That Time I got stuck in a VRMMORPG and Got Turned into a Succubus!
Prologue
"Ranma-saaaamaaaa!"
The Ranma-sama in question was Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts. While it may have looked like he was trying to hide from a leotard-clad schoolgirl wielding a gymnastics ribbon in one hand and a black rose in the other, real men didn't run away from women…
…Except when they were crazy nut cases that were just as liable to poison him as they were to marry him. Sadly, that accounted for at least four of the handful of fiancées that he unwittingly maintained on a regular basis. If it wasn't a poison, it was a love potion. If it wasn't a love potion, it was a magical artifact. If it wasn't a magical artifact-
"Where have you gone, my wonderous stallion!?"
Ranma's eyes popped open wider as he realized he had stayed in one place too long; the voice gaining in both volume and emotional intensity. He hastily ducked into another hall and pole-vaulted up the nearby stairs, to the second level within Furikan's main hall, startling a pair of students as he cleared the railing to land lightly on the tile floor. No, Ranma Saotome, man amongst men, didn't run away from women…
"Aiya! Has too-too good pork buns for Airen!"
…He preferred to call it a 'strategic withdrawal'. While few boys his age would have complained about an entourage of beautiful women pursuing them, it was the quantity and vigor of their pursuit that concerned the martial arts heir. The quantity was absurd, in his opinion, and though it did things for the ego, their tempers were more likely to violently explode when in close proximity to one another than to peacefully coexist…
…Which conveniently explained the strategic withdrawal. The new voice prompted a change of vector and the martial artist ducked behind a corner to evade the cute sounding Chinese accent and its promise of tasty pork buns. A teacher eyed him warily as he sprinted past in his search for safe haven. If one fiancée found him, they would all find him, instigating yet another female mini apocalypse that would undoubtedly be hazardous to his health. Unfortunately, this was Furinkan High, where safe havens were few and far between.
Fortunately, there was one…
"Come on, Sugar! I've got an Okonomiyaki with your name on it!"
…And it wasn't in that direction. Another stairwell. The halls were becoming increasingly empty as he took the stairwell up to the third floor while the voices below cleared the second level like a well-trained fiancée strike team. Ranma Saotome picked up the pace, passing a number of empty classrooms before choosing one door in particular—Room 318. Computer Lab. He quietly turned the door handle and slipped in, closing the door gently even as a cacophony of female bickering ascended to the third level and into the hallway behind him. The female bickering came closer and Ranma pressed himself against the door, peeking out the door window to ascertain their proximity.
Movement.
Ranma jerked back, still eyeing the window even after removing himself from its line of sight. Bits of conversation drifted through the wall.
"…Maybe here."
"…computer lab? As if."
"…think he doubled back."
"I too if was you cooking."
The martial artist winced at the ensuing argument, but let loose a sigh of relief as its intensity receded away from his position. He slumped and finally looked up… Noting no less than five other students staring back at him from their computer stations. The pigtailed teen sighed weakly, trying to conjure an excuse for his presence. "Um, it's…"
"Again?" The brunette in the corner offered with a lidded look, shaking her head as if disappointed. The mousey student next to her rolled his eyes, pushing up his glasses as his attention returned to the screen in front of him. Another black haired girl favored Ranma with a bland look.
"You can't keep hiding here and using our bandwidth to watch martial arts videos on MeTube, Ranma." Yuka advised sternly with a tisking finger. "We should start charging you tax."
"Come on," the martial artist protested, jabbing a thumb back to the door as if his fiancees were still out there. "You know what's going to happen if they find me?"
"Oh no, all that food." Hiroshi deadpanned from the corner, half turned around to face him. "Besides, don't you know how lucky you are?"
"The life of a martial artist is filled with peril." The martial artist huffed, only to earn a comment from a teen with glasses sitting across from Yuka.
"Apparently, the life of a martial artist is filled with waifus." The nerdy student with a bowl cut sighed wistfully, prompting the martial artist to roll his eyes.
This time a slight smirk found its way to Ranma's face. "Pick the one you want. She's your fiancée."
"The cute Chinese one, please." He politely raised his hand , as if asking permission. Behind him, Sayuri rolled her eyes.
"She would crush you by accident on the first date." The brunette sniffed with sarcasm, only to watch as a dreamy smile drifted to the scruffy haired boy's face.
"I'd die a happy man." His cheeks pinkened as his glasses began to fog up.
"Yeah, and can I have your stuff?" Hiroshi posed with mock seriousness, earning laughter from the rest. Even Ranma snickered as he stepped away from the door, now certain that the fiancée apocalypse had passed… At least for the time being. Despite the teasing, there would be fallout for his failure to participate in his own culinary demise. The girls had a different take on the situation, however.
"Well, you can't keep stringing them along like that." Yuka shook her head with friendly disappointment, prompting a slight sigh from the martial artist.
"Come on. You know that's not how it is." Ranma insisted with a frown.
"I know that and you know that, but think about how it looks to everybody else." Yuka pointed out, Ranma's mouth opened then closed as a dissatisfied look crossed his face.
After a moment, he relented with the uncomfortable admission. "Yeah, I know. But it ain't that easy."
"Just give her a kiss, already." Sayuri shook her head, turning in her chair to join the conversation. "Akane-chan is a classic tsundere. A little romance is all she needs."
"A kiss…" Ranma quieted as he twiddled his thumbs, then offered the pair a matter of fact look. "We can barely hold hands, you know."
The school girl next to him nodded sympathetically, watching the boy struggle with the topic. It was a quagmire in many respects. Logically, there was the need to choose, if only to spare the feelings of everybody involved. Realistically, it was about whose heart he would have to crush first, and that was a decision Sayuri didn't envy. After a moment, Ranma shook his head with a sigh. "It's just she can't kiss me any more than I can kiss her, and the curse..."
Yuka pushed her chair over to the pigtailed boy's hand in sympathy, taking a hand. "Do you want a kiss from her? Like that?"
"Ah, maybe?" The martial artist blushed, lowering his voice.
"That's hot. OW!" Hiroshi commented as he envisioned the same thought that had more than likely caused Ranma himself to blush. A DVD case rebounded off the boys' head courtesy of Sayuri and her glare.
"Senpai…" Shiro shook his head in disappointment as Sayuri offered more direct condemnation.
"Idiot." The school girl huffed and returned to their talk. "I think part of it is that you're too much alike."
"Mouthy and arrogant?" Ranma sniffed, willing to make the admission in the present company.
"Too much martial arts." Yuka countered.
"Too much family influence." Sayuri agreed.
Ranma smiled slightly as his mood lightened. "And what sage love advice do you have for the other fiancees?"
"Kiss them too." Hiroshi sniffed with humor in an attempt to help lighten the mood for his friend before turning to Sayuri and Yuka. "Besides, you should see how many guys he trolls around with his girl type."
"And they all know I'm a guy." Ranma rolled his eyes, ready to dismiss the topic until Sayuri inserted her own comment.
"As if. I know more than a few guys that would drop everything for a date with a certain hot redhead." She winked, causing Ranma's eyes to widen. Sayuri allowed the aforementioned redhead's blush to deepen before offering the martial artist a conspiratorial smile. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with us."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Suddenly navigating the desktop of his computer became the most important thing in the world as he fumbled with the mouse.
"Of course not." The schoolgirl smirked, patting her hand.
"Um, besides that, what about you and Akira?" Ranma asked in an all too obvious attempt to redirect the conversation away from himself.
"She just needs to kiss him," Yuka commented teasingly. "Of course, he might die of blood loss if she did."
"Baby steps." Sayuri preened while offering Ranma direct insight into the fiancee mindset. He allowed the slightest of smirks to cross his lips at the comparison, all while thankful the Computer Club remained his safe space from it.
"'Kira-kun's a nice guy, but he ain't gonna make the first move." Ranma offered, barely realizing that he was weaponizing his own experience in the attempt to deflect attention from his own problems. "I say just let him get used to you. Help him with class or somethin'. After a bit he ain't gonna say no."
"See? Easy-Peasy." Yuka nodded in agreement, eliciting a giggle from the Sayuri.
"Seriously, you're going to kill the guy with all this scheming," All eyes turned to Hiroshi as he waggled his phone to justify the interruption. "And Daisuke just texted me. Family stuff. He's gonna dive from home."
"What about Hanzo, then?" Yuka tilted her head inquisitively, then offered up a more serious expression. "He's one of key bearers. The raid doesn't happen unless we get all three in the same place."
"I saw him at lunch." Hiroshi confirmed as Ranma tried to track the conversation. "He'll be there."
"And Mika is never late." Sayuri added, prompting a nod from Yuka.
"That at least takes care of Noxillion's summoning." Shiro pointed out as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "The numbers show we should have enough DPS to clear him as long as we can avoid his Envenom skill."
"Should." Hiroshi hedged.
"You doubt our powers?" Sayuri argued back and the boy shrugged.
"I don't doubt our powers." Hiroshi pointed out with a smirk. "I just doubt the powers of the randoms we pick up along the way."
"I still don't understand why you go through this much trouble for a game" Ranma inserted himself into the discussion with a doubtful look, only to have Sayuri waggle a finger back at him.
"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best." She advised sagely. Hiroshi nodded with a grin.
"Measure twice, wipe once." He added mirthfully, earning an eye roll from the girl next to him.
"Idiot. What he means is the more you know going into an encounter, the less you leave to chance." She corrected him as if she were a teacher demanding the attention of a class. "Failure normally costs more than just wasted time. Special items, enchantments, sometimes even millions in Talons, poof- Down the drain to poor planning."
A thoughtful expression found its way to Ranma's face as the logic found an unlikely home in his thought process—How many of his own martial arts adventures would have turned out better if he had gone in prepared and with foreknowledge?
'Woulda been nice to know about Saffron's crazy regeneration beforehand…' The pigtailed boy thought to himself, relating the girl's advice to his own martial artist escapades. '…Herb and his chi… Kumon Ryu and the forbidden schools…'
Yuka suddenly bounced over to him, breaking his chain of thought as she pulled his hand into hers with a hopeful expression.
"You should totally try it." The girl gushed, causing Ranma to blink while staring from his captured hands to the girl and back.
"I already told you-"
"Yeah, Saotome," Hiroshi smirked as he leaned back in his chair to poke fun at his friend's reluctance. "Where's your sense of adventure?"
"China." The martial artist answered blandly, staring directly back at him. Hiroshi's smile only widened while Yuka pressed her case.
"That's why you would be so good at it!" The girl insisted, leaving Ranma to chew on the logic. Shiro nodded from across the room in support of her effort.
"Wrecking Crew could always use another member. We could even help you with the account, Sempai," The bookish student offered, gesturing to the computer. "After that, you can set up your character and class however you want."
"You could even be a Monk class. Martial arts and all that." Sayuri shrugged from the side. The aforementioned martial artist hesitated slightly with the mention of the martial arts, but shook his head.
"Yeah, think I'm gonna pass." Ranma's interest faded with the amount of effort he would have to invest just to get their game started, let alone played. It certainly didn't sound like the console games Miss Hinako would usually ply him with during detention. Fatal Furious V was a game he could just pick up and play. Valhalla Online sounded like it was more trouble than—
"I know!" Yuka clapped her hands together in sudden inspiration. "He can borrow Tiramisu!"
Ranma fixed the schoolgirl with an odd look. "Borrow what?"
Suyuri cocked her head, contemplating her friend's statement. "That could work."
Even as Ranma wondered at both girls, Hiroshi supplied the details. "Tiramisu is one of our alts; essentially the guild bank."
"Okay…?" Ranma arched an eyebrow, whereupon Shiro took it upon himself to clarify his upperclassman's confusion, clearing his throat as if to make a presentation.
"Tiramisu is a separate character account we use for item storage." He explained easily. "It's pretty common in VO to use an alternate character as a 'bank' rather than pay real money for the extra storage."
"Sound like you're launderin' money or something." The pigtailed boy commented, to which Hiroshi sniffed in humor. Nabiki came to mind, but there were still the dots to connect on his end. "But what's this have to do with me?"
"The best thing about it is that she's already set up," Yuka nodded, pressing her case home. "All you have to do is play the game."
The pigtailed girl's face crinkled with a frown. "She?"
"Well, we originally set her up for Akane," Sayuri explained reluctantly. "I'm sure you can guess how that went."
"Ouch." Ranma grimaced mentally, already picturing an angry chibi Akane throwing a controller at a screen in sheer frustration. The mental imagery alone was enough to cool Ranma off to the idea lest his fiancee's video game violence find it extended to him by proxy.
"But trust me, you'll love it!" Yuka was out of her seat now, all but physically petitioning the martial artist through sheer force of will. "And if you don't, you can quit!"
"Look, it's just-"
"Just a couple levels!" Yuka smiled brightly.
His mouth opened again, but the protest he attempted to summon failed in the face of her enthusiasm. Ranma glanced over to Hiroshi for council, only to find a smug look told him what he already knew: Defeat in detail. He returned to Yuka with a skeptical look. "Only a few levels."
"Promise!" The schoolgirl all but beamed happiness, sealing his fate.
"Ooh! We can finally be 'The Tempting Triumvirate!'" Sayuri tapped the desk with sudden inspiration.
"I didn't agree to that!" Ranma balked at the sudden alteration of their deal.
"That would totally work." Yuka nodded with the idea while the black haired boy prayed they wouldn't alter their deal any further. Sayuri nodded happily, then returned her attention to the increasingly uncertain martial artist across the aisle, cupping the sometimes redhead's hand hopefully. "Besides, just us girls."
This time, Ranma stayed silent as her words found a small space with which to wedge itself in between protests. Her. Ranma-chan. The gears of Ranma's thoughts turned as he considered the proposal. The computer club didn't care if he dropped by as a boy... or a girl. Occasionally it was just the guys- Shiro, Daisuke, Hiroshi and himself. On others, it was just the girls; Sayuri, Yuka and herself. Girls inevitably led to girl talk and…
"Too much martial arts…" Sayrui's observation hung in back of her thoughts.
...Ranma's attention flicked back to the pair to confirm the arrangement. "I ain't makin' any guarantees."
Sayuri folded her arms triumphantly, while Yuka grinned almost manically.
"Yes!"
It took a moment for Ranma to swallow his pride, but did so with a single word. "Fine."
"K.O!" Hiroshi laughed even as Shiro shook his head.
"Senpai just got railroaded." He observed, causing Ranma to roll his eyes. The truth hurt, he acknowledged, and it wasn't the first time. At least this time, the martial artist could say it was for a good cause.
Fifteen minutes later, Hiroshi watched with amusement as his friend set an uncapped bottle of water aside, upending it just enough to wet his hands and splash his face. The red fabric of her chinese shirt darkened with each water droplet that managed to drip through her hair.
"Why can't you just play like a normal person, again?" he teased and the girl merely rolled her eyes, jabbing a thumb back at the two girls present.
"Ask these two." The redhead huffed with false indignation. Yuka's smile brightened with the change and Sayuri nodded her approval as she helped with the login process. There was a reason, and Hiroshi already knew it all too well. Looking at it critically, Ranma's curse could be said to be the ultimate roleplay. After all, if you were going to play a character of the opposite gender, why not be the opposite gender as well? In reality, however, Ranma's classmate knew there was a simpler reason: Peer pressure.
"Put it on, touch the button on your left temple." Yuka gestured, pointing out the recessed button in question. "The hardware will automatically sync up with the account."
"Okay…?"Ranma turned the unit over, trying to judge the best way to don the unit.
"The visor reads your Alpha and Beta brain waves." She explained, helping the redhead adjust the backstrap as it was fitted to her head. "Just lean back and relax until the 'X-Gear' logo appears. You'll hear an audio prompt asking to start the software. We already used a character reset for Akane, so you can either go with your real appearance or set it up as much as you want."
"If you say so." The martial artist offered reluctantly until Yuka grabbed her hands, beaming with a smile before retreating to her workstation to don her own headset.
"We should have done this months ago." Sayuri insisted from her own desk, already wearing her X-Gear. "Once you're in, it'll probably need to do a neural map for your first log-in. Say the word 'Dive' and you're in."
"That's right. Don't be surprised if everybody looks a little different." Yuka added as she made some final adjustments to the fit of her own visor. "We'll all be in your friends list anyway. I'm Parfait. Sayu-chan is Eclair."
"Thac0' with a zero." Hiroshi offered a curt wave. Shiro followed suit with a nod as he pulled down his own visor.
"Nouveau."
His mispronunciation of the French caused Ranma to arch an eyebrow, but she nodded her agreement regardless, then verbalized the steps aloud. "Button, map, dive, contacts. Got it."
"Then let's dive!" Yuka exclaimed as she activated her headset. Ranma touched the button at her temple with considerably less enthusiasm, but committed to the task regardless. A three note jingle met her ears via the embedded headphones and the interior of the visor arch flashed, painting the display directly onto her cornea to replace the outside world. A laser blue 'X' slashed across a black backdrop with the word 'gear' fading in next to it.
"New user detected." an androgynous female voice advised calmly. "You may customize a character at this time or default to your real appearance. Say 'cancel' to quit at any time."
Ranma thought about it for a moment, but decided customization was probably more trouble than it was worth for what was supposed to be a temporary character to begin with. "Default."
"Default appearance confirmed," The female voice reported in a sedate tone. "Initiating new Sensory Profile."
There appeared to be little choice in the matter and Ranma offered her acceptance. A soft chime answered her authorization. "Please make yourself comfortable and refrain from movement. Mapping will begin."
The martial artist waited, watching as the X-Gear logo disappeared into a murky, featureless twilight while a wire frame of a polygon sphere began to build itself before her eyes. Text began to rotate around it for her to read.
"Did you know the human body has over seven trillion nerves?" Ranma watched the text arc around the sphere like the rings of Saturn. "X-Gear is the only Full Dive system that uses a thirty-five nanometer interface!"
'Good to know.' the disembodied redhead commented blandly to herself as the sphere continued to build itself from a wireframe model to solid colors. The informative text finished its circuit around the sphere and began anew.
"Over twenty titles utilize the X-Gear Full Dive™ system." The ring of text offered. Even as it did, Ranma could swear she could hear a faint buzz in her ear. The world seemed to ripple briefly from her inner ear before stabilizing, leaving her to wonder. Fortunately, there was the ring of text to supply further context.
"Valhalla Online and the X-Gear replicates the five senses in a non-spacial, three-dimensional environment." The tips continued. "Enjoy adventuring anywhere and everywhere!"
The sphere was now fully formed, complete with a texture that gave it the appearance of a planet with swirls of clouds blanketing a blue-green surface. A sour taste found its way to the redhead's tongue before fading, then the smell of sweet flowers drifted across her nose. Tiny, light pin-pricks danced across her skin, followed by a warm, wet sensation. Something metaphysical inside of her contracted, something that felt a lot like the curse… but not. Like the other sensory input, it disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared. Even as she wondered at the process, the twilight that held the orb began to fill with stars and nebulae to paint a picturesque backdrop.
"Visualization, confirmed. Olfactory, confirmed. Taste, confirmed," The polite female voice advised as the space around Ranma took shape. "Tactile, confirmed. Cortical Sync active. Loading Valhalla Online. Dive?"
Ranma hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. It was too late to back out, anyway.
"Dive."
The space around her dissolved into streams of rainbow pixels that wound themselves around her until filling the sky, weaving a new environment. No matter where she turned, this new environment was taking shape—A skyline. To her right, rolling hills of green forest. To her left, a desert with ruins. Billowing white clouds floated above her even as a small fairy flew through her airspace playfully, its sparkles forming the basis of Valhalla Online's title. It was actually hard for Ranma not to be impressed as she marveled at the landscape she seemingly floated above before the moment passed. A new, authoritative male voice spoke.
"A NEW ADVENTURE AWAITS."
Author's Notes: What it says on the tin. Can't get any more obvious than that :)