2 Stepbro, Help! I'm Stuck........ In Hell

[You didn't even wait for me to finish!]

The panda in white cultivation robes joined him with a tensed, angry vein mark on his forehead.

Zhe Chouhen was faced with a very dark landscape, ominous and filled with the background noise of screaming people in pain.

"Where am I again? This looks like hell, man." Zhe Chouhen scratched his head, and realized his hair was curly.

[We really are in hell. This is my 6th novel, 'I Will Drag You To Hell With Me'.]

"Ah... I remember now." Zhe Chouhen snapped his fingers. "The gay fanfiction of Dante Alighieri's Inferno from the Divine Comedy?"

[..... It was just inspired by it!]

"Everything is literally the same except the main characters, Panda-laoshi. It's creative license anyway, you don't have to deny it."

[I didn't expect you to know about the Inferno or notice the similarities.]

"I tend to take my literary classes seriously because they're the only ones interesting." Zhe Chouhen observed himself for a second.

He had short, curly black hair and was wearing early Renaissance Italian clothes. It was a dark red and black outfit with a long cape and high boots.

He soon recognized which character he was playing and fall to his knees in despair.

"WHAAAATTTT!? Of all the fucking characters, I'm Leandro!?"

Daoist Panda snickered gleefully with his paw over his face. [Hehehe, not so cocky now, are ya!? Yep, you're Leandro Virgillio, the one and only male lead of 'I Will Drag You to Hell With Me'!"]

The panda moved beside him with a mocking expression. [Do you need a recap of his character? You know you would have to avoid acting OOC*, don't you?]

"I already know this fucking character, it's not that difficult to remember a textbook obsessed scum!" Zhou Chouhen glared at the cute panda.

Daoist Panda pretended he did not hear this, and went on to introduce the male lead character. This annoying hater had been lessening his chance to talk for so long.

[Leandro Virgillio is the son of a songstress in Florence who remarried into a rich duke. This duke was a widower and has a son of almost the same age, Daniele Alighieri. Leandro fell in love with Daniele but knew he was going to be condemned to hell for this love, so he had learned and practiced black magic. That way, he could make the afterlife easier for himself and Daniele, and find paradise even in hell.]

[But he learned through his dark rituals that Daniele did not share his love, and Daniele would surely go to heaven! And so, Leandro fooled Daniele into committing double suicide with him, by sharing a poisoned apple with each other. The story begins as Daniele finds himself confused on why he wakes up in a pitch-black world with only his stepbrother to explain to him that he was in hell.]

"I said I didn't need the recap!" Zhe Chouhen, who is now Leandro, stood back up his feet. "If we really are at the beginning of the story, where's Daniele?"

[He is dying from poison in the real world right now. He will be joining you shortly.]

"What exactly is my goal of playing Leandro here? This fucking sucks, I wouldn't mind being one of the furies to attack them or that kind friend Daniele encounters in the forest of suicide."

The panda smacked his own forehead. [This is a punishment system, not a rewarding one, what do you expect!? Now you get to be the one you hated most, and you have to stay in that character for the rest of the story!]

Zhe Chouhen whined. "That's it!? That's so unfair, I didn't even do much! I'm sure you have more avid haters than me."

[I do. You're just the most annoying and despicable.]

"What kind of QT is this!? Where's the points!? Where's the changing and fixing of the story!?" Zhe Chouhen asked.

The panda thought for a while, then said. [Fine, then. Since you did appreciate some parts of my novels, I would make this a wager between us. ]

He summoned three holographic screens beside him.

[You will have three meters. One is the Scum Meter, which is self-explanatory. The second is the Love Meter, which will be the level of affection the MC has for you. And third is the Satisfaction Meter, which represents the readers' satisfaction of the story.]

[If you can reach 100℅ on either the Love or Satisfaction meter with a 0℅ on the Scum Meter by the end of the story, I will send you home.]

Zhe Chouhen's eyes brightened with hope. "Really? I can go home just from this story alone?"

[That is if you can. My bet is you would never achieve this. I am the author, I know what my readers like. You will never fill the Satisfaction Meter without raising the Scum Meter.]

"Hah! I'll prove to you that you don't need to have a scum gong to give a good story!' Zhe Chouhen smiled confidently. "I'll be a good, doting gong to Daniele and maybe in the end we will get to purgatory or heaven—"

[You seem to be forgetting about something.] The panda smirked evilly.

[You're not supposed to act OOC. Acting OOC will lessen either the Satisfaction or Love Meter, or both. If you suddenly change the character when the initial characterization had already been established, the readers will find it jarring and lose interest in the book. Additionally, the MC will think of you as a different person and therefore not allow any love to bloom between the two of you. ]

"Then how am I supposed to win this bet then!?"

[Figure it out for yourself. You've been a smartass to me this whole time, you can handle it.]

He wanted to strangle this panda to death and feed him to that three-headed Satan at the innermost circle of hell.

[Daniele is coming. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. You can communicate with me through your thoughts. I'll be watching very closely to see you fail!]

Daoist Panda disappeared in sparkles and Zhe Chouhen stomped his feet in anger. "Fuck you, wherever you are!"

A figure appeared from the distance at the desolate landscape. "Leandro? Brother, is that you?"

Daniele Alighieri appeared, his big eyes wide in a puzzled expression and from the darkness.

His hair was also curly but with golden locks instead of black. His eyes were shining blue sapphires that could light up a whole room. His clothes were always peerless white, with a humble blue cape on his back. His features were that of a Greek sculpture or an angel, lips shaped like Cupid's bow always looking plump and pouty like a child's. He was truly a definition of purity and innocence.

This was Daoist Panda's dramatic description of him by the way, Zhe Chouhen just remembered it from the top of his head. He just sees him as a hot blond Italian guy.

"It is you, brother!" Daniele ran to him and hugged him. "Brother, where are we? I am deeply afraid, I do not remember what has happened!"

Zhe Chouhen blinked for a minute not expecting to be hugged by a hot guy this fast. Still, he put his acting skills to work. He hugged Daniele back and said in a deep, husky voice. "My dearest Daniele, I believe we are dead."

"How could this be?" Daniele's face was shocked with horror.

"The apple, it must have been inedible. I apologize, I should have picked a better one." 'Leandro' said with a pained expression, as if he really felt guilty.

He immediately said in his head, (This doesn't count as acting OOC, right? Leandro is a manipulative liar after all.)

[Yes, yes. Focus on playing your part.]

(Just checking, you're highly unreasonable.)

[You're highly insufferable.]

Daniele looked like he was going to cry, but he wiped his tears away. "No, brother. Do not blame yourself. Accidents happen all the time, it must have been God's will for us to die at a young age. I feel relieved that at least you are with me, and God has fated us to be together in death."

(Hah, that 'God' was a cliche author conspiring with this asshole stepbrother you are talking to right now.)

"I too, am relieved that you are with me." Zhe Chouhen, in real 'Leandro' fashion, brought Daniele's hand to his lips. "But I fear God has now abandoned us."

"How do you say so?" Daniele asked him.

'Leandro' gestured somewhere further away. "Follow me, my dear Daniele."

He led Daniele in front of a scary looking metal gate. The spires were like spears that would impale a person, it was made of dark steel or maybe obsidian. An arc above it has carved letters spelling out seven ominous words.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Daniele read aloud. "....Abandon all hope. What does this mean, brother?"

'Leandro' smiled sadly to him. "Abandon all that is happiness and holiness. Abandon all your dreams of paradise. My dear Daniele, we are in hell."

"I am in hell?" Daniele blinked, his full eyelashes batting like disturbed butterflies. "Was I a terrible person enough to be even denied of repentance in purgatory? And was brother as well?"

"It may be so, seeing that we are here." 'Leandro' lied through his teeth.

(Welp, your brother deserved to be here anyway. He just dragged you along.)

Daniele cried and buried his face on 'Leandro's' chest. "Oh brother! What a tragic fate for the both of us. I do not think I can accept it, I believe God's judgement is absolute but.... I did all I could to be benevolent in my life, and help the needy. You as well, you have been a good child to father and mother, and a good brother to me. How can this be!? I do not understand it!"

Zhou Chouhen patted his back, trying so hard not to expose the lies of the character he is playing. "We have no choice but to venture further, my dear Daniele."

"I am afraid, brother. My heart still laments it." Daniele buried his head deeper into Leandro's puffy clothes.

(Look at how you made the poor, undeserving boy cry! You could have made this like the original where Leandro could be like Virgil who's sent as a guide, and then replace Beatrice* with.... I dunno, the Holy Grail or something. But no! Let's make it a dog blood drama and incest too!)

[It's not incest if it's STEP-siblings.]

(Yes, it is. Even if it wasn't, it's still just as yucky. It's still your family member, bro. Would you date a family member? I definitely wouldn't even if it's my uncle's twice-removed-and-unrelated-by-blood nephew from his second wife.)

[I'm tired of your sassing! I'm enjoying watching my own story come to life here. I wish there was a mute option for your thoughts.]

Zhe Chouhen stuck out his tongue on the empty air while Daniele wasn't watching.

He gently pulled away from Daniele and smiled. "My dear Daniele, do not be afraid. I am here, I will always be here for you like I promised before. Even hell could not stop my desire to protect you. Leave all your punishments to me, I shall carry your burden for you."

Daniele's glossy eyes looked up in admiration to 'Leandro', and he stopped crying. "I trust in you, brother. You should not carry the weight of my sins for me. I would not be afraid anymore if I am with you. I will take responsibility for my wrongdoings like you."

(What wrongdoings? You should have been a fucking saint! Ah, this MC is too gullible!) Zhe Chouhen wanted to cry from the unfairness of it all.

[Love Meter raised to 10℅]

[Satisfaction Meter raised to 5%]

(The scum meter isn't raised yet?)

[No, it only ups when you do something undeniably scummy. You didn't even lie to him by telling if he was sinful or not, you just misled him into thinking it.]

(Yes!) Zhe Chouhen mentally raised a fist in the air. (I'm going to win this bet fast!)

[.... Don't dig your own grave. We're just getting started.]

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Read The Mafia Boys' Contract Marriage which is joining WPC right now XD

I know it's shameless of me to advertise like this but I'm desperate :)))) Plus it'll be a pretty fun book, I guarantee you.

If you're a fan of mafia, criminal investigations and detective stories, please check it out and support it.

PS: It will also be a whole lot more spicier than any of my books so far cough cough How much spice? You'll see.