<Episode 5>
This time too, I didn’t even look at the notification window.
So what if it was a forced quest? I said I wasn’t doing it, so what could it do about it?
“Good thing I emptied the fridge earlier.”
It was a shame I couldn’t read my comic, but that wasn’t enough to bring back my lost motivation. I just slumped over the bar counter.
How much time passed like that?
I drifted in a hazy state, neither fully asleep nor fully awake.
[At best, you’ll only become a second-rate bartender. Your cocktails have no soul, no soul at all!]
Ah, this was a memory from my apprentice days.
I used to get scolded a lot. Back then, the bar manager scared me so much that even one harsh word would make me tear up.
[You think I was trying to hold you back? You, who still couldn’t even stop being an apprentice and had not won a single award?]
I had once heard words like that from the head bartender, clenched my teeth, worked harder, and eventually won an award.
It had been a very long time since I had spent my days lying around like this.
I had always lived busily.
Because I didn’t want to be looked down on. Because I wanted to be recognized as a bartender.
Looking back, why had I worked so hard?
In the end, my life had ended pointlessly when I got hit by that damned motorcycle.
“I should’ve lived like this earlier.”
Muttering words no one would hear, I fell asleep.
<Notice> 0 days remain in your free trial.
The quests that had kept popping up to push me over the past few days were gone, and only a notification remained, warning me of the final day.
It wouldn’t disappear. It wouldn’t go away.
Like a final notice.
But what could I do? Even if I had worked hard, it would have been impossible to sell thousands of cocktails in just ten days.
‘It’s not like I’m alive in the real world anyway.’
Grrr…
Even while feeling depressed, my body was honest. Right. I was hungry. The problem was that the food in the shop had run out.
There was plenty of alcohol, but drinking on an empty stomach was too cruel, even for me.
“It’s still daytime, so maybe I should go look for something to eat.”
This place was surrounded by forest, so there had to be berries or plants or something.
Before that, I stopped by the bathroom to wash my face—and suddenly noticed in the mirror that my hair had turned pink.
‘A soft pink, like cherry blossom petals.’
For someone who had never even bleached her hair before, it was a shocking color.
Even my eyes had turned purple.
Startled, I touched my face all over. It was definitely still my face. Only the colors had changed.
“But…”
Why did it feel so natural?
My original black hair and brown eyes felt unfamiliar now.
As if this was the color I had originally been meant to have…
“What on earth is going on…?”
There was no one around to clear up this strange feeling for me.
And really, after falling into a strange world, what did hair and eye color matter?
“Whatever.”
I muttered lightly, picked up a basket, and started walking without any real plan.
Once I moved away from the relatively well-kept cocktail bar, untouched forest stretched out ahead.
How long had I walked?
The colors around me began to deepen, as if darkness were sinking into them.
‘It suddenly got colder.’
I should’ve brought something to wear. Rubbing my bare arms, I looked around.
“Found something.”
At last, something promising came into view.
A reddish mushroom as tall as my waist, dotted with yellow spots, almost like—
“Isn’t that poisonous?”
I hesitated just as I was about to reach for it.
The fruits hanging from the trees also looked strange. At first I thought they were black berries, but when I got closer, they suddenly spread wings and flew away.
“Bats? Then all those fruits were… Aah!”
Flap flap!
A whole swarm of bats flew up at once, and I fell onto my backside.
“Ow…”
They hadn’t threatened me, but I still got a little scared.
“It would be better to just go to the pirate ship and ask them to share some canned food.”
I brushed myself off and stood up.
Just then—
<Notice> Warning! You are in an area where your influence is low.
The system’s warning snapped me back to my senses. Even if I felt like giving up, dying twice still scared me.
I hurried away without looking back, when suddenly a rain of arrows came flying at me.
“Ugh!”
It didn’t hit me directly. It only grazed my shoulder. So I could relax—
‘Huh?’
Suddenly my vision swayed, and my body collapsed forward.
“The target has fallen!”
“Lower your bows. I will confirm it myself.”
I heard voices not far away.
‘I feel dizzy…’
I tried to get up somehow, but there was no strength in my body.
Then someone came toward me. I barely lifted my head to see who it was, and a huge man was staring at me with a shocked expression.
“A woman?”
The man dropped to one knee and lifted me into his arms.
“Bring the antidote at once!”
Shouting like thunder, he wasted no time tearing open my shirt and pressing his face to my shoulder. The lips of this stranger closed over my wound and sucked harshly.
“Ah, that hurts…”
“Ptui. If the poison is not removed, it will be dangerous.”
The man kept sucking at the wound and spitting out blood. His hot breath touched the bare skin of my exposed shoulder.
“We brought the antidote!”
“Open your mouth wide. It is quite bitter.”
The terrible taste that poured into my mouth almost made me throw up on the spot.
“Ugh…”
“You must swallow it.”
The man’s large hand covered my mouth as he gently tilted up my chin. As the bitter medicine slid down my throat, my fading vision began to clear again.
“Haa…”
I was already hungry, and after getting dragged into all this, I felt completely drained. I sagged weakly against the man’s chest.
“Allow me to finish tending to it.”
This time, the man tore his own shirt and tightly wrapped my shoulder wound.
‘Ah.’
Only then did it hit me that I had shown my bare skin to a strange man.
And that same strange man had sucked and licked my bare skin several times…
“Your face is red. Are you alright?”
“I-I think so…”
“Then say ‘ah.’”
“Ah?”
Not understanding why, I did as he said, and a candy slipped between my lips.
“It will help with the aftertaste.”
The man set me down. My shirt was in tatters, so I covered my upper body with both arms.
“I apologize. I failed to consider a lady’s comfort.”
The man removed his coat and draped it over me. It fit him perfectly, but on me it was so large that I felt swallowed by it.
A deep musk scent brushed past my nose.
“…”
Now that I finally had a little room to breathe, I stared at the man.
His perfectly fitted uniform showed off his strong build.
On his back was an enormous sword, almost as tall as I was.
Only after tilting my head way back until my neck hurt could I properly see his face.
Neat black hair without a flaw. Eyes as cold and blue as the sea.
His face had strong lines, and his features were striking and handsome. The kind of classic handsome man, really.
“Is there some kind of problem?”
A cold killing intent seemed to pour off him. I felt like prey standing in front of a predator.
“There is, actually…”
Intimidated by the strange pressure around him, I trailed off without meaning to.
Still, what needed to be said had to be said.
I clenched my fists and looked straight at him.
“I was just passing through and got shot with an arrow. How could there not be a problem? It was even a poisoned arrow. I almost died.”
Once I started speaking, my anger rose up all at once.
I was the victim. I had been doing nothing, and then I got hit by a poisoned arrow. Of course I was angry.
“Why would you suddenly shoot arrows at someone?”
“I would like to ask you the same.”
His eyes—cold and blue like winter—fixed on me.
“Why exactly are you in a place like this?”
“A place like this…”
I was ready to snap back, but then I ran out of words.
Because I didn’t really know where this place was either.
“I am the duke who rules the North. I was chasing monsters beyond the ice wall when I found a ‘door.’”
“A door?”
“Yes. Beyond it, monsters usually swarm. We call such places dungeons, and I assumed this place was a dungeon.”
As the man explained calmly, his sharp eyes gleamed. It was the kind of gaze that seemed to be examining me.
“I am sorry that you were caught up in this, but to be honest, I find you suspicious. Who exactly are you?”
“I’m just a bartender.”
“A bartender?”
The man’s eyes narrowed.
“A person who makes cocktails—that is, mixed drinks made by combining alcohol with other ingredients.”
“So you run a tavern?”
I nodded.
“But that still does not explain why you were here.”
“My shop is nearby.”
“What is the name of your shop?”
“Well…”
I mumbled instead of answering. It was too embarrassing to say that ridiculous name out loud.
When the silence dragged on, the man smiled faintly and spoke.
“In that case, guide me there. I happen to be thirsty. Since I owe you, I will help your sales.”
At first, it sounded almost like an apology, but I caught the suspicion underneath.
‘He wants to check if what I said is true.’
It was much more effective than directly asking whether I was lying.
“Yes. This way.”
I had nothing to hide, so I confidently took the lead.
“Your Grace! What about us—”
“Do not go far. Search the surrounding area and wait here.”
“Understood!”
The knights moved at once under his orders.
‘A northern duke. This really is like a romance fantasy novel.’
And just like that, I ended up taking this unnamed duke back to my shop.
