Lise gazed at Jinseong, supported by the cheers from the server.
Then, when asked what she would order…
“Screwdriver?”
…she naturally recalled the cocktail most frequently mentioned in dramas.
It was the drink one typically orders to charm a rational person at a bar.
Due to its sweet taste, it goes down easily, but despite its smooth gulping, it’s surprisingly strong, so if one isn’t careful, they might end up drunk.
That’s the very cocktail that came to symbolize “I’m interested in you.”
However, Lise found herself slightly blushing at the fact that she had so effortlessly thought of “that kind of cocktail” and instead of asking for a screwdriver, she said…
“Um, I don’t really know much about cocktails. Deity, please choose for me….”
In the end, she delegating the choice to Jinseong.
Receiving the choice from Lise, Jinseong casually scanned the bar and ordered a Black Russian and a Gold Medalist.
These were both popular cocktails that were quite safe bets.
And thus, the cocktail making began.
Fresh fruits were blended, syrup and juice were added. Then coconut cream was mixed in, blended again, and after a skilled pour into the glass, garnished with fruit, a cocktail was complete.
It turned into a drink that looked fresh and carried a sweet vibe just by looking at it.
Following that, with Kahlua, vodka, and ice, the Black Russian was swiftly created.
So the cocktails moved towards each person.
The Black Russian was placed in front of Jinseong.
The Gold Medalist was set before Lise.
“Wow, this looks pretty….”
Lise’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the cocktail.
The cocktail she received truly inspired a desire to take pictures.
No, not just the one she received, but Jinseong’s looked quite stunning too.
It was as if there was a reason this place was chosen as a filming location; it truly had a luxurious appearance.
The Black Russian reflected the bar’s lighting, giving off a gem-like sheen, while the Gold Medalist felt like something that had stepped straight out of a movie.
Lise found it hard to resist leaving these beautiful cocktails behind.
She picked up her smartphone to snap a picture.
Her cocktail was the main focus, with the backdrop slightly showcasing the filming location.
And for Jinseong’s cocktail, she aimed to capture it while also including the upper part of Jinseong in the shot.
Having taken the picture, Lise sneaked a glance at Jinseong.
Jinseong was smiling with his eyes, urging her to drink up, and Lise blinked twice at that smile before subtly returning the grin.
As she cracked a slight smile, her lips curled up, and her eyes seemed to form crescent shapes.
Since it wasn’t a busy tourist destination, her ears and tail were retracted, but if they were visible, they’d be perked up and swaying, no doubt.
Lise, brimming with joy and excitement, slowly brought her hand toward the cocktail.
As she took a sip, the sweet yet refreshing taste made her eyes widen slightly, and she looked at Jinseong, savoring the ambiance that was as sweet as the cocktail.
Lise thought to herself that she loved this air, this atmosphere.
A wonderful vibe.
It truly felt like a scene from a movie.
Yes, just like a scene from a movie…
Boom-!
Just when Lise thought this place felt like a cinematic landscape.
The bar’s door burst open violently.
It was an enormous sound, as if the door was about to be smashed.
Startled, Lise’s eyes widened at the noise that shattered the atmosphere.
She was taken aback, like a baby fox that leaps in alarm upon hearing a loud noise while eating its prey.
Though she likened herself to a baby fox, the reality wasn’t far removed from the metaphor.
Fox ears were about to pop out from above her head.
Lise, caught off guard, instinctively tried to unleash her divine power at the startle of the boisterous sound, but upon seeing Jinseong calmly seated, she let the fox ears and tail that were forming dissipate and collected her divine powers back into her body.
Then she turned to see who had bashed through the bar’s door.
“Jenny-!”
The culprit that emerged after the loud noise was a man who appeared to be of Asian descent.
Wearing jeans and a hoodie, his state didn’t look good.
His clothes were wrinkled and torn, and it appeared he had rolled around in some trash heap as there were remnants stuck to him.
Moreover, the smell was so intense that as soon as the man entered, a stench like trash wafted through the bar.
“Ugh.”
“What is that smell…?”
Naturally, the other customers in the bar cringed, holding their noses or frowning deeply.
Even holding their noses, that horrible odor creeping in through the gaps was impossible to endure with indifferent expressions.
“Jenny-!”
But regardless of how others reacted, the man didn’t care.
He merely whirled his head around frantically searching for someone named ‘Jenny’.
With a face that seemed quite frantic, he shouted out “Jenny” while scanning for staff.
Finally, it seemed like he spotted the face he was searching for, and with a look of joy, he tried to walk in that direction.
And in that direction was the East Asian female server who had guided Lise and Jinseong.
She looked at him with a displeased expression, sighing heavily as she blocked his approach.
“Stop right there.”
She reached out her hand in a gesture to stop him, glaring at the man with a face full of irritation.
“Why are you here?”
“No, what’s with that attitude, bro? You said you’d been drinking American water, but you’ve been acting recklessly lately….”
“Why are you here?”
The woman, called Jenny, ground her teeth as she spoke.
“Did you come again to borrow money to go to the casino?”
“Aah, that’s not it! I didn’t come to borrow money! So that’s…!”
“Then why are you here? I told you not to come to my workplace, right? No, we should talk outside. The customers are becoming uncomfortable.”
Jenny gestured firmly, almost as if urging her brother—who was now nothing but a walking pile of trash—to leave immediately.
But despite her urging, the man didn’t seem to want to step out.
“No, Jenny, listen. I didn’t come to ask for money, I…!”
“That means we should talk outside. Are you not hearing me?”
“No, listen! It’s urgent right now!”
The man had no intention of leaving.
Jenny was becoming irritated with her younger brother.
And so they were embroiled in a dispute inside the bar.
And perhaps tired from the scuffle, the man approached Jenny and extended his arm.
He seemed about to forcibly drag his sister outside.
However, Jenny stepped back in disgust at the thought of her brother—now heavily stained with trash—touching her.
The man’s annoyance at his sister’s reaction turned into a slight frown, but soon after, his face turned pale at the heavy sounds coming from outside.
“Whoa, it’s here, Jenny! Let’s get out fast! Help me!”
“What? What’s coming? Wait a minute…help? What have you done?!”
Jenny instinctively sensed something was off about her brother’s urgent demeanor.
This despicable man had definitely stirred up some trouble again.
‘Did he borrow money from some gang?’
Her annoying brother had a record of getting immersed in casinos and causing mishaps right after studying abroad in America. She thought he might have gotten himself into something similar again this time.
And as that thought crossed her mind, she prayed that it wasn’t entangled with crime organizations, hoping it could be something resolved legally.
But they say reality always surpasses imagination.
What appeared outside was something she never could have imagined.
Boom-!
Boom-!
With the heavy sounds, it emerged.
It was a monster.
Where a head should have been, there was a yellow caution sign with the words ‘CAUTION’ and a pictogram of a sliding person prominently displayed. Sporadically, something bulged grotesquely from the sign, which looked like the roots of a tree but writhed periodically, reminiscent of an alien parasitic creature.
Below that was a body that seemed constructed from twisted tree roots with a girth equal to that of a human arm, resembling a child in kindergarten clumsily drawing a human figure with a crayon.
However, that clumsy appearance turned into sheer eeriness as it materialized into reality.
It was creepy and invoked the uncanny valley just by looking.
And among those pulsating body parts lay glints of metal.
The twisted and jagged severed metal pipes might as well have been its skeletal frame, hinting at the strength hidden within those roots.
And when one looked at the ends of those roots, a realistic threat became palpable.
That monster was wielding concrete blocks in both hands.
Those appeared to have just been dug up from the sidewalk and were hefty enough to crush a human skull, with roots twisted around them forming the shape of a hammer.
A deadly weapon.
A monster holding a deadly weapon.
Jenny stared wide-eyed at the creature that had appeared out of nowhere, turning her gaze furiously towards her brother.
“What have you done?!”
“No…I…I didn’t want this to happen….”
“What did you do?!”
“No, I mean…if I just play a few more rounds, I thought I could win big, but I didn’t have the money…so….”
Jenny harshly pressed her brother for the truth.
At her intensity, the cursed gambling addict began to stutter incoherently.
“Hey, don’t you understand the seriousness of the situation right now? You’re…!”
Just as Jenny was about to scream out of frustration at her brother’s reluctance to admit his misdeeds.
“You! How dare you cheat me and even run away?!”
The victim had appeared.
