33. My Buff is a Drug
33. My Buff is a Drug
The moment I stepped out the door, I saw the same black void I'd seen the first time I met Mina.
Clutching Geum Na-rin's hand, I ran blindly ahead.
Thud! Thud!
Behind us, I could hear the man thundering closer.
At this rate, he was going to catch us.
I needed to switch my buff to running speed, scoop Geum Na-rin into my arms, and book it.
'Hurry, hurry, hurry!'
I was frantically crafting the buff when I felt my grip on Geum Na-rin's hand slip—and at the same instant, my body was hoisted clean off the ground.
"W-whoa!"
"Why are you so sloooow!"
I thought I'd been attacked, but no.
Geum Na-rin had scooped Hye-yong up instead.
The moment she cradled me and broke into a sprint, our speed shot up fast.
Maybe twenty seconds went by like that.
At the far end of the black corridor, something pale—like a faint light—began to glimmer.
"Senior, light! I see light!"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
With a battle cry, Geum Na-rin kicked her pace even higher.
And then the light swallowed us both.
"Haa... haa..."
"Hoo, hoo..."
When I came to, we were back in the hospital room, right where we'd been talking.
For a long moment we just stared at each other, gasping for breath.
"This is the first time..."
Geum Na-rin buried her face in her palms and wept.
"The first time nothing was done to me in a dream... the first time I fought my way out and escaped."
That tear-choked voice wasn't entirely free of fear, but there was relief in it—and a note of something deeper.
After a few minutes, she wiped her tears and looked at Hye-yong, her eyes puffy and swollen.
"Who are you?"
"First-year high division. Choi Hye-yong..."
"You told me that. I know. That's not what I'm asking."
Hye-yong had a pretty good idea what she meant.
"You came into my dream, didn't you? You're the one who showed up and saved me from that man?"
"Yes."
"Until now, no matter who I told, it never did any good. I felt like I'd been left all alone in the world..."
Inside her inner world, the Virus had openly tried to gouge out Na-rin's tongue with a nail clipper.
Having to endure that over and over while fully, vividly conscious—it was more surprising she still had her sanity at all.
Right now, Hye-yong had to be her mental anchor.
Because in the entire world, Hye-yong was the only person who could be that.
'Somehow I get the feeling I've turned into a guy who just drags disaster around with him.'
I hadn't done anything wrong, but the unease was real.
"You can relax now, senior. I'm here."
"Hnk, thank you... thank you for coming for me..."
Geum Na-rin wiped at the fresh tears threatening to spill over, and her face settled into something a little calmer.
"What is that man? What are you? And what is happening to me?"
Let's think about this carefully.
What could I say that would make her accept it without suspicion?
'In manga and sci-fi novels, they always get approached by some secret society or whatever.'
This place might as well be a novel world anyway.
I'd just fudge it with a concept: there's this secret organization, but revealing the exact details is problematic.
It's not like she could go consult anyone about it, right?
Unless someone was already infected by the Virus, any talk about it wouldn't even register in a normal person's mind.
"In this world, there exist things called Aberrations that only a very small number of people can perceive. They burrow into people's minds and torment them with every kind of suffering until they're driven to despair and, eventually, death."
"Aberrations...? Why would something like that come after me?"
"The only thing I can tell you is that you were unlucky."
"How can that..."
There wasn't a trace of suspicion on her face—no What the hell is an Aberration? Are you a scam artist? vibe at all.
In a way, that figured: she'd just lived through something monstrous moments ago.
The kind of situation where, even if she didn't want to believe it, she had no choice but to.
"But you don't have to just keep taking it. There's a secret society that hunts Aberrations. The membership isn't large, but they're dispatched to various locations all over the world."
"And you're saying... you're one of them?"
"That's right. Normally I'm just another student, though."
"A secret society. So they really exist..."
Geum Na-rin looked like she was turning something over in her head before she spoke again.
"What happens to me now? We escaped from that bastard. So it's over, isn't it?"
The desperation in her voice was thick and sticky.
She must have been praying, Please let it be over, over and over.
I wanted more than anything to tell her yes, but I couldn't, so I shook my head.
"All we did was run away. Once an Aberration latches onto you, it won't disappear unless it's eliminated."
"Ah..."
Her expression was so crushingly disappointed it looked like it might kill her.
Trying to deliver that emotion as a buff would probably require Regretful Feeling at least level 50 baseline.
"So you're saying if I fall asleep, that man comes back?"
"That's how it'll be."
"No... anything but that..."
Geum Na-rin hung her head and cried without a sound.
Then she turned her whole body on the bed to face Hye-yong directly.
"You... said you're a member of the secret society."
"Yes."
"These Aberrations. Can they be killed?"
"Of course they can."
Her face brightened, if only a little.
"...How?"
"Every Aberration has its own method of eradication. I'll have to fight him and gather information as we go."
"Fight? Don't tell me you mean I have to face that thing head-on!?"
I knew she'd be terrified, but I had to be clear.
"Yes. You'll have to keep having the dream, keep clashing with the Aberration, and figure out the exorcism method."
"I-I can't do that... I can't. Keep having that dream over and over? I can't..."
"Geum Na-rin, senior."
When I called her name, her eyes met mine at once.
Sunk so deep in helplessness, this was probably the only thing Hye-yong could give her.
"You're not alone. I'm here. If we fight together, we can win."
Na-rin stared at Hye-yong's face for a long moment, then nodded.
"...Okay. But let me at least get my head together first. Two days... no, about three. I got some sleep earlier, so I should be able to stay awake that long..."
At Na-rin's request, Hye-yong couldn't exactly just say sure, go ahead.
'Bwit... no, I need to let Mina know.'
I felt like I at least had to ask.
"Senior, I'll step out for just a moment."
Thwip!
When Hye-yong moved to stand, Na-rin's hand caught his arm and stopped him.
"Where are you going...?"
"...Just to the restroom. Be right back."
"You're coming back, right? I'm not just seeing things—this isn't a hallucination, is it? Promise me you'll come back. Promise me you won't disappear..."
Watching her try to hold on by any means, I could feel just how pushed to the absolute brink she truly was.
"I'll be right back. I promise you, I'll definitely come back."
Slip.
Even after hearing that, her hand lingered for a few seconds before finally, reluctantly letting go.
Hye-yong stepped out into the hallway, leaned against the wall, and pulled out his terminal.
'The name on the messenger changed from Bwitgwitgak to Mina...'
The moment she died flashed through my mind.
Obviously her main body probably took no real damage, but I asked anyway out of courtesy.
[ Choi Hye-yong : You okay? Body all right? ]
[ Mina : Are you worried about me? ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Is that not allowed? ]
[ Mina : Eheheh. Tthat makes me happy. But don't worry—dying in the inner world really doesn't do a thing to me. ]
I'd figured as much.
[ Choi Hye-yong : The girl infected by the Virus is asking for some time to sort out her feelings. Is that okay? ]
[ Mina : The spread isn't complete yet. The seeds of recognition are still functioning properly too. If you use the buff skill I gave you, you should be able to suppress the Virus temporarily, so that'll probably work. But be careful! The buff I gave you, Creator, is extremely unstable. The more you use it, the more the Virus builds resistance. You won't be able to keep suppressing the Virus with that skill forever. ]
I already knew this skill was meant to buy time.
There were still a lot of things I needed to hear, so a bit of time did seem necessary.
I finished the conversation, opened the door, and stepped back into the hospital room.
"Y-you came back."
The instant I walked in, Geum Na-rin's face filled with relief.
A thin trickle of blood was running from the corner of her mouth.
Wondering why the hell she was bleeding, I looked at her hands and saw the skin on her thumb had been torn open.
Teeth marks.
"Senior. Why did you bite your finger when it was perfectly fine?"
"Huh? ...It doesn't matter. Something like this."
She looked like she hadn't even realized she'd been gnawing on her own finger.
"More importantly, messenger... accept my friend request. So we can talk whenever. Anytime."
Bwee-reek!
A friend request from Na-rin arrived.
I couldn't not accept it, so naturally I did.
"When I contact you, you have to respond... if you don't, I think I might actually go insane."
"Senior. You seem completely exhausted. You need to get some decent sleep—let your mind rest. That's the only way you'll be able to fight the Aberration."
"What are you talking about? If I fall asleep... if I fall asleep, that man comes."
"With my ability, I can temporarily suppress the Aberration. If you receive this buff, you can sleep soundly, without worrying. You won't have that dream."
"B... uff?"
I crafted a suitable buff for Geum Na-rin and applied it.
[ Aberration Suppression ]
Aberration Suppression Level 5
At the same time, I made sure to apply the Virus Suppression buff as well.
"Aberration Suppression...? You have such a bizarre skill. You really are from that... secret society place..."
"Why would I lie about something like this? Anyway, just get some deep sleep. You haven't slept properly in ages, right?"
"Y-yeah. I feel a little relieved now... Thank you. Tha... nk you..."
She barely finished the sentence before Geum Na-rin was asleep.
"Haah."
Hye-yong propped his elbows on his knees, stared at the floor, and let out a heavy sigh.
'She's finally asleep.'
For now, I'd let Geum Na-rin rest deeply. Once she woke up, I'd have to ask her the detailed questions.
Thinking I'd come back early tomorrow morning, I left the hospital room.
"Something happen today?"
Ah-yeong asked from the treadmill next to me as we ran.
She seemed curious about why I'd rushed off earlier, saying something urgent came up.
'If she asks what I was doing, I don't exactly have anything to say.'
I shared way too much of my daily life with Choi Ah-young.
I racked my brain for a decent answer, then decided to throw Baek Yun-seo, who was on assignment, under the bus.
"The instructor who teaches me shooting called me over. I actually had a lesson scheduled then. She's been busy lately. Said she'd start coaching me again."
"Ah. I see. That makes sense, I guess. You have to keep practicing to maintain your skills, right?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Hmm... So does that mean we won't have time to go on raids, just the two of us?"
Hye-yong thought about it.
It might take several days to deal with the Virus, so it seemed better to just tell her yes.
"For now. But it's not an everyday thing, so I'll still have time now and then. If not, there's always weekends."
"Alright. If you find time and feel like doing a raid, contact me. I'll be waiting."
"Okay, got it."
At 9, I finished working out, came back, showered, and lay down on my bed.
Hye-yong went over this latest contact with the Virus once more.
'I stacked full buffs and carved up his back with a scalpel like that, and he didn't even flinch.'
He did drop to his knees when he was actually hit.
But even in the middle of that, he still had enough grip strength to snap Mina's neck.
'He's huge, and his monstrous strength is no joke. On top of that, that regeneration.'
You could visibly see the wounds knitting shut at a rapid pace.
Which meant this wasn't an opponent Hye-yong could resolve through physical attacks.
'But there's definitely a way. A way to bring him down.'
Let's think back to the characteristics of the Virus that attacked Na Hee-yeon.
That thing dealt psychological damage with words, then unleashed an attack just as strong as the damage it caused.
But when Hye-yong countered by saying it was better to be hurt, its power gradually weakened.
The finishing blow came when Na Hee-yeon fully recognized that she was a person of sufficient worth.
A shockwave had radiated around her, and every single one of those letters protecting the Virus had vanished without a trace.
'From that point on, even my attacks had a real effect.'
It could simply be that that particular Virus had a physically weak body.
But the key point wasn't that.
The keyword!
Viruses clearly had a keyword that was their weakness.
If I could target that, I'd be able to take them down easily.
Bwee-ree-reek!
Just then, my terminal chimed.
I wondered who it could be at this hour—it was Geum Na-rin.
[ Geum Na-rin : Where are you? ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : In my room. ]
[ Geum Na-rin : I checked out of the hospital. ]
[ Geum Na-rin : Which room's yours? ]
She was asking which room?
Was she saying she'd come find me?
[ Choi Hye-yong : Why do you need my room? ]
[ Geum Na-rin : The buff you gave me ran out. Without it, I can't feel safe at all. ]
The Aberration Suppression buff I'd just given her would have ended ages ago the moment I moved out of range.
Not knowing that, Geum Na-rin clearly hadn't been able to feel even a shred of relief; the moment she woke up, she checked herself out and sent me a message.
Something about telling her the room number felt off, so Hye-yong decided he'd go to her instead.
[ Choi Hye-yong : I'm the underclassman here, so I should come to you. Where are you? ]
[ Geum Na-rin : Tell me your room number. ]
[ Geum Na-rin : Before I cause a suicide scene in front of the dorms. ]
'Whoa, she's dead serious.'
When she put it like that, I had no choice.
[ Choi Hye-yong : Room 317. ]
[ Geum Na-rin : On my way. ]
Knock-knock-knock!
Barely moments after I replied, there was a knock at the door.
She must have already been right outside the dormitory when she'd sent the message.
'I'll just reapply the buff and send her on her way. Gotta remake it with an extended range, too.'
Thinking that, I opened the door.
The first thing I saw was Geum Na-rin's face.
"Hello, senior. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah... thanks to you. It feels like a dream, being able to sleep deeply and wake up like this."
"I'll reapply the buff."
At the sound of a buff being cast, Geum Na-rin's face lit up faintly.
"B-buff. I'm safe now..."
"Yes, you're safe now."
But even after receiving the buff, Geum Na-rin showed no sign of moving from the doorway.
"Senior?"
"Y-yeah?"
"It's late. How about you head back? I need to get to bed, too."
When I said that, she visibly hesitated.
Then, glancing up at me with a furtive, sidelong look, she spoke in a small voice.
"Can't we... be together?"