For a brief moment after I activated the skill, an orgasmic feeling coursed through my body, making me feel comfortable all over.
I inhaled a deep breath, suddenly feeling aroused.
Ignoring it for the time being as I had a more important thing to do, I carefully made a small cut on my finger.
Hiss!
I winced in pain when the blade cut slightly deeper than I had intended, causing blood to spurt out faster.
I leaned down and, with my other hand, gently parted my mother's dry lips and opened her mouth before putting my bloodied finger over her mouth, dripping the blood inside.
After several drops, blood stopped flowing out on its own, so I squeezed the fingertip and dripped a few more drops.
Then suddenly, I felt my vision become blurry, and my whole body felt weak, as if I had no strength left.
'Fuck!' I inwardly cursed, 'I overdid it, didn't I…?'
I hurriedly stood up from the bed and almost fell down because my feet felt like jelly.
I struggled and finally managed to reach the sofa.
Flop!
As soon as my back touched it, I passed out.
…
Creak~
Half an hour later, the bathroom door slowly opened, and Cat walked out with light, almost inaudible footsteps.
Her long black hair and head were wrapped with a white towel. Because we weren't able to take anything from our house, she was still dressed in the clothes she had been wearing earlier.
If she wanted to, she could have asked Felicity for one of her dresses, but she didn't bother because hers were still clean.
She swept a glance over Lori and was about to look away when…
'Hmm?' She raised her brows in confusion.
Although Lori looked to be the same as she had left her half an hour ago, she noticed her breathing was a little calmer and smoother now.
Anyone else might not have noticed this subtle change, but since she had been taking care of her for several years now, it didn't escape her attention.
Her heart sped up due to the excitement, relief, and hope as she rushed over to her side to confirm what she had noticed wasn't wrong; she desperately hoped it wasn't just her illusion.
A few seconds later, she exhaled deeply, feeling relieved.
Then, as she raised her head and looked at where Ryan was, her face turned pale in worry.
Ryan lay sprawled out on the sofa, his legs dangling off the edges and his complexion as white as the vampires in the movies, and worst of all, he didn't seem to be breathing.
Thump!
Her heart missed a beat, negative thoughts filling her mind.
Swoosh!
She rushed over, and with her trembling hands, she lightly shook his shoulder. "B-Big brother…?"
Ryan… didn't react at all.
She grew more worried.
She knew her big brother was a very light sleeper and would wake up at the faintest disturbance no matter how deeply asleep he was.
Her heart filled with trepidation, she shook him again, harder this time, but… he still didn't react.
"W-What happened? Why isn't he waking up?" Her voice cracked, her beautiful, round face marred with intense worry.
If not for the fact she had already noticed the slight rise and fall of his chest, she would have assumed the worst and would have broken down completely by now.
For a few moments, she stood there in a daze, her worries and unease having overtaken her mind.
Then, she snapped back to her senses. After helping him lie in a more comfortable position, she rushed out of the room.
…
For what seemed like a very long time, I slowly regained consciousness and opened my eyes with difficulty, which I had to close again because of the sudden light.
"He woke up!"
Right then, I heard Felicity's excited shout, which was followed by the sound of several footsteps rushing toward me.
"Big Brother!"
I slowly opened my eyes again and saw Cat's face hovering above mine, her big brown eyes moist with tears, a few of which dripped on my cheeks, and her face covered in worry.
I was light-headed and couldn't understand why she was so worried, but as the haze covering my mind dispersed, I recalled what happened before I passed out, and it didn't take me long to figure out why she was so worried and why Felicity and maybe Vicky were here in our room.
'I was too reckless and hasty. Should've asked the system how this skill worked before,' I thought, inwardly sighing.
Then I raised my hand and lightly pinched her nose and smilingly asked, "What got you so worried, princess?"
Cat's eyes moistened when she saw me smile, and a smile appeared on her face too, even as her tears continued to fall and wet my face, but I didn't mind.
"Are you feeling alright, brother? What happened? Why were you unconscious?" she asked.
Instead of immediately answering, I sat up, or at least tried to, but there was no strength in my body, so I naturally failed.
"Help me sit, Catty," I said, calling her by the name only I used and the one she didn't like at all.
Maybe because she was too worried about me, she didn't react to it and helped me up.
"Thanks," I said before glancing at Vicky and Felicity, who were also looking worriedly at me.
"Oh? Vicky, Felicity, you are also here?" I acted surprised and then looked at Cat and asked with a confused look on my face, "What happened?"
Cat bit her lower lip. She knew her big brother well, and seeing his expression, she understood what he was doing—he was trying to hide the reason why he fell unconscious, not wanting them to worry about him.
I gave her an awkward smile when I noticed the look in her eyes.
"We don't know. You were unconscious, your complexion was deathly pale, and your breathing was very shallow. If we hadn't noticed your complexion and breathing were gradually improving, we would have taken you to the hospital two days ago," Felicity said.
"Huh? What did you say? Two days?" I asked, my expression changing. "I was out for two days?"
"Yeah," Felicity nodded.
I hurriedly pulled up the Mission section.
[Time Remaining: 6 Hours, 29 Minutes.]
"Fuck!"