A lot of explaining later

“...and then Cynthia rescued me,” John finished his explanation. Leaving a group of people staring dumbstruck at him.

“So, you are a gamer, have devoted your life to games, then you woke up with game powers?” Gus asked with what he hoped resembled a straight face, placing his spear in a holster on his shoulder.

“Pretty much,” John answered with a shrug, knowing full well how ridiculous it sounded.

“Bullshit,” came the response from Angie.

“Then how do you explain the horn? Or the leather?” Arnold asked her, a pondering look in his eyes as he stared at John.

“You get rewards, achievements and such? Improving your body for doing… things?” Cynthia asked with interest, her mind thinking of the possibilities.

“Well, yes. I got five bucks for figuring out what my stats do for example, and my agility got improved for dodging a charging boar,” John affirmed her question.

John finally had some time to check out the parental couple as they once more set to squabbling amongst themselves. Where Miranda was an older, curvier version of Cynthia with shorter hair in a bob cut. The leader of her side was dressed in a form fitting set of leather clothes: they were a mix of dark and lighter brown colors. Her breasts were covered by some sort of leather corset, arms protected by small patches of chainmail around her wrists and shoulders while her right hand was dressed in a thicker glove. It looked to be reinforced even. The last part of her outfit that John found interesting were her boots: they had a bird engraved on them as well as a small silver fitting around the sole.

On the other hand, Arnold was almost nothing like his daughter. The only resemblance being their piercing green eyes. Arnold was a tall man, with strong arms, his muscles clearly defined under his leather garments. The garments in question being an engraved leather breastplate that left his arms fully naked, a belt, leather trousers for the belt to keep up, something resembling leather combat boots and the cloak John noticed before. On his belt and around his biceps, John could also see a series of pouches. John made one quick note to not get on his bad side; even with his gamer powers, he was afraid the man could simply snap him in half.

“Well, that leaves us with two things to do. One of us needs to investigate this orb,” Miranda voiced her opinion, kicking the claw like hand off of the orb on the floor. “The other should introduce John here to the Abyss, I personally would not mind either one,” her voice was flat as she looked at Gus. Something told John she wanted to get out of the guy’s proximity as soon as possible.

To John’s surprise, Gus walked towards him. Extending his hand as he spoke. “John, why don’t you come with me? The Wild Hunt could use someone with your potential! Lord Cernunnos will shower you in pussy and booze if you put your talents to use for him,” Gus spoke with a grin. “Hell, I’ll let you have some fun with Angie just for signing up!” he tried to sweeten the deal, gesturing at his second in command, the woman finally having put down her blunderbuss.

John looked from Gus to Angie and back. “Wait, what? You would let me have fun with her?” John swore he misheard that.

“You know, fuck her. The things that she can do with that pussy of hers, you will be in heaven,” Gus said with a wink, gesturing for Angie to come over. The scarred woman blushed as she came closer. Gus’ hands squeezed her breasts through her top. “These puppies will be all yours just for joining up,” he promised.

Just as John’s second brain was about to make the decision for him. Miranda’s voice thundered out. “Gus! For Artemis’ sake! If you don’t stop that, I will put a stop to it myself.” The older woman clearly had had enough of Gus’ antics. “The frat house on elk back sure lives up to its name!” she scoffed as she pushed John away from Gus.

“Look, son, while Artemis can’t promise you women or booze, she can offer you a place to grow and hone your skills. You said you can create skills? How about we help you with that by providing you materials to experiment with?” the calm and collected voice of Arnold pulled John’s mind back into logical thinking mode. “Besides, we have plenty of women with no hunting partners yet, and I bet that within time you will be able to find someone. I mean, would you not rather have a woman that likes you for who you are instead of a woman that has sex with you because her boss tells her to?” Arnold shook his head at Gus when he finished talking.

“Oh and John, just to specify the boons Artemis can bestow…” the man whistled, and a clap of thunder rang from the sky as a big falcon dove down from the foliage, lightning crackling between it’s metallic feathers as it came to rest on Arnold's’ shoulder. “Meet my pet, Marco.”

John was frankly overwhelmed. There were two factions asking him to join them. One led by a Greek goddess, the other by a Celtic god. It was all a lot to take in. “If I decide to go with one of you… will the other hold it against me?” John asked the one question that he really needed answered.

“While Angie here will be disappointed for sure, we will not hold it against you. The Wild Hunt is not for everyone. And who knows, there might be a time when you change your mind, and then we will welcome you with open arms,” Gus said seriously.

“If you decide to go with them, you will have nothing to fear from the Hunters of Artemis. We don’t hold grudges over small things like this,” Miranda promised.

John gave a nod at both their answers, looking from Gus and Angie to Miranda and Arnold, Gus patting Angie’s chest one more time for good measure.

John turned away from them for a moment, thinking to himself once again how crazy his life had gotten. He had been a normal guy, yet now people were actually offering him sex in order to throw his hat in with them. He had to admit, Angie looked very beautiful, even with the scars covering her neck and cheek. However, he did not think that he would fit that well with the Wild Hunt. Yes, sex would be great, and his lusty mind would make him jump on the chance to get his dick wet right away, that is, until he almost lost his life for just walking through a bloody forest! The fear was still evident in his mind. One thing John noticed was that he was insignificant in whatever this world was right now. He would need to learn to fend for himself. And while, once again, sex was a very good choice… He had to be rational here. The Hunters of Artemis offered him gear, help, training to discover his abilities. While not as exciting as sex… ‘John goddamnit focus!’ He would need to go with the Huntresses and pray that Arnold's promise of finding a partner would hold out. What worth is sex in the end, if he would have to pay for it with his life in the future?

“I’m sorry Gus, Angie. I will go with Miranda and Arnold,” John said after thinking for a few moments. “While the Wild Hunt sounds cool, like really cool, I don’t think I’d be a good fit, why would a geek join the jocks, right?” he explained himself.

Cynthia walked up to John, hugging him tightly as she whispered into his ear, “You won’t regret this!” After placing a kiss on his cheek, she dragged him over to her parents, and Arnold gave him an approving look as Miranda shook his hand.

“Then we will look into the Cabal business. Shame, I would have loved to teach you to ride!” Gus shrugged slightly, resting his hand on Angie’s hip, guiding her back to their mounts after stopping to pick up the orb. “Oh, John! Before I go, if you ever change your mind…” he withdrew a copper coin from his pocket, tossing it at John, “you will be able to find us with that.” After saying his piece, the gathered hunters rode off behind their leader, the sound of hooves dying off rather quickly.

John reached out to catch the coin, fumbling to actually grasp it when a couple of popups appeared in his vision.

Think with your brain, not your dick
You turned down free sex in favor of other benefits. Who are you and where is John?
Int + 1

Joined a faction
You have managed to survive long enough to join an Abyss faction.
+1 stat point

Smooch!
Get kissed by a girl other than your mom. Good job, for a geek. First come kisses, then comes...
Cha +1

“Well then, John, I think it’s time that we are the ones that do a bit of explaining. I guess you have many questions,” Miranda said as she raised her hand to the sky, shattering the air and restoring the sounds of the forest.

author’s note: the next chapter will fill in some plot holes you might see with regards to Artemis and her hunter acceptance policy. Be patient, don’t kill me. Thanks.