The Black Knight Never Falls

"Yujeong unnie's~ favorite~ random~ game! What~ game! Game start!"

As expected, it didn't take long after everyone gathered at the bar for the drinking games to kick off. Since we were near the university, they must do this often—four tables had been pushed together into one big one, all set up and ready. A few seniors were off drinking separately among themselves, while the rest of us, about ten per group, settled in roughly.

I hadn't gone out drinking even after turning twenty, and I never drank in Astasia either, but it didn't matter. I had my ways.

Most drinking games were ones I'd played multiple times back in middle and high school, so anything based on reaction speed or focus was never going to get me. No chance.

"Sion three!"

"—Sion Sion Sion, Gayeong five."

"—G... No, why do you keep picking on me!?"

"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink! Chug chug chug chug!"

I thought she got caught right away at first—maybe on purpose?—but no, it was real. And she didn't even seem weak to alcohol, so I picked without worry.

"But Gayeong keeps getting hit hard with this. We can't have her crashing too soon, so maybe switch games?"

I never imagined someone could suck this bad at I Am Grounded.

Our table was naturally led by Kim Yujeong sunbae, who handled most of the games. She'd adjust the pace if someone was drinking too much. Before starting, she'd even prepared drinks for anyone who couldn't handle booze.

The more I watched, the more it felt like she'd come straight from running events in another world—her hosting skills were top-notch.

"One more time: if you can't drink, speak up. No pushing it."

"Yes~."

Her thick popularity was obvious. She barely stopped talking, but never said anything to make anyone uncomfortable.

I could totally believe she'd entered nursing just to genuinely help people.

"Alright, let's go! This one's Kimchi game—name a kimchi made from edible plants that probably doesn't exist, and if a search shows no real recipes, you're safe!"

There's a game like that? Nation of drinkers, indeed—the variety of drinking games is endless.

"Starting with Sion to my left~ Ten seconds or it's penalty shots. Go!"

The game looked easy, but that's why it wouldn't be a drinking game. Fruit-based ones were probably traps. I'd seen pineapple kimchi online once.

"Okay, 5, 4, 3..."

"Basil kimchi."

"Let's see... Yep~ Down a glass!"

What? Basil kimchi exists?

Who the hell makes kimchi with basil?

"It really exists?"

"See for yourself."

Sunbae held up her phone. It did. And not just one—tons of them.

A bit ridiculous, but rules are rules. Beer felt too filling, so I cracked a soju bottle and downed it in one go.

"Whoa... one-shot!"

I'd heard soju tastes awful plenty of times, but this was worse than expected. As it slid down my throat, I detoxed it before the buzz could hit—half intentional, half habit.

Dealing with demons meant endless poison attacks, and now I could neutralize weak toxins just by exhaling if I wanted. As an assassin, I had the strongest resistance in our party.

If anyone found out, they'd call it cheating, but whatever—they had no way to know. If they had complaints, they could roll in demon poison magic for three years in another world too.

"Next up, Ha-eun! Ten seconds~"

"Um... Rosemary kimchi...?"

"Ha-eun, one glass~"

"Huh?"

Jeong Ha-eun, the classmate next to me, checked her phone in disbelief but soon started sipping her beer.

The difficulty was beyond imagination.

"Gayeong next! 10, 9, 8..."

"Cannabis kimchi!"

Kim Gayeong said it super confidently. Yujeong sunbae looked a bit thrown and started searching. No immediate "drink" meant it might not exist. She seemed desperate after all she'd drunk—smart plant pick.

But then Yujeong burst out laughing, flipping the script.

"First time hearing cannabis in this game, and I didn't think it'd actually..."

"No way, don't mess with me, unnie!!"

"Sorry... but I tried English, and it exists."

Everyone at our table whipped out their phones. Let's check... Portal site autocomplete for "CANNABIS KIMCHI" popped right up. The top foreign site even had recipes and videos.

Gayeong squeezed her eyes shut, bit her lip like it was unfair, and raised her glass.

Even I could see her pace was too fast... No matter how good you are with booze, chugging like that hurts your body—common sense.

"I'll be the black knight."

"For real?"

Ooohs rose from around the table like they'd rehearsed.

I just had to stomach the taste anyway. Better me than someone puking or passing out and ruining the fun.

We kept going through various games, and I'd black knight for anyone struggling or on a streak. First Gayeong, then Kang Nayeon sunbae from lunch, and once for a wobbly guy named Lee Ho-jun or something.

"Ah, black knight for me too."

"Drink your own. You barely even got hit."

Kim Junwoo tried nominating me the second he got penalized, but I shut it down cold.

I covered two for Yujeong sunbae too. She talked a ton, racking up random penalties, but she'd tell others to sip slow while never dodging her own. She seemed super tolerant anyway, but I helped on streaks.

By the time everyone was nicely buzzed and cheery, trouble hit.

I'd stepped out to the bathroom and was heading back when a guy from the separate senior group approached. Totally hammered. One at their table was already face-down asleep, others looking rough. Bad vibes...

"You drink pretty well, huh?"

"Yeah. Moderately."

Not getting drunk meant I drank well, sure. His tongue was slurring, and despite never talking before, he went straight casual—way past his limit.

"Saw you black-knighting for seniors earlier. You can drink mine too, right? You like booze. Yeah?"

Earth had felt too peaceful since returning. Logically, not everyone's nice—especially with booze, the root of all evil.

From my romcom anime and visual novel bingeing, mentioning seniors meant he crushed on one I'd covered—probably Yujeong sunbae. After a year, still unrequited? I got it.

But after life-threatening stuff, this weak booze bullying felt kinda lame. Honestly anticlimactic.

For a sec, I considered knocking him out quick. A light tap, and normals wouldn't notice—wake up tomorrow morning, done.

But no need to be that nice. Kind to allies, ruthless to foes—Astasia basics.

"If sunbae offers, I gotta drink."

He had a soju bottle, so I zipped back to grab my beer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glass. Heard a chair scrape behind, but this drunk wouldn't notice.

As expected, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he filled over half with soju. Right before full, a hand shot from behind, grabbed the bottle spout, and slammed it down.

"What... the hell is this?"

Her voice was so low, the air froze. Was this the same energetic person?

Don't piss off the usually nice ones—good advice.

"N-no, uh... that is."

"Not asking for excuses. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I've... had enough crap from nursing folks like this. At least our school—our year—won't have it."

"B-but..."

"Fucking stop with the lame excuses. I've heard everything since earlier. Was gonna call you out for one soju shot, but you're filling a beer glass? You idiot."

"......"

"If you're gonna get this wasted and pull shit, don't drink at all."

Drunks don't realize how loud they are. Yujeong had been watching, so it was coming, but her language was harsh.

She was buzzed but clear-headed—not just the booze. Something more.

"You've had enough talk about you before. I'll cover your tab tonight, so get out. If you have any shame."

The nameless senior guy left without looking back.

Yujeong sighed, head down, then looked at me with a sad smile.

"Sorry. First uni meetup, and you get a bad experience."

"It's fine. Nothing your fault—no need to apologize. I'm grateful."

"More drinking feels off now? Timing to wrap anyway."

Unlike her words, she spoke softly. Other tables seemed oblivious, still cheery, but it was past 9:30. Fine time to head home.

No one wanted more when asked. I thought it was way more fun than expected too.

Wrapping freshman welcome like this, I had to admit: after that world, I'd gotten way more outgoing.

With that senior? Old me would've reacted emotionally or just chugged. Astasia had its perks.

Not that I'd ever go back. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good came from party members—the environment sucked.

Around the second week of February, after high school graduation—basically a full uni student now, just waiting on orientation.

I'd visited campus a few times, thought a lot. Most about clubs.

Not burning passion for nursing. I could survive anything now—no real conviction for it anyway.

Even if the world ended tomorrow, I'd live. So, clubs for what I wanted.

Tons of promo on visits, checked many, but nothing clicked. Focused subculture: comics club (too much drawing—out), animation club (too big and busy—hold), band (no, despite music skills—pass).

Endless agonizing, then a popular post on the uni community, Enitime, caught my eye.

I skimmed the promo fast and, mesmerized, messaged the contact.

Guaranteed autonomy hooked me, and picking Lupco Yanglip as top anime this quarter swayed me too.

...Okay, maybe swayed me a lot.