The Aftermath and New Discoveries

However, my own social skills weren’t particularly great either.
Unable to find anything to say, I hesitated for a moment, then chose to remain silent.

‘If I were to ask what was wrong and he said ‘nothing,’ I’d be at a loss for words.’

“But is Iskaria solo clear even possible? Considering the damage, you’d need a healer, wouldn’t you?”

“Hmm… if you spend some money and stock up on potions, it’s possible.”

“They say if you drink too many potions, you get a debuff; is that true? I’ve never drunk that many. Potions are expensive too.”

“In a way, it is a debuff. The amount of healing restored by potions decreases. Solo clearing itself usually has more losses than gains, so unless you’re trying to exploit the content like me, it’s better to go with a party. Of course, solo clear is much better than a public party…”

He trailed off, chuckling softly, and tapped his beer glass with his fingertip.
It was certainly much better to go alone than to join a public party.

At least there wouldn’t be any stress-induced gastritis flaring up because of trolls.
I nodded, then looked at the guild members with a somewhat fresh perspective.

Even though they had split from their previous guild, it couldn’t have been easy to gather so many capable people in a new guild.
Especially those two.

“I have a question: Han Do-yoon-ssi, why did you settle down in our guild? You had a guild before, didn’t you?”

“That is…”

“Ehh, there’s no specific reason to switch guilds. He probably just wanted to get closer to you guys!”

Jung Taewon cut off Han Do-yoon, who was hesitating.
‘Is it a bit much to ask why he wanted to get closer?’
Indeed, it would be strange if there was a specific reason for wanting to get closer.

“Then what happened to your previous guild? Didn’t they say anything?”

“How should I put this… it was a guild made for streamers to hang out comfortably, so attendance was flexible. Well, if someone made close friends and wanted to move guilds, stopping them would be a bit much, wouldn’t it?”

I nodded in mild understanding at Jung Taewon’s shrug and continued drinking.

It seemed I’d been vaguely agreeing to a lot of things lately.

“But where are we going for the second round? The bar Seyoung-nim mentioned earlier?”

“Karaoke would be nice too! I’m tone-deaf in this area, so I can defile all your ears.”

‘Can’t we just drink here until we’ve had our fill and then go home?’
‘Do we really have to go for a second and third round?’

It hadn’t been long since I left home, and I already wanted to go back.

While I gazed into the distance, the consensus was forming to go to karaoke for the second round and a bar for the third.
With these people, the probability of them actually doing that was excessively high.

Loud places like karaoke made my head ache, so I was a bit reluctant.
It would be better to go to the PC bang again.

Of course, the best option would be to finish the party and go home.
I hesitated, wondering if I should speak up, but Jung Taewon raised his hand, attracting attention… no, he took the right to speak.

“Instead of karaoke, can’t we just go to the PC bang again? I’m craving some games.”

“You’re going to drink and then go to Iskaria? You’ll get wiped.”

“We can make a bet. How about the first person to die shouts ‘I’m bald’ 50 times? Wouldn’t that make everyone try to survive somehow?”

“Then how about we go to a bar for the second round and the PC bang for the third? What we’ve drunk now won’t even touch us, so it’ll be like playing games completely sober.”

“Oh, good idea! The penalty should be for the first person to die and the person who dies the most! It’s no fun with just one person!”

‘Is this a ‘dragging everyone down with me’ strategy?’
‘What if nobody dies?’

Watching the cheering guild members, I inadvertently clapped along.
‘They’ll only learn their lesson when they’re the ones getting caught.’

A thought suddenly occurred to me: ‘Should I use the Berserker’s characteristic of having high HP for a DPS, and assassinate the others?’
‘I might not get PatchNote, but I think I could kill the others.’
‘Come to think of it… it’s not bad?’
‘No, it’s actually pretty good?’

“Sounds good. Let’s go to the bar for the second round.”

“What? Why are you suddenly so enthusiastic?”

“I’m confident I can kill everyone… no, that I won’t die.”

‘I’m confident I can kill everyone except me.’

I casually let the words slip, and as Im Hyerin stood up to pay, I reached out and stopped her.
She tilted her head in confusion, shifting her gaze towards me.

“Upload the bank account number to the group chat. We need to split the cost, right?”

“Kids who can’t earn money, step aside. The adults will split it.”

“That’s right. Kids, step aside!”

“Why? I’m saying I’ll pay for what I ate.”

“SoonToDie has already earned his keep just by showing up! Kids, be quiet!”

‘Twenty-five, soon to be twenty-six after the year passes, and they’re calling me a kid?’

Nonsense.

I sprang from my seat and followed behind Im Hyerin, asking the part-timer for the receipt.

He handed it to me with an indifferent expression.

Checking the amount, I looked at her in surprise.

Perhaps because it was the first round and we had planned to drink lightly, it wasn’t as much as I expected.

The problem was that in that short time, they had emptied over 20 glasses of beer?

Among those, I drank two glasses, and Han Do-yoon barely finished one. Even with all of us, it was a lot.
‘Will they even be able to go for a second round with full stomachs?’

“Earning money doesn’t mean you can spend it lavishly, you know.”

“This is why kids just don’t get it!”

“That’s right. Money is earned to be spent. How many people these days go to meet the Lord from overwork? What if we don’t spend it now? You can’t take money with you when you die. You have to leave it on earth.”

“But didn’t OneHitForTheLord-nim say he was Buddhist? Don’t Buddhists believe in reincarnation?”

“Namu Amida Butsu.”

“Just pick one, just one.”

At Lee Seyoung’s jab, Kim Hyunho changed the subject, asking her to understand that it was part of his concept.

I couldn’t help but laugh, covering my mouth with my hand, at their ability to say everything while bickering.
‘They are… truly pleasant people.’

(2)

“Enough joking, let’s go for the second round! I wonder if it’s open now.”

“What time is it now? It won’t open until the sun sets.”

“We met too early. I guess we should have met later.”

I was startled by the suggestion that next time, we should set a proper date and eat and drink for two days and one night.

‘What could they possibly have so much to talk about to spend two days and one night?’
‘Just have some fun and then say goodbye.’

I quietly clicked my tongue, watching them order more beer, claiming it wasn’t enough, even though they had already paid.

‘At this rate, they’ll just settle in here permanently.’
My prediction wasn’t far off, and I could faintly hear the chicken restaurant owner’s laughter and the part-timer’s groans in my imagination.

While I briefly went to the restroom, the part-timer approached with a professional smile and began collecting the soju bottles, which I didn’t know when they had been consumed.

‘How many bottles did they drink?’

I scanned the surroundings in bewilderment, and there were more and more people whose faces were turning red as the alcohol began to take effect.

They drank and ordered again, drank and ordered again.

Now, the time spent drinking was longer than the time spent talking.
‘Is this really okay?’

“Ah, you have to drink what an elder gives you! Don’t you?!”

“That’s right, yes… yes…”

“Down the hatch! Chug, chug, chug, chug!”

“Why are you acting like an old fart?”

“Hey! Who are you calling an old fart! I am! Still a blooming thirty-year-old!”

‘Then don’t say old-fashioned things.’

Han Do-yoon must have been forced to drink while I was distracted because he was nodding, holding his glass.

His flushed face clearly showed he wasn’t in his right mind.

I snatched his glass, thinking he might die at this rate, and Han Do-yoon looked at me wistfully, his damp eyes red.

‘He’s not going to cry just because I took his alcohol, is he?’

Even though I returned the glass, just in case, his gaze wouldn’t leave me.

I tried to call Jung Taewon to find out what was wrong with him, but unfortunately, he had also lost his senses.

‘What? How much did he drink?’

“Ah, teachers! Another round!”

“Drink! Drink!”

“Whoaaah! Good job, good job! This guy knows how to party!”

“I know how to party! Come on, next round!”

‘They’re acting like idiots.’
Even Kim Hyunho, who was engrossed in his concept, seemed unable to defeat alcohol, mixing informal and formal speech while being held by Im Hyerin.

“Hey, we’re seriously becoming friends, okay? You get it?”

“Get it.”

“If you say we weren’t friends tomorrow, you’re dead. You get it?”

“Get it.”

Meanwhile, Lee Seyoung claimed the snacks were all gone and, along with Jung Taewon, grabbed the part-timer to order a sausage platter.

“This comes with French fries, right? And also… this order. Oh, and three red caps too!”

“I want to eat this.”

“Then add this too!”

“Whoaah! Let’s go!”

‘Who’s going to eat all that if you order so much? Do you have enough stomach space to eat it all?’

Clutching my forehead, I tried to intercept the menu, but I was pulled helplessly by a hand that grabbed my shoulder.
These drunkards were all so strong that I, the weak one, couldn’t handle them.

“SoonToDieee! You have to drink too! Why are you just sitting there alone?! Are you saying you can’t drink the alcohol your noona is giving you?!”

“—Ah, what kind of bullshit is this again…”

“You have to do the penalty! You can’t be the only one skipping out on drinking! This is all part of social life!”

“I’ve never seen such an old fart.”

I suppressed my annoyance, watching to see what penalty they would make me do, then gaped in astonishment.

A 500cc empty beer glass was filled to the brim with soju.

That’s right. That was my penalty shot.

Just as I was about to ask if it wasn’t too much, Im Hyerin’s soul-stirring line made me pick up the beer glass.

“Scared?”

‘Huh, seriously! Ha, seriously! It’s not that I’m weak to alcohol, it’s that the place became a mess while I was in the restroom, and I was trying to clean up, which is why I wasn’t drinking, okay? What do you take me for!’