Ling Xian chuckled as he scanned his hand against the door that opened with a beep. The club had several floors, some of them for nightlife, most of them for any time of the day.
They took the elevator down to the restaurant that was modelled after a mountain this season. Using robots, some image technology and actual renovations, the tables looked like they were placed right next to a large lake somewhere up on a mountain with an astonishing view and a few animals moving around.
The walls of the actual building, where the elevator moved too, were designed to use images so that the scene appeared endless. You couldn’t tell where the wall was, at all, so the staff had placed a fence before the walls to show where the room ended.
That way, no one would walk into something.
Only the opening elevator doors would disturb the scene.
Tian Zhu lifted his head to look at a holographic group of birds flying above them. He could smell the grass – part of it was real after all – and even hear the waves of the holographic lake.
Last season it had been a huge palace. It had changed a lot.
“How pretty”, the woman – Nalan Su Qi – purred. “Let’s sit over there, near the lake!”
Everyone obeyed with smiles and took the places that she had pointed at.
As one of two females in a group of six men – excluding Tian Zhu – both Su Qi and the second woman, Feng Shu Yun, knew how to stand their grounds.
Su Qi was a voracious man-eater with a temper worse than a tiger and Shu Yun was a rather cold, two-faced woman who knew how to use her brother to her advantage.
Feng Nan Yu was her twin and had been trimmed from a young age to not allow the princess out of his sight. Wherever one was, the other was too, so it came as no surprise that she integrated into his group of friends.
Both women greatly enjoyed everyone’s favour. Shu Yun, Tian Zhu had recently noticed, had caught his brother’s eyes.
Su Qi was a wild woman. She had short, fluffy pink hair and very bright brown eyes. Her clothes were as short as her hairstyle and she often wore flashy accessoires.
Shu Yun was more of a traditional eastern lady, appearance-wise. She was quiet and elegant, with straight black hair covering her shoulder blades and equally black eyes.
Out of the group, most of them were more of the western style.
Ling Xian obviously shared Tian Zhu’s blood but looked more like their western father.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Nan Yu was a visible pureblood easterner like his sister Shu Yun but a temperament even icier than hers.
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Ben and Oliver were the second set of siblings, two brothers with only one year apart. Both were the athletic type that exceeded in absolutely any sport. A shade of brown for both eyes and hair, they didn’t stand out a lot.
The two of them got along best with Jasper. Dark blonde with somewhat gray eyes, Jasper looked like a happy-go-lucky but was an adrenaline junkie. Together with Ben and Oliver, they went climbing and base jumping, legal or not.
The last one was Keith. Tian Zhu wasn’t sure how he mixed with the group at all, considering he was the quiet type, but he did have that sadistic grin.
All of them were from rich families. They liked wasting their time together.
The seating arrangement spoke more than enough about their exact relationship.
Ling Xian was next to Shu Yun and Keith. Next to Shu Yun was her brother Nan Yu, followed by Tian Zhu breaking in a bit, Su Qi, then Jasper, Ben and Oliver, and finally Liam.
They always sat like that. It hadn’t changed in the past four years.
“Tian Zhu, what do you want? You should take the fish. It’s great.” Su Qi half decided for Tian Zhu, entering the order before waiting for his confirmation. Since Tian Zhu would never complain no matter what you did, choosing for him had become common for her.
Along with the environment, the menu would adapt. Right now, everything on the menu was using ingredients you could get from the area shown.
The changing settings reminded Tian Zhu a bit of the dreams.
Right now, he found himself sorely missing them – a very unusual feeling, but not that unexpected.
Once everyone had been out of the way, what had been left was a large, living puzzle. There was no reason not to prefer it over what was happening right now – a gathering of fake people out to have enjoyment at the cost of others.
Compared to them, an honest murderer like Aspen was more likeable. He wasn’t concealing anything, at least.
Everyone was eating soon enough, and the topic went right back to their families.
“The whole department? That’s pretty nice, I’m not allowed to have one on my own yet”, Oliver complained while pulling a face. Out of the various companies that each of their families managed, he was only allowed to work alongside the CEO of a smaller one, as an assistant, while Ling Xian had a whole management department of a larger one for himself.
Ling Xian straightened his back and smiled proudly. “I have to do a good job. I will have all of it one day.”
“How about you? Did your parents give you something to manage, too?”, Su Qi asked cruelly but punched cotton.
Tian Zhu shook his head without a change of expression. “I’m not suitable.”
He indeed wasn’t suitable for the way these companies were managed. He’d change it up completely, which wasn’t something that his family would like to see.
But in the other’s ears, this sentence became an admission for the fact that he was too stupid to do it.
Su Qi gingerly rubbed his head. “One day. You’ll learn, I’m sure! Ling Xian can teach you!”
“For now, he has to pass his lessons”, Ling Xian laughed.
Less than something like college, the rich generation kids were sent to a special institution for learning. The classes were large but did not happen too often, as most of it was centered around learning on your own or approaching the professors if problems would appear.
Tian Zhu wished he could leave soon. It was hard to get bad grades without being too obvious. He had to make common mistakes, or the intelligent professors would notice something was up.
“On topic of lessons… You remember that guy, the… the…” Jasper snapped his fingers and clicked his tongue, trying to remember the name. “Goddamnit. That guy who was flirting with Shu Yun so much and bought her flowers? Anyway, he’s been telling stories that he got called into the dreams. I bet he’s lying though.”
Shu Yun glanced up. “Why do you think that he is? He might have really been in one. What did he say?”
Tian Zhu was more than sure he would have recognized a fellow classmate inside the dream and would have been recognized in turn, so it was bound to be a lie. Besides, as a child from an influential family, he would have told the story of being killed by Aspen.
Ling Xian did not look too happy at Shu Yun’s interest.
“It was pretty confusing. I think he said it was a school or something and that it was like running from a zombie apocalypse.” Jasper shrugged. “I think he’s a coward that wouldn’t go out, so I don’t actually believe he was in there.”
“If I was in the dream, I’d try filming it. You keep what you usually have inside there, right?”
No. Only clothes. Any items – accessoires, bags, other loose things that weren’t intended to cover your body – wouldn’t appear.
“Do you think you could take something out of the dream?”
No. Wounds you got inside the dream wouldn’t transfer, either. It was likely more of a mental space, otherwise the real body would have to disappear, too.
“It’s weird that the people who experienced it aren’t meeting up. Most don’t even talk about it! That’s so boring, even though it’s so interesting, they could easily get on TV! Why not tell the story?”
Because most people inside the dream are so terrified of that world and the rules they don’t know, they are too scared to possibly break a rule by talking too much about it. Although that held only true for a certain amount of people, especially the younger ones seemed to be prone to sharing with their friends.
The people around Tian Zhu would have never guessed that someone among their midst knew the answer to all of their questions.
Tian Zhu watched his brother’s abnormal interest in the topic with lowered eyes. Ling Xian was quick in diverting everyone’s attention away from the classmate to himself.
They spent most of their time eating, with Tian Zhu being moderately hindered by Su Qi being stuck to him.
After that, the more active half of the group dragged the other ones to a different floor even deeper underground – a casino.
This was where the depravity would truly start.
A slightly spicy scent was everywhere, the drugged fumes soon pulling everyone into a high. Laughter was resounding through the hall, often out of control.
The casino area was bright and colourful, with lights blinking and rotating spaces that would mess with your mind even worse. Alcohol was poured in low percentages but drunk like water.
Only the guards and dealers wore intricately designed masks that covered their noses and mouths to protect from the fumes. They were styled like animals, with the dealers wearing herbivore types and the guards carnivore types.
They sat down at a roulette table, a deer-typed dealer with large antlers welcoming them.
As Tian Zhu’s mind was slowly overwhelmed by the drug, he dumbly thought that the mask did not suit the dealer with his fox-like eyes.
The rest was a haze.
Author’s Note
Again, remember the girls, that’s enough.
I’ve learned that in fact, most casinos are built in a way that you can’t tell the time – lack of windows or clocks, bright lights – as well in a way that makes sure you can’t just go to the exit in a straightforward line. You stop by as many interesting places as possible, so that in the best case, the customer keeps on getting stuck on something and doesn’t leave
I wonder what would their faces be like if they discovered Tian Zhu has been in a dream several times
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️
They’d actual not believe him even if he or anyone else said it xD
Thank you for the chapter~
Tian Zhu just sitting there watching everyone discussing stuff he already knows the answer to lmaoo
Also marrying just because she liked the name,, wah..
I can probably remember barely the girls, nevermind all the group ＞︿＜
I don’t want to remember the names of the girls, but oh well. I’ll put it in some corner of my mind.
Though, I’m curious. What event will center the girls. Could it be a dream? I’m getting excited. (｡♡‿♡｡)
Huh I’ve never rely tbought about Casinos like that!