“Do as I say, or I’ll tell everyone that you’re actually a creepy guy in disguise.”

I swallowed hard. Why was this cute girl such a fiend?

“F-fine,” I muttered, glancing at our companions, who were looking at their surroundings.

Grace smiled, satisfied, pulling out her left boob. “Go on. Give it a good suck.”

Although I had played with men’s nipples before, this would be the first time I did it to a woman, and the situation was making me feel hard.

“You’re a bossy bitch,” I said as I leaned to her. She stared at me as my parted lips were inches apart from her erect nipple and held her breath once she saw my opened mouth getting closer.

I pressed my lips, enjoying her exquisite soft skin. Whoah, I had never felt something so pleasurable in my mouth before. I used my tongue to play with her gradually hard nipple, making her sigh, and just before our companions could notice what we were doing, I started suction motions, gently at first.

“Such a good girl, or should I say boy?” she teased before grabbing my bulge again, just like in the restaurant. There were we, a few feet away from the group. I sucked her tit while she squeezed my balls.

“Do you hear that?” Charlie said, making a hand sign so the others would stop. “Monsters nearby.”

“Not yet,” Grace whispered to me, pressing my nutsack harder, which started to hurt. “Where is the danger coming from?” she asked aloud.

“There, at our 10,” Russell said, pulling out his sword. “I see three of them.”

Although we were in danger, this girl wasn’t letting me go. “This is enough,” I whispered, but she ignored me. “They’ll see us…”

“I wonder what their expressions would be like,” she giggled.”

“I said enough.” I bit her nipple, almost making her scream, but she shut her mouth with one hand. Judging by her expression, she liked it.

“I’m ready,” I said aloud while equipping my hammer.

“Protect Grace, we got this.”

“R-right...” I sighed, meeting her smirk.

We were against brown-furred creatures called Bunnyard: long-eared and sharp toothed beasts. When the first charged at us, hooping, I could see its red, murderous glare.

“Ready, Steve?” Charlie said, drawing his sword.

I could see Steve wielding a shorter blade and a shield. The last teammate, Dan, attacked first, missing his arrow shot.

“This is more difficult than I thought,” he muttered.

The first Bunnyard tackled Steve, which he blocked with his shield. The sound of the impact and the way Steve stepped back, gave me a general idea of how strong those 3’2” creatures were.

Charlie rushed to stab it in the neck, taking the first kill. The second one charged against Russell, who swung his sword forward, but the monster dodged and bit his thigh, drawing out blood. It retreated quickly before Russell could retaliate.

“This team lacks finesse,” Grace said beside me. “Just look at them. Three out of four men are wielding swords. So cliché.”

“Thanks,” I whispered, making her frown. “For not including me with them.”

She only pouted her lips and looked away. “Hey, one is coming our way. Come on, show them what you can do.”

“Huh?”

She looked at me like a grumpy coach. “There’s many people here but you’re the one I’m rooting for! Show me a new technique. Or what, are you going to throw that hammer to it and finish it with punches?”

A new technique? Right… Of course…

If she only knew this was going to be the first time I used the hammer, she would start yelling at me.

As the Bunnyard hooped its way to our position, I thought of that blonde from the restaurant. What differentiated her from us? What made her so special that even her partner couldn’t catch up to her?

And then the answer came to me. Finesse, like Grace mentioned. We lacked finesse! The Level 7 girl came up with a special move on our first day here…

I grabbed the hammer with both hands, as the Bunnyard hissed at me, showing me its sharp teeth. Then, I experimented... When I used the Valor skill for the first time, I had to channel mana, so I wondered if I could do the same just for this attack.

I balanced the head of the hammer behind me and positioned my right foot forward. “Hammer Smash!” I shouted, and I could feel my body’s power increasing for just the right amount of time. The Bunnyard’s head and upper side of its body got smashed in midair and flew 30 feet away from us.

“That was so cool, Taylor!” Dan said from his position, holding his thumb up.

“It really was, right?” I expectantly looked back at Grace, but she was grimacing at me.

“‘Hammer Smash’? Seriously?”

“I… um… that was the first thing that came to my mind…”

 

Congratulations! You have learned a new technique: ‘Hammer Smash’!

 

Oh, come on!

 

It grants a 100% increased attack to any strike you perform. Shout the Words of Power to activate it!

 

Will I have to say that stupid thing again if I need to use it? Let me rename it, please, Ms. System!

“Team! Don’t lower your guard just yet!” Charlie shouted from the front lines. “A Boss will appear at any second.”

So was this the same situation as when the Weasenox appeared, huh?

“You know,” Dan said while drawing his bow, “if there’s something I hate about the combat in this Virtual Reality, is that mobs don’t drop gold like in any other game.”

“It would be weirder if these creatures carried a wallet, don’t you think?” I replied to him, getting their attention. The way they were staring at me... “What?”

Hey, Reader? Come here, I have to tell you something, a little secret I have been keeping from all of you until now… The truth is that… Back on Earth, I wasn’t a gamer… D-don’t judge me, okay?! T-that’s b-because I was too busy reading smut novels, I admit it, happy?! If I have some knowledge about RPG tropes, it’s because of the genres I used to read!

Suddenly, the ground shook when something large landed in front of us, raising dust and making us cover our gaze.

“Did a meteor fall in front of us?!” Grace asked as I rushed to shield her with my body.

Then we heard Russell struggling. “Help me!” Something was lifting him off the ground, a monster of long ears and red eyes. It looked more humanoid than its fallen brothers, skinny, hunched, and sharp clawed. “Charles, please, save some of the treasures for me! A-anything!”

Charlie chuckled. “Sorry pal, not happening.”

“Dammit!” Russell cried before being decapitated by those claws closing around his neck.

That was… gruesome…

“Steve, now!” Charlie shouted so they could charge at the same time, but Grace’s voice was louder.

“Get the fuck out of my way!” She was pointing her staff forward, casting a ball of fire rapidly increasing in size. “Fire Crafting, Blaze+!”

The magical projectile was shot at tremendous speed, hitting the creature’s chest. It cried as the fire propagated, taking away half of its HP.

“Impressive! That spell did more damage than when you attacked the Weasenox.”

“I’ve already told you that the rain was weakening my magic!”

Dan landed two arrow shots at the creature while Steve dashed forward. The Boss’ name was displayed above its body: Bunnskeel. It retaliated by throwing a swipe, which Steve blocked successfully. Charlie, who was behind him, stepped forward and stabbed the boss in the belly.

The monster was now at 30% of its health.

“What are you waiting for?” Grace shouted. “Do something before it kills more of our allies!”

There was no time. Charles had already retreated after the Bunnskeel tried to grab him, and Steve was crouching, shield raised, unable to escape. The boss’ sharp fangs created sparkles each time it struck his shield.

Dan shot it one more time, but it was not enough, and I could not shorten the 60 feet distance.

If I didn’t do something quickly, Steve would die.

“Here goes nothing!” I concentrated the fire inside me and shouted: “Fire Boost, Valor!” I then grabbed my hammer and aimed it. Oh, right, I had to come up with some ‘Words of Power’ or something. “Hammer Throw!”

The increased strength that the Valor skill gave me was impressive. My thrown hammer flew almost at the same speed as Dan’s arrows, easily crushing the Bunnskeel’s skull. The sound of my steel against the bone was pretty satisfying.

 

Bunnskeel defeated!

 

Thanks to your magnificent display at measuring long distances, you have acquired the Passive Skill: ‘Sharpshooter’ Level 1!

 

Your ‘Monster Slayer’ Passive Skill is now Level 3!

 

“What the hell was that?!” Charlie said, astonished. “Was that you, Taylor?”

“Y-yes…” I said, embarrassed. Everyone had heard my stupid technique’s name.

“I knew you were special from the first moment I saw you,” Charlie beamed.

“You make me question my weapon of choice,” Dan said, half-smiling.

“‘Hammer Throw’? Seriously?” Grace said behind me, grimacing again.

“Hey, you gave me the idea to throw my weapon!”

My gaze finally landed on Steve, who stood up in front of the boss’ corpse without glancing at anyone, and absently checked his User Interface in silence.

 

Congratulations! Secret Hunting Quest Completed! Rewards: 100 Gold for each Party Member and a piece of gear of your choice!

 

As everyone checked the System notification’s contents, no one addressed what had happened to Russell.

“Good job, T,” Grace whispered in my ear while everyone had their eyes locked on their menus. “Did you receive an extra notification stating that you have earned a handjob?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“No? I’ll have to be the one giving you the reward, then.” She giggled.

“Thanks?” I replied, meeting her mischievous gaze.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. I know you want it.”

 

* * *

 

“Here it is, Count Dylak’s Mansion,” Charlie said, as I saw the building in the distance.

“Charlie,” I called in a soft voice. “Comparing it to your last raid, do you think we can make it?”

“After seeing the results of this last battle, I can guarantee we’ll make it.” He put both hands on his hips and looked at everyone. “Last time I came with a group of ten, and the Bunnskeel killed half of my teammates. We were a disorganized bunch, but look at us now, everyone fulfilled their role successfully! We have firepower thanks to Grace’s magic, we have an unmovable wall, thanks to Steve, we have long-range attacks thanks to Dan, and we have my excellent judgment and tenacity.”

I tilted my head. “What about me?”

Charlie stepped forward and grabbed me by the shoulders, smirking. “You, my friend, are our ace card. You’re a box full of surprises. We count on you.”

When my gaze landed on Steve, he was looking away, towards our destiny.

What was his problem?

As we strolled forward, looking at our surroundings in case another Bunnyard attacked us, I admired the three-story building. Its architecture was something I had only seen in classic movies.

It looked abandoned, even though this Virtual World had been activated only five days ago.

“Listen, here’s the plan,” Charlie started saying. “There’s a boss on the second floor, ‘Butler something’, I can’t recall. It won’t attack us if we don’t go up there. So, what we’re going to do is...”

Wait, no…

“Split up?” Grace interrupted.

“Yes,” Charlie nodded.

Fuck.

“Why?” Steve said. The only word he had pronounced in like an hour.

“The first floor is full of treasures. Last time we couldn’t check all the rooms because someone walked up the stairs and aggroed the damn butler.”

“What’s ‘aggroed’?” I asked.

“His teammate got the butler’s attention, pissed him off,” Grace replied.

“Exactly.” Charlie nodded. “So let’s split up and gather at the main gate in… half an hour?”

“That’s a good idea!” Grace beamed, giving me a bad feeling about it.

“What if someone finds something and doesn’t share it?” Steve asked, distrustful as always! 

“Since we’re on a Party, the System notifies us when someone finds a treasure, don’t worry.”

“I want to team up with Taylor!” Grace beamed.

I knew it.

“Yes, that would be ideal. Taylor, I count on you. We need her magic.”

“Sure…”

“We’re going to have lots of fun,” Grace said in front of everyone, but I was the only one that knew her true intentions.