Chapter 19

Episode 19: Overdose

【It’s not a paper box, right?】

The white box that Harin was holding was fortunately a white styrofoam box.

It wasn’t the white paper box containing the anesthetic propofol that was currently in Yena’s room.

Typically, styrofoam boxes are used for transporting food, similar to ice boxes.

I was curious why Harin was holding such a box out of the blue.

‘I thought Harin was also a drug addict…’

【But is propofol also considered addiction?】

‘Of course, unless it’s for treatment. It would be.’

【Propofol is a general anesthetic, right? Then you can’t even breathe. The heart wouldn’t be working either.】

‘I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know well, but I assume there’s something mixed in the drug.’

This made sense as Yena had become faint, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.

【I want to try it once.】

‘Are you crazy?’

【I’m already dead, so using a little drug won’t change anything, will it?】

I felt that if I continued chatting with Chaewon, it might lead to nowhere, so I decided to go toward Harin and find her.

“Harin?”

As soon as I called her, she turned her head toward me.

“You? B-but, you’ve already come?”

“Yeah, it was simpler than I thought. But what are you holding? I feel like I haven’t seen that before.”

I placed my hand on the box she was holding.

It seemed that there was even an ice pack inside it.

An ice pack in this summer.

I wanted to take out the ice pack right away and carry it like a hot pack in winter, but the reason for having it in that box must be to prevent spoilage.

If I took out the ice pack, I wouldn’t know what was inside that box, but it was clear that it would spoil.

“Ah, ah! D-don’t touch it!”

However, Harin noticeably panicked and moved the box away from me.

“What’s wrong?”

“This, this is just….”

“What do you mean?”

“Y-you see, this is… Ah! This is a gift I received from the staff…”

【You see? Why make things awkward for people?】

Chaewon, hearing Harin’s stuttering voice, teased me.

【You need to torment her just enough.】

‘You know that speaking like that with a busted mouth could lead to me punishing you later, right? You belong to me.’

【… Punishment?】

Chaewon suddenly fell silent after hearing my words.

‘Look at this little thing acting all flirty.’

Even ghosts can feel the heat, as the tips of her ears looked slightly red.

She, who was still sitting on my left shoulder, turned her head away.

Although she had been sitting on one shoulder for a long time, she never stood up.

Seeing that she could fly but didn’t, it seemed like she had no conscience.

Fortunately, she was a spirit, so she wasn’t too heavy, and my left shoulder wasn’t hurting.

Still, it occasionally felt stiff.

This made me reminisce about the time in high school when I carried a heavy backpack.

Back then, life was carefree.

I didn’t quite understand the adults’ comments that studying was the most comfortable until I experienced it myself.

The saying that “hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once” is not just a saying.

‘Indeed, old sayings are always right.’

“Um… By the way, how is the ledger? Have you checked it?”

Harin seemed to be anxiously trying to change the topic, but I had a strong instinct that it would be best not to probe further.

“Uh, I just brought a summary version of the ledger.”

“Is that okay to bring?”

“Then what kind of ledger shouldn’t be brought?”

“I don’t know about the general ledger, but isn’t that document file something we shouldn’t be taking?”

“Is that so? But it won’t matter if it disappears.”

‘Yena, that girl is so vain that she’d treat losing something like that as nothing important.’

“Then it’s fine. Shall we go on a date now?”

Harin asked me with excitement, her mind clearly full of flowers that a teenage girl would have about going on a date.

But today, I just felt too lazy to do anything outside.

It was hot too.

“I want to go to your house.”

So, I just blurted that out.

‘Harin must have a lot of money, so she probably lives in a nice, spacious house with great air conditioning.’

【Is the air conditioning the only thing that’s great? It seems the other things are great too.】

It was a shameful comment to say that at one time, we were both human.

‘I think it was heaven’s will that you died from your own choices.’

【What? Why me?!】

The fact that she was unaware of the reason seemed to contribute to the absurdity.

‘If I were you, I would have chosen choking death instead of the other.’

【Did you just finish?!】

‘So, did your last act of self-comfort feel so good that your heart almost stopped?’

【Ugh.】

While I was bickering with Chaewon, Harin sank into deep thought.

“Can I go to my house…? It’s not really mine, but can I go to the place I live?”

“Uh… sure?”

“Then let’s go to my house today.”

After concluding her contemplation, Harin permitted me to go to her home.

**********

“Harin?”

“Yes, you.”

“This is the association, right?”

We exited the Triangle Guild in the adjacent building and stepped inside the association building.

Inside, I made eye contact with the male staff member who had first pointed me to the Gate Handling Team.

As soon as our eyes met, I turned my head to look at Harin.

“I’m planning to stop by my office for a moment before heading out.. Are you coming along, right?”

“That’s fine, I suppose.”

I followed Harin into the elevator.

Somehow, it seemed like I had been using the elevator very often since coming to the association.

Harin pressed the button for the 50th floor inside the elevator.

“What? Is your office on the 50th floor? Why is it so high?”

“I don’t know either. The association president assigned me here.”

“Ah… Is the president on the 51st floor?”

“No, the president works on the 49th floor.”

“… Do you have some sort of underworld connection?”

“N-no?”

“Well, it was just higher than the president’s, so I was curious if you were actually the queen of the underworld or something.”

“That’s just because they’re treating me preferentially since I’m the only S-rank healer. It doesn’t mean much. Don’t worry, I’m not the queen of the underworld or anything.”

– Ding~!

We arrived at Harin’s office on the 50th floor.

The gravity made itself known the entire way up, making it slightly difficult.

Harin stood there as if she was completely accustomed to the gravity of the fast-moving elevator.

“You can get off now.”

It seemed to illustrate how extraordinary Harin’s senses were.

I hadn’t said a word, yet she somehow knew intuitively where we needed to get off.

“Uh, yeah, let’s get off…”

I could barely withstand the gravity until we reached the 50th floor without feeling nauseous.

‘Why is this elevator so fast?’

【You must be a weak country bumpkin, haha.】

Chaewon looked down on me, who was experiencing elevator motion sickness.

I truly thought that I had to punish Chaewon for this later.

As soon as Harin got off the elevator, she placed the white styrofoam box she was holding under the desk.

Then it seemed like she was gathering something.

As expected, there was a significant difference in size between the 4th floor where I worked and the 50th floor.

Like the Triangle Guild, the higher the floor, the smaller the space became.

It was just like the pyramids in Egypt.

And her office was black in color at the ceiling and floor, excluding the glass walls.

In contrast to her appearance, she stood out oddly in her office.

“Okay, you. Shall we go to the place where I live now?”

She said as she brushed off her knees and stood up.

“Are we finally going? I’m really looking forward to it.”

We entered the elevator again.

“Don’t be surprised.”

“Surprised by what?”

Harin pressed the button for the 51st floor.

“That’s the top floor, isn’t it?”

Not long after pressing the 51st floor button, something that looked like a slot for a card suddenly popped out next to the button.

“…Uh?”

– Ding~!

Harin quietly inserted her identification card into the slot, and soon the elevator chimed.

– Welcome, Baek Harin.

“… What’s this?”

“I’m the only one who can go to the 51st floor.”

“…”

“Even the association president can’t enter.”

“That can’t be…”

“It can. If I’m not here, no one can enter this space.”

The elevator opened quietly without any sound.

Harin stepped out of the elevator, and I followed her out, my mind completely blank.

“I said I wanted to go to where you live, right?”

【Is this the white woman’s house…?】

“This is my home. I’m trapped here due to special circumstances… No, I owe the association a lot.”

The place Harin claimed was her home was white, with the ceiling and floor being white, excluding the glass walls.

‘.. A mental hospital?’

It gave off vibes reminiscent of a mental hospital.

The strange atmosphere made my heartbeat quicken.

Earlier, her office was completely black, but where she lived was entirely white.

If she lay down on the floor, she’d likely blend in perfectly with the pristine white color.

Her skin was as white as if she had applied whitening cream.

The furniture included a single white bed.

On it, a white pillow.

A white blanket.

And a white air conditioner.

A white desk.

A white chair.

A white wardrobe.

The open wardrobe was filled with entirely white clothes.

While there were occasionally slight black designs on the clothes, the base color was still white.

Her underwear was surely all white as well.

Although I hadn’t seen them directly, I could certainly guess that.

Come to think of it, her smartphone was also white.

I felt like I was losing my mind with the overwhelming whiteness all around.

The heat faded away, replaced by a chill.

‘Isn’t this a bit scary here?’

Feeling a bit frightened, I called out to Chaewon.

But oddly, Chaewon did not respond to me.

‘Chaewon? Hey!… Stop joking around and answer me quickly.’

At some point, she had disappeared from my left shoulder.

She had been there when we got off the elevator on the 51st floor.

Where did she go?

‘Summon… the spirit…’

Even after that, Chaewon was nowhere to be seen.

The dampness left on my left shoulder was all that remained from where she had been sitting.

Was this dizziness due to the motion sickness from not being able to withstand gravity in the elevator?

Or was it from this dissonance in the space?

I couldn’t tell.

“.. You?”

“Ah! Y-you scared me.”

As I was trying to collect myself from the dizziness, she approached me closely.

I instinctively took a step back as she brought her face closer to mine.

“You… come here and sit down.”

– Scrape.

Harin pulled a white chair and pushed it against the wall.

It seemed like she wanted me to sit with my back against the wall.

I felt a sense of dread I couldn’t comprehend.

Like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse… that’s how I felt.

Without saying a word, I sat in the chair.

“You… do you know how long I’ve held this in?”

“What are you talking about?”

– Ding!

[Due to the effect of the skill Soul Protection (S), harmful mental damage received is nullified.]

– Swallow.

‘This is… that time in the cave…’

“Indeed, this ability doesn’t seem to work on you.”

Harin placed her hand on my heart and murmured something.

“This is the heart, right?… I can feel your strong life force.”

“Wait a second..!”

I shot up quickly.

“What are you doing?”

“.. You… do you realize?”

“What on earth are you trying to say?!”

“The scent of your dense body odor… drives me crazy.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Body contact can share deeper sensations.”

She took out a syringe that had a white liquid in it from her pocket.

It was a syringe filled with liquid that matched the ambiance of this space.

‘White…?’

I recognized that substance well.

– ‘So that’s why you were asking if it was milk earlier.’

– ‘【It’s a milk injection.】’

The content that Chaewon had mentioned flashed through my mind.

“That… don’t tell me it’s propofol?”

I heard propofol would make it impossible to breathe once administered.

That’s why they insert an oxygen tube into someone during surgeries so they can breathe.

“Wait… do you plan to use that on me?.. I might die if I can’t breathe!”

“Ahaha… If you can’t breathe… I’ll do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for you… but…”

“But what?”

“Don’t worry. This is a specially modified propofol.”

As she said this, Harin reversed the syringe and inserted the needle into her vein.

“.. Huh?”

“Ahhh… Hah… Hah….”

Harin’s body began to tremble.

‘What is happening?’

I couldn’t understand the situation now.

Was it not her intention to use the drug on me?

Before I could process it, a cold sensation rushed up through my veins within a span of three seconds.

“Ugh…”

A thrilling and chilling sensation surged through my bloodstream.

“What… what is this…”

“Enjoy this moment, you.”

– Ding!

[Powerful addiction detected.]

“How does it feel to be like you’re entering a dream?”

My vision started to darken.

She pulled out the syringe and threw it forcefully on the floor, approaching me slowly.

“.. How does my milk injection taste…?”

Then she enveloped me in her arms.

But I couldn’t feel her touch.

That’s because propofol is an anesthetic.

Since I was anesthetized, all my senses were numbed.

In order not to lose my consciousness, I held her tightly.

Harin seemed reluctant to lose to me and hugged me tightly as well.

As my vision faded further into darkness, her face seemed to disappear into my chest.

It had been a long time since I had hugged a woman directly.

We slowly moved toward the bed.

“You… have sweet dreams.”

“Hah…”

“Let’s collapse together…”

– Thud.

Soon, my vision became completely dark, and I collapsed onto the bed with her.

‘…’

Did I mention this?

Before I got my revenge on my ex-girlfriend.

Longing for dreams.

Living in dreams.

Dying in dreams.

The reason I obsess over dreams like this is, in the end,

Dreams fulfill one’s hopes and goals.

Things that happen in dreams are often difficult to occur in reality, so those dreams are valuable and hard to control.

But some people might dismiss dreams as nothing special.

That shouldn’t be the case.

Only dreams can awaken the truly desired consciousness in the deepest darkness.

I reached my deepest conscious darkness.