I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 213

Chapter 213

***

Found

***

What would happen if a delinquent were to drop unconscious at the sight of a beautiful girl right in front of them?

Simple. They would run away.

“Th-th-teacher!”

“Crazy! Let’s get out of here!”

The weak delinquents, whose entire rebellion consisted of extorting money from kids who seemed weaker than them or smoking cigarettes endlessly once they became adults, fled without a second thought.

From the perspective of someone living in a dark fantasy world, it was absurd how easily they abandoned their friend and ran away. Jess twitched her nose and quickly stepped off the unconscious man.

“Uh, that…”

Lian, with a dazed expression, looked at Jess, unsure of what to say. Though his “Power of Adaptation” was activating, it wasn’t yet fully developed. When the situation changed so suddenly, he couldn’t help but stammer.

Given enough time, he would likely “adapt” even to a situation straight out of a light novel.

“Are you hurt?”

“Huh?”

That would only be the case if he had enough time to adapt. The scene of a beautiful girl, whom he had never seen before, approaching him with no sense of distance and speaking with a gaze full of affection was a new shock, weakening his power.

Jess, finding Lian’s soft appearance adorable, unknowingly spread her arms wide. At the same time, Lian flinched as if a butterfly had spread its wings.

“Uwah, ugh…!”

“You’re so cute!”

His face was suddenly buried in her ample chest. The soft sensation and the delicate scent of body wash, something he had never experienced before, made his head spin.

Swaying like a paper doll under her strong grip, Lian gasped for air and pushed against her shoulders.

“Ah…”

“…!”

Perhaps in his panic, Lian ended up pushing not her shoulders, but the soft chest that had been suffocating him.

Unintentionally, he squeezed the heavenly softness he had never felt in his life, and at Jess’s faint moan, he… fainted on the spot.

“Ah! Lian!”

His power stopped functioning altogether.

***

Lian woke up, staring at the white ceiling above him, and closed his eyes in relief.

‘It was just a dream.’

He had fainted a few times before after being assaulted by delinquents. Whenever his vision went dark and he opened his eyes again, he would always wake up in the infirmary, so he dismissed the incomprehensible scene as just a dream.

Although his “Power of Adaptation” had not fully bloomed yet, it was strong enough to protect his fragile mind.

As his shaky thoughts began to stabilize, he noticed that his field of vision was oddly higher than usual.

Was there an extra pillow under his head today? Or did he hit the back of his head and get a bump?

As these thoughts seeped into his mind, a warm sensation spread from the back of his neck.

“Huh…?”

Lian made a foolish sound as he opened his eyes. Only then did he notice the red hair he had missed earlier because he had only glanced at the ceiling before closing his eyes again.

“You’re awake?”

Normally, when someone looks up at you from below your chin, it results in an unflattering angle. Yet, defying the laws of the world, a girl as beautiful as a painting smiled down at him lovingly.

It was only then that Lian realized his head was resting on her soft thighs.

“Ah.”

His brain seemed to buffer, like an old computer trying to boot up. Jess tilted her head in confusion as Lian let out a short gasp and then froze.

Each time her hair swayed, her scent wafted over him. The soft, subtle fragrance, like fabric softener, filled Lian’s mind, rendering him helpless once again.

As someone with zero immunity to women, his power failed to activate once more.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Jess had already checked him thoroughly while he was unconscious, not out of selfish curiosity, but to ensure he wasn’t injured. Still, there could be wounds she might have missed.

Faced with her gaze, filled with affection and concern, Lian froze.

Creak. The infirmary bed creaked loudly as Lian shot up, biting his lip.

“Th-thanks for bringing me to the infirmary.”

After barely managing to complete the sentence with a trembling voice, he quickly slipped off the bed like a frightened rabbit escaping a tiger’s den. Fortunately, there were slippers waiting for him where he landed.

He hurriedly put on the worn-out slippers and, without looking back, pulled aside the curtain that divided the infirmary beds. The nurse looked at him with a startled expression, but Lian couldn’t even manage a proper greeting as he rushed out of the infirmary.

Tap! Tap!

His unusually hurried footsteps echoed down the quiet hallway. Perhaps class had already started, as the hallway was silent. Normally, Lian would have calmly made his way to his classroom, moving like an NPC following a set route, with a peaceful expression on his face.

But today, that wasn’t possible. He didn’t even know where he was heading as he half-ran, half-walked.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart pounded anxiously, his palms burning. His breath quickened, as if something were choking him. His vision blurred, and the floor seemed far away, as though he had been standing under the hot sun for too long.

Dizzy and disoriented, Lian found himself in front of the music room storage, the same secluded spot where Jess had first appeared.

Clang, click!

Lian pulled out a small key he always carried in his pocket and unlocked the door.

With a creak, the door opened, allowing light to seep into the dark storage room. Since there were instruments that could be damaged by exposure to light, the curtains were blackout curtains, making the room eerily quiet despite it being broad daylight.

The light filtering through the gap in the curtains illuminated the floating dust in the air. Lian quickly closed the door behind him and locked it.

Click.

“Huff, huff…”

He leaned his head against the wooden door, breathing heavily. Sweat trickled down his face. He slid down to the floor, lightly bumping his head against the door with a thud.

“Why… why does she look at me like that?”

For so long, he had yearned for even a sliver of affection. Even a simple word of gratitude, spoken out of politeness, would have sufficed. He wouldn’t have minded if someone had tried to use him.

He loved this world and wanted to be loved in return, so much so that he was willing to accept even fabricated love. But the world had rejected him, refusing to grant him even a drop of affection.

After pleading, despairing, and clinging in vain, he had finally given up on love.

But now, someone had appeared, offering not just a drop, but an entire lake of affection—someone who had come to him after he had already given up on everything.

Humans fear the unknown. They are more frightened by the thought of something lurking at the end of a dark hallway than by the sight of a visible monster standing before them.

To Lian, who had been isolated from the world, Jess’s boundless affection was a loving violence, a source of fear. His heightened senses, sharpened by his power, could feel Jess’s affection, and Lian, unable to handle it, had fled.

In the midst of the overwhelming confusion, Lian felt as though his world had been turned upside down.

Jess’s affection was so overwhelming, like a succulent piece of meat offered to someone starving to death. The emotions he had buried under resignation suddenly resurfaced, ravenously consuming him.

“Haa… haa…”

Lian clutched his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

Why now? Who are you to do this? Anger swirled within him, mixed with a greedy desire to devour her affection in one gulp, and a fear of the inevitable loss that would follow once he had tasted it. His primal instincts, long dormant due to his power, awakened, flooding him with confusion.

The emotions that any human would naturally feel all surged at once, suffocating him. Groaning, Lian finally collapsed on the floor, shutting his eyes tightly.

He wanted to escape into sleep, to flee from the incomprehensible chaos. But sleep wouldn’t come easily. No, to be precise, he couldn’t sleep.

‘What if it’s a dream?’

Unlike earlier, when he had smiled peacefully, thinking everything was just a dream, the current Lian was terrified that the one who had showered him with endless affection might disappear if he fell asleep.

His tightly shut eyes slowly opened, and he saw the light filtering through the crack in the door. He could also see the dust floating in the air. The musty scent of the instruments filled his lungs as he breathed in and out.

If he couldn’t fall into unconsciousness, he had to stay alert.

Lian, who had obtained his power out of a survival instinct, managed to stabilize himself quickly, a feat that would have sent most people into a panic. His frantic breathing gradually slowed, and his wildly beating heart began to calm down.

“Huff… haa…”

Taking deep breaths, Lian slowly sat up and leaned against the wall.

“Calm down… Calm down and organize your thoughts.”

Just as he muttered to himself to sort out his chaotic thoughts—

Bang!

“Gasp…!”

The firmly locked door suddenly shook violently, making a sound like an explosion. Lian recoiled in shock, pulling back.

Crash! Crack!

The door… shattered into pieces.

“Found you!”

“…!”

Through the broken door, Jess’s eyes, with their gentle, upturned corners, met his.

End of Chapter