I’m the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 56

“Ugghhh…”

Fortunately, it seemed that Bansook hadn’t died. Groans could be heard as he tried to rise with the support of the sofa.

Crack.

“Ugh, heave…!”

Just by the sound of his voice, I could tell how badly he had hurt his back.

‘I guess since he told me to sit, I should just stay put?’

In situations like this, it was best just to stay still. But it appeared someone else had a different idea.

Swoosh.

A person emerged from Bansook’s shadow. A man with an expressionless face approached the groaning Bansook on the bed, reaching out a hand as if to offer help.

“Ahhuk, ahh… Don’t touch me! Leave me be!”

Bansook was in so much pain that he refused even a helping hand. He angrily pushed away the man who approached him. Indeed, staying put was the right choice. If I had tried to help, it could be me receiving those curses.

The person who approached Bansook merely flinched and gazed at him without making a move.

“Huff, huff…”

I quietly lifted my hands to cover my ears. I didn’t want to hear Bansook’s groans.

‘Maybe I should apologize, since it was my mistake?’

A bout of conscience surged but quickly subsided.

‘If he points it out, I’ll apologize. If he hasn’t noticed yet, it’s not my fault.’

This was as far as conscience went in the world of comedy. Only the privilege of the beautiful was to list sins and expect forgiveness.

With my ears covered, I couldn’t hear Bansook’s moans. With nothing else to do, I observed the patterns on the floor. At first, I only spotted five patterns resembling people.

But at some point, the five patterns seemed to start a love triangle drama. I watched blankly as one pattern exclaimed, “Actually, I’m pregnant,” while another confessed, “…I have something to confess too. I’m sterile. There’s been a problem with my sperm since I was young.”

‘It’s a disaster.’

While I was lost in thought, I saw Bansook finally managing to straighten up. I discreetly lowered my hands from my ears.

“Ugghhh…”

Bansook groaned as he held his back.

“Darn it…”

Cursing, our eyes met. His previously scrunched up face quickly turned red. He seemed embarrassed.

‘Such a shy person.’

While I was thinking this, Bansook clenched his teeth and gestured to the man standing beside the sofa. The man produced a palm-sized potion bottle from his pocket. It was a healing potion.

Bansook immediately opened the potion and downed all of its contents.

“Krhh…”

After tossing the empty bottle back to the man, Bansook whirled his head around to glare at me. Feeling guilty, I surreptitiously averted my gaze.

***

Creak.

Bansook ground his teeth while looking down at Lian, who was sitting on the floor.

‘Of all times for the chair to tip over..!’

He lived and died by his pride. Carrying an elegant cane and keeping serving slaves hidden within his shadow were all for that reason.

His so-called pride crumbled miserably in front of Lian. Bansook imagined Lian ridiculing him inwardly and the veins around his eyes bulged.

‘I just intended to greet him briefly and send him back -.. This won’t do.’

I need to properly educate him about what kind of person I am.

With a bitter smile, Bansook signaled the man beside him. Without hesitation, the man picked up Lian, hoisting him onto his shoulder.

“Ahhk…”

Just as Bansook tried to rise promptly from the sofa, he winced from a sharp pain in his back but gradually stood up. The potion seemed to have worked, as the pain was less severe than before.

“Darn it, darn it!”

Muttering curses didn’t erase the groans that had involuntarily escaped. Then the man came over with the cane that had fallen on the floor.

The ornate cane was an accessory representing his wealth and confidence, but today it was relegated to its original function.

Tap tap.

Bansook leaned on the cane, taking steps forward, heading toward a corridor connected to the living room. At the end of the hallway hung a painting of an apple basket. Tapping it with his cane…

Creak.

The painting swung open like a door, leading to a stark white corridor.

Walking down the hallway, we saw several doors. Bansook headed for the one at the very end. The man silently moved forward and opened the door for him.

Inside the room, everything was stark white, with a metallic chair in the center. The chair’s armrests and legs were tied with leather belts, which bore dried bloodstains.

A black trolley sat in front of the chair, filled with menacing torture instruments.

The man carrying Lian immediately dumped him into the metallic chair and secured his wrists and ankles with leather belts tied to the chair.

Bansook looked at Lian with lips twisted into a sinister smile.

‘Now you understand the situation, right? What kind of despair and screams will you show me?’

After the man had tightly fastened the belts, he stepped aside. Bansook swallowed dryly, looking forward to the fear-stricken expression on Lian’s face.

“Hmm.”
“…?”

Lian looked around the room with a calm expression, his eyes filled only with curiosity. Never having experienced such a situation before, Bansook was speechless as he watched Lian.

‘It’ll be hard to manage here.’

Lian didn’t fail to understand the situation. The dried blood and torture tools were enough to give anyone an idea of what was to come. He simply wasn’t afraid.

Aren’t adults who used to throw tantrums about not wanting to go to the hospital as children now going without a second thought? Lian was feeling just like that.

It wasn’t particularly painful, nor was it deadly, so there was no reason to be afraid.

Grind.

To Bansook, Lian’s demeanor felt like a dare.

‘Too dumb to realize the situation, I see.’

Normally, the toys to be played with were brought here and left tied up for a few hours. It was quite fun to watch a slave writhing in fear in a completely white room.

However, it didn’t seem like such methods would work on Lian at all. He strode out confidently. Then, the man beside him smartly moved the trolley next to Bansook.

“You still don’t grasp the situation, do you?”

Bansook feigned a gentle smile, like a benign old man. Lian’s gaze turned toward him.

Whoosh, Bansook handed his cane to the man. Thankfully, the potion’s effect was good; the back pain was no longer felt.

Scratch.

He picked up a pair of pliers from the trolley; they were crusted with dried blood. He opened and closed the pliers a few times, then grabbed Lian’s hand.

Even a fool would clench his fist out of fear when realizing the abnormal situation. But Lian calmly offered his hand as if oblivious to what was about to happen.

‘How long will you keep this attitude?’

With a snicker, Bansook used the pliers to grasp Lian’s fingernail. His lips began to twist grotesquely.

The anticipation of a scream so loud it could vibrate the eardrums was thrilling. Bansook licked his dry lips and squeezed the pliers.

“Kukuk…”

A burst of uncontrollable joy leaked from between his lips, and at the same time…

Pop!

With a cute sound, the fingernail came off.

“…??”

Bansook’s eyes filled with countless question marks.

“……????”

When faced with an incomprehensible situation, the first reaction is denial.

‘Ah, well… I must have pulled it out wrong.’

But even as the thumb’s nail was caught at the end of the pliers, denial was Bansook’s only refuge from reality.

Snap.

Bansook tossed the thumb’s nail to the floor and grasped the index fingernail with the pliers.

‘This time for sure…!’

Pop!

Once more, a sound as cute as a baby’s shoe echoed, and the fingernail was pulled out. But not a single drop of blood spurted, and a healthy nail still existed where it was supposed to have been removed.

“…?!?!”

Bansook contorted strangely, as if he had encountered something impossible in the world.

Pop, pop! Pop! Pop pop pop!

“Gasp, gasp… gasp!”

Bansook, refusing to accept this reality, frantically continued to pull Lian’s nails, but all that echoed was his own labored breathing, not Lian’s screams.

Gasping from a lack of stamina, Bansook looked up and met Lian’s eyes. Lian… looked back at Bansook with a pitying gaze, as if watching an elderly man hustling to pick up the morning newspaper.

Clang!

Triggered by that look, Bansook threw the pliers to the ground and rummaged wildly through the trolley.

‘Don’t… don’t pity me! How dare, how dare a mere slave!’

In a fit, he grabbed a saw-like knife and plunged it into Lian’s thigh.

Thunk!

“…! Ha!”

This time, without any strange sound effects, the knife properly pierced the flesh. The bitter smell of blood seemed to console the sweat-drenched Bansook.

‘Now you’ll see what situation you’re in -….’

Whoosh!

Blood spurted from the thigh like a fountain, as if an obstructed spring had been cleared.

“Gasp…!”

Startled, Bansook stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet.

Crack!

“Kuhuck?!”

Bansook’s recently injured back gave way, and he collapsed onto the floor.