I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Chapter 67

It hurts.
But it’s fine.
It hurts.
But it’s fine.
It hurts.
But is it really fine?

Pretty sure several bones are broken. My body won’t move properly. Some muscles won’t respond at all.

Where’s the medicine?
Medicine.
I can’t see it. It’s too dark.

“...Shihu?”

I called out several times, but there’s no answer.
It’s so dark I can’t see anything.

Or am I already dead?
If so, this pain feels far too real.
The dusty air.
The cold, hard floor beneath me.

I can still feel.
The drugs have dulled the pain somewhat, but it still hurts.
So please, give me more drugs.

No. I can bear it.
I’m fine for now.
It’s just my body acting up.

“Shihu, Shihu, Shihu.”

I keep calling into the void.
Not long ago, we were talking.

I’ve been trapped here for hours.
Unless my sense of time is completely distorted, it might have been over ten hours.

“It hurts a bit...”

The pain is tolerable, just enough for me to talk.
If it gets worse, I won’t be able to do anything but writhe.

Maybe if I keep calling for Shihu, he’ll come.

“Is anyone there?”

Did I just wake up in a lab? Was all of this just a dream?
This feels a lot like being abandoned in a dark lab.
At least back then, I had drugs.

[Deactivated]

Broken, it seems.
Deactivated, it says.
I can’t even see a timer.
Damn it.

“Where’s the medicine...?”

Wasn’t I supposed to be turning into a dragon?
I touch the top of my head, but the horns are gone.
Maybe my eyes turned weird instead.

I think I know what’s wrong.
There’s no mana.
This room is structured similarly to the labs.
To prevent test subjects from rampaging, they remove mana from the room.
Without mana, test subjects can’t do much.

After all, something can’t come from nothing.
Skills require mana.
That’s just how the laws of this world work.

“Medicine...”

Medicine makes me feel good.
That’s another rule.

Without it, I feel bad.
There’s no other way around it.

With superhuman willpower, I can set thoughts of drugs aside for a moment.
But willpower takes energy, and I don’t have any left.

The effects of the last dose seem to have worn off.
Show me the timer.
There can’t be much time left.

[Deactivated]

And then more hours pass.
I want to sleep, but I can’t.

Clank.

Somewhere, I hear the sound of a door opening.

Click.

The lights turn on.
It’s too bright to see anything.

“Seo Ah.”

It’s Shihu’s voice.
He’s speaking from behind a wall.

“Shihu?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Sorry. This was the only way.”

“Give me the medicine.”

My eyes are adjusting to the light.
I still can’t see Shihu, but I see a metal door.
The place where I’m lying is a small room, just big enough to fit a bed.

It reminds me of a prison cell.
Why am I in a place like this?
It’s too much like the lab.
At least they gave me drugs there.

“Give me the medicine.”

I ask again.

“...Just a moment.”

I hear the sound of a lock turning.
Creak. The door opens.

I can feel mana in the air.

[Activated]

It’s easier to breathe now.
I feel a bit of strength returning.

And then my body moves on its own.
For the grand goal of world destruction, I can’t stay locked up in this tiny cell!
Kill Shihu and get out.

How should I kill him?
Without enough mana, I can’t do anything fancy.
Medicine, give me a weapon.

In my hand, I feel the familiar texture of a dagger forming.

Thud.

The door closes.
Shihu steps into the room.
He’s close now.

[Deactivated]

I thrust the dagger toward Shihu.

“Oh—”

The mana vanished.

The weapon disappeared from my hand, and my strength gave out.
I almost collapsed, but Shihu caught me.

It’s because the door is closed.
The mana is completely gone.

“...Ah...”

Shihu doesn’t look surprised.
He seems like he expected this.

“Ah... I’m sorry, sorry, Shihu. I wasn’t trying to attack you. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know.”

“T-Thank you. I need medicine. Do you have any?”

Shihu shakes his head.

“Seo Ah.”

“Yeah?”

“Doesn’t it hurt less now?”

“Huh?”

Now that he mentions it, my body doesn’t hurt anymore.
I just feel weak.
Not long ago, I was desperate for drugs.

“Oh... It doesn’t hurt. What did you do?”

“It happened last time too.”

“...Last time?”

“Yeah. Here.”

Fragments of memory resurface.
I remember talking with Shihu not long ago.
In this exact place.
But why did I forget?

“...Where are we?”

I should’ve asked this earlier.

“A solitary cell. It’s an old abandoned facility I repurposed.”

“A solitary cell?”

“It’s a room with mana suppression.”

“Mana suppression?”

“Yeah. When mana gets to you... like just now, you try to attack me or lose your senses.”

This sounds bad.
From what he’s saying, it seems like if I’m not in this cell, I lose control.
Does the dragon take over?
What the hell.

“S-So... I guess I just have to stay here then?”

“Yeah.”

“But how did I end up here? I don’t remember.”

My head feels foggy.
I don’t understand what’s going on.

My recent memories are hazy.
When I tried to attack Shihu earlier, they became even fuzzier.

“...You don’t remember?”

“Not really. What was I doing before this? The lab?”

I got out of the lab.
But what happened after that?
Oh, right, I almost became a dragon.
At the lab?
No, that’s not it.
My memories are all tangled up.

“Did you save me, Shihu? Thank you. But I can’t leave yet, right?”

Shihu hesitated, seeming unsure how to answer.

“At least it’s good I don’t need the medicine anymore.”

It seems like as long as I get mana at the right time, I’ll be fine.
Maybe this is because I’ve become something dragon-like.
I don’t think I need drugs anymore.

“So, how will I heal? Do I have to stay here forever?”

Shihu remained silent.
It looked like he had something to say but couldn’t bring himself to speak.

“Well...”

Shihu finally spoke.

“There’s probably a safe way to get you out. There is a way, but...”

“A way?”

Shihu hesitated again.
I don’t understand why he’s so reluctant if there’s a way.

“They sell a device on the black market. Something to control mana.”

“A device? Would it work?”

Magical tools are common enough.
Usually, they’re just clothes enchanted with protective magic, but occasionally, you find items with unique properties.

“You told me about it.”

“I did? What did I say?”

“But I’m not sure if it’s right for you...”

“Huh?”

What’s that supposed to mean?
Shihu looked conflicted.

“...You don’t remember?”

“If it’s not important, I probably forgot. What did I say? A mana control device?”

I feel like I might’ve had a similar conversation with Shihu before.

“No, it’s nothing.”

The way he said that only makes me more curious.
What is it?

“Just sit tight for a moment. I’ll go get it.”

Click.
The doorknob turned, and the door opened.

[Activated]

The door closed again.

[Deactivated]

So the mana only cuts off when the door is closed.
It really is like the lab.

What exactly is activating and deactivating?
Mana flow?
Am I really about to awaken as a dragon?
This whole sealed black flame dragon thing used to be a joke.
How did it come to this?

If only I had all my memories intact, things would be clearer.

“This is it.”

Shihu handed Seo Ah a collar.
It looked like a dog collar, but one enhanced with magic.
Seo Ah tilted her head, unsure what to make of it.

“I bought it on the black market. It seems functional, though I haven’t fully tested it yet.”

“A collar?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I know what this is.”

“You do?”

She had to know. If Seo Ah hadn’t told me about it in the first place, I wouldn’t have thought to buy one. But now, it seemed like she had no recollection of it.

The incident had happened the same day I teleported her to the solitary cell—a week ago.

“Ah, Shihu, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to attack you. My body moved on its own.”

She had said something similar back then.

“There’s better equipment for mana suppression… like a collar. They used it in the lab when moving subjects around.”

And so, I’d managed to procure a collar.

“While you’re at it, can you bring me some drugs?”

That was one request I couldn’t fulfill.

The more mana she came into contact with, the worse the situation got. The memory distortions became more pronounced. Drugs wouldn’t help her condition, and keeping her locked up forever wasn’t an option.

Since this was an old government facility, staying here too long risked exposure. Avoiding attention was crucial for ensuring Seo Ah’s safety.

“This is the one they used when transporting test subjects, right?”

“Transporting?”

“Yeah, when moving between facilities. They often kept subjects restrained in cars with this.” She paused, frowning slightly. “Oh, I think I mentioned it to you before. It’s coming back to me.”

Seo Ah gave a faint, bashful smile.
But it wasn’t something to smile about.
I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling gnawing at me.

“I’ll show you how to use it.”

She took the collar from my hands.

“Okay, hold the leash.”

I grabbed the leash, and she fastened the collar around her neck.

Click.

She wouldn’t be able to take it off on her own, but with me around, it should be fine.
Seo Ah didn’t seem to mind.
She was just happy about the prospect of getting out of the cell.

I found myself staring at her blankly.

“What’s wrong?”

It felt oddly familiar.

“Ah, no. I mean... are you okay? Does it feel strange?”

“What, the collar? I could probably pass it off as a fashion statement. I can go out now, right?”

It was far too reminiscent of walking a dog.
This wasn’t made for humans.
If you looked closely, you could see faint writing indicating that it was designed for transporting monsters.

“...It’s weird if I’m holding the leash. Here, take it yourself.”

“Weird?”

Seo Ah seemed to ponder what was strange about it.
Maybe she thought I was just complaining about the inconvenience of holding the leash.

“Okay, I’m going to open the door now.”

“Okay.”

Click. The door opened.
The air was fresh and tinged with mana.

[Activated]

This isn’t good.
So much for mana suppression.
It looks like I bought defective goods from the black market.

One of Seo Ah’s eyes gleamed, taking on the predatory glint of a dragon’s mana-infused gaze.
I could feel her killing intent as she prepared to attack me again.

First, she summoned a weapon.

[Deactivated]

I grabbed the leash, and Seo Ah staggered as her strength drained away.
She became docile once more.

“...Ah.”

So it only works when someone is holding the leash.
I finally understood how the collar functioned.

“Heh…”

Seo Ah gave an awkward laugh.