Chapter 29

Mason Mansion was an expansive home with hidden corridors and doors located throughout the building. Veteran players who knew their way around the maze had a distinct advantage over new players who were unaware of all the mansion details.

Joan grinned. It would be another easy headshot for her. And indeed it was.

Mad Dog's loud footsteps echoed throughout the closed corridors, allowing Joan to pinpoint his location.

Joan pushed aside a large painting of Venus's birth and slipped into a narrow corridor behind the artwork. She pulled the entrance shut behind her.

The corridor was equally as confusing as the main layout of the mansion. It ran behind select walls and had multiple peepholes throughout paintings, murals, and the like.

Joan ran down the tiled corridor, lit by the occasional LED bulb. Her footsteps bounced off the walls and traveled down the route faster than Joan did.

Joan approached the last place where she heard Mad Dog. But as she peeped through the peephole of the painting The Starry Night, he was nowhere to be found. She halted her excess movements and listened for Mad Dog's activities.

A footstep was all she needed to locate him. And a footstep was what Mad Dog granted her.

Joan turned to her right and took off down the hallway. Occasionally, she'd take peeks through the occasional peephole to track how far she had gone. And as she did so, Mad Dog's silhouette gradually became larger and larger, until finally, it was right in front of her.

She stared at the back of his head as she looked through a hole in place of where a screw holding down a painting should've been.

She swung the painting left with her left hand, and with her right hand, she gripped her pistol and raised it to Mad Dog's head.

'Headshot!'

'Joan has slain Mad_Dog200.'

Medea snorted. Tears pricked at the edge of her eyes as she laughed obnoxiously. "You're so bad!"

A psychotic glint flashed through Mad Dog's eyes. Medea had become more courageous after hearing rumors of Mad Dog's defeat. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

Jackal cringed as he spectated the game. "Man, that's embarrassing."

Mad Dog flushed when he heard his friend agree with Medea. Furiously, he pressed 'Exit Simulation' and felt a wave of relief when the module's helmet released his head.

He regained control of his body, and as soon as he did, he slammed his fist against the armrest. His knuckles against the cold plastic rattled against each other. As Mad Dog's fist began to burn, he regretted his brash movement.

He pathetically retracted his hand and cradled it in his arms.

In Joan's module, she apathetically stared at the screen. She hadn't expected Mad Dog to be so awful at the game. He had no control over his movements and horrible aim.

"If you keep on landing headshots, people are going to think you're cheating," PK said. "You're not very good at being inconspicuous, are you?"

"They can think whatever they want," Joan brushed her system off. Her eyes narrowed. "More importantly, you should be giving me missions."

PK humphed and ignored her comment.

"Wow, Rem! You're too good!" Navier said.

Joan nodded as a warm feeling of pride soothed her chest. Ordinarily, she hated ass-kissing people like Navier, but the genuine emotions in his voice made him an exception to her hatred.

Turner giggled. "They should just give up. Master's too good for them."

Joan looked under her module's hood, wanting to see if she could witness Mad Dog's pitiful expression, but the Mortal Strike module's hood hid the upper half of his body.

Inside, Mad Dog gnawed at his lower lip and angrily clenched his fist. His hatred for Rem twisted his intestines into pretzels, and he desperately wanted to lash out at her. The image of her mutilated face begging for forgiveness was all that kept Mad Dog from dying from embarrassment.

What made things worse was that Medea had witnessed everything. Her infamous loose lips would go around the school, exaggerating his loss to classmates.

But his defeat was so pitiful that Medea didn't even need to exaggerate the events to make an exciting story. A smirk formed on her face as she discovered the weak point of the Jack of M High School. And as she picked at her nails, she couldn't help but predict that Mad Dog wouldn't be the Jack of M High School much longer.

With all the rumors and now this, he was sure to be humiliated. The little amount of remaining respect he had among the M High School students would evaporate.

Medea discreetly pulled her phone from her skirt pocket and sent messages to the grade and pictures for proof. The excitement of stirring up some drama made Medea's heart pound uncontrollably.

She couldn't wait to see what would happen to that arrogant bastard Mad Dog after this. Secretly, she began a voice recording on her phone, hoping to catch any ridiculous comments Mad Dog made.

"Nice try, nice try," Medea said mockingly.

Mad Dog noticed her insincere tone. "I wasn't warmed up," he fibbed.

"Can you beat her when you're warmed then?" Medea asked. She innocently placed her index finger on her chin to appear in deep thought. "But wait, Rem wasn't warmed up, either. So how did she beat you so bad?"

Mad Dog flushed, and Black Dog cringed at the accurate questions.

"I doubt you're any better than I am," Mad Dog snapped but regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.

"Hah?" Medea smirked. "Let's play, then. You, Black Dog, and Jackal against me."

"What? No? Are you looking down on me?" Mad Dog searched for a way to escape his current situation. "Let's play fair."

"OK, let's play fai-"

"But if you insist I play with Black Dog and Jackal, so be it," Mad Dog interrupted Medea before she could finish.

Medea's brows furrowed in exasperation, and she rolled her eyes.

Jackal and Black Dog had incredulous looks on their faces. They'd never played a first-person shooter a day in their lives! And to make things worse, they didn't know the rules of the game nor the variety and difference of the in-game guns.

"Hey, Rem!" Medea called out.

Joan turned at the mention of her name. The girl's voice was unfamiliar. "What?"

"Spectate Mad Dog―he's going to be playing against me."

An ugly look appeared on Joan's face. The corners of her mouth drew back, and her forehead creased into parallel lines. There were better things to do than spectate a total noob. Watching him would make her gameplay worse.

"No," she said. Before the girl could complain, she Joan quickly pressed 'Play'. "I'm already in a game."

Medea clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, slightly disappointed that her idol couldn't come to watch her game.

Medea looked at her phone and sent a short text to Trey. "Trey, screen record the game and send it to me later."

Trey, who was in the module beside her, silently nodded. After all, he, like most others, didn't like Mad Dog and his friends.

So when Mad Dog lost again, Trey made sure to catch every second of it on video. Together, the voice recordings and screen recording made for some embarrassing content for Mad Dog.

***

Like Mad Dog expected, Medea and Trey spread rumors that quickly became known by the whole grade. The video and voice recording had been posted on the school forums and promptly circulated in their school and the entire school district.

"Hey, that's him," a girl whispered as Mad Dog, Black Dog, and Jackal passed by. "Did you see the video on the forums? Oh God, I got secondhand embarrassment!"

Mad Dog clenched his fist, digging half-moons into the meat of his palm. When Rem wasn't here, no one would have dared to make such a comment.

"He can't beat Rem at anything."

"How did he even become the Jack?"

His upper teeth gnawed at his lower lip, nearly drawing blood from the sensitive skin. For the first time in years, humiliation reddened his cheeks and made him want to disappear.

Mad Dog's molars ground against each other. All of this was because Rem appeared. If he got rid of her…

At the thought, a satisfied grin flickered across his face.

"Let's teach that bitch a lesson," he said with a psychotic glint in his eyes.

Black Dog looked at Mad Dog with an inquisitive expression. Had Mad Dog not learned his lesson even after being beaten by her so many times?

However, the suggestion brought a grin to Jackal and Mad Dog's faces, so what could he say? All he could do what silently nod in the background and feign compliance.

"What do you think we should do?" Jackal asked. The fluorescent bulbs reflected dangerously off his feline eyes.

Mad Dog thought for a moment. "We need a bargaining chip against her―something that would make her unable to fight."

Jackal placed a hand to his chin in thought. Excitement sparkled in his eyes as he came to a realization. "Navier Barr."

Mad Dog turned to face Jackal with a proud expression. "Great idea." He slammed his fist into his other palm as his lips curled into an ugly smirk.