I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 206

Chapter 206

Power, Only Power!

Iris didn’t slow down and threw herself into his arms. His warm body enveloped her.

She buried her face into his chest, swallowing her sobs.

“Hic, h-hic…”

“Huh, huh?”

Lian froze, his eyes wide in disbelief. His hands instinctively patted her trembling body, but his mind was filled with confusion, as if he had been abruptly pulled out of a dream.

Feeling the warmth of Iris in his arms, Lian slowly regained his composure and gently embraced her. At that, Iris’s sobs grew even louder.

The Beasts, already informed by Jess about Iris and her companions, didn’t stop her when she suddenly appeared at the campsite.

Though they kept a minimal watch, witnessing the emotional family reunion, they tactfully stepped away. Thanks to that, Iris could cry to her heart’s content.

After some time passed and Iris had calmed down to a degree.

With her face red and swollen from crying, she clung tightly to Lian’s clothes, following him closely. Despite her changed appearance, Lian was deeply moved by how Iris still called him “Oppa” and followed him like before.

Her presence in the Beasts’ campsite caused an uproar among the staff.

“We can’t let the Lady stay in a place where beasts reside!”

“She must be brought here immediately.”

The nobles, who only knew how to run their mouths, were eager to win Iris over, their eyes gleaming with desire. Whether it was her appearance or her family background, everything about her was exceptional, and they were desperate to court her.

Those with a bit more intelligence exchanged worried glances, their faces pale.

‘The fact that the Duchess’s daughter is here means the Duke has heard about the White Mask.’

‘Tsk, we’re not fully prepared yet…’

Those who had been planning to use Lian for their schemes broke out in cold sweat, their eyes darting nervously.

Their grand and elaborate plans were ruined before they even began, leaving their ambitions unspoken and omitted.

Though they were in competition for Lian’s favor, Iris considered Jess and even Noah as family.

Her mere presence was a great boon for Noah, as it was akin to gaining a thousand troops. No longer could the Empire’s staff harass Noah with absurd claims.

Iris’s influence didn’t stop there.

“Give it back.”

“B-but…”

“Why are you hesitating when it’s my brother’s body?”

Though she tilted her head cutely, the atmosphere was so cold it felt like heads could roll at any moment.

The temple, already weakened after losing much of its power when the Dark Fantasy World God left, couldn’t oppose the daughter of the Duchess, a hero of the battlefield.

Jess, who was stunned by how easily they retrieved Lian’s body, fell into deep thought, her expression serious.

“Power… Power is what matters…”

Seeing the dangerous glint in her eyes, it seemed that this incident had awakened something in her. Though it was unclear how Jess would grow from here, one thing was certain: she wouldn’t be the innocent and cute girl she once was. Lian quickly snapped out of his thoughts before they wandered too far—towards imagining her becoming sly and seductive.

His ears turned slightly red, but no one noticed.

Having regained his body so easily, Lian once again faced his own form. Inside the tent, it was just him and his body, alone.

Whether it was due to something the priests had done or because of the gag filter, Lian’s body still looked as though it had just collapsed moments ago. There was no sign of decay, not even the slightest smell of a corpse.

Lian reached out and placed his hand on his body.

‘Once I return to my original body, everything will go back to normal. I’ll be able to use the cursed sword again, and the gag filter will work properly.’

Even though a happy ending was right in front of him, a strange sense of unease weighed down on his heart.

Suppressing the anxiety, he prepared to leave the black-haired man’s body in his spirit form. But his body trembled.

As if receiving a signal that something was wrong, a deep uneasiness surged from within him. His hands and lips quivered, and his fingertips grew cold. His mind became clouded with confusion from the inexplicable fear.

‘Why do I feel like this? If I return to my original body, everything should go more smoothly… So why am I so anxious?’

Lian began to trace the source of his anxiety, searching for the starting point of his confusion.

‘…If I return to my original body like this, I feel like I’ll lose something.’

With that inexplicable intuition, a flood of questions burst into his mind.

‘When I crossed over to this world, I definitely received the power of gag. I must have received that power in my spirit form, so why does it weaken just because I leave my body?’

‘There’s a stark difference between when the gag filter’s power is at full strength and when it’s not… My mental state is strange too. No matter how long I lived in the gag world, it was just me “adapting.” Thinking like the gag residents is odd.’

‘The moment the gag filter weakens, I start becoming aware of powers I didn’t even know I had. I don’t remember gaining such powers… So why do they feel so familiar?’

Becoming aware of all these truths after escaping the gag power only added to Lian’s confusion. The unresolved questions spun in his mind, leading him to one conclusion.

‘If I return to my body like this, everything will pass by like a fleeting joke. Just a brief prank.’

It felt as though he would miss his last chance to face the truth.

He didn’t know what truth existed, or even if it truly did, but his instincts screamed that he shouldn’t return to his original body just yet.

‘Let’s take a little more time to think about this.’

The moment Lian reached that serious conclusion,

Grab!

“…!”

Lian’s body, which had been lying still with its eyes closed, suddenly opened its eyes and grabbed his wrist. The scene was straight out of a horror movie, and Lian froze in terror.

Instinctively, the gag filter activated, and Lian shrank back like a delicate girl, his mouth falling open. Just as a thin, high-pitched scream was about to escape his lips,

Rumble!

“…!!”

An overwhelming sensation, as if his soul was being swallowed whole, paralyzed him. The energy that made him feel how weak, helpless, and insignificant he was felt eerily familiar.

‘This…!’

He instinctively realized that an Outsider, an entity of immense power, had appeared.

“Ugh…!”

Was it because the gag filter’s power had been halved?

Unlike before, he couldn’t ignore the suffocating pressure weighing down on him. Cold sweat trickled down his face as the oppressive force choked him.

[Look.]

“…!”

The command that resonated through his soul made his heart drop. His gaze, which had been glued to the ground under the weight of the pressure, was slowly pulled upward as if by an invisible force.

His body, which had been lying on the cot, was now standing on two feet, staring directly at him.

The eyes, shining brilliantly as if they held the light of the sun, pierced through Lian with a gaze that seemed to see everything.

It was as if the entire universe was contained within those eyes, and just meeting them made Lian’s mind go blank with awe. His stomach churned, and he felt like he might throw up at any moment.

Before Lian could do anything, his vision began to blur.

The world spun wildly, and it felt as though invisible hands were rummaging through his mind.

“Ugh…”

With a surge of nausea, his consciousness began to fade.

Both the black-haired body he had borrowed and Lian’s original body collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.

As the powers of the Dark Fantasy World God and the Outsider clashed, they wreaked havoc on Lian’s mind, nearly swallowing him whole.

Sss.

In that moment, a faint breeze brushed through the stifling air. A gray light spread from Lian’s fallen body in an instant.

The light expanded beyond their space, enveloping the camp and even the battlefield, turning the world black and white as if it had lost all color.

“What is this…!”

“Oppa!”

“Lian…!”

Most people were bewildered by the strange situation, while those who cared for Lian screamed in terror, their faces pale.

As the nearby guards rushed into the tent,

Boom.

A powerful tremor shook the ground, followed by a fierce gust of wind.

“Ugh!”

“Argh…!”

The artificial wind was so strong that it was impossible to see even an inch ahead. People shielded their faces with their arms and crouched down.

As if by magic, the violent wind suddenly stopped, and an eerie silence fell.

“…!”

“This is impossible…”

Noah, Jess, and Iris stared blankly at their surroundings, their faces filled with shock.

End of Chapter