The whole romantic atmosphere of the club had been shattered and instead, everyone was cheering.

The crowd pressed tight around the iron table where two warriors sat opposite each other.

Wren stood in front of the crowd, looking at the married woman as she faced off against the fat man.

The violet neon lights had shifted to harsh white spotlights and Cara cleared her throat leaning forward slightly.

"Before we start this..." Cara said, her words sounding only slightly slurred. "why did you start drinking in the first place?"

Tofu’s expression darkened. His massive gut pressed against the edge of the table as he leaned back in his chair.

"My wife divorced me..." Tofu said. "She took my children and left me completely without anything. Now I spend my days drinking until I die of it."

The crowd quieted slightly with the confession heavier than anyone expected however Cara smiled smugly.

She pointed directly at him, her finger was steady despite the alcohol already in her system.

"You’re weak..." Cara said and Tofu raised an eyebrow.

"How am I weak?" Tofu asked.

He considered himself strong even after everything. He still wanted to get his life back together but drinking was a constant now. How was that weak?

Cara pointed at herself with her thumb while grinning.

"I have no inherent reason..." Cara declared. "I drink for the love of the game because drinking is fun. If you have reasons like that, you’d never beat me."

Tofu’s jaw tightened.

"I already beat your record." Tofu reminded her but Cara shrugged.

"So I just have to make a new one, right?"

The crowd erupted in cheers at that and just then, Bart the Bartender walked to the table, his chef’s hat crooked on his head.

He carried a tray with two shot glasses that gleamed under the spotlight.

"Are the two of you aware how the challenge works?" Bart asked.

Both nodded.

"I’ve beaten several other people before so I do know..." Cara said.

Bart set down the shot glasses with deliberate care.

"Cara the Drunk and Tofu the Great will be engaging in a drinking contest for the title of the best drinker in the Harlow Club!" Bart announced.

The crowd roared and Bart continued, his voice taking on the gravity of a tournament referee.

"This will be a simultaneous drinking contest. Both contestants will down shots at the same time. Victory will only be declared when someone passes out, vomits, refuses, or can’t lift another glass."

He paused for dramatic effect.

"We will start with drinks that have moderate ABV before moving up to the strongest drink in the club... a bottle my family has been saving for decades."

The crowd’s noise reached a fever pitch at that revelation and Bart looked between the two contestants.

"Are you both perfectly okay with this?" Bart asked.

"Yes..." Tofu said while cracking his knuckles.

Cara nodded and Bart held up the first bottle... already in hand, as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

"This is Harlow’s Hammer, you all should know that." Bart said, displaying the golden liquid inside. "Fifty-five percent ABV so it’s good for warming up."

He cracked the bottle open with a twist and the seal broke with a satisfying pop.

"You’ll be taking three shots of this."

Bart poured the first round. The amber liquid filled both shot glasses to the brim, catching the light like liquid gold and the two contestants raised their glasses while the crowd began a countdown.

"Three! Two! One!"

They downed the shots simultaneously.

The glasses hit the table in perfect sync...

CLACK CLACK!

Bart immediately refilled them and the second shots went down just as fast.

CLACK CLACK!

Third shots and it was the same result.

CLACK CLACK!

Cara wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"That was lightwork..." She said while grinning and Tofu nodded in agreement.

"I need something stronger..." Tofu said.

Wren sighed from the position where he was standing. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

’I just hope this doesn’t get too crazy...’ He thought. Now he understood what Ryan had said that afternoon about how his wife got crazy when she drank.

Bart returned, this time carrying a different bottle an the liquid inside was crystal clear, almost innocent-looking.

"This is Midnight Regret..." Bart announced, holding it up for the crowd to see. "Sixty-five percent ABV and you’ll get three shots of this one too."

Both contestants leaned forward.

"Bring it on!" they said in unison.

Bart poured and the first shot went down.

CLACK CLACK!

The second followed.

CLACK CLACK!

The third disappeared.

CLACK CLACK!

Cara started swaying slightly in her seat, but her voice remained defiant.

"This isn’t enough for m-m-me~" Cara said, though her words had gained an extra syllable of slur.

Tofu’s face had turned visibly red, a flush spreading from his thick neck up to his forehead and sweat beaded on his brow; however he wiped it away with a meaty hand but he didn’t speak and just nodded for more.

Bart grinned.

"This is where your records stood," Bart said. "Cara could only take one shot of this and Tofu managed two."

He lifted a new bottle with reddish liquid inside. "This is Dragon’s Breath and its seventy-five percent ABV."

The crowd noise reached a crescendo.

"To get past this round, you need three shots."

Cara’s glazed eyes focused on the bottle with laser intensity while Tofu’s massive chest heaved with anticipation and Bart poured the first shot of Dragon’s Breath.

The liquid seemed to glow under the harsh lights but both contestants grabbed their glasses.

"Three! Two! One!"

CLACK CLACK!

The first shot hit them like a physical blow. Cara’s head snapped back slightly and Tofu’s eyes watered immediately.

The second shot was poured.

"Three! Two! One!"

CLACK CLACK!

Cara’s hand trembled as she set the glass down and Tofu’s breathing had become labored with his gut rising and falling like a bellows.

Third shot... This was it... The moment that would break their previous records. Bart poured slowly making them watch the dangerous liquid fill their glasses.

The crowd had gone from chaotic shouting to a unified chant:

"DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!"

Both contestants lifted their glasses with shaking hands.

"Three! Two! One!"

CLACK CLACK!

The crowd went absolutely wild. People were screaming, jumping, throwing their own drinks in the air in celebration and the noise was deafening becoming a wall of sound that shook the building’s foundations.

"CARA THE DRUNK! TOFU THE GREAT! CARA THE DRUNK! TOFU THE GREAT!"

Cara’s eyes had become even more glazed with her pupils dilated and unfocused but she was still upright and conscious.

Her hand found the shot glass again, gripping it like a lifeline.

Tofu was in worse shape. Sweat poured down his face in rivers, soaking his collar and his breathing came in heavy gasps.

"Hic—" A hiccup escaped him and Bart leaned in gently.

"It’s okay to stand down if you can’t go anymore..." Bart said.

Tofu’s bloodshot eyes snapped up to meet Bart’s.

"I can go." Tofu said, his voice sounded hoarse but determined.

Bart nodded slowly. He turned back to the bar, placing the Dragon’s Breath bottle back on its shelf with careful reverence then he did something unexpected.

He reached into the wall... into a secret compartment and pulled out a black bottle.

The crowd noticed immediately.

"I’ve never seen that drink before..." someone said.

Bart raised the black bottle high.

"This has been passed down from my great-grandfather all the way to me. A drink manufactured back then, before these so-called drinking regulations."

He paused.

"It’s Ninety-five percent ABV. Nearly pure alcohol!"

The crowd erupted again and Wren blinked, his hand unconsciously moving toward his phone.

’Is this even legal?’ Wren thought.

Cara swayed in her seat with her body moving in slow circles like a ship in rough waters but her voice, when it came, was clear.

"Bring it on..." Cara said.

Tofu nodded with his massive frame trembling.

"The same," Tofu managed.

Bart cracked open the black bottle. The seal was old so it took genuine effort to break. When it gave way, there was no smell or vapor, it was just clear liquid that looked like water.

That was what made it terrifying.

"You only need one shot of this..." Bart said, pouring into both glasses.

The clear fluid filled the shot glasses and both contestants stared at their glasses for a long moment.

The crowd had gone completely silent then, moving in perfect synchronization, Cara and Tofu lifted their glasses.

There was no count down this time... it was just two people staring at each other across an iron table, holding death in small glass containers.

They drank.

CLACK CLACK!

The glasses hit the table.

Both contestants froze, their eyes hidden in shadow as the spotlight overhead created harsh contrasts across their faces.

One second passed... Two... Three... Then—

CRASH!

Tofu fell backward, his massive weight shattering the chair beneath him. His body hit the floor with a sound like a falling tree.

White froth bubbled from his mouth and his eyes rolled back to show only whites. The crowd held its breath.

Cara stood up slowly... impossibly slowly, given her condition. She placed one boot on the iron table with a heavy THUNK.

"I’m the winner!" Cara slurred, raising one fist toward the ceiling.

The crowd exploded.

"CARA THE DRUNK! CARA THE DRUNK! CARA THE DRUNK!"

Someone from the back shouted louder.

"CARA THE SUPREME DRUNK!"

The new title caught fire immediately and within seconds, everyone was chanting it.

"CARA THE SUPREME DRUNK! CARA THE SUPREME DRUNK!"

Cara swayed on top of the table, her victory pose slowly deteriorating as gravity reasserted itself and her eyes rolled as her knees buckled as well.

Wren lunged forward, catching her just before she face-planted onto the iron surface.

"I got you," Wren said with a sigh.

...

Cara threw up into the grass, her body heaving violently while Wren knelt beside her with one hand on her back.

"Let it all out..." Wren said.

Cara paused, gasping for air.

"I’m sorry for ruining our outing..." Cara managed.

Before she could finish, her body betrayed her again but Wren didn’t look away, he just kept patting her back.

"You shouldn’t have drunk so much," Wren said.

Cara paused again.

"I had to protect my—"

Then she was vomiting again. Eventually, it stopped and Cara wiped her mouth with her shirt.

"My head hurts a lot... Ugh..." Cara said. "All I wanted was to protect my drinking streak..."

Wren stood and turned around, Cara thought he was leaving her but Wren bent down with his back to her.

"Get on my back and hold on tight..." Wren said. "I’ll carry you home."

Cara reached out slowly with her arms wrapped around his shoulders and Wren stood, his hands supporting her legs and lifted.

They started walking through the streets of Harlow. It was after midnight and the club was still going strong.

Wren couldn’t understand their obsession with clubbing, but tonight had been fun.

"We never really got to dance..." Cara said suddenly.

Wren kept walking.

"I think it’s better that way..." Wren said. "You would’ve thrown up on the dance floor."

Cara chuckled then winced.

"My head hurts when I laugh."

But then she leaned her head into the crook of his neck.

"I’m happy you spent time you could be using to do something else with me..." Cara said softly. "Nobody usually wants to come out with me."

Wren adjusted his grip.

"If you want, we could go again..." Wren said. "And dance that time."

There was no reply and Wren checked on her, Cara was fine... she was just asleep somehow.

[Congratulations Host~]

[Target: Cara’s affection has risen past 50!]

[She will now be a bit more open to getting busy with you and cheating on her husband~!]

Wren sighed.

"Isn’t that a bit too much development for a first date?" Wren muttered.

[What are you talking about? Cara is the LAST on the list of our current targets to enter 50. The rest have far surpassed her already!]