It might've been a bad decision, but not one I regret.
Regret's a luxury I stopped affording myself in this life. Whatever's done, is done-and usually unredeemable.
But even I can't fully comprehend the absurdity of this situation. How that night came into a commitment I couldn't almost control.
"Get me all the CGs. I don't care if they're shirtless, crying, or cursed. I want them all... please."
I don't know how my co-worker found out I play games, but one day, she begged me to play a game for her.
What's more surprising?
It was Selene.
The only partner I've ever had at work who could keep pace with me.
Meticulous. Efficient. Cool under pressure.
The kind of woman who plans in advance and keeps count of available resources. Not boyfriends.
Yet, she is now calmly asking me to seduce some fictional men.
"I'll pay you well."
I thought she was joking. Then she handed me a sealed copy and a legal contract.
"This is a service agreement," she said, tucking her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"So, even Selene can do things legally?"
Capitalism won.
But the game, what to say? It's specifically for adult females and took me aback.
The game looks exactly what you expect it to be—
A schoolgirl in the center of the cover, surrounded by glint-eyed bishounen with abs sculpted by budget-saving animators.
An Otome Game.
But, I did not expect it to be adult-rated.
With a character suddenly appearing naked.
Even those adult-rated RPGs don't go that far, and they usually come with a content warning not with sudden surprise of a cock.
"How pink."
Outside of work, I met up with Selene at a local library, one of those old ones with no functioning CCTVs. I didn't need to look for her and just sat at the far end table where a lady in simple attire was sitting.
I slid the flash drive across the table. "All routes cleared and clouded. Hidden endings unlocked. You'll find the... aggressive scenes under Folder C. The rest are under their respective folders."
She didn't say anything at first. Just looked at the drive. Then carefully pocketed it.
"Did you-"
"I saw everything," I cut in, unbothered. "Including the scene with the chain leash."
I leaned in. "There's one where they all bit her as they do a joint.. operation." I baited, and caught the blush on her normally cold cheeks.
Then, with a nudge of her pointed heel, she slid the attache case under the table towards me.
"Don't-"
"My, don't you know me? I'll die with it, don't worry."
And while I've never leaked a transaction, not even under threat of death. That doesn't mean I planned to die with it.
But we both did.
That same night, Selene and I died.
Her... along with her precious possession.
But that wasn't the end.
Selene reincarnated into a world engulfed in endless war-dragons in the sky, monsters in the mud, non-human armies clashing on bloodstained battlefields.
Every kingdom, every warrior, every mystical being shared one ambition: to claim the Holy Land and its ultimate power.
...That's the description of my game.
While I,
Do I even need to say it?
"There's been a mix-up...."