Chapter 4: Monster

Misaki and Gou were already seated, facing each other.
The rules were simple. Whoever drank more within the time limit would win.
The staff poured the sake, and after that, all that remained was to keep drinking.

The host raised his voice loudly toward the camera.

“Now then! It’s finally starting!
The ‘Legendary Drinker’ everyone’s been talking about online—Misaki-san in the fox mask,
and her challenger, Gou, in a head-to-head showdown!”

A confident grin crept across Gou’s mouth.
It’s water on my side. There’s no way I’m losing… This is an easy win…!

The host swung his arm up with an exaggerated gesture.
At that signal, the match began.

Gou downed his glass with force.
He drained it in one go and immediately reached for the next glass.

Meanwhile, Misaki.
With her eyes still hidden behind the fox mask, she drank sake with a cheerful smile.
Quietly, at a steady rhythm.

—A few minutes after the start.
A shadow gradually crept over Gou’s expression.

It’s supposed to be water, but it’s hard…! Why…?!

His stomach felt heavy, and his head grew hazy.
The hand holding the glass trembled in small, quick shakes.

Even so, driven by sheer stubbornness, he brought the glass to his mouth.

“C’mon… not yet…”
He shouted, but there was already no fighting spirit left in his voice.

Meanwhile, Misaki—

Smoothly, she lifted the glass,
smoothly, she drained it,
and with a gentle smile, smoothly brought it up again.
There was not the slightest disruption.
She simply kept drinking—quietly, happily.
Before anyone realized it, she had overtaken him in the amount consumed.

…What a monster… There’s no way she’s human…
Gou’s complexion rapidly turned pale.

And finally—when he reached one and a half isshō, about 2.7 liters,
his body suddenly slumped.

With a loud crash, Gou collapsed face-down onto the table.
An empty glass clattered and rolled across the floor.

The host, his face gone pale, readjusted his bulky microphone and shouted in a trembling voice.

“…T-the match is over!”

Only then did Misaki finally notice the sound and glance to the side.
But without setting down the glass in her hand, she spoke calmly.

“…Um, there’s no sake.
We still have time, don’t we?”

The host immediately raised his voice again.

“N-no, the match has been decided!
Uh—ah… we’ll proceed with the winner’s interview, so please come this way.”

Misaki gazed longingly at the isshōbin.
Then she quietly set the glass down, rose smoothly to her feet, and moved lightly to stand before the camera.
Her steps were no different from the very beginning.

Wiping away his sweat, the host turned the microphone toward her.
“Then, first of all—congratulations on your victory!”

“Thank you.”
She gave a small bow, but even as she did,
Misaki’s gaze kept flickering toward the isshōbin.

“Um… usually, how much sake do you drink?”
The host asked cautiously, and Misaki answered at once, without the slightest hesitation.

“Pretty much the whole time I’m awake.”

The venue froze.

For a moment, the host was completely at a loss for words.
Still, forcing a smile, he tried to keep the conversation going.

“Uh—um… by ‘the whole time,’ you mean…?”

“Oh, but I don’t drink during lunch break! Properly!
During lunch break, it’s water only!”
As Misaki waved her hands in a flustered hurry,
the host nodded with a stiff, strained smile.

“…Ah, that’s a relief…”
…What even is a lunch break…
Keeping that retort to himself, he threw out the next question in something close to desperation.
“Then, do you have a favorite brand or anything?”

Misaki answered without hesitation.
“Jōzen Mizunogotoshi. I recommend it!”

The host’s face stiffened.

“Ah—yes, it’s certainly a good sake.”
“Huh? You mean water, right?”
“…N-no… Jōzen Mizunogotoshi is sake, isn’t it?”

Misaki let out a big sigh, then gave a small, fleeting smile—
“You see, it says mizunogotoshi—‘like water,’ doesn’t it?
So that means it’s water!”

The host fell silent for a moment—
then let his shoulders slump.
With a look of resignation, as if he had reached some understanding, he brought the interview to a close.

Watching the recording from a distance, Yuka muttered quietly—

“…Guess he gave up…”

At the end of Yuka’s gaze, Misaki was hugging a paulownia box to her chest, her face radiant with genuine joy.

“…I’m so used to seeing Misaki-san like this, I forgot—
normally, people do collapse…”
Even so, her expression was bright.

Gou, having collapsed, had been taken to the hospital.
After examination, fortunately it wasn’t serious, and he was cleared to go home.

Inside the car driven by the producer, the man spoke to Gou.
“If you and I team up—we’d be unbeatable.”
He let out a small breath, then continued.
“But this time, we lost. …Do you know why?”

Gou, completely drained, tried to say something,
but the producer went on.

“That’s because that thing is a monster.
A human can’t beat a monster. That’s all there is to it.”

“…A monster, huh.”
Gou murmured, still staring blankly out the window.

He recalled Misaki as she had been then.
The way she genuinely enjoyed her sake, her complexion unchanged.

“In the end… what was that, really…?”
There was no reply to his murmur.