She Acts Like a Big Shot [ABO] - Chapter 1

Neon lights pulsed in all directions, brilliant beams dancing in time with the deafening music that reverberated through the entire bar. The atmosphere was one of wild excitement and indulgent luxury, filled with the sounds of ecstatic shouting.

At the center of the dance floor stood an open, multi-level bar, where elegantly dressed, ascetic-looking bartenders served drinks to the enthusiastic crowd.

Although there wasn’t the slightest trace of pheromones leaking in the air, the place overflowed with an intoxicating mix of hormones, desire, and thrill. Especially the moment those smiling bartenders placed their signature cocktails in front of their eager ABO customers—everyone was thinking the same thing.

LIE wasn’t the biggest bar in the capital, but it was undoubtedly the most famous.

Its greatest feature? Every staff member was stunningly attractive.

However, to prevent the central bartenders from being affected by potential pheromone surges, only Betas with low sensitivity to pheromones were allowed to work there.

This often disappointed the Alphas and Omegas who came purely for eye candy.

“Coco, look at that guy.”

Behind the marble bar, a handsome male Beta leaned over to whisper to the elegant young woman beside him.

The girl—Coco—kept her hands moving, her cocktail-shaking technique both practiced and visually captivating, drawing the attention of everyone around. Her eyes were especially striking: clear, bright, and beautifully shaped.

There was something about her gaze that made people want to be seen by her just a little longer.

Following her coworker’s cue, Coco glanced over. Her expression remained calm, but she matched his hushed tone.

“What about him? Just another Alpha, isn’t he?”

“That’s Sheng Jun from the Sheng family,” the colleague replied.

Coco smiled as she set down the freshly mixed drinks in front of several attractive patrons. After a few playful remarks from the group, she turned back to ask her coworker, “So? What about him?”

Still mixing drinks, her colleague maintained his customer-service smile, though his eyes betrayed a hint of concern.

“He looks like he’s high.”

Xia Ke’s hand paused mid-motion at those words, and she turned her gaze toward Sheng Jun.

From behind the bar, they had a clear view of the best VIP booth in the venue. The men and women seated there were all radiant with pride and excitement, moving with the effortless grace and confidence of the upper class.

At the very center of the group sat the man they were discussing—Sheng Jun.

The youngest son of the Sheng family, and a star student in the mecha engineering department of Qingnan University, the top-ranked university in Xing Nation.

He was an Alpha.

Xia Ke had been working here for a while. Even in this noisy, dimly lit environment, she could tell something was off. Sheng Jun seemed far too exhilarated. His eyes glinted like those of a predator hunting in the jungle—brimming with malice and aggression.

“That’s strange,” Xia Ke murmured with a frown. “The mecha department strictly forbids drinking or drug use.”

Her coworker let out a soft snort, too quiet for anyone but the two of them to hear.

“He’s from the Sheng family. What can’t he get away with? I heard he’s been openly chasing a Beta lately—and even dragged them into this place.”

Xia Ke looked a little worried. “People who’ve done drugs often can’t control their pheromones. If Sheng Jun made it into the Mecha Department, his Alpha level must be pretty high. Should I call security?”

Her coworker replied, “He hasn’t done anything yet. If we call them and it backfires, we’ll be the ones in trouble.”

Xia Ke thought about it. Just then, someone placed an order, and she had no choice but to pull her gaze back.

But in that very instant, she caught a glimpse of a man sitting deep inside the VIP booth. He was half-shielded by the crowd, visible only through the occasional gaps between people moving past—like a sliver of starlight breaking through the darkness.

Xia Ke paused, startled for a moment.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but it felt like their eyes had met.

The distance was a bit far, and between the flashing lights and the surging crowd, Xia Ke couldn’t make out his face clearly. But even in that blurry moment, his handsomeness was unmistakable.

Those dark eyes, shining with a quiet intensity in the chaos of the bar, seemed to pierce straight through the noise and look directly at her.

There was something oddly familiar about him.

“One Kumquat Gin, please.”

“Coming right up,” Xia Ke replied instinctively with a smile. When she looked back in that direction, the dancing crowd had already swallowed the man completely.

Her coworker, stomach upset, excused himself and rushed to the restroom, leaving most of the customer pressure on Xia Ke.

Soon, the earlier scene faded from her mind. Just as things finally began to calm down, a sudden commotion and a wave of screams erupted from the far side of the room.

At first, the pounding music drowned it out, and not many people reacted. But when even Xia Ke began to smell the sharp, overpowering scent of camphor flooding the air, things had already taken a bad turn.

“Someone’s pheromones are out of control!”

“Security!”

“Call an ambulance!”

Sheng Jun wasn’t a top-tier Alpha, but the fact that he got into Qingnan University’s Mecha Department meant his rank couldn’t be low. The release of his uncontrolled pheromones was enough to place enormous pressure on the surrounding Alphas.

Some Omegas even collapsed onto nearby couches, their legs gone weak. Betas might be less sensitive to pheromones, but that didn’t mean they were completely immune—especially with lower-ranked Betas, who could still be affected by the mental stress that came with such a strong release.

Chaos broke out.

Xia Ke suspected Sheng Jun had taken drugs again. His pheromones carried an unpleasant, pungent note—and she noticed they seemed to be triggering heat responses in others.

Xia Ke: …

This world really lives up to its reputation.

Several security guards had already arrived. Naturally, anyone working as a bouncer here was a high-ranking Alpha—muscular, built like tanks, with arms thicker than Xia Ke’s thighs.

But Sheng Jun, though clearly losing control of his pheromones, hadn’t lost consciousness. On the contrary, he seemed completely unhinged.

Xia Ke set down what she was holding and took off the matching apron from her uniform. Even over the crowd noise, she could still hear Sheng Jun’s shouts.

“Where’s Chu Xiangmo?! Where the hell did that brat go?!”

“Get out here!”

Xia Ke: …

Chu Xiangmo? She must’ve misheard.

But why did she suddenly have a bad feeling about this?

Looked like her shift was over for the night. Xia Ke pulled out her phone, checked the time, and decided to make her exit.

Whatever was happening—it had nothing to do with her. She was just an ordinary part-time worker, nothing more.

Still, she hoped she had misheard, and that Chu Xiangmo wasn’t actually here.

Xia Ke wrinkled her nose. The smell of camphor. Ugh. Disgusting.

She had just made it to the back exit when the supervisor rushed over and blocked her path.

“Xia Ke, where are you going?” asked the Alpha supervisor.

Caught trying to leave early, Xia Ke didn’t look the least bit guilty. She put on a serious expression and replied sincerely, “I noticed that customer’s pheromones are out of control, so I was going to fetch a backup suppressant gun…”

“Fetch what?” the supervisor snapped, clearly both exasperated and angry. “That’s the young master of the Sheng family! Do you think we can just handle him like any other customer?!”

Having said that, and probably not wanting to waste time arguing, he rushed off with a few large Alpha guards in tow.

Xia Ke let out a silent breath of relief.

If there was one person she absolutely couldn’t stand while working here, it was that supervisor.

He was the type who bullied the weak and bowed to the strong, always opportunistic and self-serving—the very embodiment of a petty coward drunk on a little power.

With such a major incident happening on his shift tonight, he was definitely going to be in trouble.

Xia Ke slipped quietly back into the staff break room.

Maybe Sheng Jun’s pheromones had saturated the air more than expected—because even here, in the back, she could still smell that heavy camphor stench. She thought about the basic biological facts of this world and figured Sheng Jun was probably headed straight for the hospital.

Honestly, she had a strange feeling that he might’ve been set up.

Her mind suddenly wandered back to that striking man with the deep, bright black eyes. Though she hadn’t seen his face clearly, his presence felt oddly familiar.

In this world, both Alphas and Omegas needed to release large amounts of pheromones during heat or rut cycles. But under normal circumstances, releasing more than the body could handle came with consequences. Best case: a week-long hospital stay. Worst case: damaged glands—for both Alphas and Omegas.

Ordinary Betas, of course, didn’t have to worry about such things.

That was one of the reasons Xia Ke had decided to pretend to be a Beta.

She hadn’t wanted to stay in that scene too long either. She’d noticed that even the Beta customers and staff around her had started to look extremely uncomfortable.

The break room was empty—everyone was still out front working. With the chaos earlier, they were probably stuck out there, which meant no one noticed her slipping away.

Just as Xia Ke was about to change out of her uniform, her phone suddenly vibrated.

She let her tied-up hair fall loose, picked up the phone, and saw that it was her coworker calling.

“Hey, Yu-ge. You’ve been in the bathroom forever. Honestly, don’t bother coming back—something happened out fro—”

“Xia Ke,” he cut in, “Are you free right now? Can you come to the restroom for a sec? The supervisor just called me to the front.”

Xia Ke frowned. “Why do you want me to go to the restroom? Is something wrong?”

Yu-ge sounded a bit flustered. “No time to explain. And don’t even think about sneaking off again. I’m telling you—whatever happened tonight, it might involve the police. Just get to the restroom, okay? I’ve got to go.”

Then he hung up.

Xia Ke was utterly confused.

How did Wang Yu already know what had happened out front if he’d just been in the restroom this whole time? But then again, he did seem to know all the details…

Still, Wang Yu had helped her out plenty since she started working here. After a moment’s thought, she decided to go see what he needed.

Scratching her head, she left her jacket on the chair, opened the door, and headed toward the restroom—completely unaware of what she was walking into.

When she arrived at the restroom corridor, she paused, falling into deep thought.

Wait a second… Wang Yu never told her which restroom.

Xia Ke: …

Xia Ke: There are six doors here!!

At the far end of the hallway—styled just like the rest of the modern, flashy bar—stood six brightly lit restroom doors, each with its own neon sign.

Every gender category had two restroom options, based on body size.

The bar was designed to appeal to both elite clientele and everyday citizens. To attract as many patrons as possible, even the restrooms kept up with the times—offering full inclusivity in the most stylish way.

Xia Ke sighed, exasperated. Then, remembering that Wang Yu was a male Beta, she figured it had to be one of the Beta male restrooms.

After a brief hesitation, she walked over to the door marked for Beta males and knocked. No response.

She was about to push it open.

It felt a little strange, to be honest. Sure, this was an ABO world, and Betas sharing Beta restrooms was normal—but she still couldn’t shake the weird sense that she was barging into the men’s room like some kind of pervert.

Lost in her thoughts, Xia Ke had barely started to push the door open when—

Her wrist was suddenly seized.

A strong force yanked her inside.

Xia Ke: —!