I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

The black dome surrounding me had yet to shatter.

After extending thorns in all directions, things seemed to quiet down a bit.

And then, something strange began to appear in front of my eyes.

[Warning – External stimuli may shorten the duration.]

Come to think of it, this was the only warning the Status Window had ever displayed.

[98%]

The time to hit 100% had certainly been shortened.

The external stimuli had been far too intense.

And this time, a new warning appeared.

The Status Window, which had been silent until now, started speaking.

[Warning – External stimuli will result in gradual self-dissolution, loss of cognitive patterns, collapse of linguistic systems, reconstruction of neural pathways and mana circuits, physical and mental overload, confusion, and fear.]

“…Since when did it start kindly explaining everything one by one?”

This external stimulus seemed much stronger than the last.

It was far more definitive in its phrasing this time.

Not “may cause,” but “will cause.”

“But why?”

Wasn’t this supposed to turn me into a normal person?

Hadn’t I already paid off my debt?

[99%]

Ah.

Was something going wrong?

But there wasn’t any other way.

“…Why?”

Self-dissolution, loss of linguistic systems… they all seemed like terrifying keywords.

Even after rereading the warning, I still couldn’t understand.

Wasn’t this supposed to restore me to normal?

“W-wait, why?”

But why didn’t it feel like I was becoming normal?

It already felt like my brain was rotting away.

Could it really get worse from here?

Would avoiding external stimuli be enough to make it okay?

“I-I, I’ve endured up until now! I’ve survived this far!”

I didn’t even know who I was shouting at.

“If I disappear… if I disappear…”

People would miss me.

But would they really?

“…Si-Hoo…”

Would he mourn me?

Or would he be relieved, glad the hindrance was gone?

Han Si-Hoo had to be there for the happy ending.

Isn’t he the protagonist who would bring about world peace?

“If I just stop using the drugs. I’m sorry!”

I had been using them far too often.

Was this my punishment?

I didn’t know what was happening, but it was terrifying.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! But I still have hope—”

Did I have hope?

Light pierced through the black dome.

The shield was breached.

The crack in the dome widened, splitting apart.

And then someone appeared.

“…Si-Hoo?”

“Yeah. It’s me, Seo-Ah.”

The arm swinging the sword was trembling.

He had just gotten up from collapsing moments ago.

His body couldn’t possibly be in good shape.

“Si-Hoo, Si-Hoo, why are you trying to kill me? Don’t do this.”

“I never did. Those people weren’t called by us.”

“T-then, when I attacked you…”

I remembered attacking recklessly.

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay, just calm down. I’ve already told them to stop attacking.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

[99%]

Ah, no wonder the number hadn’t risen any further.

Every time I was attacked, it increased by 1%, but now it had stopped just short of the brink.

“We can’t let it happen. Got it?”

If I attacked, it would hit 100%.

I thought I was paying off a debt, thought I was becoming normal.

Why did I even think that?

It didn’t make any sense.

“It’s okay. Calm down.”

Calm down.

I tried to calm myself down.

How?

“Ah, right. That purification skill. Can you use it? I’m in a bit of a precarious situation right now.”

“Purification? N-now?”

Si-Hoo answered hesitantly.

“Yeah. You can’t?”

“Well, sorry. My body’s in bad shape. I probably can’t use it.”

He was bleeding.

Han Si-Hoo kept pressing his chest wound with the hand not holding his sword.

“Ah, you’re injured. I’m sorry. I keep asking for unreasonable things and causing trouble.”

“No. Don’t worry about me. Let’s just get out of here first.”

“Okay!”

The dome-shaped shield was almost completely destroyed.

Smoke filled the air from the continued assaults.

I grabbed Si-Hoo’s hand and ran.

There had to be a safe place somewhere.

Bang.

Ratatatatat.

Somewhere, the sound of rapid gunfire echoed.

And then it hit me.

[100%]

Ha.

The number had maxed out.

So, what now?

For now, it just hurts.

It felt like something inside me was bursting out.

My breath scattered wildly.

Why had it come to this?

I had never been anything special.

I hadn’t done anything wrong enough to deserve this.

I wanted to be great or important, but I never became such a person.

I longed for human warmth.

Because I’m not a monster—I’m human.

[System shutdown in 3 seconds]

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

[System shutdown in 2 seconds]

But I don’t want to die.

I will stay alive.

I will remain here.

[System shutdown in 1 second]

Shutdown (euthanasia).

Is that what it is?

Si-Hoo was holding my hand.

“Ahaha.”

I saw a childhood memory.

Was it when Seo-Ah had been terribly sick, and Si-Hoo was by her side—

[System shutdown.]

***

“Seo-Ah?”

Han Si-Hoo had also been shot in the leg.

Someone had recklessly fired a gun.

But that didn’t matter.

“…Seo-Ah, hey?”

He wished it was all a mistake.

Hoped it was just a hallucination from blood loss.

He shook her, but she didn’t wake up.

Stop the bleeding.

But it was a difficult spot to treat.

The Academy had taught that even one hit there could be fatal.

And thanks to the rapid-fire, there were far too many wounds.

“……”

The pain he’d momentarily forgotten surged back.

Han Si-Hoo tried to lift Seo-Ah, but his leg hurt too much.

He couldn’t walk.

He staggered and fell along with her.

Cheon Yoo-Hwa was yelling at the shooter, fighting them.

The situation was a mess.

Infighting among the Awakeners, military intervention by someone.

-Who ordered the shooting!

A faint shout could be heard in the distance.

No, she couldn’t be dead.

She hadn’t died last time, even though it had seemed like it.

Stop the bleeding.

Even if he didn’t know how, he had to try.

Remove the Upper Garment and Stop the Bleeding

When I loosened Seo-Ah’s clothes, scars became visible.

I pressed down to stop the bleeding, using the cloth as a bandage, and discovered that the scars formed words.

Likes canned tuna.

That was written across her lower abdomen.

“Ah… damn it…”

So, that’s why she never wanted to show her skin.

That’s why she mentioned canned tuna?

What on earth had happened?

All I remembered was eating canned tuna together.

Why did it have to be like this?

“Ah… Ah…”

The markings weren’t just one or two.

It was malicious.

But first, I had to stop the blood from flowing out.

The blood was thicker than normal—more viscous.

Han Si-Hoo briefly wondered if it was because of the drugs.

Wasn’t it supposed to be a healing drug?

She needed the drug.

Just like at the Academy.

Drugs.

I had brought a few emergency supplies, just in case I ran into Seo-Ah unexpectedly and needed them.

Had I brought them?

I rummaged through my pockets.

I grabbed something that felt like a pen.

“Ah.”

It was a syringe.

But it was broken.

The contents had leaked out completely.

It must have happened during the intense battle.

I had to save her.

She had to live.

The fighting around us continued nonstop.

Seo-Ah had fallen, but for some reason, the battle didn’t stop.

I had to protect Seo-Ah.

Get her to a safe place.

A place where she could be treated.

“I have to… go.”

My mind grew hazy.

I had already pushed my blurred consciousness to its limits to get here.

I had driven myself to the very edge of mental endurance.

Pushed to the limit, but gained nothing.

Again, again.

I had to support her and move.

There had to be people who could help.

But the one who needed support was me, Han Si-Hoo.

Thud.

I fell to my knees.

I saw the collapsed concrete and rebar from the battle.

Tap, tap.

Pebbles fell.

Dust scattered.

The debris of a massive building loomed, collapsing toward us.

I had to stop it.

But I had no strength left.

I couldn’t even properly hold my sword to fight.

I tried to use a skill, but my mana was completely depleted.

I had nothing left.

Even collapsing unconscious right now wouldn’t be surprising.

I had used every last bit of strength I could muster.

So, how?

I had to protect Seo-Ah.

I held her close and braced myself for the impact.

Could I shield her from the falling debris with my back?

Crash!

***

“If anything ever happens…”

A faded memory from childhood.

A memory so vague, I wasn’t even sure it was real.

“Tell me. Because we’re friends.”

It was the time when Seo-Ah and I truly started to grow close.

“I’ll protect you.”

So don’t worry.

“Really?”

Seo-Ah asked again.

“Yeah.”

“Then, then I’ll protect you too, Si-Hoo!”

She smiled brightly.

“So if anything difficult happens, tell me!”

She spoke with confidence.

Confidence from who knows where.

“I’ll solve everything for you.”

She puffed out her chest as if to say, Trust me.

And smiled radiantly.

***

The battle grows more chaotic.

Cheon Yoo-Hwa bit her lip.

If they had just taken Yoo Seo-Ah and left, things could have ended there.

But the military got involved.

Her guess was that the escaped monsters nearby were the cause.

She had let her guard down because there was an Academy instructor among their group.

But those people had been taught to kill anything resembling a monster.

Yoo Seo-Ah’s human form didn’t matter to them; they shot first.

That triggered Rena, who had been watching from afar, to go berserk.

Then the indiscriminate shooters, the Awakeners who had no clear purpose—everything tangled into this mess.

It was impossible to distinguish allies from enemies.

Han Si-Hoo had also been shot.

Cheon Yoo-Hwa wanted to help him, but an Awakener was attacking her.

The reason was unclear.

Crash.

One of the intervening Awakeners swung a greatsword, causing a building to collapse.

The falling debris was headed straight for Han Si-Hoo.

She had to stop it.

“Mana depletion?”

Her skills wouldn’t activate.

She couldn’t stop it.

Crash!

The debris collided with the ground.

Cheon Yoo-Hwa averted her eyes.

Si-Hoo must have shielded Seo-Ah.

She focused solely on the immediate fight.

That was the priority.

With her mana depleted, her raw abilities were put to the test.

But something felt off.

It was impossible that her mana had completely run out.

The battlefield grew strangely silent.

She guessed that the inability to use skills was something everyone was experiencing.

The Awakeners’ skills had been sealed.

“What is everyone looking at…”

Everyone was staring at the place where Han Si-Hoo should have been buried under the debris.

But there was no rubble there.

Nor was Han Si-Hoo.

Floating in the air was a young girl.

On her head were antler-like branches.

They seemed to flicker as if made of mana.

Now she knew where all the mana had gone.

It had all been absorbed into that place.

Every bit of mana in the vicinity.

No wonder the air felt so clean.

Air without mana.

The air felt unnaturally fresh.

“It’s a dragon.”

One of the nearby Awakeners spoke up.

“What?”

“That’s a dragon. A dragon! That’s why hunting dragons is so difficult.”

It didn’t look human at all.

Something that merely resembled a human form.

But there was no reason to assume it was a dragon either.

“Speak clearly.”

“It’s mana devourer… You students wouldn’t know. It’s a skill dragons use to consume mana. The mana will return soon, so hold on. Even against a dragon, with this many people, we can… capture it.”

A dragon.

The dragon had devoured all the mana.