Chapter 113
Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack...
My arm felt like it was going to fall off.
I was running out of breath, and my Shaking speed was slowing down gradually. My forearm and hand hurt so much that I kept changing my Stance.
The shaker, which had felt light when I started, was now as heavy as a boulder, and I could feel sweat seeping from my upper body due to the intense Exercise.
“Tony... I was wrong... so please...”
“Hmm? What are you talking about? Wrong? You're just faithfully fulfilling a Customer's order.”
“That's true, but... that order is...”
Before I could even protest that the order was too vicious, Tony shouted.
“Hey, your arm speed is slowing down! You can't give up already. Keep Shaking, that's right.”
“Ugh, huff.”
“That's right, that's right. The Shortest-Period Full-time Employee, the Genius Bartender who blasphemes even the gods, should be able to do at least that much!”
I screamed internally.
Seriously, what kind of devilish human is this?
Why is he holding such a grudge!
Thanks to him nagging me like an Assistant Instructor in a red cap whenever I started to lose strength, the cocktail was being made smoothly, but... was the cocktail the problem right now?
My forearms were screaming in real time that they were dying.
Tony, who was shouting with a strangely amused voice, “Do it properly,” “Is that all the strength you have!” and “All Bartenders do arm exercises with the Ramos Gin Fizz. This much is basic!” was annoying in his own right, but more than anything, I wanted to see the face of the Bartender who created this cocktail, Henry Ramos or whatever—that Yangban who was active two hundred years ago and is probably rotting in Hell right now.
Just how Crazy of a person did he have to be to create such a cocktail?
A Cocktail Base made of Gin, Factory-made Lime Juice and Lemon Juice, Artificial Sugar syrup, Egg White, and vanilla extract.
Mixing protein-rich Egg White, fatty cream, and acidic Lemon Juice — just what kind of devilish idea was this?
Because the Bartender had to mix those stubbornly unmixable ingredients to create a clean batter with a soft and Fine texture, he had to shake the shaker like Crazy, and in doing so, he had no choice but to be utterly exhausted.
Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack...
Well over five minutes had passed.
It felt like an eternity had gone by.
I emptied my brain and just shook the shaker as if executing a Program, letting my arms flail.
Was this the State of No Thought or Desire...?
The pain and exhaustion in my forearms remained, but it felt as if a barrier had formed over the nerves connecting them to my brain.
As I continued to shake, savoring the aching sensation in my arms with the Mindset of fitness enthusiasts who rejoiced at the stimulation whenever their muscles tore and ached, or perhaps masochists, a signal began to arrive slowly.
The sound of the shaker and the drink inside being shaken was distinctly different. The texture of the mixture hitting the sides was, too.
It felt much softer and denser. It was hard to put into words, but I got the feeling.
Glance.
As I stealthily lowered the shaker and looked over at Tony, he was just wearing a Meaningful smile without saying a word.
Seeing that, I became even more certain.
It's done!
Whenever I tried to open the shaker midway with the thought, ‘Shouldn't it be done by now...?’, Tony stopped me and rejected the idea, saying it wasn't even close and that I should use that time to shake it a little more since I still had a long way to go.
The fact that Tony didn't say anything even though I placed the shaker on the table meant that, even in his eyes, the Dry Shaking Process seemed to be completely finished.
When I opened the lid and looked inside, it certainly was. It was time to move on to the next Step.
“Huff... pant... now, ice...”
I leaned my body against the table as if collapsing, then took ice from the Under Bar and put it into the shaker.
And I had to shake it again.
Fuck.
Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack...
As I burst into laughter like a madman and started swinging my numb arms, the pain rushed in once again.
Starting the Shaking again after resting, even for a moment, made it twice as hard.
“Guaaaaaaah!”
Tony giggled as he watched me Shaking while practically screaming now.
...Right. Mr. Henry Ramos probably just wanted to make a delicious cocktail.
What fault could he have?
The bad ones weren't the creators of the cocktail, but rather the vicious Ramos Fizz enthusiasts who still insisted on the Handcraft Method even though Technology had advanced enough to fully replace human labor with hand mixers or shaker machines.
People like that Former Net Diver right in front of me were among them.
Just you wait.
Filled with venom, I spurred myself on, my hands Shaking the shaker.
“Still, this won't take long... it's almost done now... the end is really in sight...”
As I continued Shaking while repeating that to myself like hypnosis, it really was the final stretch.
The foam had risen sufficiently, and the temperature was properly adjusted.
Finally, the Shaking ended here.
With trembling hands, I took out the elongated Highball Glass I had prepared in advance from the freezer in the Under Bar.
I poured a certain amount of carbonated water onto the Cold, frozen bottom of the glass, and dropped in a few drops of synthetic orange Blossom Water.
Then, I poured the shaken liquid. Because my hands were trembling so much, I had to hold the shaker with both hands.
Trickle...
As I poured out the pure white, milk-like mixture, I stopped with a slight space left at the rim of the glass.
If it stayed like this, it would be a boring visual, but the Ramos Gin Fizz didn't end here.
I slowly poured the remaining carbonated water on top. The mixture reacted with the carbonation, and the foam gradually swelled up from the top of the liquid.
Sssss—
The white, firm foam maintained its thick shape even as it rose straight up a few centimeters above the glass.
Breathing heavily, I gently placed a dried artificial Orange Peel on top, fingertips trembling like a leaf.
Then, after inserting a Stainless Steel Straw, I presented the cocktail to the Customer.
“Ramos, Gin Fizz... are complete.”
Complete.
Clap, Clap, Clap—
Unlike before, I heard the sound of serious and sincere applause, devoid of any laughter or playfulness.
Tony was giving an ovation to the drink I had made, and to me.
I shook out my numb and aching arms, wiped my sweat with a towel, and savored the lingering afterglow.
It was excruciatingly hard, but it was also true that it was just as rewarding.
For this moment at least, I was a Bartender too.
A full-fledged Bartender who had successfully performed Cocktail Mixing for the drink known as the “12-Minute Cocktail”.
Dragon's Lair's the Shortest-Period Full-time Employee, the greatest Genius in history who blasphemes even the gods...! Shortest-Period Full-time Employee, the greatest Genius in history who blasphemes even the gods the Shortest-Period Full-time Employee, the greatest Genius in history who blasphemes even the gods...! Shortest-Period Full-time Employee, the greatest Genius in history who blasphemes even the gods...!
“That's... huff, me.”
Seeing me intoxicated with Self-Admiration, Tony stopped clapping and muttered as if it were absurd.
“What are you talking about? Breathe properly before you speak.”
“...”
* * *
I had just finished the hardest Cocktail Mixing Process of my life.
After it burned white-hot, only ashes remained.
With the empty expression of a Monk who had finished his penance, I clenched and unclenched my hands.
“Do you see this? I can't even clench my fists properly. What are you going to do? My shift hasn't even started yet, and I'm already completely drained.”
When I shoved my trembling fingertips, which couldn't even touch my palms, at Tony, he laughed annoyingly, “Kyahahaha.”
“Sorry. Still, it was a good experience, wasn't it?”
“Good experience, my ass.”
“Wasn't it rewarding in its own way? This will all become flesh and blood later. What bar would let a Trainee Bartender practice making a cocktail with this many ingredients for free?”
“That's true, but...”
“But?”
“Aside from it being a rewarding and good experience, I never want to do it again. I think exactly once is enough.”
At my honest words, Tony giggled again, saying he understood how I felt.
I had noticed it from the way he watched my Cocktail Mixing Process in real time and coached me, but it seemed Tony also had experience making the original Ramos Fizz.
Aside from the original version drawing Cult Popularity, it wasn't a preferred order from a Bartender's perspective, and since it took excessively long to make and could somewhat hinder the bar's operations, I heard there were many Bartenders who had absolutely no experience making the original cocktail.
It seemed Tony belonged to the opposite side.
Then again, if he had never made it himself and had been making me do it purely to torture me, that would have made him a true vicious person.
Even so, Tony wasn't that bad.
...Probably not.
“If you think about it, this is also a tradition of our bar. You could call it a Full-time Employee Initiation Ceremony after the transition.”
“A Full-time Employee Initiation Ceremony?”
I was dumbfounded by Tony's words.
Why did this damn bar have so many initiation ceremonies when it was so tiny?
Anyone looking would think it was an Antique Bar boasting decades of history and tradition.
When I grumbled, Tony smiled again and shared his own experience.
“Usually, when you get the full-time tag, it's when you've worked as a Trainee Bartender for a few months and are slowly getting used to cocktails.
That's around the time you're made to practice this devilish cocktail as a way of showing that the World of Cocktails is so vast and arduous. Sey and I both suffered through it from the boss. I'm saying you're not the only one who went through it.”
So there was such a deep... I don't know if it was deep, but anyway, it had its own meaning.
I nodded my head.
Thinking that it wasn't just me who suffered, but a Process everyone went through once, made me feel a little less wronged.
I guess I had misunderstood Tony.
Indeed, there was no way he was petty enough to purposely order a Ramos Gin Fizz out of spite.
“Aha. So that was it. And here I thought.”
“Thought what?”
“I thought you were doing it on purpose to torture me. Because of that thing you got sulky about at the team Dinner yesterday.”
At my thoughtless words, Tony laughed awkwardly.
His nostrils flared as if his conscience had been pricked by something.
...This guy?
“Haha, no way.”
“Right? There's no way, right?”
When I looked straight at him and asked again, he stealthily avoided my gaze.
Misunderstanding, my ass.
“I knew it!”
I yelled in an outburst.