I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend Chapter 80

One thing I know for sure.

I know that my drug tolerance is extrely high.

That’s the one thing I’m sure of.

I’ve decided not to go outside.

Shihu might try to erase my mory again with drugs.

How did we get to this point?

mory-erasing drugs.

Drugs.

Drugs.

Drugs.

When did Shihu start using drugs like this?

I don’t know.

My drug tolerance has even rejected the mory-erasing drug.

I wonder how many tis Shihu has used it on .

Would one ti be enough for my tolerance to build against the mory-erasing drug?

Or maybe, I don’t know, he’s used it on countless tis...

How many tis has he erased my mory?

What did I do wrong?

I can’t rember, and that’s the problem.

What I rember right now isn’t everything.

Anyway, Shihu tried to erase my mory.

Did I lose half of it?

How would I know?

Shihu must have so kind of plan.

But if he’s going to erase my mory again, I’d suggest doubling the dose.

My mory’s a ss, but I know this:

I need drugs.

Not the mory-erasing kind, but the kind that keeps from feeling bad.

And for that drug, I’ll do anything.

Shihu gives the drugs.

So, I’ll stay as he wants.

What Shihu wants is for to live quietly, as if I’m dead.

But still, this is strange.

Why is Shihu doing such weird things?

"I’m sure soone was with you..."

Shihu was with soone.

Let try to rember.

A blurry image cos to mind.

"Ah, white hair..."

I feel like I could rember more, but it’s not coming back.

Even with my drug tolerance, I couldn’t block all the effects.

Yes, white hair.

It feels oddly familiar.

"White..."

mories from the past flash by.

I know this person.

I definitely know them.

"Hmm... a laboratory...?"

The word "laboratory" pops into my head.

Have I been to a laboratory?

Why?

What kind of lab is it?

No, wait.

I t the person with white hair before that.

It must have been sothing shocking.

A nasty feeling resurfaces.

"White... hair... Hmm..."

It was a woman.

She looked about my age.

So, is she a friend of Shihu?

No, that can’t be.

"...Ah, ah, ah. A doctor? No..."

It’s related to treatnt.

Yeah, I didn’t get the drug, but it’s definitely related to treatnt.

"She said she was going to treat ... right, that girl. If I went instead of her..."

Ugh.

I feel sick.

Nasty mories start coming back.

My breath is getting shallow.

My chest feels tight.

My heart starts pounding wildly.

"...Ugh..."

This is hell.

Now I understand why my mory was erased.

Just recalling it makes my head hurt.

Sweat runs down my forehead.

I can’t breathe properly.

"Sh-Shihu?"

Shihu isn’t here.

Where is he?

Is he with the white-haired woman?

"H-Huh, no way. H-Hah, ha..."

Everything goes dark.

When I open my eyes again, I see the light of the laboratory.

That can’t be.

I was definitely at ho.

I was sitting at ho.

I know this is just a hallucination.

So, it’ll disappear soon.

I’m just recalling bad mories, that’s why this is happening.

I close my eyes and open them again.

I’m strapped to an experint table.

The tallic sll of blood fills the air.

The scent of chemicals is all around.

No, this can’t be.

I was definitely at ho.

Stop joking.

Back here again?

It can’t be a laboratory.

It just can’t be.

Beeep—

A ringing sound fills my ears.

"Ah, no. No way."

This is impossible.

There’s no way this is a laboratory.

Think.

Think.

I must have been in the laboratory, and Shihu ca to rescue , right?

No, I don’t have that mory.

Was it erased?

"Shut up, no. No, no. No. No. No."

Run away.

But my body’s frozen, and I can’t move.

Even though I try to move while being held down.

No, I wasn’t held down.

I was definitely at ho just a mont ago.

Everyone knows that.

So calm down.

A sharp object approaches.

"Uwaaaa! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry."

It’s going to be poked into my eye.

A syringe?

It’s a hallucination.

It’s just a hallucination.

But my body is trembling uncontrollably in fear.

"Sorry... I’m sorry... Ugh..."

What did I do wrong?

But I have to apologize.

Maybe if I apologize, this will end faster?

Please, please.

I’m scared. Please help, please.

Trembling uncontrollably, I start to regain my senses.

"...Ho..."

It’s ho.

But I can’t relax.

This is all because of the white-haired woman.

She’s trying to tornt .

She pretended to be Shihu, gave drugs, and left.

A fake Shihu.

Shihu wouldn’t do this.

I look around, but sothing feels off.

It looks like ho, but this isn’t ho.

This isn’t ho.

The more I look, the more differences I see.

"This... wasn’t ho..."

So, what is this place?

The view outside the house also feels unfamiliar.

I’m scared.

I don’t like this.

Kidnapped?

Am I being kidnapped?

Maybe.

That white-haired woman is the problem.

She lied about treating and did sothing horrible.

I need to run.

But outside the house is dangerous.

I need to hide.

Hide inside the house.

Under the table.

***

Hansihoo returned ho, but Seo Ah was nowhere to be seen.

If Seo Ah had gone outside, I would have known.

There are plenty of surveillance devices around the house.

I also set up a device that allows Hansihoo to transfer back to the house instantly in case of ergency.

So, Seo Ah must be inside the house.

"Seo Ah?"

There’s no answer.

But Hansihoo already knows where she is.

Seo Ah is hiding under the table.

She’s holding her breath, as if trying to hide from Hansihoo.

Why is she hiding?

"Seo Ah, what’s wrong?"

No answer.

I can hear her breathing under the table.

Hansihoo hesitates and crouches down.

Under the table, Seo Ah is there.

She’s holding the kitchen knife tightly in both hands, keeping her guard up, staring at where Hansihoo ca from.

"Seo, Seo Ah?"

"Don’t co."

Her eyes look like she’s not seeing Hansihoo, but soone else.

She takes a few steps back while crouching.

"It’s okay, don’t worry."

She can’t relax.

"Stop."

"Seo Ah, do you recognize ? It’s , Hansihoo."

The grip on the knife tightens.

"Stop."

"Huh?"

"Stop pretending to be Shihu."

She speaks with conviction.

It’s like she’s sure that Hansihoo isn’t really Hansihoo.

"What... do you an?"

"Do you think I’m fooled? This isn’t our house, and the real Shihu is at the academy."

It looks like a side effect of mory loss.

"No, that’s wrong."

"Let out of here. Why did you kidnap ?"

Kidnapped.

From the point I lost my mory, maybe it could be seen as that.

It’s hard to convince her.

Because Hansihoo used the drugs to cover up Seo Ah’s mory, he can’t reveal the truth.

"...That’s not it."

"What do you want?"

"It’s all for you."

But I don’t understand at all.

- But I don’t get it.

- Just kill her already.

- What’s the point of wasting ti here?

There’s a monster living in Hansihoo’s head.

A monster nad the "Purification Penalty," because of the purification skill he used to get rid of the drug effects.

"This isn’t our house. You’re not Shihu."

- There’s no point in saving her.

- She’s saying Hansihoo isn’t Hansihoo.

- Why bother saving soone you don’t even know?

Hansihoo doesn’t get swept up by the penalty.

He can endure this.

His task is nearly done.

With just a little more effort, he feels like he’ll find a way to treat Seo Ah.

- Let’s make her listen.

- Just tie her up.

In other words, it’s a rational decision.

The most logical and safest decision.

He needs to use the mory-erasing drug again.

"It’ll be okay."

- Just kill her already.

He can’t do that.

So, he just uses the drug.

He’s been carrying it around, just in case sothing like this happens.

Before making a wrong decision, he needs to act quickly with the drug.

The thod of using the drug is simple.

But he needs to restrain the target first.

He collects the weapons that might get in the way.

Then, he grabs the patient’s arm.

He keeps the person still, making them relax.

Then, he injects the syringe.

The drug flows into the body.

And the patient loses their mory.

"...Seo Ah?"

"Ah..."

Seo Ah’s voice is faint.

What has he done?

He forcibly subdued Seo Ah and injected the drug.

That’s all.

***

There’s one thing I know for sure.

I know that my drug tolerance is extrely high.

So high that it’s a problem.

That’s the one thing I’m sure of.

That’s why I know Shihu erased my mory.

It was a monster pretending to be Shihu that did it.

Or maybe not?

Maybe it really was Shihu.

After all, the mories of the laboratory were mories worth erasing.

Is it possible that Shihu is not a fake, but the real Shihu?

If that’s the case, then I need to think about why Shihu ended up like this.

Why is Shihu doing this to ?

There must be a reason.

It’s obvious—it's because of that white-haired woman.

I’ve seen Shihu with her.

Rember.

Shihu was in a collapsed state.

Shihu...

Shihu?

It’s because of that woman.

That white-haired woman.

If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here, trembling under the blanket.

If it weren’t for her.

It was that woman who caused all of this.

That woman ruined Shihu.

I don’t think just locking up in the laboratory was enough for her.

It doesn’t make sense any other way.

Shihu wouldn’t do sothing like this voluntarily.

What was her na?

Saintess.

I think she was called the Saintess.

I keep pondering, over and over again.

And then the conclusion.

She has to die.

That’s the only way Shihu will return to how he was.

We have to kill the Saintess.