Ch.6060. Alcohol.

# 59.

No matter what it is, the first experience is always nerve-wracking. It’s natural since it’s the process of accepting sensations and experiences that didn’t exist in my life before.

The bottle in my hand feels much heavier than its actual weight because I’m nervous.

More precisely, it’s because of the psychological resistance along with the sense of guilt from drinking someone else’s hidden alcohol in a place like this.

I remove the plastic wrapping around the bottle’s mouth. In my ears, I keep hearing the whispers of angels and demons.

Bad experiences are better not had. You know it’s not something socially taboo for no reason.

But aren’t you curious? How much pleasure and joy must it give for people to continue with it for thousands of years despite knowing it’s bad?

My eyes spun round and round like the plastic wrapping being peeled off. Surprisingly, the weight of morality and curiosity on the scale was similar.

“…I guess once wouldn’t hurt.”

But this boringly cold world and the deprived, stifling life that had continued for over a year added weight to curiosity.

I slowly turned the cap. Unlike the cap that turned easily, my body was ridiculously tense.

Come to think of it, I was like this when I first put a cigarette in my mouth too.

Back then, there wasn’t even anyone watching me like now.

I remembered how I was anxious about getting scolded by parents who didn’t even exist, but ultimately couldn’t overcome my curiosity and put it in my mouth.

“It’s sealed tight with a cork. There wasn’t an opener here… I guess I can just open it with a knife?”

Inside the plastic was the cork stopper that everyone knows. It must have been of good quality, as the surface was clean and there were no gaps visible despite the long time that must have passed. Had it been treated somehow?

“Have you ever learned how to open wine properly?”

The robot asked as I took out a dagger from my pocket and brought it to the cork. The robot’s expression was full of worry as it looked at me. I smiled as I could tell it wanted to stop me but couldn’t quite bring itself to do so.

“No? All I’ve seen is NPCs doing it in games… I’m sure I’ll manage somehow.”

“Give it to me.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll cut your finger! Let me open it for you.”

The bottle moves away from me.

The robot inserted its thin arm into the bottle’s mouth and lifted it up very smoothly.

Was opening corks also included in its city management duties?

“Just so you know! You absolutely must not drink too much!”

“Got it.”

The robot quickly removed the cork and handed the bottle back to me with a sound of a deep sigh.

“This feels strange…”

“I feel the same way.”

My body, which had been stiff when removing the plastic wrapping, relaxed the moment I received the opened bottle.

It was because I realized that what I had thought was absolutely forbidden, a bad thing to do, wasn’t such a big deal after all.

“Sniff sniff.”

Alcohol has vastly different shelf lives depending on the ingredients, how it’s made, and how it’s stored.

Some alcohols go bad in less than a year after being made, while others don’t spoil or deteriorate even after 100 years or more of aging and are sold at high prices to enthusiasts, as I’ve often heard.

Of course, such alcohols are typically made with experts investing time and money to maintain them in perfect condition.

In a place like this, with no one to properly manage it, what are the chances that alcohol that’s been here for who knows how long would still be good?

Thinking I wasn’t sure, I took a sniff, and my first impression was…

“Huh?”

Surprisingly, really surprisingly, it was fine.

I thought a strong vinegar smell would pierce my head the moment I brought it to my nose, but somehow it must have been well-maintained, as it had a pleasantly moist, leaf-like smell.

Beneath that, I could detect the unfamiliar scent characteristic of alcohol, but again, it was better than expected.

“Somehow I vaguely thought alcohol would have a bitter, sour, irritating smell and taste. Guess that was just my prejudice.”

A subtle fruit scent, hard to find in this place, wafts up. For some reason, my heart feels heavy with the scent of wet leaves and grapes.

“Come to think of it, they used to grow plants and fruits here too.”

I recalled the facilities that have now disappeared and the robots that must have stopped working by now.

Was this wine also made by those robots in those facilities?

Though I couldn’t know the truth, I brought the bottle to my lips, self-deprecatingly noting that I couldn’t choose to just throw the alcohol away anymore.

“Ugh, my heart’s really pounding.”

Not only smoking but now drinking alcohol too—I felt like I’d become quite a bad person. At the same time, I also felt like an adult trying to recall forgotten dreams, escaping from a painful reality.

“If I ever meet my parents again, they’d scold me terribly. I should think of excuses in advance.”

…Of course, that would never happen, even if I died.

Slowly, I bring the alcohol to my lips. Watching me, the robot wore an expression that seemed to say it had given up and I could do as I pleased.

“Want to try it first?”

“No thanks!”

I offered the alcohol to the robot with a playful smile, but unlike me, the ascetic robot shook its head.

Ah. Maybe “ascetic” isn’t the right word. Unlike humans, it probably doesn’t have the senses to feel desires or urges.

Or do robots have substances purely for pleasure, like alcohol and drugs for humans, despite looking like humans?

If they do, what would it be? Scrap metal? Oil? Maybe they eat batteries or something?

That would be interesting to think about, but humans who thought of robots as tools rather than life forms probably didn’t create such functions.

A life form that doesn’t receive pleasure from external sources. That seems very wholesome, but at the same time, I thought life would be very boring.

“Alright. Now it’s really time to experience it.”

If I were a robot, I wouldn’t do something like putting this alcohol to my lips knowing it’s bad.

But I’m not a robot.

I’m just an ordinary human living to regain the happiness and human warmth I once knew.

That’s why I put the alcohol in my mouth, expecting pleasure and pretending to give in to curiosity. Like Pandora opening Zeus’s gift that should never have been opened.

—Gulp.

A fruitier flavor and a sharper aroma than expected mix inside my body.

A taste I’ve never experienced before. I’m not sure if it’s the taste or the aroma, but it’s unfamiliar and bewildering. At the same time, it’s a bit fascinating and enjoyable too.

I took a big sip of the slightly viscous liquid. The bottle, not removed from my mouth, filled the space with new alcohol as soon as it emptied.

“Phew!”

Maybe because it went down more smoothly than expected, when I took the bottle from my mouth, I naturally let out an excited breath.

Having drunk quite a lot despite saying I’d only try a sip, I swirled the bottle and muttered.

“…That wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

Alcohol is water for adults. Bad for the body, socially frowned upon, harmful in every way.

Caught up in such prejudice or social perception, I vaguely thought drinking alcohol would only lead to terrible experiences.

But that wasn’t the case. Both pouring and drinking the alcohol felt just like drinking an ordinary beverage.

Well, no matter how much happiness it brings, if the process of consuming it was terribly painful, it wouldn’t become popular, so I guess that’s natural.

“But this doesn’t seem like very strong alcohol?”

Despite drinking alcohol for the first time and taking quite a lot at once, I didn’t feel anything unusual in my body.

Am I naturally strong with alcohol like I am with illness, or is this a low-alcohol drink closer to a beverage than alcohol, given its slightly sweet taste?

But wait?

“What’s going on, why are you tilting?”

“Pardon?”

The anomaly wasn’t in me but in the world around me.

I was clearly standing in place, but the chair and the robot were tilting to the side together.

Just as I was about to take a step closer out of concern, wondering what was wrong with everyone…

“Urgh.”

“Mori?!”

I fell forward spectacularly. My vision shook, and the ground swayed. Even though I was clearly pressed flat against the floor, I felt like the ground was moving and dragging me along.

Ah. Come to think of it, the Earth is constantly rotating at a high speed, so saying the ground is dragging me along might be accurate.

Anyway, I let my guard down. I overestimated myself and underestimated the power of alcohol.

“Ugh, what’s happening, everything’s spinning…!”

My body wasn’t strong with alcohol. Rather, the opposite. I wasn’t adapting at all to this sensation I was experiencing for the first time.

Like how machines perform an emergency stop when there’s a problem, my senses that had been frozen while trying to identify the unknown substance from outside finally moved.

And all the accumulated sensations hit me at once.

“Mori…! I war…you…!”

“What are you saying? I can’t hear well…”

My mouth—throat—stomach were all burning. It felt like someone had made a small version of the heater in my bag and slammed it into my stomach.

Like many drunk people, I pressed my cheek against the floor—something I rarely get close to normally—and turned my body to lie spread-eagled.

Rolling my eyes to find some center in the spinning world, I saw a man on a cross.

The man who had been wearing a bewildered expression until just now was now looking down at me pathetically.

But in reality, there’s nothing carved on the man’s face. That is, it must be my true feelings.

“Ugh, my body feels heavy…”

I raised my upper body, avoiding his eyes. My head, which had been spinning round and round, became dull as if it had reached its limit, and I felt heat in my body. For some reason, a silly “hehe” sound escaped from my mouth on its own.

“Come to think of it… long ago, people living in cold places drank alcohol like water…”

So that’s why. Fragmented information always comes to mind only after experiencing it.

It was good to physically realize what I had vaguely known as knowledge. No, is it good? I’m not sure.

“Hehehe.”

What I can say for certain now is that the warmth I feel in my body is indescribably pleasant.

Actually, to be precise, it’s closer to heat than warmth, but I could smile because the cold wind was somewhat neutralizing the heat.

“Let me drink a little more…”

Silly pronunciations kept coming out. Next to me, the worried robot was saying something, but I couldn’t understand well.

Holding the bottle that had become quite light as its contents had spilled on the floor when I fell, I got up from where I was sitting.

“Huh? Light.”

At that moment, by some coincidence, the clouds cleared. Moonlight seeped through the collapsed wall. As if entranced, I got up and approached the collapsed wall.

Thud. I couldn’t properly maintain my balance, so even though it was a short distance, I bumped into things here and there and almost fell several times, but instinct was more amazing than I thought. I didn’t fall. Amazing!

“So bright…”

I pressed right up against the collapsed wall and looked up at the moon. I felt like something was pulling me back from behind.

So worried, really. There’s no need for that because I have no intention of falling, I’m holding onto the wall like this, and I have no intention of falling at all.

I’m going to live for a long, long time. I don’t know what I’ll achieve or what I can achieve, but at least I don’t want to die lonely in a place like this.

I look up at the moon. From ancient times, the moon has been a friend to drinkers, regardless of East or West.

I wonder why that is. Is it because the moon, floating alone in the dark night sky, looked similar to their own pitiful figure leaning against a wall or tree, drinking alone?

I felt like I could empathize with those people and the moon now. Just half.

Because I have so many friends, you know. I have drones, and robots, and a puppy too. Not to mention all the friends who might be beyond the drones!

Jealous? I giggled and moved away from the wall. I heard a sigh of relief nearby.

“Hmm…”

But wait a minute?

I may have plenty of friends, but the moon is alone. It has always been and will continue to be alone.

Sob. So pitiful. I suddenly felt overwhelmed with sympathy for the moon, which has to live like me, wandering the city alone for a lifetime.

“Sniff. I should bring it some alcohol…”

There’s not much I can do for the moon, but I can at least offer some comfort.

Saying I’ll bring it water that warms you up and makes your complicated head go blank when you drink it, I approach the alcohol I had found earlier.

“Where are you going, Mori?! You’re not going to the rooftop, are you? Right?”

“I’m going to the rooftop!”

“No, absolutely not!”

The robot keeps interfering when I’m trying to do something nice for once. Why is it acting like this?

While arguing with the robot, asking it to just let me go give a gift to the moon…

As I fell backward after my leg got caught on a chair, I once again saw the man hanging on the cross.

“Come to think of it… you must be tired of hanging there all the time, have a drink.”

I don’t know if he’ll like the alcohol left behind by the kids who were noisy here, but it’s better than nothing!

I place a bottle of alcohol under the large cross and bow my head.

Seeing me do this, the robot shouted loudly.

“This is driving me crazy!”

I wonder why the robot, which was fine until now, suddenly says it’s going crazy?

Hmm, it must have drunk alcohol while I wasn’t looking.