Kai and Silvia walked out of the broken factory doors together.
The sun was already starting to set over the human town, leaving the sky in colour of orange.
Sheila was waiting by the dirt road with the rescued younglings and immediately narrowed her icy blue eyes when she saw the goth vampire walking so closely behind him.
Kai knew he had to act fast before Sheila threw an ice spear at them.
"Alright, get out of here," Kai told Silvia in a loud and bossy tone.
"Go track down the vampire succubus and bring me every piece of information you can find."
Silvia answered with a very wicked smile.
She bowed playfully, gave him a secret wink that only he could see, and disappeared right into the dark shadows of the alley.
Sheila watched her disappear and then let out a sharp breath.
She didn't say a word about it yet and just waved her elegant hand and created another massive ice slide for them to travel on.
The ride back was much slower this time so the weak kids wouldn't fall off.
Kai sat behind Sheila again.
He enjoyed the view of her back, but he kept his hands completely to himself.
He didn't want to push his luck right after the whole vampire kissing incident.
They finally reached the hidden witch village.
Kai hopped off the ice slide and just stared in awe.
The worldbuilding in this game was totally insane.
The village was located deep inside a massive crater right in the middle of the Melodia forest.
Huge stone towers spiraled up towards the sky which looked like giant twisted trees made of pale white rock and glowing blue glass.
The streets were perfectly paved with smooth white cobblestones that filled with faint magic.
Everywhere he looked, there were witches walking around.
They all had either pure white hair or bright leaf-green hair.
It was a crazy contrast.
Some were carrying wooden staffs, and others had glowing crystals floating around their shoulders.
They wore elegant robes in shades of green and blue. It felt exactly like stepping into a high-level magic hub from a classic RPG.
The villagers rushed over as soon as they saw Sheila. The parents cried loudly and hugged their missing kids.
It was a really sweet moment.
Kai stood in the back and watched the happy reunions.
He felt pretty good about helping them out, even if his main motivation was just getting his promised reward.
After the crowd finally cleared out, Sheila looked at him.
"Come with me," she said.
She led him up a wide winding path toward the center of the village.
Sheila was the local boss, so obviously, she had the best house in the entire zone.
It was a mansion made of deep blue ice and polished white stone which looked like a castle right out of a fairy tale, with tall frosted windows and huge double doors.
They walked inside.
The air was surprisingly warm and comfortable.
Glowing stones floated near the high ceiling to light up the large living room.
Sheila stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face him. She crossed her arms under her chest, lifting her cleavage slightly.
"So," Sheila started, her voice very serious.
"Tell me about that vampire. Why did you really let her live?"
Kai knew this exact question was coming.
He kept his face completely straight and channeled his inner gamer confidence.
"I told you outside," Kai said simply.
"I gave her a direct order. I asked her to gather information about the vampire succubus and the queen's army. Street-level vampires can sneak into places we can never reach. We need that intel if we want to survive the final fight."
Sheila stared at him for a long moment. Her ice blue eyes searched his face for any lies. Then she slowly nodded her head.
"Information is a powerful weapon," Sheila agreed.
"You made a risky choice, but a smart one. I suppose I can trust your judgment for now."
Kai let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He completely faked his way through that interrogation, and it actually worked.
"You look exhausted," Sheila noticed his tired posture and the dirt on his clothes.
"There is a guest room down the hall to the right. Go rest. I need to wash the blood off and take care of some village matters."
Kai nodded and walked down the wide hallway. He found the bedroom easily.
It was absolutely huge.
There was a massive bed in the center covered in thick blue blankets and soft white pillows.
He didn't even bother looking around the rest of the fancy room, he just kicked off his cheap sneakers and collapsed right onto the soft mattress and stared at the ceiling.
The paint looked like moving clouds. His body felt incredibly heavy.
'This is all so sudden,' Kai thought as he sank deeper into the pillows.
He rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head. Just a few hours ago, he was sitting in his messy apartment, drinking stale coffee and clicking around on a computer screen to test a new adult game for work.
Now he was lying in a magical ice mansion after actually killing a werewolf with a stick and fighting a real vampire lord.
It was cool, sure. But it was also completely terrifying when he actually stopped to think about it.
Then a really dark thought crept into his gamer brain.
'Wait a minute,' Kai frowned at the ceiling.
'If I die here, do I die in the real world?'
That was the classic trope in all those webnovels he read online.
The system never gave him a basic tutorial on the rules of death. He just assumed he would respawn at a save point like a normal game.
But when the werewolf almost bit his face off earlier today, the pain felt incredibly real.
When Silvia bit his neck, the blood loss made him dizzy and weak for real.
'Ah shit,' Kai muttered out loud into the empty room.
If death was permanent, he really needed to stop taking stupid risks. He couldn't just throw himself at high-level enemies and hope his meta knowledge saved him every single time.
He needed to actually level up his stats properly. He needed better gear than a broken branch and a cheap t-shirt. He had to play this smart from now on.
But the main quest literally told him to try and sleep with everyone.
How was he supposed to survive if his main objective involved getting naked with incredibly dangerous monster women?
One wrong move in bed and he could get his head ripped off.
He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. His brain was hurting from overthinking. He just wanted to sleep for a week and deal with the vampire queen later.
Click.
The door slowly creaked open.
Kai opened his eyes and sat up on the bed.
He expected Sheila to walk in wearing a fresh blue robe to tell him dinner was ready or something boring like that.
But she wasn't wearing a robe at all.
Sheila stepped into the dim bedroom, and Kai completely stopped breathing.
She was wearing a completely sheer white dress. It was made of some thin magical silk that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
The fabric hugged every single one of her perfect curves. It dipped incredibly low in the front and rode dangerously high on her soft thighs.
Her long silver hair was slightly damp from a bath and fell beautifully over her bare shoulders. Her pale skin looked flawless in the low light of the room. She looked exactly like a goddess stepped right out of a gamer's wildest fantasy.
She reached back and pushed the door until it clicked shut. Then she slid the heavy metal lock into place.
Kai just stared at her. His tired brain completely short-circuited.
He forgot all about his worries regarding permadeath and safe leveling strategies. All he could see was the stunning Ice Witch standing right in front of him, ready to pay her end of the bargain.
Sheila walked slowly toward the edge of the bed. A playful and highly confident smile rested on her lips.
"Are you ready?" she asked softly.