Chapter 19

Carl, Donut, and Mordecai enter the Desperado Club, an exclusive nightspot in the Over City with multiple themed rooms. Mordecai reveals he has obtained a manager position, which grants him system protection starting on the fourth floor. The group meets Quint, a half-Djinn pharmacist and former crawler, and trades bottles of Rev-Up Moonshine for alchemy supplies and potions.

The trio arrives at the Desperado Club, a massive six-story establishment styled after 1920s New York. Mordecai explains the club structure: the ground floor is open to the public, while access beyond requires a membership tattoo. They pass bouncer Clarabelle, a Crocodilian NPC, who grants them entry and mentions an incident from the previous night involving a female crawler with dogs who cast powerful magic, froze the entire room, stole alcohol, and killed an elite before escaping with her membership revoked.

Inside the main club room—a massive dance floor with 200 people existing on a shared plane across all club locations in the Over City—Mordecai teaches Carl and Donut about privacy bubbles that filter noise. The room contains multiple adjoining areas: Bitches and Penis Parade (strip clubs/brothels), Jobs (quest hub), The Silk Road (marketplace), Guild-O-Rama (guild rooms), and The Hunting Grounds (accessible only from the sixth floor). A waitress serves them drinks: bourbon for Carl, a Dirty Shirley for Donut, and Empress's Mead for Mordecai.

Quint, a half-Djinn opossum-like drug dealer and former crawler, arrives. Mordecai and Quint recognize each other as old acquaintances. Mordecai trades three bottles of Rev-Up Moonshine (the final stock made this season, shut down after Carl and Donut's involvement) for a pharmaceutical starter kit containing alchemy ingredients. Quint adds hair-of-the-dog potion and licorice sticks on the house. Donut becomes drunk after consuming vodka and cherries but sobers up after the potion. Carl and Donut receive notifications about opening their fan boxes.

Mordecai reveals he has been chosen as manager—a position granting him system protection starting on the fourth floor, making him effectively immortal in the dungeon (kicked from the game rather than truly dying). Once Donut reaches the fourth floor, his obligation ends and he becomes free. Mordecai receives higher compensation as a manager than as a guildmaster, with bonuses increasing the further Donut progresses. When questioned about why he seemed upset about becoming manager, Mordecai deflects, saying it's complicated and unrelated to Carl and Donut. Donut dances on the club floor with NPC bots while Carl and Mordecai watch. Mordecai then suggests they visit the Silk Road Market before the recap show begins, wanting to avoid the bots swarming them for autographs and dances.