"Huh? Where do you think you are going?" Marvin asked when Tom was about to leave the lift on the ground floor.

"To the playroom?" Tom answered with a question of his own, stupefied by the question. 'Didn't we just discuss me going to level up a bit?'

"Then let me ask again," Marvin smiled as he pulled out a dark keycard from his pocket. "Where do you think you are going?" he asked.

"So that's what you mean," Tom smiled, shaking his head to get rid of the small surprise his friend served to him.

Marvin only nodded his head to Tom before pressing the dark, rectangular piece of metal against the lift's panel. Once the two touched, the panel turned unnaturally blue as the doors of the lift closed.

Then, the cubicle started to move downward, proving what Tom suspected for a while already.

'So there are basements in the online hubs,' he thought, watching how the glassy sides of the lift darkened once they entered the area below the ground.

The lift's sides didn't turn transparent even when they arrived at their destination. Rather than that, its doors simply opened, allowing Tom to finally see just what was located in the underground parts of the massive building.

"Huh?" Tom said, unable to believe the sight before his eyes. "Is that it?" he asked, turning his head to Marvin.

"And where do you think those guys get all the money to live in luxury like they do?" Marvin asked in return, putting a sour smile on his face. "Without this kind of place, this online hub would lose its meaning long ago." Marvin shook his head, clearly not bothered by the sight of all sorts of illegal business going on in the rows upon rows of stalls and shops.

Tom looked around only to notice three shops with drugs displayed out in the open, two whorehouses, and two gunshops. And that was all with a single look.

"I understand a need for a black market," Tom spoke openly, following after Marvin, "but this place is supposed to be secret, isn't it?" he asked before following up on his question. "If it's secret, then less for the vendors, where do the customers come from?"

"Why ask me?" Marving countered. "I'm not interested in drugs, and I can get weapons on my own," he explained, shrugging his arms. "But if you were to ask, I believe there are no small fishes here. Those who can enter the underground levels are several levels above in the chain of distribution."

"That would make sense," Tom said before nodding his head.

Thankfully, the disturbing sight of the illegal trade hidden in the middle of the town didn't last long. Before Tom could get annoyed by all the people calling out to him to offer their illegal wares or services, Marvin finally led him to one of the rooms further back the place.

"This will be your office from now on," he stated, pushing the light switch on. As the entire room turned bright, Tom's heart skipped a beat.

"This is it?" he asked, unable to believe what he was seeing.

The entire room was enormous. In the very middle of it, an open casket type of capsule was present.

'If I recall, this is really the best type of connecting capsule, isn't it?' he thought, noticing the company brand marked on the side of the item.

"The canteen is directly connected to the main restaurant, so you won't need to bother with long breaks to eat. "There is more." Marvin approached the capsule only to pull several thin cords out of it. "If you get those pipes into your system, they will slowly feed you to make longer raids possible," he explained before turning away towards the other end of the room.

"Toilets, canteen, restroom, even a bath and smoking area?" Tom listed all kinds of convenience that were present in the room. "Wait, is that a gym?" he asked when he noticed a glass door with various kinds of machines behind.

"Yeah. To a certain degree, you could stay here for as long as you want without even coming out to the surface," Marving replied with a smile, clearly proud of how this place was arranged.

"Just how did you guys manage to prepare it so quickly?" Tom couldn't help but ask. "It's not like you could furnish it like that even if you notified Peter about my arrival when we met each other at my gate." Tom was clearly troubled to understand the situation.

"Don't get me wrong, but it wasn't made just for you," Marving replied with a heavy sigh. "Peter planned to look for someone like you for over a year already. You just happened to appear at the right time," he explained while averting his eyes.

"Man, there is no need to be worried about something like this," Tom said, patting his friend on the back. "It's not like I believe to be some kind of snowflake, entitled to all the conveniences and entertainment in the world," he added.

"That's good to hear," Marvin smiled in response before glancing towards the doors. "Either way, I hope this settles the matter of the food you wanted me to prepare," he said before sending Tom a wink.

"Do you even need to ask?" Tom asked while pulling his clothes off. While doing so in front of Cleo would be problematic, he had no reason to be shy in the presence of his male friend.

"Nah, I just wanted to confirm," Marvin replied before turning around on his heel and approaching the doors he glanced at a moment before. "With that said, I won't stop you from entering the game. Make sure to work hard. Peter isn't known for being patient," he added as he reached for the door's knob.

"Don't worry about it," Tom smiled as he raised his hand to bid his friend farewell. "Worrying about my level raising too slow is the last of the worries he should have right now!"

////AN: if we reach 100 PS for this novel in the next week, there will be 2 bonus chapters next week!//////