Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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Prologue
I was scared of needles when I was a kid.
To be honest, I still am.
Who likes having something sharp jabbed into them?
Still, it can't be helped.
It’s not like there are many ways to administer the drug.
I angled the needle and pushed it into my bandaged arm.
"Ugh."
I can never get used to sticking a needle into my own arm.
After the injection, my mind went blank for a moment.
[8 Hours]
Then, a small screen appeared in the corner of my vision.
It means I can stay sane for about eight hours, starting now.
[7 Hours 59 Minutes]
A minute's already gone.
My mind is coming and going.
Who on earth lives with a damn screen like this floating in front of them?
You'd have to be completely crazy to live with something like this.
It's only possible because this is the world of a novel.
It's just like how the protagonist is always opening their status window.
"There."
I think I feel better now that I've taken the drug.
A sense of calm washes over me.
As long as I don't run out of the drug, I'm fine.
It feels good to be healthy.
I know it's true because of how awful I felt before the dose.
And if the drug runs out?
I'll think about that when it happens.
If I can even think, that is.
Some of the drugs don't even need a syringe.
You just swallow them like pills.
When I can't inject, I can buy about fifteen minutes with the pills.
So, with the emergency pills packed, I can just about manage to go outside.
"Just perfect."
I smile at my reflection in the mirror.
The brown-haired girl in the mirror smiled back.
Her long hair falls to her shoulders.
This girl's name is Yoo Seo-ah.
She's about middle school age.
She's pretty good-looking.
It's just a shame her clothes are a little dirty.
The mirror was cracked.
It happened when I punched it last time, when I hadn't taken enough of the drug.
Thanks to that, I got cut by a piece of glass and had to bandage my arm.
To be honest, I was pretty angry back then.
The fact that I'd entered a novel, and of all things, it had to be *this* one.
And on top of that, I'd become the protagonist's dying childhood friend.
And why the hell did my gender have to change?
So I thought about just treating it like a dream and dying.
"But now, I don't want to die at all. I'm happy."
I smiled at the mirror.
I'm so happy my nerves are tingling.
In the novel, Yoo Seo-ah had already died from a drug overdose.
Or maybe she died because she ran out.
That's what happens when you use the drug carelessly.
Anyway, the important thing is that, unlike in the novel, I'm not dead yet.
Looking at the table, I see ten pills.
Each one buys me about fifteen minutes.
The drug for the syringe is in small glass vials.
One shot extends my time by about eight hours.
And five painkillers.
These are good to take when my body aches sometimes.
They make me feel even better, too.
This is all the medicine I have.
I only have this much left because I've been rationing it carefully.
In the long run, I don't have enough, so the situation isn't good...
Heheh.
For some reason, I feel so good that I can't help but laugh.
I think I feel good because I'm laughing.
Is it because of the drug?
Of course not.