Volume 2 – Chapter 66 – Hidden Skill

After arriving home, the rest of the day was much calmer. We talked about the day, ate our dinner, and went to our respective bedrooms.

There wasn’t much else to do.

Before going to my room, I decided to spend some time in the bathtub. I usually preferred to just take a shower, but when I find myself truly needing time to relax I generally preferred to take my time in a bathtub.

I submerged myself in the water, letting the warm and cozy sensation of it melt away all of my worries and unnecessary thoughts.

After the events of today, I felt that I deserve some time alone to relax.

I would meet Yuria soon for our usual sexy time, but I still liked to enjoy my alone time.

I also had a few things that had occupied my mind, so I needed some time for myself.

‘System, can you explain to me what exactly is a Hidden Skill?’

[Affirmative. Due to the possibility of encountering unforeseeable dangers in the future, one of the creators of the system decided to add special features that would allow the host to better prepare for the possible danger, and as a result, the Hidden Skill feature was created, which allows the host to gain special skills designed to help host during its journey]

I frowned a little at that explanation. It indeed answered some of my questions but also created others in their place.

‘Why didn’t Anteros just make those skills available on the skill shot in the first place?’

I was certain that it was Anteros that put this feature in the system. There’s no way that someone as careless as Eros would even think of such a thing, especially considering that its sibling had to modify the system due to its carelessness in the first place.

[Information unavailable]

That was annoying but my current situation helped me to keep a calm mind. If it was any other situation I might have grown frustrated to the point of actually getting angry, but being in the tub right now was enough to soothe my mood.

If I couldn’t learn more about the Hidden Skills I might as well learn about the skill that I gained.

‘System, explain to me what the skill [Plot Detector] do?’

[The skill was designed as a way for the host to learn about the plot of stories that the host might encounter and the information about characters involved in the previously mentioned stories]

I got surprised by those words. I didn’t expect that I would remember every single hentai story that I read or saw, but now the system was providing me with the ability to immediately learn about them.

That already went beyond helping. It was just plain cheating.

Not like I was complaining or anything. If anything, that was a skill that I wholeheartedly welcome.

I was glad to receive such skill but still, there were more questions that I wanted to make.

‘What were the conditions to get this skill?’

[For this skill to be liberated it was necessary to host to not recognize the actors of more than one story at the same time, and more than one time each]

I could understand that explanation, but a second later I frowned in confusion.

‘Wait, so I have already met characters of more than one story I didn’t recognize?’

[Affirmative]

‘...okay. So I assume that those three that were picking on Rina were from one of the stories, correct?’

[Affirmative]

‘Who are the others?’

[Hiroki Mori and Nao Fukuda]

I was speechless towards that revelation. I had met them months ago, but in no time whatsoever I had seen any sign of them having any kind of intimate interaction.

‘Okay, calm down. This information will need much more time for me think than I have right now’

Yuria was waiting for me, so couldn’t spend the rest of the day inside of the tub. I would need to leave soon and I got the feeling that whatever information related to the story of those two would be too much complicated for me to deal with it right now.

Deciding to leave the matter for another time, I decided to ask the system my final question regarding the new skill.

‘System, besides detecting a story that I might not remember, the skill provide any kind of information about the story it detects to me? Like what is it about or the themes it’s involved with?’

[Affirmative. At the request of the host, the skill will allow for the title of the story to be available, the contents of the story, and the main genre to be informed]

‘...by the contents of the story, you mean in manga or anime format?’

[Affirmative]

Okay, now THAT is certainly useful. I wouldn’t just get some vague summary of the story. I will be able to see all of its development. That would allow me to be much more prepared in case a problem appeared in the future.

[Warning. The host must keep in mind that whatever story the system provides might not follow what the host is experiencing with complete fidelity. The host is living in a world where all of these people are real and possibly might come to interact with each other, so their actions might deviate from their original stories]

‘...yeah, I can’t let myself be too careless with this’

That was something that I shouldn’t let out of my head.

Just because I knew that these people already had a predicted story, doesn’t mean that I can perfectly predict how they would act in case I interfered.

I can’t let this knowledge make me think that I was capable to do anything I want without consequences.

‘Okay, I think already spend enough time here’

I had already answers for most of my questions and Yuria was expecting me, so I should leave here already.

Then I heard the door of the bathroom opening, and I turned in its direction. We had enough bathrooms for all of the family, so there’s no way that whoever was there came here by accident.

And there, still holding the doorknob, was Yuria.

“Takashi, I’m coming in”