NoveLight ™
[Exhausted.]
The red number [0] appeared in my vision.
Then another one.
And another.
The speed at which they appeared increased, until my entire field of vision was filled with [0].
It wasn’t just a number—it was red blood cells.
Why was I so afraid of time running out?
The sound of my heart pounding grew louder.
I was simply falling asleep.
There was a ringing in my ears.
[-1 minute]
The calm before the storm is always the most peaceful.
Maybe I had been mistaken—perhaps I overreacted to the numbers that appeared before me.
I had a similar thought once before.
[-1 minute]
Rain was falling from the sky.
Time wasn’t moving.
[-1 minute]
The zeros were actually raindrops, and as they gathered, they rose up, touching my lips.
It tasted sweet, sickeningly so.
The doctor gave Seoa syrup loaded with sugar because she couldn’t take the regular medicine.
It was so sweet, it made me want to vomit.
[-1 minute]
If I didn’t want to drown in this sticky liquid, I had to hold my breath.
How long can someone hold their breath?
What was the world record again, 20 minutes?
No, that’s wrong.
It’s 36 hours.
There is a way to break that record.
[-1 minute]
You just have to tie someone up so they can’t leave the water.
What did I use again?
Chains?
Rope?
It was both.
I worked so hard.
It was around [-36 hours 7 minutes], I think.
Back then, I desperately wanted to breathe, no matter what.
It wasn’t a thought—it was an instinct.
I had pushed my body so hard that I was dehydrated.
I wanted water more than anything.
[-1 minute]
I drank water, but it was mud.
I breathed in, but it was water.
Time wouldn’t move.
[-2 minutes]
And then, what happened was… and then, and then.
And then, and then.
And then.
An endless series of "and thens."
Once, Han Sihoo had gotten hurt while protecting Yuseoa.
Seoa had made a mistake.
She had lost something while running an errand and Sihoo got punished for it.
Eventually, she found the item and managed to apologize.
There was also the time Seoa took a wrong turn and ended up in danger while playing.
Or when she encountered a bad person.
Somehow, Han Sihoo was always there.
A hero.
Many people had tried to reach for Seoa.
Han Sihoo trained in swordsmanship to protect her.
Like the protagonist he was, he awakened to something.
A bright light shone.
Because he was the protagonist.
He would protect even a useless child with no talents, just because she was his friend.
And then, and then, and then.
He promised he would protect her for life.
His childhood friend.
[-15 minutes]
Yuseoa stood in front of a broken mirror.
Each shard was splattered with blood.
A pile of empty tuna cans sat in the bathroom corner.
Tuna cans were actually expensive food.
She had only taken them out because there was nothing else to eat.
She had to use the money Sihoo gave her to buy the drugs.
She stood there in her shabby clothes.
Someone behind the mirror was trying to stab her.
"We’re friends, right?"
She tried to smile, but her face was shattered across the shards of the mirror.
[-30 minutes]
And this is the part where Yuseoa dies.
She should’ve died a long time ago.
By the time Yuseoa met Han Sihoo again, after overdosing on drugs, she was already close to the end of her life.
All that’s left is the funeral.
I should’ve written a will.
Not that I have much to leave behind.
Thud.
[1 minute]
Thud.
[1 hour 19 minutes]
Thud.
[2 hours 43 minutes]
Thud.
"Ah."
I opened my eyes.
I felt terrible.
Why did I feel so bad?
I tried to figure it out.
My head felt like it was splitting open.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
"Huh?"
I had been stabbed.
I had dreamed that the drug’s effects had hit zero.
I sat up and checked my stomach to see if I was okay.
My clothes weren’t torn, and my stomach only had a few bruises.
The clothes I was wearing were unfamiliar.
The blanket and the bed beneath me were also unfamiliar.
This entire place was unfamiliar.
“You’re awake?”
It was a woman I had never seen before.
She was wearing a white coat.
The smell of medicine wafted in, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
The air here felt foreign.
“Ah, just lie down. This is the treatment room.”
“Ugh.”
I tried to speak but failed.
Something was stuck in my throat.
I coughed and spat into my hand, noticing a black substance had come out.
“Here, wipe yourself.”
She handed me a white handkerchief.
Was she a healer?
Her name tag read Lee Yuram.
“It’s a miracle you survived.”
“Ugh…”
“39 degrees. Your fever is still high, though it’s gone down a bit.”
She said, pressing a thermometer against my forehead.
39 degrees was high.
It had to be.
“Ugh, cough!”
I spat something out again, struggling to speak.
“Here, drink some water.”
“Ugh…”
I couldn’t get any words out.
I gulped down the cup of water she handed me.
Swallowing was hard.
Hadn’t I been stabbed in the stomach?
I had forgotten because of these new clothes.
After setting down the cup, I checked my stomach again to make sure.
Aside from the bruises, I was fine.
I guess I had already checked before.
“Don’t worry, the treatment was done perfectly. We couldn’t fix the old wounds, though.”
Old wounds are hard to heal.
I know that.
Was the fever because of the old wounds?
Why did my head feel like it was going to explode?
“Are you alright?”
I shook my head.
No, I wasn’t alright.
“There’s more medicine, so don’t worry.”
That was reassuring.
Medicine.
Of course, the doctor would sell me medicine whenever I needed it.
It seemed like there was plenty of it here too.
I hadn’t asked for the name of the drug.
“This is the academy’s medical room.”
The academy?
Inside the academy?
“Huh.”
I had been stabbed—why was I at the academy?
I lifted my shirt again to check the wound.
There were bruises but no stab wound.
“You’ve been treated… You’re fine.”
I had already checked, hadn’t I?
My hands were trembling.
Or maybe I had never been stabbed in the first place?
I had no idea anymore.
“Medicine.”
[2 hours 40 minutes]
Who cares about the reason?
My mind was so sticky and clouded that I couldn’t think straight.
She’s a healer, so she must have medicine.
“Give me the medicine…”
“You don’t mean a fever reducer, right?”
“Medicine…”
I was in worse shape than usual.
I hadn’t felt this bad since before I started going to the doctor.
Even cough syrup hadn’t worked back then.
It kept getting worse until…
My memory felt foggy.
Anyway, once I went to the doctor, the fever went down, and my headache stopped.
Because he gave me the drug.
“Hey, medicine. I… cough, I have money.”
It always comes down to money.
No one gives medicine for free.
As long as I can pay for it, I’ll be fine.
“Huh?”
“How much…”
I still had the money Sihoo gave me.
I could worry about paying him back later.
Or maybe I wouldn’t need to repay him—it was just a gift, after all.
“The drugs you’ve been buying—how much did the doctor charge?”
“Five million won…”
“Oh, so that’s the going rate… I didn’t know, since the school provided this one for free… But you actually have that much money?”
“Sihoo gave it to me.”
He really is my only friend.
Is he, though?
We broke off our friendship, didn’t we?
Didn’t we have a fight or something?
“…Sihoo gave you money for drugs?”
“Yes…”
He gave it to me because I needed it.
Even though he told me never to come back.
At least he gave me the money.
“Han Sihoo gave it to you?”
“Yes.”
“For drugs?”
I nodded.
My head felt heavy.
Why did she keep asking the same thing?
“What the…”
Lee Yuram held her head in her hands.
She closed her eyes tightly, thinking hard.
She looked like she was struggling to understand something.
She seemed really flustered.
“Are you seriously telling me Sihoo told you to use drugs?”
“When I asked him for money to buy the drugs… he gave it to me.”
I couldn’t stop coughing.
It hurt.
“I see… Don’t strain yourself answering.”
Tears welled up in my eyes every time I coughed.
Something was seriously wrong with me.
Maybe I had a really bad cold.
“Well, you do live in the slums… But still, why would Sihoo…”
She muttered to herself quietly.
Something about the slums.
Was she looking down on me for living in the slums?
I couldn’t follow the conversation.
“So… what exactly is your relationship with Sihoo?”
We used to be friends.
I tried to recall the events leading up to this.
What happened before time hit zero?
“Friends…?”
Before I came to the academy.
Before I ended up in the treatment room.
But why was I here?
At the academy?
"We should go congratulate him on his graduation."
The doctor had been with me.
"Just lift your head a little."
And then thud.
103 hours 2 minutes.
Ah.
That overwhelming happiness.
Where did my 103 hours of happiness go?
What had I been doing?
I had come to congratulate Sihoo on his graduation.
I had been angry at him because he didn’t invite me, probably.
"Are you really going to get me the drugs?"
"Can you give me a place to live and something to eat?"
"Really?"
All the questions I had asked in the past spun around in my head.
I wasn’t sure what I had been asking.
Sihoo stood there, like always, telling me to trust him.
Telling me to leave everything to him.
"We’re friends, right?"
So, what was his answer again?
As the protagonist, he was always so sure of himself.
Han Sihoo never lies.
Especially not to Yuseoa.
"No."
And then I was stabbed.
Yes, and then I was stabbed.
And stabbed again.
My 100 hours vanished.
I have to stop time from disappearing.
I have to be the one to stab myself.
Yuseoa should have died a long time ago.
Where did my 100 hours go?
I feel cheated.
I want to cry.
I should’ve still had about 90 hours left.
It wouldn’t have hurt like this.
[1 hour 45 minutes]
I don’t have much time left.
I could feel my heart pounding.
My head was burning, but I felt cold.
My vision was darkening.
Fever medicine.
The doctor had given Seoa syrup.
It was too sweet.
This time, it was so sweet I couldn’t take it.
But pills were too hard to swallow.
Back then, the doctor had been kind.
"Seoa..."
Someone called my name.
It was Sihoo.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry for attacking you.
I made a mistake.
Why did I even attack the protagonist?
Oh, right, it was because of the drugs the doctor gave me.
They were too sweet and messed with my head.
Thud.
That was either the sound of an injection or a stabbing.
[5 hours 8 minutes]
And I would be stabbed again.
Again.
“Seoa?”
I hadn’t noticed, but the door had opened.
Someone had come in.
“Are you okay?”
Sihoo spoke to me.