Chapter 12: 12. Who Is This Guy?
When I reached the third floor, I found Maksoon trembling all over.
"C-crazy..."
"Maksoon! Why are you shaking like that?"
"R-Ryu-o! Just go into that room over there! I-I’ll go prepare the food!"
Watching Maksoon bolt down the stairs in an instant made me feel a little uneasy.
"Don’t tell me she dumped some vomited-up leftovers on me?"
I could smell the stench of a nightmare customer.
Swallowing a sigh, I opened the door Maksoon had indicated.
Rattle!
As the door opened, the nightmare customer, slouched in an insolent posture behind an empty table, looked at me.
Gulp, gulp!
"Hello?"
"..."
"Excuse me."
I was a liiittle—really, just a little—intimidated, but I went into the room, shut the door, and sat across from her.
"..."
"..."
"My name is Jang Ryu-o."
Gulp, gulp.
No, seriously, what was she trying to do here?
She had called for me, so she must have had some intention, but she was just staring at me while guzzling liquor...
Just as I was about to say something because there was no sign of this conversation going anywhere...
"Urgh!"
The nightmare customer clutched her head, her face twisted in pain.
Startled, I went over to check on her.
"Excuse me, are you all right?"
"Huff... huff..."
Seeing her gradually calm down, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Something happening to a noble lady while she was alone with me? Ugh...
She was clutching her head and bent over, so I figured it was a headache.
I took the liquor bottle from her hand and set it on the table.
"...?"
"Have you eaten?"
"...No."
"Of course your head hurts when you drink on an empty stomach. Some snacks will be here soon, so make sure you eat then."
She stared at me intently.
What... what are you looking at? I’m Arin’s disciple.
This is awkward. I should at least introduce myself properly.
"What is your name?"
"You don’t know who I am?"
Wow. I never thought I would hear that line in real life.
"I haven’t been here long."
"...Cheon Hwayeong."
"That’s a really pretty name."
"..."
Ugh... I shouldn’t have said that.
Her staring silently at me was awkward enough to kill me. Embarrassing, too.
I was wondering whether I should take it back even now when, with a knock, a lavish spread of food and liquor arrived.
"E-enjoy your meal!"
Maksoon and the waitresses laid everything out at incredible speed before quickly fleeing. They really were veterans at this.
Now that the feast was laid out, she should eat something, but Cheon Hwayeong was still staring straight at me.
"You said your stomach was empty, right? Have some hangover soup first."
Even as I politely held out an open palm toward the soup, her gaze remained fixed on me.
"If you don’t eat, your stomach will hurt and you’ll get a headache..."
"Feed me."
What? Well, aren’t you something? There was no nightmare customer like this nightmare customer.
What else could I do? The moment we met eyes as I opened the door, she had picked me out.
Nightmare customers always beat up the person they took a dislike to.
I scooped up a spoonful of steaming soup.
"Oof, hot."
Puff, puff.
"...?"
I brought the somewhat cooled soup to her lips.
"Ah~"
"...??"
"Why aren’t you eating?"
Cheon Hwayeong opened her mouth and silently swallowed the soup.
"..."
"Does it suit your taste?"
Snicker...
She smiled...
It was only the tiniest little smile, but even that made her face come alive!
Cheon Hwayeong, who had been staring at me, spoke.
"What’s so funny?"
"You smiled, didn’t you?"
"..."
"You look much better when you smile. You should smile more often."
"Heh..."
Oh, looks like she was really cracking up now.
As expected, laughter was contagious.
I filled Cheon Hwayeong’s cup, since she seemed to be in a better mood, and held it out to her.
"Drink up. Bottoms up~"
Gulp.
"Better, right?"
"Hehe... Yes."
I had to buy my master her first gift today, so I needed to feed her quickly and get off work quickly.
"Here, try some of this too. Ah~"
**
I had only intended to keep him beside me because he was pleasant to look at and drink some liquor...
[May the Heavenly Demon live for a thousand years; may all demons bow before her! Sect Leader, you must accomplish your great undertaking!]
[Right Protector! I will not permit it! You cannot!]
[Crunch!]
When the headaches came, accompanied by the horrific memories that tormented me...
[Have you eaten?]
That bastard who brazenly took my liquor bottle.
[That’s a really pretty name.]
That bastard who did not know his place and judged my name.
[Oof, hot. Puff~]
That bastard who dared act so crudely before me.
[You look much better when you smile. You should smile more often.]
That bastard whom I had expected to simply tremble and force the corners of his mouth upward.
"What is your name?"
"I told you earlier. My name is Jang Ryu-o."
The insolent man before me had made me forget those terrible memories for a moment.
[Better, right?]
His remarkably presumptuous words, from wherever he had rolled in from, were simply fascinating.
Every single one of his actions was unpredictable.
"Would you like some of that too?"
"Yes."
What sort of bastard was he?
"Do you have any talents?"
"Talents?"
"Put on a little performance for me."
Look at that insolent face full of dissatisfaction.
He had received an order, so he should have simply carried it out, yet one eyebrow was crooked and his lips were sticking right out.
"Tch, I don’t show this to just anyone, you know?"
The man took a silver coin from his pocket.
"Ta-da~!"
With a perfectly obvious sleight of hand, he hid the silver coin in his other hand.
"Where did the silver coin go? Ta-da!"
Then, with slow movements, he pretended to pull it out from behind my ear.
I was merely staring at him, wondering what I ought to do with this audacious bastard, when...
"Uh... wasn’t that fun?"
I could hear those huge eyes of his rolling around from here.
What an amusing sight.
"Hehehehe... Pwahahaha!"
Why was it so amusing to see him get so smug just because I had laughed once?
"Really, I don’t show that to just anyone."
"Yes."
"Try this too."
"All right."
"That one too."
"..."
The food, which had seemed like grains of sand, became edible.
"Have a drink."
Gulp!
The fiery liquor, which had tasted of nothing at all, now tasted sweet.
I resent this body that cannot become drunk on a day like this.
A warmth I had not felt in a long time soothed the emptiness within me.
What was this funny bastard?
How did he know to bring what I wanted to my lips?
What was making him smile so brightly?
Ah...
My head is spinning. Was he an assassin...?
I have not yet accomplished my great undertaking... Forgive me, Right Protector.
The fact that I do not feel much regret must mean I am quite exhausted.
I will catch up on all the sleep I have missed and come find you.
I am in no state to be seen right now, after all.
Will you scold me, asking why I came so soon?
That would be easier to hear than being told to accomplish my great undertaking.
"Sleep well. I’ll inform the owner."
A gift.
You have captured me, so your name will resound across the land.
**
[Title: Fuck, why is this happening?]
(A screenshot of the tank lying down while the party gets wiped out by monsters.)
No, fuck, our vanguard suddenly just laid down the moment the battle started;;
The party got completely wiped, and we dropped all our items.
└ LOL, monsters have to make a living too. Thanks for the meal!
└ Thanks to you, the ghoul family had a warm winter ㅠㅠ
└ You idiot, looking at that status effect, did you give her alcohol?
└└ Yeah, so what?
└└ You made her drive drunk.
└└ No, quit bullshitting and explain why she ended up like that.
[Title: Hey, Megall user who asked just now.]
You fed your vanguard a shitload of alcohol to boost her Strength, right?
(A screenshot of the Drunk status effect being reset.)
Our amazing developers didn’t make a drunkenness gauge, a blackout-drunk status effect, or a stack counter. They just put your companion to sleep.
The reason this happened is...
(Level 21, Strength 267)
In version 1.01, someone force-fed a companion 200 drinks and got her Strength up to 267.
Instead of fixing the infinitely stacking Strength bug, the developers decided that since it was alcohol, they would just put the companion to sleep.
The shitty part is that it doesn’t count as a sleep status, so you can’t wake them up. It counts as some unknown status effect, so they literally cannot move at all.
Still, they wake up after some time passes.
└ Ah, fuck. No wonder I gave her 100 drinks and she only drank one of each.
└└ And that made you pour them down her throat?
└└ I thought I could cheese it hard... what a shame.
└ Upvoting for the info.
└ Wow, can I get a girl drunk, kidnap her, and do bad things to her unmoving pussy?
└└ Yeah, but sleeping pills are cheaper than booze.
└└ Ah.
[Title: Starting now! The Eastern Continent waifu war! Begiiiiins!]
1. Fluffy fox tails, big tits, older-sister type — upvote.
2. What the fuck are you talking about? The short-haired, big-titted, domineering Heavenly Demon older sister — downvote.
└ Panderal upvote.
└ Panderal upvote.
└ Wow, both of them are just... ahh... pant pant pant
**
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Cheon Hwayeong’s eyes flew open.
Her completely clear head assessed her current situation.
"...? I slept? Me? I got drunk?"
Her now-clear mind was quickly filled with question marks and Ryu-o’s face.
It was a situation enough to shatter her mental discipline, yet she felt no displeasure.
As Cheon Hwayeong sat there blankly, Sima Yeon called to her from outside the room in a trembling voice.
C-can I come in?
Normally, she would have ignored a mere merchant, but now this was a merchant who possessed what she wanted.
"You may enter."
Rattle!
Sima Yeon did not even dare meet her eyes and immediately prostrated herself.
"D-did you... pass the night without incident...?"
"What is that bastard?"
"Th-that... pardon? Ah! Ryu-o! He’s a boy named Jang Ryu-o!"
That was not what she had asked, but Cheon Hwayeong did not care.
"Bring him to me."
"Th-that child... he’s..."
A mere merchant had been given an opportunity, yet she dared...
Irritation rushed over her in an instant.
Crash!
"Eek! He’ll be here from noon until six in the evening! Every day!"
Though she had clearly been told to bring him, Sima Yeon was being difficult, as if her life meant nothing to her.
"Insolent bitch..."
Sima Yeon shouted as though in one final struggle.
"If you kill me, he will never come back here again!"
Cheon Hwayeong had intended to twist Sima Yeon’s neck off, yet for some reason, she could not bring herself to move.
"Do you think that counts as a threat?"
"Heavenly Demon! Possessing that boy’s body would be easier than anything!"
"..."
"But you will never gain his heart that way."
His heart? What use would she have for such a thing?
Yet Cheon Hwayeong decided to hear the merchant’s sweet talk.
"Continue."
"If you merely wish to use him like a screen and keep him by your side, the easiest way would be to cut his tendons."
"..."
"But that child’s appeal does not come from his appearance alone. It comes from the beautiful kindness that wells up from his heart."
At that instant, Ryu-o’s bright face surfaced in Cheon Hwayeong’s mind.
[You look much better when you smile. You should smile more often.]
"..."
Normally, Sima Yeon would have cautiously raised her head to gauge her reaction, but the heavy atmosphere prevented even that.
Honestly, from Sima Yeon’s perspective, even if Cheon Hwayeong took Ryu-o away, it would only make her stomach hurt... quite a lot, but it would not stop her from living.
But when she imagined Arin learning the truth and splitting both Chwihyangru and her in half...
"Please, do not break that child’s heart and let his light fade..."
If she would die either way, gambling was the only thing she could rely on.
After a brief silence...
"I will return at noon. If I cannot feel this so-called heart of his..."
Gulp!
Cheon Hwayeong placed her foot beneath Sima Yeon’s chin and raised it.
"You will pay the price for wagging that insolent tongue of yours."
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