"It's just drinks. What's so excessive about that?"
Kotobuki strolled over carrying a full five cases of beer, looking entirely unbothered by Sebastian's concern.
"No, no, no — I mean that guy in the back. Isn't that a little excessive?" Sebastian pointed with some agitation at a bespectacled upperclassman further back, who was cradling a clear glass bottle.
The bottle had minimal labeling. Just a large "96" printed on it.
Sebastian couldn't read foreign text to save his life, but the name of this particular drink — he had heard of it.
"Oh, that bottle? That's aquavit, right? Don't worry, we're not using that as our main drink. We're not idiots."
"O-Oh, I see... that's a relief then...."
"We only break that stuff out when we run out of everything else. The taste is terrible anyway — nowhere near as satisfying as Peek-a-Boo's homemade oolong tea."
"Okay, hold on, that is completely beside the point." Sebastian turned to Nanaka. "Miss Nanaka, could you please say something to them? There's a very good chance they're going to drag me into this today whether I like it or not!"
"Oh, it's fine. Tokita and the others are always very responsible with their drinking." Nanaka's smile remained perfectly serene.
Sebastian looked at her — that unwavering, placid smile — and felt a faint ripple of unease.
She doesn't have some kind of... problem too, does she?
"Alright, Sebastian, stop bothering Miss Nanaka. Setting up a proper drinking party takes a lot of work — get over here and help!"
Kotobuki appeared at his side, and with practiced ease hooked Sebastian's neck in the crook of his bicep, physically hauling him out from behind the counter.
"S-Save me, Miss Nanaka — please, help!"
"Have fun, Sebastian!" Nanaka waved him off cheerfully.
....
Half an hour later.
"Hey, Sebastian — drink up. Why are you covering your face?"
The party had assembled. Everyone was seated. Everyone had removed their shirts.
Kotobuki, surrounded by a ring of men and holding a cup, grinned over at Sebastian tucked firmly under his arm beside him.
"He's right — you can't skip the toast. That's the single most important rule of Peek-a-Boo."
Tokita raised his cup and nodded in cheerful agreement.
"Wait a moment — when you two introduced the club to me, didn't you say Peek-a-Boo was a diving club? Why is the most important rule about drinking?"
"This kid still can't even get our club's name right! That alone warrants a punishment."
Kotobuki's expression soured. He raised his cup, fully intending to force it directly into Sebastian's mouth.
At that moment, the door to Grand Blue swung open again.
Standing in the doorway this time was a young man Sebastian had never seen before. Quite a handsome-looking fellow — who, upon taking in the hellscape inside the shop, covered his face for reasons unknown, and dropped to his knees with a thud, landing in the exact same pose as Sebastian.
It was then that something like divine inspiration struck.
Through the gaps in his fingers, Sebastian caught sight of the young man kneeling in the doorway. A surge of emotion rose in him, and he bellowed at the top of his lungs:
"Run. This place is not what it looks like!"
The young man at the door froze. He slowly lifted his head. His eyes met Sebastian's — Sebastian, who was being held in a headlock — and then in an instant he scrambled to his feet and bolted out of the shop.
"Do you two know each other?" Kotobuki gave Sebastian a mildly puzzled look.
"Never met him in my life. It just felt like the right moment to shout something like that."
Sebastian answered with complete honesty.
"Fair enough. Now then — the party continues. Come on, Sebastian, down this cup. Consider it your initiation drink — think of it as a welcome party just for you."
"No. I don't want the drink, I don't want the welcome party, I don't want any of it — let me go!"
While Sebastian was still struggling, the door to Grand Blue opened once more. This time, the one who stepped inside was the uncle himself — Toshio Kotegawa.
Uncle Kotegawa swept his gaze around the shop, took in the scene, and scratched his snow-white hair with a mildly puzzled expression.
"Strange — hasn't Iori come in yet? I told him to get off early and head straight here."
"Iori? Uncle, who's Iori?" Kotobuki released his hold on Sebastian and looked over at the uncle, puzzled.
"Oh, right, I don't think I've mentioned him. He's a distant nephew of mine — he's starting at Izu University this year too, so he'll be staying with me for the time being." The uncle smiled.
"Oh? In that case, Kotobuki—" Tokita, upon hearing this, shot to his feet with a crash, sending his seat scraping back.
"You're thinking exactly what I'm thinking, Tokita—" Kotobuki rose slowly, the expression on his face shifting into something feral.
"A freshman!!"
The two of them launched themselves toward the door and sprinted outside.
"My chance — now!"
Sebastian seized the moment, made a break for the exit — and was immediately grabbed by the ankles by a wall of nameless upperclassmen behind him.
"Ha, you must be Sebastian! Heard you're a foreign exchange student — come on, let's drink to the new recruit!"
"Hey, I heard you're from the Kingdom of Angel. Where's that exactly? I've never seen it on any map."
"Oh, forget all that boring stuff — there's only one thing you do at a drinking party. Now come on, bottoms up!"
In an instant, Sebastian was seized by more hands than he could count, like something dragging him toward a bottomless pit.
But Sebastian was no pushover. Since arriving in this world, he had endured trials far beyond what an ordinary person could imagine. He twisted left, ducked right, and through sheer stubborn effort wrenched himself free from all those grasping hands and charged toward the door and freedom.
Ding. A daily mission has been triggered.
At that precise moment, something smacked the back of his head hard. He stopped dead in his tracks, clutching his skull, his feelings extremely complicated.
Because the daily mission that had just activated read:
"At the welcome drinking party, defeat all who stand in your way. Reward: 5 mission points."
"You've got to be kidding me. I was literally two steps from the exit!" Sebastian raged internally — and then immediately wavered.
Five points. Normal daily missions only give one. Complete this one and I can cash in for an ability fruit right away....
But when he turned and saw the pack of upperclassmen behind him, crouched and ready to pounce, Sebastian's resolve wobbled in an entirely unsurprising direction.
If it came to a brawl, he had zero chance. He hadn't unlocked any stat enhancements yet, and his body — ravaged by years of alcohol — was frankly more fragile than the average person's.
Then there's only one way to do this. If I want those 5 points, I'm going to have to spend some first.
"Fortune favors the bold!"
He roared, killed his own momentum, and wheeled around to face the oncoming upperclassmen with a glare.
"Stop. I'm demanding a fair fight!"
"What?"
The upperclassmen, surprised that Sebastian wasn't running anymore, drew up short and watched him, waiting for an explanation.
"First of all — this many people trying to pour drinks into one person is completely unfair. So here's my proposal: we do a proper drinking contest, all of us together. I drink one cup of that, and every single one of you drinks one cup of that too."
He pointed at the clear bottle the bespectacled upperclassman had brought in, then turned back to face the crowd and put on his best imitation of Kotobuki's unhinged expression.
"What's the matter — don't tell me you're scared? Don't tell me you're only brave enough to gang up on a brand-new member?"
"Excuse me?! This kid's got some nerve! Alright everyone — let's show him what we're made of!"
Right on cue, the room full of drunks erupted in indignation, every one of them clamouring to teach this junior a lesson.
Perfect.
The moment the energy in the room hit the right pitch, Sebastian threw open his system shop.
He had no choice. If this were a straight drinking contest, Sebastian wouldn't survive a single cup. Without cheating, he'd just be carried out.
"Angel. I don't care if you're listening or playing dead — find me something useful, and fast. If these people finish me off and I end up back in the heavenly realm, I will be filing a formal complaint about you."
Whether the threat worked or something else did it, the system shop flickered and distorted — and settled on exactly two items.
"Powerful Anesthetic (Oral)" — "Powerful Revival Medicine (Oral)"
Both counted as ordinary items, priced at one mission point each. Sebastian had exactly two mission points on hand. He bought them both without hesitation.
In the next instant, two pills — one large, one small — materialized in his palm.
He raised his head slowly and looked at the upperclassmen cracking their knuckles, grinning at him with entirely unwholesome intent. A cold smile spread across his own face.
"You all love to drink, do you? Then let me give you something with a real kick. Don't say I didn't warn you."
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