CHAPTER 22: SYSTEM QUEST: APPLY PRESSURE HERE FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT

I stood outside Natalia’s bedroom door, my System interface flickering with amusement in the corner of my vision.

[Quest Update: Seduce and Corrupt Your Stepsister]

Time Remaining: 4 weeks, 2 days

"You’re enjoying this way too much," I muttered under my breath, making the System’s text flash brighter.

[Host, I’m merely calculating probabilities. The current scenario has an 87.3% chance of advancing your primary objective.]

"Yeah, I bet it does."

I balanced the supplies I’d gathered: a small bottle of arnica oil, a heating pad, and a foam roller. The oil was nothing special—just something I’d picked up at a corner pharmacy a week ago when my own muscles were screaming from the torture I’d put them through. But Natalia didn’t need to know that.

I knocked once, heard her muffled "Come in," and pushed the door open.

Her room was exactly what you’d expect from someone like Natalia: organized, tasteful, with just enough personal touches to suggest a real person lived here. A framed photo of her father on the nightstand. A few medals hanging on the wall. A stack of Hunter magazines beside her bed.

And there she was, face down on purple sheets, wearing a dark sports bra and black compression shorts that hugged every curve. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, exposing the nape of her neck.

This was... new.

In my old life, I’d been with dozens of women, each a transaction. I’d give them pleasure, they’d give me money or information or favors. Simple. But there was something different here

"Took you long enough," she mumbled into her pillow.

I snorted, setting my supplies on her nightstand. "You want it done right or you want it fast?"

The mattress dipped under my weight as I sat beside her. She flinched slightly, whether from pain or my proximity, I couldn’t tell. Probably both.

"What’s that smell?" she asked.

"Arnica oil. Anti-inflammatory." I warmed a small amount between my palms. "It’s going to feel cold at first."

I placed my hands on her upper back, just below her neck, and she hissed through her teeth, her body tensing under my touch.

"Jesus, you’re like a steel cable," I muttered, my fingers finding knot after knot across her trapezius muscles. "When’s the last time you had proper bodywork done?"

"What are you, my therapist now?" Her voice was tight with pain. "Just fix the knot so I can train."

I rolled my eyes. "It doesn’t work like that, Princess. This isn’t just one knot. Your entire fascial chain is locked up." I pressed my thumbs into the area where her neck met her shoulders, and she made a sound like a strangled cat.

"Ghhk—!"

"Breathe through it," I instructed, keeping steady pressure on the trigger point. "The more you tense, the worse it gets."

She mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "fuck you," but she inhaled deeply, her body gradually relaxing under my hands.

"There we go," I said, working my way down her spine, tracing the pathways of tension. "The actual knot is deeper. I need to warm up the surface tissue first."

I could feel the System monitoring my actions, tallying points, analyzing the interactions. It was both creepy and hilarious. Here I was, giving a legitimate therapeutic massage, and somewhere in the cosmic casino, gods were placing bets on whether I’d cop a feel.

"Where did you learn this?" Natalia asked after a few minutes of silence.

I almost froze. Shit. What would normal-Satori say? What would original-recipe-fat-fuck-who-never-left-his-room know about deep tissue massage?

"Internet," I said smoothly.

"You’re...surprisingly good at it," she admitted reluctantly.

"I’m surprisingly good at a lot of things," I replied, locating the main knot below her left shoulder blade. It felt like a small golf ball under her skin. "This is going to hurt. A lot. But it’s the only way to release it."

I positioned my thumbs on either side of the knot and pressed down with steady, increasing pressure. Natalia’s entire body went rigid.

"Holy fucking—!" She punched her pillow, her voice cracking.

"Breathe," I reminded her. "Ten seconds. Count it down."

She did, her voice shaking, and I could feel the exact moment the trigger point released. The knot softened under my touch, and a full-body shudder ran through her.

"Mmmph..." The sound that escaped her wasn’t pain anymore. It was relief—deep, visceral relief that bordered on something else entirely.

"Better?" I asked, knowing the answer from the way her muscles had melted under my hands.

"Don’t stop," she murmured, then quickly added, "There’s still pain. Lower."

I bit back a smile. Sure there was.

I moved my hands down her spine, using my palms now, long sweeping strokes that followed the contours of her back. Her skin was warm and smooth under the oil, and I couldn’t help noticing how perfectly she was made.

[Host, your heart rate has increased by 22%. Are you experiencing physical attraction?]

Shut up.

[That wasn’t a no.]

I worked my way down to her lower back, Natalia’s breathing changed. Each exhale carried a soft sound, something between a sigh and a moan. Her hips shifted almost imperceptibly against the mattress.

"Found another one," I muttered. I pressed into a tight spot just above the curve of her ass, and she let out a sound that had absolutely nothing to do with pain.

"Ahhn..."

My fingers automatically dug deeper, working the muscle with more intensity. I wasn’t thinking about Schema Points anymore. I wasn’t thinking about the System or the quest or my ridiculous predicament of being trapped in a fat kid’s body.

I was thinking about how good it would feel to hear that sound again.

"Is this still for the knot?" Natalia’s voice was muffled by the pillow, thick and hazy with something that wasn’t just relief.

I leaned forward, close enough that my breath stirred the wisps of hair at the nape of her neck. "The knot is gone," I said, my voice dropping to a low rumble. "This is for the rest of you."

Her breath caught. I could see goosebumps rising across her skin.

"I didn’t ask for the rest of me to be..." She trailed off as my hands slid to her sides, my thumbs tracing the curve of her waist.

"Ask me to stop," I challenged quietly.

She didn’t. Instead, she turned her head to the side, one violet eye fixing me with a look that was equal parts confusion and heat.

"What is this?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

What was this? Good fucking question. This wasn’t just about the quest anymore. Something had shifted the moment I entered her room, the moment I put my hands on her skin.

"This is me," I said simply.

My hands moved to her shoulders, then down her arms in a long, firm stroke. I could feel her pulse racing under my fingers, her skin hot despite the cooling oil.

"And what do you want?"

I smiled, letting Kaelen show through, just for a moment. "I think you know."

Natalia abruptly pushed herself up, twisting to face me. The movement was so sudden that I nearly fell backward off the bed. She sat before me now, her hair half-fallen from its bun, her eyes bright with confusion and a heat that mirrored my own.

"No, I don’t know," she said, her voice sharp with returning clarity. "That’s the problem. I don’t know what you want, or who you are anymore. One day you’re useless, the next you’re—" She gestured at me vaguely. "This. And now you’re in my room, putting your hands all over me, and I—"

She cut herself off, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

I held her gaze steadily. "And you liked it."

Her cheeks flushed crimson. "That’s not the point."

"Then what is the point, Natalia?" I leaned forward slightly, invading her space. "That it’s easier to believe I’m playing some elaborate game than to accept that maybe you never knew me at all?"

Her eyes widened, and for a moment, I thought I’d pushed too far. But then something shifted in her expression.

"Maybe I didn’t," she admitted quietly.

Well, shit. That wasn’t in the script.

"Your back feel better?" I asked, deliberately changing the subject.

She rolled her shoulders experimentally, surprise flickering across her face. "Yes. Much better. Whatever you did..." She paused. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome." I stood up from the bed, gathering my supplies. "Use the heating pad tonight. Twenty minutes on, twenty off. It’ll help with any residual soreness."

Natalia looked up at me, confusion clear on her face. "You’re leaving?"

I smiled, enjoying her bewilderment. "Your Cryo-Lich Ring is being delivered today, right? You should rest before it arrives. Aspect stabilizers require a clear neural pathway for proper calibration."

"How do you know that?" She sounded genuinely curious now, not accusatory.

I tapped my temple. "Internet, remember? I’ve been doing my homework."

I turned to leave, but her voice stopped me at the door.

"Satori."

I looked back. She was still sitting on the bed, one hand absently rubbing her shoulder where I’d worked out the knot.

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow," she said, her voice carefully neutral. "I’m going to the training grounds to test the ring. I could use a spotter."

Was she asking me to come with her? Holy shit, she was.

"What time?"

"Nine. We’d need to leave by eight-thirty."

I nodded. "I’ll be ready."

As I closed her door behind me, the System’s interface bloomed across my vision.

[Optional Side Quest Unlocked: Join Natalia at Training Grounds]

[Reward: 15 Schema Points upon completion]

[Accept? Y/N]

I mentally hit ’Y’ without hesitation.