I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

The Future

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

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I wanted to just watch.

I just wanted to watch.

To go back to the moment of reading that book.

I wanted to see how the main character grew, and what trials they overcame.

I wanted to see them make friends and lead their comrades.

I couldn’t see it.

Because I was trapped in a strange place.

A small space where I could do nothing but imagine.

They were far too late in coming to save me.

I was certain there was a book I’d read.

I tried to recall its contents, but I couldn’t remember anything except the part where I died.

I did remember that everyone was happy in the end.

A happy ending.

A happy ending.

[330 hours]

Maybe the time appearing before my eyes wasn’t due to the drug’s effect.

The time I borrowed and forced upon myself should have ended long ago.

It was time that would only inconvenience others.

How much time would there be if I added up all the time I’d saved until now?

On the faintly remembered last page of that novel, I wasn’t there.

I wasn’t the only one missing, but… someone more suitable was by the protagonist’s side.

They seemed to have many friends.

[329 hours 59 minutes]

“Ah…”

When I opened my eyes, I was home.

Home?

No, that couldn’t be right.

A room in complete disarray.

Rotting wood.

A ceiling that leaked when it rained.

A place abandoned, even by spiders.

A place resembling a home.

In short, a ruin.

But at least it wasn’t my home.

I tried to think about why I was in a place like this.

I remembered telling the rescue team to save me.

And what happened after that?

I counted the time on my fingers.

If there were still around 330 hours left… maybe a day had passed.

The last time I used the drug, it was 360-something hours.

—Oh, home.

I think I might’ve said that.

Was it in the rescue team’s transport vehicle?

Because I saw something that looked like home.

The street looked similar too.

This isn’t home.

I just mistook it for home.

After all, slums like this are everywhere.

After getting off the transport, I must have wandered into some random house and fallen asleep.

I was very tired.

A quiet place without people or monsters.

Maybe I should go outside.

“……”

Of course, my body wouldn’t move.

It wouldn’t move.

This is a real mess.

Haha.

It was so absurd that I laughed.

Just lying here like this isn’t the worst decision, right?

Just lying here.

When the drug wears off, I’ll just die here.

Honestly, it’s not so bad.

No one will drag me off to a lab anymore.

No more experiments on my body.

“…Get up.”

Even speaking was a task.

It was harder after waking up.

“[Get up.]”

I stood up.

I could move.

Light came in from outside.

In the bright light, I could see the mold on the walls more clearly.

It was morning.

Light.

Morning.

The outside world.

It had been so long.

There were too many strange events yesterday to really appreciate it.

“Aha…”

I had four extra syringes in my pocket.

That should be enough for emergencies.

[322 hours 41 minutes]

Time is evaporating at an incredible speed.

Still, it’s a relief that I can at least move like this.

As long as I have the drug, it’ll be fine.

Yes.

All I need is the drug.

It’s always been that way.

Maybe it’s gotten worse.

I looked at the mirror hanging on the wall.

If I wiped away the dust, I could see well enough.

“…Huh?”

My bangs were long, so it was hard to see.

Doesn’t something look different?

I brushed my hair to the side to check.

My eyes were strange.

“Hm?”

Was it because of what happened in the lab?

Has it been like this since then?

They did some weird things to my eyes.

Vertical pupils.

Cat’s eyes?

Maybe lizard’s eyes.

It was only my right eye.

It was different enough that I noticed it right away.

“……”

Why?

Is it because of the drug?

At least it’s not obvious if my bangs cover it.

At least from the outside, it doesn’t seem like anything’s wrong.

I don’t look sick.

After all, I’ve been using the drug so much.

Yeah.

Yeah.

As long as I have the drug, I can manage.

I should go find more of it.

Lingering in a place like this is just a waste of time.

Let’s go outside.

The street has been abandoned for quite a while.

But it doesn’t seem entirely deserted.

People seem to live here.

“-Yula!”

I heard a voice.

A voice calling for someone.

A child’s voice.

It sounded like a boy.

“Yula?!”

I went outside to check.

A boy, maybe around 9 or 10 years old.

“Yul- oh, who, who are you?”

We met on the street.

I tried smiling to show that I wasn’t a threat.

“Uh, do you live here?”

I shook my head.

I do live in a similar place, though.

His gaze was measuring, as if he were wondering whether I could be trusted.

“…Um, anyway. Have you seen a girl about this tall?”

He gestured with his hand to show someone a bit shorter than himself.

Looks like he was looking for a friend.

“We were playing, but she’s gone… I think she’s hiding.”

I shook my head.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen her.

“Oh, I see. If you find her…”

He trailed off awkwardly.

I nodded to show that I’d help look for her.

But how should I go about it?

It felt odd to call out her name.

Still, I did my best to look around.

Wandering through the streets.

All I did was hover near the boy.

“Yula-! Where are you?!”

If she were nearby, she would’ve come out.

Were they playing hide and seek?

Or maybe she’d gotten lost.

“I’m here!”

A girl jumped out from behind the boy.

“Oh, come on. I was worried.”

She probably hid to tease the boy.

“Who’s this lady?”

It felt strange to be called “lady.”

“I don’t know. She was here. She helped me look for you.”

“Oh… Lady! I’m Yula. And he’s Hyun.”

Their names were short.

I guess they have their reasons for living in a place like this.

“What’s your name?”

I wanted to answer, but speaking would cost me time.

“Oh, you’re from the factory too?”

Hyun asked.

It seemed there was a factory nearby.

“Right? Factory folks usually don’t talk much. Isn’t it that information… uh, leak thing?”

“But this lady isn’t even wearing a mask.”

“…Oh, maybe not?”

They began discussing among themselves.

I guess they didn’t see me as dangerous.

“[Factory?]”

The factory sounded interesting.

“Yes, the people from the factory come and kill the monsters for us.”

If it’s a factory that kills monsters, then it must use them as materials.

It might even be the same kind of factory that produces drugs.

This area probably isn’t that far from the experimental zone.

I’d been dropped off not too far from here during transport.

I’d heard there was a factory zone nearby.

Maybe it was in the lab, I don’t remember exactly.

“And they bring us food, and medicine too.”

“Medicine?”

“Yes. The factory people come and ask if anyone’s hurt.”

Is it the same drug I know?

Do they give it to kids like these?

No, it’s probably just regular medicine.

“[Like this?]”

I took out a syringe to show them.

“Hmm… I haven’t seen that before. Is it a pen?”

“It has a long needle. Looks like a syringe.”

I put it away.

It seemed they didn’t recognize it, which was a relief.

They probably wouldn’t give medicine to healthy-looking kids like these.

Why did I start using the drug again?

—Doctor?

Doctor?

Right.

The doctor.

I remembered the first time I met the doctor.

I had been coughing.

I needed cold medicine, so I went to buy it.

Even the small relief center in the slum had disappeared.

That relief center sometimes gave food when I visited.

It was a pity that it was gone.

I was staring at the site of the abandoned relief center.

“Where can I get medicine…”

The hospital was far.

It was hard to enter the city center.

Far away, and I had no money.

I expected this to happen.

Why would anyone distribute medicine and food in the slums?

But I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

“Maybe I should just endure it.”

The constant coughing was a problem.

There was no other relief center nearby.

If they’d pulled out of here, it was likely the same for other places.

I’d better head back.

Just as I decided to turn around.

“Oh, are you looking for a doctor?”

A man in a black coat was standing there.

He looked suspicious.

“Yes…”

“I heard the relief center had closed, but I thought there might still be patients around.”

“What?”

“I’m a doctor. If there’s anything you need, I can provide it.”

That was my first meeting with the doctor.

“Medicine… I need cold medicine.”

“Ah, yes. I just happened to have some set aside for someone in need. Might I know your name?”

“Seo-Ah. Yoo Seo-Ah.”

That was my name.

I remembered it.

“Miss Seo-Ah, right? Here’s some cold medicine. I heard there were patients in this

area, so if anyone else needs help, send them my way.”

He handed me a pre-prepared packet of medicine.

It was the same type I usually received at the relief center.

“How much…”

I didn’t have much money.

The relief center sold medicine at a very low price, but how much would this doctor charge?

“It’s free. Next time I might charge, but it won’t be too expensive.”

“Thank you. Uh… do I come to the relief center for it?”

I might need medicine again in the future.

“Yes, well. I’ll be around this area.”

“Oh… if you’re a doctor, where’s your hospital?”

“It’s in the city. Think of me as temporarily dispatched here. I’ll be in the area for a while; there are other patients besides you, Miss Seo-Ah.”

“Oh, right. Thank you.”

“See you again.”

“Goodbye.”

He was a strange person.

Not at all like the doctor who had been at the relief center.

Younger, and his way of speaking was different too.

Still, I’d gotten medicine, so it was fine.

I swallowed the medicine.

The same medicine I’d always taken.

And I wasn’t sick for about a month.

The next time I came back for medicine, it looked a bit different.

It worked for about a week.

And then I came back.

It worked for four days.

And then I came back again.

It worked for two days.

And then again.

At some point, the medicine I received turned from pills into liquid in a syringe.

I learned how to use the syringe.

I found out that syringes were more complicated to use than I’d thought.

And I learned that the doctor was a good person.

I didn’t know why, but he was supposed to be good.

So he must be a good person.

Still, no matter how good of a person he was, I used to smile like that once too.

I patted their heads.

“Unnie? What’s wrong?”

Yula smiled.

The boy beside her, Hyun, also looked bright.

Yes.

Children are supposed to smile like that.

They’re the future.

Was I the future?

If someone like me was the future, if I were hope, that would be disastrous.

—Children are the future.

Words I’d read on a fence at the playground.

A friend’s voice saying, “We’re the future, aren’t we?”

So, is this how adults treat children?

Maybe I wasn’t young enough for that.

Was ruining the future their hobby?

Or did I lack the qualifications to become the future?

Or had I done something wrong?

Why had Yoo Seo-Ah been so thoroughly destroyed?

“Are… are you crying?”

I was patting Hyun’s head when a small tear fell.

Not a tear of medicine, but a tear from my own eyes.

Right?

[285 hours 4 minutes]

When I was on the drug, I was supposed to be happy.

I was always happy.