Crackle! Thunder!

The sky was completely devoured by the black clouds, with lightning flashing amidst them, followed by the terrifying thunderclaps.

The rainwater, followed by the turbulent wind, was leaving us no place to hide. Our clothes were completely wet, as we hid below a tall tree, whose branches and leaves were forming a natural umbrella to protect us from this heavy downpour.

Her back was resting against the tree trunk, yet the rain was still reaching us, with some water droplets falling from the tree leaves. Despite this natural shelter provided by nature, our situation wasn’t any good.

"Aanchu~" Emi had already begun to sneeze, but I was still fine, particularly because of my max out physique and hellfire increasing my cold tolerance. But the same couldn’t be said for Emi.

"You should change your clothes, or I will have another sick person to look after." I gave her the bag, in which her clothes were placed. I also took out a warm blanket that I had specially packed for myself. As I was unable to sleep without my cosy blanket.

Thunder!

The lightning flashed in the sky, and Emi quickly clenched the bag in her palm, wrapping herself in the blanket, and began changing beside me. I looked at the dark sky, wondering if I would get anything for this act.

I didn’t have to wonder for long, as I got the system message in a few seconds.

[Congratulations, Host, on making your stepsister change her dress in the middle of the dark forest, right beside you. Rewards are being calculated.]

[Reward: Tier 3 dungeon Key]

[Perverted Point: 100]

[Forbidden Point: 1]

"A Dungeon Key..."

"What are you doing there? You should also get change." Emi’s sharp voice instantly shifted my attention. She was wrapped in the blanket like a cocoon with her small head popping out from within.

I glanced down at myself; indeed, my clothes were wet, extremely wet. The water was dripping down from them. Even if I don’t have any problem with them, they still weren’t comfortable to wear.

"Hm, now turn around, don’t look this way," I said casually, while taking out my spare clothes

"Hmph, who even... ancho~" She couldn’t even complete her sentence, and began sneezing. While I got changed into a plain light-yellow t-shirt and white shorts. I left my wet clothes aside, not wanting to ruin the other things in the bag.

"Come here," Emi called, opening a little entrance for me to snuggle into the blanket.

We shared the blanket, together, using it to shield ourselves from the cold wind and water that was seeping through the tree leaves. She was sticking closer to me, while shivering a little.

"Are you feeling cold?" I asked while knowing she was.

"No," she replied instantly, her eyes staring at the surroundings, watching the unsettling darkness of the forest grow.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I pulled her into my embrace. She was shocked for an instant, but she didn’t try to escape, simply burying her head into my chest.

As I did so, I looked forward to my reward.

[Congratulations, Host, on forcing yourself on your stepsister in the middle of the dark forest. Rewards are being calculated.]

[Reward: Cursed(lv1)]

[Perverted Point: 100]

[Forbidden Point: 1]

This time, I got another talent, but this one wasn’t that unique. I had seen this before on Mink. With this talent, I could have a better understanding of dark magic. The only bad thing about it was that I didn’t have anything to learn dark magic from.

I didn’t dwell on it for much and quickly closed the information panel. At this moment, the rustling of leaves and the raindrops both were becoming intense.

Emi was curled around me, her hand wrapped around my back, her soft body pressing on me. Despite her looking afraid of this increasing storm, she was better than before; her body had stopped shivering. Her warm breath was hitting my chest.

Having this moment of silence with her wasn’t something I had imagined. But it was the first time something felt better than my imagination. Even the powers I got weren’t up to mark if we compare them with my imagination. But this moment with her was.

The time continued to pass, and we continued waiting for the storm to end. In the meantime, both of us had been silent. Maybe she wasn’t trying to throw a tantrum or fight with me, that’s why the moment was in silence. And I had always been a good brother, so obviously it wouldn’t be me.

"Ricky~" she called me in a low voice.

"Brother sounds better," I replied, staring at her little face.

"Look there," she pointed at her fingers on my right, wanting to show me something. So, as her big brother, I would obviously not take orders from her. I pulled her into my embrace, not looking anywhere.

Just as I pulled her into my embrace, I heard the strange chewing sound coming from the direction she pointed. As I expected, the horror hidden in the mountain was going to reveal itself. This was the power of reading novels; nothing could escape the eyes of the reader.

"Something is there~" she whispered in a low voice, trying to struggle free from my grasp, but she wasn’t really trying hard; even if she did, I could still hold her in place.

The first lesson for survival from the unknown entity that horror novels taught me was to ignore their presence. These things aren’t living in most of the cases, even if they do, I have the hellfire to burn them to death.

Soon enough, I was feeling the temperature drop in the surroundings. The chewing sound was gone.

"Emi, are you feeling cold?" I asked her, staying as it is. But the curiosity to look around was getting over my head.

"No," she replied, and her answer actually relaxed me a lot. The thing that hunts from the darkness wouldn’t really come to face us head-on. Making our way out easier, as long as we ignore these tiny tricks, everything will be fine.

In my heart, I was actually a little happy, no matter how crazy it might sound. But this was a sign that the world has more to it, and these unknowns will find me sooner or later. Just like what happened with a typical novel protagonist. For that, I need to prepare myself.