As Roonie saw him, he waved. "Veyne, come here. I want to talk to you."
Veyne tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the dozen people behind Roonie.
All of them were casually dressed, making it hard to identify them. But he noticed both of Roonie’s guards among them—just not in their usual dress code.
Veyne walked to the sofa in the corner and asked Roonie, "Who are these?"
Roonie smiled. "Here, let me introduce you. These three girls on the side are my maids."
All of them smiled at him.
Veyne just stared at them. Even though all of them wore different dresses, he noticed the way they stood was very poised.
It was much different from the average woman he had seen. He then glanced at Bea and saw her staring at them, and then at Roonie.
Roonie then pointed to the men. "These seven are part of my security team. They’ll also be joining the game."
Veyne nodded as he focused on the two bodyguards standing just behind Roonie. Roonie didn’t include them in the seven, so he asked, "What about them?"
Roonie rubbed his forehead and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "These guys are just stubborn. They refused to leave my side."
The two of them smiled at Veyne.
Veyne nodded in understanding. He knew being the son of a mafia leader was no simple thing.
From what he saw, these two guards had a much closer relationship with Roonie than the others. It was understandable that they weren’t going to take any risks with Roonie’s life.
Veyne just nodded and didn’t pry too deeply into Roonie and his guards. "Okay."
Roonie then asked him, "What about you? Have you decided who you’ll send?"
Veyne pointed to Bea. "Well, she could join. It’s not like I need a maid all the time. As for the others, you can decide."
Roonie looked at Casim and asked, "How many members do you need to set up proper protection?"
Casim thought for a moment and said, "Once the surveillance cameras are set up around the house perimeter, two guys should be sufficient."
Roonie nodded and said, "In that case, Casim, pick one guy to go with you for protection."
Veyne added, "Well, we can rotate. Like, two people play on one day, and then the next day the other two play the game."
Casim shook his head. "No, sir. That will be too distracting. Also, I’m too old to enjoy those games."
He looked at his men and said, "You should pick Zayn and Ratim. These two are still young, and they have good skills. That might be useful in the game."
Veyne looked at the other three, and they didn’t react at all. It was kind of the same with those Roonie had brought—these people were different from him.
As no one had any objections, he nodded to Roonie. "Okay, then both Zayn and Ratim will also play the game."
Roonie looked at the three of them and said, "Okay, I’ll add three more gaming pods here." With that, Roonie turned to the others. "Alright, everyone help with the party arrangements while I talk with Veyne."
At Roonie’s command, everyone rushed to take on some task. Meanwhile, Bea had a discussion with the other maids as they all began prepping the house for the party.
Not caring about any of them, Roonie asked, "Did you call your friends?"
Veyne slapped his forehead. "Wait, let me send the house address to them."
Roonie nodded and also pulled out his phone to make some calls.
Veyne sent his house address to three of his dorm mates and started talking with Roonie about the game.
One after another, different people started arriving at the party. Most of them knew Roonie.
Soon, the DJ started playing music, with beverages and snacks already in full swing.
Roonie got immersed in the party, dancing with dozens of girls he had invited. Even the other guards and maids tried their best to blend in, though they looked super awkward.
Not long after, some girls dragged Veyne to dance. Time passed much faster as madness slowly engulfed the crowd—it was very different from what Veyne had expected.
He stopped caring about who came to the party and just got lost in the chaos, following Roonie’s weird moves while drowning himself in beer.
Halfway through, Roonie screamed about their "brotherhood" to everyone. Not only that, he even announced that he was joining the damn Apex Ascension.
After dancing for a couple of hours, Veyne plopped onto the sofa, extremely tired.
Half an hour later, Roonie lay down next to him. The next few hours were a blur—he remembered meeting his dorm mates and even members of the Kiyon Guild.
He was so intoxicated by that point that their faces were a blur to him.
Though unlike him, Roonie was still in control. This guy was practically drowned in alcohol and could still dance and talk with others.
In that blurred state, it hit Veyne that Roonie might be suited for a poison or drug-related class. Those classes were usually seen as gimmicky, but with Roonie’s high mental tolerance, he might be able to make something out of it.
He remembered telling Roonie about how he could drink beer and stuff inside the game if he picked those classes—and the guy laughed like a lunatic junkie who just got his hands on a new drug.
Everything after that was a blur.
After a long time, he opened his eyes only to find himself passed out on the sofa.
He looked around and saw the mess in the hall. Everywhere his eyes landed, there were empty glass bottles.
He scanned his surroundings and saw he was alone in the hall. It was likely everyone had already left.
At that moment, he felt an annoying hangover pain. He rubbed his head to ease the throbbing as he checked his pocket and found his phone.
It was only 4 in the morning. He thought about going back to sleep, but the headache and the smell made it impossible.
In a daze, he dragged himself up to his room and stood under the shower.
As the cold water fell on his head, it jolted him awake. He stayed still under the stream—it was finally time to move past everything and start the grind.
Both inside and outside the game.