I opened a clinic in the Abyss World

Abu led Charlotte into the inner room, past the forge, and continued inside to a small hut.

The small window was nailed shut with wooden boards, making it completely dark and airtight.

There were only two stone beds in the room, one large and one small.

Then, in the dim light, you could see a dwarf lying on the large stone bed, or rather... being tied to the bed.

A thick iron chain, as thick as a baby's arm, bound his body and limbs.

His gaunt appearance was similar to that of other potion addicts he had seen recently. His brown hair was disheveled and matted, and the places where his limbs were shackled were worn down and deeply indented, with festering wounds that looked horrifying.

He strained to lift his head and look at Charlotte standing in the doorway.

Those brown eyes, just like Abu's, flickered with hope, but then he quickly resigned himself to his fate, lay back down, closed his eyes, and hoarsely roared, "Who told you to call a doctor! I have no money! Where are we going to get the money!"

Abu trembled slightly in fear, hanging his head like a child who had done something wrong.

"Kerry, I invited Dr. Charlotte," Guy said, patting Abu's head.

"Go! I don't need a doctor! No one can cure drug addiction, no one..." Kerry's voice was hoarse and filled with despair. Two lines of tears slid down his cheeks uncontrollably. His hands were clenched into fists, the chains were tightened, and his body was trembling uncontrollably.

Charlotte could tell that he had relapsed into his drug addiction, and the intense pain was destroying his will and ravaging his body.

"You've endured a whole month, and now you're afraid of doctors?" Charlotte untied her gray robe, took out her personal bag, and walked towards the bedside.

Despite being locked in bed for a month, Kerry didn't have a strong odor, showing that Abu was indeed a sensible child who did a good job of cleaning for his father.

Kerry is in a better situation than Ivan. He hasn't taken any potions for a month, and although he's been suffering terribly from withdrawal symptoms, his body hasn't been further damaged by the potions, and he's at least not on the verge of death.

However, his weakness was still visible to the naked eye. The man who should have been as strong as Guy was now as thin as a goblin.

Charlotte felt a pang of sadness. In this state, even if she eventually kicked the potion habit, she probably wouldn't be able to wield the hammer anymore.

"You can heal me?" Kerry tilted his head, looking at Charlotte standing by the bed, his eyes full of distrust. "I'm out of money. The potions have emptied my pockets."

Everyone knows that potion addiction is incurable, yet this doctor insists on coming to his door to treat him, which is suspicious.

"Do you think a doctor would risk coming here to swindle someone who is visibly poor?" Charlotte looked at Kerry and sneered, "I'm not here because of you, a guy addicted to potions, ruining your health, and squandering your family fortune, but because of the request from obedient and sensible Abu."

Kerry's clenched fist gradually loosened, his wary expression crumbled, and he turned his face away in shame.

"I won't ask how you came into contact with potions in the first place, but if you want to live, you'll have to listen to me from now on." Charlotte sat down by the bed and took out a light brown potion.

"Can you heal me?" Kerry looked at Charlotte, his eyes filled with hope this time.

"To be honest, there haven't been any cases of potion addicts surviving so far," Charlotte said, shaking the potion bottle in her hand with a smile. "However, you have no choice but to trust me, do you?"

The candlelight was dim, and the flickering medicine bottle created ripples on the wall.

Kerry stared into Charlotte's eyes for a long time, then nodded heavily. "I believe you."

Yes, he had no choice.

  

It's been a month, and nobody knows how he survived that month.

He had thought that he could quit using potions through willpower, but it turned out that it had nothing to do with willpower; the addiction to potions was simply impossible to break.

Every day, every moment, he was enduring immense pain.

It was as if countless ants were gnawing at his flesh and blood, and raging fire was scorching his bones.

Unable to fall asleep and unable to eat.

The day before yesterday, he entrusted Abu to his only friend. Although the boy was a bit thin, he was diligent and eager to learn, and should be able to become a qualified blacksmith in the future.

Having put an end to his only attachment, he was ready to take his own life.

Unexpectedly, Abu brought a doctor with him, although he was still not confident.

But as long as there is hope, who can refuse the hope of continuing to live?

"Guy, you take Abu out first," Charlotte said.

"Okay." Guy placed the oil lamp in the child's hand by the bedside and led Abu out of the bedroom.

"Where's the key to the chain?" Charlotte asked.

"Are you sure you want to untie me? I'm worried that when my cravings are strong, I won't be able to control myself," Kerry asked Charlotte.

"I'm going to give you medication, which might cause a strong reaction. Do you want Abu to go through all that trouble again?"

"The key is on the windowsill."

Charlotte turned her head and saw it immediately. The key wasn't far away, but Kerry obviously couldn't reach it; he was indeed a ruthless person.

Charlotte unlocked the chains and shackles binding Kerry and handed him the bottle of stamina potion laced with the potion of aversion.

"This is?"

"Here's a stamina potion, but I added something else to it. It might not work, but you can try it," Charlotte explained, bringing the chamber pot to the bedside for later use.

Kerry pulled out the stopper, tilted his head back, and drank the medicine in two gulps.

The bedroom was quiet as the two waited for the drug to take effect.

Suddenly, Kerry's body trembled slightly, and a warm current flowed from his throat to his stomach, then spread to his limbs and bones. His body, which had been tormented by illness for a long time, received some relief at this moment.

However, this comfortable feeling did not last long. A strong feeling of nausea surged up, and almost reflexively, he leaned over the urinal by the bed and vomited.

The vomiting was so violent that it was like a tidal wave. Since they hadn't been eating much on weekdays, they vomited up everything that was in their stomach.

"What kind of medicine did you give me to drink..." Kerry, almost exhausted from vomiting, slumped back onto the bed, looking at Charlotte in confusion. Wasn't it supposed to be medicine? Why does it feel like poison? I vomited so violently as soon as I drank it.

"Besides vomiting, are there any other sensations?" Charlotte asked.

Compared to the half-bottle Ivan drank in the morning, the dosage was halved, and it was mixed with stamina potion. The effect remains to be seen.

"Other sensations?" Kerry paused, then his eyes widened suddenly, and he sat bolt upright in bed, staring at Charlotte in disbelief. "Gone! The excruciating pain, the gnawing agony, all gone..."