I Became the Drug-Addicted Childhood Friend

Translator: Elisia

Editor/Proofreader: SemiPickle

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A bright light comes into view.

The place Han Si-Hoo arrived at was overwhelmingly bright.

“…A fire?”

Burning buildings.

The closer he got, the fiercer the flames became.

The crackling sound of fire echoed from all directions.

Everything was engulfed in flames.

It resembled the laboratory he had seen before.

The difference was that this place was smaller and more desolate.

It seemed as if monsters had trampled over it, leaving nothing behind.

Perhaps another monster escape had occurred, like last time.

“Are there any survivors?”

Could he find Seo-Ah here?

Was Seo-Ah somewhere in this building?

He still didn’t know.

The air was thick with smoke.

For now, he decided to enter the nearest building.

Bang.

He broke through the closed door to get inside.

The door wouldn’t open because the building had partially collapsed.

“-Help, help me, *cough*.”

A human voice.

Someone was trapped under the rubble.

A name tag-like item hung around their neck.

They appeared to be a researcher.

“Are there more people inside?”

Screech.

Han Si-Hoo pushed the debris aside to clear the way.

“No… they abandoned me and ran, *cough*. Ugh.”

The air was suffocatingly stale.

Anyone who wasn’t an Awakener would struggle to endure it.

He hoisted the researcher over his shoulder and ran out of the building.

First, to a safe zone.

“What happened here?”

He asked as he ran.

“An escape… Someone let all the monsters loose. I don’t know how they did it.”

“Why would they do such a thing?”

“Villains, probably. You’re an Awakener, right? A good one, I hope? Whew, thank goodness. I might survive now. Thanks.”

He ran past a collapsed barricade to a spot where the fire hadn’t spread.

“Are there more people inside?”

He waited for the researcher to answer.

“Well, either they’re dead or they escaped.”

“The test subjects?”

“Huh? The humanoid ones? You knew about that?”

“Are they here?”

Rumors of humanoid test subjects had been circulating for a long time.

“They were all disposed of.”

“…Disposed of?”

“When the facility malfunctions, the protocol is to kill everything and evacuate. That’s the manual. The suppression team is probably handling it all by now.”

“Where should I go?”

“The central building, the biggest one. The underground level… But why do you even want to know? Trying to rescue them? They’re not human. Look, I’m grateful you saved me, but they’re not worth-”

“Shut up.”

Thud.

He knocked the researcher unconscious.

And then, he started running again.

The structure of the facility was indeed similar to the one he had seen last time.

These suppression teams and rescue teams, strange organizations.

He had assumed they were government agencies.

Back then, he thought they seemed suspicious, and now he was sure of it.

These suppression teams—they were the enemy.

He kept running.

The central building came into view.

Boom!

He smashed through the wall and entered.

Could Seo-Ah be in here?

He didn’t know the exact procedure for “disposal,” but it had to be stopped.

He didn’t know Seo-Ah’s current state either.

The interior was engulfed in flames.

But flames of this magnitude weren’t an issue.

The protective functions of his Academy uniform were sufficient.

The researcher’s clothing had some protective features too, but they weren’t as effective as the uniform.

“Seo-Ah?”

He called out.

Hoping, just maybe, she’d respond.

But there was no one in sight.

He continued searching the building.

The facility extended underground, so he looked for a way down.

“An elevator?”

Creak.

He forcibly pried open the elevator doors.

Of course, the elevator wasn’t moving or anywhere near his floor.

So, he simply jumped down.

Falling downward.

Through the smoke, he descended to the lowest level.

Crash.

It was unclear if he had landed or collided.

The dust cloud that rose could have been from his fall or the fire.

Staggering to his feet, he dashed deeper into the facility.

He saw traces of where monsters had been confined.

Being on the lowest level, escaping from here would have been difficult.

Indeed, it seemed most of the monsters had been disposed of, as the researcher had mentioned.

“-Who’s there? Someone’s behind us!”

It was the suppression team.

They wore thick protective suits, resembling space suits.

Their voices were muffled inside the suits, making them hard to hear.

Their arms were equipped with weapons—guns, flamethrowers, and similar devices.

Killing monsters was a just act.

The suppression team’s role was to exterminate monsters.

Thud.

Yet, Han Si-Hoo took down the suppression team members.

Perhaps these were the ones who set the building on fire, so whether the facility collapsed or burned, they could fend for themselves.

“Who’s-”

Crack.

A single blow with the hilt of his sword was enough.

The suppression team’s protective suits were sturdy but specialized for monster attacks.

Still, without the suits, they would have died instantly, so they were better than nothing.

“Monsters-?”

Smash.

“Behind you!”

Crack.

Han Si-Hoo neutralized the suppression team as he ran forward.

But he couldn’t deal with all of them.

He wanted to capture one and extract information, but there wasn’t enough time.

“It’s all done. Let’s move!”

Done?

“What are you doing?”

The fog made it hard to see.

Upon closer look, it wasn’t smoke but fog.

He had thought they were spreading flames with flamethrowers, but it might have been gas.

Such weapons would be effective for quickly handling numerous monsters.

Even so, monsters wouldn’t willingly inhale gas, but the ones here were all confined.

“All done! Let’s get out of here!”

“The humanoid test subjects?”

“What are you talking about? Those were moved ages ago! Let’s go! We’re going to die here!”

Boom.

An ominous sound reverberated.

Being deep underground, a facility collapse would cause significant problems.

“This place might cave in!”

Crash.

The sound grew louder.

The faint lights flickering in the distance finally died.

Smoke and fog blanketed everything.

“Who the hell are you… Damn it, it’s collapsing!”

Thud.

The building was collapsing faster than expected.

The supports gave way, crushing everything beneath them.

***

The fire was extinguished.

Though the flames had spread to the nearby mountain, they hadn’t caused significant damage.

In the wake of the blaze, only ruins remained.

No sign of life could be seen.

All that was left was a pile of ashes.

Concrete groaned as cracks formed.

Then, it shattered.

And a hand emerged through the concrete.

It pried the crack wider.

When the gap was sufficient, someone crawled out.

“-Huff.”

He had nearly died.

It wasn’t the usual condition or situation he was accustomed to.

But, somehow, he survived.

Barely.

Han Si-Hoo wouldn’t die.

Not until he rescued Seo-Ah.

Seo-Ah wasn’t here, below this facility.

He should have asked where she had been taken.

It was still unclear whether she had even been here in the first place.

Blood dripped steadily.

No matter how much he strengthened his body or deployed protective skills, there were limits.

Just reaching this point had drained him severely.

“Damn it.”

Still, he survived.

Somehow.

What’s the next destination?

Where should he go to save her?

Exhaustion.

It was a sensation he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“…I’ll keep going.”

His device was broken, making it difficult to even determine his location.

But he had to save Seo-Ah.

First, the person he had saved earlier.

Where were they?

Even running felt difficult.

He was sure a few bones were broken.

It didn’t matter.

Treatment could come later.

Compared to the pain Seo-Ah endured, this was nothing.

Wiping the blood dripping from his forehead, he kept running.

He found them.

The unconscious researcher.

“Wake up.”

Crunch.

He stepped on the researcher’s fingers to wake them up.

“Ah, ugh! W-What…?”

They regained consciousness.

“Tell me everything you know. Where could the humanoid test subjects have been transported?”

“T-That, uh…”

Crack.

He stepped harder.

“Agh! I-I don’t know much!”

“Are there other labs nearby?”

“I’m just a grunt! I don’t know about other labs, but if there’s a factory supplying this place…”

“Which direction?”

“Just follow the road straight on the opposite side. I swear, that’s the truth. Please, stop…”

He said it was a factory.

There might be something there.

“About ten kilometers down, there’s a small settlement. I know because I’ve ridden with the vehicles going there to pick up supplies. So please, just…”

He didn’t need to say it. Han Si-Hoo had already lifted his foot.

He sprinted in the direction the researcher had indicated.

Every second mattered.

If Seo-Ah was alive, if there was even the smallest chance she was somewhere, he had to go.

He had no choice.

He ran.

Of course, the direction was completely opposite from before.

Cutting through the burning facility, he pushed past the flames.

“Si-Hoo!”

Someone called out to him.

Standing near the facility’s entrance was a figure.

“I came to help! Are you okay?”

The silver hair was familiar.

“…Rena?”

“You know the alert that goes off when a device gets destroyed? It’s the setting from when we worked as a team last time.”

“Ah.”

When the building collapsed, his device had broken.

It must have sent some sort of signal.

“I brought someone else too.”

A girl with short, blue hair appeared.

“Cheon Yoo-Hwa? Why are you here?”

A rival of his, someone he couldn’t exactly call a friend.

“I called her. She happened to be with me. You’ve been invisible ever since you took the Academy’s top ranking. So what’s going on? Covered in blood… Everything’s on fire.”

“There’s no time. I have to save Seo-Ah.”

There wasn’t any time to waste.

Would his Academy friends be of any help in this situation?

“Seo-Ah… Who is that?”

Cheon Yoo-Hwa asked, understandably curious about Han Si-Hoo’s personal affairs.

“A friend.”

“I see. Where are you headed?”

“Toward a factory in that direction.”

“Then get in the car. My brother’s driving. Yoo-Seong! Over here!”

She called out to her twin brother.

“What an unusual pair of siblings…”

Rena said with a laugh.

The group grew.

Now there were four of them.

Vroom.

An SUV drove up.

“Greetings!”

Cheon Yoo-Seong leaned out the window.

“Do you have a driver’s license?”

Han Si-Hoo asked without thinking.

He was familiar with Cheon Yoo-Seong but hadn’t expected him to show up with a car.

“My family is a bit unusual. Driving isn’t a problem. Hop in!”

“Thanks. And thanks to everyone for coming to help.”

He said as he climbed into the car.

Would it really help to have people who didn’t fully understand the situation involved?

Still, having others was better than being alone.

“…But are you really okay? You’re bleeding…”

“I’m fine. Just drive.”

“Alright. We can talk after this is over. Things seem complicated.”

Was making friends the right choice after all?

He recalled Seo-Ah getting angry when he said he was going to meet other friends.

…Angry?

Did she get angry?

That had never happened, had it?

He felt his memory being tainted.

Damn Saintess.

“This is the right road, isn’t it? Straight ahead?”

“Yeah.”

Friends were a good thing.

Thanks to them, saving Seo-Ah became much easier.

Han Si-Hoo took a moment to rest inside the rattling car.

Burnt remnants of the facility passed by the window.

Beyond that, only the dark rural road remained, with no streetlights in sight.

“…But is Seo-Ah… really alive?”

Rena, sitting beside him, asked in a hushed tone.

She looked like she was about to cry.

“…Really?”