Proofreading and editing by Steelz.

Alpha's mood was the complete opposite of Alice at the moment. While Alice seemed pretty happy, Alpha was downcast with a trace of unwillingness on his face, mostly because he knew he was entering a tiger's den and there was a chance of getting devoured while inside. 

After a few minutes, the trio stopped in front of a tall golden gate.

Alice placed her palm on the golden gate, a circle of light enveloped her hand, and after a second it opened on its own.

This thing is probably imbued with a strong security spell.

An uneasiness gradually grew inside him by each step he took, but he was momentarily taken aback by the incredible building that served as his friend's home. The exterior resembled a 19th century's European mansion with a more contemporaneous look while also being surrounded by a flowery garden, tall trees at the back and some statues of what most likely were Arthur's parents.

"Don't just stand there in a daze and come inside."- Alice grabbed his arm and dragged him in.

The well-lit interior was filled with some paintings, fun gadgets and expensive furniture that Alpha could tell with a glance because Elizabeth had the same luxurious brands in her house.

"How many rooms do you have here?"- Alpha inquired while being dragged upstairs by Alice.

"We are using only 5 currently and there are another 5 remaining."- Arthur followed behind.

"Let's go to my room."- Alice

"Wai-."- Alpha

 In the blink of an eye, Alice shut the door on Arthur's face.

"Oh. Don't forget to give me what you promised."- not only was Arthur not too surprised with the situation, but he even retained a smug grin on his face.

I'll have to start calling him brother-in-law from today onwards.

The floor inside was covered with a fluffy carpet so he had to take off his shoes so as to not dirty it. Taking a look around, he didn't find it much different from his room except for a mild sweet perfume that he immediately recognized as the usual scent Alice had and the low temperature that served to cool the computer since she never turned it off.

"Add my account as a friend."- Alice requested as she turned on her three monitors.

Damn, her setup might be better than mine, especially that chair.

Sitting on the floor, Alpha reached inside his pocket dimension to take a laptop out and within a few clicks, he added both Arthur and Alice to his friend list.

"What should I send to that prick's mailbox?"- Alpha was scrolling through his long inventory with some items that were so rare that people in the community were willing to pay with Encrypted Currency or only EC for short.

Alice leaned on his shoulder to take a look as well and when he reached the limited UR section, she gave off a small exclamation.

"How do you have so many Enchanted Reverse Dragon Scale?"- Alice was looking at the 644 shining black scales stored with shimmering eyes.

"8 hours of farming every day during vacation while using my unique talisman."- Alpha answered casually. - "I guess I'll send one scale since it meets the requirements of our deal."

"Worthy of being the first ranker, but which talisman?"- Alice asked while trying to remember since when was such a broken item added to the game, the drop rates of the scales were so absurdly low that only playing 24 hours a day would you be able to reach past 500 units, and here he was, fully equipped and still with a few hundred spare ones.

"The one I got after winning the last grand tournament to decide the top 10 best players of the season. I still remember my last opponent. He was very skilled but still lost to my tactics."- Alpha couldn't help but speak in a proud tone about his past achievements, which caused Alice to become a little gloomy.

"That was me, you know? I want a rematch later."- Alice

Alpha observed Alice's sulking face with great interest, even to the point of poking her cheek.

Cute.

"Let's talk about business. How much are you selling the scales for? I need 28 of them."- Alice

"They are not for sale."- Alpha promptly refused.

"How about we trade items?"- Alice tried to negotiate.

"I already have almost every collectable."- Alpha

"A kiss?"- Alice looked pretty enthusiastic about the idea.

I feel like you only profit from this.

"You seem more eager for the kiss than my items, so no."- Alpha

"Then what do you want? Money? Me?"- her cheeks couldn't help but flush in a light red color when she blurted the last word.

"I'll think about it."- while he was talking, plans began to take shape in his mind for the worst case scenarios that could eventually occur.

But opposite to his expectations, Alice didn't try to do anything to him so he began to relax and in the blink of an eye, some hours passed. During this time they had a few friendly matches while Alice asked all sorts of questions about him. 

"Do you want something to drink?"- Alice got up and asked casually before going down to the kitchen.

"Water will do."- Alpha answered automatically as his focus was on a battle against a random player.

"One more hit and I’ll win."- after a few seconds he let out a sigh of relief as the victory screen popped up, but as soon as he remembered what he just told Alice, his scalp went numb.

Oh no. I wasn't paying attention and ended up shooting myself in the foot. She won't try to drug me, will she?

Faint footsteps came from the corridor and soon Alice was back with a cup of water and grape soda for herself.

"Here."- she extended the cup to Alpha, who held it but didn't dare to consume it. Heck, he even had the urge to throw it through the window.

"Are you afraid I put something in there?"- Alice asked with a mysterious smile that only made him warier. - "Don't worry, I wouldn't try to drug you, at least not on your first visit here. I can even drink first if you don't believe me."

With that, she grabbed the cup and took a gulp. After seeing that nothing happened, Alpha became a little doubtful.

Maybe I'm thinking too much, but I still can't shake off this restless feeling inside of me.

Alice no longer paid attention and began drawing on a tablet.

Still a little hesitant, Alpha convinced himself he was just being paranoid and took a small sip.

A sudden sense of nausea invaded his mind, but it was gone just as quickly as it came.

Huh? 

He finished the cup in one go, but this time nothing happened.

Must have been my imagination.

Checking the time, he saw that it was already 4 pm and decided that it was time to leave.

"It's getting kinda late so I have to go home now."- Alpha said while storing his things and getting up.

Alice accompanied him to the front gate to see him off. After bidding farewells and Alpha’s silhouette disappeared on the sunset, she took out a suspicious looking bottle and frowned at it as she recalled the instructions her mother told her the night before.