She wants to take it, she really wants to, but she holds her hands back, as she has nothing to offer back. "It's pretty good, I've got to say."

"Please accept it", Rain insists.

"Are you really sure?"

Rain nods. "In return, please join us on our adventures every now and then."

Lemon happily nods and accepts the proposal. "If I'm welcome to join, I will do it anytime you want!"

"For full disclosure", Pink begins, with a happy wink, "I'm also available for you to group up with!"

"A group of five would be nice", Wendy admits and smiles happily. "The more of us there are, the less trouble we are going to get into. I just feel like I will have to somehow phase out from physical damage, as we can't rely on it too much."

"Yeah, I can't do much about that myself", Lemon admits. "I can make better poisons through alchemy, but my arrows are kinda physical, if you know what I mean."

"I can cast fireballs and shit!" Pink says. "And thunder and lightning! Something tells me none of you chicks can do that!"

"Yeah, and then we have Angel as a healer and Rain as a tank", Wendy says, nodding to herself. "It's a full party! And we also have a wide range of professions to help each other!"

"Well, having a secondary healer and a tank would be helpful", Rain adds, "but I can't complain. If we're going to explore as a group of five, we're going to be really strong."

Now, having formed a new, a little bit larger group, they all feel more confident about their future, but as they decided earlier, there will not be any more adventuring for at least a few days. They make no plans beyond that, but all of them fully intend on trying to push further into Phantasm to uncover its secrets in hopes of eventually escaping it completely. And with that, they all scatter in different directions, but not before making sure they each know where their new friends live. Lemon returns to her shop to keep it open for a few more hours before nightfall, Angel goes home to rest, and Wendy decides to stay in the library for a while longer after Melody comes to her, asking if she wants to hang out.

This leaves Rain and Pink alone, not knowing what they want to do.

"So…" Pink starts, eyeing Rain from head to toe. "We're alone."

"Kinda looks like it", Rain admits.

"You don't wanna go home?" Pink asks, smiling.

After thinking about it for a while, Rain gets a fun idea. "Nah, I wanna see where you live. Take me there."

"Oh, so direct, so daring!" Pink says and giggles. "I'll take you home gladly!"

Rain and Pink

Pink leads Rain through the quiet evening woodlands to her cute little house in the middle of the forest, and it's a first-time-ever for Rain in many ways. She has never been to a girl's house, not in-game or in real life. She has had Lemon visit her, but she has only visited her shop while Lemon has been working, meaning she hasn't seen where she sleeps, so she's not sure if that counts. She hasn't been inside Wendy's or Angel's house yet either, as they always meet and talk outside, and to be honest, she doesn't really see them as girls anyway, mostly because she knows what kind of people they are in real life. Now, Rain doesn't know if Pink is a real girl or just another guy inside a female avatar, but for some reason, Rain sees Pink as a girl, mostly because of how she acts. Pink really acts like a real little girl. It's in how she walks, how she talks, how she laughs, and pretty much how she does everything. Her entire personality is girly to the point that she could easily pass off as a real child.

Like Rain, she's also a bit of a jokester, but she goes about her business completely differently. As opposed to Rain's sarcastic and dry sense of humor, Pink is loud and very expressive with her hand gestures and isn't afraid to laugh and smile, which is something that Rain finds genuinely hard to do. She has to force most of her facial expressions, after all.

As for Pink's home, it's a cute little hut, a single-room apartment built under a tree, hidden away from most passersby, in a relatively quiet and sparsely populated area with no direct neighbors to pester her. After being kindly welcomed in, Rain sees it in a pretty much pristine condition, suggesting that Pink hasn't spent much time at home. Most of the house remains untouched, except for a messy bed and a workbench designed for tailoring.

"Sit wherever you want!" Pink says happily. Rain takes upon the offer, but when she's about to sit down on the bed, Pink stops her. "Wait, let me fix my bed first", Pink says, laughing awkwardly, starting to tidy her bed up at least a little bit. "I'm kind of embarrassed to show you such a messy side of me… I should've cleaned up…"

"It's fine. I don't ever make my bed either."

Once satisfied by the neatness of her bed, Pink sits down, having Rain sit next to her. "We should probably get to know each other if we're going to be grouping up often."

Rain nods twice. "Is there anything you want to know about me?"

"Well, you know… where you're from, what you do for a living, all that stuff…"

"I'm a man from Ireland", Rain says, introducing herself.

"Wait, you're a man?" Pink says, surprised. "Your Irish accent is noticeable, but I was one hundred percent sure you're a real girl!"

Rain tilts her head. "Do I really seem that girly to you?"

Pink doesn't know how to reply, so she just ends up giggling. "Well, honestly, you don't act that feminine. It's just that you don't really act masculine either."

"Are you disappointed?"

"N-no, in a way, it makes me a little happy", Pink admits and laughs. "Because I'm a male too…"

Rain shows the exact same surprise. "No way. You act so feminine."

Pink blushes at Rain's comment and covers her cheeks with her hands while giggling. "Why, thank you."

"So, umm… where are you from?"

"Toronto, Canada."

"How old are you? I'm 39."

"I'm 44, so not that far apart. I work in a nuclear fusion power plant as a manager."

"I'm a chief in a sales department for a company that specializes in nanochips."

"Oh, nice! Do you travel a lot?"

"You could tell? I do", Rain says, nodding. "I've been on every continent multiple times."

"Oh boy, I'm so jealous!" Pink says and laughs. "I have never been outside North America. But in any case, we're kinda similar!"

"Yeah, I guess so", Rain says, leaning a little bit closer, really interested in hearing more. "So, what about hobbies? Are you into gaming?"

"Yeah, I really am… more than I'd like to admit…"

"Me too. I pretty much play anytime I'm home."

"Yeah, same", Pink admits and sighs. "Especially when I'm lonely. Have had a lot of nights like that since my divorce five years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Pink shakes her head. "It's fine. It was a mutual decision, and I'm not bitter about it."

"I've never even been in a relationship", Rain admits. "They're too much trouble."

"I kinda agree… but why do you feel that way?"

Rain feels too embarrassed to admit that she's too much of a nerd to be into real girls anymore. She only finds satisfaction in fiction. "I… I just don't like the idea of settling down with someone, and the idea of starting a family kind of scares me. Kind of pathetic when I think about it, considering I'm almost forty…"

"Come on, don't be like that", Pink says, leaning even closer to Rain, almost as if wanting to hug her. "We divorced for that exact reason. I didn't want to have kids, but she did, so I know how you feel."

Rain is happy that she's not alone with her feelings, the ones she has been embarrassed to open up about, especially amongst her colleagues, all of who are family-oriented men and women. She also notices that Pink seems pretty happy to talk about these things, making it all the more relieving. Rain even feels like she can disclose even more secrets about herself. "Besides, I think 2D girls are cuter…"

Pink laughs at Rain's comment, but instead of feeling embarrassed, Rain just smiles shyly. "How about music?" Pink asks next.

"I don't listen to a lot of music, to be honest…" Rain admits.

"Oh, that's a shame. I used to play guitar in college with a band."

"You would probably love to talk with Angel then. She plays guitar too."

"Really? What kind of music?"

"I think it's some kind of extreme metal with growls, screaming, that sort of stuff…"

"Ehhh, that doesn't fit her at all!" Pink laughs again. "I'm more into pop, rock, and anything in between…"

"I pretty much only play random playlists of electronic music", Rain says. "And some soundtracks of shows and games I like."

"Oh, right. Gaming!" Pink realizes. "Let's talk about that! Did you play any other VR-MMO before trying this game?"

"Yeah, I have been in Mormia since its launch."

"Really? I'm more of a casual and play a lot of different games. I never settle for end-game content and like trying out different classes."

"I'm all about that endgame content and sweet loot."

"What kind of character do you play?"

"Human, male, a berserk-style fighter."

"Yeah, this is a part that I'm going to be embarrassed about saying, but I always play female", Pink says, blushing even more. "Even this one. Everyone got turned into girls, but I was one from the beginning…"

Rain scratches her cheek and nods. "I wanted to test a female character for the alpha test, so I was like this from the start as well."

"Don't you like playing a female avatar?"

"Well, I mean… I consider myself a guy, but I like cute girls, which is why I thought it might be worth trying. Being a cute girl is kinda… how do I put it… confusing…"

Pink tilts her head in question. "Confusing?"

"I mean, it's like… I may be into girls, but being a girl is a whole different thing… I did make this character out of curiosity, but being stuck as one is not what I expected long-term… so, that's why it's not really what I prefer either…" Stumbling on her explanation, she pauses, wondering how to explain it better. "I mean, I also like cute animals, but would I want to be one? No. Okay, try maybe, and of course, being a girl isn't that different from being a boy, but… y'know…"

"Yeah, I think I get what you mean. It's not nice being stuck in a body you don't identify with", Pink starts to fidget, wondering if she should even say the things she's thinking about. "Trust me, I know. That's who I am in the real world…"

Rain tilts her head, but she doesn't know what to feel. 'It's like, we only just met, and this girl's already coming out of the closet for me, like we know each other.'

"Yeah… I've always felt trapped, and gaming, these kinds of worlds, they've always been my escape… to be someone else… a real girl…"

Rain still doesn't know what to say. 'But I guess that means she trusts me, and… I guess it also speaks to her confidence, to be able to talk about her feelings like that…'

"You're not saying anything", Pink says with a nervous smile on her face, as she awkwardly twiddles her curly hair around with her finger. "Oh my gosh… I… you… must think I'm some kind of a fucking weirdo now…"

"No, no", Rain denies with eyes wide open. "Never. I just… didn't know what to say, so I just kinda listened instead…"

"Really?" Pink asks as her smile and eyes relax. "Still, this is the first time ever I've looked this young… I've always looked so feminine and mature, but look at me now…"

"Do you like being a kid then?"

Pink freezes completely, not knowing how to answer. Blushing from ear to ear, she just nods. "But honestly", Pink adds, "the thing I like the most… is that I actually feel real now…"

Rain responds with silence again. Like she said, she never wanted to be stuck being a little girl, but she consented to be one when she made the character, so obviously, she's at least somewhat okay with it. Talking about this with someone who identifies as a female is a fascinating subject for her, especially given the setting, as it gives her an entirely different perspective on this situation they all find themselves in. "That real part also comes with some drawbacks, though", Rain says, "considering the mess we're all in."

"Yeah, this situation we're in sucks", Pink adds, leaning back and sighing. "So I don't mean to make it sound like I like this. At least not all of this. But I like "this"."

"This?" Rain asks, confused.

"You know, just being yourself! Shooting the shit, being honest, talking, relaxing", Pink lists.

"But why, ummm, did you pick this game then?" Rain asks. "If you're used to the idea of being more mature."

"I don't necessarily play mature characters because I prefer them per se", Pink starts. "It's just that only a few VR games have loli characters available. That's why I really wanted to try this one. I really wanted to play as a kid!"

Rain keeps nodding to show that she understands precisely how Pink feels. "There is something magical about the idea of returning to childhood, and even I can admit to that."

"Yeah, I miss childhood", Pink admits, nodding. "Oh, gosh… I'm blushing like an idiot…"

Rain giggles. "I'm probably blushing as well…"

"You are", Pink says with a wide smile on her face, a face Rain can't seem to take her eyes off. After all, she has to admit, she's into little girls, and sitting in front of her is a real little girl, and an attractive one at that, nonetheless.

'Wouldn't find the idea of masturbating to a girl as adorable as her out of the ordinary', Rain thinks, as she's forced to avert her eyes, with a shy smile on her face. 'I could say that about other girls I've seen too, even though I haven't even done it yet, but I guess just being alone with this cutie is enough for me.'

"And thank you for listening to me", Pink says. "It's not often I get to really open up. I'm always afraid of people making fun of me and calling me a faggot or whatever…"

"All I'll ever call you is "a friend"", Rain says, and smiles. "I like teasing people, making fun of them… but never like that…"

"I like teasing too!" Pink replies. "Glad we met! But do you actually want to do anything? Or wanna just talk more?"

Rain thinks for a moment. "What is there to do even? There's really no technology to play with during downtime from adventure…"

"I feel like we're on the same page on some things, but very different in other ways… so I'm afraid to ask…"

"Ask away", Rain encourages. "I won't laugh no matter what you suggest." Rain suddenly has to pull back and lean on her hands against the bed, with Pink suddenly leaning forward. Then, out of nowhere, Pink touches Rain's hair and strokes it a little bit. 'Why am I expecting her to do or say something dirty? Or is that just what my perverted ass is hoping for? I mean, there's just no way…'

"I wanna do some girly stuff", Pink finally says, "like play with your hair or something…"

Rain finds herself caught off guard. "That's it?" she asks, surprised.

"Yeah, try out a different style on your or something", Pink adds. "But I guess that'd be too weird…"

Rain wasn't expecting Pink to ask that, but then again, Rain has long, magnificent hair, just like Pink. 'If she wants to play with my hair, brush it, and try different hairstyles on me, why would I ever say no to that? I'm happy to be her little dress-up doll.' "Oh, please have your way with me…"

"Oh, so that's how you wanna frame it!?" Pink asks with a loud voice, but quickly laughs it off, running across a room with a spring in her feet. She heads towards her work table, bringing up some strings and a brush, and upon her return, she jumps on the bed. "Okay, stay still!"

"O-okay…"

Pink immediately gets closer to Rain and opens the ties on her hair, unraveling Rain's braided ponytails. To much of her surprise, she finds Rain's hair just as thick and curly as her own. "Wow, you've actually got the same hairstyle as me! You look so pretty! Why don't you keep it open?"

Rain turns to see Pink's smiling face, blushing at having just been called pretty. "I haven't thought about my hair too much", Rain responds and turns her gaze forward, her heart pounding. "And I kinda like ponytails and braids anyway…" 'Jesus, she just complimented my looks. This cute little girl. And she's touching me too. My heart's pounding so hard right now.'

"Well, not to say I didn't like your braids", Pink says and giggles. "Kinda made you look like an "Anne of Green Cables" look-alike! Although you're much cuter! Oh, but how about this", Pink says, urging Rain to turn back around. "Would I look good with a ponytail?" she asks, as she holds her hair together with her hands.

"I-I'm sure you'd look good with any kind of hairstyle", Rain responds without thinking, only to feel an immediate surge of shame welling up in her heart. 'Stupid! Don't say the quiet part out loud! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Now SHE'S gonna think I'M the weird one here!'

"Well then!" Pink responds and leans in closer to work with Rain's hair. "I'll have to keep that in mind! Gotta think about what kinda hairdo I wanna rock later!"

Despite feeling stiff from nervousness, the brush strokes against her hair feel so soft and warm that she allows herself to relax. 'Well, I got away with what I said, so… I'll just shut up for a while', she decides. 'But still, this feels kinda nice. Having my hair ruffled and played with is lowkey comforting. More so than I could've ever imagined.' She closes her eyes with a happy smile while concentrating on Pink's handy work.

"But still, you're having such a bad hair day", Pink says softly and giggles. "What a tangled mess…"

"Maybe I shouldn't have taken those few baths with my hair on a tie", Rain admits.

"Well, obviously not!" Pink shouts, with a playful bonk of the brush on Rain's head. "I don't care if you're a guy on the inside; you're a girl now, and a girl's gotta take good care of her hair!"

"I'll try", Rain responds meekly. "Although honestly, I don't think I can braid my own hair…"

"Oh, it shouldn't be that hard", Pink says as she continues to brush, trying to be really careful not to damage Rain's hair. "I'll practice it on you, and then you're gonna practice it on me!"

Rain nods. "Sure, and… thanks…"

---

As they alternate and take turns playing with each other's hair, they continue their meaningless conversation, getting back to their hobbies. They talk about what kind of cars they have, what kind of games they play besides RPGs, and about their diets and sports as well. They do not have very much in common in these departments, as Rain only plays role-playing games and doesn't own a car, while Pink doesn't really care about healthy eating and exercising in the way Rain does.

Getting more comfortable and even intimate with every passing minute, they both continue to touch and fiddle with each other's hair for a long time, which in turn has them both blushing and smiling gleefully. Rain even feels herself getting excited being tended to by a little girl, and her heart keeps racing because of it. She wonders, 'could Pink feel the same way?' She's afraid to ask.

They decide to conclude with Pink assisting Rain in giving her back her braids. It turns out to be a lot harder than she expected, especially since she's very inexperienced. Pink herself is wearing a cute ponytail with a tight rosy red ribbon.

"I prefer open hair, but maybe ponytails are nice after all", Pink thinks out loud. "Maybe I'll wear one just for you!"

"W-well, it looks cute on you", Rain admits.

"I feel like your hair got a little upgrade as well now that I got to fix it", Pink says, clapping happily.

Rain inspects her hair and agrees. Her hair used to be quite a mess since she was afraid of unraveling her braids. Now that she has a friend who can fix her hair, she feels more confident about opening it once in a while, especially while washing it. "Maybe I'll have to make you my personal stylist going forward", Rain jokingly says.

"Well, I'll be!" Pink happily says. "With pleasure!"

"And, in any case… I had a lot of fun", Rain says.

"Oh, me too", Pink says, "but why make it sound like we're done?"

"O-oh, we don't have to be done", Rain supposes and holds back a giggle. 'Man, do I love spending time with her. She's so cute and bubbly.'

"So how about we do even moar girly stuff!" Pink decides, getting excited already. "Any suggestions?"

"Maybe… outfits? You're a clothier, right?"

"Uh-huh! But my wardrobe's kinda limited, and I don't have too many clothes on hand right now. Still, could be fun for the future…"

"How about…" Rain starts, thinking deeply, but can't think of anything.

"Makeup?" Pink suggests heartedly.

Rain blinks her eyes rapidly in surprise. "Makeup?"

Pink nods. "I don't know, I'm getting all kinds of excited trying out all this stuff with you…"

Rain giggles and says: "So am I, but I don't think little kids need makeup, Pink…"

"Well, I guess you're right", Pink says. "You're really cute without makeup, at least."

"So are you", Rain blurts out without thinking. Although this time, it's not followed by shame or regret, as she's more focused on what Pink just said. 'She called me cute again.'

Pink continues to think. "Well, we don't really need to do anything special, but if you want, we can just talk some more…"

"I know", Rain says and leans forward, with her face practically next to Pink's. "Let's talk more about secrets…"

"Oh, that does sound exciting indeed…" Pink admits, fiddling around with her little fingers. "You're not in a hurry home anyway… right…?"

"Yeah, of course not…"

"So", Pink says, feeling fidgety, "let's share a lot of secrets."

Rain nods. "I like you quite a lot, so… I feel like telling you anything at all…"

"O-oh…" Pink finds herself backing down a few inches, but not because of the fact that she's feeling uncomfortable or anything like that. She's just surprised to hear those words. "Was that a secret you wanted to tell me?" she asks with a mysterious tone.

"Maybe…"

"I must admit, I like you too…"

"Speaking of likes", Rain begins. "What do you like about being a little girl?"

"Oh, w-what are you asking so suddenly", Pink softly whispers. "I can't explain it… I just feel like being small and cute fits me more than being busty and mature…"

'She's revealed so many secrets about herself to me', Rain thinks, 'so while I like listening to her, maybe I should share my secrets too? Or would she laugh, or find it disgusting? I don't know, I feel like she wouldn't, so… why am I so afraid?'

"Yeah, having an amazing rack and child-bearing hips has its perks, and I love it every time I play as that kinda character, but I just love being a kid", Pink explains with her hands pressed against her cheeks. "Best of all, I get to be around other cute girls! What's not to love?"

'Wait, seriously? She's saying that? That's… unexpected, or maybe… wait, is it? If she's into being a little girl, she could just as easily be INTO little girls, so perhaps…' "That's… definitely a positive I can agree with", Rain says, forcing herself to nod. 'I might as well shoot my shot and take my chances with her!' Her heart begins to pound even harder, and she tries her best to keep herself from stuttering. "Does that mean", she finally asks, "you enjoy the company of children?"

"Y-yeah, I'm kinda into kids as well", Pink admits suddenly, probably without even thinking about what Rain just asked her or what she just blurted out. They stare at each other deeply, which just causes Pink to get increasingly self-conscious about her comments. "Foh… fuuuuck, forget what I just said…"

"Oh, no, no, no…" Rain mumbles to herself, leaning even more forward. She presses her hands into the sheets and gets on her knees. "Are you into me, then?"

Pink begins with a long, stretched-out "Well", and she rolls her eyes around, avoiding eye contact with Rain, who is literally breathing into her face. "Ah, fuck it. Yes, I think you're hot."

Rain, without even thinking, extends her hands to Pink's shoulders and presses her down, falling on top of this girl. Pink's sudden admission about being into kids, kindles a light in her heart. A flip suddenly switches in her brains, and she can't keep herself from forcing herself on top of this little kid. Pink's confession of love towards kids was everything Rain needed to make a sexual advance, something she had been quietly fantasizing about ever since she stepped into Pink's apartment. No, not only that, but also something she has wanted to do with many Nymphs she's met already. The only thing holding her back was the fear they would hate her for making sexual advances.

'But not Pink', she assures herself. 'Certainly not Pink. She's not even resisting. She looks a bit shocked, but I think that's a happy kind of shock. I can feel her heartbeat, and… is she smiling?' Knowing they share a mutual lust towards each other, Rain can't help but push Pink all the way down to the sheets, but that's nowhere near enough for her. She wants to go much, much further and make that girl hers.

Pushing Pink down with all of her measly body weight, Rain presses her lips against those of Pink's to steal a long, soft kiss. She feels her pucker up in a sudden response, a positive answer to her sexual advances. Feeling like nothing can or will hold her back, Rain begins to eat her soft lips out like whipped cream, feeling the warm, wet lips sink against her own. 'If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up', she tells herself, as she moves her hands away from Pink's shoulders, caressing the soft and warm skin on her arms. Not only is it her first kiss, but it's a kiss with a child, a cute little girl, like something out of her wildest, most perverted pedophilic fantasies. And yet, it manages to feel even more amazing than she could've even dreamed of.

Pink surprises Rain by finally making a move herself, and grabs hold of Rain's hand, trying to find her palm to press hers against it. With intertwined fingers, Pink lets herself get pushed down by Rain, who's happy to take a dominant position. Neither of the girls can resist the urge to stick their tongues out either, a move that simultaneously surprises both of them when the tips of their tongues softly touch each other. For merely one and a half seconds, they find their lips separated, and it is Pink who pushes back this time for a French kiss. In addition to the wet, sloppy noises that their connected mouths are making, they both find themselves letting out muffled moans of pleasure.

The pedophilic lesbian lust shared towards each other is not limited to just a kiss, as they want to touch each other everywhere. So far, they had both stayed relatively stable, but with their flat chests pressing against each other, they can feel each other's hastened heartbeat and the warmth through the clothes. They want to feel so much more.

Pink frees herself from Rain's grasp and lovingly hugs her, pulling her even closer with one hand at the back of her head, and the other one reaching towards her butt to grab it. At the same time, Rain's exposed thigh presses against Pink's pussy through her panties, to which she responds by lifting her own leg for a little bit of clothed tribadism. This move actually shocks Rain more than it does Pink, as she realizes how their pussies practically touch each other, with their legs and hips rubbing together comfortably. Both of them can't help but notice that their kissers are not the only lips that are wet from the intimate play.

Their bodies then separate just enough for Rain to be able to slide her hand under Pink's shirt, a move that causes Pink to giggle in surprise. Rain's hand pushes upwards, exposing Pink's belly, taking a good feel of a young girl's firm yet soft chest. 'Despite being flat, it's so damn soft and not bony at all. In fact, she's so soft and warm all over.' As her thumb accidentally grazes the little stiff nipple, she feels Pink's back arcing in response underneath her. 'And so receptive too. What an incredible girl. She really must like this just as much as I do.'

Already sweaty and feeling uncomfortable, Rain wants to get rid of her hoodie badly. She stops pushing herself on top of Pink for a moment, raising herself to stand on her knees on top of Pink's body. Pulling down the zipper, she quickly and nervously takes off her hoodie. As soon as she presents her sporty, naked upper body to Pink, her gleaming eyes lock on it. Her blush is crazy, and so is her wide, tight-lipped, lustful smile.

For both of them, this is a dream come true. Rain suspected from the way Pink talked and how she has acted so far that she is a very submissive girl, and Rain is happy to play the top, as she loves the idea of pushing herself on a small child. 'There's so much I want to do to her', Rain thinks as she starts by pushing her face down on Pink's upper body. With her hands, she exposes Pink's chest in full and proceeds to kiss and lick her nipples, causing Pink to moan out loud and giggle more. With only one mouth to play with, Rain uses her hand for the other breast, pressing and gripping it tightly. As for the tiny, stiffened-up nipples of a child, she's in love. Once tasted, she can't get her lips off them. Her tongue just keeps flicking them, and she sucks on the nipple hard, surprising Pink once more. Pink's girly, high-pitch moans and heavy breathing are music to her ears, a perfect soundtrack to her shameless advance.

'I can't get enough of her taste', Rain thinks, moving on to taste the sweet, odorless sweat of a child underneath Pink's armpits, a taste she finds more pleasant than she anticipated.

"O-oh my gosh, Rain!" Pink pleads as she hugs Rain tight.

'Still, her erotic flat chest is the best', she thinks as she gives Pink's nipple a little flicker. 'I think I'm in love.'

For Pink, the situation feels just as lovely. She actually has someone lusting over her body, a body of a child she has dreamed of and longed for. And who's lusting for her? Another child. While she feels that being a female probably fits her and her personality more, she finds women more attractive than men. Pink feels like she's in the world she has dreamed of forever, and for this very night, she feels like she can forget about everything terrible that's happening in the world around her. None of that matters because right now, she's in heaven.

Lost in pleasure, concentrating on what's happening, she doesn't realize what Rain's other hand is doing. It lifts her skirt, reaches down to her panties, and touches her pussy directly. A loud moan instantly escapes her mouth to sound her approval. She can feel the fingers touch her opening and roll around it, but there is no penetration. Rain hesitates to push her fingers in on purpose, but Pink wants to be fingered so badly.

"P-please, just stick them in…!" Pink begs. "Finger my pussy…!"

'I can't believe what I'm hearing. A little girl is actually begging for me to be naughty.' Yet still, she refuses to give in to Pink's demand and continues to feel her puffy vulva up. "I'll give it to you, don't you worry", Rain says as she pulls her hands away from Pink, only to put them on her shirt instead. "But these clothes are in the way, don't you think?" she asks, filled with lust, and with a bit of assistance, she gets the shirt off Pink. "Ahh, I can't wait to see you naked…!" Rain says as she opens up the zipper of her skirt and gets on her knees. "You're so irresistible… I want all of you…!"

Pink gets up as well, only to hug Rain's body and touch her ass through the skirt, stopping Rain in her tracks. She pushes her naked body against that of Rain, and both their nipples press against each other's bare skin. After a short kiss, Pink is the one that is pushing her hands under Rain's skirt, as well as her panties. Rain does the same thing, and very soon, they both find each other bottomless. With only their hair accessories and their socks left, they're otherwise naked. Able to touch and see everything directly now, they slow down, excited and even hesitating slightly. Their hands play around with each other's hair and, for a moment, they lean closer to whisper.

"I can't get over how cute you are", Rain admits. "I really want to do you…"

"As much as you want…" Pink says and nods. "I'll be your girl all night long…"

"Yeah, we're not sleeping tonight… I'm not going home either…"

"Yes! Let's make love all night!"

"I never thought I would actually do this to a real child…" Rain says and pushes Pink down once again.

"I see you're into kids as well…" Pink says, laying down on her back, acting all cute.

"Does it bother you…?" Rain asks shyly.

Pink shakes her head as she spreads her legs to show her immature vagina for Rain to see. "It arouses me to think you wanna do me and find me sexy… so I want you to look at me more…" Her fingers pressed against the soft, wet lips, she spreads her vulva up to show the tight, juicy opening, not wider than a pinky's fingertip in size. "I want you to do all kinds of perverted stuff to me…"

Rain finds herself staring down at the hole with an amazed look printed on her face. Her heart is racing and beating like a drum as she hesitates. 'Holy shit, it's actually in front of me right now. A cute little cunny. It looks so fuckable. And her body is so freaking cute and small too. She's so freaking erotic!'

She gulps once and crawls on her knees. She lets her face get closer to Pink's private place and lays comfortably on her stomach. Being a little girl herself, she has to settle for the little she has to please the child in front of her. 'Man, I wish I had my dick right now', she thinks and presses her thumbs against the lips. 'It looks so tight that I would probably cum instantly, but I would fuck her so hard regardless.'

Pink lays her hands to the side and lets Rain play with her pussy without offering help. The clean, natural smell draws Rain in, and she immediately presses her lips against her pussy, making Pink react wildly with approval. 'Oh my fucking gosh, I never believed I would be able to live my fantasies like this', Pink thinks as she closes her eyes, feeling Rain's long yet quick strokes going up and down her pussy. 'I don't care about what that wolf did to me; this is how I'm gonna lose my virginity for real. I'm gonna have sex as a girl and have my little girl pussy licked and fingered all night long! I'm so happy I could cry!'

Having never pleasured a girl, Rain feels a little clueless, but how hard can it be? 'Pink's so wet and horny she'll probably cum no matter what I do to her', Rain reckons, as she notices Pink responding nicely to her licks with some shaky movement and breathing filled with intense pleasure. She stops moving her tongue to press it against the tiny hole hard momentarily, moving it slowly up the slit, only for the tip to flick the exposed clit, to which Pink responds with a muffled, held-back moan. 'And her wet pussy tastes so irresistible too', Rain thinks, filled with delight. The taste is salty and acidic, yet mellow and simple, but the word that springs to Rain's mind on top of every other one is "addicting". It's not just the taste that is addicting, but the entire experience. The softness, the warmth, and the responses she gets from Pink, they're all stimulating.

Pink's responses really are strong and instantaneous. With every flick of her bean, her body jolts and jerks ever so slightly. In fact, the sensation is getting stronger with every flicker, and she arcs her body backward, spreading her legs even more. It is becoming harder for her to resist just shouting and screaming Rain's name in pleasure, and her moans get louder too. Her eyes roll back, and her mind is like a simple white blank page devoid of thoughts. Lost in intense pleasure, she feels herself running toward her first orgasm. 'And she's barely even started!' Pink thinks as she grips the bedsheets with her little fists, shaking and turning, keeping her legs spread wide open.

"Oh yes, oh yes!" she repeatedly moans loudly, gasping for air as Rain's relentless tongue-play drives her off the cliff as she orgasms from Rain's mouth alone. "Ooooh my gosh, don't stop!"

Tasting even more of Pink's clear, liquid ejaculate, there's no way she could stop even if she wanted to. Her hunger for this immature cunt is insatiable, and Pink's cries of pleasure only make it better. 'She looks and sounds like she would be in single digits if she were a human, so to have her sounding like that… I swear, there's no sound sweeter in the whole wide world than a little girl cumming.'

Rain then presents a finger to the play and uses it on Pink's clit while her tongue focuses on licking the vagina. She tries pushing her tongue in to get a better taste as she pinches Pink's bean, which only seems to make her let out stronger moans. She doesn't have the strength or the ability to stick her tongue deep, but it's more than enough for her.

Then, fingers and mouth switch places. Rain focuses her mouth on Pink's clit and uses her fingers to reach inside the hole. The tiny opening immediately gives in and lets the fingers slide in easily. The sweet, wet walls of her hole tighten instantly around her fingers, almost as if sucking them in deeper, and Pink responds loudly with approval. "Mmmm, yesss!" Pink cries. "Bang me silly! Make me cum with your fingers!"

'If only I could bang you with something bigger', Rain dreams, as she can only imagine what it would feel like for a dick to be inside a teeny tiny hole like that. 'And to think this little cunny already had a massive cock inside of it', she mourns as she continues to push her fingers deeper and deeper with each new thrust, licking and fingering the little pussy possessively. In and out, with straight movements, she tries going a little bit faster, trying to be mindful to keep a constant rhythm. She knows that Pink just came, and she powered through it all, but she wants to make her re-experience it all.

Pink knows she's going to cum again, and quite possibly very soon as well, and the next one is promising to be just as explosive as the last one. Having tasted it once already, she's so addicted to it that she wants to experience it again and again, so she continues begging for it. "Right there! Oh yes, right there!" she moans, practically overflowing with pleasure. "Mmm, yes, make me cum, make me cum!" she repeatedly pleads, as Rain kisses her clit again, rolling her tongue around it. Spoken words morph into shouted ones as she screams "Yes" over and over again, with Rain's fast-paced fingerbang accompanying her all the way to the climax, causing her body to spasm violently as she literally squirts her juices all over Rain's fingers. 'It's absolutely unreal how amazing she's making my pussy feel', Pink cries as her soft voice starts to break up, with tears of joy appearing in the corners of her eyes.

Rain stops after going for a minute longer, satisfied with herself, and Pink is left shaky and feeling the most unbelievable afterglow of her life, having experienced pleasure beyond her wildest imagination. 'Wow, did I really do that to her?' Rain wonders, looking at her soaked hand. 'Kinda makes me happy to know I managed to make her feel that good.'

Still not getting enough of the taste, Rain licks her fingers dry, staring down at Pink, who's just out of it. Lying still, eyes staring into emptiness and tongue sticking out, she breathes in and out deeply through her open, smiling mouth. She comes to it the instant Rain presses her hands on the sheets next to her ribs, and their lustful eyes meet. Almost as if injected by a shot of energy straight into her bloodstream, Pink sits up, arms crossed behind Rain's neck. Rain, too, sits up in this position, but instead of having Pink face to face with herself, she notices Pink moving around, trying to get behind her.

"I think it's about time we switch places", Pink whispers to Rain's ear from behind, pressing her hands against Rain's chest, and her own chest against Rain's back. Surprised, Rain stares down at her body, with a pair of little hands now playing with her nipples and reaching down, with Pink's fingers tip-toeing across her belly. "I want to make you feel amazing too…"

"H-hold on…!" Rain says, but then she feels the other hand grab her pussy from behind. 'I wasn't expecting to be on the receiving end', she thinks, as she feels Pink's soft palm press and rub against her vulva. Gasping for air in surprise, she says: "I haven't even done it by myself yet…!"

Hearing that makes Pink giggle. "Oh, but isn't that just perfect? I can be your first. Besides, I think you deserve to feel exactly as amazing as I did…"

With her jaw pressed against Rain's petite shoulder, Pink retracts her hand just enough for her to get her fingers into play. "O-okay, just please, be… hnnnng!"

"Be what?" Pink coos, as her fingers pick Rain's clitoris and left nipple at the same time. "Gentle?"

Rain blocks her mouth in surprise as her body feels overwhelmed by the pleasure. 'That's all it took for her to force a reaction out of me?' she wonders in amazement. It's a feeling not all that foreign to her, but she has been way too careful about touching her own body so far. It really is not a lie, even though she's a literal pedophile in real life, madly in love with little girls. The man in control of this cute avatar is a man, after all, and while she likes his new form, she's been afraid of going all the way. 'It really feels nothing like my own fingers, and I'm so damn wet too! I should've known that it would feel amazing, given how Pink reacted, but… holy shit, is she gonna make me moan like that too? I'm not sure why, but I almost feel scared.'

'But maybe', Rain thinks, feeling her doubts melt away with every subsequent gentle touch to her clitoris. 'Maybe she can help me get over myself, help me feel like I'm ready to experience it.'

Releasing the grip from Rain's chest, Pink reaches her other hand down to Rain's groin as well, with her fingers finding her untouched, virgin hole. Then, before she can even realize what Pink is planning, she feels a single finger push into her pussy. Just like that, Rain's legs tremble as she spreads them more and more, as much as she can from the position she's in. Her whole body jerks backward, with her leaning against Pink's girly embrace, almost if by a magnetic force. 'I can't believe I'm being penetrated. Seriously, me! I'm supposed to be a guy, yet I'm having my pussy played with! But at least it's another little girl who's making me feel this way.'

Despite her disbelief, everything feels too good for her to deny any of it. It's like a whole new outlook on pleasure, one she's secretly glad to experience, no matter how much she tries to deny it. Should it be anyone else finger-fucking her and pinching her clitoris, she would fight back and not accept to be played with. 'But I would never say no to a little girl', she bargains, telling herself over and over again that she's ready to experience the female pleasure. 'And Pink's seriously SO good at this. The way her fingers move, the way they almost float over my skin, with little to no force behind her strokes, is incredible.'

She expected the pleasure to be just around her opening, but it flows deep inside her. Gently, warmth fills her from her labia all the way up to her heart, and she lets out an involuntary moan. It obviously surprises her often quiet and emotionless self, especially as she has done her best to keep her voice at bay so far, but then she starts to wonder, why fight back? 'It's not like anyone except Pink can hear my girly moans', she thinks, as Pink forces even more sound out of her, all while her pussy makes squishy and sloppy noises in unison. 'And it just keeps getting better! It's like pleasure just keeps welling up inside of me!'

"Isn't it lovely?" Pink whispers and kisses Rain's cheek. "This is how you made me feel too, you know…"

"You're so good with your fingers", Rain moans, as she bends her head backward and turns it towards Pink. Before she can even get another word in, Pink surprises her with a kiss, turning her soft, open-mouth moans into muffled mumbles. Sticking her tongue out, hers dances with Pink's, all while Pink's fingers continue to rub around her clit, and move in and out of her vagina.

Pink takes a sudden pause from fingering Rain, only to introduce another finger into her depths. In addition to the middle finger, the ring finger disappears into the tight grip of her pussy, causing Rain to moan through her French kiss. Pink fingers Rain hard, with her palm slapping against the upper parts of Rain's vulva with every single smack, filling her with satisfaction. "You're gonna cum soon enough", Pink softly whispers between her kisses as the going gets increasingly slimy and juicy. "My hand's already so drenched with you", Pink moans.

'She's so fucking good!' Rain thinks as her eyes literally tear up from how happy she is. She can't resist at all anymore, nor does she want to. Having been shown a whole new world and just what kind of pleasure her body is capable of producing, she can completely forget about getting her dick back. 'How could I even go back, given how good my pussy feels?'

Yet, it's about to get better because she hasn't even cummed yet. 'But I want to! I want to cum so bad!' And she also knows that her first-ever orgasm will be at the hands of another Nymph in a lesbian play. That's something that she's going to treasure in her heart forever, and she knows it. 'I'm so glad! To lose my virginity like this! With a little girl making my pussy cum!'

Before she even knows it, it begins suddenly, and her body reacts violently. She leans backward even more strongly, being tugged further to Pink's chest and belly. Realizing what's going on, Pink rubs, and even pinches, Rain's clitoris even harder. She lets her mouth go and lets Rain scream and moan, who doesn't hesitate to do so.

As soon as her mouth is free, a loud cry of pleasure escapes her mouth. Being teased all the way until the end with rough hand movements, she loses all sense of reason and surrenders to the ecstasy. It's like a full-body experience with her throbbing pussy being the center of it all. 'It feels so good it hurts! And my body feels so stiff and stressed! The feeling won't even go away! It's just too damn good!'

And she doesn't want it to stop. For as long as the climax controls her, she wishes it could go on forever, but with every passing second and every subsequent throb of pleasure, the feeling slowly dies down. While it felt like a pleasant eternity while it lasted, in reality, it was over quicker than she wanted it to be, so she lusts for more. Left dizzy and panting heavily in exhaustion, her mind begs for more. But her body also begs for a little breather from the intensity.

Surely enough, Pink stops, hugging her from behind. Closing her eyes, Rain focuses on the warm embrace, unmoving, still gasping and sighing from pleasure, with both sweat and tears rolling down her face.

"I knew you'd like it", Pink whispers.

"I-I don't know if I can ever go back from that…"

"Did you really like it that much…?"

"Yes…! I want to experience it over and over again…!"

"Well, I'm happy to comply…" Pink says. "So let's try out a lot of different things, okay…?"

Rain turns around, nodding as she kisses Pink once more. "I'm not done yet… and we promised to go at this all night long…"

"There's so much I want to try with you", Pink says as Rain turns around.

"Maybe something… that gives us mutual pleasure?" Rain suggests, kissing Pink again.

Pink isn't sure what Rain means, but she's convinced it's either scissoring or sixty-nine. Both of these plays are something she wants to do before the night is over. She nods slowly and lets Rain lead the way. After all, that's probably what fits them both the best.

---

After a good night's sleep tugged into each other's arms, the two Nymphs wake up wondering, was sex something they should've had, especially for such a long time? They didn't look at the clock, but given that they woke up really late, it is safe to say that they made love way past their usual bedtime.

Having known each other for less than a day, they shared something extraordinary together. They both loved it, and while they wouldn't change a thing, they can't shake off the feeling that maybe it was something that should've been left undone. They kind of agree that they did not do it out of love or desire for a relationship, but rather out of pure impulsive lust towards each other. They also agree that they should view each other as friends rather than lovers and will not let what they did negatively affect them going forward. Will they give in to their lust and do it again in the future? Perhaps, but for the time being, they mutually decide to push that decision to a later date.

On a somewhat different topic, much to Angel's relief and joy, she doesn't have any adverse effects from being cummed inside. Rape still isn't something she's gonna get over easily, but even that loss and setback just feel to her like more motivation to get stronger and fight back, so it will never happen again, not to herself, nor to any of her precious friends.

Rain, Wendy, and Angel all get together the very next day, with both Pink and Lemon alongside them, and venture back into the forest to train as a quintet. Eyes locked on level four, the level when they unlock their last talent points, they cut their break short before it even starts. They work hard together, familiarize each other with their unique styles, and grow to know each other better. After all, getting stronger is something they all must do going forward.

All in all, they feel optimistic about their future as a group of friends, which for all intents and purposes, given how well they work together, looks bright.

Chapter II