Free Web NovelChapter 7: Dinner
In the end, Jack forced Mateo to take a shower and wear his best clothes, then pushed him to wait in front of the dorm.
He seemed more eager for Mateo’s success than Mateo himself.
Who knew what he was expecting.
At night, the dorm was fairly quiet. Some people had gone out, while the rest stayed inside their rooms.
As Mateo waited alone, he saw a luxurious white BMW that still looked brand new.
It stopped right in front of the dorm building.
When the driver’s door opened, Alice stepped out.
She was wearing a shirt and long pants, her hair tied up in a bun.
The few students in front of the dorm were stunned when they saw her.
There was no one who didn’t recognize her, especially those who had been at the university for more than a year.
After all, Alice was a final-year student, even though her actual age was the same as a freshman.
Mateo became even more nervous, but when Alice looked at him as if waiting, he had no choice but to walk toward her.
He knew Jack was peeking through the window.
The others didn’t think Alice was waiting for Mateo, even though he approached her.
They thought Mateo was just being overconfident, trying to get close to someone on her level.
"Can you drive?" Alice asked when Mateo reached her.
"Y-yeah, I can," Mateo nodded softly.
He had driving experience back in his village, taught by a farmer who eventually asked him to help drive his truck whenever he delivered his harvest to the city.
"Then you drive," Alice said, walking to the passenger side and getting in.
Mateo hesitated a little before entering. The car’s interior was extremely luxurious, completely different from the vehicles he was used to driving.
But Alice was waiting inside. He forced himself to get in.
The students watching from the dorm blinked repeatedly, even rubbing their eyes as if questioning whether this was real.
It seemed that Alice really was waiting for Mateo.
But how was that possible?
"Where are we going?" Mateo started driving the car.
He didn’t dare press the gas pedal too hard.
"Just keep going along this road. I’ll tell you the restaurant when we’re close," Alice replied.
Hearing her speak only made Mateo more awkward.
If they had been close before and then started dating, it would be fine.
But this was only their second meeting. The first time, they had already started dating.
If he wasn’t driving, Mateo would have pretended to look at his phone.
Alice, on the other hand, was completely unreadable.
"You’ve never dated before?" she suddenly asked.
"No," Mateo replied.
"Me neither. But usually, isn’t the man supposed to take the initiative?"
Mateo, "..."
"I don’t know how..." Mateo answered honestly.
"Just start by following your heart. Though it might be a bit difficult now since this is so sudden. Still, I want to know—are you interested in me?"
Mateo felt like scratching his head when he heard that question.
Was he interested in her?
"Any man should be interested in you. You’re rich, beautiful, smart—you meet all the requirements to be perfect," Mateo said spontaneously.
And that was indeed the truth.
Unexpectedly, Alice smiled slightly.
"Alice, do you actually know me?" Mateo asked.
Jack had assumed they had known each other for a long time.
But that wasn’t the case. Mateo had only met her at this university. It just felt impossible that Alice knew nothing about him.
Maybe she actually knew him, or maybe they had met before and Mateo just didn’t remember.
"Not outside of this university," Alice replied.
"Not at all? Then how is this possible?" Mateo became even more confused.
"Why wouldn’t it be possible if I want it?"
The question was—why did she want it?
Mateo gave a bitter smile, unable to say anything.
"Over there!" Alice suddenly pointed at a restaurant—a large, luxurious one with a wide yard used as a parking area.
It was very rare for a building along the main road to have such a spacious yard, but that restaurant had one.
There were no ordinary cars parked there.
"Let’s go!" Alice immediately opened the door when Mateo stopped the car.
Mateo could only follow, feeling quite nervous as he entered the restaurant.
Everyone there looked like elites. He was the only one who didn’t fit in at all.
Alice chose a table by the window.
A tablet was already placed on the table. It could be rotated, and Alice turned it toward Mateo.
"Choose what you want to eat," she said.
Mateo swallowed when he looked at the tablet.
There were many menu options, but essentially, none of them were cheap.
Even drinks like juice cost over 100 dollars.
How could he possibly order anything?
He immediately turned the tablet back toward Alice.
"You should order for me," he said.
"Alright..." Alice nodded.
Even the payment was done through the tablet.
After a while, two waiters came to deliver the order.
Two plates of steak, two plates of fries mixed with grilled corn, and two glasses of grape juice.
"Please, eat," Alice said.
Mateo had no reason to refuse, and he was indeed hungry. freēwebnovel.com
Who wouldn’t want to try a luxurious steak like this?
When he tasted it, he had to admit—it was delicious.
"Alice, I heard you have a lot of strange requests for the Magic Awakening Test," Mateo said.
He was just trying not to be too stiff. So he tried to start a conversation, and Alice’s strange requests were something that had made him curious.
So far, Alice didn’t seem to have any mental issues like he had assumed. Or perhaps rich people’s problems were simply well hidden.
After he asked that, Alice immediately looked straight into his eyes.
"To entertain people," she said.
"You mean entertainment like making people eat pig feces?" Mateo felt disturbed by her answer.
Wasn’t this just oppression from the rich toward the poor, taking advantage of their desperation?
"I didn’t force them. They agreed. Those strange requests are only given to people who are already bad. Do you think normal people would agree to eat pig feces or bring a bomb to a police station? They agreed because their minds were already unstable—under the influence of drugs or something similar."
"That’s still too much..."
"You don’t need to think about it. People like me need to be excessive," Alice said as she put a piece of meat into her mouth.
"By the way, you must have already entered the Magic World. How’s your progress?" she changed the topic.
"My progress? There’s nothing special, I think," Mateo replied.
He knew there was something unusual about himself. After all, a Level 10 Monster that forced William to run away had been reduced to ashes by his power.
But he thought it was better not to tell anyone.
"I see..." Alice nodded, but she seemed to be observing Mateo’s eyes.
Mateo felt like she was suspicious of something.
"Focus on developing yourself in that world," she said afterward.
Hearing that from Alice felt strange to Mateo.
"Alice, isn’t it just a game?" he asked.
"A game..." Alice let out a soft laugh, and it was the first time Mateo had seen her laugh.
