I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 212

Chapter 212

Mutual Salvation

***

It took a full day to grasp the situation.

Though the reason was unclear, it seemed that she had become one of the orphans in the same orphanage where the young Lian had been abused.

At first, she was extremely flustered, as if she had suddenly turned into a child after visiting an amusement park, but now she had calmed down considerably.

“Come on, ah—”

“Aah…”

There was no time for confusion, as she had to protect Lian, who was small and frail like a baby bird, cautiously opening his mouth.

After arriving in this unknown world, she realized three things.

First, the invisible power that had protected her from God still remained. Thanks to this, when the director tried to kick Noah while she was holding Lian, it was as if he had kicked a stone, writhing in pain and collapsing to the ground.

It seemed the director had broken his toe and was now in the hospital, which meant they would be safe for the time being.

The director, who had been screaming in agony, was soon taken away in an ambulance.

When the ambulance arrived at the remote orphanage, a woman with heavy makeup and a scrawny woman with a sharp voice roughly shoved the children into rooms and locked them up.

They did this to prevent anyone from discovering the abuse, but Noah hadn’t yet realized that. In her world, human rights were practically non-existent.

The second thing she realized was that this world was completely different from the one she had lived in.

She had vaguely sensed it while helplessly watching Lian being abused, as if viewing a passing scene in a video. But it wasn’t until she saw the white iron chariots through the barred windows that she was certain.

“Drink some water too.”

Noah, organizing her thoughts, handed a cup of lukewarm water to Lian, who was cutely chewing his food. Lian flinched and trembled before shaking his head slightly and lowering it.

“Then should I drink it?”

A rough hand suddenly reached out from beside Lian, trying to snatch the cup. Noah instinctively slapped the back of the child’s hand away.

Smack!

“Aaagh!”

The child who had tried to take the cup screamed and quickly backed away. Fear, anger, and defiance filled his eyes.

That child, like Lian and Noah, was also an abused orphan, but his personality was rough.

Given that the only adult he had seen was the violent director who ruled over the orphans, it was perhaps an inevitable outcome.

The boy, having learned by watching, raised his fist and shouted.

“Why did you hit me?! What did I do wrong?!”

To vent his frustration, he swung his fist at Lian, who was nearby. The boy, cunningly, tried to assert his power over Lian, who was weaker and more vulnerable.

As his unrestrained hand reached out to grab a handful of Lian’s hair, Lian, accustomed to the abuse, tightly shut his eyes, bracing for the pain.

Smack!

Instead of pain, there was a sharp, satisfying sound that made one feel refreshed. When Lian opened his eyes and looked up, Noah was staring coldly behind him.

Cautiously, Lian turned to look as well.

“Aaah, ugh!”

The cup that had held lukewarm water was rolling on the floor, and the boy was writhing on the ground, clutching his forehead. It seemed Noah’s throw had hit him squarely on the forehead.

Seeing Noah gripping her chopsticks with a menacing look, as if she might devour the boy whole, Lian instinctively reached out and grabbed her hand.

Noah’s sharp, dangerous gaze softened into a gentle, round expression, and soon her eyes curved warmly.

Lian felt both comforted and embarrassed by the affectionate gaze that softened only for him, and he lowered his head. He wanted to say something, but it was as if his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth, and no words came out.

“Ah, are you thirsty? Sorry, I’ll get you more water right away.”

She stood up from the small chair meant for children to fetch a new cup of water. Most of the furniture in the orphanage was designed for children, as they were used to squeeze money out of occasional benefactors.

Lian, startled by Noah’s departure, jumped up. His small, fluffy fists nervously clung to his clothes, and his other hand desperately held onto Noah’s, refusing to let go.

Noah, having only physically regressed to a younger state while maintaining her adult mind, was much taller than the other children.

Thanks to that, she could easily gaze down at the little angel-like Lian, who was anxiously tugging at her clothes.

His frail body and the scars scattered across him tore at her heart, but that didn’t make him any less adorable.

With his round eyes looking up at her pitifully, following her like a chick chasing its mother, the sight of Lian quickly purified the foul mood that had been weighing her down.

“Shall we go together?”

“…!”

Lian’s sullen expression blossomed like a flower in full bloom. Noah, holding Lian’s hand tightly, moved to fetch the water. Behind the two, an unpleasant gaze followed them.

To be precise, it was a gaze filled with disdain, as if looking at something filthy, directed at Lian.

…The third thing she had realized was that, for some reason, even the other orphans hated Lian. For no reason at all.

Noah gripped the small hand in hers tightly and pressed her lips together.

She didn’t know why she had regressed or how she had crossed into this strange world, but as long as she sensed Lian’s soul in the child before her, she would protect him to the end.

That was her vow.

***

“Why is my daughter so down today?”

Jess frowned as she shoved a piece of meat into her mouth, annoyed by the gorilla-like man who addressed her with a greasy expression.

When she ignored his words and continued eating, the man, who had referred to Jess as his daughter, looked utterly shocked and on the verge of tears.

“Huuuh… Now you won’t even talk to your dad… Honey…! Our daughter!”

“You don’t have to yell so loudly. I can hear you just fine.”

A red-haired woman, wearing a pink apron with lace, brought over a boiling pot with her bare hands. Her cute, cat-like face was a clear reflection of Jess, making it obvious whose genes had won out.

“It’s about time our daughter hit puberty.”

“P-puberty…?”

The man turned pale as he imagined Jess slamming the door and walking in, shouting, “I told you not to wash my clothes with Dad’s! It stinks!”

“Why are you so shocked by that? She’s about the age to start dating boys, too.”

“B-b-boys?!”

Bang!

The man, who might as well have been a gorilla, merely tapped the table lightly, but it lifted off the ground before settling back in place.

“My… my beloved daughter… You don’t have… a boyfriend, right? Right? Haha, there’s no way you could have such a… wretched… creature in your life already, right? Haha! Dad was just joking—”

“I do.”

“Wha…?”

“Oh my.”

Jess, placing her chopsticks next to her empty bowl, spoke with certainty.

“I have a husband!”

“H-h-husband…?”

The doting father completely froze, while the mother, impressed, sparkled with curiosity.

“Who? Who is it? Is he handsome? Huh?”

“Yup! Anyway, I’m off to see my husband now!”

“W-wait…”

By the time the man weakly raised his hand, Jess had already packed her bag and slipped out the door.

Click, clack.

The sound of the door closing echoed like thunder.

“D-daughter! Explain! Explain!”

A desperate voice chased after her, but Jess was more concerned with seeing her partner as soon as possible.

‘If I had my way, I’d be with him all day…’

Jess pouted as she sprinted faster than a bicycle. Two boys, running alongside each other as if racing, watched her zoom past and were so startled that they tripped, ending up in the hospital. But Jess had no reason to know that.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of Lian.

As she neared the school, more students began to appear. As she weaved through the crowd, some students even fell over due to the wind she stirred up. Clicking her tongue, Jess lightly leaped onto the residential walls and began running along them. When there were no walls, she hopped across low rooftops.

Moving faster than a stray cat disappearing from sight, most students dismissed it as a trick of the eye.

Some students tried to capture her on their phones, but not even an afterimage appeared in their videos or photos. Some shouted that it must be a ghost, while others thought they had imagined it.

Regardless of the commotion she caused on her way to school, Jess arrived in no time.

With a swift leap over the green iron gate, she entered the school grounds and headed straight for the building without a second thought.

“Phew…”

Her steps finally stopped in front of a classroom on the second floor, where musical instruments were stored. It was a place at the end of the hallway, where few people passed by.

“Hey, answer me.”

“Can’t you speak?”

At that moment, a menacing voice came from outside the window. Since her original destination had been the back of the school where the sound was coming from, Jess opened the window without hesitation and jumped out.

“You bastard?!”

“W-what the hell?!”

Jess landed on the head of the thug who had been harassing Lian, using him as a cushion. With a bright smile, she looked at Lian, who was staring at her with wide, startled eyes.

“Good morning!”

End of Chapter