Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Augmented Purification
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"Just once... die for me."
she said, holding a kitchen knife.
The sound of leaking water echoed through the dark house.
"What are you talking about?"
Han Si-hoo studied Yoo Seo-ah.
"He'll give me the drug. The Doctor. For life."
In the end, it was the Doctor again.
Just being at the Academy wasn't enough to erase his influence.
"...Right."
He could see the inside of the messy dorm room.
The reason she hadn't answered his calls became clear.
A shattered device.
Pieces of rope scattered on the floor for some reason.
Several empty syringes.
A pill bottle rolled on the ground.
From the bathroom, he could hear the sound of overflowing water.
He wondered what she had been doing.
"So please, just help me this once."
Hearing her ask for help, he couldn't refuse.
"Can't you just die for me, just this once?"
Just once.
Yoo Seo-ah pleaded earnestly, kitchen knife in hand.
It wasn't a request one could make of anyone.
Han Si-hoo didn't know what had happened to Yoo Seo-ah today.
Nor did he know how much of the drug she had taken.
He had rushed back in the middle of a battle in a nearby city.
He had saved many people.
He had rescued children being attacked by monsters.
That was when the emergency call had come.
Countless unknown citizens versus one friend.
Who should he prioritize?
The chronic shortage of personnel was the problem.
There were few active Awakeners.
Even the number of people summoned to the Academy was insufficient.
If Han Si-hoo left, there was no telling how many more people would be harmed.
He tried calling, but there was no answer.
Should he retreat to the Academy then?
At some point, the number of people Han Si-hoo had to protect had grown.
From just Yoo Seo-ah to all innocent citizens.
"You're the protagonist, so you can do anything, right?"
You can protect everyone.
Yoo Seo-ah believed Han Si-hoo could do anything.
"Protagonist?"
"Right? You have to be. You want me to get better, don't you? You want me to be okay and happy, right?"
Of course, he did.
He desperately wanted Yoo Seo-ah to recover.
"Snap out of it..."
In the end, Han Si-hoo couldn't guarantee the safety of the citizens.
Because he knew there was no one else to help Yoo Seo-ah.
The battle was winding down anyway, so his absence probably wouldn't cause a major issue.
"My mind? I'm in a great mood. I'm happy."
The sound of gushing water from the bathroom didn't stop.
Water dripped from Yoo Seo-ah's hair and clothes.
"That's not..."
...real happiness.
Of that much, he was certain.
Then what was real happiness?
Living for others.
That was how Han Si-hoo had lived his life.
Someone had once said it was the fate of a hero.
They told him to give back as much as the power he possessed.
To take responsibility for saving people.
He felt so sorry he could die.
It was his own fault that Yoo Seo-ah, who had always relied on him, had ended up like this.
If his death could solve everything, that would be fine.
But that was just an irresponsible escape.
"Can't you just die for me?"
she said with a smile.
Han Si-hoo smiled back faintly.
"...[Augment]."
It was a new skill he had acquired.
Thanks to defeating a boss monster in the city battle just a while ago.
Han Si-hoo had always thought this world was similar to a game.
A game with an extremely high degree of freedom.
Attacking while using Augment would increase its power.
The same applied to his other skills.
It was an enhancement skill.
Kill monsters.
Level up.
Allocate stat points.
Get stronger.
Kill stronger monsters.
Repeat.
Eventually, you'd kill boss monsters and complete quests to progress.
It was no different from a game.
"Ugh...?"
Yoo Seo-ah backed away from the approaching Han Si-hoo.
It didn't seem like Han Si-hoo was going to die willingly.
In that case, fighting was the only option.
But she was scared.
*Clatter.*
Yoo Seo-ah slipped on the water that had pooled on the floor.
She fell backward ungracefully.
It was because she'd been trying to get away from Han Si-hoo.
"When a skill reaches level 5, it gets a special effect, and once it passes 10, its performance improves tremendously."
[Purification] was level 1.
That was why the penalty for Purification was so severe.
And why it had only managed to take away the drug's effects.
"Hnngh."
Han Si-hoo was already beside the fallen Yoo Seo-ah.
So close she could feel his breath.
Then she had no choice but to stab him.
Wasn't this a good opportunity?
*Stab.*
His arm was stabbed.
Not with a syringe, but with a kitchen knife.
There was no need to block it.
As long as Yoo Seo-ah returned to normal, nothing else mattered.
*Stab.*
The blade sank into his abdomen.
*Is this how much it hurts?*
It was the same pain Seo-ah must have felt, so he would endure it.
"[Purification]."
He had already poured all his skill points into Purification.
This was also why Han Si-hoo hadn't taken first place in the Academy's test.
Because he had invested heavily in a strange skill.
But Han Si-hoo saw hope in it.
He felt that he could save Yoo Seo-ah, one way or another.
With his new Augment skill, it was surely possible.
Light poured out.
***
Light.
[Temporarily Paused]
With unprecedented clarity, I surveyed the situation.
The trashed room.
The syringes.
I didn't care whether my body was scarred or not.
It was a sensation I hadn't felt in a very long time.
Everything was clear.
The wrecked room was vividly clear.
The smell of tap water.
I could feel water dripping from my hair.
There was a metallic taste in my mouth.
"Ah...?"
Han Si-hoo was collapsed on the floor.
He was bleeding from his abdomen.
A bloodstained kitchen knife was in my hand.
My hand trembled violently.
I couldn't remember what I had done.
What class did I have today?
Why was Han Si-hoo collapsed here?
*Move.*
*Do something.*
*Call for help.*
*Someone's hurt.*
*Can't you just die for me, just this once?*
I remembered.
It was a line I couldn't bear to admit I'd said.
What was I saying?
[Temporarily Paused]
"Ah, ah?"
I had believed the protagonist wouldn't die.
"A-Are you... okay..."
He was still breathing.
He wasn't dead.
*Get a grip.*
Han Si-hoo's words echoed in my ears.
I'd finally come to my senses, but I couldn't think of what to do.
The protagonist collapsing was not part of the plan.
Why did this happen?
How did things get this bad?
No matter how much I needed the drug, I shouldn't have fallen this far.
[Temporarily Paused.]
"-Si-hoo?"
I heard someone else's voice.
Looking toward the torn-off door, I saw a girl holding a sword in each hand.
Long, braided black hair.
It was Yeon-hwa.
I'd once received a gift she had intended for Han Si-hoo.
"You?"
I finally understood what it meant to feel killing intent.
A tingling sensation ran through my body.
"What have you done."
I don't know either.
"Si-hoo called you a friend. Did you attack him?"
Attack?
Why would I attack him?
But I did attack him.
But it wasn't on purpose.
No.
It was intentional.
The kitchen knife was still in my hand.
"...Syringes?"
She looked confused.
Several empty syringes were rolling around.
*What used up so many of them?*
It was an amount I couldn't believe I had used.
"Si-hoo... the blood... it's because of me."
There was no time for this.
I had to save Han Si-hoo first.
"Hah."
Yeon-hwa seemed to have realized what the priority was.
She pulled Han Si-hoo away from me and checked his wound.
While examining Han Si-hoo's condition, she pointed a sword in my direction.
She was wary of me.
I was clearly the enemy.
Having attacked Han Si-hoo, I had nothing to say for myself.
I didn't think badly of Si-hoo either.
In fact, I liked him.
Because we were friends.
If I liked him, why did I stab him?
[Temporarily Paused]
It was because of the time.
I had no idea how time had stopped flowing.
It was thanks to Han Si-hoo using Purification on me.
So if Han Si-hoo gets better, will everything go back to normal?
"Are you okay? Si-hoo?"
Yeon-hwa checked Han Si-hoo's condition.
I wanted to ask the same thing.
But it would be strange for the person who stabbed him to ask if he was okay.
I really hadn't intended to stab him.
But saying that would just sound like a pathetic excuse.
It was my fault.
"People will be here soon to help. Just hold on."
She was clearly on guard against me.
She checked if the unconscious Han Si-hoo was breathing.
Then she turned to look at me.
"Because of you."
I could feel her rage.
A killing intent that suggested she wanted to kill me right then and there.
"I'd heard you were from the slums, but I never imagined you'd fall this low."
She knew about me, too.
Did Si-hoo tell her?
"It seems you were a drug addict. I've seen people like you before. Disgusting."
I had nothing to say.
"Why did you come here? Did you think this kind of behavior would be forgiven just because you were an old friend?"
No.
I had at least a shred of morality.
I had a conscience.
But without the drug, the pain was just too much.
Even now, my arm was throbbing.
My hand ached as if it were bruised.
I hated how my whole body creaked.
When the drug kicked in, none of this mattered.
I didn't do this just to enjoy some minor pain relief.
I just couldn't help it.
"You don't seem to be in your right mind. I suggest you get proper treatment. And then pay for your crime."
Treatment.
I thought so, too.
I was standing there, half-soaked, holding a knife.
This was the result of using a drug as "treatment."
"Do you really hold some kind of grudge to do this?"
Yeon-hwa wrapped a piece of cloth around the wound to stop the bleeding.
Even then, she didn't let her guard down against me.
[Temporarily Paused]
How long had it been since the drug's effects weren't threatening me?
It was all thanks to Han Si-hoo.
I held no grudge at all.
We were friends.
Maybe we could have gone back to how things were.
If only I hadn't stabbed him, none of this would have happened.
I'm sure of it.
Could we have gone back to the time when Seo-ah and Si-hoo were friends?
Because of what I did.
I did stab him.
But it was strange for Han Si-hoo to collapse from just a knife wound.
There had to be something more to it.
He'd looked exhausted from the moment he arrived at the dorm.
He must have come here because of me, right after fighting somewhere.
The circumstances made that clear.
Was that why even my attack was enough to take him down?
"...I hear something. It sounds like the medical team is here. We'll have you transported as well."
I had done something inhuman.
I had been holding Han Si-hoo back for so long.
And in the end, I couldn't help him at all.
Dammit.
I really didn't want to attack Han Si-hoo.
When people are pushed to the edge, will they really do anything?
[Temporarily Paused]
I tried to kill Han Si-hoo?
Even if you hate someone, you don't actually try to kill them.
There's no way I would do that.
Even if you ask what I did, it wasn't me.
No, it was me.
But I didn't do it.
*You tried to kill him.*
Now, I couldn't even rely on the drug's effects to escape the situation.
I couldn't tell if my body was soaked in water or blood.
"This will hurt."
*Thud.*
And just like that, I lost consciousness.