Chương 162: Chapter 161: Chain Broken

"I don't get it. You've already been playing with Pike and Moon. Why haven't you joined either guild yet?" Oxy's expression tightened instead of clearing up, and her answer carried enough frustration for Meno to understand this was not as simple as submitting an application.

"That was temporary. I had to leave GraveMistake so they would send over a contract offer. You can't just join them. You need to sign it."

"You're saying you need to join a top guild, but you're Level 81 and rank 5. They wouldn't decline you." Oxy's restraint finally broke. She had been annoyed before, but now the words came faster, her hands moving with them as if she had been holding the whole problem in place for too long.

"The contract sucks. It's too much. I can't do it. I don't want to become their employee and go full support."

"Why can't you solo?"

"I can't even solo a Level 90 Cryo-Balveth pack. My gear is better now, but it's still mostly bad. The shield you sent me is Legendary I, and its Defense is too low for this level. My recovery works, but my damage is too low. I run out before they die." Oxy drew a deeper breath before continuing, and every new detail made Meno like the situation less. The problem went all the way down to her class, her gear, and how much her stream depended on staying competitive with them.

"Before you tell me to get good, Meno, Juggernaut is a tank. It's extremely reliant on gear, and it doesn't have your level of damage scaling. And if I reroll, it would kill my stream. Yes, some people would stick around, but a large portion only watch me because, other than Moon, who doesn't really bother with optimizing content, I'm the highest-ranked female streamer. That's just the truth."

Meno did not know enough about Blood Juggernaut to pretend he had a perfect answer, and rerolling would not solve much if Oxy treated losing her rank as something she could not afford. Still, the class did not look hopeless from what he had seen. The wide Blood Reprisal aura had real value, and that HP restoration into a red detonation could become nasty if she ever built around it with the same full-health setup False Hero had abused.

"I don't think you should give up. I'm about 99% sure there'll be some opportunity around Level 100 to change your Evolution or upgrade the class in a way that lets you fix it and push harder toward damage instead of defense. Based on what I understand about Profane, the self-damage-to-DPS conversion looks good on paper, but it might be a trap." Oxy listened without interrupting now, which gave Meno room to follow the build farther.

"If you had Infernal, the damage-over-time might snapshot the damage spike for the whole duration. Your DPS would go through the roof at the cost of being much less tanky. That's still just my guess, though. I'd need to actually read your skills."

"That's great, but what the hell am I supposed to do with that? I wasn't even presented Infernal as an option."

"Level 100. Ammonia from Honeygrave's team is convinced Naraltan won't come back in its old form, but there has to be something to fix classes. Half the playerbase picked Evolutions with zero information. People would quit otherwise, and the AI doesn't want that." Meno gestured toward the crowded atrium around them, where the entire event existed because people were still obsessed with Veyrath.

"So rejoin GraveMistake, push to 100 even if you temporarily fall out of the top 10 while learning how to solo, then come back stronger." Oxy looked more thoughtful than convinced, but the panic had eased enough for the idea to stay alive. Rina tugged lightly on Meno's shirt.

"Meno, she's your ex, right? Maybe you should help her get there."

"No, that's lame. Plus, I'm already splitting XP two ways with Karmabeast. If we add another person, that's a massive loss I can't afford, and we don't need a tank."

"I wasn't saying it so you would carry me."

"I'm happy to help with anything else." Meno had already started looking past the immediate problem when another solution clicked into place.

"Wait, I actually have an idea. I know a guy who likes tanks. You might need to boost him a bit, but he's really good. First, though, rejoin GraveMistake and forget about those trash contracts. You're way too big to put yourself in a hole like that." Oxy hesitated only a little longer.

"Okay." That was enough. Meno led them back toward the bar for another Honeyjuice refill before returning to BrineSaint's corner, where the conversation had somehow become even more dangerous in their absence. BrineSaint was deep into god lore with JaxxonVale, while Hush had his phone turned toward Scuzzy and the rest of the table. Whatever was on the screen held enough of their attention that nobody noticed Meno until he dropped back onto the sofa with Rina beside him and Oxy pulling another chair closer.

Celeste greeted him with an amused smile.

"That was quite a speech you did there. I'm impressed. It felt genuine in the most perplexing way." Scuzzy looked away from Hush's phone.

"Perple what? Can you speak normal?" He pointed toward the screen.

"PBG, this is some serious thing. I have changed my opinion about you." Rina leaned across Meno just enough to see what had captured their attention.

"Oh, is that so? I thought you liked big chops. All of you guys owe me a sub. Account sharing is not allowed."

"I'll hook you up with some limited-edition swag. How about that?"

"That works." Meno had more important business.

"Okay, Scuzzy. Look me in the eyes."

"That's weird. What do you want?" Meno pointed directly at Oxy.

"Here is your tank. You will be playing with her from now until Level 100. Got it?" Scuzzy gave Oxy one quick assessment.

"Sure, whatever." Then he went straight back to Hush's phone, far too invested for somebody pretending not to care. The Honeyjuices arrived while Meno turned toward Oxy again, ten yellow glasses taking over the low table.

"That's it. You should ask Arayu too. She might be too focused on Tyrant while this guy doesn't seem to care about much of anything, so I'm not sure she'll go for it, but the two of you can definitely do it." Oxy looked calmer than she had five minutes earlier.

"Thanks, Meno." She picked up one of the Honeyjuices, tried it, immediately made a horrified face, then took another sip. Meno felt a quiet sense of pride. The drink was irresistible, even though he had contributed nothing to the actual recipe beyond naming a concept and forcing a bartender to solve it. The concept was the valuable part anyway. Celeste watched the exchange with interest.

"You might become an actual guild master at this pace."

"Trying really hard to make sure that doesn't happen." Meno pointed toward Scuzzy, who still had most of his attention on the phone.

"The only reason this guy listens to me is because he wants the viewers."

"Maybe, maybe not." Meno was about to argue when silver-painted hair moved through the nearby crowd. VantaRush was difficult to miss even in a room full of streamers trying to look distinctive, and calling him a silver fox would have been a little unfair since he was only in his thirties. That did not stop Meno.

"Silver fox!" Vanta turned immediately, which meant Meno had not achieved a World First on the nickname. Disappointing.

"Vanta, let me offer you a drink. It's a GraveMistake special." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Vanta disengaged from the group around him and approached the table with an easy smile.

"Hello, PBG. Is it the famous Honeyjuice?" Meno frowned.

"Wait. How do you know that?"

"People overheard you ordering it, and ever since, everyone has been asking for it. The drink makes no sense, but it's a fresh taste." Rina grabbed another glass and took a sip.

"Meno, you are unbelievable."

"Sit down. This is the cool corner. You don't want to get infected by the big guilds." Vanta pulled over a chair and settled into the growing circle before greeting the others.

"Hey, guys. I hope your back is better, Celeste."

"Ah, yeah. It's much better now, thanks." BrineSaint's attention moved to his wife with the same stony focus he usually reserved for raid mechanics.

"How does he know about that?" Celeste did not even flinch.

"Don't start. We are just friends. I can talk to people while you are browsing, can't I?" BrineSaint found no useful answer to that and chose the safer route by taking another drink. For a moment, Meno wondered what Vivi was doing. He had not seen her since entering the atrium, nor Honeygrave and the rest of his party. They were probably somewhere on the other side of the room, which was fine. Aurelia had not appeared either, despite being rank 50 and qualifying for an invitation.

Maybe she had decided not to come, or maybe she would arrive later. Rina eventually disentangled herself from Meno, picked up her bag, and caught Oxy's eye.

"Come help me find a mirror?" Oxy was already pushing back her chair.

"I was hoping you'd ask." The two women disappeared into the crowd, leaving Meno to refocus on VantaRush just as Thorn materialized with another suspiciously yellow drink and dropped into the empty chair. The furniture gave a dangerous creak under his weight.

"Sup, guys. Is this where the cool people hide?" Vanta angled toward him.

"Hey, when do you think Northspire will be repaired?"

"Soon. Our community efforts have almost got the 100 million together. There was no way we were paying that ourselves because of this guy's antics." Thorn pointed toward Meno with his glass.

"PBG, I am still mad at you for that one."

"I just unlocked a free subclass. It's conveniently placed right at your doorstep." Vanta took that more seriously.

"Excrinant looks very strong, but we're worried about the downside. Excrino manifesting through you is already a bit suspect, then you can't swap off it easily."

"We need to get that Negative Karma going." Thorn leaned forward, energized by the theorycrafting.

"Full recharge on killing blow pumps. If you can set it up so the healer gets the last hit, it solves all the Mana issues that slow down clears. But the XP buff might be too small since we're close to you in levels."

"Close? You're 10 levels behind." Meno took another sip of Honeyjuice.

"Yeah, I don't think you should take it either. I didn't take you for a catch-up user."

"Hah. I use everything if it gives me an edge." Vanta continued before Thorn could sell himself on Excrino worship.

"There's also a Veyra-themed subclass in the city. Fracturehold Saint Cathedral. It isn't worshipper-tier, but if the Saints like you enough, they offer it. Veyra is themed around life, so it gives passive HP recovery and curse defense. No Mana, unfortunately."

"That thing is crap," Thorn said.

"Curse debuffs are rare. HP recovery is useless with a healer." Meno's interest went in a different direction.

"Do you think that works on items?" BrineSaint answered from across the table.

"Not as removal, but it might suppress the curse while the item is equipped."

"Don't bother," Thorn said.

"There is no world where you replace Titan execute with that. It's simply too good. Also, the Saints won't even talk to you because of your Excrino alignment. They aren't a big fan." He shifted back toward Vanta.

"Do you guys still not want to collab for the raid? It'll take a while until we can get 20 people to 90 with gear."

"I don't think so. Unlike you, I don't tell them what to do. If you can convince anyone to join, I don't mind." That made no sense to Meno.

"Why don't you collaborate with Moon again?" Thorn slapped both tree-trunk-sized thighs hard enough to make the glasses on the low table tremble.

"My sister has betrayed me. We got into a fight about a stupid family reunion, and she is working with Highbanner now." Before Meno could dig into that, music began rolling across the atrium. At first it stayed light enough to talk over, but the volume rose quickly into a steady thump that swallowed the finer parts of every conversation. Within a minute, Meno had to lean close just to hear anyone sitting beside him. Clear sabotage. He had been getting good information.

Rina returned with Oxy as the center of the atrium began filling with people, and Meno finished his drink before the music turned serious conversation pointless. The crowd spilled toward the open floor, colored light started moving with the beat, and Rina pulled him out with it.

There was not enough space for salsa nonsense or anything that required large movement, but the slower disco rhythm was easy enough to follow, and Rina moved through it with complete confidence, like she knew exactly where every part of her body was supposed to be. The next stretch of the night became a blur separated mostly by Honeyjuice pit stops.

At one point, Meno tried teaching Thorn how to jump with both feet in real life for no reason beyond Thorn refusing to do anything except stand at the edge of the dance floor like a giant statue holding a drink. Thorn eventually tried it, landed hard enough to create a small earthquake, and they mutually abandoned the experiment. Rina danced with Oxy, Oxy danced with Scuzzy, and JaxxonVale tried to move around the room like a rogue, except he was a Warlock and therefore completely unsuited to Stealth.

Three women from the business side of the event kept finding him whenever he changed position, judging by their more formal equipment. BrineSaint proved too mature for the main music and slow-danced off to the side with Celeste instead, while the rest of BrineTime dispersed through the room in search of partners. Meno eventually spotted Vivi with somebody who was most certainly not Jammon.

Honeygrave and Merry were nearby, which meant she had at least remained inside the same general social orbit even if the original twin strategy had collapsed. There was still no Aurelia, which might have been for the best, because Meno was drunk enough now that the part of his brain responsible for good decisions had fallen below a critical threshold. Time became difficult to track after that.

People kept trying to talk to him whenever Rina disappeared or he stopped moving long enough to become targetable, but the music was so loud that Meno could barely understand half of them. That turned out to be useful. Rather than leave the dance floor and get trapped inside a networking conversation, he kept moving until they gave up. Eventually, the atrium became nothing but heat, bodies, music, and strobing color. The dungeon atmosphere increased by the minute, and bosses started appearing.

The first was getting through the crowd to the bar for a Honeyjuice refill. The second was finding Rina again afterward. The third spawned when Jaxxon asked Rina for a dance and Meno instinctively tried to activate Quadrillionator. Nothing happened. Meno focused harder on his inventory. Still nothing. Annihilator also refused to activate, and Sinseeker had vanished completely. He felt like he was playing False Hero again. That explained everything. Meno took off his shirt and threw it somewhere into the crowd.

Five minutes later, he tried finding it again and failed. Bummer. When he stumbled back into the center looking for Rina, the flickering lights and relentless thump-thump-thump had become a massive crowd-control effect. Sleepless Grip had failed to proc, Crownmind was useless, and when Meno looked down and noticed his shirt was gone, the progression made perfect sense. He had regressed to False Hero. Engulf was active. Meno felt energized and on fire.

He found Rina in the crowd, used Sticky Titan, and wrapped his arms around her from behind while they swayed together with the music. She turned into him after a while, one palm settling against his chest before they kissed long enough for the rest of the atrium to fade into color and noise, until all he noticed was the peppery menthol and citrus taste of her mouth.

The whole room kept moving around them as everyone pushed past whatever threshold they had entered with, and Meno stopped thinking about much of anything. His hands moved beneath Rina's white blouse while the two of them remained tangled together in the crowd, and several minutes later he remembered the spot behind her earlobe she had pointed out to Honeygrave earlier. He leaned toward it as the lights shifted from deep red into bright orange, only for platinum-blond hair to brush his face. Something was wrong.

Very wrong. Rina had pink hair, and she had not been wearing a blouse. Meno pulled away so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet. Celeste blinked through the same drunken confusion.

"What? You are doing great, keep going Brine." Then her eyes focused properly on Meno, and both of them understood exactly how bad the miss had been. Meno's brain generated an imaginary notification. [Chain Broken] Indignation: Chain has no effect for 3 seconds. This is not a debuff and cannot be removed. Huge miss. A very huge one. Worse, neither of them had caught it quickly.

Between the lights, alcohol, music, and the fact that both had clearly been thinking about completely different people, it must have gone on for a few minutes. Celeste managed one sound.

"Ugh."

"About that…" Meno turned around and stumbled out of the crowd with his shirt still missing. Celeste followed in a similarly disheveled state, and they found Rina resting in the corner beside BrineSaint while talking to him over the music. Meno dropped onto the sofa beside her. There was no point hiding it, because he had made an honest mistake.

"I messed up. I thought it was you." Rina chuckled instead of exploding. Whether that meant she did not care or was simply too drunk to process the situation properly was impossible for Meno to determine in his current condition. He looked toward BrineSaint, still seated across from them and somehow calm after avoiding every mechanic in the room.

"Sorry, man. Huge visibility issue and my poison stacks are through the roof. MathW—" Celeste arrived before he could finish and dropped onto the seat beside BrineSaint. She managed the most severe expression available in her current state and shook her head at Meno. Meno tried to reorganize the explanation.

"I solved math while dancing. It was good. Very good. You know numbers. They go up." BrineSaint listened to that without showing any sign that it had improved matters.

"You aren't making any sense. Where is your shirt?" Rina crawled closer and leaned into Meno's ear.

"I know what you did, you baaad, baaad…" Meno stopped listening. The cringe was already doing enough damage without additional commentary, so he forced his attention anywhere else in the atrium. That was when he noticed the black bag. One of the security team's extension packs sat beside a nearby bar, unattended. Meno squinted through the moving lights and searched the crowd for any of the three guards. Nothing.

There was no chance those guys would leave equipment like that alone in a room full of drunk streamers, not unless something had gone wrong. The thought cut through more of the alcohol than anything else had managed all night, because Meno could not think of a single good explanation for the bag being there. Something was off. He needed to clear his head fast.