Ch.116Old Fashioned 1

“The bar atmosphere isn’t bad.”

The large-built man spoke first.

Wearing suspender pants, he rests a massive logging axe on the table.

It was so heavy that I thought the table would collapse the moment it leaned against the corner.

The man with a scar on his face takes out a lighter.

And while trying to light his cigarette, he suddenly meets my eyes.

More precisely, the fox ears on my head.

He stares at them blankly, then flashes a sharp gaze.

“Is this…”

“Y-yes…?”

My hair stands on end at his question.

Sis also doesn’t know what to do, clutching the dishcloth tightly.

Water drips from the soaked dishcloth.

Surely he’s not asking for protection money?

It’s an unbearably tense moment.

“Is smoking prohibited here?”

After his words, silence briefly enveloped the bar.

Sis answers abruptly in place of my stammering.

“Ah, no… Would you like an ashtray?”

“Yes, that would be appreciated.”

Sis hurriedly ran to bring an ashtray.

The man then tapped his cigarette into it.

The red embers crumble.

Until the flame was completely extinguished, they didn’t place any orders.

Just sitting silently at the counter table.

Waiting only for their sister who would come in eventually.

Soon, an unfamiliar shadow fell across the entrance.

The door opened, and a woman with her hair in a ponytail entered.

The moment we saw her, Sis and I realized she was the sister of the two men.

Wearing a sleeveless top like Anna.

Angular shoulders and sturdy muscles.

And even scars from countless battles with monsters.

Anyone could tell she’s a physical-type ranker.

She walks leisurely to the counter with both hands in her pockets.

The two men immediately stood up from their seats at the sight of her.

“Sis-!”

Seeing her, the demeanor of the two fierce-looking men changed 180 degrees.

“We were so worried about you!”

If at first they seemed like they were from a noir film, now it’s more like a family comedy.

They clung to her like little brothers.

“Geez… these guys…”

Thanks to them, even her face, which had maintained dignity, became troubled.

The woman, face reddened, could only free herself after smacking the tops of their heads.

“Did I come back from the dead or something?”

“You practically did…”

Ah.

Now I think I remember.

That woman.

She definitely came to Moment before.

And I’ve seen her at the lab too!

<Ranker, Jung Ha-yeon>

Ranking: Currently 43rd. (2nd among spear users)

Occupation: Former bodyguard hunter for Congressman Pedo.

As I realize who she is, my gaze suddenly shifts to her right arm.

She had lost her arm when a pile of Red Sand’s corpses self-destructed…

Seems she got a new arm through the research institute.

“It’s been a while?”

Ha-yeon soon raises her head and looks at me.

I deliberately avoided her eyes, afraid of her gaze.

There’s no way she’d be pleased with me, being close to Red Sand.

Now that she has a new arm, I’d have nothing to say if she decided to occupy the bar and take me hostage.

“Ah, hello…”

“Why are you so scared?”

But surprisingly, her reaction was more indifferent than I expected.

Only after hearing her voice could I finally meet her eyes.

“Well… Red Sand isn’t here right now…”

“It’s fine. I didn’t come here for that bitch.”

She smirked and waved her hand dismissively.

“Then, what brings you…”

“I came about the research institute.”

Research institute.

Just those three syllables make me shudder now.

Perhaps it’s fear.

The fine fur on my fox ears stands stiffly.

These damn ears came from there too…

“Then, did Dr. Park send you? To capture me…”

“Dr. Park?”

She frowns at my words.

Then, with a somewhat sharper gaze, she says to me:

“No way. Why would I work under that kind of woman? I’d rather kill her.”

“What…?”

“After fighting Red Sand, I suffered a major injury to my arm.”

She rotated her arm as if stretching it.

The stitching marks on her shoulder were clearly visible.

“I requested treatment and enhancement at Dr. Park’s research institute and entered a test tube for stabilization.”

Right.

I thought she enhanced her body out of revenge against Red Sand.

That’s definitely what was written on the glass tube description…

“But it was a trap. They confined me in a tube and conducted all sorts of human experiments.”

“My goodness…”

At the mention of tubes, Sis, who was listening beside me, also wore a gloomy expression.

She brushes back her protruding hair and focuses on Ha-yeon’s words.

“Oh, right. This woman was in a tube before me too. You managed to survive, huh?”

The spear user points at Sis with apparent delight.

In response, Jisoo smiles and pats my shoulder.

“Siho was a huge help. Without him, I probably would have never opened my eyes again.”

“That’s right, and that’s why I came here.”

The 2nd ranked spear user in the country stares at me intently.

Unlike when she was angry at Red Sand, she looks happy now.

“What…? What did I do?”

I asked again, dumbfounded by her words.

Ha-yeon then sat down.

And with both hands on her knees, she bowed her head to me in gratitude.

“Thank you.”

As she spoke, the two men also rose from their seats in unison.

The two giant rankers bend their waists to me, who is infinitely smaller.

“Thank you for saving our sister, bartender!”

Who would believe it?

That rankers, and three of them at that, would bow their heads to a nobody hunter like me.

At that unfamiliar sight, I was restless.

My fox ears also wiggled back and forth, expressing my bewilderment.

“You were able to save me because you opened the hatch.”

“Ah…”

So that’s what it was.

“She’s really precious to us.”

“That’s right, thank you so much for saving a comrade we’ve spent our whole lives with!”

The two men’s eyes grew moist.

They spoke to me with choked voices.

Ha-yeon, both happy and embarrassed by their display, wiped the tip of her nose.

“Although we’re not high-ranking rankers, we’ll repay you somehow.”

So the two men were rankers too.

I hastily waved my hands at the sudden treatment.

“N-no… I didn’t do anything special…”

As I tried to brush it off, Ha-yeon slammed the table hard.

Thanks to that, a dent in the shape of her fist was left on the table.

Why is she hitting the innocent table so… scarily…

“What do you mean! You saved everyone from that place crawling with human trash!”

“Other rankers you saved are looking for you too.”

“Whaaaat?”

“You’re their hero. Today I just came to see you first before telling them.”

Hero!

Don’t say such embarrassing things!

I didn’t rescue them out of pure intentions in the first place.

I just released them as a diversion to escape with Sis…

I feel so guilty.

For that reason alone, I shouldn’t receive such precious treatment.

“No, please! Don’t tell them…”

“Why? They’re really curious…”

“I hate being in the spotlight… and I just pressed the release button, that’s all.”

Seeing my discomfort, the men pressed on, asking what I meant.

But soon Ha-yeon, their sister, stepped in to mediate.

“Alright. If that’s how you feel, I can’t help it.”

“Thank you…”

“Instead, I should at least boost your sales today, right?”

Ha-yeon says, looking around Moment Bar.

At the mention of drinks, the two burly brothers also break into smiles.

“Bring us whatever you’ve got, full course! Don’t worry about the price!”

“That’s our sis…!”

The man with the cigarette laughs heartily.

Every time he laughs, cigarette smoke puffs out, tickling my nose.

Perhaps because my sense of smell has developed.

I ended up sneezing from the smell.

Jisoo worriedly tried to wipe my nose.

With a reddened face, I shook my head at her approaching figure.

“I-I’m fine… I can do it myself.”

Ha-yeon then instantly snatched her brother’s cigarette and crushed it.

“No smoking in the establishment, you rascal.”

“Ah, understood, Sis…!”

He’s soon caught in a headlock by a woman half his size.

I stared blankly at the scene.

It feels like watching Hyunsu and Jisoo in the past.

Sis used to play around like that with my brother, who was as big as a mountain.

Well, let me bring out some drinks first.

Not cocktails, just bottles…

I nervously examine the displayed liquors.

Sis picked up the most elaborate one among them.

Royal Salute 21 Years.

I grabbed her wrist as she was about to bring it out.

“I don’t think this is right.”

“Why not?”

“How should I put it… it doesn’t seem fitting for party members reuniting after a long time.”

I said, glancing at the three rankers.

They were chatting with each other, apparently delighted to meet again after so long.

Have you been well? You’ve gained weight!

No, it’s just bulking up, Sis.

Aren’t you too thin after being confined for so long, Sis?

Ha-yeon’s eyes reddened as if she couldn’t believe she was conversing with her party members again.

“It’s been so long since we’ve met like this…”

Sis seems to enjoy just talking with her two brothers.

But suddenly her smile faded at one brother’s tactless remark.

“Yeah, it would have been nice if Brother Anton was here too…”

I almost dropped the whiskey I was holding at those words.

Anton… the person Red Sand killed and used as a corpse puppet.

And also…

“Yes. If he were here…”

Ha-yeon’s former lover.

Even after death, he was controlled by Red Sand and self-destructed with her arm.

She stares at me blankly.

And at that moment.

I felt something akin to empathy in Ha-yeon’s eyes.

A sad, melancholic gaze.

That kind of gaze can only be possessed by someone who has lost someone precious.

Like me, who lost my comrades and my sister.

Now my sister has returned to my side, but conversely, she completely lost her former lover.

Seeing her like this makes my heart ache.

And that ache soon.

Turned into courage.

The courage to comfort her.

A slight apology for her dead lover being manipulated by Red Sand.

I want to try to accomplish this.

“Sis, please take care of this for a moment.”

I unconsciously called Jisoo “Sis.”

But I had something much more important to do.

Making a drink for Ha-yeon.

After countless deliberations, I confidently selected just one bottle from the display.

A drink for an old comrade, an old lover.

‘Old Par.’

I’ll make a drink with this aged blended whiskey.

Even if my skills have deteriorated significantly.

“Ha-yeon.”

I look at the ranker while holding the uniquely designed liquor.

At this moment, the person I see before me is not a successful ranker.

The image of someone who went through thick and thin with comrades since being F-rank.

Just as she was in those younger days.

“I’ll make you a cocktail.”

I left only these words.

And for the first time in a long while, I moved my fingers sensually.

I put a sugar cube in a whiskey glass.

I sprinkle Angostura bitters on it three times.

I add 15ml of plain soda water and crush the sugar well.

After crushing, I twirl the muddler around the inside of the glass to coat it with aroma.

Next, I put a large cube of ice in the cup.

I slowly pour 1 and 1/2 ounces (45ml) of Old Par over the ice.

Then a light stir.

Finally… I garnish with a cherry…

<Old Fashioned Memory>

Grade: ★★★☆(Epic)

Effect: Increases the consumer’s health by 30%. Increases composure by 5.

Information: A drink made by Siho while remembering the beautiful old days. It has a buff because it was made with consideration for the consumer’s emotions.

“Here’s your Old Fashioned.”

A soft light envelops the glass.

That beautiful drink was delivered to a woman.

I thought being a ranker automatically meant happiness…

But for her, who realized that the happiest times were spent with precious people striving to become rankers, this drink is perfect.