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That said, the higher gold content may result in smoother writing, but that's questionable and probably has more to do with alignment. The big difference between these pens is obviously in the retractable nib design. If one doesn't want that, don't go with the VP as that's it's main selling point versus other pens.
This drop seems ok, but people can buy the Stella version directly from Japanese sellers for less on ebay. I think that's a better bet, as it's really the exact same pen.
So it's a bit of a myth to consider gold "soft", since it's just going to vary on how the manufacture designs/creates it. Though something like 21K has so much gold in it that there's not much room to control it's properties as it's 87.5% gold as opposed to 18K (75%) and 14K (58.5%).
I have a few 70s-80s era Pilot Elites that have 18K Nibs from a very firm/stiff "Posting" nib that has absolutely no line variation and can take a bit of pressure, to a 18K "Soft Fine" with some line variation.