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The bar smelled like stale beer and regret. Liquor bottles lined the shelves like trophies of lost battles, their glassy reflections dancing under the flickering neon sign. Ren wiped down the counter with one hand, his other hand working a Rubik’s Cube beneath the bar, hidden from sight. His fingers trembled slightly as they twisted the cube in rapid succession, each movement a careful risk. One wrong move—not on the cube, but in getting caught—and his boss would make sure he never brought it here again.