Natasha stood in her bedroom, staring out the window. The full moon hung in the sky but she wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it.
[Time Limit: 3 hrs 59 mins left]
Watching the time tick away slowly reminded her of her own life.
"With so little time left, I can’t afford to take any risks. I still haven’t triggered a single chain mission and I don’t even know how many there are. It’s better to just bring him back here." She muttered to herself as she walked over to the table and picked up her phone.
Soon, Natasha made a call.
Naturally, she wasn’t foolish enough to expect Dante to come home on his own like he usually did.
She had already tried reaching him multiple times but he never picked up. So she sent her secret guards to track him down, and they reported back that he was drinking like a madman at a bar on the north side of the city.
Within a few rings, the call connected and she immediately asked, "What is he doing right now?"
"Madam, Dante is still drinking and shows... no signs of stopping." A female voice answered from the other end.
"Bring him home immediately. Don’t let him have another drink." Natasha said without hesitation.
As far as she knew, Dante was never much of a drinker. She was afraid his stomach would give out from all the alcohol he had been chugging nonstop for several hours.
"Understood. But madam, he’s in pretty rough shape. If he resists..."
"Then drag him back."
She hung up without waiting for a reply and tossed the phone onto the bed.
Natasha knew that dragging Dante home against his will was selfish. It made her look like she only cared about the system reward and not about how he actually felt.
’I don’t even have the right to stop him, but I’d rather he hate me sober than destroy himself drunk.’
****
A few minutes earlier, at a certain table in the bar, bottles were lined up like dominos while others lay scattered across the surface.
Dante was getting annoyed as he emptied another glass. ’Should I just call a driver and head back? What the hell is my master doing? There’s only a few hours left before the mission expires!’
’And my inventory isn’t for storing fucking wine!’ He thought while pouring himself another glass.
He pulled up the target feed to check what Natasha was doing.
When he saw her ordering the secret guards to bring him back, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief and knocked back another glass in one go. This time, he actually drank it for real.
Just as he closed the feed, screams erupted from the entrance. The two burly men who had been standing guard when he walked in went flying across the room and smashed through tables. People jumped out of their seats and scrambled to get away from the commotion.
Then two people, a man and a woman in black suits, entered the bar and walked toward him with quick, sharp steps.
’They really know how to make an entrance. I’m pretty sure those poor guys would have let them through if they just said who sent them. These two just wanted to aura farm.’ Dante shook his head and doubled down on his act like he couldn’t afford to slip up.
Just as he was about to pour another glass, a hand grabbed his wrist.
Dante looked up with fury in his eyes, glaring at the man while trying to shake his grip off. "Who the hell are you? And get your fucking hands off me!"
"Mr. Dante, my name is Felix and this is Freya. Madam Natasha sent us. She asked you to come back with us." Felix politely introduced himself while still holding Dante’s hand.
"Who is she... to order me around? I’m not her pet dog... wagging my tail at her command."
As the words left his mouth, he reached for the wine bottle with his other hand, trembling, and poured it down his throat, spilling wine all over his face.
Both Felix and Freya were completely speechless.
"Sir, you are seriously wasted. Madam would be really hurt if she heard those words." Freya said with a disappointed look as she snatched the bottle from him.
"Pick him up." She added, turning to Felix.
Felix grabbed Dante and threw him over his shoulder without caring about his resistance.
"Fuck! Put me down. I don’t want to stare at a man’s ass! I’ll walk!"
"Would you prefer a princess carry, sir?"
"...."
Dante turned to Freya, his eyes silently begging her to tell Felix to put him down.
But she completely misread his signal.
’So you don’t want to stare at a man’s ass? You want to stare at mine instead?’
"Pervert." Freya muttered with disgust in her eyes.
"Let’s go. Madam is waiting for—"
Before she could finish, a loud shout cut her off.
"You two! How dare you cause trouble in my place?"
A short and pudgy man stormed toward them with anger burning in his eyes.
He was the bar manager.
"So noisy..." Freya narrowed her eyes, her face twisting in annoyance. She picked up her black suitcase, flipped it open, reached inside, and let thick bundles of cash spill onto the floor.
"Is that enough?"
The manager froze the instant he saw the money raining down. Seeing how casually they threw it around, he had the urge to push his luck and ask for more.
But when he looked up and met those cold eyes, he knew exactly where his limit was.
"Of course, madam. More than enough! Feel free to smash a few more chairs if you’d like." He dropped to the ground and started scooping up the cash with a glowing face.
"Why is she so rude but so... cool?" Dante muttered as he watched the whole thing unfold.
"I agree." Felix nodded proudly.
"I didn’t ask for your agreement, man. Just don’t fart on my face. At this range, I’d be out of commission..."
"Don’t worry, sir. I wouldn’t even do that to my worst enemy"
The three of them left the bar and headed for the mansion.
On the way, Dante pretended to fall asleep and pulled up the system panel.
[Time Limit: 3 hours and 30 minutes]
’We’ll reach the mansion in about thirty minutes. I should give my master some time to prepare.’ With that thought, he released the first task of the chain mission.
[Task 1 is released!]
[Chain Mission: Save Dante (1/3)]
[Task 1: Hug Dante and....]