I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

“Nice place, right? Not many customers, though.”

The place I arrived at was a café near a factory.

It was an unmanned café.

There were no staff, but it was organized neatly.

The layout had several small tables between long sofas.

There were enough seats for multiple people, but only two of us were using it.

“Well, there’s a lot to talk about…”

The doctor prepared a cup of coffee.

And a glass of orange juice.

“If we’re going to have a conversation…”

He placed the cups of drinks on the table.

The coffee was on the doctor’s side.

The orange juice was on my side.

Plop.

A pill dropped into the juice.

“Talking is easier in a human way.”

The pill dissolved.

It vanished without a trace.

I drank it.

For just orange juice, the taste was a bit strange.

But it was pleasant.

I kept sipping on it.

Strangely, my throat felt a bit warm.

[393 hours 53 minutes]

“It’s a drug that helps control abilities. They often give it to young Awakeners who have difficulty controlling theirs.”

“…Ability control?”

[393 hours 52 minutes]

I checked the time.

It hadn’t decreased much.

“How does it taste?”

“It’s good.”

[393 hours 52 minutes]

The time wasn’t decreasing.

I could talk freely.

Amazing.

The doctor is amazing.

I fell silent.

Without saying a word, I just swallowed the drink.

What should I say?

I was happy now.

Still, if I think about what the doctor did, it seemed like he was the cause of all the problems.

In other words, I had to kill the doctor.

The doctor…

I tried to create a knife, but it didn’t work.

Was it because of this “ability control” drug?

What a scary drug.

If someone secretly gives it to anyone, they can’t even use their ability, and they’re helpless?

Is there really such a versatile drug?

Well, honestly, I don’t really want to kill him.

It felt like an obligation.

“Why…”

“Hm?”

“Why did you come only now?”

What was the reason the doctor appeared?

“Why do you hate me?”

There were a lot of things to ask.

I drank more of the juice.

“Eh?”

He hated me.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left me in this condition.

There must be a reason.

“I like you, Doctor.”

The drug seemed effective.

It made me say things I normally couldn’t.

And I felt pretty good.

The doctor remained silent.

“…Ah.”

The doctor said as if he realized something.

He took the cup with the orange juice.

“Haha, well.”

He sniffed it and laughed.

Did something go wrong?

“I gave you the wrong drink. This is… alcohol.”

“Alcohol?”

I’d already drunk more than half of it.

No wonder it tasted a bit different.

“I didn’t intend to give alcohol to a minor.”

“Heh.”

The drug was okay, though?

What the hell is he talking about?

“Haha.”

That was funny.

A funny joke.

[393 hours 51 minutes]

It was alcohol.

It didn’t seem to affect the time much.

“So, why is it? Why does the doctor hate me?”

I couldn’t see the doctor’s expression clearly.

It was like looking through some filter, like fog or shadows.

It was almost always like that.

Was this also a kind of brainwashing or suggestion?

“It hurt even when I used the drug back there.”

Should I go closer to look at his expression?

I wasn’t drunk.

There’s no way I was.

I stood up and moved.

To the other side of the table, where the doctor was sitting on the sofa.

I only staggered a bit.

“You specifically ordered them to give me weak drugs, didn’t you?”

All the drugs used in the lab were strange.

Some were too effective, while others were too weak.

There were times when the effect wore off, and they just left me alone.

“Am I wrong?”

I sat next to the doctor.

It was soft.

“I thought you were a good person, Doctor, but why is it that…”

I was just saying whatever came to mind.

“I don’t dislike you. I like you.”

He patted my head.

“…Hm?”

Oh, he likes me?

I couldn’t grasp the flow of the conversation.

I didn’t really know what I was saying.

It seemed like it had been a long time since I last heard someone say they liked me.

When was the last time?

I really couldn’t remember.

Nobody had told me they liked me.

“Mmm…”

Even if it was just words, it felt nice to hear it.

It made me feel even better.

I guess I have something like that.

Maybe it’s a kind of affection deficiency, where I just easily fall for those who say nice things to me.

Maybe it’s because I don’t have parents or friends.

“It’d be better to talk once the alcohol wears off. I didn’t expect there’d be alcohol in the orange juice bottle.”

This was serious.

I was feeling really good.

I felt like I could forget all the bad things I’d experienced with the doctor so far.

Has my brain already been ruined?

“Aha.”

It was ruined a long time ago.

I’m content even in this state.

Isn’t there no major problem?

Or is there?

[393 hours 46 minutes]

There’s plenty of time.

Honestly, there’s no reason to feel bad.

I’m happy.

“Your hair’s grown longer.”

“Yeah, it has.”

“Oh, right. Also, your eyes are a bit strange.”

I pushed my hair aside to show him my eyes.

The pupil in my right eye looked odd.

A vertical pupil.

“And my body doesn’t move well, and my speech is kind of weird…”

There are so many strange things.

“I see strange things, hear strange things, my thoughts don’t work well, and my memory is weird…”

A lot is strange.

What should I do?

If I go to a hospital for treatment, could I be saved?

I think Researcher A had similar concerns.

There’s a doctor in the hospital.

And there’s a doctor right next to me.

“Now, I don’t know anything but how to use drugs…”

What should I do?

“It’s too late for treatment, isn’t it?”

Still talking about treatment?

“It’s not too late.”

“Really?”

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

How did he plan to treat me?

Is there a way?

“Is that really true?”

I didn’t know if I could believe him.

Last time, he called it a treatment drug, but nothing got treated.

I just wanted to use more drugs.

Who knows?

If I kept using it, maybe I would’ve actually been cured.

Maybe I hadn’t used enough.

“…What would be good?”

The doctor checked something on his phone.

“What do you mean?”

“Can you pick a number? Any number that comes to mind.”

“A number?”

[393 hours 45 minutes]

“Forty-five?”

“Ah, yes. Then…”

“Hm?”

For what?

“I’m going to send a message.”

To whom?

“To someone who can treat you, Miss Seo-Ah. I should inform them about the patient’s condition.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The beneficiary who owes you, Miss Seo-Ah, said they’d treat you.”

“A debt…”

What debt?

Most of what I remember is being locked up in the lab, so nothing comes to mind.

“At least, they’ll remove those scars without a trace.”

“Oh.”

That’s a relief.

I didn’t want to show my scars when I met a friend.

Friend?

The memory is hazy.

What had happened?

I know Han Si-Hoo despised me terribly.

I felt like I was going to die.

Maybe it was a dream.

[393 hours 31 minutes]

Some more time had passed.

The mere fact that I could relax in a café was nice.

And knowing that I could be cured made it even better.

“Can I look forward to it?”

“Yes.”

It felt like we were getting closer.

“Just a bit more juice…”

“Ah, that’s enough for now.”

“Oh…”

The doctor pushed the cup aside.

It felt like I could drink just a bit more.

“Can I lie down?”

“Yes.”

Wow.

“A lap pillow… hee…”

The sofa was long enough for me to lie down on.

My head felt dizzy, so I just lay down.

Was it because of the alcohol?

My head felt oddly warm.

“You can sleep if you want.”

“…I don’t want to.”

I shouldn’t close my eyes just anywhere.

It wouldn’t be surprising if I woke up back in the lab.

Who knows where they might send me while soaked in drugs.

My vision gradually distorted.

I couldn’t tell where I was lying down anymore.

Was I really lying on the sofa, or was I lying on an experiment table?

I couldn’t tell who was next to me either.

It was a friend, so they must be here with me.

Was it Si-Hoo?

Was the doctor Si-Hoo?

No, that’s not right.

Yes.

A researcher?

Was I still in the lab, lost in delusion?

My vision wasn’t functioning properly.

“Aha.”

I felt good, but it was strange.

My mind was hazy.

I laughed brightly.

[393 hours 20 minutes]

***

An outing with a friend.

It was my first outing with a friend.

The friend who called the girl, once only known as the Saintess, by her name.

Han Si-Hoo.

It was an outing just for the two of us.

Of course, it wasn’t to leisurely play around.

Thanks to the recent lab monster escape incident, we discovered corruption in the munitions factory.

As someone with connections to both the lab and the factory, the Saintess could be of great help to Han Si-Hoo.

“This shouldn’t look strange.”

I adjusted my clothes in front of the mirror.

Several outfits I’d never even bought.

White clothes that matched my long white hair.

The saintly look was all pure white.

Did I stand out too much?

Maybe another outfit would be better.

As I kept trying on different clothes, it got closer to the appointment time.

“Alright. I’ll just… go with this.”

A gray hoodie.

I decided to go with a casual look.

Standing out too much wasn’t good, after all.

I stepped out onto the street.

No one’s gaze lingered on me.

It seemed like I had chosen my outfit well.

The place I arrived at after leaving home was a café.

Si-Hoo would be here soon.

“One café latte, please.”

I ordered something in advance.

-Ding.

A text message arrived.

I went to sit at the reserved seat.

I prepared to read it, hoping it was from Si-Hoo.

What arrived was a strange link.

Since I didn’t know who sent it, it made me uneasy.

“Is it spam?”

I’d heard that you shouldn’t open these carelessly.

-Ding.

Another message arrived.

This time, it was a photo.

A young girl with a bright smile.

The white lab coat was familiar.

What was her name again?

Was it Seo-Ah?

An old promise came to mind.

-So if I stay in the lab for just one month… you’ll cure me of everything?

-Yes. I already saved you when you were dying, didn’t I? Even severe drug addiction can be cured.

-I’ll do it.

-Good choice. It’ll hurt a bit, but I heard you’re immune to drugs, right? Just endure for a month.

-Yes.

I remembered the state she was in.

There was no way she’d survive beyond a month.

I thought she would have died long ago.

I thought about who might have sent the text.

Were they trying to blackmail me?

Who would do something like this…

I hesitated, then clicked the link.

A video started playing.

A 45-minute surveillance camera recording.

From the date on the screen, it was from half a year ago.

A young girl sat in a chair on the screen.

“-Ah, you were here first.”

At that moment, Si-Hoo entered the café.

I hurriedly turned off my phone.

I’ll watch the video later.

A video sent by someone unknown, with unclear intentions.

“Oh, hi, Si-Hoo.”

It would only be a distraction today.