Sickly Girl, but a Drug Addict

Thump. Thump.

The approaching heavy footsteps grew closer and closer.

I can’t help but laugh hollowly as I vividly imagine what’s about to happen.

‘Is he truly insane?’

The Ghost is a villain with conviction, so he wouldn’t act like this without meaning.

He’s interested in me, but if I seem dangerous, he means to eliminate me if possible.

Just looking at the objective of the sudden event, I can roughly understand his intention.

He’s given me plenty of Vermilion Heart (fake), so he’s basically saying “Try to survive if you can.”

But considering how much Monegarm loves eating Athenas,

it will chew me up like gum.

Isn’t that too terrible?

What’s so terrible about it?

Think instead of being consumed by fear.

When was the last time I forgot pain?

Let’s run away. I’m too scared.

I’m not scared.

‘Shut up!’

This cursed impulse.

It keeps desperately trying to focus on the terror of reality.

I have mountains of things to think about right now, so why is it doing this?

‘Right. What’s a limited owl…?’

Maybe because the professor is an NPC, the sudden quest was delivered to me instead.

The way to confirm is simple.

First, achieve the goal to get the limited owl.

Then see if Monegarm, after being killed by the Student Council that arrives shortly, drops an owl.

I can find out through Black.

If no owl is dropped, it means the sudden quest is only visible to me.

And I’ll be the only one who can use Minerva’s Owl.

That would be a huge gain.

Because it significantly reduces variables.

I won’t have to worry about losing Minerva’s Owl obtained from sudden events in the future.

[ Weakening effect, ‘Addiction Lv5’ has occurred. ]

[ Weakening effect, ‘Corrosion Lv5’ has occurred. ]

Thump. Thump.

The approaching Monegarm with its heavy steps seems to have arrived within 20m.

The surface of my skin began to bubble as it came into contact with the spreading poison gas.

Ah.

I’ve only injected 20 bottles of Scarlet Heart so far.

More than 80 bottles remain under my hand.

This is a huge loss.

But thinking carefully, there’s still a way.

As long as I reach Seoul, it doesn’t matter how I get there.

In any case, I just need to buy time to absorb the Vermilion Heart, right?

‘I think I’m completely insane.’

The method is to offer my body and take the drugs.

My body, unlike other Athenas, won’t be like tough gum.

But it can at least be like a Kukedas cookie.

While it slowly eats away at my body, I’ll pour in the drugs.

Isn’t this creative consumption?

I’m definitely a genius.

— Gruuuaaark…

So, I need to turn my body around from facing where the Ghost was standing.

And use my legs to block Monegarm from destroying my life source.

Will two legs be enough to consume everything?

No, that’s not right.

Before both my legs are torn off, the Student Council members will arrive and beat up Monegarm.

There’s no need to worry about not being able to walk.

No, I couldn’t walk anyway because my knees were damaged!

Day-R is a casual game.

Even if limbs are lost, they can be restored through the Beberu doctor’s treatment.

As long as the Minerva Core, the modified heart of Athenas, doesn’t disappear.

Even with difficulty breathing, I can still move both arms.

Let’s make my body lighter by getting rid of legs I can’t use anyway, then quickly absorb 80 bottles and escape.

Monegarm is a boss whose problems are powerful toxic gas and incredible durability, so it’s correspondingly slow like a sluggish larva—.

[ By continuously maintaining 0 vitality, your understanding of ‘Status Ailment – I Love Strawberries’ has increased. ]

[ One hidden effect is now revealed. ]

Maybe it’s because I’m a veteran gamer with extensive gameplay experience.

The thought that what was bound to happen finally arrived came to me first.

————————————————

[ Status Ailment – ‘I Love Strawberries’ ]

“Even a child would know that unrefined drugs aren’t good for the body!”

— When consuming Vermilion Heart, the duration of the enhancement effect ‘Vermilion Heart’ accumulates rather than resetting.

— While the enhancement effect is active, you will not die even if your vitality parameter reaches 0.

— (Hidden) When consuming Vermilion Heart, there is a 1%(▲) chance of developing a random mental weakening effect.

— (Hidden) When taking damage with 0 vitality, the duration of the enhancement effect decreases by 1 minute(▲) per 1 damage.

— (Not yet activated)

— (Not yet activated)

————————————————

…I expected this.

Taking damage shortens the lifeline.

Each bottle adds 720 minutes, so now I can withstand up to 720 damage per bottle,

but look at the explanation carefully.

There’s a growth effect mark (▲).

Now it’s 1 minute per 1 damage,

but if this gradually increases to 10 minutes or more?

My life will decrease in an instant.

Later, just twisting my ankle and falling could cost me an hour.

‘The inevitable has arrived…’

I already knew this status ailment wasn’t purely beneficial.

No need to panic.

While it might be a problem in the long term, it’s not a variable that greatly affects the current situation.

That’s right.

Isn’t it simply a matter of stuffing more into my body faster than it wears away?

Monegarm is extremely slow, so it will definitely take a long time to eat my legs.

…The problem is not the direct damage from it.

————————————————

<< Shana Midgard >>

Regin Academy / Aesir Dormitory / 2nd Year

— Enhancement effect ‘Vermilion Heart’ active

(Time remaining: 50 days 0 hours 09 minutes)

…

————————————————

I added 2 more bottles and gained a day,

but in 3 minutes the enhancement effect’s duration was reduced by 1 hour 15 minutes.

That means I took 75 damage from addiction and corrosion.

Calculating, that’s 25 poison damage per minute.

It’s true that I hurt more than others because my magic defense stat is 0, but still, it’s insane damage.

This is why professors who dabbled in extreme difficulty all ran away.

‘Ugh, this crazy poison damage…’

Shana Midgard.

Move your arms faster.

Mount Scarlet Heart on the injector.

Keep extending your life endlessly.

Make the rate of increase faster than the rate of decrease.

— Gwurk. Kruaark.

Just as Monegarm’s sound seemed close, shortly after, a huge hand grabbed my ankle like a chicken drumstick.

My skin sizzles as it burns.

The duration of the enhancement effect began to decrease at a rate incomparable to before.

‘Wait a minute.’

The Athena who always stood at the frontline when tackling Monegarm was NPC Thunder Emperor.

Because there were three powerful Athenas participating as NPCs, I was able to tackle the event while avoiding direct contact between my squad members and Monegarm.

‘Have I ever been directly attacked by this bastard before…?’

Of course, I know from experimenting several times before.

That the moment an early squad with a maximum vitality of only 99 is hit by Monegarm’s physical attack, they die instantly.

That’s why the community estimated Monegarm’s one-hit damage to be around 100.

After all, it was an early event boss.

Crack.

Tear.

I heard the sound of bones breaking and muscles rupturing.

There was no pain since sensation had been burned away, but…

————————————————

<< Shana Midgard >>

Regin Academy / Aesir Dormitory / 2nd Year

— Enhancement effect ‘Vermilion Heart’ active

(Time remaining: 43 days 1 hour 29 minutes)

…

————————————————

7 days disappeared.

A week’s worth of life that I had painstakingly built up vanished as one of my legs was torn off.

‘What the fuck?’

Roughly converted, that’s 10,000 damage.

The maximum basic vitality an Athena can have is 99,

and with buffs, artifacts, skills, etc., it can be raised to a maximum of 9,999…

This is damage that would kill any Athena.

Even the strongest existing Thunder Emperor couldn’t withstand it.

‘Could it be that even the Thunder Emperor never took a direct hit…?’

This is an early event boss?

Did the developers lose their minds?

If not for “I Love Strawberries,” I would have died just now.

‘Wait. Wait a minute. This means…’

The durability of my body is like a glass cup compared to ordinary Athenas.

It means there’s not much time left until Monegarm chews and swallows the leg it first took from me.

— Kruak. Krwak…

If I give up another leg, another 7 days will fly away.

Can I mount enough Scarlet Heart in the injector to cover 7 days before it tears off my leg again?

It seems impossible.

It’s absolutely impossible in my current physical state.

If I don’t escape, I’ll only end up at a disadvantage.

With all the strength in my upper body, I moved forward dragging my somewhat lighter lower body.

‘How can I be this unlucky…’

Black, who was expelled from the basement under the Ghost’s dominance, shows no sign of returning.

If she’s too scared to come alone, she should bring some strong sisters.

She called for help earlier. When are they coming?

At this rate, all my strawberries will fly away.

Please come back, Black.

I’ve lost one leg!

— Gruuuaaark.

Monegarm began to growl and thump again.

It seems to have gnawed even the bones of the chicken drumstick I threw.

It’s earlier than I expected.

What should I do?

Give up another leg?

But that would cost me another 7 days?

If I need to buy time, that’s the only way, so why hesitate?

Are you not thinking straight?

No, I can’t. This lifeline that I’ve patched together.

I don’t want to lose it.

We must give up what needs to be given up.

Sacrificing the small for the greater good is natural.

You can always reattach the lifeline anyway.

No.

Yes.

I said no.

— Lit!

“Kugh… hack…”

A moment of clarity came as I grabbed the pudding.

Now I understand.

Why I can’t freely use the dimension of possibilities.

————————————————

…

— Weakening effect ‘Impulse Lv7’ active

…

————————————————

It’s because of the impulse.

The instinct in my unconscious mind intrudes on my thinking so naturally that I don’t even realize it’s affected by the weakening effect.

This is really fucked up.

My judgment keeps getting clouded.

I’m acting on my own and adding variables to the future vision.

‘I need to think now…’

This brief moment when my reason has returned is my only chance.

What to do?

What’s the best course of action?

The thread-like light that leaked from the ceiling illuminated the injector on my wrist.

My eyes saw the empty Scarlet Heart bottle.

I watched my finger moving toward the bottle.

“Hak… huak…”

There was a way to buy time while minimizing losses.

Thank you, Hansel and Gretel.

While barely supporting my trembling body with one arm, I lifted the bottle neck with the other arm and struck it against the floor.

Clang!

The broken bottom part of the neck is very sharp.

…Sharp enough to easily cut off a finger or two if struck hard.