I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 207

Chapter 207

A Ruined World?

The land and sky were twisted upside down, and people, with faces frozen in shock, stood rigid like statues as if time itself had stopped.

Water flowed backward, and stones that were about to fall floated in the air like butterflies.

“What… what is all this?”

“Dark magic…?”

In this chaotic world, the only ones moving were Noah, Jess, and Iris.

The three of them were momentarily stunned by the bizarre scene around them, but they quickly regained their composure.

“This isn’t the time for this—Lian… where’s Lian?”

“…!”

At Noah’s words, Iris and Jess snapped out of their daze and scanned their surroundings. The tent they had been about to enter just moments ago had vanished without a trace, as if erased by an eraser.

A surge of panic washed over them, fearing that Lian might have disappeared along with the tent. But they quickly regained their reason.

‘Everything is mixed up. The Imperial Army and the Beastmen’s encampments have been jumbled together—Lian’s tent might have been moved somewhere else.’

They had no idea why or how this strange phenomenon had occurred, but Iris’s mind was filled with concern for Lian’s safety, making it difficult to think clearly.

Without a word, the three of them shot forward.

“Sniff, sniff… Damn it, I can’t smell anything…!”

The world, now drained of color, emitted neither scent nor sound. The only noise was the sound of their hurried breaths and muttered words.

They rushed past the tangled mess of tents and structures, desperately searching for the one where Lian might be.

Fortunately, they found the tent they were looking for quickly.

Unlike the other tents, which seemed to overlap and glitch like a broken game, Lian’s tent stood alone, clean and clear, in a wide open space.

A chilling sense of foreboding crept over them, but they knew a far deeper fear and despair, so they entered the tent without hesitation.

Vroom.

“…!”

“….!!”

“…!”

Inside the tent, transparent water floated in midair, rippling like a spell had been cast. Within the giant mass of water, large enough to fill the entire tent, two familiar figures could be seen.

“Lian!”

“Brother!”

With pale faces, Noah and Iris reached out toward the transparent water, while Jess, her eyes sharp, extended her claws and attacked the water mass as if slicing through slime.

The moment their hands touched the rippling water, it stretched out like a slime devouring its prey and swallowed all three of them.

Vroom…

Silence fell over the tent.

***

“Ugh… Where am I?”

Iris held her throbbing head and looked around.

The first thing that caught her eye was the sight of structures, far taller than a fortress, reduced to rubble as if they had been bombed.

The unfamiliar structures—skyscrapers—stood with only their frames remaining, creaking ominously. The wind whistled through the skeletal buildings, making it seem like they could collapse at any moment. Their windows were shattered, filled with dust and debris.

The streets were littered with rusted and destroyed vehicles, left to rot.

Traffic lights were dead, their bulbs dark, and most of the streetlights lining the road were broken. The streets were overgrown with weeds and vines.

Iris quickly realized that this place was nothing like the world she knew.

It was the kind of situation that would terrify most people, but Iris remained calm.

‘I have to find my brother.’

She knew a fear far greater than the one caused by this strange situation, so she moved forward without hesitation.

“Ugh!”

“…!”

As she passed between the crushed iron chariots (cars) and stepped onto a relatively intact sidewalk, she sensed a familiar presence.

She quickly turned her head and saw a man with a large backpack standing there, wearing a loose smile.

“Lian!”

Iris, who could now sense Lian’s soul, instinctively knew that the man in front of her was her precious brother. She rushed toward him, ready to embrace him.

Whoosh.

“…?!”

But her body passed right through him, as if she were a ghost. Iris flailed her arms, trying again and again to hold Lian, but it was no use.

“Ah… I’m going to be late!”

The man, who she assumed to be Lian, didn’t seem to notice her at all and continued on his way. Iris, her legs trembling with dizzying anxiety, stumbled as she followed after him.

***

(**Warning: The following contains depictions of child abuse and school violence. If you find this uncomfortable, please skip to the next chapter. A summary will be provided in the author’s note of the next chapter.**)

At the same time, unlike Iris, Noah woke up in a relatively intact place and soon found Lian. The only difference was that the Lian in front of her was a small child.

Lian was so small that he barely reached Noah’s knees, and he looked emaciated, as if he hadn’t eaten properly.

Noah couldn’t take her eyes off him, feeling a deep sense of pity. Lian sat blankly in a corner, fiddling with a broken, tattered toy.

Noah sat next to him, lost in thought.

‘Where is this place?’

The world had turned black and white, twisted and broken. Lian had been floating in that strange liquid, and now here he was, a child, yet his soul felt the same.

Everything was too sudden and too difficult to understand.

She had tried swinging her sword, but it passed through everything as if she were a ghost. Even her magic wasn’t working properly.

She had walked away from the emaciated Lian, only to find that if she moved too far, she was pulled back to his side.

The helplessness of being unable to do anything, combined with the fear of not knowing what would happen next, slowly wrapped around her like a noose. She tried to shake off those feelings when—

“Can’t you be quiet!”

A creaky, old door burst open, and a man, who seemed drunk, stormed in, shouting.

Unlike the skinny children, the man was plump and glared fiercely at the children playing quietly just moments before.

“Who’s making all this noise? Huh?! Do you want to die?”

Noah raised her sword and stood in front of Lian, but the man didn’t seem to see her. He just huffed and puffed in anger.

“Was it you? Huh?! Was it you?!”

The man staggered toward a child who was frozen in fear. Noah, her face twisted in rage, swung her sword, but it passed right through the man. She gritted her teeth, trying to suppress her unresolved fury.

Thud!

“…!”

Lian, who had been sitting behind her, suddenly rushed forward and blocked the man’s path. His small, trembling body clung to the man’s leg, trying to stop him from kicking the child.

“What the hell?!”

The man, his words slurred, kicked Lian away. For a child who hadn’t eaten properly, the kick from an adult man was as dangerous as a knife.

“Ugh, cough…”

Lian rolled on the floor, gasping for breath, but the man, still furious, kicked him several more times. The other children, too scared that the kicks would come their way, buried their faces in their knees and closed their eyes.

“Ugh, seriously. Do I have to clean up another dead body? Can you stop already?”

A woman with heavy makeup stood at the door, arms crossed, and snapped at the man. The man turned his head sharply to look at her.

His expression softened as he staggered toward her, seemingly pleased with her appearance.

“These brats disrespect me. What am I supposed to do, huh? I have to show them who’s boss. After all, I feed them and give them a place to sleep, and they don’t even appreciate it…”

Noah crouched beside Lian, who was gasping for breath, her lips bleeding from how hard she was biting them.

“Why… why does Lian have to go through this?”

She had been with Lian since they were children, and the scene unfolding before her felt like a cruel play designed solely to torment him.

Perhaps this was a stage set to break her mentally.

Whatever the case, the reality that she could do nothing but watch Lian suffer did not change.

***

“Growl…”

Jess bared her teeth, ready to tear into the thug who was sneering at her, but, like the others, her attack passed right through him.

“Why don’t you just die? Isn’t it a waste of oxygen for you to keep living?”

“If it were me, I’d have jumped off a building by now.”

Jess’s sharp claws passed through the thug’s chest, but he didn’t react at all.

Jess, realizing the futility of her situation, drooped her ears and looked to the side.

There, in the distance, stood Lian, his face swollen and blood dripping from his mouth, yet his expression was eerily calm.

“Is that so?”

Lian responded in a serene voice, as if something inside him had broken. He showed no signs of being hurt or angry, and the thugs, seemingly insulted by his lack of reaction, grew even more furious.

No matter how much they beat him or insulted his parents, Lian remained calm, his expression unchanged.

The thugs, unnerved by his eerily serene demeanor, eventually backed off.

Jess crouched down next to the battered Lian, tears streaming down her face. The overwhelming sense of helplessness suffocated her.

End of Chapter