Addiction

My friend Carbon was such a womanly, admirable person...

It was through my introduction that she started on caffeine candies.

She's always buried in work, dark circles stapled to her face, so I understood that part.

And then, one day later...

The Carbon I saw again was shocking.

"Hahh... hahh..."

The Carbon I once knew was no longer there.

All that remained was a single bitch in heat, completely addicted to caffeine candy.

So bad... hard... sad story...

Cry cry cry...

...and that's the template.

"Candy... I need candy..."

"......"

How on earth had things come to this?

Was it a mistake to casually hand her caffeine candies at the Association yesterday? Or was the problem that I couldn't be bothered to reply to her messages?

"More candy... more caffeine... more firepower...!!"

"......"

I stared at Hong Yeon-hwa, now a fully-fledged caffeine addict, with a complicated expression on my face.

They say friends start to resemble each other...

Maybe it was because I'd just come back from meeting a drug-fiend elf in the Tower, but now Hong Yeon-hwa had gone and become a junkie right along with me. Had some kind of Bluetooth resonance fired off between friends-of-friends...? No wait, the two of them had never even met, so that couldn't be it.

Hong Yeon-hwa's fit continued.

"Firepower above all!! Nothing but firepower!! EVERRRR stronger firepower!!!!"

"...No."

It was an embarrassing spectacle for anyone to witness. I forced myself to look away, squeezing my eyes shut.

After carrying on her inexplicable fit, screaming about 'firepower' for a good while, Hong Yeon-hwa finally seemed to come to her senses and, wearing a perfectly normal face again, turned to me.

"By the way. What the hell happened to you?"

"Ah... this? Well, at the Tower..."

I briefly recounted the story of how I'd climbed inside a Ferum Flower's maw and performed a reverse C-section on it. Hong Yeon-hwa's face froze in horror at the tale.

"What? Ferum Flower concentrate?"

"Yep."

"...Isn't that a paralytic venom?"

"That's right?"

Backstep.

"......"

"What? Why?"

At the single word paralytic venom, Hong Yeon-hwa immediately began backpedaling, putting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠distance between us.

No... you don't get to react like that.

A caffeine addict giving me the side-eye just because I'd got a little paralytic venom (i.e. narcotics) on me? This was the classic pot calling the kettle black.

Hong Yeon-hwa then shot me a sheepish look and asked, carefully.

"I mean... that... you're okay... right?"

"As you can see."

"...Then we're good."

Perhaps it was my reaction — too calm for someone drenched head to toe in paralytic venom (i.e. narcotics) — but she gave up trying to understand and moved the conversation back to business.

"So, um... about those caffeine candies..."

Caffeine candies. The reason she'd sent me dozens of messages and tracked me down to the Tower's entrance. I had no idea what could have happened to make her obsess over candy like this, but Hong Yeon-hwa looked at me with an almost desperate expression and asked, hesitantly:

"Could you... sell me some?"

"Sell you them?"

"Yeah. I need them for the Floor 20 clear."

"...Floor 20 clear?"

Why was Floor 20 suddenly coming up here? What did candy have to do with climbing the Tower...?

But as Hong Yeon-hwa continued, I naturally came to understand why she was this fixated on the caffeine candies.

"That candy's an item, right? The kind that grants a buff for a set time when you eat it?"

"......?"

That was news to me.

The caffeine candy was a buff item...?

Isn't that just a bunch of energy drinks smooshed together?

Granted, I'd condensed the caffeine content of ten cans into a candy-sized pellet, but the raw ingredient was nothing more than plain old caffeine you could get anywhere.

But Hong Yeon-hwa, knowing none of this, went on excitedly.

"A buff that even amplifies skill firepower? That effect has NEVER been discovered in the Tower before!! With this, I can clear Floor 20 too!!"

"......???"

Wait... is that so...?

My candy had a buff effect that insane attached to it...?

Had I unknowingly invented a state-sponsored-grade doping agent...?

I immediately pulled a caffeine candy from my Inventory and checked its status window.

But unlike Hong Yeon-hwa's theatrics, the candy's rank was a mere C. No special effects attached whatsoever — just an ordinary caffeine candy.

Meanwhile, Hong Yeon-hwa stared at the caffeine candy with a look of someone possessed.

"Sooo pleeeease just sell me a few of them..."

She looked like Pavlov's dog hearing the dinner bell. For some reason, the sight reminded me of the elf princess I'd seen in the Tower, and a complicated, wistful expression crept over my face.

"...How much are we talking?"

"Doesn't matter. You know how potion prices these days are basically extortion."

"Ah, fair point."

Truthfully, even before 'these days,' Awakener gear had always been famous for its price tags. You couldn't make it without a crafting-type skill, and the materials had to be hauled down from the Tower. On top of that, monopoly by the big guilds had been driving prices up and up lately.

"Guess you forgot, but I'm an A-rank Awakener, you know?"

Of course, that statement was technically true — for her. Hong Yeon-hwa was an A-rank Awakener.

For reference, the average income of a C-rank Awakener was about on par with a rookie employee at a major corporation. B-ranks earned department-head money, and from A-rank upward, comparing them to office workers was pointless.

So it wasn't strange that Hong Yeon-hwa was acting so confident.

"Don't worry about the money, I've got plenty. Worst case, I'll just borrow a little from the Association."

"...No. Please don't borrow from the Association."

Isn't that abuse of authority, first of all? The Association isn't a bank...

"......"

What should I do?

Was taking money and selling them here the right call?

Certainly, I was living a somewhat impoverished life at the moment. Ever since I'd blown my entire net worth on caffeine drinks at the convenience store, new income had been practically nonexistent.

But...

I can always make money later, can't I?

Who was I, again?

Kim A-yeon, Awakener. Owner of an EX-rank trait, Lunatic difficulty climber.

S-rank Awakeners earned income comparable to the market cap of a small-to-mid sized company. And the projected earnings of an EX-rank Awakener (pending) — namely me — were nothing short of state-power grade.

My stock was at rock bottom right now, sure, but once it mooned, I'd clearly be out-earning Hong Yeon-hwa by a mile.

"I don't want your money."

"What?? Really??"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Therefore, taking cash here and now was the inferior option. Which meant the superior option was...

"In exchange, do one favor for me."

Putting her on an errand. Something impossible for me, but perfectly doable for Hong Yeon-hwa.

"...What favor?"

The color drained from Hong Yeon-hwa's face in an instant. But at my next shameless answer, her expression twisted into sheer disbelief.

"Buy me some booze."

"......"

The convenience store part-timer wouldn't sell it to me. So proxy purchase was the only way.

"Ah, and cigarettes too, if you can."

"......"

Hong Yeon-hwa was struck speechless.

Long story short, I didn't get the cigarettes. She refused to buy them, saying smoking wasn't for little girls. I supposed being able to score a few bottles of booze was consolation, if you could call it that.

"Even Awakeners get drunk if they drink too much, so be careful. The second you feel dizzy or nauseous, stop drinking."

"I know. You think I've never had a drink before?"

"...You unhinged little brat."

"I'm not a minor, you know."

Of course, I had to sit through a full lecture of unsolicited advice to get those few bottles. It was only after I said it was related to my trait that she finally agreed to buy them. Seriously, I am NOT a minor...

First the convenience store clerk, now this — why does everyone treat me like a kid?

Anyway.

Having concluded my deal with Hong Yeon-hwa, I returned home, finished a quick shower, and laid out the booze I'd received.

"Let's see... no soju or beer, mostly hard liquor, huh?"

Whiskey, brandy, vodka... nearly all of it was potent stuff above 40 percent.

Well, what good would soju or beer do for an Awakener anyway? With my resistance trait, I could down an entire crate of soju and my liver wouldn't so much as blink.

I picked up the most approachable of the lineup: the vodka.

"...I feel like I'm committing a crime somehow."

Was it because everyone around me kept treating me like a little kid? Even though I was legally an adult, actually drinking alcohol made me feel oddly guilty.

"......"

After glaring at the vodka bottle through narrowed eyes for a while, I tipped it back and started chugging straight from the bottle.

"Glug glug..."

The burning bite of alcohol slid down through my throat. Unlike the fizz of an energy drink, a searing heat traced its way down the full length of my esophagus.

"Nnngh... ssshh...."

Of course, it tasted like absolute garbage.

Why do people drink this stuff? It's bitter and flavorless. I glanced at the price earlier — it was expensive as hell, too. For what one bottle of this cost, I could've bought dozens of cans of energy drink...

"Ohhh."

So this was why people drank it.

My addiction rate went up. And by a whole 5% after just a few swigs. On top of that, the grade was a C — higher than an energy drink.

"Not bad...?"

No, it went beyond not bad. It was good. In pure efficiency terms, it absolutely steamrolled energy drinks.

The only problem was...

"Ugh..."

The taste made it hard to drink. Maybe it was because it'd been so long since my last drink, but the harsh bite of the alcohol hit harder than usual.

"No way I'm doing this in one shot."

So, vodka bottle clamped between my lips, sipping slowly, I pulled up my status window and claimed the Floor 2 clear rewards I'd been putting off.

"Claim."

Whoosh—!

With a flash of light effects, a box materialized out of thin air. Without delay, I opened the box and used it immediately.

Countless skills streamed past my eyes, accompanied by the same roulette effect as last time.

By the way, that Human Transmutation skill kept showing up, same as last time. Honestly, I was a little curious. If I learned it, could I become a State Alchemist or something?

But alas, the roulette agonizingly grazed past Human Transmutation and came to a dead stop on the very next option — Swordsmanship.

"NOOOOO!! An off-banner!!"

How does this kind of RNG trash even exist!! Of all places to stop, you stop THERE?! S-rank and A-rank skills were RIGHT next door!!

"My State Alchemist certification..."

My world collapsed today. I pulled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the skill gacha and got shafted. It hurts so, so much. You can take my life, I don't care. Just give me back my S-rank skill...

"...Sigh."

But what's spilled is spilled. There was no rewinding an already-opened random box, so I swallowed my regret and pulled up the description of the skill I'd just rolled — Swordsmanship.

Fwoosh—!

"...Well, not bad, I guess."

It wasn't good, either. C-rank. Seriously, why not give me a B or an A while you're at it.

Still, since my main weapon was a sword, it wasn't a bad skill to have around.

"Ugh. Guess I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go lurk the forums."

But with that S-rank skill still flickering in the corners of my vision, I forced down my disappointment and opened up the Awakener community.

Browsing the top-rated posts while nursing my vodka straight from the bottle was going fine — for about a moment. Then I checked the threads blazing up in real time, and I couldn't hide my bewilderment.

"Wh... what the..."

The titles were nothing short of ominous, and the thread spam was rampant. And at the very center of it all stood none other than me.

Is this for real??