Chapter 125: Midnight Dinner with Seraphina
His body ached in strange places—not painful, just unfamiliar. The kind of exhaustion that came from moving too much after never moving at all. Jumping, running, fighting... It had only been a few hours in-game, but in real life, it felt like he’d sprinted through several marathons. The VR pod was good, smooth, almost seamless, but even with the best tech, his muscles still remembered their real limitations.
He peeled the pod suit off and headed for the shower. The water was hot. Too hot. But he didn’t lower the temperature. He let it scald his skin while steam fogged the mirror. His mind was still playing the raid back on loop—the boss fight, the crowd, the trend feeds, Lucas’s face when he got banned. He let out a chuckle.
Once clean and dressed, he stepped out of his room. The corridor was quiet, but the lights under the girls’ doors were still on. The doors were shut, though. Maybe they were sleeping. Or maybe watching the streams about him. Xavier was too tired to care. His stomach growled.
He checked the fridge. There were leftovers. Cold pasta, a half-eaten omelette, something that might’ve been soup. Looked like the girls had tried cooking something earlier. He took a bite from the pasta. Chewed once. Stopped. Put it back. He wasn’t that desperate.
After throwing on a hoodie and swapping elevators at the ground floor, he headed to the 10th floor where Seraphina’s restaurant was.
It was dark inside. Most of the lights were off. Chairs were stacked. Tables wiped clean. But there was a faint clatter from the kitchen. He tilted his head and walked toward it.
And there she was.
Seraphina.
Standing over the stove in a tank top and loose pants, hair tied up, no makeup, no earrings—just her, looking too good for this hour. She was focused, almost graceful with how she stirred the pan, oblivious to everything around her.