I opened my eyes and found myself suspended in an open, white space. I couldn't move my body, but I had a vague awareness of it. I tried to speak but words didn't come out. Before I could panic, a disembodied voice spoke to me.
"You have died, but do not be afraid. You will be given a second chance at life."
Was he talking about reincarnation? Since this was a one-sided conversation, I didn't expect the voice to answer, but I got one, nonetheless.
"Yes, you will be reincarnated. Since you died early in life, at the young age of 17, you will be given a chance to choose which world you will reincarnate in."
Is this for real?! I thought. Did that mean that I could choose any world I wanted? Even a fictional world, an invented one?
I figured out that this thing, this unknown deity, could read my thoughts and directed my question in that way.
"Indeed. Choose wisely."
I didn't hesitate to think about it. If there was a fictional world I'd live in, it would be the one featured in my favorite game, Elder Quest.
The game had it all, action, graphics, an expansive open world, and most importantly, hot female characters. Not only were the main female characters sexy, even the NPCs were hot. I jerked off so many times to 3d porn of the main heroines. I even downloaded sex mods and everything.
"You've made your decision?"
Yes, I thought. I want to go to the world of the game I always play, Elder Quest.
"The game you always play. Very well. I understand. Enjoy your new afterlife."
I had no regrets as a white light engulfed me, making my consciousness fade.
…
…
I thought that I'd be transported to the Adventurers Guild, since that's how all ElderQuest games start, but I found myself outdoors, staring at an open bonfire. I looked around me and I saw barbaric looking males wearing tattered fur armor, and crude weapons by their side. I instantly recognized them as bandit NPCs. I couldn't mistake them for anything else, since I killed so many of them throughout all my playthroughs.
I wondered if I was in the middle of a bandit elimination quest. However, if that was true, I would have aggroed these guys by now. Instead, they didn't pay me any mind as they laughed and ate stale bread and mouldy cheese.
As I was trying to assess the confusing situation, one of the bandits tried to talk to me. "Oi, Big Chungus, you want some more bread?"
I froze as he pointedly, clearly, called me by that name. Of course, I recognized that username instantly. It's the one I used for my joke character in Elder Quest. I installed a mod that lets you play as a bandit instead of the hero. Come to think of it, I've been playing with this joke account a lot. I also downloaded a bunch of fucked up sex mods, too, since I didn't care about the save. Whenever I wanted to laugh or just troll around, or wank one off, I used this account.
Could it be possible that the god I met earlier mistook this account as my main account? I did say that I wanted to live in the 'game' I loved. Maybe he thought I was referring to a specific game state, not the game in general? And not only that, he chose my 'BigChungus69' account and not my main, vanilla account?
Well, it was probably an honest mistake. I rarely played on any of my main vanilla accounts any more. It got too boring after one thousand hours of going through unmodded content.
"Chungus? Do you want bread or not?" the bandit asked me again.
"I'll pass… I feel kinda sleepy so I'll go to my tent."
"That's smart. We're going on a big raid tomorrow, so you should rest."
What a considerate guy. For a bandit.
I knew where my tent was, since the encampment was the exact same copy as in the game.
There was a lot to take in, so I did as I told that other bandit and went to sleep.
…
…
The next morning, I was woken up by the noise from outside. The bandits started a chaotic, unregimented, combat practice session. It was more of a slug fest than disciplined combat training. It was quite surreal seeing scripted idle animations from the game come to life. I barely paid any attention to the background characters while I was playing, but I couldn't exactly ignore them now.
That bandit from last night mentioned something about a raid. It sucked that I was a bandit now instead of a badass hero, but that didn't mean I had to sulk about it forever. If I didn't pull my weight, I might be deemed useless by the other bandits. At worst, they might kill me. These guys were my only lifeline in this world. With the bandits, I had food, shelter and protection from the wild. I didn't have the means to survive on my own yet, so I had to fit in.
With my weapon in hand, a spear with a rusted steel point, I moved to an unused training dummy, which was a sack of flour filled with hay, tied to a stick. To get acclimated to the weapon, I started stabbing the dummy, but in the process of doing that, I saw a 'progress bar' appear in my vision. The levelling mechanics from the original game remained, even now. I thought it was my imagination at first, but the 'spear wielding' skill increased in progress ever so slightly as I practiced on the training dummy.
I wanted to test something. I whispered the words 'Status' to myself. A screen appeared before me, a familiar one I used in the game all the time. I could see my stats and skills on the screen. Along with the 'spear' skill, I had 'Intimidation', 'Pack Empowerment' and 'Pillage'. I already knew what these skills did, so I didn't bother looking at them in detail.
If I treated this like a hyper realistic, VR version of Elder Quest, I could probably fight like I did in the game. I felt stronger than my 17 year old self, at least. I mean, I was inhabiting the body of an evil, scary bandit after all. I kept practicing with the training dummy, increasing my spear skill a bit, but not enough to earn a level up. I kept up with my training until it was time for dinner. I made sure to eat when bread and cheese was offered to me, this time. It tasted like crap, but I needed the calories. After dinner, it was time to go on a raid.
After a rousing speech from the bandit chief, we marched off. 'March' is probably the wrong word, since that implies unity and order. It would be more appropriate to say that we 'stumbled' our way to the raid destination, a village North from our camp. There was eager chatter from my fellow bandit mates, but I kept to myself, only answering if someone spoke to me. They gave me strange looks once or twice due to my reserved behavior, but no one seemed to care too much beyond giving me the weird look or two.
It took about thirty minutes to make it to the village. There was some fortification, but nothing that could prevent a large scale raid like ours. I recognized it as the village of Dallia, named after the goddess of peace and harmony. The irony isn't lost on me. It was a minor village, a filler one the devs put in to give the player a stopover during their travels to the major cities. There weren't any important quest lines or NPCs here. It was your typical, average village.
"Oi bastards, shut up and ready your torches," the bandit leader said.
The 'plan', if it could even be called that, was to light the wooden fortifications on fire. Then once the guards came out, we would come in to ambush them. It was a straightforward plan with no strategic depth, but it was better than nothing. We snuck around, keeping quiet, until we were in range of the watchtowers.
"Get 'im boys!" the bandit leader yelled, as the bandits around me threw their torches. I threw mine as well.
I felt my heart beat faster, adrenaline pumping in my veins. This was the effect of the 'Pack Empowerment' skill. Whenever a bandit pack starts a raid, they enter a bloodlust induced state.
My desire for violence rose. A different kind of lust grew within me too, but before I could think about it, we were already rushing in at the guards, who came to meet our attack.
While my comrades were more linear and brazen in their charge, I chose to conserve my energy and assess the situation. Even with the adrenaline pumping in my veins, I forced myself to stay calm. I spotted a bandit engaging with a town guard. They both had a shield and sword. With both of their hands occupied repelling each other's attacks, I used my bandit comrade as cover to hide myself from vision. Then, I placed my spear on his shoulder and struck out, hitting the guard's head. He fell instantly as my spear gouged through his head. They were lightly armored like us. This wasn't a battle between armored knights. One hit and you were dead.
I scouted around for more easy kills. I used the other bandit to distract the guards, while I swooped in for the easy kill. My [Spear Wielding] skill increased and gained levels, as I was facing real opponents now instead of a lifeless dummy.
Unfortunately, since I was killing a lot of their comrades, the town guards started focusing their attention on me.
"I'll kill you bastard!"
"[Intimidation]!"
"...!!!"
The [Intimidation] skill applies the fear debuff effect to a hostile creature, provided they don't have any defenses against mental debuffs. I used their momentary pause to make my way back to the backline. The combat here worked exactly like in the game. I could juggle aggro this way by letting the other bandits get a few kills, taking the guards attention away from me. Then I could slip back in again and do more damage.
The battle shifted in our favor rather quickly. The untrained militia were slaughtered by the frenzied bandits. "We won! Woohoo! Let's loot boys!" the bandit leader yelled. "Kill all the men, but keep the women alive so we can play with them. Kekeke!"
"Yes, boss!"
The horny bastards all piled inside the undefended village, as the screams of women rang through the night. Well, bandits gotta do what bandits gotta do. After being in the wilderness for so long with a bunch of men, they went crazy at the sight of women. While they were focused on raping anything with a pair of tits in sight, I focused on looting any valuables.
Bandits didn't have many rules, but one of them was 'finders keepers'. There was no such thing as sharing. I went around the shop stalls and stole any shiny piece of jewelry I could find. Thankfully, I memorized all the good looting places from my many playthroughs.
With the [Pillage] skill, I gained more experience points in my other Bandit class related skills while I was in the process of pillaging. This means I gained more levels in [Intimidation] and [Pack Empowerment], while I was pillaging. After I had enough looting, I went over to join the others in the main streets.
"Please don't do this…! Somebody, save me!"
There were women being dragged out from their homes and violated in the streets next to their dead husbands, while their homes burned around them.
A blonde woman in her early twenties was being raped while her son tried to fight against the bandits who were restraining him. "Don't touch my mother, you bastards!"
"Nghk! Theo… Ngh! Please be a good boy… nnghkk! The bandits said they'll let you live if I obey them… Ngh!"
"Mother! I swear I'll kill you bastards! I swear!"
The bandits who were restraining him laughed. "Oi, kid, be good now, unless you want us to kill you!"
The mother's eyes widened. "Please don't! Don't kill him!"
"Then tell your kid to behave! We'll sell him for slave labor after this, but he'll injure himself at this rate. Hahaha!"
The mother tried to struggle against the man on top of her for the first time. "Ngh! Theo… Please listen to them! You need to live! Please!"
"Hey! Hold still bitch!" the bandit yelled, as he pinned his victim down.
The boy stopped resisting after his mother begged him to survive. He looked away from his violated mother, despair in his eyes.
The young mother stopped struggling after she was assured of her son's safety.
"Nghk! Don't worry, Theo. Your mother is tough! Anghk! I can take this, no problem! Hnnghk!"
The bandits laughed as the boy stopped resisting. They tied him up and dragged him to a cart full of restrained, devastated young men, the sons and brothers of the women whose screams of anguish and humiliation filled the night.
The one who had it worst, as I predicted, was the daughter of the village's bartender. Even in the game, she was hot as hell. Wavy, red hair and freckles, always wearing a revealing server's uniform to show off her sexy curves, she was the only reason players came to this village, to ogle her, even if there weren't any important quests or events to be found. She was surrounded by eager bandits, a line of horny rapists waiting to taste her.
She was made to bend over on all fours as her mouth was violated at the same time as her pussy. To further add to the humiliation, the others waiting in line were touching themselves as they waited for their turn. Some of the quick shooters couldn't take it and would cum on her body, staining her perfect skin with seed. She had a defeated look in her eyes, same as all the others, as she was violated by two men at a time.
As I watched, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was the bandit chief.
The chief was the only one wearing actual armor, though it was only one made out of old, mismatched leather. He used a great sword in battle and had a scar on his cheek.
"I saw you in battle, Chungus. You killed a whole bunch of em huh?"
I cringed as he called me Chungus, but there was nothing I could do about that. At least they shortened it from BigChungus69.
"You wanna join in? I'll let you cut in line. That girl is hot. We'll probably keep her. She's too good to sell to slavers."
I looked as the man who was fucking her pussy climaxed. He pulled out with a groan. The guy using it busted his load. He made her swallow it. The next men in line took over, not giving her a break.
"I'm not up for sloppy seconds," I said.
"First come first served. All the hot bitches are gonna be shared like that. All the ugly and old ones are killed on the spot. Actually, I was saving them for my use but… well you were one of the best fighters in this round so I guess I can share. Come with me."
I didn't know what he was talking about, but I followed him anyway. I couldn't exactly refuse the chief. He led me to a house I already looted. I thought that he wanted to share the loot with me, and I felt nervous since I already took it. But he had different plans apparently.
"I know all the hiding places you see. Those other dumbasses just grab any broad they can find. But I'm like you. I don't like to share. Which is why…"
He opened a hidden compartment on the wall. I didn't even notice that in my playthroughs.
"Now look at this suspicious looking hatch here. Ah… Found them…!"
Two young girls screamed as we found their hiding spot.
"Stay away from us! You monsters!" the elder sister yelled while glaring at us. She protected the younger sister. They were both brunettes, with naturally curly hair, and beautiful blue eyes. Now those eyes were filled with despair.
The chief had me take the elder sister while he took the younger. We dragged them out of the house. I guess he likes them young since he didn't even bother with the older one.
"Oh? Boss and Chungus found fresh meat!"
The bandits turned their heads as we walked out with our prizes.
"This is ours, back off."
The chief took his girl somewhere else. The sisters screamed and reached out for each other as we separated them.
"Give me back my sister!" the elder sister cried, as she struggled in my grip.
I dropped her down on the ground, then laid on top of her. She squirmed and tried to struggle, but there was no point. I waited for her to tire herself out.
"Please… Don't…"
She changed tactics and tried to beg.
"Just play along for now," I said. "I'll find a way for you to escape."
"You're helping me?" she asked, in disbelief.
I was a bandit in body, but not in heart. I was horny as hell, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to take this girl, but even a perverted scumbag like me was above rape. Everything I saw this night sickened me. I wanted to save at least one person.
I pretended to force myself on her while I was on top. Meanwhile, I whispered into her ear. "You'll have to give up on your sister. The boss took a liking to her. But you can escape on your own."
"I'm not leaving my sister behind!" she cried.
"Keep your voice down, idiot," I said, while covering her mouth. "Would you rather be captured as well? If you run away now, you'll have a chance to rescue your sister later."
"I'm not stupid. Bandits are nomads. You'll move to another base eventually, even if I do manage to find your current one," she said. "I'll never be able to find you."
"You're a smart girl. You can figure something out. But if you let yourself be captured now, you'll be forced into slavery and have a geas imprinted on you. There will be no escape, for you and your sister."
"Is there really no other way? I'll have to abandon my sister? I'll have to let that man violate her?!"
I looked away as I witnessed a girl's heart shatter in front of me. "I'm not strong enough to fight the boss, or rebel against the others. I can't run away with you either. I can't help you any more than this."
"Why are you helping me?" she asked, as tears fell down her cheeks.
"It's not like I wanted to be a bandit. I'm forced to do this."
I didn't exactly ask to be reincarnated as a bandit named BigChungus69. I thought I was fine with killing people, since I viewed them as mere NPCs from a game. But after what I witnessed tonight, I couldn't force myself to think that way anymore. These weren't mere NPCs, like in the game. These were real people.
After she calmed down, I helped her sneak away once I was sure there weren't any eyes on us. Once we were free from sight, I gave her a good amount of loot to sell, as much as she could carry, and a dagger I took from a fallen guard.
"Run and don't look back," I said.
She gripped the dagger in her hand. "Don't expect me to thank you," she said, while glaring at me. "But, I won't forget your act of kindness. Please… try to help my sister, too."
"I'll try," I said, after a pause. Realistically, I knew there was nothing I could do against the bandit boss at my current level.
She gave her razed village one more glance, then she ran. I watched her disappear into the night.