Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The Future
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This is the future.
I want to watch.
I just wanted to watch.
To return to the moment I was reading the book.
I would see how the protagonist grows, what trials he overcomes.
I want to see him make friends and lead his companions.
I couldn't.
Because I was trapped in a strange place.
A small space where all I could do was fantasize.
They were too late to save me.
There was definitely a book I had read.
I tried to recall its contents, but nothing came to mind except the part where I die.
I also remembered that everyone was happy in the end.
It's a happy ending.
A happy ending.
[330 Hours]
Maybe the time appearing before my eyes isn't the effect of the drug.
It's time I've forcibly borrowed when I should have already died and disappeared.
Time I'll use to be a nuisance.
How much time would it be if I added up all the hours I've collected so far?
On the last page of the novel that I vaguely recall, I wasn't there.
I wasn't the only one missing, but... next to the protagonist is someone who suits him better than anyone else.
He seems to have a lot of friends.
[329 Hours 59 Minutes]
"Ah..."
When I opened my eyes, I was home.
Home?
No, that can't be right.
A messy room.
Rotting wood.
A leaking ceiling.
A place where even the cobwebs are abandoned.
It's a place that resembles home.
In a word, an abandoned house.
Still, it's not my home.
I wonder why I'm in a place like this.
I remember asking the Rescue Team to save me.
So, what happened after that?
I count the time on my fingers.
Seeing as I still have about 330 hours left... has it been about a day?
The last time I used the drug, it was 360-something.
-Ah, home.
I think I said something like that.
Was it inside the Rescue Team's transport vehicle?
It was because I saw a place that looked like home.
The street looked similar.
This isn't home.
I just mistook it for home.
Slums are everywhere, after all.
After getting out of the transport vehicle, I must have just entered a random house and fallen asleep.
I was quite tired.
A quiet space with no people, no magical beasts, nothing.
Should I go outside?
"......"
Just as I feared, my body won't move.
It won't move.
I'm so screwed.
Haha.
The absurdity of it makes me laugh.
Just staying like this isn't such a bad decision, is it?
I'll just keep lying here.
When the drug wears off, I'll just die.
Honestly, that's not bad.
I won't be dragged to the laboratory anymore.
I won't be subjected to human experiments.
"...ise."
Just speaking is a chore.
It's even harder after waking up.
"[Arise.]"
I got up.
I can move.
Light streams in from outside.
As it gets brighter, the mold on the walls and such become clearer.
It's morning.
Light.
Morning.
The outside world.
It's been so long.
There were so many strange things yesterday that I couldn't properly enjoy it.
"Ahaha..."
In my pocket are four spare syringes I brought with me.
This should be enough for an emergency.
[322 Hours 41 Minutes]
The rate at which time is evaporating is immense.
Still, it's a relief I can at least move like this.
Anyway, as long as I have the drug, I'll be fine.
Right.
All I need is the drug.
It's always been that way.
Though it seems to have gotten worse.
I look at the mirror hanging on the wall.
If I just wipe off the dust, I can see myself well enough.
"...Huh."
My bangs are long, so it's hard to see.
Isn't something different?
I push my hair aside to check.
My eye is strange.
"Hmm?"
Is it because of what happened in the lab?
Has it been like this since then?
They did something strange to my eyes.
It's a vertical pupil.
A cat's eye?
I think a lizard's eye was like this.
Only my right eye is like this.
It's so alien that I noticed it right away.
"......"
Why?
Is it because of the drug?
For now, it's a relief that my bangs cover it well.
Anyway, there's no problem on the outside.
I don't look like a sick person.
Of course, I've been using so much of the drug.
Right.
Yeah.
As long as I have the drug, everything will be fine.
I need to go find more.
Hesitating in a place like this is just a waste of time.
Let's go outside.
The street looks like it's been in ruins for quite some time.
But it doesn't seem completely deserted.
It looks like people are living here.
"-Yul-ah!"
A voice calls out.
A voice that seems to be looking for someone.
It's a child.
It seems to be a boy.
"Yul-ah?!"
I went outside the house to check.
Maybe nine or ten years old.
"Yul— Uh, wh-who are you?"
We met on the street.
I wanted to smile to prove I was harmless.
"Um, do you live here?"
I shook my head.
Though I do live in a similar place.
His eyes seemed to be sizing me up, deciding if I could be trusted.
"...We-ell, anyway. Have you seen a girl about this tall?"
He indicates a height slightly shorter than himself with his hand.
It seems he's looking for a friend.
"She disappeared while we were playing... I think she's hiding."
I shook my head from side to side.
Unfortunately, I haven't seen her.
"Oh, I see. If you find her—"
he says, hesitating.
I nod, indicating that I'll help him look.
But how should I look for her?
It feels awkward to call out her name.
Still, I do my best to search.
Wandering here and there through the streets.
Though all I really did was linger near the boy.
"Yul-ah-! Whe-re are you!"
If she were nearby, she would have come out.
Were they playing hide-and-seek?
Did she get lost?
"-I'm over here!"
A girl pops out from behind the boy.
"Hey, what gives? I was worried."
She was probably hiding all this time to tease the boy.
"But who's this sister?"
The word 'sister' feels awkward to hear for many reasons.
"I don't know. She was here. She helped me look for you."
"Ooh... Sister! I'm Yul. This is Hyun."
Are their names usually this short?
They must have their own story for living in a place like this.
"What about you, Sister?"
I want to answer, but speaking shaves off time.
"Ah, Sister, you're from the factory, right?"
Hyun asks.
It seems there's a factory nearby.
"Right? People from the factory don't talk. You know. That... information leak thing? They say it's not allowed."
"But this sister isn't wearing a mask."
"...Maybe not?"
They start debating amongst themselves.
Do they not think I'm a dangerous person?
"[Factory?]"
The mention of a factory is interesting.
"Yeah, the factory people catch all the monsters for us."
A factory that catches monsters... does that mean it's a factory that uses monsters as materials?
It might be the same place as the factory that makes the drugs.
In the first place, this area probably isn't far from the experimental zone.
I didn't get far before I got off the Rescue Team's transport.
I've heard there's a factory district nearby.
Was it in the lab? I can't remember that much.
"And they give us food, and medicine too."
"Medicine?"
"Yeah. The factory people come and give it to us. They ask if anyone's hurt."
Is it the medicine I know?
Do they give it to children this young?
No, it must be regular medicine.
"[Like this?]"
I take out a syringe and show it to them.
"Hmm... I've never seen that before. Is it a pen?"
"The needle is long. It looks like a syringe."
I put it away.
It's a relief they don't seem to know.
They wouldn't give medicine to kids who don't even look sick.
Why did I start using the drug, again?
-The Doctor?
The Doctor?
Right.
It was the Doctor.
I remember when I first met the Doctor.
I had a cough.
I went to buy cold medicine.
Even the aid station that had been set up in the slums was gone.
It was an aid station that would sometimes give out food.
Unfortunately, it disappeared.
I was staring at the site of the abandoned aid station.
"Medicine... where can I buy it."
The hospital is far.
It's hard to go all the way into the city.
It's far, and I have no money.
I thought it would disappear eventually.
Who in their right mind would give out medicine and food in the slums?
Still, I couldn't help feeling disappointed.
"Should I just endure it?"
The problem is coughing all day.
There are no other aid stations around here.
If the one here closed down, it's likely the others did too.
I should go back.
The moment I decided that and turned to leave.
"Ah, are you looking for a doctor?"
A person in a black gown was standing there.
A suspicious-looking person.
"Yes..."
"The aid station has closed, but I heard there are still patients, so I came."
"Huh?"
"I'm a doctor. If you need anything, I can provide it."
That was my first meeting with the Doctor.
"Medicine... I need some for a cold."
"Ah, yes. I happen to have something I was told to give to someone in need. Perhaps... Ah, what is your name?"
"It's Seo-ah. Yoo Seo-ah."
That was my name.
I remembered.
"Then I should give this to you, Miss Seo-ah. It's cold medicine. I heard there were a few patients in this area, so if you know anyone who is sick, please have them come here."
He hands me a medicine packet that was already prepared.
It's the same medicine the aid station used to give out.
"The price is..."
I didn't bring much money.
The aid station sold medicine very cheaply, which was fine, but I wonder how much this doctor charges.
"It's free. I might charge next time, but it won't be expensive."
"Thank you. Um... should I come to this aid station?"
I might need medicine again.
"Yes. Well, I'll be around here."
"Um... if you're a doctor, what about your hospital?"
"It's in the city. You can think of me as being temporarily dispatched. I plan to stay in this area for a while. There are other patients besides you, Miss Seo-ah."
"Oh. Yes. Thank you."
"I'll see you again."
"Goodbye."
What a strange person.
He's completely different from the doctor who was at the aid station before.
He's younger, and he speaks differently.
Still, I got the medicine, so that's good, right?
I pour the medicine into my mouth and swallow.
It's the same medicine I always took.
And for about a month, I wasn't sick.
The next time I went because my cough got worse, the medicine's form had changed a little.
I was fine for about a week.
And I went back again.
I was fine for about four days.
And I went back again.
I was fine for about two days.
And again.
At some point, the medicine I received was no longer a pill but a solution for a syringe.
I also learned how to use the medicine.
I learned for the first time that using a syringe was more complicated than I thought.
And I learned that the Doctor was a kind person.
I don't know what it was, but he said he was kind.
So he must be a kind person.
Still, no matter how kind he is... I used to smile like that, too.
I patted their heads.
"Sister? What's wrong?"
Yul smiles.
Hyun, next to her, also has a bright expression.
That's right.
Children are supposed to smile like that.
Because you are everyone's future.
Was I the future?
If someone like me is everyone's future, everyone's hope, then we're in big trouble.
-Children are the future.
A phrase on a fence I saw while playing at the playground.
The voice of a friend, saying, "I guess we're the future."
Is this why adults treat children this way?
Was it because I wasn't that young?
Was ruining the future their hobby?
Did I not have what it takes to be the future?
Or did I do something wrong?
Why was Yoo Seo-ah so thoroughly ruined?
"S-Sister, are you crying?"
As I patted Hyun's head, a tear fell.
It's a tear, not the drug.
Right?
[285 Hours 4 Minutes]
When I'm on the drug, I'm supposed to be happy.
I was always happy.