Black Badger

That's what I heard.

"Hesi, what's your impression of your first drink?"

"I haven't had any yet!"

"Redheaded kid, don't look so down. Come in and sit down."

A barrage of words poured in.

I awkwardly smiled and responded appropriately to the comments from the seniors I hadn't even introduced myself to yet—things like, "Finally getting to drink!" or "You surviving under Senior Yoon?" or "Are your eyes natural?"

There were too many seniors. And most of them were strangers, so it was overwhelming.

A group of seniors who seemed to have formed their own Badger basketball club rushed toward us en masse.

"We've been waiting for our newbies!"

They dragged Hesi away.

Hesi, clueless about what was happening, was pulled along by the tall seniors like a pole.

Ami shouted at the backs of the receding Badgers.

"Don't bully him!"

After shouting, she looked up at me and Tom.

"How much alcohol can you two handle?"

I had no idea.

I stood there blankly next to Tom, who confessed that he wasn't much of a drinker. I didn't hate alcohol. I used to enjoy brewing and drinking it with things like apples.

But I couldn't remember my tolerance.

Ami noticed my silent state and quietly led me and Tom away.

We sat down at a round table.

"The food on this table looks pretty good."

Paella, empanadas, ham fries, shrimp salad topped with avocado, and more were set out. Each table had different foods.

Over there was dim sum. On the opposite table, scallops and sashimi.

There were also boxes stacked high with various alcohols.

The varieties of liquor were dizzyingly diverse.

"If you want to try something else, just say so. I'll steal some for you."

Ami said this while pouring water steadily into our cups.

"If you want to go drink with other seniors, feel free. And if you want to escape, text SOS on your phone. I'll come rescue you."

"I'm the most senior here!" Ami declared proudly, lifting her chin.

Tom and I chuckled at the same time.

"Thank you."

"Thank you. I'm planning to go say hi to Angela when she arrives."

Tom looked at Ami with eyes like he was seeing a little sister.

I understood his attitude. In my eyes, too, Ami seemed like a much younger sibling.

In my case, she actually was a much younger sibling.

I held back the urge to pat her round head when a group of people approached our table.

The one in front patted Ami's head.

"Don't pat me!"

Snap!

Ami whipped her head around in anger.

The person who patted her pulled his hand away from her head and chuckled.

He was an Asian man wearing a loose black hoodie and joggers.

"You trying to hog all the rookies, kid?"

His voice sounded familiar.

"You should keep your greed in check."

"Nope."

Ami looked up at the man with a sulky expression.

"Tvaine's over there, so go to him, Chen."

Following the tip of Ami's finger, I saw Tvain sitting with his legs up on a round table. Next to him was a man with his curly hair tied back in a single ponytail.

Ah!

This Chen guy—he was the one who was talking to Tvain right after my introduction!

Memories from a few months ago resurfaced. The conversation I overheard while stuck in the corner on Yoon's orders. There were three people there, and one voice kept agreeing with Jason Tvain's words back then.

That voice belonged to this guy.

He probably didn't like me...

"Go to your friends. Hurry."

"I am. But wait. Is your hair color natural?"

Not really.

There was no malice in the question he tossed out.

I turned toward him.

"Yes. It's natural."

"Wow, that's amazing. Gray hair?"

Maybe.

In the world I came from, natural white hair was common. But I knew well that on Earth, white hair meant aging.

"I'm not sure."

"What? You haven't been to the hospital?"

"Hospital?"

"Chen! Don't say rude things!"

Ami snapped in annoyance.

Chen looked completely puzzled, as if he had no idea why that was rude. His wide eyes stared down at Ami innocently, with no hint of malice.

"You really look like our house dog!"

Ami's impending lecture was cut off by someone else.

The woman standing next to Chen, who had been staring at me intently, leaned her head forward.

There was no malice in her voice either.

"Your white hair is so pretty."

"Oh, so the dog has white fur?"

"Yeah! Her name is Sugar!"

"Hey, isn't that even ruder?"

Chen grinned at the woman with her curly hair tightly tied back.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged casually, looking utterly carefree.

"You're calling her a dog?"

"Chen, get lost."

A seductive voice interrupted.

More new people kept popping up, and it was disorienting. I blinked at the woman who walked over leisurely and grabbed Chen's shoulder.

She had dark brown skin and silky black hair flowing like silk.

She was the senior who had rested her chin on her hand and asked a question during my introduction.

With her striking beauty that would turn heads wherever she went, the senior smiled sweetly at the blinking Chen.

"You're not even pouring drinks yet, and you're being no fun?"

Her name is Ria, apparently.

She chased away Chen and his group who had swarmed us. The senior draped her arm around Chen's shoulder and walked toward Tvain's table.

On the way, she patted Ami's head and gave a gentle smile to us who were blankly watching the scene.

We silently watched their retreating backs.

Chen taking a seat next to Tvain and the curly-haired man.

Ami, who had gulped down her water, explained.

"Those three always hang out together. You've met Jason Tvain, right?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. At the Library of Beginnings."

"Oppa and I call those three Iljin, Ijin, and Samjin."

Huh?

Ami pointed sequentially at Jason Tvain, Chen, and the curly-haired man with her palm.

"Jason's the leader type, so Iljin. Chen's the one who laughs along, so Ijin. And the one with his own world, Samjin. Short for Jinjins."

"...Huh."

"The curly-haired one has his own world?"

Tom asked cautiously.

Ami nodded vigorously. Her round head bobbed up and down, which was amusing.

She lowered her voice meaningfully and added.

"No matter what happens today, you can't go to Samjin's table."

"...Bad drinker?"

"He just endlessly repeats his personal highlight reel of achievements."

Her whispering, leaning forward, was full of sincerity.

"Samjin's table is guaranteed atmosphere destroyer."

The tables were starting to fill up.

I had to stand up frequently to greet familiar faces and those who came to check out the new recruits. Apparently, one of the fun points of the year-end party was the newbies' drinking initiation. Once the high command arrived, the year-end party would officially start, and it was tradition for Ye-hyeon to pour drinks for that year's new recruits.

That's how the newbies took their first drink in front of the seniors after getting their augmented body.

It was a story passed on by Ricardo, who had draped his arm over my shoulder while I was standing to greet Richard.

"You didn't sneak a drink already, did you~?"

"As if."

I replied to the green-eyed senior who grinned slyly.

Then I bowed my head to the man standing expressionlessly beside him.

"Senior. Hello."

Jonathan Kudo didn't respond.

He just nodded at me with a face like he was wondering who I was.

He was someone even more impressive than Yoon, in some way.

At least Choi Yoon remembered the names of people he'd met once. Seeing this neat senior reminded me of the gray-haired genius scientist in the lab.

The star of the scientific world and the lab's NPC.

He was probably holed up in the lab that day too, doing research like a plant...

"Ugh!"

I freaked out seeing John Mullen getting off the elevator with Ro.

"What!"

"Ah~."

Ricardo pressed down on my shoulder and laughed.

The green eyes curved into crescents at the sight of John and Ro.

"Ro must have dragged him here~."

John Mullen walked out of the elevator like a robot.

I stared in astonishment at the tall man following behind Giacomo Ro. The scientist walked through the hall stiffly, like an old tree.

The Badgers turning to look at him suggested that his attendance was indeed rare.

I definitely had to avoid that table.

Ricardo, amused by my terrified reaction, left after seating me and patting my shoulder.

"Ask the supreme commander to pour you the most expensive drink later~."

You got to choose your preferred liquor.

"One-shot is etiquette, so pick something with alcohol content you can handle~."

The seats filled up quickly.

I greeted the excited Barbie at the year-end party (thank goodness her prosthetic leg wasn't bothering her at all), and while listening to Shu talk about last year, it was almost time for the high command to arrive.

By then, most of the people milling around the hall had taken their seats.

The chatter had died down to whispers.

As Yoon, who entered almost last, pulled out the chair next to me and sat down, the elevator dinged to a stop.

"Hello."

Ye-hyeon entered the now utterly silent space.

"Everyone's gathered."

The aides and the HR director followed behind.

The Badgers rose en masse from their seats.

The year-end party had begun.

*

Ye-hyeon wasn't one for long speeches.

There was a neat, short greeting. The supreme commander at the head table picked up the microphone and delivered the year-end address. The boss recited this year's achievements crisply and conveyed hopes for everyone to push hard next year too.

The hall buzzed at the mention of plans for territory reclamation next year.

But the buzz didn't last long. As the high command stood and bowed in unison, applause filled the hall.

Then, gazes flew toward us.

"The newbies should receive their drinks."

HR Director Kang Joo smiled brightly at us.

"Hesi, Tom, Hilde. Come here."

Wow.

Receiving drinks under the attention of all these seniors like this.

Of course, I couldn't voice any complaints. We hurriedly stood and rushed to the head table. Ye-hyeon watched us with a faint smile, Ska grinned widely, the brown-haired aide gave a soft smile.

We lined up in the order called, and Ye-hyeon looked at Hesi and asked.

"What do you want to drink?"

"I'll have dark beer!"

Hesi answered loudly and crisply, standing at attention.

I heard the seniors whispering and chuckling about Hesi's choice. Something like, "It's been a while since someone's picked dark beer," or "You get more entertainment if they pick something stronger than beer," or "They stocked a new dark beer this time—maybe that's what he wanted?"

Ye-hyeon nodded and requested the most expensive dark beer.

The top boss uncorked the bottle with his pale hand and poured the beer.

He poured the same beer into his own glass and raised it.

"Come on, you've worked hard adapting to your augmented body."

"Thank you!"

Clink!

The glasses met with a cheerful sound.

Hesi downed the dark beer in one go.

"Please take care of me from now on!"

Applause poured in. Cheers too. The seniors burst into laughter and whistles at Hesi's rigid salute.

He was always full of energy.

The seniors' joyful cheers grew even louder when Hesi failed to control his strength while setting down the glass.

Crash!

"Ugh."

"That's it!"

For some reason, the seniors were purely delighted by the shattered beer glass.

"You have to drink one for each broken glass today, newbie!"

Tom probably didn't think this flashy debut suited him.

Indeed, Tom seemed a bit deflated by Hesi's boisterous initiation.

Seeing that, Ye-hyeon silenced the room with a single gesture.

"What will you have?"

"Uh, I'll take wine."

"Red? White? Sparkling?"

"I like them all."

"Then drink the most expensive one."

Wine was brought over to where Ye-hyeon was.

Tom panicked and said something like it didn't have to be that expensive, but Ye-hyeon waved it off casually.

"This is all we have. Reserve red wine, 700,000 won a bottle."

"Whoa!"

The crowd applauded Ye-hyeon's words.

They enjoyed watching Tom fidget as Ye-hyeon uncorked the bottle beside him.

"700,000 won this year!"

"Wine is expensive after all. Huh?"

"Wise choice, newbie!"

"That was the wine I wanted to drink!"

"Come on, don't tease him too much."

Ye-hyeon poured the wine into Tom's glass with a faint smile.

"You've worked hard this year."

Clink!

One shot.

Applause poured in again. Even after Tom safely set down his glass, the seniors were thrilled. Comments flew about his impression of the 700,000-won-per-bottle wine, or how last year there was a 1-million-won bottle and it must have been disappointing, and so on.

Everyone was in high spirits.

Tom politely bowed to the applauding seniors and stepped back.

Ye-hyeon's gaze turned to me.

"Hilde. What kind of alcohol do you like?"

Oh.

Fortunately, while I couldn't remember my tolerance, I did recall my favorite drink.

And it was a very safe choice, so it was definitely available now.

I was satisfied that I didn't stumble over my lost memories and gave a faint smile.

Then I broke the silence that had settled over the hall.

"I'll have vodka."

Cough

Someone choked.

That sparked it—the seniors' reactions exploded.

"It's here! Vodkaaa!"

"Hey! Don't show off! You have to down that in one go!"

"It's been six years! High-proof one-shot!"

"Vodka! Woo! Vodka! Woo!"

What the hell was this all of a sudden.

Did they all regress to lower intelligence the moment they heard "vodka"? It was bewildering how they shouted like they were about to explode.

I looked at the seniors, unable to hide my bewildered expression.

They made a racket like they were about to smash the tables...

Familiar faces came into sharp focus. Ricardo smirked, Yoon raised an eyebrow, Ami widened her eyes—it made me feel like I might have made a mistake...

Should I take it back? As I pondered dumbly, I heard Ye-hyeon opening the bottle.

I hurriedly turned and received the drink.

"Take care of me from now on too."

It was a slightly different greeting from the ones for my cohorts.

"There will be many hardships."

Clink!

One shot!

I gulped down the transparent liquid from the clear glass. In the instantly quiet hall, the sound of the liquid sliding down my throat echoed. The warm liquid went down my throat. The liquid had no smell. No taste either.

The miraculous alcohol that was colorless, tasteless, and odorless.

Wow. It had been a while, but it really hit the spot.

"Ah."

I couldn't hold back the smile bubbling up as I set down the empty glass.

"Thank you."

Thud

The glass landed intact.

Woooah!

Cheers erupted.

The year-end party had truly begun.