That Half-Finished Drink Was Lethal— What Happened When I Left My Bottle Behind in a 1:4 Male-to-Female World - 2

Chapter 2: That Half-Finished Drink Is Lethal

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—Miya’s POV—

Before I was ever called a “Queen,” there was one man I truly believed in. But he never loved me. He only pretended to be “kind” so he could use the money I earned and the followers who adored me as his own status.

“You serving me is only natural, right? If anything, you should be grateful I’ve been nice to you.”

I would never forget those parting words he spat at me, even if I died. A man’s kindness was nothing more than a leash to tame women. That was something I, who had crawled through the filthy waters of the underworld, should have known better than anyone.

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“…Haah, seriously, just die already. Every last one of them… what the hell do they think women are…?”

In the dark hallway, I dragged a heavy equipment case and muttered curses under my breath. Miya Akutsu. A legendary former underworld-affiliated influencer. The public worshiped me as an “arrogant queen,” but this was the reality. The male movers had gone, “Ah, I messed up my back, so I can’t do it,” and dumped the luggage on me like it was the most natural thing in the world. Then they strutted off with my money, acting all high and mighty because men were rare.

《In this world, extreme female superiority or a reversal of gender roles had become the norm, and men were treated as a privileged class simply for existing. Every single one of those men was an empty piece of trash. Just because they were men, they all seemed to think they were in a position where being served was only natural.》

That was when it happened. The guy from the shabby apartment next door,Yuu Yuki, came out. The moment our eyes met, I instinctively thought, (Ah, another one of those types.) Well-proportioned features, an air of good upbringing. What pissed me off the most was that, purely based on looks, he was ridiculously my type. But that was exactly why it made me sick.

(He’s definitely going to say something like, “I can help you, but what will you give me in return?” Some sleazy negotiation that is. That “kindness” is just an act, right?)

So I glared at him with all the killing intent I could muster.

“Hah…? Who the hell do you think you are…? Some cheap pickup attempt? Kehya! Don’t make me laugh!”

But he was different. Like he hadn’t even heard my insults, he just took the equipment case from my hands and lifted it effortlessly, like it weighed nothing.

“…What!?”

I was stunned. No negotiation. No ulterior motive. No demand for compensation. He simply carried the luggage, casually exposing the lines of his muscles, and left behind a meddlesome comment like, “If you don’t clean, you won’t even have space to walk.”

That was when I saw it. His arms supporting the load. The ridiculously strong veins bulging along them.

《In this world, moral values regarding chastity had reversed, and the brief glimpse of a man’s veins or the exposed line of his neck carried the same highly suggestive impact as a glimpse of underwear or cleavage in the original world.》

(…That’s way too indecent, damn it. What the hell is with that guy, just showing off those unguarded arms… It’s like the worst kind of erotic violence that stabs straight into your brain…!)

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—And then, a few days later, today. I had broken a glass and was sitting there pathetically in my room when he “invaded” again.

“I’ll help you clean. It’d be bad if you stepped on the shards.”

(Give me a break… What the hell is he, really?)

Why could a man act so efficiently and even happily perform “unpaid service”? Every time I saw the perfectly aligned corners of the folded clothes, it felt like my brain was glitching. Normally, in this world, it was expected that women handled housework for men. Yet there wasn’t even a trace of that arrogance in his behavior.

(Deep down, I know. A man like this shouldn’t exist. This is just an act to demand something bigger later, right? I can’t trust him at all.)

In the end, he left like the wind, leaving behind only the shine of a polished faucet. The room fell silent. I remained seated on the floor, staring at the table. There was a single plastic bottle sitting there. Beads of condensation clung to its surface, still carrying the chill from his room. It was about half empty.

“…Ha. What the hell is this? Some kind of ‘sign’ or something…?”

A dry laugh escaped me.

《In this world, leaving a ‘half-finished drink’ in a woman’s room was interpreted as an invitation equivalent to, or even more intimate than, a deep kiss in public.》

(This is the most ridiculously erotic, peak situation possible… Just leaving this behind so casually in the room of someone he barely knows…)

(I might look experienced because of how I act, but the truth is, I’ve never even touched a man’s body. I don’t even know a real kiss, only fake ones on a screen…!)

(Could he be doing this on purpose…? Is he enjoying imagining how I’ll react to this…?)

The cap had already been opened once, slightly loosened. My trembling fingers reached for it. If I drank this, my purity, my pride, would be completely shattered. Even knowing that, just imagining the feeling of the mouth he had touched made my lower abdomen burn uncontrollably.

“…Ah, ahh… Screw it… whatever happens, happens…!”

I should have been irritated. But my heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Thump, thump, like it was trying to break my ribs from the inside. My gaze wouldn’t leave the bottle’s mouth. The spot where his lips had touched. If I put my lips there even once, I felt like I’d never be the same person again. I’d never be able to go back as the “Queen” I was.

Even so… As if drawn in, I pressed the bottle to my lips.

Gulp, gulp, gulp…!

The liquid flowed down my throat. Swallowing, I poured his remnants into my stomach. It should have been cold, yet as it passed through me, it felt like it was heating up, violently rewriting every single one of my cells, like an overwhelming sense of contamination.

“—!!!! F… haa…!”

It was cold, yet it felt like an explosion of heat from within. The warmth of his body from just moments ago. His existence seeped directly into me.

(Ah… ahh… I’m going to lose it… this… Yuu is being poured directly into me…!)

My knees gave out, and I collapsed to the floor. The now-empty bottle crumpled weakly in my hand. What the hell was this? It felt like something of him had been forcibly poured into the vessel that was me. An overwhelming contamination… no, purification.

“Ahahahaha! This is the worst…! The absolute best kind of insanity…!”

Tears started to fall. I couldn’t stop laughing at how unbelievably fragile I was. Me, who hated men so much, getting this worked up over a single half-finished drink from some unknown guy next door.

…At that moment. I heard a faint noise from the next room. As if drawn to it, I crawled to the wall and pressed my ear against it. Through the thin wall, I heard his absentminded voice.

“…Ah, crap. I left the bottle next door.”

(…Huh?)

It felt like my heart froze. What did he just say…?

(Left it…? Not as harassment, not as a seduction… Just by pure accident?)

“…Kehyaha! You’ve gotta be kidding me… right…?”

Clutching the empty bottle, I laughed as I trembled. If he had really done this “unintentionally,” then what the hell was this time I spent, alone, pressed against the wall, writhing and losing my mind?

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—The next day.

As I was agonizing over how I should face him, I ran into Yuu in the hallway. With the same relaxed, dazzling smile as yesterday, he said to me.

“Ah, Miya-san. Sorry about yesterday, I left my half-finished bottle there. It’s kind of gross, right? Could you just throw it away or something?”

…Throw it away? The bottle I had cherished like a treasure and cried over as I drank it all… He was telling me to treat it like garbage?

“…Ah, I see. Throw it away, huh…”

The voice that came out of my mouth was lower and stickier than I expected.

(Yuu. You really…How long are you going to mess with me while acting like that?)

(Do you have any idea what kind of face I made as I poured your remnants into my stomach last night? And now you call it “gross” and tell me to throw it away…?)

(…Ahh, fine. If that’s how you want to play it, then I’ve got my own plans.)

“Got it. I’ll… take care of it for you…”

I looked straight at him and smiled, a dark, viscous pleasure filling my expression. Completely unaware, he just kept that dazzling smile on his face. Just looking at that innocent expression made the pit of my stomach burn.

(As if I’d throw it away. I’ll preserve it forever in my personal vault.)

(Kehyaha! This is interesting… I’ll peel back that mask of yours completely. Whether what you’re doing is real ‘kindness,’ or just the worst kind of ‘fraud’ meant to drive me insane…)

(Yuu. I’ll spend my entire life testing how long you can keep up that act. First, your daily life, your relationships, everything… I’ll strip it all bare using the power of me, the Queen.)

(You’d better be ready, okay?)

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