Chapter 146
It was before I had even fully opened the box.
Dwarves swarmed in from all directions.
“Ooh, new liquor?”
“Let's pass around a drink first and get started. We can talk later!”
As expected of a race that takes alcohol seriously.
I smiled in satisfaction at having chosen the gift well and opened the bottle.
Soju first.
I deliberately poured it into a large beer mug instead of a soju cup.
They're dwarves, so they should be able to handle this much, right?
“Have a drink.”
“Hmm, the color looks just like water. There's almost no smell either.”
The king slowly inspected the liquid in the glass, then emptied it in one gulp.
Gulp, gulp.
The nearby dwarves focused their gazes.
Everyone waited for the king's assessment.
“Hmm...”
The king's reaction was a little hard to read.
“How is it?”
“To be honest, it tastes more like medicine than alcohol.”
“Medicine?”
“There's no flavor at all. It's like medicine diluted in water.”
The other dwarves around us drank their own cups one by one, but their assessments were similar.
“Hiss... It's kind of iffy. Iffy.”
“It's too strong for its proof. It tastes raw.”
“I'll accept it gratefully since it's a gift, but...”
The dwarves looked disappointed.
I was a little flustered.
For a Korean's soul to be treated like this.
No, maybe it was because dwarves were more used to beer.
“Then how about this?”
“Oh? Is this beer? The bottle itself is unusual.”
I opened a can of beer and handed it to the king.
The dwarves seemed more focused on the can than on its contents.
“That's an interesting shape.”
“Incredible. Hundreds of them are all exactly the same shape. Not one is off. I hate to admit it, but this is the work of a true master.”
“They've rolled the sheet metal incredibly thin. There's not even a seam...”
“Is that all you see? Look at the structure of this bottle opener. This is where the craftsman's real sense shines.”
“Hmm... I've never seen a structure like this, but the idea is certainly good.”
“At this level, it could win a prize at the annual invention contest.”
“Now that I look closely, this isn't iron... It's another metal. What's it called?”
The dwarves were examining the can from every angle instead of drinking the beer inside.
“Uh, I think it's aluminum? And it's not a bottle—it’s called a can.”
“A can...”
“Your Majesty. You must order them to find this aluminum in the mines immediately.”
“I shall. And have them make this can too.”
I smiled at the unexpected praise and pressed on.
“Please taste it too. If you hold it in your hand, it'll warm up quickly.”
“Ah, I see. My mistake.”
The king popped the can open.
With a refreshing hiss, foam rose up.
Even to me, it looked delicious.
Gulp!
The dwarf king knocked it back in one go.
I waited with a pounding heart for his verdict.
But.
“What the—cough, cough! What in the world is this?”
The king couldn't hide the grimace twisting his face.
The other dwarves must have been curious too, because they each opened a can and drank the beer.
“Pfft!”
“Ugh!”
“Blasphemy! This is sacrilege!”
“...It feels like my tongue was raped.”
“My goodness, this tastes like something only knife-ears would eat...”
“Is it an elf spy, by any chance?”
“We may need to strip him of his honorary Steeljaw dwarf status...”
The worst reaction I hadn't expected.
The dwarves had the same expressions Italians wear when they see someone break spaghetti, or Koreans wear when they see kimchi rinsed under water.
The king at least held back from saying anything too rough for the sake of appearances, but the other dwarves' expressions were fierce beyond words.
“The can-making is excellent, but the contents are just awful. It's like seeing a rune hammer in an elf's hands.”
“I-is it really that bad?”
“Honestly, if it weren't for you, I'd have smashed my own head open right away.”
This won't do. At this rate, not only would I fail to make a request, I'd ruin all the goodwill I'd built up.
I needed to think of another way.
“...Actually, this isn't meant to be drunk that way!”
“Hm?”
“You have to mix the two to get the proper taste.”
“Mix them and drink them? I've never heard of that method. Show us.”
My last chance to restore my honor.
Carefully, I poured the soju and beer into an empty glass.
The golden ratio of three to seven.
That wasn't the end.
I put the two spoons I had prepared into the glass.
“And if you clap here...”
Clink!
A clear, bright sound.
At the same time, foam burst upward explosively.
This was called cream somaek.
The dwarves' eyes widened at the sight of Korean drinking culture.
“Oh?”
“Now, have a drink!”
The king took the glass as if under a spell and emptied it in one go.
“Khh!”
“How is it this time?”
“Incredible! It's much better!”
The king wiped his beard with a satisfied expression.
Seeing that reaction, the other dwarves hurried to start making somaek too.
“What was the ratio again? Three to seven?”
“How did you make it foam like that just now? I can't get it to work...”
“Now, now, calm down. I'll give you a special lesson.”
The sound of spoons clinking against glasses echoed nonstop from all around.
The dwarves drank with refreshed expressions.
Their reactions were much more positive now.
“Amazing—the flaws of each are offsetting each other!”
“The throat feel is much smoother, and the finish is clean too!”
“Could we make something similar with our own liquor?”
“Great, let's try it right away!”
Somehow, I seem to have spread the recipe for bomb shots to the dwarves.
I could see dwarves everywhere bringing their own liquor and starting to mix it.
“Phew...”
I let out a sigh of relief.
But I couldn't stop here.
I still had one more weapon left.
This one, I was really confident in.
Finally, I took out a white plastic bottle.
Makgeolli.
“Ooh! Another new liquor? What's its name?”
“It's makgeolli. It's made from rice.”
“It looks like milk, though?”
“Is this mixed with something too?”
“No, just shake it and drink it.”
I shook the bottle in a familiar motion, then opened the cap.
After I poured the makgeolli into a bowl and passed it around, the dwarves, their expectations already raised by the somaek, emptied their cups without hesitation.
“Ooh!”
“Ahh!”
The dwarves' eyes widened once again.
“This is it!”
“The sweet yet sharp taste, even that faint sour aroma...”
“Above all, the heavy body that lingers in the mouth is excellent!”
Their reaction was even better than with somaek.
“Isn't the alcohol content a bit low? Is that okay?”
I asked carefully.
Because dwarves have a culture that recognizes you as a true warrior the more hard liquor you can drink.
Wouldn't this feel like a soft drink to them?
“Who cares about the alcohol content? If it tastes good, that's all that matters.”
“In fact, it's low enough that I could keep drinking it while working!”
Dwarves were so enthusiastic about the makgeolli that my worries proved pointless.
Some were even developing a new cocktail by mixing soju into the makgeolli.
“A toast to Steeljaw!”
“Cheers!”
“A toast to somaek, aluminum, and makgeolli too!”
“Cheers!!!”
The square had become a full-blown festival in an instant.
The dwarves quickly got drunk and danced and sang everywhere.
I smiled in satisfaction at the sight.
This should be enough of a gift.
“Steeljaw! Are you just going to stand there watching?”
At that moment, the dwarf king, his face already flushed red, approached me.
He had a huge cup in his hand.
“Since you treated us to your homeland's liquor, we can't just sit still! Dwarves repay favors with favors! Here, drink!”
“Ooooh!”
The dwarves around us cheered.
I looked at the cup the king held out.
A troubling amount of black liquid sloshed inside—more than enough to be hard to finish in one go.
“What's this?”
“It's called cold fire. Our soul.”
“Hmm...”
I swallowed hard.
A liquor I hadn't tasted even once since coming into this body.
When my body first changed, I couldn't buy any because I had no ID, and once time passed, I simply stopped thinking about it.
“Drink it! Drink it!”
The dwarves around me kept shouting.
It was an atmosphere that made it hard not to drink.
More than anything, that liquor smell felt so nostalgic and delicious.
“Then just one glass...”
In the end, I took the cup.
Holding the glass, as big as my face, with both hands, I slowly brought it to my lips.
Gulp, gulp.
So they called it cold fire—it truly lived up to its name.
It felt like my throat was burning.
Still, I didn't stop and kept gulping it down. This was a matter of pride.
“Pwah!”
At last, I finished it in one shot.
I held the empty glass above my head and shook it out.
A performance to show that I'd emptied the glass completely.
“My word, he drank all of that at once!”
“A history-making Steeljaw!”
“The one who drank harder bread and stronger liquor than anyone!”
“Steeljaw is the true dwarf!”
“Looks like Steeljaw can hold his liquor better than you, doesn't he?”
“What? Want to make a bet?”
“Fine. It's a duel.”
The dwarves were in a uproar.
The king, too, laughed heartily and patted my shoulder, apparently satisfied.
“Truly amazing! Normal humans get drunk just from smelling it!”
“Hehe... I can, um, hold my liquor pretty well, y'know...”
Huh?
For some reason, it felt like my tongue was getting twisted.
But I was feeling great, so I didn't care.
“One more over here...! No, make it two!”
“Your spirit is impressive! Very good!”
The king smiled in satisfaction and refilled my glass.
[The Sandworm advises that you should probably stop drinking.]
The Sandworm, still looming huge behind us, spoke in a voice only I could hear.
“Ah, I'm fine! Fine! I'm not drunk at all!”
[The Sandworm warns that you already seem drunk.]
“I'm not drunk at aall...”
[The Sandworm sighs.]
I ignored the Sandworm and emptied the glass again.
Gulp, gulp.
After emptying the second glass, the world started spinning.
“Huh?”
“Oh dear, be careful there, brother!”
“Th-thank youuu... heehee...”
The beard standing beside me caught me before I could topple over.
Fluffy, luxuriant beard...
Before I knew it, I had grabbed that beard.
“Can I touch it?”
“Eh?”
“It's reeeally soft...”
[The Sandworm decides it can no longer stand to watch this.]
“Gasp!”
“Eek!”
Suddenly, the beards around me started to flee in alarm.
The fluffy beards slipped out of my grasp.
“Mmm...? Whyy...?”
A moment later, a massive shadow fell over me.
It was the Sandworm.
It gulped me down with its huge mouth.
“Put me back... I still wanna party...”
[The Sandworm declares the festival over.]
“T-that's so unfair... I’m not drunk yet...”
I mumbled, leaning against its wall.
My voice gradually grew smaller.
“I shouldn't sleep...”
Inside the warm, fluffy Sandworm.
My eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
That was my last memory.
***
The next morning.
I woke up with a brutal headache.
“What the hell did I do...?”
Memories and embarrassment flooded back.
Even though the alcohol had worn off, it still felt like my face was burning red.
“Fuck, seriously, fuck...”
[The Sandworm asks if you're awake now.]
“...Yeah.”
I thanked the Sandworm sincerely.
Without it, I was afraid to even imagine what kind of cringe-worthy history I'd have created yesterday.
“Ugh, I feel like I'm dying...”
I forced myself through the oncoming hangover and went outside.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thanks to you...”
“Here, this is our dwarven hangover cure drink.”
Was it because of the hangover cure drink?
The dwarves were moving around perfectly fine despite yesterday's binge.
I had a glass of the drink too.
“The effect is incredible.”
“Hmm! During festivals, we drink this several times a day.”
My head cleared in an instant.
Now it was about time to get to the point.
I went to the dwarf king and stated my business.
“I came here this time because I wanted you to research this.”
“Oh? This is...”
I took the whale bones and skin out of the Sandworm's mouth.
The dwarf king's eyes gleamed.
“I couldn't find any items that use whale, not even in rings. It only mentioned research potential.”
“I see... good. Since we received such a gift yesterday, we'll put all our capabilities into this.”
“How long will it take?”
“Hmm. We'll finish it as quickly as possible. Everyone, listen up!”
The king shouted to the other dwarves around him.
“From now on, except for the minimum activities required for food, clothing, and shelter, all time will be devoted to research! No vacations or outings! Sleep will be reduced to four hours!”
“Yes, sir!”
A bold measure that surprised even me.
“Are you sure that's okay?”
“It's fine. No, we'd actually be more uncomfortable if we didn't do this much. We owe you a great deal.”
“If that's the case...”
I nodded and decided to accept their goodwill.
The results came much faster than expected.
Before even half a day had passed, the dwarf king came back carrying an item.
“For now, we made only yours first.”
“A staff?”
Incredibly, the magic-clueless dwarves had made a staff.