I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 151

Chapter 151

A Gag Resident Has Fallen!

***

The Duke, covered in dirt, staggered inside the artificially-made cave, like an ant’s burrow, gasping for breath.

Grit.

She bit her lip hard as she slammed her sword into the ground. Blood trickled down from her hand, which was tightly gripping the hilt.

“How dare you…”

Through her disheveled hair, her fierce gaze was revealed. At the end of her sight stood a woman with white hair, dressed in a pure white dress. The woman smiled brightly as she approached. She looked like she could be Iris if she were slightly older, perhaps when she became an adult.

“Mom.”

“…!”

That single word easily bound the Duke, who was known as the Empire’s greatest swordmaster, rendering her helpless. The figure, with peach-colored cheeks resembling Iris, ran toward the Duke like a child yearning for their parent’s embrace.

The Duke tightened her grip and yanked her sword out of the ground. At the same time, ‘Iris’ spoke again, her voice much higher and thinner than the real Iris’s, lacking even a semblance of authenticity.

“Mom, I missed you.”

The creature that had approached with a smile, so similar to her precious Iris, spreading its arms for a hug, spoke the words she had longed to hear. She knew it wasn’t her daughter. Even knowing that—she couldn’t stop the strength from draining from her body.

That brief moment of vulnerability inflicted a grave wound.

Thud!

“Urgh!”

The thing’s arm morphed into a black scythe and slashed at the Duke’s arm. She dodged quickly, escaping with just a shallow cut. Her already torn lips bled again as she bit down hard, her eyes flashing with sharp resolve.

Crack!

The Duke’s sword sliced through the thing’s waist. Its form wobbled, melting away like a dissolving shadow, before vanishing completely.

“Haa… Haa…”

Breathing heavily, the Duke once more drove her sword into the ground. She had been fighting these things for days with no proper rest, and now she was utterly fatigued.

“Tch…”

The gaps in her defense had been costly. Especially during an earlier battle, shortly after she landed in this place, when her stomach had been pierced. She had performed emergency first aid, but she had lost so much blood that it wouldn’t have been surprising if she fainted any moment.

Her arms, legs, sides, and thighs were all riddled with minor wounds. Despite clearly knowing those things were not her daughter, the thoughts of “maybe” and “what if” endlessly circled her mind.

‘Idiot…’

Her rationality screamed at her to stop this foolishness, but her body refused to listen. She heaved a sigh and straightened her stance. Though her body wobbled dangerously from her injuries, she wasn’t completely unable to move.

“Tch…”

Clicking her tongue in frustration at her blurry vision, she yanked her sword out of the ground once more. Then, she scanned her surroundings.

‘Should I risk it and break through the ceiling after all?’

She had no idea how deep this place was, but if she recklessly caused a ceiling collapse, there was a chance she could end up buried alive. No matter how exceptional a swordmaster she was, there were limits to how long she could survive without oxygen.

‘But I can’t destroy the walls.’

At first, she had thought about digging her way out—like a criminal tunneling out of prison—by chipping away at the walls. However, that plan became impossible. The floor she stood on, as well as the walls, were about one-third all mixed with dirt, stones, and Apen.

Apen was a mineral that caused mental disorientation. When struck, it emitted an invisible wave that threw its enemies into confusion, making them see hallucinations and hear auditory illusions.

Due to that, she couldn’t carelessly dig into either the walls or the floor.

Though she described this place like it resembled an ant cave, there were no passageways leading out. The only entrance, and exit, was the distant, impossibly high ceiling from which she had fallen.

‘Haa… There are two options… no, three?’

Either she risks her life and breaks through the ceiling, waits for the one who trapped her here and torments her with “those things” to appear, or…

‘Wait for external help.’

As she pondered carefully, she staggered.

“Waaah!”

“Mom!”

“I missed you!”

Was the hallucination from the Apen reacting as she leaned against her sword to keep herself from collapsing? The sound of her children laughing, as pure and white as snow, filled her ears.

“Haa… haa…”

The ground seemed to tilt beneath her feet, and her head spun. The wailing cries of a newborn rang in her ears, loud and persistent.

‘I should… hold them… ah.’

Her vision tilted completely, and darkness crept over her sight.

***

In pitch-black darkness, Lian and the demonic sword were falling into the endless void.

[ Partner, you’re incredible in so many ways… Attack. ]

“Attack.”

[ …! Damn it, I was about to say that! ]

“Your turn.”

[ Damn it, I don’t have any attack cards left… Or do I? Ha! You thought I was out? Behold! I have a defense card! Block, protect me from the enemy! ]

About five minutes after they started falling, the two began playing a game of one-card in midair. It was the kind of scene that could have disrupted the mana flow of countless dark mages.

The demonic sword—transformed into a whip—gracefully laid down its card with flair. Lian, looking perfectly nonchalant, placed two Joker cards flatly on the surface.

[ …! Again! Let’s start from the top! ]

Shuffling sounds were heard as the excited demonic sword flailed about, but the cards tumbled downward into the abyss below. Lian, who was yawning and looking bored, suddenly spoke.

“When do we stop falling?”

[ That’s not important! Shuffle the deck! One more round, come on, just one more! ]

After losing five times in a row, the demonic sword flailed like a wriggling snake, begging for another match. Watching it wiggle amusingly, Lian suddenly noticed a change in the flow of the wind and looked down.

“Huh? Looks like we’ve arrived.”

[ Then just one last round before we land— ]

Boom!

Before the demonic sword could finish, Lian’s body slammed into the ground. A crater formed where he hit, dust swirling around him. At the same moment, purple smoke began to seep from the ground.

That was the result of the Apen reacting to the impact. Its pulse, normally invisible to the naked eye, was now spewing out suspicious-looking purple smoke thanks to the gag filter at work.

“Ouch… well, hold on—what’s this?”

Lian, who emerged from the crater completely unscathed, stared while blinking slowly at the strange purple fog that wrapped around him.

“Hah… hah… late again!”

A clear, delicate voice, accompanied by the sound of running footsteps, came from across the smoke. Emerging from within was a girl… running on her hands with her legs pointed toward the sky. Her skirt and clothes had defied gravity, making the scene feel utterly bizarre.

“Kyaaa! A- A strange person!”

The girl who had suddenly appeared screamed when she saw Lian. She looked at him as if he was something grotesque before her face turned bright red.

“Goodness… if you walked around like that, wouldn’t people only stare down there?”

She muttered while sneaking glances at Lian’s lower body with a very suspicious expression. But the absurdity didn’t stop there.

Thud! Thud!

“Yuri! Good morning!”

“Hey, everyone!”

One by one, students walking on their hands started to appear. Each of them, emerging from the mist, stared at Lian, their faces filled with shock. Some of the girls even shrieked, their faces bright red.

Having lived for a long time in the gag world, Lian immediately grasped what was happening!

‘My lower half is where my face should be, so of course they’re reacting like this.’

…His understanding wasn’t focused on why the situation had occurred, but rather how he could survive it. Immediately, Lian placed his hands on the ground and performed a flawless handstand.

“Wow… what a handsome guy!”

“Kyaaa!”

As soon as he shifted his posture, the atmosphere around him changed instantly. Normally, a handstand still seemed awkward, but with his flawless execution, it looked as though Lian had spent his life upside down in that position.

Even the illusions conjured by the mist could no longer confuse him. Sensing that, the mist quickly retreated. No—more accurately, it dispersed.

Whoosh…

When the fog cleared, it left only Lian, performing a perfect handstand, and the demonic sword—now in whip form—collecting the cards off the floor.

[ …What are you doing, partner? ]

The demonic sword tilted its head in confusion, then suddenly made an exclamation.

[ It’s the latest trend! I see now! ]

With an exclamation, the demonic sword abruptly formed itself straight into a rigid line, performing a handstand at the tip of its whip form. It was a circus-worthy movement.

Watching the bizarre performance unfold, Lian collapsed to the ground and clapped his hands.

“Wow…!”

[ Hmph, more! Praise me more! ]

Wobble, wobble.

The demonic sword shook its whip-like body like a toy snake, proud of its own performance. Just as Lian was having a good laugh, clapping cheerfully—

“Ugh…”

“…!”

The sound of someone groaning pierced through his thoughts. Lian’s gaze snapped sharply to the side.

End of Chapter