Chapter 23: Natali

Her voice was quite loud, and everyone heard it. Some shook their heads and laughed bitterly, understanding that this was her way of saying no, albeit in a gentle manner.

Hiro didn't mind, he slapped his chest twice and said, "Who do you take me for? This is easy, just leave it to me!"

"Haha," the woman found Hiro's actions to be quite comical. "Alright, since you made me laugh, I'll reward you and allow you to call me by name from now on. I'm Natali, nice to meet you, little guy."

Like an aunt next door, she ruffled Hiro's hair and said, "My first advice is to get yourself a new haircut. Having such long hair is too feminine—pass my little test first and I'll get someone to work on your hair before your shift starts for the day."

Hiro hadn't thought much about his long hair before, but now that she mentioned it, he realized that he stuck out like a sore thumb among the other boys.

No one had such long hair as himself, which wasn't a good thing in and of itself. Furthermore, even if he wanted long hair to act tough, the cosmetics from the system shop could solve that issue.

"No problem!" Hiro accepted her offer and ran to the blueprint on the wall. With his current analytical mind, just a glance was more than enough to memorize this little thing.

As a matter of fact, his skill was the reason he picked up Natali out of everyone present.

Although he quit from the clothing store, Manager Matthew gave Hiro a booklet of the latest fashion products out of goodwill, as this was a materialistic society that functioned on appearances and practicality.

Although Natali's dress code seemed ordinary, the materials and brands of her three-piece dress had a high price value in the tens of thousands.

Hiro guessed that she was either working here undercover on a mission or that her identity was far beyond a simple nightclub business.

In any way, someone like her ought to know her way around the world, so he decided to take his chances.

In the following 10 minutes, the waiters and waitresses got ready for work and left one by one, each either leaving alone or accompanied by a student.

Soon, it was only Hiro and Natali in the storage room, and Natali clapped her hands.

"This is it!"

Hiro stopped and turned his back to the blueprints, hands in his pockets as he flashed a confident smile. "Ask ahead! Test me!"

Natali nodded her head, smiling charmingly as she started exchanging questions and answers with Hiro.

"How many rooms is there in the building?"

"203 rooms excluding the storage, surveillance, bathrooms, and parking spaces all throughout the five floors, underground floors included!" seaʀᴄh thё NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Hiro was also shocked by the size of the A-club. According to the blueprints, the buildings to the side were an extension of this club, explaining the high number of rooms.

Natali was stunned.

She stood there at a loss for words, stammering her incoherent response for a few seconds before shaking herself out of her reverie…

"How can that be? Close your eyes! You must be cheating!"

As she spoke, she stepped forward and stood close to the blueprints, shooting off her second question after observing the structures for a few seconds.

"Where is the location of the standby electric generator room and the corresponding server area?"

Hiro rolled his eyes, closed them, and reviewed the blueprint in his mind for a few seconds. "There are two standby electric generators, one on the top floor of side building A and the other is located in a hidden compartment inside the underground garage of side building B. As for the server area, there's no such thing on the blueprint."

Holding onto Hiro's shoulders, Natali's expression was a little weird as she inspected the map on the wall.

At this point, she had no other choice but to believe it and asked hesitantly, "Are you one of those with a photographic memory?"

Hiro opened his eyes and smiled up at Natali, which represented a tacit admittance from her perspective.

"Sigh… I can only blame myself for being unlucky this time! Come, I'll take you out for a quick haircut and then we'll come back."

Hiro allowed her to grab his hand and pull him along as he replied, "I'll be in your care, then."

"Don't worry," Natali looked back at Hiro as she walked out of the back entrance, putting an image in her mind.

I'm torn between a side quiff or a side faux hawk hairstyle. If his hair was all black, a buzz cut would have cut it, but his hair had that blazing flare to it. Forget it, I'll have my friend give him a mix of both.

In the blinking street lights, the two of them quickly shuttled through the flow of people to a nearby hair salon.

…

40 minutes later, in the same storage room.

"Are you so obsessed with yourself? This behavior is too much!" Annoyed, Natali snatched her pocket mirror from Hiro's hands.

"Hey!" Hiro complained, feeling aggrieved. "You have to admit that I'm qualified as an international fashion model with such looks, why can't I admire myself a little more?!"

He had to admit that maybe having long hair wasn't the best style after all. Then again, it's probably all a product of circumstance—long hair was very badass in Wuxia lore, but his current getup set him to be the perfect steampunk villain character.

This style was much more fitting for the delinquent life, which was the main prospect of his future high-priority mission.

Thinking of this, Hiro felt even more appreciative of Natali and her friend in the salon.

Natali rolled her eyes, "Just follow my lead and I'll walk you through the basics and the hidden rules around here."

She didn't even bother catering to his ego anymore, walking towards the hallway leading into the boisterous club.

Hiro checked his reflection on a random surface nearby one more time, adjusted his expression, and followed in her footsteps with his hands tucked away into his pockets.

He was prepared to take Natali's advice as they went about the club, attending to the patrons and customers.

…

"There are multiple standards by which you can judge a person's ability and influence when you come to these places, the most important of them are appearance, company, and temperament."

…

"In private rooms, those who are seated closer to the door are usually the people of least significance; but keep in mind that their identity is only considered insignificant when compared to the rest of the people on the table.

As for the head of the table, it's located at the end of the room, which is the most prominent position because those who enter will naturally guide their sight to the end of the room, thus paying their respects even if they didn't aim to in the first place."

…

"The actions and attitude of the head of the table usually sets the tone for the entire conversation. For example, if he or she were to display goodwill towards you, everyone in the room will sing to the same tune, and the same goes backwards."

…

"You need to learn a few gestures that express your thoughts on the table. For example, if the big boss is personally filling up the drinks for everyone, but excludes a certain person by changing the posture of filling the glass, or doesn't look them in the eye, or fills half a glass, or asks them if they're sure about drinking the said wine… It usually sends out a negative signal."

…

"Some nightclubs are very open about serving their patrons, but some are like A-club with their own rules. Clubs like these are usually owned by powerful people, so if you happen to be in a club and see that the customers are blatantly touching and feeling up the waitresses, you can tell that the quality of the place is poor. In the future, keep your eyes open…"