The man sighed as he opened his laptop. Another shitty day to add to the pile. Not that anything particularly bad had happened, but he just felt that the world had dulled around him. 

He was a university student. A second-year studying computer science for… some reason. He didn’t really know what he wanted to do after college. Frankly, he didn’t care. He worked a dead-end retail job as a cashier at the nearby grocery store. He needed the money to pay for college, but he hated the job. Something about the way everybody addressed him, ‘sir’ this and ‘mister’ that, really sapped his energy. It felt like the customers were looking down on him, sneering at him for merely existing.

He wasn’t a bad student, either. He was as average as they come, scraping by with B’s and C’s, and the occasional A if he was lucky. The only reason he kept his grades up is because Karyl would kill him if he didn’t.

Karyl was his childhood friend. They’d known each other since they were born, really. They grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same schools, and developed the same interests, and went to the same college. She was always cheery and optimistic and looked towards the future with bright and hopeful eyes. In a way, she was everything the man wished he could be. If the whole world was black and white, she’d be the only thing in color. He probably owed her more than he could repay in an entire life, maybe even two. She protected him against the bullies in grade school and made sure he was taking care of himself in college. He had no idea why she still hung out with him, to be honest. She could do much better than him when it came to friends. Despite all that, he was grateful to her. He would have flunked out by now without her help. 

A year ago, the two of them had discovered Soulseeker Online. It was an up and coming MMORPG set in Haredo, a continent heavily inspired by the folklore and cultures of ancient Japan. The game mostly focused on battling various yokai. That was what his plans were for tonight, actually. There was going to be a big raid lasting all of next week, and the two of them were going to do some last-minute preparations.

He booted the game, allowing the fanfare and visuals to immerse him completely. Quickly navigating through the menus, he selected his character, a beastfolk he had named Nina.

Being your typical anime MMO, the beastfolk of this game were small and childlike. He had always liked this trope, but he wasn’t quite sure why. Something about being able to play a young girl made it feel like he had the chance to live a missed opportunity. Thankfully, this game’s clothing options for the race were modest at best and made him feel like much less of a creep while playing.

He had imagined Nina as a protective older sister. She was confident and fiercely loyal to her friends. Her light blue hair reached just below her neckline and matched her aquamarine eyes. If you ignored the dark blue fox ears and tail on her, she would probably look sixteen or seventeen in real life. She wore a similarly shaded outfit, a whitish jacket lined and embroidered with shades of blue resembling waves. A white tank top with a blue ribbon at the top lay underneath and was matched with a dark blue skirt reaching just above the knee. He thought the outfit looked adorable, not that he would admit that to any of his guildmates.

He quickly checked his friends list, and seeing that Karyl wasn’t on yet, began checking his gear, and making sure he was ready when she was. 

“I wonder what it’d be like to live there,” He thought out loud. He closed his mouth quickly. He really hated his voice. It was too chesty and dark for his taste. His thoughts shifted back to imagining himself walking through the town’s market with Nina. That is, until a private message in the game’s text chat made him freeze.

[From Nina to you]: Wanna find out? We can trade…

Ninichu

Hello! I've been a long time lurker of trans fantasy, and finally wanted to give it a try of my own! I'm not necessarily the best writer out there, but I hope you enjoy my little story nonetheless! Constructive criticism is always appreciated, but be kind please :)