I Became an NPC That Rankers Are Obsessed Over

Warm meat stew.

Soft bread.

Each time I swallowed, the hot warmth spread throughout my body.

Ji-wook looked at me with pity as I hastily ate in a corner of the kitchen.

He was a tall, curly-haired young man and the sole chef of Moment Inn.

Ever since the innkeeper had abandoned the place, he had been taking care of everything by himself.

“What have you been doing for a whole month to show up only now? Have you been sleeping on the streets?”

He handed me some warmed milk as he asked.

“…”

I hesitated, unsure how to respond to Ji-wook, and eventually decided to just keep my mouth shut.

Perhaps it was because this was my first meal in three days, or maybe I didn’t want to delve into this girl’s dark past.

Watching my troubled expression, Ji-wook sighed deeply.

“Fine. It’s a relief you’re back at the inn at all.”

Wiping his hands with a dry cloth, he told me to take charge of the hall once I finished eating.

I nodded and shoved the remaining piece of bread into my mouth.

With some food finally filling my stomach, I started to regain a bit of strength.

Following the momentum, I grabbed the apron from the corner and slowly moved to the hall counter.

This place was indeed the Moment Bar my sister had often talked about.

But due to extreme financial difficulties and the owner’s neglect, it was on the brink of collapse and had seemingly transitioned into an inn.

Though there were only three rooms available for lodging…

Even those rarely got occupied, so it didn’t generate much income.

Still, the hall retained traces of its former glory, with a total of ten tables.

Yet, in this vast space, there were only two customers.

The customers were relatively quiet.

A middle-aged man and a girl in a school uniform from Hunter Academy.

They seemed to be father and daughter.

Judging by their bright expressions, they appeared satisfied with Ji-wook’s cooking.

Well, even after fasting for three days, his food tasted incredible.

Why were there no customers in such a decent inn?

I silently wiped the tables with a cloth.

The tables were so old that the grease stains were stubborn, making it a struggle to clean them.

As I pressed down hard to scrub away the black grease, a weight also pressed down on my chest.

In movies and novels, people who reincarnated or transmigrated usually gained dramatic powers or embarked on grand adventures.

But here I was, just a part-timer wiping tables…

Come to think of it, this was worse than my previous life.

I was smaller and weaker now, making me even less suited for raids.

When I finally managed to scrub off the grease, I straightened my hunched back.

Having been lying down for three days straight, every task felt like a chore.

I glanced toward the inn’s entrance.

Should I just throw this cloth away and leave?

The sudden thought made me grimace and shake my head.

No.

I had decided to live tenaciously.

Was I planning to run away again?

First, let’s make some money here and pay off the rent.

Then I’ll gear up and register with the association.

“—.”

Shadows fell across the door I was watching.

Moments later, five male customers strode into the inn.

They were dressed in identical black suits, as if they were part of a unit.

All of them were massive, with lifeless and dark eyes.

The man at the forefront stood out.

His narrow, sharp eyes were paired with hands clasped behind his back, clad in black leather gloves.

A snake tattoo coiled around his neck, so vivid it seemed like a live serpent was wrapped around him.

The unpleasantness of the tattoo made the hairs on my body stand on end.

The other two customers seemed to feel the same, avoiding their gaze.

The warm atmosphere of the inn instantly turned as cold as the outside world.

“How many are in your party…?”

I mustered the courage to ask.

But despite my effort, my voice trembled and broke.

“…”

He glanced at me briefly before ignoring me and sitting at the counter.

The other four silently took seats at nearby tables.

“Is the owner not coming in again today?”

The owner…?

He must mean the innkeeper.

“No… she hasn’t come in.”

“That’s troublesome. She hasn’t paid her dues for three months now.”

He took off his gloves and looked at his fingers.

They were so pale and long that I doubted they belonged to a human.

The sight sent a chill down my spine.

“Would you like something to drink…?”

When I asked, he casually replied while fiddling with his fingers.

“The usual.”

How was I supposed to know what “the usual” was…

“I… I’m new here, so I don’t know. If you could tell me, I’ll get it for you right away…”

Trying to speak as clearly as possible, I found myself frozen as the man stared intently at me.

His snake-like yellow eyes made my words catch in my throat.

Then he squinted and gave a faint smile.

The sharp, even teeth revealed in his grin were utterly unnerving.

“Yes, of course. I’ll bring the usual right away…”

I muttered vaguely and fled to the kitchen.

On the verge of tears, I complained to Ji-wook, who was cooking.

“There’s a weird guy in the hall asking for his usual drink. What should I do? He won’t tell me what it is…”

“Don’t tell me an Executor is here? Damn it, why now…”

He paused his work on the wok and wiped his forehead.

“Just grab any bottle of alcohol and serve it. Whatever he drinks, he’ll be occupying the inn all day.”

Even the experienced Ji-wook seemed tense, sighing deeply.

Was the inn in debt to loan sharks…?

“Ugh… I should just quit.”

His lament revealed how serious the situation was.

So this was why the inn had no customers despite its good food.

Now I was on the verge of losing even this job.

I had to do something to turn the situation around…

“Well… I’ll try to make something for him.”

“Make it? Do you even know how to make cocktails? You realize that the Executor is one of the top villains in Geumcheon. If you mess with his mood…”

He asked with a worried tone, clearly doubting me.

Considering how Si-ho’s reputation at the inn had been, his concern was understandable.

But it was fine.

This time would be different.

“I know how to make a few.”

I secured my apron tightly.

Yeah.

How scary could that guy be compared to the Counters?

Come to think of it, I did manage to knock one of them out once.

When I returned to the hall, the yellow-eyed man was staring intently at me.

Meeting his gaze, the courage I had just mustered evaporated in an instant.

Still terrifying…!

I took a deep breath and calmly surveyed the bottles displayed in the store.

What kind of drink would satisfy such a dangerous man?

Thankfully, I was somewhat familiar with alcohol.

Liking to drink and liking to make drinks were two different things.

Because Ji-soo, my sister, loved drinking so much, I had practiced making cocktails several times for her.

Imagining the day I’d hand her a drink in person…

Someday…

Though now that was impossible.

Thinking of my sister made my chest ache.

That bittersweet feeling traveled through my fingertips, creating a faint glow.

“You.”

The Executor’s cold voice pierced through me.

Just one word from him made my shoulders shrink.

“A knife. Bring me one.”

“A kn-knife? Of course.”

I grabbed a small knife from the counter.

Why would he suddenly ask for a knife…?

When I handed him the knife, our hands brushed.

At that moment, the faint light flowing from my fingertips transferred to him.

「Angelic Hand.」

Suddenly, an image of the Executor appeared in my mind.

Like a movie scene, his experiences from earlier today replayed before me like a film strip.

He entered a restaurant.

As he opened the grand door, countless hunters waiting to kill him filled the interior.

Yet the Executor simply smiled faintly at them.

As the hunters charged, he dodged them effortlessly, like a boneless creature.

At the same time, he thrust his long fingers into their sides, chests, and shoulders.

The hunters’ bodies twisted grotesquely and collapsed.

Their skin turned a purplish hue, rotting without even letting out a scream.

The dozen or so hunters were all dead within just ten minutes of combat.

When the restaurant fell silent, the only one left standing was the Executor.

Staggering slightly, he grabbed a beer bottle from the table.

Seemingly stifled, he tugged at his tight turtleneck sweater and chugged the bottle.

However, even after drinking the refreshing beer, his face contorted in displeasure.

“It could use more sweetness.”

The Executor casually dropped the beer bottle to the floor.

The loud sound of shattering glass echoed through the bloodstained restaurant.

“Beer’s just not my style.”

With those final words, the memory faded.

I rubbed my throbbing head.

The past I saw of him seemed to be from earlier today.

This man… was even more fearsome than I thought.

He carefully trimmed his nails with the knife I had handed him.

I suppose that knife was out of commission now…

Maybe he really was as strong as the Counters.

Feeling as if I had just watched a horror movie, I swallowed dryly.

Still, I had gleaned something useful.

Thanks to the vision, I knew he disliked beer and preferred something sweeter.

A cold, rich drink, like beer, but sweeter.

There was one drink I could make that fit that description.

I picked up a familiar bottle from the display.

Alright.

Let’s just give it a shot.

A clean glass, filled with crystal-clear ice.

A fresh ounce (30ml) of gin.

A top-up of chilled tonic water.

Finally, a gentle touch of lemon juice along the rim of the glass.

Grade: ★★★

Effect: Restores 10% of the drinker’s stamina.

Info: A flawless gin tonic prepared to recipe.

Its refreshing and tangy taste is superb.

Perfect for unwinding after a hard day’s work.

The effect of Angelic Hand grants a bonus star ☆.

“Here’s your usual drink.”

I handed him the glass in a calm voice.

The Executor’s eyebrows twitched as he accepted it.

“This is what I usually drink?”

“You’ll be drinking it from now on.”

I forced a smile and fiddled with my hair.

He gave a sinister grin, as if amused by my answer.

His smile was genuinely terrifying…

His long fingers wrapped around the glass.

Clasping my hands together, I anxiously watched him drink.

“Please…”

The snake tattooed on his throat shifted as he swallowed.

After drinking about half of the glass, the Executor fixed his gaze on me.

The snake-like man’s lips twitched into a smirk.

It worked…

I clenched my fist triumphantly under the counter.

But then, he casually opened his fingers, letting the glass fall.

The quiet inn filled with the loud crash of shattering glass.

Everyone in the store froze in place.

“It’s not great.”