The building had been finished, a two story large structure with turned off string lights gracing the lined edges. Though construction had finished, the brothel was far from prepared, and with tonight as Tello's thought of opening date.
Only chaos brewed.
"Should the table go here, boss?" one of the men asked, struggling with a large marble slab meant for the lobby.
"Tello, should it stay there?" Gila called over, pulling his attention from Stephen.
"A bit farther down is fine," Tello said.
"You heard him! Move it down! And push that couch closer to the wall!" Gila barked. Then, turning on her heel, she snapped at another group, "And where hell are the lounge chairs?!"
"We'll get them, boss!" the men shouted as they bolted outside.
"You seem fired up," Stephen muttered.
"If you're going to do something, do it right," Gila replied, hands on her hips. "Even if it's a brothel that'll probably put its owners on some kind of hit list."
"Don't worry about it." Stephen made a dismissive psssh gesture.
"What about the lobby employees?" Tello cut in. "Are they here yet? We need to start drilling the rules into their heads."
"That's true!" Gila marched off, already yelling, "Where are the employees?!"
"She's loud," Stephen said, covering his ears.
"Helps motivate people to stop her from yelling," Tello replied, then turned to him. "Anyway, forget that. You're done with the brothel list, right?"
"Of course I am." Stephen grinned, fishing a long folded sheet of paper from his pocket.
On it, written in bold letters:
✨ THE LOVE SUPREME KILLER BROTHEL ✨
A FULL NIGHT EXPERIENCE — 500g
Hours: SUNDOWN → DAYBREAK!
Activities include:
Full-Fantasy Rooms:— our girls transform into anything you desire, our eyes are closed~
Unlimited Finish:— ever wondered what it's like to be a hentai protagonist? Well this is your chance!
Companion Roulette:— double it, triple it! Put it on random wheel and spin it!
No Shame Booths:— be the little freak we know you are! Fuck in the hallways, on the rooftops! We don't care! (Keep activities limited to the designated areas)
Pet Play:— want your partner on a leash while you have a whip in your hand? Don't worry, we don't judge.
Sensory Denial and Overload Packages:— Don't want to feel anything? Or want to feel it all. We can make that happen!
Aftercare Emporium:— simply want to feel heard instead? Talk to our lobby girls, and they'll console you the best way they can.
Rules:
1. Pay upfront.
2. Respect staff limits.
3. No refunds for finishing early.
—————————————————————
"Now, unfortunately, I had to cut and change a few things since I have no idea how to do them," Stephen admitted, a single, tragic tear rolling down his cheek. "Also, we might have to scrap the roleplay one unless Gila found someone with transformation magic."
"Hm." Tello took the list from him. "Why did you add a price to the list?"
"So we can make bank?" Stephen said.
"The Love Supreme offers its entire service for 180 gold a night. This is a horrible idea."
"I... forgot about that," Stephen said. "I guess we should mimic their prices? Or maybe go lower?"
"Actually..." Tello glanced toward Gila, who was ushering in three girls dressed in formal attire. "Maybe we shouldn't. Gila said she could get some nobles here. If they're spending big, it'll increase the place's value. So maybe the price could actually benefit us."
"Nobles are coming here?" Stephen frowned.
"Yeah. Think of it as advertising. If they like it, they'll tell their other noble friends about it, and that's more gold for us."
"There's a small issue," Stephen said.
"There is?"
"I'm guessing you didn't tell Gila we're... not exactly on good terms with four specific nobles."
"...Crap."
"Yeah. And there's no bigger neon sign that we own this place than them seeing us in it."
"... I'm sorry. I should've run it by you first."
"Nah. I know you were trying to help. Plus, as long as we keep to the shadows if anyone we know shows up, we'll be fine."
"Alright." Tello folded the list in his hand, then with a quiet voice. "Stephen..."
"What?"
"Can you take this to the girls?" Tello's gaze drifted past him, toward the door behind the receptionist's desk, the one leading to the brothel worker's prep room.
"You don't want to go?"
"They scare me." Tello shivered. "One of them said she'd suck my soul out of my body."
"Isn't that... a good thing?" Stephen sighed, snatching the paper. "Fine. Just take care of things out here."
"Done!" Tello gave a salute.
Stephen pushed past the small off-limits plaque carved into the prep room door. His heart thudding with excitement as he walked closer to it. In the game, scenes like this were always censored, be it by steam, hair, or bad pixelation.
But now, there was no hiding anything.
He opened the door and inside, the girls sat before mirrors, towels loosely wrapped around their chests. Quickly, they looked up at him, eyes curious.
Stephen didn't move his head, but his gaze swept the room once. Twice. Thrice. There was cleavage in every direction. More than he'd ever seen in two lives. Perhaps this was where he should've gone after he died.
However, he cleared his throat and lifted the paper.
"This is the itinerary for tonight," he said, stepping further inside. "Put it to heart and be ready if any client calls for it."
One of the girls stepped forward, hair dark as a midnight sky. She plucked the page from Stephen's hand and scanned it. Within seconds, the other nineteen crowded around her like moths to a flame.
"Five hundred gold?!" one blurted, her towel slipping dangerously low as she stepped up to him. "And we're only getting hundred a night?"
"This isn't fair... there's so much on here," another muttered.
"What the hell is 'pet play' supposed to mean?" a third asked, squinting at the paper.
The dark haired one moved closer, her hand sliding toward Stephen's shoulder. The rest followed, circling him like hungry snakes.
"Why don't you... raise it a little," she whispered into his ear. "If you do, we'll give you a little preview of what we could be doing to you later."
Stephen's voice was steady... barely. "If you want to discuss payment, I suggest you take it up with Gila—"
"She's too strictttttt~" one interrupted, pressing her hands to his chest and rubbing. "You seem more relaxed. And you're the boss, right? You're the one that makes the final call at the end of the day."
"I suggest you take it up with—" Stephen wanted to say again, until something bounced against his back, and even though he didn't turn. He could feel it.
Breasts.
Held up against him like a gun to the back, a very plump and soft gun.
"Can't you raise it... just for me?" the girl behind him purred.
'I SURE CAN, IN FACT I CAN GIVE YOU THE REST OF MY MONEY IF YOU WANT—' Stephen almost muttered before pushing himself away from them and heading for the door. "Tonight will be a busy night, take your time preparing."
The door clicked shut behind him.
"Tch. I thought he'd fold," one of them said, retrieving her fallen towel.
"He must have a defensive spell on his psyche, either that or he's gay."
"He's not gay," the dark haired one said, licking her lips. "He's just... stubborn, and I'll make sure to break him tonight."
"Either way," another shrugged, returning to her seat. "Guess we misjudged him."
They didn't.
Stephen stood outside the door, frozen. His hands clenched at his sides. A tapping noise against his pants.
He'd long since waged war against his own urges, his right hand serving as a loyal and dependable ally. But the enemy was cunning and far stronger than he'd ever anticipated.
And now, it had returned.
"I should go back..." he muttered, glancing toward the door.
The door that became large in his minds view, a pair of breasts spawning on the wooden structure, a beckoning hand forming beside them as well, curling its finger in invitation.
One step. That was all it would take. One step, and heaven would be his again. The door was right there, so close and so easy to open. And beyond it waited everything he'd ever wanted.
His fingers twitched toward the knob.
But before they could close around it, his right hand seized the left, yanking it back like a desperate comrade pulling a soldier from a cliff's edge.
"You're right, right hand... I must not succumb... not now." Stephen shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and forced himself down the hall. Every muscle screamed to turn around, and his legs, the treacherous things, kept trying to pivot.
"This is going to be a good night," he muttered to himself with a smile, passing Gila as she strode by with three new employees in tow.
"This will be your post," she told one of them. "You'll greet guests and then usher them to a free girl in an appropriate room. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Gila turned to Tello, her voice softening. "Do you have the brothel list? I saw Stephen give it to you earlier."
"Oh, yeah. I made him give it to the girls so they could prep for the night. You want it?"
"That would be great, please."
"...You want me to get it?" Tello asked.
"Yes."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"...alright." Tello turned toward the door, staring at it like it was the mouth of a cave with a dragon inside. A very... curvy and dangerous dragon.
"I can do this..." he whispered to himself. "I can do this—"
Gila was mid instruction with the second employee when her brain caught up to what she'd just said.
She'd sent Tello... into a room full of naked women. Naked women with bigger busts than hers.
"NO!" she shrieked, darting in front of him. "Do NOT go in there! Never go in there!"
"Oh... you sure? You just said—"
"I'm sure!" She ran inside, and after a moment emerged with the list in her hands. "Never. Enter. That. Room."
"Understood." Tello saluted once again.
Gila walked away, taking the rest of the employees down toward the infinite hall where they'd be stationed to greet guests.
Tello glanced to his side. The lounge chairs were being positioned, the rest of the string lights being strung across the ground leading up to the entrance, with the last bits of sawdust getting swept away and packed into trash bags. The brothel was finished.
"All that's left is opening it," Stephen said, stepping up beside him and eyeing the door from the center of the room.
"That's all there is, right?" Tello asked.
Stephen smirked. "You scared?"
"Not as much as I used to be," Tello admitted. "After almost being tossed in jail by the royal family... the bar's kind of peaked."
"What about that feeling you had?" Stephen asked. "Still there?"
Tello rubbed his face, then glanced at his hand. His fingers trembled slightly, shivering like he'd been frostbitten.
"I don't know," he said at last. "But something tells me... if we can get through tonight, we'll be fine."
"Is that so?" Stephen clenched his fist. "Then I'll make sure of it."
Tello glanced at him, but didn't say anything.
Then, from outside came shouting, loud enough to prompt a reaction.
"Keep it still, dumbass!"
"You forget who's holding the ladder. Mouth off again and I'll test if you can fly!"
"What now?" Tello asked as they stepped outside.
"Boss! This guy here says a dragon would lose to three wyverns!"
"They're faster! They'd tear into it before it knew what hit—"
"I meant," Tello cut in, "what are you actually doing?"
"Oh." The man at the base of the ladder pointed upward. "Installing the sign."
Tello glanced up to the top of the building, where a dark painted sign was being hammered into the structure. On it in bold carving read: LOVE SUPREME BROTHEL KILLER!!!!!!!!
"Why... that name?" Tello asked.
"The other boss said we should use it," the man replied, jerking a thumb at Stephen.
Of course, he did.
"Take it down," Tello sighed.
"But it's a statement of intent," Stephen argued.
"Our intent is to not piss off Verre more than we already have."
"So do you have a better name?" Stephen asked.
"No, but I could think of one in half a second." Tello replied.
"Go on then."
Tello froze. "...Umm."
"See, Love Supreme Brothel Killer has a certain vibe to it." Stephen turned to the workers. "Wouldn't you guys say so?"
They didn't answer.
"Even they don't want to lie," Tello muttered, rubbing his chin. The truth was, he didn't have anything better yet, but he needed something good. Something that would stick, it was either that or Love Supreme Brothel killer, which would no doubt spark the wrong kind of reaction.
"Can you take that sign down and put a new one up?" Tello asked.
"Yes, boss!" the man on the ladder called back. "What's the new name?"
A brothel. A den of sin and pleasure, coupled with his infinite room design. The words came to him, like a gift from fate:
"Pleasure, Infinity."
Stephen froze, then exhaled. "...That's good."
"Is it?!" Tello's eyes lit up.
"Undeniably so." Stephen replied.
"That's got a nice ring to it, boss," the man said, tossing the old sign to the side. Moments later, the new one was in place, the red and purple string lights flickering to life around it.
Darkness had come, and within this urban area so had everything associated with it.
Patrons stared curiously at the finished product, still in two minds about going to check it out or leaving it, and as they thought about their next move.
Trouble loomed just by the corner.