Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 540

Chapter 540: Wrong Choice

Jack wasn’t so amused.

His chair scraped loudly against the floor as he leaned forward. "Better than you expected?" he snapped, voice rising. "You’re telling me you walked into this meeting without even checking the standings? We’ve got real-time access for a reason!"

That earned a few sharp nods from around the table.

It wasn’t an exaggeration. Every awakened here wore an Association-issued bracelet artifact, a sleek band etched with runes that could pull up live rankings, team performance breakdowns, and sector reports with a click. Most of them had checked it obsessively between fights, between breaks, sometimes even mid-operation.

Kaiden tilted his head slightly but did not answer.

A ripple of irritation spread through the room. A few faces hardened outright. To them, he looked far too careless. Arrogant, even. Like he hadn’t taken the competition seriously enough to bother keeping score.

Kaiden noticed the looks he was getting. Of course he did.

To that end, he turned back toward Vaelira with one corner of his mouth lifting. "Looks like you managed to turn most of the group against me in just a few hours," he remarked lightly. "You work fast. Color me impressed."

Vaelira scoffed, leaning back in her chair and lifting both shoulders in a lazy shrug. "You assume I care about you that much? Don’t flatter yourself. People notice things on their own."

Her? Not doing anything? No one present believed such a thing. Kaiden only had to take one look at Diaz’s grin to know that this bitch has been talking shit behind his back nonstop.

Just then, Nyx clicked her tongue softly. Her gaze swept across Jack and the others, cool and appraising. "Why is us not checking the standings while out there so shocking to you?" she asked. "Or better question: why are you checking your bracelets while you’re out there fighting?"

A few people stiffened.

"This competition is going to last weeks. Not hours. Not a single day. If you’re staring at live rankings in the middle of operations, you’re treating this like a sprint instead of what it actually is."

Luna planted her elbows on the table and spoke as if she were addressing dumb children. "Yeah. And in case anyone forgot, one death costs us ten thousand points." She jabbed a pointer finger toward the projection. "That’s double our current total. So instead of stressing over placement and getting sloppy, maybe focus on not dying. If the fruits of all my sweat and blood get taken away because one of you decided to check the standings and got ambushed by a monster, I’ll kill you."

Silence followed.

Not the explosive kind. The heavy kind. The kind where the words had landed, and no one was quite ready to admit it.

Especially not Sasha, who scoffed harshly.

"It’s easy for you to say," she snapped, finally lifting her head. Her eyes flicked from Luna to Nyx, then landed on Kaiden, resentment simmering just beneath the surface. "You can afford to treat this like some kind of fun event. You’re already rich. You already have the money to buy top-tier gear whenever you want."

Her gaze drifted downward, fixing on Kaiden’s right hand.

The Blood Monarch’s Gauntlet lay there embedded in his flesh, no longer visible in the least bit. It had become one with Kaiden long ago.

"...Or you already have things money can never buy," Sasha continued, voice tight. "Most of the rewards barely matter to you. But to us?" She gestured broadly at the room. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

"Yeah."

"She’s right."

"This could change everything."

Several of the rookies nodded fervently, some outright desperately, clinging to a shared justification. The pressure in the room thickened again, not hostile this time, but raw and uneven.

At that, Aria’s eyes darkened.

The faint warmth she’d been holding onto drained away, replaced by something sharp and thoroughly offended. "Us? Treating this like a fun event? What gave you such a false impression? Is having some fun moments between life or death monster battles, where we’re trying our hardest, a sin?"

Vaelira inhaled, clearly ready to pounce on that opening, and Jack’s lips curled as if he’d been waiting for it... But neither of them got the chance.

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