I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

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– All personnel, please evacuate.

– There has been an incident at the facility. Measures are being taken… casualties have been reported…

– Suppression teams and rescue teams are being dispatched.

“What the…”

The researcher finally came to his senses.

He was in the elevator.

It didn’t seem like too much time had passed.

After all, the test subject was still chewing on their snack.

He must have blacked out just briefly.

He placed his hand on the wall of the elevator and stood up.

Then, he pressed the button to open the door.

What lay before him were scattered bodies.

All of them had holes through their heads, each one killed the same way.

Who could have done this?

There was no need to think about it—it had to be this child.

“Ha…”

At least they seemed to have enjoyed their snack.

The only issue was, calling them a monster now wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Also, they seemed to be hunted now.

Are they really a monster?

Or an Awakener?

If they were an Awakener, then they were still technically human.

But it was odd for a human to enter this facility, and even stranger to survive in it.

“Either way, this is serious. There’s no way out.”

The hallway was blocked by a protective wall.

It was meant to keep monsters from escaping during emergencies.

All exits were sealed.

The test subject was still leaning against the elevator wall.

They stood there as if waiting for him to come back in.

“The elevator doesn’t go to the first floor. Though it seems to still be operational.”

Could they understand what he was saying?

He decided to explain, just in case.

After all, this child was clearly stronger than him.

Not too long ago, he’d thought of them as someone he had to protect.

Are they truly a monster?

They had killed everyone.

The presence of corpses lent an eerie atmosphere.

The test subject smiled.

They pressed a button.

Then the elevator doors closed.

“You won’t be able to get out that way…”

They were gone.

The test subject was beyond comprehension.

At the very least, they were certainly not an ordinary little girl.

What are they trying to do?

– Rescue team is on their way.

There’s no way out even if they went down.

They would only end up cornered.

There were only trapped monsters below.

– Please evacuate to a safe location until the rescue team arrives.

The loud broadcast continued to blare.

The rescue team coming to save the researcher.

But who were they saving him from?

Probably the test subject who’d gone down in the elevator.

“Ugh.”

The researcher collapsed, leaning against the wall.

Getting hit with a golf club was bearable.

But the place he’d been kicked was throbbing too painfully.

Walking was difficult.

Curse that director.

But it was pointless to be angry.

He was already dead.

“…Damn it.”

What they did to the test subjects was nothing short of hell.

With other subjects, maybe this outcome was possible.

But with this one…

He should have acted sooner, somehow.

This was the price for his complacency and negligence.

He’d expected tragedy as the result.

Things were spiraling out of control.

The ones dead were not researchers, but the director.

The suppression team shouldn’t have gone down so easily.

What was he supposed to do now?

Just wait for rescue?

If he did, there was no telling what the child would do.

If they truly were a monster?

What if they started massacring people as soon as they got out?

– I’m telling you, they’re a monster.

Looking at the director’s corpse, he recalled their past conversation.

– A monster, I tell you. They go around killing people.

They’d killed people outside and ended up confined here.

That’s how it had sounded back then.

If that was true, he should reconsider the decision to save that child.

B1.

The elevator stopped.

Did they get off?

What are they doing?

After about 30 seconds, the elevator began moving again.

B2.

There were monsters stored on the second basement floor for upcoming experiments.

He didn’t know what they were doing below.

B3.

B4.

B5.

This time, the elevator went straight down to the fifth basement floor.

The problem was that he had no way to understand what was happening.

He still didn’t fully know what the test subject was capable of.

This was the first time seeing them so active.

Usually, they’d just stay still in their room.

The siren kept blaring.

B4.

The elevator stopped again.

After about five minutes, it started moving once more.

B3.

The elevator stopped again.

Was he imagining that strange noise?

B2.

B1.

It was coming back up.

This time, it didn’t stop halfway.

1.

The elevator arrived.

The door opened.

Crunch.

A little girl came out, tearing into a chocolate bar.

It was just food from the machine’s button.

“Oh. Were you just hungry?”

Could that really have been all it was?

That food must be laced with drugs.

For her health, it would be better to eat something else.

“Medicine.”

The test subject opened her mouth.

If it wasn’t his imagination, she had spoken.

It was shocking to realize she could talk.

“M-Medicine?”

She nodded.

Was she asking for medicine?

There were different types.

What could she possibly want?

“……”

The test subject rolled up her white lab coat, revealing scars.

She pointed to injection marks with her finger.

With one hand, she mimicked an injection, smiling all the while.

Then she reached out her hand.

“You’re asking for medicine?”

She nodded as if to say he finally understood.

There was a hint of madness in her smile.

He got a hunch.

It was that new drug made from ground-up dragons.

It was said to be highly addictive.

He couldn’t see why they’d go as far as using dragon flesh for that.

Everyone who tried it was said to have died the same day.

This was the kind of facility where he happened to overhear that.

And now that he thought about it, she hadn’t died.

Even large monsters didn’t last long after taking the drug, but she had.

“Medicine.”

This time, her smile was gone.

She seemed serious about needing it.

She seemed limited in the words she could use.

“To get that, you’d have to go to the lab… or leave the building entirely. It’s in another building.”

Did she understand?

“It’s in the main lab building. You’ll see it on the lobby map; there should be a lot there. Or maybe in the special storage room… I’m not entirely sure. Sorry.”

He provided as much information as he could.

The test subject smiled as if satisfied.

“Thank you.”

She expressed her thanks.

Thanks.

So she knew how to show gratitude too.

She must be human, then.

Not a monster.

The researcher smiled as well.

Even though he was hurt, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Right…”

So she wasn’t a monster.

It had been the right choice.

Choosing not to throw her into the incinerator.

Anyone would have made that choice.

Any sane person would.

“……”

The test subject looked at him, as if she had something to say.

Though her eyes were partly obscured by her hair, she was clearly looking at him.

“Heh…”

She smiled.

Then she spoke.

“[Rest.]”

Immediately, his body lost all strength.

It was hard to believe he had been tense just moments ago.

Then his eyes closed.

*

Researcher A was resting peacefully.

Lying on the floor.

[230 hours 12 minutes]

She had to make up for that time.

There had been 240 hours left before she’d told him to rest.

They called it a “word-command.”

It was something like that.

Ever since the day they’d injected her with tons of drugs, it had been possible.

Whatever words she said, time would be deducted.

Her first word had been, “[Get lost].”

She had said it to the researcher who’d brought food that looked like food.

But when he’d actually left, she went hungry for days.

It had taken her a while to realize that the command had worked.

After that, she simply kept her mouth shut.

It was unclear if it was because she chose not to speak or because she couldn’t.

In any case, that silence had probably driven her further insane.

She was still pretty far from sane.

She knew that much, but everything else felt hazy.

Get lost. Get lost, she thought.

What had the researcher brought that made her say that?

She couldn’t quite remember.

Time had disappeared back then too.

About 20 hours had evaporated.

It was a system she couldn’t understand.

Medicine, medicine.

Even saying a single syllable costs one or two hours.

That’s why she avoided speaking.

Maybe she could write notes instead.

Saying “Thank you” had taken courage.

But she wanted to express gratitude.

“Heh.”

Smiling was still possible.

It didn’t cost time.

Bang.

A continuous banging noise echoed.

It was the sound of the protective wall being breached.

Researcher A was being rescued by the rescue team.

She was the only one left.

Bang, bang, bang.

The protective wall crumpled.

She saw something breaking through.

Thud.

A thick metal wall collapsed.

Behind it stood a monster with a drill-like head.

Though it had no eyes and walked on six legs, it resembled a rhinoceros or a hippo overall.

Its body was covered in wounds.

The elevator wasn’t the only way up to the first floor.

There was also a transport tunnel for monsters, as well as stairs.

In the end, all the paths connected.

They just needed to break through the walls.

She’d ordered the drill-head monster to destroy everything in its path and come to her.

It had cost her a hundred hours to give that one command, but it had been worth it.

She wanted to thank it for its hard work, but speaking would cost time.

Fine.

Time was limited.

She needed to get the medicine.

According to the researcher, there was a storage place.

There should be a large supply since she wasn’t the only one they’d used it on.

That lab they kept dragging her to.

She planned to go there first.

– Please follow the instructions of the rescue team.

– Military forces are being deployed.

The building shook as if an earthquake had struck.

The reason was obvious.

She’d unleashed all the monsters trapped inside.

“[Break it.]”

Bang!

The monster slammed its head into the wall beside them.

The hallway would take too long to cross.

The protective wall and regular walls were of similar strength, so they could just break through.

[222 hours 30 minutes]

About eight hours disappeared.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The wall shattered, and a path to the outside opened.

The drill-head monster charged forward.

Dust and debris were left in its wake.

– Resistance… if discovered…

The wall speaker must have broken.

It would be strange if it hadn’t after all that banging.

The broadcast crackled and then cut off.

Fresh air started to come in.

It was nighttime.

The dead of night.

She didn’t know the exact time, but the air was cold.

She stepped outside.

Freed monsters were rampaging.

In the distance, she saw people in other buildings.

She didn’t know if they were military forces, rescue teams, or insiders.

She knew where she had to go.

She needed to head to the lab.

The lab would have the medicine.

“Ugh.”

Her legs gave out.

Thud.

She fell again.

She couldn’t move.

She had always been in this condition.

But now she knew how to fix it.

“[Get up.]”

Get up.

When she said that, she really could stand up.

It had been similar when she’d saved Researcher A.

It worked this time too.

She propped herself up from the ground.

[217 hours 46 minutes]

Time could be replenished with the medicine.

“[Move.]”

[206 hours 9 minutes]

Move, move, move.

She repeated it to herself.

Eventually, her legs moved.

She knew.

This was her body being forced to obey.

But there was no other choice.

It was a bright moonlit night.

The air was cold.

So, where was the lab building?

Where was the medicine?

The signs helpfully pointed the way.