He stared at the flickering screen.
Bright, then dark.
Bright, then dark again.

Broadcasts streamed on the television.
But he couldn't focus on what they were about.
Flipping through channels, he sat on the edge of the bed.

2 hours and 10 minutes.

One syringe remained.
He held it in his hand.
It was comforting to have it.
If Han Si-hoo brought the medicine from home, there would be no need to use it.

"I need to get more medicine."

More.
He couldn’t keep relying on Han Si-hoo.
He needed to get more medicine.
That thought lingered in his mind for at least three hours.

"...More..."

He muttered while flipping through the channels.

"-Academy students showcased their skills on-site..."
"-The Awakener's Union meeting location has been announced."
"-New Seoul will reopen 15 zones. Dungeons and gates have been cleared."

Interesting.
There must be something more exciting.

"-The market for anti-beast weapons is expanding."

The screen showed guns and cannon-like weapons.
There were also more swords and spears.
Probably because guns didn’t work well on beasts in this world.

"-The annual export value hit a record high..."

"...Huh?"

He wasn’t surprised about the export part.
Something else seemed familiar.

"I’ve seen that before."

It was a company logo.
He remembered seeing it on a truck passing by.
Probably a vehicle transporting weapons.

"The same logo on the medicine box."

He recalled seeing it in the infirmary.
He had stared at the box long enough to remember.
Though it was hard to read the text, he clearly remembered the logo.

A geometric design made of rectangular shapes.
He didn’t know which company it belonged to.

Did they make the medicine?
At the very least, they might have transported it.
A company supplying military weapons.
Maybe they also supplied the Academy.

"...Should I visit them later?"

Visit them?
He didn’t even know who they were or where to go.
There wasn’t enough information yet.
Even if he figured out how the medicine was made, getting his hands on it was a different matter.

"-The Red Dragon was successfully hunted with the help of new weapons."

A world where even dragons roamed.
The screen showed what appeared to be a dragon’s corpse.
Monsters, also called beasts, disappeared if left alone, except for key items.
He had no idea why that happened.

"A strange world."

He still didn’t understand why he existed in this world.
No matter how much he thought about it, there was no answer.

2 hours and 5 minutes.

There was still plenty of time, but he was already feeling uneasy.

"Am I the strange one?"

In the end, there was only one conclusion.
He needed to use more medicine.
It felt too soon, though, so he waited.

A flicker of anger.
He knew it.
The urge for self-destruction wasn’t good.

Willpower.
The problem was willpower.
But he no longer had the strength to hold on.

"Living is a hassle..."

Negative thoughts flooded his mind.
The medicine’s effects were still working.
It wasn’t completely hopeless yet, so he held on.

"...Maybe dying wouldn’t be so bad."

No.
Not yet.
He checked the syringe in his hand.
As long as there was medicine left, he’d be okay.

He sensed something in the air.
Someone was there.

"...Si-hoo?"

"-Ah, yeah. I’m back."

He hadn’t heard the door open.
The sound from the TV must have drowned it out.
Even his own words had probably been lost in the noise.

"Welcome back. Did you bring the medicine?"

He greeted Han Si-hoo.
It must have been tiring to go all the way home for it.

"......"

Hadn’t it been that long?
Maybe four hours had passed?
Thankfully, the television had kept him from getting too bored while waiting.

1 hour and 59 minutes.

"Did you bring the medicine?"

He felt his heart race with anticipation.

He wanted to use it.
Not for any other reason than that the medicine had healing properties.
He needed to treat his wounds.

"......"

Han Si-hoo seemed to be thinking about something.
His expression was dark.
Did something happen?

"Was the medicine not there?"

Maybe there hadn’t been any left at home.
Someone might have taken it while he was away.

"No, it was there."

Han Si-hoo answered.
There had been medicine.

"Really? Then you brought it, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then?"

Why wasn’t he handing it over?
He seemed to be hesitating.

"...Are you planning to use it?"

"Yeah."

Right now.
He had to.
His mood was too terrible.
What was the point of finding the medicine if he wasn’t going to use it?
No, don’t get angry.
Si-hoo had worked hard to bring it.

"I haven’t used the backup syringe yet. If you brought the medicine, I can use that now."

He held out the backup syringe Han Si-hoo had given him.
It wasn’t nearly as effective.

"Do you even know what kind of medicine was at home?"

"A medicine that heals pain."

"And what exactly does it treat?"

"...Are you messing with me?"

Everything hurts.

"No. I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant..."

"I think I know what you’re worried about, but it’s fine. Just give it to me."

He understood the concern.
Han Si-hoo didn’t know what was in the medicine.
But that was true for the syringe from the Academy, too.
The one from the doctor worked better.
So, of course, he should use the one from the doctor.

"I’m sorry. But I know it’s dangerous for you, and since it’s from that doctor, I can’t give it to you. It’s too risky."

Risky.
Not using the medicine was the riskiest thing.
Why bring it if he wasn’t going to give it to him?
Had he even brought it at all?
Han Si-hoo hadn’t shown it yet.

"Then, is this safe?"

He held up the syringe Han Si-hoo had given him.
The Academy’s medicine.
It didn’t work well and didn’t last long.
This was the weird medicine.

1 hour and 53 minutes.

Even though the effects were still working, he felt awful.
He was afraid he might snap at Han Si-hoo.

"It’s safe."

Han Si-hoo said, but he didn’t look entirely confident.
He wanted to ask what made it safe.
If he questioned it, he might get angry.

"Ah, okay."

"I’m sorry."

"You... Yeah. I get it. What makes you trust the Academy so much? I don’t like the Academy..."

He was rambling.

"If I don’t have the medicine, I won’t heal, and if I don’t heal, what’s the point? Do you want me to keep suffering? Why..."

Stop saying weird things.
He couldn’t control it.
The anger itself was the problem.
He needed to use the medicine.

Thud.

The automatic syringe was convenient.
All he had to do was press it.

6 hours and 33 minutes.

The anger subsided.
The negative emotions faded.
Medicine is medicine.

"Ah, sorry. I said some weird things... Thanks for going all the way home."

He didn’t forget to thank him.
Now that he thought about it, he had been a bit rude.
The first thing he did when Han Si-hoo arrived was demand the medicine.

"It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize."

Han Si-hoo looked like he had lost a lot of confidence.
Something about him felt off.
He seemed even more down than before.

"Sorry, just leave the medicine to you. I wasn’t thinking clearly because I hadn’t used it yet. Don’t worry about it."

He decided to leave it to Han Si-hoo.
Now that he had used the Academy’s medicine, it wasn’t so bad.
He should’ve used it before things got out of hand.
He didn’t know why he hesitated.

"Hey, Seo-ah."

"What?"

"The Academy contacted me, and they said they can keep supplying the medicine you’re using now."

"Ah."

"So... let’s save the other medicine for when it’s really necessary."

"Okay. Sure."

That was fine.
Though he wasn’t sure when "necessary" would be.
How would he explain when he truly needed it?

"And about the medicine I brought..."

"Hmm?"

"No, never mind. I’ll tell you later."

Later?
It didn’t seem like it was anything important.

"Why do you look so down? It’s not because of something I said, is it?"

Sitting on the bed, he asked.
He felt uneasy.
He couldn’t quite remember what he had said before using the medicine.

"No. That’s not it."

Something definitely felt off.
Even with his dulled emotions, he could tell that much.
Han Si-hoo clearly wasn’t in a good mood.

"I just... want to ask you something, Seo-ah."

"Hmm?"

"I want to hear about what’s happened to you so far."

Han Si-hoo was about to ask a question.
About what had happened to him until now.
There had been a lot.

"Mhm."

He wasn’t sure if he could answer everything, but he was curious about what Han Si-hoo wanted to ask.

"...About."

Han Si-hoo hesitated for a long time before speaking.
What was he trying to say?

"I went to your house earlier... Why was it in that state?"

"What?"

The state of the house?
Was there a problem?

"It was a mess."

"Really?"

A mess?
Was his house that dirty?

It was in the slums.
He didn’t expect much.
He had been content with it.
As long as he had medicine in his sights, that was enough.

"There was broken glass on the floor, and the mirror too..."

"That... Yeah?"

Now that he thought about it, something had been scattered near the entrance.
The bottle holding his pills had broken.
He vaguely remembered half-cleaning it up.
The mirror had been broken too.
Had he done that?

"Maybe."

Thinking back, the house had been pretty dirty.

"And the piles of scrap in the room? Chains and all?"

"Scrap, chains? Oh, that..."

He really should have cleaned up.
He had left everything in place out of laziness.
If only Han Si-hoo had just taken the medicine from the living room and not explored the rest of the house.

"You picked all that up from around the area? Why were you keeping it in your house?"

"That’s..."

He had, in fact, picked those things up.
Back when he didn’t fully understand how good the medicine was.
Had he thrown it all away?
It didn’t make sense now.

"I don’t remember."

Let’s go with that.
It was too much effort to explain.
Could he tell it was a lie?

He had refused to take the medicine at the time.
How long could he last without it?
In hindsight, it had been incredibly foolish, but at the time, he had believed it was the right thing to do.

"Is it that hard to explain?"

"......"

It was hard.
He didn’t even know where to begin.
Saying he didn’t remember was partly an excuse but also somewhat true.

"I mean, it’s just..."

It wasn’t much.
He had used the things he picked up to block the door and test how long he could last without medicine.
The plan had been to extend that time gradually.

[-1 minute]

When the number dropped below zero, the will to live disappeared.

He didn’t want to think about it too much.

6 hours and 26 minutes.

What would he do if he started feeling awful again?
If Han Si-hoo didn’t have enough medicine, that would be a problem.

That’s when he would really need the doctor’s medicine.
Actually, maybe that wasn’t a bad idea.

Hmm?
Maybe he should just use it all up.
There was no point in saving it.

Don’t hold back.
Use the medicine while it’s still there.
How strange it was to suddenly feel like he wanted to die.
Living happily and peacefully forever would be much better.

Back to the point.
Anyway, he needed to explain things to Han Si-hoo.

"That... well, how should I put it..."

How could he sum it up?
Han Si-hoo seemed curious, so it was only right to give him an answer.
It was because he hadn’t taken his medicine.
His mental state had been a little off.

Looking back now, it seemed ridiculous.
Why had he refused to take the medicine?
The doctor had said it was good for him.

You could only be considered sane if you took the medicine, yet he had thought he was fine.
He just hadn’t wanted to admit that he was sick.
Sick people take medicine, and that’s okay.

"If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay."

Han Si-hoo seemed even more dejected.

"...Yeah, sorry."

He had tried to explain, but his thoughts had wandered too much.
That was one of the few downsides of the medicine—getting lost in thought.

"It’s okay."

If Han Si-hoo said it was fine without an explanation, there was no need to push it.

"Do you have anything else to ask?"

He could answer other questions to some degree.
Probably.

Han Si-hoo hesitated.
It seemed like he had something he wanted to say.

"...I’ll ask later."

"Later?"

"Yeah. Later."

That was fine with him.

"I don’t know everything that’s happened to you, but when you’re ready to talk, let me know."

"I will."

"Even if something bad happened to you... I won’t let anything like that happen again."

"Uh, okay."

Nothing bad had really happened to him.
Who would’ve done something to him?
He had never let bad people into his house.
Han Si-hoo must have misunderstood because the house had been a mess.

It sounded like Han Si-hoo was saying he would protect him.
That was a good thing, right?

"I’ll trust you."

He smiled as he said that.
Yoo Seo-ah was best at smiling, after all.
He must’ve smiled well.

But could he really trust him?
There was no way a bad person would give him medicine.

At first, when he had been stabbed, he thought Han Si-hoo hated him.
But judging by his attitude now, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Han Si-hoo still treated Yoo Seo-ah like his childhood friend.

Right?
He resisted the urge to check for the scar on his stomach.
He had been stabbed there before.
No, it’s fine. They’re friends.

It’s peaceful.
Good.

This was more comfortable than being at home.
With Han Si-hoo around, it felt safer.

So, what if he used the better medicine now?
Like the one the doctor gave him.
Yes.

A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.