Episode 50: The Prank of Fate
Ah, something like alcohol.
This is why I don’t go to solo drinking sessions or group drinking meetings.
Back in the day, after a raid party mission was over, I once drank with some older guys.
Ever since then, I don’t like drinking with large groups of people.
The reason is, you get all kinds of people – from those who indulge in drunken antics to those who cause trouble.
You get to see a wide range of people who are drunk from alcohol.
Right now, this situation is just like that.
Chaewon has fallen asleep on the mattress after having two drinks.
It’s pretty okay.
She’s still young and not used to drinking alcohol.
She shouldn’t even be drinking at her age.
But it’s actually good that she fell asleep after getting tipsy.
Things would be fine if it stayed like this.
But the adults always end up being the problem.
No, I should say this is more of a predicament.
While Chaewon was still awake, everything seemed to be going smoothly.
But it went horribly wrong.
Adult drinking sessions sometimes spark ego battles due to being tipsy, even if that’s not always the case.
By now, I’ve lost count of how many bottles we’ve consumed.
Seoyoon is vomiting in the bathroom far away.
Yelim is trying to keep up appearances despite her obvious struggle.
Harin remains unfazed.
Honestly, I’m at my limit too.
Everyone else seems to be nearing their limit, but why is Harin still fine?
What is this even?
Just because everyone else is drunk doesn’t mean they don’t have some way to manage their inebriation, does it?
If Chaewon hadn’t shown me how to purify alcohol with a spell, I would’ve fallen off the wagon too.
Anyway, to understand this moment, we need to rewind time back to when we first shared that first drink.
“Alright, cheers!”
Yelim was the first to raise her cup for a toast.
Sure, the glass made from paper is a bit of an issue.
We all sat down in a circle on the floor.
Ah, it reminds me of the university MT scenes I’ve only seen on YouTube.
I didn’t go to college, after all.
Because I’m a Hunter.
Still, drinking sessions always feel awkward.
Nonetheless, we all followed the act of toasting and extended our paper cups forward.
Clank.
“The sound of alcohol drunk from a paper cup isn’t exactly refreshing.”
Everyone tilted their paper cups towards their throats in unison.
The bitter aftertaste of unfamiliar chemicals slowly filled my mouth.
A cold liquid trickling down the throat.
Some said the alcohol was sweet.
‘Is this a lie?’
【Maybe it’s because you’ve led a life full of ease.】
The sweeter the honey, the more bitter the reality.
Perhaps I’ve yet to fully experience the bitterness of life.
Am I still too young to be considered an adult?
‘I don’t like alcohol. Does not being able to drink mean I’ll never be an adult?’
【Then there must be no adults among those with livers too weak to handle alcohol, right?】
Who cares if you drink or don’t? It all comes down to the atmosphere of the place.
Clatter!
Yelim slammed her paper cup on the floor forcefully.
The sound of the paper cup hitting the ground was crisp.
“Whew… even though this is the second time I’ve drunk alcohol as an adult, it’s surprisingly sweet. Is there anyone out there having a harder life than me?”
“Are you already drunk? Being tipsy from just the smell of alcohol is a severe issue.”
Yelim ignored my sarcastic comment.
“Alright, let’s have another!”
She immediately picked up the bottle of soju and started filling up everyone’s empty glasses.
“Hey, you’re unfair! Why is mine the only full glass?”
“You’re a guy, right? There should be some handicap.”
【Even so… everyone else’s cups are only halfway full.】
“Someone like you-”
“Never mind arguing! Let’s drink quickly!”
Everyone clinked their cups in a toast except me.
Ah, while trying to pour some of my drink into Yelim’s cup during the toast…
Alas, there’s nothing I can do.
I couldn’t manage a single shot and ended up sipping it slowly instead.
“Umm… big sister, big brother, I’m sleepy…”
Chaewon’s eyes started to close.
Coming inside from the cold and into the artificially heated room while drinking alcohol, it’s a natural outcome.
“So, if you’re tired, take a quick nap on that mattress.”
Chaewon slipped under the covers.
She’ll surely fall asleep within a minute now.
A bit of time passed, and the third cup.
No, the third bottle.
The space was now filled with the smell of alcohol.
The windows will need to be opened for ventilation, but it’s cold outside.
Drinking alcohol is just not my thing.
“Ugh, ah…”
Seoyoon’s face kept paling. It was clear she was struggling to keep up with our pace.
“Seoyoon, if you’re feeling unwell, you don’t have to-”
“What?! Feeling unwell?! Already?! Whoa, how could anyone be so weak against alcohol! Are you really a man? Quickly, bring out your drinking chops!”
Yelim’s voice sounded like it could pierce the ceiling.
【Why does her tongue sound like that?】
“No, I- that isn’t what I said.”
At this point, my mind had started to get a little hazy, making it difficult to articulate properly and I had to suppress my hiccuping.
I tried to stifle the hiccuping sounds to avoid revealing that I was drunk.
“Hey, Harin, you’re quiet. Are you okay?”
When I looked at Harin, her lips were moving silently.
It looked as if she was humming something.
What should I say, she looked like someone doing lip-sync.
Maybe it’s because I’m drunk.
Certainly, I might be under some “drunkenness debuff” from the System.
Anyway, I should ask Chaewon what Harin is trying to communicate.
“Hmm… What did Harin say?”
【Were you still in your right mind? I mean, you’ve only had 3 bottles. Excluding Chaewon, out of the four of us, each person hasn’t even finished one bottle. The alcohol is really weak.】
“I’m serious, I’m already feeling terrible, don’t make me repeat myself…”
【Hmph, how boring. That white-haired girl doesn’t say much.】
“What? So this mumbling like a fish…what is that?”
“What? Are you calling me a fish? I’m a real whale when it comes to drinking!”
【No, she’s muttering something softly… Let me go check. Wait, did I think that out loud just now?】
“Oh, crap.”
‘I accidentally said that out loud.’
Still, everyone was too drunk to notice.
It’s probably because the situation has gotten completely out of hand.
“Um… where’s the bathroom?”
Seoyoon, who at least seemed relatively coherent, asked me where the bathroom was.
Seoyoon abruptly stood up and started fidgeting anxiously.
“It’s the door right behind you.”
Clatter! Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
Glug!
Ughh…
‘So Seoyoon has reached her limit, huh.’
Throwing up that thoroughly, at least she managed to get it all into the toilet bowl.
She’s still conscious.
At least she didn’t vomit on the floor.
“Ugh… No, I can’t… Good thing one person left…”
Yelim dragged the bag Seoyoon had brought towards where she was sitting and pulled out 3 bottles of soju from inside.
“We… our Seoyoon… uh? We brought a total of 6 bottles, right? Good that this number matches ours… Let’s finish a whole bottle each.”
【If you can’t handle alcohol, what gave you the audacity to buy 6 bottles?】
‘Probably a housewarming gift.’
【No, you said earlier that you’re here for work. Have you finally gone soft in the head?】
‘What? Soft in the head? Hmph… Is it you again? Damn ghost woman?’
【… Just let me go and hear what that woman is muttering.】
Chaewon left my side and flew over to Harin.
‘How can someone with such a big butt fly?’
【You bad guy. You’ve been looking at me with those eyes?!】
A green glass bottle came into my view.
“Here, your turn.”
“What? What do you mean by ‘sea’ in this winter weather… Oh, you mean offer it to me?”
“Since you understand, drink it quickly!”
And so, Yelim, me, and Harin began drinking the soju right from the bottle.
One sip, two sips, three sips…
It took an hour to finish just three swigs.
【Hey… this woman keeps referring to herself as ‘Heal’?】
‘What? Too cowardly… I can feel the world spinning now…’
Anyway, that’s how far we’ve come in drinking and the story so far.
The story resumes from the beginning.
Now, I can’t even remember how many bottles we’ve drunk.
Truthfully, because I am weak against alcohol, I’ve been enduring.
Far away in the bathroom, Seoyoon keeps vomiting.
She’s been throwing up all day.
It seems she might develop dehydration due to the intense vomiting, but seeing her vomit so passionately, I began to envy her.
Yelim is forcing herself while trying to save face, since her drinking speed is slowing down.
Harin is unfazed, using some kind of ability.
‘… Aha, I should ask her to use her ability for me.’
I slowly started crawling toward where Harin is sitting.
She appeared to have noticed that I was approaching as she sat quietly.
The three of us each managed to empty our soju bottles by half.
Noticing that the contents were not decreasing anymore, it seemed we were getting close to the end.
“Damn it… Han Siwoo, why don’t you act responsibly? All this because of you, Eunbyul is suffering!”
Yelim, who said things she would regret once sober.
【Once sober, definitely check on Eunbyul’s condition. No, I’ll write it down for you. Seriously, how do you plan on living without me? You won’t find a better homemaker. If I die, you must marry me.】
‘But I’m going to get married…’
I grabbed Harin’s shoulder to ask for a favor.
My vision swayed.
It was like looking into water under the sea with the refraction of light.
Probably because of that, I made a mistake.
I was so drunk that I didn’t know what I was doing, and I ended up causing a major incident.
“Harin, can you – Heal…”
“Wha, what are you doing all of a sudden?”
I applied force to my grip.
Trying to use her shoulder for balance, but it felt unfamiliar.
Something strange about the texture.
‘Chaewon, are shoulders supposed to feel so squishy and soft?’
【That’s not her shoulder, stop fondling.】
“UGH!”
Yelim threw up.
Where?
Ah.
That crazy girl finally pushed herself too hard and vomited right onto the floor.
I felt like I’d had an instant hangover relief drink after seeing it.
My sobriety returned.
‘Did I recover from shock or because Harin healed me? … I’m not sure.’
I looked at Harin again.
“Ah…”
“Did you really want to continue what we were doing earlier? But there are quite a few onlookers.”
I realized my hand was still squeezing something.
【Stop that right now. It looks like you’re mostly sober. Reclaim your senses.】
I was sure I was holding her shoulder.
Why did it turn into the breast?
“Oof… Huh? Big sister, big brother, what are you doing?”
What a cruel joke of fate.
Unbelievably, Chaewon saw that scene.
“Big Brother, is it fun to grab that sister’s chest?”
Ah, I want to die.
This is why drinking should be avoided.
