Wait! I'm Still a Virgin!

"Goblins."

As soon as I heard it, I immediately recalled what I know about them. Short creatures not even a meter in height. Their levels are just above the mutated animals, mainly at levels 4-6 with some variants being at a higher level. There are mainly three types of Goblins differentiated by their habitats and skin color. Forest Goblins, Cliff Goblins, and Cave Goblins. Forest Goblins are green-skinned, Cliff Goblins are brown, and Cave Goblins are gray colored. Their appearance resemble humans with elongated ears, bigger teeth, thinner legs, bloated stomach and a pair of lumps on their forehead.

Goblins are inherently greedy and" hedonistic. Their personalities are extreme. If they are hungry, they will raid a village dry without leaving a thing behind, even fruit-bearing trees won't be spared once a goblin razes. When resources are scarce, goblins often fight amongst themselves, often leading to a duel to the death. Goblins have a high fertility rate and they make the most of it, often doubling their numbers in as fast as a couple of months. Despite this, They rarely grow out of hand and become a threat since the constant internal fighting over resources keeps their population in check. Though things change when a Goblin King or a Goblin Lord ascends. Luckily, the tracks are only few, the possibility of an encounter with a Goblin King is very Low. I might be wrong though so it is better to ask the opinion of the one with greater expertise in tracking.

"Should we run?" I asked.

"Not necessarily" she replied and I sighed in relief. She continued "If you look at this part, you will notice that the wheel tracks are too shallow. Whatever they are transporting, it is not heavy enough. Knowing them, they are probably not coming back from a raid since Goblins are known to pillage even planks and chairs if the loot from the raid is not enough. It makes no sense for them to carry cargo this light even if the village they razed is too poor. They are not preparing for a raid either as they wouldn't bring with them a horse and a cart for that. They'll just make do with it at the spot. If they can't steal a caravan, they'll just carry it by hand. Finally, they are not subordinates of a Goblin King. No Goblin King would send out a force this small enough. The tracks here suggest that there are only 3 ordinary goblins on foot plus the one manning the caravan which makes it 4. There could also be one or two inside the caravan but we can't be sure of it. A goblin warrior might be present though, but rest assured that I can handle it"

"You sure know a lot about Goblins. It seems like you already know the situation. Tell me, what's your plan?"

"Mister Blake, Are you telling me I'm not as Incompetent as you thought I was?!"

Oh dear, not again. Nothing good happens whenever she calls me "Mister Blake". I don't know if it's a good thing but I'm slowly getting used to this.

"No, no, what I'm saying is that you're a good tracker. All I recognized was that a horse and a cart passed by here but while I was clueless, you have already grasped the situation. You even have an estimate of their numbers. If someone is Incompetent, then that would be me. You truly are a commendable person."

"You really think so?" She stared at the ground as she continuously twirled her fingers around the tip of her blonde dutch braids.

What's with the cute blush on your face? Earlier you were glaring at me with looks that could kill but now look at you. You're too... beautiful? Sigh. That's it, I'm officially hopeless before this beauty.

"Yes, you are." I assured her while eagerly nodding twice.

"Thanks Blake, To answer your question, those Goblins are most likely wanderers."

"Wanderers?"

"Yes, they are either those without or are in the process of establishing a settlement. Most of them are Goblins which broke of from a village either because they are raided by strong adventurers or they just want to establish and rule their own place. If you ask me, I'm more inclined to believe the former. A potential Goblin Chief who wants to build his own turf would bring with him around 15 Goblins to start a village. Of course there are also cases where an ambitious goblin warrior takes at least three lower ranked goblins to build a small camp but it only happens rarely"

"I understand. So, should we warn the villagers? We should be able to reach them by midnight"

"Even if we warn them, it would be useless. Not to sound mean, but they are weaker than the goblins and they have no weapons good enough to make up for the difference. Numbers could be used but it would always be a trade, one goblin's life for who knows how many villagers. The risk is too much. I came from a small village just before I met you. The situation was the same, and just like you, I thought it would help if I rally the villagers to defend themselves. The result was a tragic one."

Sadness could be heard in her voice. I didn't know how long I passed out, and with the time dilation, a few hours outside flows differently inside the game. The 1-to-4 time dilation ratio was purely speculation on my part. It may or may not be accurate. I don't know how long it was since she arrived here but she surely has been through a lot.

She became silent once again. Sad memories must have resurfaced from the depths of her mind. Memories that she wanted to bury. Memories that she didn't want to remember again.

When I dealt damage to the rats, no blood was spilled. Any decrease in HP were replaced with a bluish-white pixelated light and a few seconds after killing them, their mana bars slowly deplete. When their MP finally reached 0, their whole body disintegrated as if the glue that keeps the millions of pixels in place suddenly lost their adhesiveness. The pixels then float up and just fade away cleanly, leaving without a trace.

A similar thing happened when I was scratched by a field rat. A small bluish-white cut was located where my supposedly wound should be. It quickly closed as soon as my HP went full. All these visual effects was like a reminder to me that this body is made up of bytes of data. The players, the monsters, the NPCs, everything in Aeulheim are data, just data. Those pixelated lights are the borders that reminds us this is just a game. Just a game.

Still, The pain of witnessing another person die and disappear is not something can be healed just by saying "This is just a game". Not when the NPCs look real. Not when the NPCs act real. And certainly not when you spend real time with them. Her reactions tell me that she treated them more than Non-Player Characters, She treated them like they were real people.

I have no experience consoling a person as most of the time, I am the one who gets consoled. I was also afraid that my bad mouth might say something that will make the situation worse.

She sat on a wide flat rock as she kept staring at the ground. Her blue eyes which previously reflected the vibrant sky was now a lonely blue like a lake. The pale moonlight from the two moons that shone down on her face gave her a tragic yet beautiful look, like a longing wife waiting for her husband to return from the battlefield.

I know I should do something but I just can't find the right words to say. I went to the same rock she's sitting on and sat by her left side. As I sat down, I placed my right hand with my palm facing up at the little space that separated us. Through my peripheral vision, I saw her look at me but I didn't return her gaze as I only kept staring at the tree 10 feet away from me. She quickly took back her gaze as it seemed like she also chose a different tree to set her eyes on.

It was then that I felt some soft weight land on my right hand. Our fingers intertwined as her left hand held mine. To be frank, I never expected her to hold my hand and I suppressed my desire to visually confirm if she really held my hand.

If this was another time, I would be jumping in joy but not this time. We kept the silence as I waited for her to recover. After some time, she let go of my hand as I remained on the same rock, staring at the same tree. She got up from her seat and stood in front of me. She slowly leaned forward so that our eyes eyes became leveled.

She kept staring at me but I couldn't keep matching her gaze. I could smell her scent due to the close proximity and heck it is intoxicating! She smelled like the scent of spring, giving off an ambiance of being a field surrounded by blooming petals. I stared a little bit downward to prevent myself from sniffing her scent but with her leaning down, I could see a glimpse of her sexy collarbone! I miss the serious atmosphere? Where did it go? I'm not prepared for this!

I had no choice but to look upward. She seemed annoyed as she asked me to look straight at her eyes. I could see the determination and hesitation on her look but after she took a deep breath, she spoke with a decisive tone

"Let's do it!"

"What? Wh—what do we do?" I'm confused with this sudden turn of events. Someone explain what is happening.

"Of course, the one we started earlier. Let's finish it to the end" She replied with the same tone of decisiveness.

The one we started earlier? Does she mean the moment we held hands? Then does she want us to kiss? Is this real? This is not a prank, is it? Kiss? She said to finish it to the end but a kiss isn't the end, is it? No way! Could it really be that?

"Are you really sure? Doesn't it feel a little bit rushed?"

"I've thought of this seriously. No matter what happens, I won't regret it. Once I set myself to do something, I make sure that I see it to the end. If it's with you, I'll feel more confident"

Is this a variation of the 'Rescue Romance' found in James Bond Movies? Like in the movie 'The Transporter' where Lai offers to 'make up for the trouble' when she was saved by Frank? Or Like in 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' where Eggsy shared a passionate night with the swedish princess after stopping the bad guys? Did I appear like a white knight saving a damsel in distress? Was she actually more depressed than I imagined? And was that simple gesture of offering my hand to hold meant a lot more important to her than I expected?

I can't believe this! Girl, I was a cripple before being in the game. I technically have zero experience regarding everything "down there". I'm a 22 year old virgin!

" I—I'm not sure if I can do this. You see ——"

She interrupted me by saying "Don't worry Blake, I've already done this once so trust me. You can leave most of the action to me. If you want to make a move from the back then I'd appreciate it but I suggest you just conserve your energy. Just move when I tell you that I'm close to my limit or if you feel that I can't handle it anymore, ok?"

I was speechless! Slow nods were all that I was able to give. Seems like she's had a prior "experience" than me but I don't mind though, it's not a big deal for me. She said she would appreciate a move from the back? Hmmm, It is consistent with the surveys on women's magazines. That style is always within the top 5. But still, to think that she's the aggressive type.

What If I can't last long, would she be disappointed? I'm really not prepared for this. My condition didn't allow me to even "practice" with my hand so I really don't know how long I would fare.

"So, you're into it or not?" She asked

"I'm in! Uhm, do we start right now?"

As soon as I confirmed my participation, her face lit up in joy.

"Right now. The earlier we start, the better"

I was shocked how she could be so casual about this. I was about to ask her something when she started to say things which were way out of context.

"We'll follow these tracks and find out where they settle. Then we'll observe their defenses and identify their rotation patterns. Goblins are nocturnal creatures so we attack at dawn, when their sleepiness is at the highest."

Eh?

"We'll kill one guard, then try to take on the leader. Oh, If ever you choose to make a move, only use mana shield. If the leader is weak, then I can handle it alone."

Eh? What nonsense is this?!

"Uhm, Seraline? What are you talking about?"

"Huh? I'm just reviewing what we agreed upon..."

"What we agreed upon?"

" Yeah, We're slaying the Goblins!"