Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye, a Drug for a Drug (2)
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Opening her eyes, she saw a familiar ceiling.
From Sua's perspective, it was only natural. She had already mapped out the entire layout of this mansion long ago. Whose room's ceiling was this... She couldn't quite recall.
It was because of a headache that felt like her skull was splitting open.
This headache had made her pass out, and even after coming to, the pain showed no signs of letting up.
She had thought she knew every pain in the world, but apparently, that wasn't the case.
Thirst.
Yes, thirst.
The word "thirst" floated into her mind. It was the sensation of something desperately lacking.
Conveniently, there was a glass of water within reach. Sua snatched it up greedily and gulped it down in one go.
But even after swallowing the water, not a shred of her thirst was quenched.
This wasn't the kind of thirst that water could satisfy. Why had she collapsed in the first place? She hadn't lost her memories. The headache was merely blocking her thoughts.
Probably... she had suddenly vomited violently. Unable to endure the agony, she seemed to recall pulling out several syringes right in front of everyone.
"Yeah, my syringes..."
Clinging to her half-dazed mind, she fumbled through her clothes in every pocket. Not a single syringe was in any of the places where they should have been.
They were all precious drugs of hers. Wait a minute. Before that, she needed to vomit first.
The water she had just drunk was backfiring spectacularly. Her stomach roiled as if she had swallowed poison.
"Uweeeek..."
In the end, she spewed even the water she had just drunk all over the floor.
There wasn't even time to wipe the floor. No room for respite. Just relieved that her stomach felt a little better, Sua flopped back onto the pillow.
New pains updating every second, a thirst hurtling toward some unknown end.
Was this the feeling that drove people to seek God? Anyone who could end this torment would be a god to Sua.
"Ah.... Ah, paaa..... Hihi.. Hihihihihi..."
She didn't know how to cry. She never had, since childhood.
All she could do was awkwardly curl her lips upward while sweat poured from her in rivers.
Am I dying? Dying like this.
Her body knew instinctively. It was gradually ceasing to function.
But then, she heard it.
"Vomited again. You're really making things hard for everyone."
It was a man's voice.
With the nausea and headache, it hadn't even occurred to her that someone else was in the room. Come to think of it, there was a coffee scent in the air. She had vomited, yet the room smelled of coffee.
Who is it? That question dissolved the moment she turned her head.
And she finally remembered whose room this was.
"Ganeghan..."
It was Dia's personal physician, Ganeghan's room. The owner of the voice was him, too.
Beside the bed where Sua lay weakly sprawled, a man with a sharp jawline sat on a chair, quietly fiddling with a syringe. His other hand sipped coffee.
Just from the markings on those syringes, she knew. They were all hers.
"Mine, mine!"
It felt like finally laying hands on what she had searched for over days. Like discovering the sole escape from a labyrinth.
Drugs.
To Sua, they were everything. Her faith was poured toward drugs. Her love was poured toward drugs.
She could break through this situation with drugs, too.
First, use the drugs to regain her senses, then plan the next move. Muttering this to herself, Sua jammed a syringe into her arm without a second thought.
"Haaaa..."
She felt the drug flowing in.
This sensation was unmistakably the drug she had made herself. Ganeghan hadn't pulled any tricks on her syringes.
'That's what they call carelessness, Ganeghan.'
She would rally her strength soon enough and make him pay the price.
Sua was confident she had already half-shattered Dia's mental state. Just a few more mentions of the child, and she could drive the young lady into an even worse panic than before.
Whatever thoughts ran through Sua's mind, Ganeghan merely watched impassively.
He let her keep injecting various syringes, not intervening.
He merely uttered one sentence.
"These are your syringes, right?"
"Yeah.... Hoo... Hii. Hi hi.."
"Why do you think I gave those syringes back to you?"
"Huh?"
Because he was careless, maybe. Or just stupid.
She was about to spit it out exactly like that when Ganeghan spoke faster.
"Because they're useless anyway. Your drugs are garbage. They won't ease the symptoms."
"What? Hihi?"
The absurdity was so profound that her habitual laugh twisted into a question.
And what was with that arrogant tone, as if his own drugs actually worked.
As if... she was suffering because of his drugs.
'Eh? No way?'
Sua's eyes widened round as they locked onto Ganeghan's in midair.
Yawn. Propping his chin, Ganeghan yawned leisurely. His expression said he knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Right. Hurts a lot, doesn't it?"
And with that, he said it.
Sua fell silent for a moment. Thought for a moment. Then her eyes blazed upward.
"....Your drug? This is?"
Sua frantically eyed her syringes one after another. Then she snatched one up.
"No... impossible! Just a few of these and it'll be fine..."
"Not anymore."
"Don't lie! What do you even get out of this?"
"I need to find out what you schemed with Abera. And make sure you never approach Dia again."
"Who'd listen to a bastard like you... Ugh!"
Her heart stung sharply, cutting off her words.
Of course. Ganeghan nodded with that knowing look.
"You look like you're in a lot of pain. No need for an antidote?"
Their eyes met once more.
On matters of drugs, she would never lose, Sua believed. Drugs were her everything.
Eyes brimming with venom, Sua shouted.
"Bullshit! W-wait. What is this? Hallucinogen? When did you slip it in? Wait. I'll antidote it. I'll make the antidote..."
"It's the one you got injected with back then. Haven't done it since."
"Then why now..."
"My drugs are a bit more refined. This whole thing was planned. Want me to show you?"
"Like you could show me anything... Ugh?! Ke, kek!"
Sua clutched her chest tightly. Her breathing grew labored again. Something suddenly clamped down on her heart like a vise.
"Ke, kek! Kek... Y-you, do you even know who I..."
"Just hold out one minute. The symptoms shift every minute. They intensify, then ease. Rinse and repeat."
"M-minute... intervals? For a drug, that's impossible...! Kk!"
Sua's mind grew unbearably cluttered in an instant.
Designed a drug to produce effects like this in this exact situation?
Was making such a drug... even possible?
And timing every action to match the drug's onset. For a mere human, possible?
Her mind tangled in seconds. But before long, the excruciating pain scattered even those thoughts.
"Hii.... Ck, kek......Hee... Hick... Hii..."
Dia's blessing was an incredibly handy feature. Being able to tweak drug levels in real time? What could be more revolutionary?
Sua, sprawled at my feet, had banged her head on the floor several times and even rubbed her face against it. It had to be insanely painful.
It was only natural. I had been fluctuating her Vitality between 10 and 24 in real time.
But Sua apparently had some stubborn pride to cling to. Relying solely on mental fortitude, she endured that one full minute.
Still, the questions etching onto her face were unavoidable.
How could a drug be crafted with such precision? Her thoughts must have been a whirlwind. Of course, everything I said was a lie.
No such drug existed. I was simply adjusting the values live.
I set her Vitality to zero and asked.
"Now you should be good for one minute. No antidote until you surrender."
"Hic... Hek, hek.... Haaa... S-surrender? Don't make me laugh..."
The moment the pain vanished, Sua took deep breaths, struggling to pull herself together.
After several deep breaths, she clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms, thrust out her arm, and glared up at me with murder in her eyes.
"One minute, you said? That's plenty. Kihihi. I'll whip up an antidote right now and torture you all day long. Get ready! You hear me? You filthy worm!!! Kihihihihihi!!!"
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
Not much. That much was certain. My coffee hadn't even gone cold yet.
Where was the clock? Anyway, it was getting boring, so I let out a big yawn.
"Ga, Ganeghan-niiiim..."
Something at my feet repeated my name over and over, clutching my ankle tight.
"Hek.... Heuoook.... P-please save me.... Save me, please..."
I turned to glance at the clock in the corner of the room.
From the moment Sua flattened herself on the floor until she begged for mercy, exactly thirty minutes.