Chapter 23

One of the mindsets a Michelin restaurant employee must have.

It’s the confident attitude of selling a 500-won fried egg for ten thousand won.

Keeping that in mind, I shouted toward the men in the cave.

“Everyone, pay attention!”

As people’s eyes turned to me, I pulled a sticky note from my pocket.

“This is talisman paper I got from a famous male shaman in Yeonnam-dong! Corporate CEOs and city councilors line up to get their fortunes read at this place!”

Could a cheap sticky note pass for a famous shaman’s yellow locust paper?

The moment people’s gazes focused, I drew the transformation magic circle on the front page of the sticky note.

And as soon as I slapped it onto my face, a reaction came immediately.

“The red liquid changed!”

“What the heck is that!”

“The red stuff turned clear!”

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash.

I drew magic circles down several sticky notes and held them out to the people.

“Stick these on, and your wives will vomit up the alcohol!”

Doubt and shock flickered in the men’s eyes, but soon turned into intense longing.

“So if we stick that on our bodies, they’ll return to normal?”

“Yeah! Like putting talismans on a zombie!”

“Damn, am I the only one who doesn’t understand what’s going on?”

In this situation, what I was really worried about was Saya.

I was afraid she might notice the strangeness of that magic circle.

But you gotta survive first, right?

There’s nothing more ironic than dying while hiding the fact that you’re a mage just because you didn’t want to die.

That’s when Saya spoke quietly.

“If it were me, I would have hidden the talismans until I met the magician behind them. So I could strike where it hurts. Helping those people yields too little benefit.”

“Still, it makes me feel better.”

“Feel better… Hmph.”

Did Saya just laugh?

A stunning beauty smiles.

Just that alone brightened the cave’s atmosphere as if flowers had bloomed for a moment.

“I’ll take back what I said about no benefit. If the men draw the Bacchantes’ attention with the talismans, I’ll target the mastermind behind this incident.”

In other words, it was a proposal for a diversionary tactic.

Even to me, it sounded highly reasonable.

“Saya, I was actually aiming for that.”

“Don’t lie.”

# # #

Ju Doyeon watched the women rampaging under the red rain, lost in thought.

Her mother, always drunk, throwing punches, screaming, breaking things, harming herself.

Ju Doyeon absolutely despised alcohol.

Even though she herself was born with bloodline magic that heightened her senses by falling into ecstasy.

And yet, when she went to Greece, she found a single drinking cup in an antique shop.

It reeked of foul alcohol.

「Magic Cup Kantaros」.

An ancient magical tool.

The moment it touched her hand, she understood instinctively.

That those who drank the wine from that cup would go mad and run wild.

Ju Doyeon returned to Korea, found a good location, and built a winery.

Bacchus Winery.

Every wine produced there carried the power of that magic cup.

She built her strength and wealth on Gyeryusan Mountain.

To reach the end of the magical arts, the deepest desire of mages.

She was one step away from that long-cherished wish.

“Membership in the Society is right around the corner. I can’t let anyone interfere. No one.”

She would take the place of the missing Isan’s woman and become a Society member.

They are those who know about ‘mages,’ so being with them would give her the highest chance of reaching the pinnacle of magic.

That was what the winery was for.

Enduring the alcohol and drunkards she didn’t even like was solely for that purpose.

‘It seems like an obstacle appeared today of all days, but it’s fine.’

‘I’m in control of the situation.’

However, contrary to Ju Doyeon’s confidence, something strange happened.

“Ugh! Honey! Are you coming to your senses!?”

“Miyeong!”

The drunken women rampaging around began to regain their wits one by one.

Just as she wondered what on earth was going on, she spotted the yellowish paper the men were holding.

“What’s that.”

Ju Doyeon leaped from the rooftop of a tall building.

Beneath her feet, red liquids transformed into round discs, floating her up gently.

“Who are you people? Why are you fine?”

Ju Doyeon landed softly on the ground and approached one of the couples.

They appeared to be a married couple in their mid-forties.

But right now, there was something more important than that.

“First, since you’re noisy, shut up.”

As Ju Doyeon swung her arm, the wine that had been gathered into a soccer-ball-sized sphere around her sliced through the man’s waist like a sharp blade.

Shhhk.

The man’s body slid diagonally apart, and his wife’s face turned ashen.

“Kyaaaah! H-Honeyyy!”

“You fool, is this the time to worry about your husband? Why did you come to your senses?”

Peel. Ju Doyeon tore off the paper stuck to the woman’s forehead.

The identity of that yellowish paper was.

“A sticky note?”

Shapes were drawn on it all crooked.

Just that.

She thought it might be some great talisman, but it wasn’t.

She couldn’t feel even a trace of special mysticism or magic.

And that was what creeped her out.

“…………….What is this?”

Could a picture roughly drawn on a sticky note possibly return a human intoxicated by the magic cup’s power to normal?

She’d never heard of such magic.

Such a thing shouldn’t exist.

‘Drunkards waking up from alcohol is supposed to be that easy?’

Her body trembled.

‘Screw that! Then what about my life, being abused every single night until my drunk mother sobered up?!’

Ju Doyeon glared at the women and the men supporting them.

She clenched her molars so hard her teeth nearly cracked.

“Mom! Mom, let’s go! Mom!”

“Ugh, Dohyeong…”

“Eckrix!”

Bubble, bubble, bubble.

The red sphere floating in the air frothed and boiled, then sharpened like a puffed-up pufferfish.

Shhk, shhk, shhk, shhk, shhk, shhk.

The red liquid burst in every direction like bullets.

Finally, everything fell silent, leaving only the sound of rain.

Ju Doyeon savored the stillness.

After all, she was a 38-year-old single woman who enjoyed calm classical music and coffee.

But the very next moment, a wrinkle formed between her brows.

“Aaaaaah!“

Someone screamed loudly.

As if trying to expel all the air from their lungs.

She turned her head and her eyes landed on a tacky, soaked, undignified tracksuit.

“What, there was a transfer student?”

Perfect timing.

Just when she desperately needed to recover her magical power to make up for the massive magic ritual covering Gyeryusan Mountain today.

I’ll turn that man into ‘juice.’

‘No, actually, should I soak him in wine like the other men? It can’t hurt to look good to the Society’s drunkards. Transfer students make particularly good wine, so I’ll save him as a gift.’

Ju Doyeon moved the red sphere once more.

“Repi-da.”

The moment she chanted the incantation meaning blade, the red sphere elongated into a sharp-edged weapon.

It wouldn’t hurt to blow off a leg or two.

With that thought, she launched the wine blade.

Shhhk.

‘I hate loud noises, so I hope he doesn’t scream too much.’

……

……

“Huh?”

Ju Doyeon, who had been frowning in advance, soon realized something was wrong.

Because the man hadn’t let out a single sound.

No, he was actually perfectly fine.

Only the clothes he was wearing had been torn, and something like foil gleamed underneath.

“Cooking foil? Hah.”

It wasn’t funny.

Who on earth figured out something like that to annoy people?

“Hey, transfer student, don’t tell me these sticky notes are your doing too?”

Instead of answering, the man ran.

Tap, tap, tap. The way he sprinted across the water was so straightforward it made her yawn.

“An ill-mannered brat who won’t answer when spoken to.”

I’ll turn his bones and organs into pulp.

Ju Doyeon launched a hammer-shaped mass of wine at the man.

“Spiri!”

But the moment it struck the man, something bizarre happened.

The moment the red wine touched his body, it turned into clear water and scattered to the ground.

Shhhh.

“Hey, lady! So it looks like what you can control is limited to wine, huh?”

“What the.”

She had no time to wonder what was happening.

Because a heavy fist slammed into her face like a baseball bat hitting a ball.

Thwack!

# # #

“Honey! Are you coming to your senses?”

“Ugh…“

“Let’s get into the cave quickly! Hurry!”

The men embraced their wives and lovers.

Even as they were bitten and struck with stones by their crazed women, they refused to let go of their partners, dragging them into the cave.

My ‘sticky note tactic’ was working.

Along with a thrilling sense of accomplishment, the sight of couples desperately protecting each other made my heart clench with emotion.

So that’s what real love is.

A one-day ‘rental boyfriend’ couldn’t even dream of imitating that.

However.

“Eckrix!”

Shhk, shhk, shhk, shhk, shhk!

The moment that short-haired woman appeared, the atmosphere froze in an instant.

She mercilessly cut people down with red orbs formed by condensing wine in midair.

Watching people get shredded without even a chance to scream, my mind went completely blank.

“Aaaaaah!“

Killing with no hesitation and no guilt.

Was that thing even the same species as me?

If I stayed still, I’d become one of those blood-red fragments too.

The one saving grace was that I’d figured out that woman could only control ‘wine.’

“Hey, lady! So it looks like what you can control is limited to wine, huh?”

And that most attacks could be blocked by my cooking foil armor.

I kicked off the ground with all my might.

Thwack.

The tip of my clenched fist met the feeling of a hard skull.

The woman slammed into the ground and writhed in pain.

“Ugh…Ugh…”

Even so, she got back up.

“This son of a bitch…how dare you…call me…a lady…”

She got up even after taking a punch to the jaw from my fist. She’s tough.

It’s not like mages have superior physical abilities compared to everyone else.

“You’re dead, you fucking bastard!”

In her raised hand was a golden drinking cup with handles on both sides.

The woman, blood dripping from her nose, shouted into the air.

“Sing! Father of Vomit! Your fury!”

Whoooosh.

The wines began swirling and gathering toward the golden cup.

And when the woman lightly swung the cup, the torrent lunged at me.

That woman’s magic won’t be able to penetrate the cooking foil armor and the transformation magic circle drawn on it.

The moment the wine touches my body, it’ll turn to water, lose its power, and scatter to the ground.

That’s what I thought, but searing pain raced through my body.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

“Ugh-hk!”

It felt like I was being pummeled by fighter’s fists.

I forced my eyes open, wondering what on earth was happening, and saw gravel raining down from my body.

The surging torrent of wine had gravel mixed in.

Because it was physical impact, even my cooking foil tracksuit couldn’t block it.

In other words, a gravel shotgun.

“Ah damn, time out!”

“Sing!”

Thump, thump, thump.

The gravel kept striking my body.

I managed to protect my face somehow, but I could feel bones breaking and cracking.

“Sing!”

“Urrrrr…!”

That’s when Boribori, who had been diligently following behind me, raised her tail stiffly.

Though Boribori was also leaping this way and that to dodge the torrents and gravel flying from every direction.

At that moment, lying face down on the ground, I looked at the fragments scattered around.

“…All…”

They were all dead.

Even the people who seemed to still be alive were hit by the flying gravel and lost their forms.

What happened to Saya, who said she’d pull off a diversion?

No, snap out of it. Is this the time to worry about others?

This was truly a life-or-death crisis.

Which makes it the perfect time to test the magic incantation I’d thought of.

I squeezed every bit of air from my lungs and shouted.

“Tembel!”

My hand, stretched out with effort, pointed at the woman before me and the golden cup she held.

The next moment, Boribori let out a fierce growl and swung her tail.

And just like she had done to me once before.

The tip of that tail struck the back of the woman’s hand with perfect precision.

Smack!

A loud sound rang out, and the woman dropped the cup.

Clang, rolling away.

‘I knew it! I believed that if I said that word, Boribori would hit them with her tail!’

This is all thanks to observing Boribori carefully!

The woman seemed to realize only belatedly that she had dropped the cup.

“Huh? What, what! What the hell! What did you just do! What kind of spell was that!”

Taking advantage of her shock, I squeezed out my remaining strength and kicked off the ground.

The woman bent down as if to pick up the cup that had fallen to the ground, but my leg, kicked up with all my might, caught her face at a perfect angle.

THWACK!

“Guuueeek!”

The woman flipped over and trembled like a frog.

Just to be safe, I smashed my fist into her jaw a few more times before I felt somewhat relieved.

“Haah, lady, you won’t be pulling any more weird tricks now.”

All the strength drained from my body.

If it weren’t for the cooking foil armor and Boribori, I would’ve been beaten to death by that gravel.

“…So, is this finally over?”

Shoooosh.

But the red rain still wouldn’t stop.

Boribori was still letting out low growls, as if on edge.

“…Is there something more?”

Saya came to mind.

And her words about going to eliminate the ‘mastermind’ behind this incident.