The gold card sat on the desk like a trap.
Glitch paced around the living room, her silver hair tied up in a messy bun, her face twisted in thought.
"This feels... off," she muttered. "Rich guys don't invite you to a private club just to talk about business. It's either human trafficking, illegal auctions, or both."
Elias leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
The new "Perception Boost" reward from the watch had kicked in earlier, and already he was noticing tiny things others missed — micro-expressions, slight shifts in people's tone, the coded language of the rich and corrupt.
"I know," he said softly. "But if I don't go, we'll never get close enough to crush Kane."
Glitch frowned. "Still. I don't like it."
"Neither do I," Elias admitted. "But I have to become a monster to take down a bigger monster."
There was a heavy silence.
Real Life Thread: Moral Compromises
Elias wasn't blind.
He saw how people started with good intentions and ended up villains because of "small compromises."
One dinner.
One handshake.
One deal.
He didn't want to lose himself.
That was the real battle — not Kane, not Vex, not the suits or thugs — but the war inside his own heart.
--
The building looked abandoned from the outside — rusted metal, boarded windows, graffiti splattered across the walls.
But once you went through the coded entrance and down an elevator hidden behind a fake wall...
It was another world.
Gold. Mirrors. Red velvet.
Sin dripped from the ceiling.
Half-naked models lounged in expensive booths.
Old men with gold watches laughed like kings.
Waitresses wore jewelry worth more than most houses.
And everyone wore masks — literal ones — carved from porcelain, gold, and bone.
Elias slipped on the black mask Vex had given him.
He adjusted his cufflinks and stepped into hell.
---
Character Spotlight: Selene Morrow
Name: Selene Morrow
Age: 27
Profession: Lawyer by day, handler for Vex's underground operations by night
Appearance: Smooth caramel skin, sharp green eyes, full lips often painted blood red, toned figure, short black dress with slits up both sides
Flaws: Ruthless, manipulative, hides her fear of failure with cruelty
Attitude: Elegant but dangerous, like a snake pretending to be a rose
---
Selene intercepted Elias almost immediately.
Her voice was silk and blade all at once.
"New face," she purred. "Vex has good taste."
Elias played dumb. "Just trying to make my way up."
She smiled, teeth gleaming.
"Good. We need fresh blood... and strong stomachs."
Behind her, masked figures played games more twisted than anything Elias had imagined — auctions of rare drugs, stolen art, whispered contracts.
Glitch's voice crackled in his earpiece, a whisper of warning.
> Glitch: Be careful. They're scanning faces under the masks. Facial recognition. Stay calm.
Elias's heart pounded once — then steadied.
He flashed a charming grin at Selene.
"Lead the way."
---
As they passed a high-roller table, a drunk billionaire in a peacock feather mask offered Elias $10,000 to "sing something embarrassing."
Without missing a beat, Elias grabbed the mic and belted out the worst, most off-key version of Baby Shark imaginable.
The crowd howled with laughter.
Even Selene chuckled — real amusement flashing through her usual predatory mask.
Charm reward: Activated.
More importantly:
He distracted everyone long enough for Glitch to hack into the private servers upstairs.
---
By the time the night ended, Elias had accomplished three things:
Earned Vex's deeper trust
Stolen critical files exposing a major smuggling route tied to Kane
And survived the first circle of the underworld without losing his soul... yet.
--