Sisters' Society

"Greenwich Village—this is the birthplace of America's counterculture. Bob Dylan used to perform at bars here, Robert De Niro acted in small theaters here, the sex liberation movement began here, and of course, this is also the finish line of New York's Halloween parade every year..." Joel couldn't help saying as he walked alongside Ryan down the narrow path.

But to Ryan, apart from the many stylish shops lining both sides of the road, the place didn't seem any different from anywhere else.

That was until a man walking a dog approached them from the opposite direction. He was called a man because he looked like one, but he was wearing women's underwear on his upper body and a pair of tight women's shorts below.

After the two of them passed around a corner, they saw a poster pasted onto the wall. It showed two muscular men with bondage elements in their outfits behaving intimately toward the camera. The slogan beside them read: "you are kink positive, your healthcare should be too"

It was reminding people to pay attention to hygiene when playing the alphabet game.

To Ryan, a thoroughly straight man, the poster was nothing short of mental pollution.

Putting those "jump scares" aside, the shops along Greenwich Village's streets were relatively normal. After all, the area still attracted plenty of tourists from all over the world. There were many cozy restaurants and bars, as well as culturally atmospheric shops, such as coffee-bean stores, vintage clothing shops, and old record stores. Ryan wasn't very interested in them.

Of course, all the familiar elements of New York could be found here too: homeless people lying in the shadows of buildings on street corners, mentally ill people standing at intersections and talking to themselves, elderly women bending over garbage cans to search for plastic bottles, and bicycles by the roadside secured with no fewer than four locks. It reminded Ryan that he was still in New York, not somewhere else.

Ryan was actually quite familiar with the area. During the nearly year he had spent in New York, the original owner had visited several times with three different girlfriends, all petite models much like him. Besides that, the original owner had several model friends here, but Ryan had no intention of contacting them during this trip to New York.

This time, the entire team had plenty of time to prepare, so Ryan and Joel wandered around the neighborhood during their free time. On the way back, Ryan saw several high-rise buildings in the Neoclassical style. Purple flags bearing the letters "NYU" hung from their exteriors, indicating that the buildings belonged to New York University.

Ryan then recalled the Harlem shake imitation videos in his mind. Several of them had clearly been filmed on university campuses...

Joel glanced at the time. As evening approached, the two of them prepared to return to the nightclub for tonight's DJ performance.

·

New York University, Imperial Arts Academy, a double dormitory room.

"Elizabeth, what are you planning to wear to tonight's event?" Her roommate knocked on the door and asked.

"Didn't we just get back from Punta Cana?" Elizabeth pouted.

"That was Spring Break. Tonight is the vice president's birthday, and you have to go. It's at that 'Lost' nightclub near campus." Her roommate reminded her.

"I don't want to go. I'm not feeling well," Elizabeth explained.

"Then don't drink. The coordinator managed to get a group of underclassmen to come this time. I heard there are several really handsome guys. Don't blame me later for not inviting you." Her roommate warned her.

Elizabeth, who had broken up with her boyfriend just before Spring Break, shook her head. "I'm not interested."

"Then don't you want to compete for the director position in the activities department? There might even be a second event tonight. This is your chance to show off your organizational skills." Her roommate continued.

"Fine, fine." Elizabeth closed the door, applied a little light makeup, threw on a varsity jacket, and left.

"You're wearing just that? Aren't you afraid the guards will stop you outside?" Her roommate teased. She, on the other hand, was wearing a tight dress that showed off her figure.

"I'm on my period. Come on, let's go," Elizabeth urged her.

Downstairs, the two met up with the others attending the vice president's birthday party that night. They were all girls. Just as women were absolutely forbidden from entering fraternities, men were likewise forbidden from entering sororities.

Elizabeth's sorority was called Pi Beta Phi (ΠΒΦ). It was the first national sorority in America, with more than three hundred chapters and alumni organizations across the United States and Canada, and over 20,000 members.

Once the bespectacled vice president appeared, the group set off in grand fashion for the nightclub.

Elizabeth entered the Lost Club smoothly amid the crowd of women. Someone had already reserved a booth on the second floor, and not long afterward, the boys attending the birthday party arrived as well. One of them kept trying to chat her up, but she rejected him with a cold expression.

Then she unexpectedly spotted her ex-boyfriend, whom she had broken up with just last week, on the dance floor. Worse still, he was standing beside a beautiful dark-haired girl. Elizabeth had seen that woman before.

"I'm so pissed! He said she was just a normal friend. Fucking shit!" Elizabeth was so angry that her fists clenched tightly.

Her roommate hurried to comfort her. Elizabeth, furious, wanted to pick up her drink and gulp it down in one go, but considering her condition, she put it back down.

·

"Not bad." Joel watched the New Yorkers nodding and bobbing their heads on the dance floor, and finally let out the breath he had been holding.

Because the injuries on his face were unsightly, he could only stand below the stage. Ryan, meanwhile, completed an entire live DJ performance by himself for the first time. He mixed tracks, used his words to build up the atmosphere, and handled everything with ease. Then he pushed the atmosphere to its climax with Tremor.

A gratified smile appeared on Joel's face as he began recording Ryan's live performance with his phone.

This had been Ryan's request. He said he wanted to edit the footage and post it on social media to interact with his fans.

Ryan successfully completed his part of the performance and left the stage amid the nightclub crowd's cheers. Next, Deadmau5 was taking the stage. In fact, he was the star of the night, while Ryan had only been performing as the warm-up act.

The lights in the venue immediately dimmed, and the helmet on Deadmau5's head began to glow! It heralded the beginning of another performance.

By then, Ryan had already returned to Joel's side. After watching the footage they had just recorded, he walked over to a nightclub employee, and the two of them began whispering to each other.

"Don't wander off. I'll be right back," Ryan told Joel before turning and leaving.

·

Brilliant fireworks stood out sharply in the dark nightclub. Several male servers stood in front of a table, holding signs lit with the words "Ace of Spades" and swaying them to the beat, drawing everyone's attention. This was a regular nightclub "performance." Whenever someone ordered Ace of Spades, an expensive champagne, the staff would line up and perform an opening ceremony like this, precisely catering to customers' desire to show off.

When a male customer ordered a bottle, several scantily dressed female servers would take the stage. When the customer was a woman, it would look like this instead.

This time, however, the usual bottle-opening ceremony had gained an additional segment. The DJ who had just been performing onstage appeared carrying a tray and placed the bottle on the table.

If the DJ himself appeared, the spectacle was naturally grander than an ordinary server's performance.

This made the Pi Beta Phi vice president celebrating her birthday even happier. She grinned so broadly that her mouth nearly failed to close, then hurriedly tipped the DJ.

This was already the fifth table Ryan had visited that night. By now, he smoothly suggested taking a group photo with everyone, then naturally began chatting with the female college students.

"Then I have to wish the president a happy birthday."

"Pi Beta Phi? I heard it's a national sorority with 20,000 members. That's incredible."

"Are you having a second party later? I see."

At some point, Ryan had already sat down among the female college students. He wasn't after their small tips. He was looking for certain people—students from New York University, preferably those who were socially resourceful and capable of forming an organization. The people from Pi Beta Phi before him were ideal targets.

Seeing how friendly the DJ was, the others present also began asking Ryan questions about Electronic music from time to time. Naturally, some of them praised Ryan for being handsome as well.

Ryan casually mentioned that he had once been a model living in East Village Manhattan. Several of the female college students immediately realized who he was and let out a collective scream.

"No wonder he's so handsome." Her roommate ate fruit while stealing glances at Ryan in the distance, then whispered to Elizabeth.

Still immersed in grief and anger, Elizabeth had no interest in looking at handsome men. She picked up her phone and prepared to leave.

"Where are you going?" Her roommate hurriedly asked.

"To set up the party venue at the 'base.'" Elizabeth shook her head. She only wanted to get this all over with as soon as possible and go back to sleep.