After I left the arena, I was met by a large group of other players. Some of them I recognized from the Lich quest. A player in shining gold armor, Lloyd the guild leader of the Crimson Starfall, approached me.

“Good day Gwyn. Interesting choice for your rebirth, by the way.” Lloyd said as he seemed to be inspecting me. It made me a bit self-conscious being stared down, so I tried to hide a little. He seemed to notice my discomfort and coughed while looking away. “Sorry about that. I knew you were a powerful player, but I didn’t know you could also craft like that. I would like to hire you as our guild’s exclusive apothecarist.”

After he said those words, several other players looked rejected, while others looked like they were about to start a fight.

“Sorry. I’ll have to decline. I make the potions when the mood strikes me, and I don’t want to be tied down. I plan on selling my potions whenever I make them. If you want to buy my potions, just look for me in the market district. I have to warn you, though, I won’t be there every day. I will also be limiting the sales per person.” After I said that, several other players looked relieved.

“Are you sure? I can offer you a good salary with real money, and you can join my guild.” Lloyd said, trying to convince me to change my mind.

“Yes. I am sure. I am also currently in a guild that I like very much.” I respond, getting slightly annoyed at his attempts to recruit me.

Lloyd sighed and then shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well. It was worth a try. I’ll see ya around then. I’ll stop by your stall when you are selling your stuff.

Lloyd left, and several other players who heard our conversation followed suit. A handful of other players tried to talk to me, but I was done for the day. My group and I quickly made it to an inn to log out.

~|~

I floated in what could be described as space. It looked like it because everything around me was dark, but tiny specks of light gave the appearance of stars in the distance. I heard some words inside my mind. It was muffled, like someone was speaking to me, and I couldn’t understand it.

Despite being in the void of space, I felt relatively comfortable. All my stress and worries melted away as if they never truly mattered. However, I started to think of my family, and I felt a pang of loss in my heart. Where were they? Are they ok? It felt like I was floating for eons. I soon heard the voice again in my head. It was a calm, soothing voice trying to speak to me. It was my only solace in this vast void.

I am suddenly blinded momentarily as a giant sun appeared before me. I was in awe of the sheer size of it. I knew stars were massive, but I was just a spec compared to this. I am not sure I could even fathom the total size of the celestial body. I then saw a large black circle on the surface of the star move from left to right until it was centered in my direction. The circle then changed shape as the circle shrunk in on itself. Making the sun look like a burning cat’s eye.

Suddenly all around me, other suns blinked into existence. All of them had a black shape at the center, making them look like eyes from various animals like sheep or frogs. They all appeared to be staring at me. Like I was staring at a massive creature I couldn’t see. The mere thought of this filled my existence with dread. As if sensing my emotional state, a large black ethereal tendril, illuminated by the star eyes, caressed my face. As if to comfort me, which worked. As it left my face, I almost reached out to stop it.

[nOt YeT]

The words echoed in my head much more clearly. I felt myself lurch backward as if something grabbed me around my waist and pulled me. The glowing eyes quickly shrunk as my distance from them increased. I felt my body turn around. I could sense I was now facing the direction of my movement. It wasn’t long before I saw another star loom closer. Soon I was floating through an asteroid field, miraculously avoiding them. On my right, I saw a red planet zip by as I continued to fly through space.

Moments later, I saw a familiar blue planet grow as I neared it. I flew to the moon of what was most likely Earth. On the moon’s surface, I saw a woman in a red dress sitting at a table next to another woman I recognized as Eri. The woman in red was drinking a beverage out of what looked like a teacup. She stared at me with disbelief as she dropped her cup.

My body continued past the moon and entered the planet’s atmosphere. The ground rose faster and faster until I could recognize my house. I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

Feeling no impact, I open my eyes and saw the pod door above me in its open position. I sat up and blinked several times, trying to wrap my head around what had happened. I was in my room again. I looked up at the ceiling expecting a hole, but there was nothing.

I let out a long sigh I didn’t know I was holding. It was such a bizarre dream. I swung my legs out of the pod and stood up. The bones in my body popped as I stretched. I grabbed some clothes and walked into the adjoining bathroom to shower.

I closed the bathroom door and started the shower, waiting for it to heat up. I removed my bra and looked in the mirror. I was surprised by what I saw. I was much more muscular than I was before. I started to inspect my new abs, tracing a finger over their contours. I looked at my arms and saw they were much more muscular, too, not like an obscene amount but a nice amount that gave some definition.

I tried flexing a bit in the mirror, and I noticed my face had gotten smoother. The lines I had around my eyes and mouth were gone. The damage from my depression, stress, and alcoholism had disappeared. Staring back at me was a woman in her early twenties. To say I was stunned would be an understatement. I saw and felt tears stream down my eyes as a flurry of emotions enveloped me. I was thrilled. I felt like I had a new lease on life. I was excited to show Yuki and Naomi my changes, but that could wait until after the shower.

I reached down and slipped my panties off, only to be met with another surprise. I was now sporting a dick. It looked the same as it did in the game. Where my little bean would have been, instead was a flaccid dick and no testicles. It would be relatively easy to hide if I needed to. I was initially shocked, but with the knowledge that the game world would become real, I was more or less prepared for this to happen.

My eyes were soon drawn to my muscular legs too. I was nowhere near the Amazon look Alex had going for herself, but I was toned and had definition. I had the curves still and just enough muscle that all blended together to help accentuate my feminine looks. Once I was done ogling myself, I finally got in the shower.