After gruesome time of putting lotion on Saya's back, Ren was finally given respite by being asked to buy her a drink.

"Please take your time making the drink—thirty minutes, if you must. An hour would be the most ideal." Ren placed a hundred bucks on the table, and the bartender happily agreed without asking any more questions.

The bartender quickly understood the bro code — Ren wasn't having a good time and wanted to escape his peers or that his date wasn't going well, and he wanted to escape.

Ren took his time, drinking a cold bottle of beer, and rested his mind and emotions, even if it was just for a short while. He was afraid that he'd end up losing control and exploding if he didn't.

If he continuously spent the entire day with Saya, that was not far from impossible. Although it hadn't been that long, he was already about to lose his mind.

"Hey, Ren. So you did come along."

Ren shifted his attention to the women who were approaching him.

The one who spoke had golden hair that danced along with her hips, swaying from side to side. She wore a skimpy two-piece bikini that left little to the imagination. Her cleavage was about to burst from its confines, jiggling as she sashayed toward him as if she was walking on the red carpet.

Ren thought that her face was awfully familiar, but his brain wasn't functioning today.

The woman propped her elbow over the counter and leaned towards him.

"Hello, handsome!" she said with a smile and a giggle. "You look so lost. Did you came here alone? If you want, you can be my partner later in the dance."

Instead of stringing his eyes to the cleavage of the woman in front of him, which most of the other men did, Ren only paid attention to her voice.

Her voice was very familiar, but Ren couldn't put his finger on it. It was like there was a fog in his mind, blocking him from clearly remembering who she was.

"Sorry, do I know you?" he asked directly, wasting no time playing with her.

The woman's sweet smile dropped, and her beautiful face darkened.

"It's me, Sophia," she said with an edge.

Ren blinked with a blank expression. Recognition only appeared across his face after a while. "I see . . . sorry, I couldn't recognize you. Must be the nose lift and fillers."

So that was why he hadn't seen Sophia in class in the past few days — not that Ren was searching for her.

Sophia's face went from red to ashen real quick before she stomped her foot forcefully on the ground and left.

The men around Ren looked at him weirdly, but he was unbothered and resumed browsing his phone, looking for information about the Halloween event that COVENANT would be hosting soon.

When Sophia got back to her friends, they fired questions at her.

"So, how was it?"

"Did he come alone?"

"I saw him together with some girl."

"She's definitely not in our school."

"Is she his girlfriend?"

Sophia feigned confidence, although her pride was shattered inside.

"He's totally into me," Sophia said while pretending to check her nails. "He said that I looked prettier after the nose job and fillers that he could barely recognize me."

The girls were ecstatic, and each one clamored to lick her feet.

"I knew it!"

"The thing you did on your nose is so perfect!"

"Even Silvia would be jealous of your lips."

"So, did Ren ask you out?"

Sophia's smile faltered, and she said, "I changed my mind. He's already into me, so I lost interest. Besides, there are so many men here that are way better than him."

The girls giggled, but there was one who wasn't amused.

Until now, Rayna had never found a chance to approach Ren. The first semester was about to end, and she still couldn't close their distance.

Not to mention that Ren and Dimitri didn't get along and thus, affecting her relationship with him in the process since she was a member in Fate Alliance Guild.

Unaware of the women's chatter, Ren was enjoying what little peaceful time he had when someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

"Why do you look so grim?" Ragnar sat on the stool beside Ren and ordered a drink.

"Same to you."

Ragnar huffed a laugh. "You're wearing all black at a birthday event? Did someone die?"

Ren grumbled. "I don't want to hear it from someone who also wore black and white."

Ragnar's smile fell off his face.

"I can't wait for this party to be over," he said after a while.

"Same . . ."

"I heard that you've got a girlfriend now."

Ren chugged a bottle of beer. "News travels fast."

"I want to say congratulations, but I don't think you're happy with your relationship."

". . ." Ren chuckled. "Are we going to talk about relationships now?"

Ragnar drank a hard tequila before he said, "No. I'm just here to inform you that Evie is here. Thought you might want to know."

". . ." At the mention of Evie, Ren's heart leaped to his throat, and he nearly choked.

"Great," he muttered. "What's she doing here?" Ren thought that Evie wouldn't attend this event. That was why he agreed to Saya's demands.

Who knew that she would be here in the end?

"The restaurant she's working for catered to one of Silvia's menus."

Ren released a blast through his nose. Why she kept working despite earning thousands in the game was beyond his comprehension.

"Ren!"

Both Ren and Ragnar's attention shifted to the marching Leonel. Based on his flushed face, Leonel had already had too many drinks.

Leonel jabbed a finger against Ren's chest the moment he was in front of the latter. "You. How could you be so heartless and flirt with other girls when Evie is right here?"

Ren raised a brow. He didn't know if Leonel was merely drunk, that he confused Saya with Evie or if it was intentional.

"Flirt?"

Leonel flimsily nodded his head back and forth. "That's right. I saw it with my own eyes when you talked with that blonde woman from before."

"Sophia? She's my classmate."

Leonel's eyes widened before they squinted again. He seemed to be seeing multiple Rens. "Is that so?"

"I think you should take a rest in your hotel room," suggested Ragnar. "It looks like you've had too many."

( . . . continuation on NOTES)