When I was a kid, I used to be scared of needles.

Actually, I still am.
Who in their right mind would enjoy having something sharp jabbed into their body?

But there’s no other way around it.
There aren’t many options when it comes to taking medication.

I angled the needle and stuck it into my bandaged arm.

“Ugh.”

I can never get used to stabbing myself with a needle.
After giving myself the shot, my mind momentarily went blank.

[8 hours]

A small screen popped up in the corner of my vision.
It meant I could stay somewhat sober for the next eight hours.

[7 hours 59 minutes]

There goes a minute.
My mind feels foggy.
Who the hell lives with this kind of timer floating in front of their eyes?
You’d have to be completely insane to tolerate this.

Well, I guess it makes sense in a world like this one—a fictional one.

It's similar to those RPG protagonists who always have their status window popping up.

“Nice.”

The shot’s effects started kicking in, and I felt... better.
My mind calmed down. As long as I had the drugs, I could keep going.

Being healthy feels pretty damn good.

It’s clear when I think about how awful I felt before I took the shot.

What happens when the drugs run out?
I’ll worry about that when the time comes.
If I can still think, that is.

Some of the medications don’t even require injections.
I can just swallow them like pills.
In emergencies, they give me around 15 minutes of extra time.

So, as long as I keep a few emergency pills on hand, I can manage to leave the house.

“Not bad.”

I smiled at my reflection in the mirror.
The girl in the mirror, with brown hair falling to her shoulders, smiled back.
Her name is Yoo Seo-Ah.
She looks about middle school age and is... pretty decent-looking, I guess.
Her clothes are a bit dirty, though—that’s a problem.

The mirror is cracked.
It got that way the last time I punched it when I didn’t take enough meds.
That’s also how I ended up with bandages on my arm, thanks to the glass shards.

I was angry back then.
I mean, I got sucked into a novel, and out of all the novels, it had to be this one.
Not to mention, I ended up as the protagonist’s dying childhood friend.
And to top it off, they even swapped my gender for some reason.

At that point, I was seriously considering just treating this like a dream and ending it all.

“But now, I don’t want to die at all. I’m happy.”

I smiled into the mirror.
The happiness buzzed through my nerves, almost painfully so.

In the novel, Yoo Seo-Ah is already dead from a drug overdose.
Or maybe she died because she didn’t have enough drugs.
Either way, if you use the medication carelessly, that’s what happens.

But unlike the novel, I’m still alive.
That’s what really matters.

Looking at the table, I see the ten pills left.
Each one will buy me about 15 minutes.
The injectable drugs are in small glass vials.
One shot gives me around eight hours.

And then there are the five painkillers.
I use them when the pain gets too bad.
They also make me feel really good.

That’s all the drugs I have left.
I’ve been saving them, using them sparingly.
In the long run, I don’t have nearly enough...

Heh.

I don’t know why, but I can’t stop laughing.
Laughing feels good.

Is it because of the drugs?

No way.