FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Pre-Production

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Spring in Valemoore College, North Carolina was beautiful. The climate was quite temperate for the time of year. Birds were singing. Sun was shining between idyllic silvery clouds. Flowers were in bloom and the grass was as green as it could be. Students were out in the quad, milling about and enjoying the weather before things became too hot.

Binh Ton Phu rushed up the slight hill leading up to McMillian Dormitory. His scrawny legs poked through blue and green basketball shorts and carried him up the gentle incline towards the red-bricked, three-story building that had been his home for the duration of his degree. His messy, black hair draped over his rounded glasses with every few steps, forcing him to swat away his fringe from his dark brown eyes. His pale cheeks and pointed, hairless chin was already covered in sweat from the short fifteen minute walk from his American Literature class. Spring brought allergies and his nose was already reddened from all the pollen in the air. He liked to think that his glasses provided some protection from airborne irritants but even then, he could feel the corners of his eyeballs starting to itch.

Relief washed over him as he approached the large double doors of McMillian Dorm. Colloquially called 'McImmigrant Dormitory', the on-campus facility was reserved for foreign exchange students that couldn't afford apartments elsewhere. Binh, a Vietnamese exchange student himself, was one such resident. Standing at 5'5'', the skinny 22-year-old was eternally grateful to his parents for sending him to the United States to study despite their own financial status. As the youngest of six children, Binh was the last child to make it to college. In fact, he had to delay going to college for an entire year because sending the child that came before him to higher education had set the family back.

But now he was here and in his senior, graduating year, Binh was hit with that crippling disease that hits most college seniors.

Senioritis.

He pushed through the doors of the building, breathing in the clean, air-conditioned air of the dormitory and started heading up the stairs to his room on the third floor. Each step was slow, lethargic and unenthusiastic. Burnout was hitting him hard and after studying non-stop for the past three years, maintaining a high academic standard coupled with the incredibly high bar of his five other siblings, Binh was starting to feel like his English Major was a waste of time.

A stock broker, a mechanical engineer, a microbiologist, a lawyer and a professional basketball player, he thought miserably.

Compared to his siblings, he had to wonder kind of job an English Major will get him. Career consultations advised him about going into the fields of teaching or journalism but compared to the money any of his other siblings were making, such careers seemed depressingly low key. Of course, he could always move to Vietnam and become an English teacher which would marginally pay better.

Burnout, the stress of graduation and dismal job prospects compelled Binh to drag himself up the stairs. Posters and pictures of graduating classes lined the walls while the school's awful colors of seaweed green and periwinkle blue came in the form of banners. Resident assistants of each floor put up motivational fliers reminding everyone about upcoming events and encouraging the graduating class to give it one last push.

All of it just seemed to inject more and more lethargy into Binh's bones. By the time he had reached the second floor, everything that he had learned from the lecture a mere twenty minutes earlier was already forgotten and his mind was a haze of gray static. Once he got to his floor, the only thing on his mind was getting to room 311 while fumbling for his keys. Like the rest of the dormitory, the hallway of the third floor was suffocatingly American. US flags were everywhere alongside the colors of Valemoore College. The only thing not covered in red, white, blue or green was the dull, brown linoleum floor and even then, Binh could swear if he looked hard enough, he could see the entirety of the Great Gatsby written on each panel.

Or maybe that was just his burnt out brain telling him that he had to study.

He blinked and suddenly, he was in front of his dorm room halfway to opening the door. The only reason he came back into self-awareness was that he forgot to check if his roommate was in.

Too late now.

It was only when he noticed the empty bed on the right hand side of the room under the Swedish flag did he remember that on this day, Orvar wouldn't be back until late at night. His roommate from Europe was apparently going to some frat party. That meant that he had the rest of the day to himself.

Three years ago, he would have been excited at the prospect of some alone time. He could go out, explore campus, hang out with friends or just go to the common room and chill with some of the other students. Maybe go downstairs to the first floor and play a few games with the computer science students who claimed the first floor common area as 'their spot'.

But tonight, he was so mentally fried that he was paralyzed and unable to even muster any motivation to do anything. It took all his effort to close the door, shuffle off his shoes leaving only the white socks and slump into his bed face first.

I guess I could play a game… Might help reset my mind…

A multiplayer or competitive game did not appeal to him. At the moment, he was currently floating in the hardcore 'meh' mood. It would not take much to make him slip from a true neutral alignment to chaotic evil because of a few trolls or lost matches. But he also did not feel like committing any mental capacity or brain cells to a sweeping narrative.

Deciding that he might as well boot up his laptop and find something, he grabbed his laptop out of his bag and sat up on his bed with his back against the headrest. The ancient device's fan roared followed by the musical trill of the operating system's activation. Since he was an exchange student living on his parents' dime, he was not rolling in disposable income. Being traditionalist, his parents were very strict about where he spent his money. That included videogames. As a result, his library was dismally small.

However, as he booted up Fission, the premier videogame distributor client, he was surprised when an advertisement came up about a newly released game. Fission was usually quite selective of what they showed individual users so he had no reason to really doubt it. Still the name 'Labyrinth of Loot' immediately seemed like a left-field recommendation.

Curiosity got the better of him and he clicked on the gorgeous art panel showcasing the game. Advertising itself as a 'loot box heavy', action role playing game with crafting elements, the trailer and gameplay screen shots were absolutely gorgeous. Though the art could easily be AI-generated, everything about it seemed quite consistent. Beautifully rendered, great lighting and with a cel-shaded art style that wasn't super-realistic but still very impressive. It was colorful, vibrant and appeared to have an open world.

Not exactly what Binh was looking for at the moment but he figured that he needed to shut off his brain for a moment and just do something mindless. Not to mention it was only a mere fifteen dollars. There were currently no reviews. The game apparently just came out hours earlier which explained why Fission would display it. New release for a relatively cheap game from an unknown independent studio. Why wouldn't the platform want to put that front and center?

Fifteen dollars on a videogame would not be something his parents would miss.

He paid the amount and began the download.

“Now to wait," he sighed to himself, stretching his arms above his head. “Maybe I should get some lunch…"

As he trailed off, his eyes widened. In the fifteen or so seconds that he spent musing, the download was already about a quarter complete. Campus wifi was terrible at best so this surprised him greatly. When he checked the statistics, he was surprised that the game only required half a gigabyte of storage space. Suspicions began crawling up his spine again.

A trash game? Barely finished with minimal assets?

The download was already halfway complete by the time he started thinking about applying for a refund. As long as he hadn't played the game for more than three hours, he could get all of his money back. That gave him time to give the game a try and get a good taste of the content. That is, of course, unless he got stuck on a screen telling him that the shaders were compiling followed by long, mandatory cutscenes and publisher or developer logos.

If the game required a powerful processor or recent graphics card, he doubted the inbuilt cards of his laptop would be up to the job. Scenes were likely to stutter and take a lot of time to complete before he finally got to mess with the settings. It would take him another few minutes to find the sweet spot before the game wouldn't break and perform smoothly if at all. He scrolled to the bottom of the game's store page and checked the system requirements. Oddly enough, the requirements were extremely minimal. Not a lot of memory and the graphics card requirements was at least two generations old. Again, that made him doubt the validity of those well-rendered screen shots. There were no videos of gameplay either.

He had all but convinced himself to refund the game when he noticed that the download had completed and now it was installing the game on his device.

“Too late now, I guess," he sighed to himself, slumping backwards against the headrest “It was just fifteen dollars. Just means I won't be getting any new games for a bit."

Consigned to his fate, he waited until he got the notification that his game was now ready to play. Doubts hung heavy in his mind. There was nothing about this developer online that he could find or the publisher. Part of him wondered if this was a thinly veiled malware since there was no history of development or early access releases. Binh briefly considered closing his laptop and just going for a walk around campus. The mere thought made his eyes itch and his nose wrinkle in protest.

“Alright," he mumbled to himself, allowing his cursor to hover over the 'Play' button on screen. “Show me what you have Labyrinth of Loot."

He clicked the button.

There was a second were his laptop whirred to life. His screen went black and the device suddenly went silent the next moment. His heart jumped to his throat in apprehension. Four, hooded figures emerged from the darkness of his screen and each of them held out a hand. From their hands, sprang four words.

Good Games For You.

The 'For' transformed into a number 4 and select characters of the other words were picked to merge together to form the logo of the developer. The four, hooded characters vanished, leaving only their hands as if they were offering 'GG4U' to the observer.

Binh sighed in relief as the logo vanished. The publisher's logo briefly appeared beneath the developer's signature before he was suddenly thrown into the opening cinematic.

“Life is a maze," intoned a deep, masculine voice. “A constant struggle to gain more while emerging from every trial stronger and better than when the journey first began."

A sound like metal striking stone erupted from his speakers followed by a burst of sparks from the lower right corner of the screen. Ephemeral petals danced in front of the screen. A single hand that was beautifully rendered in the game's cel-shaded art style and grasped one of the petals.

“With finite resources, it is a constant race to be the best. Whether it is a goal to be the strongest, the smartest, the most powerful or just to live in comfort, nothing is guaranteed."

The camera then panned to the right, showing the owner of the hand; a grizzled miner wearing only denim overalls holding and pickaxe in his other hand.

“Set off on this quest to define yourself. Fight through this labyrinth we call life…"

The man then opened his hand and from his palms sprang a large, prism-like device. Far flung from the petal that he caught. It glimmered with rainbow lights. The top of the prism sprang open and five bolts of light sprang from it. Each of them struck him, colliding with a part of his body and materializing into some piece of clothing or armor. Pauldrons, a helmet, boots, a breastplate and finally, a sword.

“… Loot."

The scene then zoomed out revealing the miner stepping forward to the edge of a cliff to reveal a vast, sprawling world. Deserts to the left, icy mountains to the right, a vast ocean straight ahead after a vast, verdant forest. At the center of it all was a glimmering white city.

The title card stating 'Labyrinth of Loot' appeared and so did the standard menu.

Suddenly, Binh was ready to begin.

That didn't tell me much, he mused.

But his interest was genuinely piqued. The graphics were incredible and that introduction tantalized him enough that what doubts he held were banished as he inched his cursor towards the 'New Game' button and clicked.

He was immediately taken to a character creator. Very cautious that the clock was ticking until three hours had expired, he didn't spend too much time customizing his avatar and just went with a few defaults that was as close to him in reality as possible. Black hair, fairly lean, dark eyes and without any body or facial hair. Seeing his very vanilla character left a bitter taste in his mouth. This was likely the closest he had come to having an out-of-body experience as he stared at the plain-looking, very generic Asian character A-posing in front of him.

Compared to the more varied students on campus and even the other Asian exchange-students in McMillian, he was just another face in the crowd. Someone who easily faded into the background. Considering he was graduating in a few months, however, and he still looked like he was going through puberty, he doubted he would have an opportunity to make a name for himself.

His legs were lanky like he had just undergone his growth spurt but his muscle mass had yet to register the extra height and hadn't filled out his thighs or calves. His arms were similarly as twig-like with a torso that looked like someone had forgotten basic anatomy and just given him a generic, square shape. Observers had to fight hard to find any trace of body hair on him. Not a single whisper of facial hair appeared on his pointed, features. Even with a rather pronounced Adam's Apple due to his lean features, his voice would crack and held an almost feminine quality to it which was why he often forced his voice lower or didn't speak at all.

Too late to change that now.

He confirmed his appearance. The game began in earnest.

There was very little fanfare. Suddenly, his character was just thrust into the middle of an open field. A brief tutorial showed him how to move, jump and rotate the camera. Fairly standard stuff. Everything moved very smoothly and he appreciated that the developers hadn't switched on any motion blur by default. Given his already poor eyesight and the fact that he needed a pair of round glasses to just see, he would have started feeling queasy if the world blurred every time he so much as brushed a finger against the track pad.

Next came the actual meat of the game.

With nothing but the clothes on his back, his character was tasked with moving through the grassy field and harvesting some of the tall grass.

“Is this a survival game?" Binh mocked. “I thought it was meant to be an action RPG!"

Despite this, he followed the instructions and each swipe of his character's fists unleashed a few colorful sprites and effects that cut the nearby grass which was subsequently added to his inventory. To his surprise, this was not just patches of grass that he could selectively harvest. The plains were covered with the grass and he could harvest every inch of it. He couldn't give it too much thought, however, as once he had harvested ten bales of 'Field Grass', he got a chime to move to the next part of the tutorial.

Binh followed the prompts and found himself on a more traditional Role Playing Game screen. There were equipment slots for each main part of his avatar's body. It amused him that there were a total of ten ring slots - one for each finger and each of his thumbs. His character's name, level and experience bar was displayed. On top of that there were a series of standard statistics that he could improve. The kind of things one would see in any RPG - strength, agility, endurance, intelligence and so forth.

What confused him were that each statistic and his level all had bars that seemed to indicate they could all be improved. All the bars also had rather small numbers. His level, for instance, was currently sitting at a '0/2' indicating that he needed to get two points before he got a new level.

The tutorial explained everything.

“Each statistic is improved by opening loot boxes," he read aloud, his inflection indicating surprise. “Loot boxes can be crafted for each statistic and sub-statistic. Primary statistics like Strength, Agility and Endurance influence a Sub-Statistic such as Strength influencing Damage and Carry Weight while Endurance influences Health and Defense. When you craft and open a loot box, it may contain direct bonuses that can influence your overall statistic bonus…"

The mechanic confused him and left him a little dubious. Loot boxes had received a negative reputation and some countries even outright outlawed them because they were associated with gambling. For a game to make it the main focus of their gameplay loop was basically videogame suicide.

Just waiting for the heavy-handed micro-transaction shop…

The tutorial had him use the bales of grass to craft a a Health Box. Crafting the box was easy and UI was fairly intuitive. A green-colored prism much like what had appeared in the opening cutscene appeared in his inventory and he opened it according to the tutorial.

Da-da-ding!

The box appeared in the middle of his screen, blurring everything else while a musical tune built up to a crescendo and the box burst open. He had to admit, he felt a little tingle of satisfaction to his burnt-out veins as he was rewarded for bearing the bizarre premise for so long.

The loot box gave him three boosts with randomized values to his health while there were two other pieces of equipment - a wooden sword and a pickaxe. The values went straight to his health value. The bar right next to his health statistic went up by one and he watched the bar fully fill up for opening a single box. With the improvement, the bar next to the parent statistic - Endurance - also went up by one. That let out a chime and suddenly, there was a new loot box in his inventory - an Endurance Box.

“Congratulations," Binh read lazily, his voice dripping with exhaustion and a little bit of sarcasm. “Because you opened a Health Loot Box, the progress bar next to your Health filled up which subsequently filled up your Endurance progress bar. When a Primary Statistic's progress bar is filled, you will receive a Loot Box for that associated Statistic. Let's open it now…"

Locked out of doing anything else since he was still in the tutorial phase, he opened the new box in his inventory.

Da-da-ding!

There was that chime again, building music, burst of light and sound as the box exploded outwards. The dazzling lights warmed him a little and even brought a slight smile to his lips as he was given more equipment and a much smaller boost to his Endurance statistic.

For opening that box, his level improved by one.

“I get it," he mused. “Build your stats by crafting boxes and the more boxes you open, the higher your level. Everything is randomized though…" He rolled his eyes. “So where is the online shop?"

To his surprise, the tutorial just left him with a few more instructions on equipping any new gear he possessed and how to find different recipes for loot boxes with varying degrees of quality or specialized drops. Then he was left to his own devices. Suspicious and curious, he paused the game and scoured the menu for any indication of an online store. Something to monetize the randomized loot boxes or even buy cosmetics.

Nothing.

There was no indication that he would be required to spend more money at all.

That's… weird.

This was an indie game. Maybe the small studio didn't want to earn bad will with its player base by going for the wallet straight away. Perhaps the store was hidden later on in the story or once he had progressed through enough levels.

He glanced at the clock. Only twenty minutes had passed since he had officially started playing. Still a little over two hours before he would cross that threshold of play time and not be able to refund the game.

Binh decided to use the new pickaxe he had received and take a few swings at nearby rocks, netting him some crude stone materials. After just a few minutes of farming, he could now craft a Damage Loot Box.

Da-da-ding!

He opened it and was rewarded by a few more stat bonuses. This bumped up his Strength stat and subsequently his overall level. Now officially at Level 1, he opened the box he got from improving his level.

Much like the other loot boxes, this one had randomized loot. Some equipment but much bigger boosts to his primary statistics. Improving his level also gave him a flat bonus to each of his primary statistics.

Then came the clincher.

A tutorial box warned him that the maximum level was Level 99. After that, he would not be able to improve his level any more and get those flat statistic bonuses. Similarly, the material cost for crafting loot boxes went up for each box he opened.

Already, Binh could see where the core gameplay loop came in. He had finite resources . With the costs for subsequent loot boxes rising exponentially and the contents of each box being randomized, it would not be guaranteed that he would get the statistics or equipment that he wanted.

Still waiting for that shop… or any sort of combat.

The tutorial then led him to a clearing in the grass to an iron deposit. Seemed like he could craft equipment instead of relying on retrieving them from loot boxes. However, as his character swung at the ore, the calm, ambient music suddenly grew more frantic and excited. The camera panned around and suddenly, he was beset by some bandits.

His first combat encounter.

Binh leaned forward, smiling a little to himself. The action was picking up and just thirty minutes in. A little slower than most games but he found himself invested. Combat was buttery soft. The animations were smooth and the combos were easy to learn. How his ancient laptop could render the short but action-packed fight was beyond him. The device had been handed down to him from his eldest brother and made it through five generations of college students. The impossibility of it was far from his mind as he looted the defeated bandits and found a new kind of loot box - a monster loot box.

Apparently, these boxes had drops that were reflective of the monsters that they dropped from. Generally, they contributed to Sub-Statistics and offered much less progress to each but they were still valuable.

Da-da-ding!

Binh eagerly opened the box that was dropped from the encounter, finding a few pieces of equipment and some statistical bonuses.

“Who would've thought," he chuckled to himself. “A game based entirely around loot boxes."

Binh happily continued through the game. By the second hour, he had plowed through most of the tutorial though he had yet to decide what kind of build he wanted to go for. At this point, he was guided to the first town in the region. It was here that he learned he did not have to spend all his materials to craft loot boxes but could sell them to get some standard equipment.

This game is way more complex than I thought.

And I'm actually having fun.

He slouched forward a little, adopting his 'gamer pose'. Leaning as close to the laptop screen as he could without pressing his nose straight against it, legs stretch out straight to provide blood flow and to a little more comfortable. Dancing lights flashed across his face with every loot box that his opened. The smile on his face was one of satisfaction and excitement as, with ever flash of those colors, he was gripped by the cold grasp of anticipation. The humbling deflation of disappointment from not getting what he wanted was tempered by the knowledge that every box he opened gave him at least some progress. When that anticipation was rewarded with something exceedingly rare or something he wanted, he was filled with a tingling sensation that had him craving more.

At one point, he glanced at the clock on the top corner of the screen. More than three hours passed since he first booted up the game without him even noticing. All thoughts of a refund were gone. The only concern he had was that he had been sitting in that position for a while and his body was starting to remind him that he needed to move a little. So he shifted his weight, rolled his shoulders, twisted his neck a few times and then went right back to playing.

The tingle of blood rushing into his extremities was dismissed as a side-effect of playing game mostly stationary for too long.

Binh absently wiggled his toes contained within his white socks, completely oblivious to how with every little movement, the fabric was being stretched a little more. The sound of stretching leather and gravel being ground up emitted by his body was drowned out entirely by the mesmerizing lights and sounds of Labyrinth of Loot.

Da-da-ding!

The cuff of his sock dug into his skin lightly and began to slide down to just above his ankle. His size 7 feet expanded and stretched, crawling up to 7.5 and then to 8. Bones all over his legs pushed an extra inch to his height. There was a brief moment when a slight stinging sensation came from his legs like a bee had stung his shins.

Da-da-ding!

The anticipation of what would come out of his level 7 box set that pain on the wayside and he physically tensed, waiting for the dazzling display to clear so he could see what he would receive. When he got his five pieces of loot, his whole body relaxed for a brief instant, a wave of relief and release washing throughout. Every inch of his body simultaneously expanded ever so slightly, barely perceptible and could easily be mistaken for someone holding a very long breath and releasing it.

But there was no denying that the rim of his basketball shorts now sat above his knee. The dark gray, short-sleeved shirt clung a little tighter around his shoulders. His briefs felt a little more snugly around his modest package.

Binh continued, completely oblivious to the changes.

Da-da-ding!

He opened loot box after loot box. With each one opened, he held his breath as the musical trill and rising crescendo kept him in suspense. He was pursing his lips, almost shaking as he watched the hypnotic display dance before his eyes. Triumphant music erupted at the end of the sequence and he released all the tension that he was holding, his body relaxing and, unknown to him, expanding.

His legs inched a little further away from him. His shoulders broadened. An inch was added to his height. Ever so slightly, his biceps went from smooth, imperceptible tubes to show the curves of his forearms and the divide between bicep and tricep. Hairs along his legs that would once require close inspection to see thickened, allowing someone looking upon them to see the distinct curves of his calves.

Da-da-ding! Da-da-ding!

Level 8 was just on the horizon and with it, the rim of his shorts became strained against his expanding thighs. Clear definition could be seen as the breathable fabric got caught against his quads. The tingling sensation that crawled up his butt broke him away from his gaming for the briefest of moments but he dismissed it as a result of sitting on his ass for too long. He lifted his right glute a little to relieve the sensation, putting all his weight on his left muscle. The mass around his right side expanded, taking the advantage of the new space to grow and stretching his shorts all the more. Then he repeated the motion with his left side and, like its twin, his left glute also grew, forming a perfectly symmetrically, pert butt that stretched the fabric of his shorts all the more.

Added to this came the moment he hit the magical next level.

“Level 8!" he exclaimed softly to himself. Some part of him was still self-conscious about his alto-like voice and, even alone in his room and caught in throes of excitement, spoke barely above a whisper. He didn't notice that his voice had actually dropped a note or two deeper thanks to a widening neck.

Like before, his body tensed and shook in excitement. All the blood in his body seemed to freeze as that display of mesmerizing light and sound held him transfixed in position… all of it save for the amount that was driven straight towards his groin and stirred his penis awake. The already strained fabric of his shorts were tested further as his five inch cock rose to full attention, pressing against his briefs.

Da-da-ding!

“Yes!" he hissed to himself, quietly pumping a fist through the air. A barely visible vein snaked up his bicep.

I've been playing for a while. Maybe I should stop.

Then his eyes drifted towards his statistics and the rewards he had received for receiving Level 8. For the first time in hours, he removed his right hand from the inbuilt keyboard of the laptop wipe his brow. He had been sweating and some of the salty fluid had started to irritate his cheeks. Instinctively, he went to wipe away the droplet of sweat that had snaked down his right cheek. This irritated the tiny hairs that formed a barely visible stubble. For a second, he briefly remembered that he had historically never been able to grow any facial hair. His classmates and online memes made reference to Vietnamese men stereotypically looking like they were sixteen years of age until they hit thirty.

These were interrupted by a stray thought.

Why stop at such a weird number.

“Level 10," he told himself, resting his hands back on the keyboard. “I'll stop at Level 10. That's a nice, round number."

The clicking and clacking of the keys echoed in his shared bedroom, adding to the symphony of Labyrinth of Loot's ambient music and sound effects. Underscoring the sonata was the leather being stretched, deep bubbling gurgling, wood being snapped and a noise like water rapidly freezing into ice. The sounds of his skin extending, his muscles expanding, his bones growing and the blood vessels hurriedly chasing each growing inch to fuel and feed his growing mass.

Then came the first new sound.

Rrrrrip!

Binh looked up from his laptop screen. The tearing noise was different. It just didn't fit. He didn't need to look far to find the source. His big toe on his right foot was poking out of his sock; a sock that had retreated all the way below his ankle. Curious and puzzled at the same time, he wiggled his toe, feeling the hole growing bigger and bigger with every movement.

I'm going to need to buy some new socks.

Before he could invest more brain power into that thought, the siren song of Labyrinth of Loot called to him and he brought his eyes back down to opening the next loot box.

Da-da-ding!

The warning sign was ignored and he continued to absently wiggle his toes. The growing hole in his sock gave way to more and more of his foot with each passing second not only because of the motion but also because his feet had now stretched to impressive size 10 beasts and showed no signs of stopping.

Rrrrip!

His left sock split open with little fanfare but was completely ignored. The tingling sensation all over his body motivated him to move and adjust his posture every few seconds but it did nothing to take his attention away from the game. Even the raging erection in his tightening shorts went unnoticed.

The sleeves of his shirt got caught against his biceps, struggling to retreat any further across the mound like a cyclist fighting hard to crest a particularly steep mound. The movements of his wrists and fingers caused the muscles across his forearm to flex, veins popping with each motion. The vein over his biceps grew thicker, more pronounced and started to show its branching paths over his broadening muscle.

Binh was now starting to sweat profusely, his body starting to run exceedingly hot. He reached up and wiped his brow again with the back of his hand, never noticing the now much more prominent layer of dark fuzz that covered the back of his hand. As he did so, another inch was added to his overall height. This forced the rim of his shirt to slide up slightly from his abdomen, offering a sneak peek at the forming abdominals there. The extra opening and exposed skin offered an extra layer of cooling and one that he appreciated.

Da-da-ding!

Level 9.

Rrrrip!

Fabric tore across his shirt. The sleeves gave up trying to crest his expanding bicep and just split, offering more relief. A split appeared on the neckline of his shirt, revealing his pronounced collarbone and the pectoral shelf that was quickly forming. Each opening allowed more of the air-conditioned air to touch his skin and cool him. The tingling sensation that dominated every cell of his body intensified but the numbing touch of the air coupled with his sweat-drenched skin hid the increase.

With his increasing level, the cost of each loot box grew and he needed more and more boxes to open before the next level came within reach. And yet, that moment of reward when he finally crafted a box, the anticipation as he opened it and then the rush of exhilaration that came when he saw his prize never dulled in intensity. In fact, the closer and closer he got to Level 10, the greater his satisfaction with every opened box.

Da-da-ding!

A droplet of sweat rolled down from his temple and slipped down his cheek. He reached up and swiped at it, his fingers brushing against the thick, bushy, black chinstrap beard that hung around his angular features. It framed his face well, giving him a more rounded and mature expression without making him look fat. As his focus on the game intensified, he absently stuck out his tongue, pressing it against his upper lip which had a very light fuzz on it but not nearly as thick as his beard.

Da-da-ding! Da-da-ding!

His messy hair grew to meet his beard, forming a seamless transition from facial hair to head hair. With this, the strands grew wildly, bands covering his ears and starting to scramble down the back of his neck like a wild, black flame. The hairs on his arms and legs followed suit. Even with the expanding width on his forearms and calves, the dark fuzz outpaced the growth, becoming a thick layer of protective hair that was almost like a layer of fur.

Da-da-ding! Da-da-ding! Da-da-ding!

Binh's eyes widened. His heart was racing.

“Almost there," he rumbled in his gravelly tenor. Whether he realized it or not, he was no longer forcing himself lower his voice. He wasn't whispering either. At a normal, speaking volume, his voice came out with the undertone of concrete being ground up in the back of his throat. “Just a little more until level 10!"

Da-da-ding!

Tingling all over his body intensified to the point where it was almost possible to see him visibly vibrating and blurring passively even without opening a loot box. Whether he realized it or not, every cell in his body was constantly tensing and relaxing, mirroring the dance of sensations every time he opened a loot box on a cellular level only at a far more frequent and intense level.

Da-da-ding!

Greater, stranger noises began accompanying the sounds of the game but he just saw it all as an annoyance and increased the volume. His sweat began to soak his bed sheets and the the heat of his body began to fill the air with the pungent smell of body odor, he continued to play uninterrupted. Even when the smell in the air took on a more musky and sweet scent, he continued to tap away at the keys, eager to reach that coveted level 10. The smell came from his cock which was leaking like a dripping faucet, straining against his shorts.

It was like every part of his body and the very world itself was trying to scream at him to stop but he continued to play, continued to be absorbed into the mechanics of Labyrinth of Loot. The 6'7'' beast of a man sitting with clothes barely clinging on to his hirsute yet lean frame was a far flung contrast to the tiny, Vietnamese exchange student that had sat down and had doubts about playing the game just hours ago.

Then something changed.

Da-da-ding!

A lightning bolt of that prickling shot through his ears. He briefly made a note to brush away his hair away from his ears right after the animation for the loot box played. That was not needed. From beneath the thick bush that was his hair, his ears emerged. The curves and contours of the human ear quickly vanished against the vaguely-tube-shaped ears of a bovine. Light brown fur covered them with their interior being covered in a pink coloration. The wave of relief and cool air that hit his ears immediately washed throughout his body, rewarding him and rewiring his already addled mind.

Why would I need to brush my hair away from my ears.

They poke out anyway.

Just that simple thought, that almost meaningless acknowledgment, tipped the balance in the favor of the Labyrinth.

Da-da-ding!

Rrrrrrrip!

The neckline of his shirt split right down the middle withe the fissure spreading wide. Against the widening mass of a pair of huge, rounded pectorals, the shirt was no match. The ballooning muscles were topped off with a light burst of straight, black hair that sprang from the valley of his pectorals and barely reached about halfway across the peaks. As if unwilling to give up, an undercoat of of the same light-brown fur that covered his ears erupted from the crevasse of muscle. This onset of follicles charged across his pecs with greater intensity, passing his hair and covering his entire chest within seconds.

Rrrrrrip!

The sleeves of the very same shirt spit completely and even then, the fragments were forced to slide up his boulder-like shoulders. For a moment, it almost seemed like he would be left with a dark-colored tank top as those sleeves got caught in the taut folds of his deltoids and neck muscles. Then the fur from his chest reached them.

Rrrip! Rrrip!

Both makeshift straps abruptly snapped. The barrier between pale human skin and thick fur was broken. His arms ballooned out further. Where his limbs had run perpendicular as they stretched from his shoulders to the laptop keys, he was suddenly forced to spread his elbows out as muscle and bone grew even further. Binh didn't even register when the flood of fur rushed down from his biceps and covered his forearms or when the hair already on his forearms grew even thicker and spread lightly to the back of his hands.

I'm going to need to brush my fur. It is spring and I haven't brushed in a while.

His eyes transfixed on the screen. With every tap of the of the key, his fingers cracked and expanded, thickening into big, fat sausages that were capable of gripping a human head easily in one hand. Whatever was driving the transformation seemed to know which finger to grow to avoid interrupting his gaming experience. He would tap the spacebar with his thumb and the moment he lifted it off the keyboard, that very thumb would thicken, expand and become consumed in the light-brown, silky fur. As he tapped the track pad with his index finger to open the next loot box, his nail grew dark and hard, transforming into a black plate reminiscent of a hoof.

Da-da-ding!

Remnants of his shirt practically exploded off his widening frame. A huge, broad back brimming with chiseled muscles sent sweat-soaked fabric flying to his left and right. One scrap slapped against the window to his right with a wet slap and he didn't even notice. Fur that had spread across his chest curved around his lats and met once again at his spine like a wide, furry hug. The wild, black hair that was sat on his head spread down the back of his neck, forming a short mane that ended about the base of his neck before trickling down to a little spinal fluff that transitioned into his fur color near his shoulder blades.

Rippling abdominals heaved and huffed as they, too, were covered in the light-brown fur. Only now, the black chest hair that had sprung from between his pectorals crawled down the eight, solid slabs of muscular beef to perfectly outline each line and curve. A similar burst of dark hair erupted from the rim of his shorts, a little black triangle that reached up to meet its brother springing from between two mountains of muscle.

So close, Binh though thought to himself. Then, aloud, he reiterated, “I'm so close."

Da-da-ding!

Though he remained blissfully unaware of it, his body was very aware of just how 'close' he was. His cock throbbed and begged for release. Trapped beneath the increasingly tight basketball shorts that almost looked like short-shorts against his huge thighs, it wept precum and thrashed with every throb. Each pulse caused it to grow another half inch even though it was already incredibly erect. From his five inches, it sprang up to six, then seven, eight and to a mighty nine before the shorts and his straining briefs stubbornly refused to let it grow any more. So instead, it grew outwards.

Binh was forced to spread his legs as his dick thickened, rapidly springing to the size of a beer can without any signs of stopping. Not to be outdone, his balls followed suit. Each testicle grew heavy with virile semen, jostling and jumping excitedly as they each filled out his sac before stretching even that and forcing it to grow. The fur that had cascaded down his torso spread down his legs and the first thing they did was sweep over his balls, coating them in a thicker and slightly darker layer. All this only served to cause the outline of his genitals to press up against his shorts.

Somehow, the blue and green garment held on stubbornly. Even his briefs had given up and their seat had split open to reveal the fur had spread over his glutes. But they would not hold on for much longer.

“Almost… There…!"

Da-da-ding! Da-da-ding!

Rrrrrip!

At long last, his shorts gave way. A tear appeared just above his ass, splitting the elastic in two. All at once, the entire garment split from the rear, unraveling like one of those slow-motion videos of a balloon popping. Spearheading the release was a long, ropey tail tipped with a paintbrush-like tip of black fur. The surrender of his shorts was cemented by another few inches of his cock surging outwards, throwing the useless garment off him and sending it resting between his legs. Interestingly, his briefs remained hanging on the tip of his throbbing dick; a flag of surrender.

Through it all, Binh pressed on. He was just a few more loot boxes from reaching level 10 and almost his entire body was committed to this seemingly monumental task.

Da-da-ding! Da-da-ding! Da-da-ding!

At exactly the same time, fur spread down from his waist towards his feet and a similar expansion caused the fur to creep up towards his face. Both extremes of his body seemed to retreat away from the expanding forest of brown follicles, trying to maintain the last vestiges of humanity in him. Already broad, meaty quads broadened to accommodate for the extra length, ensuring that he was proportionally sized. The lengthening could not outrun the transformation as the fur spread down the curves of his thighs, only serving to highlight the curves of his quads and hamstrings. On the opposite end, his jaw and nose jutted forward, pushing away from the encroaching fur. His glasses slid further and further away from his eyes as they were carried away by an increasingly broadening muzzle. Strangely, as the same muzzle widened, so too did the glasses.

His cock throbbed, oozing precum past his shredded briefs and straight onto his bed. The furry balls audibly rumbled.

Binh reached up with his hands and pushed his glasses back towards his eyes only because it was impeding his gameplay and nothing else. He didn't even notice when the glasses miraculously adjusted their hooks to properly loop around his bovine ears or when a pair of short, white horns burst out from behind those very same ears and curved upwards through his dense, messy, black hair.

An intense pressure grew in his groin. The heat all over his body crept from his extremities and began focusing in on his cock. Every moment of tension and release synchronized with the rhythmic throbbing of his monstrous member.

Not a single thought was spared when the fur reached past his knees and spread over his calves. What had once been skinny, twig-like limbs that barely supported his frame were now immense, heart-shared balloons that were covered in light-brown fur and a layer of dense, black hair over his shins like it was adding an extra layer of protection for the cluster of nerves there. The remnants of his socks peeled away pathetically from his feet which were now large enough that they would need custom shoes.

Precum soaked his trashed briefs to the point where the added weight caused it to finally slip off his dick. Clear, white fluid sprang from his dick in short arcs, spilling all over his bed sheets with rapidly increasing range and intensity.

The absent wiggling of his toes stopped as the last vestiges of the tingling sensation all over his body faded. His big toe merged with his index while the remaining three collided with one another, skin melding together, bones colliding and the cloven hooves of a bull capping off his feet.

Da-da-ding!

Binh's eyes lit up as the last loot box was opened. The last few inches of human skin vanished beneath a carpet of light brown fur on his face. His thick, black, chinstrap beard remained attached to a broad, square bovine muzzle capped off with a blunt, square, black nose.

“There!" he exclaimed, his voice like a rumble of thunder. “Yes! Yes!"

The last loot box faded from sight and the magical letters announcing that he had reached level 10 appeared on screen. The icon for his level 10 loot box appeared on screen and without even thinking, he clicked to open it.

All at once, a glorious, ecstatic sensation hit him. A lightning bolt of pleasure, release, satisfaction and accomplishment that he hadn't felt in a long while. It started from his very fingertips and toes then shot up his arms and legs. One much smaller bolt rocketed up his neck, forcing him to tilt his head back, his eyelids to flutter and his lips to curl upwards in a brilliant smile as a single word erupted from deep in his throat.

“YES!"

The other crackle of energy collided with his balls, coalescing all the energy in his groin.

There was that short trill of confirmation as the loot box glowed, accepting his command to be opened.

His cock stopped throbbing and became as erect as it had ever been, shooting straight forward and even peeking a little past the screen of his laptop.

Then there was that cascading tune that built his anticipation as the loot box spun in place, rising in intensity and tempo as it got closer and closer to finally opening.

His balls tightened, slamming against his body.

Da-da-ding!

“YES!"

Binh's whole body shook, shuddered and convulsed. A geyser of thick, milky, white cum erupted from the tip of his cock, soaring through the air in a glorious arc that was beyond anything he could have every achieved before he picked up Labyrinth of Loot. The arc was so high that he was firing off his second shot before the first even slammed into the wall about a foot or two past the foot of his bed. For the first time in a while, he lifted his hands off his laptop keyboard only to dig his fingers into the sweat-soaked sheets beside him. He twisted the fabric in his mighty hands as he came over and over again, shooting load after load like he was determined the paint the wall white.

Each shot of his seed sent bolts of pleasure throughout his brain. Neural links were rewired, memories altered and even basic biological processes rewritten.

Cum blasted out of his cock, making a loud, wet splashing noise against the far wall.

Nerves that had lain dormant with the transformation were activated enabling him to twitch his new, bovine ears at will, gain control over his tail and process all the new information his senses now took as the basic standard.

A moan rose from his throat and he spasmed, shooting another blast of cum across the room.

Basic bodily functions from how to grow his horns, shedding fur during the summer months and how to maintain his hooves all became ingrained into his system.

On a more conscious level, the changes scrambled his priorities. First and foremost was the game. The reward system of Labyrinth of Loot was fundamental to his system. Coupled with the orgasmic bliss he received from yet another load fired from his monster of a cock and he accepted this as his truth.

Then came his secondary priorities. Going to the gym to maintain his physique coupled with proper nutrition so that he could play Labyrinth of Loot for as long as possible. Getting a good career so that he could buy the food and the gym membership that would allow him to play the game.

And lastly, with his most explosive and triumphant blast of cum, he accepted his final priority.

To convince others to play Labyrinth of Loot.

Because it was just that good.

A good game.

Binh Ton Phu gasped, taking his first breath now that his change was completed entirely. His dick rewarded his acceptance of his new life with a few more shots of cum. The arcs of his loads shrank, lowering in intensity as exhaustion finally came crashing towards him. For the first time in hours, Binh's temperature began to drop and his tired body slumped down against the headrest of the bed. All the tension in his body released all at once, a visible cloud of steam seeping from him.

The big bull slumped into his bed, hands hanging loosely by his side as he panted and huffed, a gentle smile on his face. Through half-lidded eyes, he spied the loot he had received. Naturally, there was an overall statistic boost across the board but there was also an exclusive piece of equipment. The shimmering pair of boots that was surrounded by an aura of lights in every color of the rainbow was a coveted Omega Drop.

The rarest of the rare.

“I did it," he rumbled. “Made it to level 10."

He blinked a few times, his glasses sliding down his muzzle a little. His eyes refocused on the clock on the corner of the screen. It was now nine in the evening. Seven hours had passed since he had first installed the game. Odd that seemed like much longer but he also didn't regret a moment of it.

I love this game!

“It's a good game," he reaffirmed, sliding his non-prescription glasses back into position. The glass immediately began to fog up due to the heat and steam in the room and he pulled them off, regarding them with a frown. Given that he was naked and his bed was currently soaked with his sweat and cum, he had nothing to wipe them clean.

They're just for decoration anyway.

He set the pair on the bedside table and closed his laptop, a little pang of regret seeping into his system as he was forced to log off Labyrinth. However, it was getting dark outside and he hadn't eaten for a while. He hadn't gone to the gym either today and he wanted to make sure he got a good pump in before getting another session in.

First, though, he needed to clean his mess.

Looking at the torrent of bovine seed he had produced, he puffed out his broad, hairy chest proudly, crossing his arms and grinning to himself. “Bulls need to be milked."

Doesn't mean that bulls need to live like a pig.

Binh quickly moved, his motions practiced and instinctive like he had been cleaning up his spunk from the walls since he had first learned how to masturbate. As far as he and the rest of the world was concerned, however, that was exactly the truth. He ducked underneath his bed and retrieved some cleaning supplies from a duffel bag with the colors and emblem of Valemoore College. Inside where some gym clothes befitting a bull of his size and some sperm-absorbing cloth and scent-masking cleaner. He went to work cleaning up his mess.

He was just finishing up spraying some deodorant into the air when his ears picked up the jingle of keys against the door. Those very same ears swiveled towards the sound, leading the way of him turning fully to face the source.

Who…?

The door sprang open and Orvar Strenstrom, his roommate, stepped in.

The Swedish exchange student froze two steps into the room, catching sight of the very naked bull standing in the middle of the room.

Orvar's green eyes widened and his jaw dropped open.

“What the…?"