NOVPUB"I like it when it's a little sour."
"I like mine strong!"
"I'll have what he's having!"
"I'll take your recommendation!"
I nodded at the newcomers while juggling three bottles in front of me as the crowd in front of my bar got bigger and bigger.
Somehow, I'm not even that surprised anymore… Probably because I've already seen something like this happen to me before.
I also managed to get the idea across that there won't be any specific drinks served and they were expected to just tell me what they like and I would make something for them according to what they tell me. So there were no problems with me not actually knowing how to make any specific drinks.
Also, I've learned quickly not to do any overly complicated tricks with this big of a crowd as more time spent flairing meant that I had more customers waiting to get their drink which was not ideal.
And the longer it takes, the more customers would show up and it will just keep snowballing as well.
That's why I had decided to try doing more risky tricks but shorter routines in order to push out as many drinks as possible.
If you're asking me how I was keeping up with all this, I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea. I basically stopped consciously thinking about it quite some time ago and my body felt like it was on autopilot as it just went through the motions of mixing drinks and doing tricks.
All I had to do was just think about what I wanted to mix and I found that my hands were already reaching for the stuff like my muscle memory was on overdrive.
Just saying, I have no idea how I'm even doing half the things I'm doing.
There was one part where I remembered seeing how those bartenders would line up several glasses in a row and then stack a few cocktail mixes on top of each other before pouring them out into the glasses simultaneously.
The next thing I knew, I was already doing it and the crowd was going absolutely crazy when they saw that.
Oh, and if you were wondering about payment, I basically told them to pay whatever they felt was appropriate for the drink they gave plus tips.
I kind of expected some of them to underpay the price of the drinks but it's not like I could control it since I have no idea of what the price was anyway and I also overheard a few of them chuckling to themselves saying that they were just going to pay one Credit for ten drinks.
But then after those guys got their drinks, they ended up just transferring five thousand Credits each for those ten drinks and even left sobbing saying they would be better people in the future, whatever that meant.
Still, I guess five hundred Credits per glass is a reasonable price? I'm not too sure on the market rates here so maybe that was a fair price.
Honestly, it wasn't like I had to foot the cost of all this and I'm getting paid double of whatever I earn here so I wasn't going to complain about that.
Let's see… How many more people do I have? One… Three… Seven… Nine more huh?
Alright, let's see if I can do five mixes at once for these guys…
Just as I was about to reach for one of the bottles to start my flair, a commotion came from behind the crowd which was followed by several shouts from the people around.
I paused to look up at the crowd, wondering what was going on.
The cause was made clear when a group of people pushed the ones in front of the bar aside to stand in front of the counter, the leader being a guy with a cybernetic left arm which he used to lean on the counter.
Seems like the shouting was coming from these guys telling the people around to make way for them.
"You the new bartender that everyone here seemed to be talking big about?"
I raised an eyebrow at him, "I have honestly no idea what you're talking about. I'm only working part time here and this is literally my first shift."
He slammed the counter with his cybernetic arm with a loud bang while pointing a finger at me with his organice hand, "Don't play coy with me. You're the one that almost won against Valiea the other day aren't you?"
Err… What am I supposed to say here? Should I deny that or affirm that?
Unfortunately, I didn't get to choose what answer I should give in the end because a few of the patrons at the bar ended up answering for me.
"Obviously it's her. You don't see a figure like that and forget about it."
"Yeah, it's definitely her. Those boobs are seriously out of this world."
"Don't forget that ass. Damn, when she did that spin… I feel like I'm underpaying when we're treated to getting drinks from someone like that."
"Err… I think it is her because of the silver hair."
…
Ok, at least one person pointed out the hair… And you know what was the ironic thing? Those three people who pointed out my figure were girls and the person who pointed out my hair was a guy…
The guy with the cybernetic arm furrowed his brow, "I knew it! It's definitely you! You were so close to beating her! Did you give up?!"
I blinked at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"
He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. And the people who were following behind him seem to be just as frustrated too for some reason.
One of them, a woman with her hair shaved into a mohawk, leaned on the counter as well to address me.
"You're now working here aren't you? You gave up! You're not even trying again to beat her and you just gave up to work under them! Why?!"
I frowned at her, "Ok… First up… Who are you guys?"
They seemed surprised by my question and it looks like a couple of the other patrons were also surprised as well, almost like I just asked something that everyone should know.
Come on, give me a break, it's not like I'm from this station in the first place…
A dark skinned woman with a voluminous afro on her head pushed her way to the front before placing a hand on the cybernetic arm guy.
"I got this one guys. Let me talk to her."
The guy gave her a look before stepping back, allowing her to take his place.
I held up a hand, "Err… If you want drinks you're gonna have to wait, those guys were here first and I need to make their drinks."
The woman raised an eyebrow and smiled, "No, I just want to talk."
"Then you don't mind if I work while you talk right?"
I mean… I feel bad for making them wait so I might as well right? Plus, I wasn't going to just let these people who I have no idea who they think they are distract me from making more money here.
"Hmm.. If you are able to do so, please go right ahead."
Sweet.
I let my body take over as I started my flair once again, throwing up three bottles to start juggling them as I prepared five drinks for those guys.
The woman continued, "We are bartenders who belong to the 'Bartenders Eager To Advance' Association."
"BETA?" I asked, spinning a bottle on my finger before dropping it into the cocktail mixer.
"That's right," She nodded, not seeing the irony. "Our main goal is to beat Valiea and none of us has come close to beating her at all. You are the one who has come the closest to beating her and we had been hoping that you would be trying to do it again. Yet here you are working under her instead. Something that we don't understand why."
Ah… I get it… These guys had also challenged Valiea but all of them got their asses handed to them but they still didn't give up. It's to the point that they don't care how or who but as long as someone beats Valiea, they would be happy.
Also… I guess they didn't realise who the identity of the challenger was just yet or something?
"Well, in case you didn't know…" I drawled while pouring out the five drinks I prepared into their own glasses. "The person challenging her again next week is me."
I didn't get to see her reaction since I was busy delivering the drinks to the five guys and then starting work on the last four but I think the gasps coming from the crowd basically told me all I needed to know.
"You mean… You're not actually giving up?" She asked.
"No. I'm just here to get some practice in which the owners were kind enough to allow me to do. That's all."
I was expecting them to say something in response, but the frantic cheering that went up was definitely not what I expected.
Heck, even several of the patrons were also cheering and even tossing their drinks up into the air.
What the heck is wrong with you guys? Do you all hate Valiea that much or something? 𝙣𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝙤𝙢
