Honestly, what I was wearing was too much. 1980 or not, matching dark blue and dandelion yellow like this should’ve been a crime. But compared to what everyone else was wearing at “The Metro,” I didn’t stand out much.
I forced my legs to push me through the door past a nodding bouncer despite the resistance I felt from my much too skinny jeans. 14 strength or not, I felt like I was performing a herculean feat just to move in the overly starched denim.
The venue itself was relatively mellow from the nightclubs I’d known from back home. Rather than blaring lights and deafening EDM, the place was decently lit with white lights, along with a rainbow disco ball at the center of the dance floor, probably a carry over from the previous decade. Synth pop played on the speakers at a bearable volume. Not clamorous enough to prevent casual conversation, but still plenty loud to lose yourself in it. Overall, it was a good place to improve some of my attributes and relax.
My goal was to improve Charisma, especially with how powerful it already was, but why not also look into my other attributes? There happened to be one I neglected all this time, and for a pretty good reason.
Attractiveness. Leveling it up would definitely get more people interested in me, but everyone who has been so far has had less than stellar motives behind it. They actually were interested in me, but at the expense of somebody else. Namely an already existing partner.
I really didn’t want more of that, but I remembered how the attribute was described in those children’s stories I got from the Newark library. Sure, it encompassed physical attractiveness, but it also affected how receptive others would be of my words and presence. It would also work hand-in-hand with Charisma.
And as much as I hated the idea of getting more of that kind of attention from people who I had no interest in, I knew I needed every advantage I could get. There were bigger, hungrier fish in this ocean, and they wanted to tear me in two first. Literally.
I walked over to the edge of the dance floor, where many clusters of men and women talked amongst themselves or swung their bodies in tune to the beat while still being open to starting a conversation if the right man or woman appeared. Mike Smith's face didn’t look too bad, and I’d been approached before. Hopefully I’d be the right kind of man for them.
“Hey, I’m Mike,” I said to a woman looking out onto the dance floor. He had curly, brown hair in a perm and an average, yet dour-looking face. “You enjoying yourself here?”
“Hm? Yeah, it’s pretty fun. Though it could be better, I guess,” she replied with a shrug.
“How so?”
“For starters, my… friend keeps trying to hog the dance floor like he owns the damn thing. Doesn’t even let me join him because he’s apparently a solo act, despite all of the other women he seems to be letting join him. Hey, you seem to be the kind of guy who appreciates a good tango partner, so how about it?”
“Sure, dancing sounds fun!” I replied cheerily.
“No, not that. Wanna meet up later, maybe at your place after closing?”
I raised an eyebrow at her and activated [Detect Cheating]. Of course, it flashed positive and I quickly intuited that her so-called “friend” was in fact her boyfriend. Honestly, if she wasn’t happy with him, she should’ve just broken up before pursuing me.
“I don’t know if I can, I’ve got a lot I have to do once I leave,” I lied. “Maybe some other time?”
“Sure, let me give you my number,” she replied, as she pulled out a piece of paper and pen from her small, chic purse and wrote down her digits before handing them over to me.
I sheepishly put it in my pocket and turned away to try again on someone else.
That was essentially how the next hour went.
“How about it, let’s head back to my place?”
Detect Cheating (lv 11)
Target
Jasmine Stevenson
Method
Flirting in secret
[Skill Level Up! Detect Cheating lv 11 -> 12]
“Hey stud, why don’t we get to know each other better outside?”
Detect Cheating (lv 12)
Target
Leslie Brown
Method
Flirting in secret
“Lookin’ good, my man! How about if I show you around somewhere… more intimate?”
Detect Cheating (lv 12)
Target
Justin Young
Method
Flirting in secret
By the third person who triggered [Detect Cheating], I was starting to feel mentally exhausted. Even the lone guy who hit on me was already in a relationship! Maybe I was just having really bad luck, or was there some underlying quirk in the System that was pointing me towards people who were already taken?
I wouldn’t be surprised by the latter, or at least I wouldn’t be if there was a reason it was trying to pair me with people looking to cheat. I took a seat on a barstool by one of the walls and leaned against the countertop. Looking out towards the dance floor, I turned on [Detect Cheating] again, hoping to at least gain some more levels for that Skill if I wasn’t going to be doing the same for my attributes.
“Hey baby, wanna ditch that klutz and get to know a real man?”
…
“You don’t seem pretty happy around him, do you? Maybe I can do a better job?”
…
“Your girlfriend looks like she’s got a weak tongue game. How about if I show you a real party in your pants?”
…
[Skill Level Up! Detect Cheating lv 12 -> 13]
Alright, what the fuck was going on with this place?! Did I accidentally walk into a cheater’s den or something? Was this place secretly a meetup spot for people not happy with their current relationships, where people came to actively cheat on their partners? No matter how horny this world was, it made absolutely no sense that there would be this much adultery!
Something was up. And as much as I wanted to blame this dance club, or this city, I’d seen it happen too many times for it to be a coincidence.
If people weren’t happy with their relationship, they would break up. That’s how it works.
But the number of people who decided to stay in their relationship and cheat instead was way too high. Everyone couldn’t be that stupid… right?
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“It’s the world we live in, why are you worrying about it?” a familiar voice whispered behind me.
I froze. It took all of my strength to even move my eyes, while the rest of my head and body stood in place. There was somebody standing behind me, that much was obvious. But all I could see of him was his arm. A skinny, pasty white arm.
“Just go over to one of them and take them home! It’s that simple, why are you so scared? They want you, why don’t you give yourself to them? It’ll make a wonderful story.”
A sudden burst of rage had me clenching my fists. It was all I could do, but with a little bit more will power, I forced my mouth to move. “G-go to hell.”
An exhale of breath touched my ear. Along with the sound of his knuckles popping.
Smooth move, Chuck, smooth move. Maybe he wouldn’t kill me now? We were in a public place, after all, and others were still able to see him like at the gym. But…
“So be it,” he said with a sneer, and a faint note of finality. “But if that’s not the kind of story you wish to write our lord, then how about you write one with what’s behind you?”
The fear-soaked adrenaline began to grow stale, and as the second wave of the fight-or-flight hormone pumped through my veins, a sudden courage filled my very being. My muscles unlocked and I turned my body in a wide arc with a fist raised, ready to at least push away from the bastard.
But instead, I was met with empty air. But behind him, in the far distance, I saw something worse.
My eyes widened in shock when I saw shelves lined with bottles of all shapes and colors. They followed the bartender as he grabbed a bottle and began pouring its contents into a glass tumbler, the brown liquid bringing about a feeling of nostalgia within me. Somehow, it completely slipped my mind that clubs usually had their own bars. That served alcohol. And I was a recovering alcoholic.
I licked my lips as I forced myself to look away from the sight. With the kind of place I was in, maybe one drink wouldn’t hurt? Dealing with so much stress was doing a number on my mind, and I could’ve really used some assistance to help cope. Maybe something light, even? Just a sip?
I slowly rose out of my seat and walked over to the bar, and eased myself onto a stool. My inner mind was yelling at me to run, to get out of here, anything. The stool looked more like a bear trap, but I still fell onto it. I pivoted my hips and faced the bartender. Before I could call him over, I was interrupted by a feminine voice.
“You look like you’re trying to make a really hard decision right now. Having trouble figuring out what to order?” asked a young woman. She was about my age, with straight, red hair and freckles, green eyes, and a gaze that commanded my attention. Her body was wrapped in a light-brown sweater and jeans, with a thick, copper bracelet on her left wrist.
“You could say that,” I replied. “Thinking if I should have a drink or not.”
“That doesn’t sound too hard of a decision,” she playfully mused. “What’s holding you back?”
“I’m a recovering alcoholic,” I replied bluntly.
“Then you chose a pretty poor place to spend your night,” she said, equally as blunt.
“Yeah, I kinda just figured that out.” I looked down onto the table and sighed, using my arms to keep me from completely falling to the countertop. “I just wanted to get out and meet new people, and I figured this would be the best place to do that.”
“Yeah, I get it. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll order some soda with you so you’ll at least have some company. I’m trying to keep myself from getting drunk tonight either. It’ll be my treat!”
I looked over to the woman with a cocked eyebrow. Flashing [Detect Cheating] at her, I not so surprisingly got… barely anything? I took a second to turn it on completely and give her a full scan.
Detect Cheating (lv 13)
Target
Elsie MacWard
Method
N/A
Well, that was… ironically unexpected.
“So, why aren’t you drinking yourself?” I asked in genuine curiosity after letting the Skill fade to the background.
“Well, I’m feeling pretty down now, and I know booze would actually make me feel any better,” she replied contemplatively. “Otherwise, I’d be drinking all the time! I feel that sometimes, experiencing some level of sadness lets you understand yourself better and let you better deal with it the next time a similar tragedy comes around.”
“Must’ve been one hell of a tragedy, then.”
“Nah, nothing that bad. My boyfriend just cheated on me is all. It sucks, but it was honestly something I should’ve expected. It would’ve been nice if he’d just broken up with me first. I mean, really!”
“Oof, that sucks,” I replied with a wince. “I caught my girlfriend in bed with a total douchebag like two weeks ago, myself. I broke it off with her right then and there.”
“Hold on, douchebag?” she asked with a giggle. “What kind of insult is that? I mean, it sounds fitting for a grade-A piece of shit, but I’ve never heard anyone use the word like that before.”
“Oh, sorry,” I replied. That’s right, douchebag wouldn’t become a popular insult until like 25 years from now. “That’s pretty much what it means, someone with an overinflated ego who tries too hard to compensate for a shit personality… or a small dick.”
“Well then, to broken relationships!” said the woman with a giggle, lifting one of the two cans of soda that the bartender placed on the counter.
“Yeah, to broken relationships. Cheers!” I pulled the tab on mine, clinked aluminum cylinders with her, and took a long sip. It was definitely Coca-Cola, but it tasted much better than any can I’d ever drunk back home. Oh right, this was still back before they switched using sugar with high fructose corn syrup. Man, I felt bad for everyone when they would switch to New Coke in about 5 years.
“So, what’s your name?” she finally asked after setting down her can.
“Ch-Mike. Mike Smith. And yours?”
“Elsie MacWard,” she replied with a bubbly smile.
“That’s a pretty name! So Elsie, what do you do here in Atlantic City? I just moved here, so I’m still getting my bearings.”
“I don’t actually live in the city, sorry,” she replied apologetically. “I go to the university half an hour away, and I usually only come here to unwind or take my mind off things.”
“Like with the breakup?”
“That’s right. So how about you? What do you do around here?”
“Handyman and security consultant,” I chuckled. “For an apartment and casino respectively.”
“Sounds interesting! Are we talking about security against robbers or cheaters?”
“The latter!” I said with a laugh. “If I see an armed robber, I’m hiding under the nearest poker table until they leave!”
“You’re a smart one, then. It seems like we’re pretty good at attracting cheaters, so I think you’ll do fine.”
“Thanks! And yeah, it really looks like we are,” I replied with a hint of sadness.
“Hey, why so glum all of a sudden?” asked Elsie, leaning forward to get a better look at my dour expression.
“It’s the part about being a magnet for cheaters. I talked to four people here and all of them tried to cheat on their current boyfriends to get with me. It just feels so weird to run into so many of them! Is the entire world filled with nothing but cheaters?”
“Yeah, I’d agree it’s weird. Why would four women be so desperate to drop whoever they’re currently with for you?” She had a little smirk on her lips.
I turned to Elsie with a stupid look. “One of them was a guy, actually.”
“I’m just joking! Sorry to upset you like that.”
“Don’t worry, I was joking too. Not the part about one being a guy, though. I’m just a fan of droll humor.”
“Oh! I’ve never really heard that kind of a joke before, it seems interesting. But yeah, it really does feel like the world is full of them. But I’m sure I’ll keep looking and find someone who doesn’t subscribe to that notion or give into their base desires like our exes did. I know they exist, otherwise society wouldn’t be what it is today, everyone would be too busy fucking each other to get anything done! We just have to find someone that adheres to the Form of fidelity close enough.”
“Haha, you’ve got that right,” I said with a smile and a sigh. “That sounds pretty philosophical, I guess you’re our own resident Plato.”
“I’m actually taking a couple of philosophy classes at school,” she replied with a curious smile. “You seem to know a bit about your ancient greek philosophers yourself, most people only recognize Socrates or Aristotle, and you even recognized his theory I was talking about! I guess you can be Aristotle in that case, Plato’s student.”
“Eh, I always figured myself closer to Diogenes.”
“Wasn’t that the guy who just laid out in the sun all day getting drunk and didn’t take shit from anybody? When Alexander the Great walked up to him and told him he could have anything he wanted, he just asked Alexander to step out of his sun! I think you give yourself too much credit.”
“Maybe I do!” I laughed. “But unlike Alexander, he was happy. I mean sure, I don’t want to drink or sleep on the streets, but I just want to make a life for myself where I’m content. So that’s why I quit drinking and try to make a decent life for myself.”
“You know, self-improvement is something I can get behind. Everyone has room to improve somehow, and we should always strive for that goal. Good luck in becoming an even better you, though I don’t see that much room for improvement.”
I noticed that her gaze left my face and began to go down to my chest and lower. When she finally met my eyes, I could see a look of desire on her. And for the first time, it was from someone who wasn’t already in a relationship, someone who came with no strings attached. It’d been a long time since I’d experienced that kind of action, and even Mike Smith’s body seemed to pull me towards her.
Our faces were drawn towards each other and our lips met. One thing led to another and soon we were in my apartment, clothes taken off and doing the deed. We both knew we were essentially each others’ rebounds, but I didn’t mind. I figured that this was my best bet of getting guilt-free sex for a long time, and I was just happy I wasn’t potentially ruining somebody’s relationship through the act.
Maybe this world wasn’t so bad after all? It looked like I just met the one ray of sunshine responsible for the silver lining.
…
[Level up!]