The Yoo Seo-ah you knew disappeared a long time ago.
It would be better to just let her die here.
Think about the future.
How long do you plan to let the doctor hold you back?

Han Si-hu, come to your senses.
It’s better to deal with that wraith right now.
What’s left is just the shell of Yoo Seo-ah.
She’s decayed because of the drugs.

No one will know.
If you say she died because of drugs, that’s it.
Do you think this is the appearance of the friend you once knew?
Licking up the drugs spilled on the floor?
She’s just another addict you often see in the slums.

—Si-hu.

I see Seo-ah smiling brightly.

She must be asking for the drugs.

“Here, a gift.”

But that wasn’t it.
What I gave as a gift was a paper crane made from origami.
The last time I folded one was as a reward for a ribbon.
Back then, the origami book was torn, so I couldn’t fold it properly.
But now, with a good smartphone, I can do it.

A useless gift.
Throw it in the trash.
Still, there will be no reaction.

If I give her drugs, it wouldn’t matter what I did.
It must have been like that even before she came to you.
What would she have done?
She must have needed a lot of money.
Han Si-hu, you know it best, right?

“Si-hu?”

I can feel the pretense.
Han Si-hu, you’re more sensitive to such signs than anyone else.
Yoo Seo-ah is just trying to get drugs.
She’s not giving you a gift for your sake.

[Status Window]
Level: 26
Health: 1291, Mana: 910...
Skills: Swordsmanship IX, Magic VI...
Status: Purification Penalty (5 hours)

It’s because of [Purification].
To be precise, Purification I.
There’s a reason why it’s still a level 1 skill.
I’ve been quite reluctant to use it myself.

Purification is like a vacuum cleaner.
It sucks in the dirty things.
In return, dust accumulates inside.
Han Si-hu is suffering from a penalty for a similar reason.

“Don’t like it?”

The mana clinging to Yoo Seo-ah.
The weapon I thought I couldn’t create was now in my hand.
It was a thick black mana filled with malice.

I shouldn’t have used purification after all.
Seo-ah hated it too.
I didn’t treat her like a monster...

Or did I?
Make some sense.

A voice constantly whispers in my head.
If I use purification more and level up the skill, it might get better, but not right now.

“Aha…”

It’s not the laugh you knew.
She’s like this because of the drugs.

Shut up.

“Ah, thank you for the gift.”

I snapped back to reality and answered.
Yoo Seo-ah was flustered, staring at Han Si-hu, who was just standing still.

The purification penalty is more bothersome than I imagined.
Even sleeping doesn’t make it go away.

It was similar when I used purification on monsters.
It was just a simple voice saying to kill and destroy, but after that unpleasant experience, I decided to stop using it directly.
As long as it’s on passive, it only causes a bit of discomfort, so it’s okay to use it at that level.

How long do you plan to keep Yoo Seo-ah alive?
You might think it’s unpleasant, but it’s not wrong.
Training, growth, even human relationships are crumbling.
If you’re not getting calls from people, it won’t be good for you either.

“Si-hu.”

If you leave it like this, Yoo Seo-ah will just keep suffering.
How painful it must be not to be able to control herself.
Let’s strangle her here and end it.
If you don’t like that, stab her with a knife.
Or trick her with drugs and give her poison.
The potent poison and the drugs she’s taking now are similar.

“Si-hu, I need some drugs…”

Seo-ah came back again.
It’s time to sleep.

But she can’t sleep well.
Honestly, it’s annoying for you too.
How long do you plan to stay like this?
Yoo Seo-ah also hopes you’ll kill her.
She said it back then.

Please kill me.

“Here.”

Giving her drugs means slowly killing her.
New wounds appeared on my arms and hands.
I’m even wrapping bandages around my hands.
Do you think taking drugs will help?
You know it’s not a cure.

“Thank you.”

Letting her use a sedative would be convenient.
I’m just acting according to Lee Yoo-ram’s advice.

Let’s just kill her.
No need to feel guilty.
You heard what Seo-ah said.
Muttering that dying might not be so bad, that’s the real gift.

Shut up.

You’re not even cleaning up the used syringes.
You’re just lying around.
You’re just a bug.
You even called yourself trash.
Just a waste.

Shut your mouth.

I’m just stating the facts.
The academy entrance ceremony is coming soon.
If Yoo Seo-ah is like this, what will happen in the special class?
Are you trusting the academy?

—Next, the weather forecast for tomorrow. Strong winds and rain are expected in the area of old Seoul, Zone 1, where the gate alarm has been issued...

Seo-ah is staring blankly at the broadcast screen.

“Si-hu.”

Suddenly she opened her mouth.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll pay back the debt.”

—Estimated damage is roughly 5 billion won...

It seems she’s talking about the money she borrowed.

“No, keep the money. It’s a gift. I might need it later.”

“......”

She looks like she wants to do something but can’t do anything.
What Yoo Seo-ah finds most frustrating is herself.
She’s essentially a being that doesn’t belong in this place.

“…Si-hu. What do you want to do the most?”

—The predicted path of the typhoon...

“What I want to do?”
To heal Seo-ah.
To bring her back to the way she used to be.
That’s the priority for now.

“Something you hope for.”

I want to turn back my choices.
I want to go back in time and save Seo-ah.
I want to save her from the evil that penetrated her life without me knowing.

But it’s too late now.
If we were to talk about it, we’re reaching the climax.
You can feel Yoo Seo-ah’s story slowly coming to an end.
Maybe it’s a story that should have already ended.

Shut up.

There must be hope.

“…Maybe to return to the way it was.”

Back to when there were no problems.
Even if there were problems, we could solve them together.
It’s painful to see a broken friend.
She keeps overlapping with the past.

The cheerful smile from back in the day.
Now, she just grins and giggles under the influence of drugs.
I recall the past.

—Didn’t I win today? I came here first, right?

It’s a memory of the race we had.
It’s hard to understand the past just by seeing her stuck at home.

—Did you think I forgot your birthday? Actually, I was preparing it on purpose. Were you surprised?

Memories of her birthday.
Little cakes bought with small amounts of saved money.

There was always a good friend when I came home.
Even calling her family would have been fine.

All in the past tense.
I was happy back then.
But what about now?
My childhood friend has lost her mind.
She’s filled with wounds that she doesn’t even know who inflicted them.

“Back to the way it was…”

Yoo Seo-ah says, shifting her gaze back to the screen.

“Back to... the way it was...”

She mumbles again.

“What was it like back then?”

It’s something she wishes for too.
She half-covers her face with her fingers as if in deep thought.
The band-aid and the new bandages are noticeable.

“I’ll do my best to make it happen.”

First, I need to change my voice a bit.
It’s too lethargic in tone and manner.
I’m tired, and the sedative is a big part of that.

I practice while looking in the mirror of the room.
With the door closed and speaking softly.

“Ah, ah.”

There’s still time until the academy entrance ceremony.
I’ll manage to figure something out before then.
Let’s help Yoo Seo-ah regain her bright self.
That’s what Si-hu wishes for.

“Hello.”

Smile, and try to smile naturally.
I’m good at smiling, after all.
Other than that, I don’t have much to show for myself.

I can manage to smile.
It feels like there’s a bit of relaxation around my eyes.
Let’s recreate a sunny smile, the complete opposite of Yoo Seo-ah’s current state.

I call to mind good memories from the past.
Situations where Yoo Seo-ah would smile.
How did we laugh during those happy days?

“Hello, Si-hu.”

Shall I surprise her?
Did Yoo Seo-ah say that when she was younger?

“Hello.”

Fortunately, I remembered how to smile.
I’m smiling even more than when I borrowed money from Han Si-hu last time.

What a mess.

While thinking that, I try to maintain my expression.
But it’s not working well.
There’s that special kind of silly brightness in my smile.
It’s different from the expression soaked in pleasure.

[5 hours 11 minutes]

There’s plenty of time, so it’s okay to smile.
I usually don’t have moments where I don’t smile, though.
It’s rare for Yoo Seo-ah to treat someone with a straight face.

There are those who find it harder to not smile.
Yoo Seo-ah belongs to that group.
She was such a bright person.

“…Getting hit, stabbed with a knife, and still keeping a bright appearance is more…”

Strange.
Isn’t it scary?
No, it was a bit funny even while actually getting hit.
Am I the scary one?

“Maybe I should start exercising again.”

Of course, I wouldn’t match the awakened ones.
I’m just going back to the time when Yoo Seo-ah was active.
If I do any strenuous activity, the drug effect will wear off.

[5 hours 9 minutes]

The reason I haven’t gone out much since I started taking the drugs is this.
There were warnings that the effect might wear off from time to time.

I feel sorry for Han Si-hu.
I couldn’t repay what I received.
I was just a spectator to my broken friend.

If this continues, I’ll indeed be trash.
Staying as a burden is a problem.
It’s wise not to drag Han Si-hu down.

“Again.”

I smile.
Yoo Seo-ah didn’t always smile monotonously.
Let’s try to mimic her.
But there’s a strange fear seeping into my expression.
I seem lacking in confidence.
No matter how much she lived in the slums, Yoo Seo-ah was overflowing with self-esteem.

“Smile.”

Was it from the moment I couldn’t overcome the drugs?
Or was it from the moment I pushed Han Si-hu away?
Or was it just from the moment I acknowledged my own incompetence?

“Again.”

I want to break the mirror.
Why are you still here?
You’re living so well and walking around.
It feels like I’m cursing you.

“Again.”

I recall the happy memories from the past.
The doctor gave me drugs.
I still remember that 100-hour one vividly.

“If I do well... I can use drugs.”

[4 hours 54 minutes]

I have spare syringes with me.
After all, Han Si-hu doesn’t know how much I need to use.
It’s wise to keep some as a precaution.
This is the syringe I saved for times like this.
Let’s smile properly.

Heh.

Hehe.

Aha.
Now it seems I’m smiling well.
I look happy.

Ah.

[8 hours 1 minute]

Nice.