I Became an NPC That Rankers Are Obsessed Over

My heart thumped wildly.

I tried to calm the pounding sound while clutching my chest.

But my body seemed to want to follow Jae-hee’s orders, acting up even more.

The idol girl leisurely walked over to the counter.

Taking advantage of my panting, she began carefully examining the display shelves.

She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and compared the names and alcohols written on it.

On that note, it was faintly labeled as a bucket list.

“Unnie, which drink here is the strongest?”

“…”

I didn’t respond to her question.

I merely leaned against the table, barely managing to support myself.

Seeing my condition, Jae-hee shrugged her shoulders and chose the bottle with the highest alcohol content.

It was Bacardi 151, with a 70% alcohol level.

Holding the bottle, she stared at me silently.

“Are you seriously still trying to resist? What would you do if I made the scent even stronger here?”

Her soft hair brushed against my shoulder.

A strange scent wafted up from her hair, stimulating my nose.

My nose turned peach-red as a result.

It’s fine…

I can still hold on.

I haven’t just been intoxicated by pheromones all this time.

I was resisting in my own way using Angelic Hand.

Thanks to the leveled-up skill, I could maintain a semblance of sobriety.

But…

It’s only resistance.

There’s no way I could perfectly block an A-rank Hunter’s abilities…

“You’re holding out pretty well. Usually, people collapse in front of me, even trying to lick my soles…”

She deliberately shook her hair.

Then a visible, vivid red mist began floating in the air.

The intense color made my throat instinctively heat up.

If I breathed that in, I might really collapse.

I staggered, trying to get out from behind the counter somehow.

But it was futile.

Jae-hee elegantly blocked my path as if dancing.

Smiling brightly, she asked.

“Isn’t it painful?”

I couldn’t understand Jae-hee’s actions at all.

Is this really something a celebrity on TV would do?

It’s reckless, like someone without a tomorrow.

“Have you changed your mind a bit now?”

“…”

She pinched the strap of my apron with her neatly manicured nails.

“Do you think the fine is the problem, or is your life the problem now?”

“My… life?”

Could simple pheromones go beyond excitement and actually kill someone?

When I asked again, she extended her palm as if inflating a balloon.

“My pheromones usually give a seductive feeling, but if I crank up the concentration, I can make someone’s heart go pop.”

She spoke as if she’d made someone’s heart explode before.

Her words completely crushed the plan I had painstakingly crafted while holding back my excitement.

In the end, is there nothing I can do?

I sighed deeply, resigned.

“Fine… I’ll do it.”

“Really? Thank you so much.”

She handed me the Bacardi with an audacious smile.

With trembling hands, I barely managed to take the bottle.

“I looked it up, and this drink has an alcohol content of 70%. I’d like you to make a cocktail with it.”

I nodded, relying on the bottle placed on the table for support.

Satisfied with my response, the idol girl leisurely returned to her seat.

“Alright, get started.”

Jae-hee raised her phone.

“If you got rid of the pheromones, I could make it more easily.”

“No way. If you become normal, you might run away. Stay excited just like that.”

The idol girl chuckled, maintaining her stance.

Then she began talking into her phone as if speaking to someone.

“Alright, fans. Today’s my last broadcast. To commemorate, I’ve come to the hottest bar in Sindorim, Moment!”

She pointed the phone’s camera at me.

A bartender, gasping for breath in a completely stretched-out shirt, appeared on screen.

“This is my closest bartender unnie, Si-ho! She’s going to make a super delicious cocktail for Jae-hee today.”

The idol girl shamelessly proceeded with her live broadcast.

A minor idol, openly filmed herself drinking alcohol.

It was strange.

Is this something someone in their right mind would do?

“Why does unnie look like that? Oh—she said she just came from being with her boyfriend.”

She giggled, whispering into the phone.

“Isn’t it touching? She even gave up her happy time alone with him just for me…”

I couldn’t respond to her filthy joke.

The bar was still filled with pink mist.

“You must be happy. You can even date someone you like. Right?”

She delved into her own delusions, knowing nothing about me.

It was absurd.

I took a deep breath.

I could see the pink air escaping from my mouth.

Had I unknowingly inhaled too much of the pheromones already?

Get a grip.

I widened my eyes and placed a whiskey glass on the table.

Let’s show her the bitter taste of adulthood.

The “crazy strong cocktail” she so desired.

I placed clear, angular ice cubes in the glass.

Then lightly stir with a bar spoon to chill the glass.

Next, 2 ounces (60ml) of golden rum.

1 ounce of sweet almond-scented Amaretto.

And 1 ounce of refreshing lime juice.

I stirred everything lightly with the spoon.

Finally, I lit a prepared cinnamon stick on fire.

The smoky scent from the cinnamon spread over the surface of the cocktail.

Done.

Grade: ★★★☆ (Epic)

Effect: Removes all status ailments. Instead, it puts the drinker into a drunken state.

Info: Relieve your accumulated depression and anxiety by witnessing others’ tragedies and pain.

Drink this and get drunk.

Perhaps you’ll smile brightly while watching your friends struggle with your drunken antics.

“Here’s Catharsis.”

Grabbing my stretched-out collar, I handed her the cocktail.

It looked like a golden lake covered with the mist of dawn.

Jae-hee gazed at the beautiful scene in the glass.

“What’s the name of the drink?”

“Catharsis…”

Jae-hee’s lips curved into a bright smile at my answer.

She laughed aloud, seemingly pleased with the cocktail’s name.

“Doesn’t it fit perfectly with our situation right now?”

But I couldn’t laugh along with her.

I could only wonder if this girl had danced so much she’d damaged her head.

“Then shall I drink it while witnessing the tragedy that has befallen you?”

Humming, Jae-hee grabbed the glass.

And with a confident look, she downed the drink in one go.

I chuckled inwardly at her audacity.

Because…

“—!”

Jae-hee coughed violently, spitting out the drink.

In a manner too crude for someone believed to be an idol.

The table was soon drenched in the Catharsis she spewed out.

Drooling, Jae-hee stared blankly as if she’d been struck hard on the head.

And it was no wonder.

Even though it was mixed with other alcohol, Catharsis still had an alcohol content of over 50%.

What would happen if a young girl gulped that down in one shot?

It was a miracle her throat didn’t suffer burns.

I began to laugh slyly with my flushed face.

Seeing her facade crumble after maintaining her acting tone was incredibly satisfying.

“Looks like I’m the one feeling catharsis, not you.”

Jae-hee lowered her head deeply.

Her face was hidden behind her long hair, making it impossible to see.

But one thing was certain.

It was twisted beyond what could be shown.

Only then did I start to worry about the laughter I had just let out.

Was provoking her going to escalate the situation?

Jae-hee said nothing.

Instead, she turned off the live broadcast she had been enthusiastically streaming.

The idol girl stood up abruptly.

And then leaped toward the counter in a single bound.

Jumping over the table in an instant, she grabbed my collar without hesitation.

Her face no longer resembled that of an idol dancer.

“Why is this drink so strong?”

Her voice had lowered as if she’d smoked an entire pack of cigarettes.

Her glare was fierce, as if she might burn me with a lit cigarette at any moment.

“Well… you asked for the strongest one…”

I mumbled, desperately avoiding her gaze.

Then Jae-hee grabbed my chin and forced me to look straight at her.

“But it’s too strong… it’s nothing like what I imagined.”

She murmured.

Still, it seemed some of the drink had gone down her throat because her face was flushed red.

Because she was clinging to me so tightly, even my head was spinning.

I tried to push Jae-hee away somehow.

But I couldn’t.

She suddenly held onto me firmly and raised her face.

“Wait a minute…”

The life disappeared from Jae-hee’s black pupils.

Her cold gaze stared into me, like a bottomless abyss.

“This soap scent. It’s the same as Anna’s.”

Her words instantly cooled my heated body.

It felt as though all the blood in my body had drained to the soles of my feet.

“You, what’s your relationship with Anna?”

At the mention of Anna’s name, Jae-hee’s eyes lit up as if enchanted by a spell.

As if she’d kill me if I didn’t answer immediately.

“No relationship… at all.”

Jae-hee made a subtle smile at that.

It wasn’t a smile because she found the situation genuinely amusing.

It wasn’t a smile of trust because she believed what I’d said.

It was… a smile of joy as if imagining how to kill the person in front of her.

“No relationship at all?”

She looked at my sweat-soaked shirt and asked.

But I couldn’t bring myself to answer.

I simply crossed my arms, bothered by the bra faintly visible through my white shirt.

Honestly, I knew nothing about her.

If anything, the only connection we had was that I saved her while she was being chased by a ranker.

Of course, the fact we slept together last night was on my mind.

But since all we did was sleep, that didn’t count as a relationship either.

As I pondered these things, Jae-hee slipped her arms under mine.

And with a strong grip, she hugged me tightly and began pushing me back.

In the end, I was shoved against the shelves with great force.

Limes from the shelf fell to the floor.

“Don’t lie. Tell me everything you know about Anna—everything.”

While holding me, Jae-hee began exuding an incredibly thick and sticky pheromone.

She buried her nose into my collarbone and took a deep breath.

The idol girl’s warm breath brushed against my chest.

The maddening sensation made my entire body tremble.

That insane stimulation transformed my body.

A mournful moan, something I’d never let out since my possession, escaped my lips.

But that was only the beginning.

Drool trickled from my mouth.

My body felt so damp and dazed that I couldn’t even notice it.

With my legs losing strength, I slumped to the floor.

She knelt down with me and laid down on the floor of the counter.

Her long hair spread out, covering the ground.

“You’re an idol… If I die, what about your career?”

I mumbled, squeezing out the last bit of strength I had.

But Jae-hee didn’t care.

She simply buried her face into my chest and took a deep breath.

As if licking off Anna’s lingering scent from my body.

“It’s fine.”

The girl, her face flushed red, opened her eyes thinly, as if intoxicated.

And with my sweat moistening her lips, she spoke.

“Because I planned to die today anyway.”