I’m the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 32
Iris’s world had crumbled.
It was unclear since when. At some point, her field of vision narrowed and all sounds seemed to come from a distance.
In an entirely white space, Iris aimlessly spent her time. She no longer felt tormented. Nor was there any pain.
Then, suddenly, she felt a warm sensation and snapped back to reality. A voice, echoing as if speaking inside a cave, brushed past Iris’s ears.
It wasn’t the hand that slapped her cheek or yanked her hair but a tender one combing through her locks, prompting Iris to instinctively reach out.
Her hand, quivering with learned fear, latched onto the tail end of the warmth. As if it were the most natural thing, the warmth held her hand in return.
At that moment, her closed-off world expanded ever so slightly.
With nothing left in her world but a worthless self and the gentle warmth, she reacted sensitively to the warmth.
Clang!
With the cold sound of metal, she heard murmuring voices. It felt distant, like listening to noises from afar.
“Haa, ha…”
But the voice of the warm presence embracing Iris was crystal clear. The rapid pulse felt through their skin, the tension in the hand gripping tightly because of nervousness, the gesture of shielding her in the background.
Iris slowly became aware of all these things.
“Grrrr…”
The chilling murderous intent of a beast on the hunt swept over Iris. In that moment, she instinctively knew if things stayed this way, the warmth could vanish.
The child, who could neither cry nor laugh, desperately didn’t want to lose the only warmth she had left.
‘I want to protect it.’
A light began seeping into her empty eyes.
‘This warmth alone…’
Iris instinctively grabbed the sharp sword.
‘I don’t want to lose it.’
As the world whitened and crumbled, her narrowed vision widened. Her gaze landed on the beast that was showing its teeth.
The moment she came to, she found herself running.
“Roarharhar!”
A thunderous roar echoed, terrifying enough to make the faint-hearted clutch their hearts and collapse, but Iris was unscathed.
The beast flashed its eyes menacingly at her. It leapt back significantly, then observed her warily, loaded with suspicion.
Instinctively knowing that Iris posed a danger, the beast, however, was not Iris’s concern. She kicked off lightly and swung the sword with an indifferent expression.
Swoosh!
Though they were quite apart, and the sword swung through the air, the moment the beast sneered, a long gash formed on its torso, then ripped open. Green blood began gushing out.
“Grrrr!”
Startled, the beast retreated repeatedly, but Iris was faster. She indiscriminately sliced the beast’s legs, head, and torso, as if slaughtering it.
“Roarhar! Cough, ack…!”
The beast charged at Iris multiple times, yet it couldn’t even graze her hair.
Crack!
The thick neck bone broke and the snake tail was sliced into ten pieces, leaving Iris victorious.
“Woooooow!! An unimaginable outcome!!”
“Waaaaaah!”
“Woooow!”
An enormous cheer that seemed to shake the earth filled the arena. Iris, as if the surrounding noise and scenery were invisible to her, ran swiftly towards Lian with the green-bloodied sword.
Clang.
Without any hesitation, she threw the sword to the ground and hurriedly grabbed Lian’s hand. The moment the warmth met hers, she exhaled a long sigh of relief.
At the same time, her vision narrowed again, and she curled up once more into her own world. However, unlike before, she was not alone. That alone was enough satisfaction for her.
***
“That was impressive.”
The moment Iris ran off, I swiftly pulled out 3D glasses from my pocket and put them on. When watching a battle with 3D glasses, even a mundane fight gains various effects like a scene from a movie.
As proof, some sort of sword energy was shooting out from Iris’s blade, attacking the monster.
‘This level of power wasn’t in the original story.’
Whether Iris had awakened before meeting me or if the comedic filter’s powers were exceptional, it was all good.
Crack!
Iris decapitated the horrifying monster and began running towards me. I quickly took off the glasses and put them back in my pocket.
Clang!
Iris, having thrown aside her sword, ran to me and cautiously held my hand. Perhaps she had been afraid of fighting the monster because her hand was trembling. As I interlocked our fingers, the trembling gradually ceased.
“Phweeeee!”
“Waaaaah!”
“Wooooow!”
The cheering continued unabated. Being the focus of thousands of humans and demons didn’t feel great. Holding Iris’s hand firmly, I made my way to where the man who threw the sword at me was standing.
The man who had been inside the passage had now come out and was leaning against the wall.
“Heh, turns out she’s quite useful?”
The man swept his sleazy gaze over Iris. This shocked me enormously.
‘That crazy bastard?’
Iris might be pretty, but she was skinny from poor nutrition and shorter than me. A man in his forties ogling a girl a head shorter than me like that almost made me swear without realizing.
In haste, I covered Iris’s eyes and entered the passage.
“Iris, you shouldn’t see such things. Geez geez. You get it, right?”
Iris wordlessly followed me and then nodded slightly.
She actually responded!
Surprised, I looked at Iris and asked.
“Iris, did you just respond?!”
Then Iris slightly tilted her head and bumped her forehead against my shoulder. I wasn’t sure of its meaning, but it seemed like she was showing more reactions than before.
Like a dog that had been abused and slowly opened its heart, I was overwhelmed with emotion.
Koong.
Just as we were almost down the stairs, the large door that had been closed opened. Entering through was a man who reminded me of the Odol-like fellow.
“Heh heh… Good job! Well done!”
The Odol-like man, who treated slaves worse than livestock, burst out in his highest praise and clapped his hands.
“Send these two to the upper floor!”
“Yes, understood!”
The rat Therianthrope behind the Odol-like man humbly bowed his head and nervously wrung his hands like a fly. The Odol-like man cackled like a villain, bouncing excitedly before turning away.
Iris and I followed the rat Therianthrope to take the elevator up.
“Wow…”
Just one floor up, yet, the surrounding scenery changed drastically. Although not luxurious, it had a bright tone with plants here and there, spacious windows, and a resting area with sofas.
The rooms looked similar to the dormitories of noble estates but were infinitely better compared to a prison.
The rat Therianthrope, after looking around the room, mentioned this wasn’t the place and guided us to the floor just above the one we first arrived at using the elevator. The announced location was the top floor.
“…!?”
A VVIP suite, not unlike the ones I had seen in previous life’s MyTube videos, stood guardedly there. It was a room that even nobles would’ve envied.
“Hmm… This place seems too soon for you.”
The rat Therianthrope mumbled and got off one floor above the initial dormitory-style level. The neatly arranged rooms each had two beds but looked somewhat lacking.
Naturally, having seen the opulent top floor, I couldn’t help but compare it. Then, I realized.
‘Ah, they did it on purpose.’
Showing them the life of nobility on the top floor first, and then their designated floor and a worse one, naturally makes them compare.
Slaves will naturally long for the higher floor and fear falling to a lower one. Eventually, those blinded by ‘the power of the arena’ will forever shackle themselves and never leave the arena.
“Alright, you two will stay here from now on. You can freely spend your time until another match is scheduled, just don’t leave the arena.”
The rat Therianthrope pointed out one of the empty rooms, warning us that if we strayed too far from the arena, our collars would explode. After he left, Iris and I were left alone.
Well, to be accurate, we were left alongside other slaves peeking out cautiously from their rooms.
“Hey.”
‘Perhaps we should head to our room first?’ I wondered when a mocking voice addressed us.
Turning towards the voice, I saw a man who seemed two heads taller than me, smirking down at Iris and me.