I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – A Ghost?

Julianna, she was born in a slum where shadows loomed larger than light. Blessed with stunning beauty from a young age, Julianna concealed her face with makeup to survive.

After her mother passed away from illness before she even turned eight, Julianna lived each day begging for alms. One day, a festival was held in the village.

The inhabitants of the slums were treated by the villagers as something repulsive, but during the festival season, many outsiders came, and it was easy to blend in.

Children from the slums washed up by the riverbank before wearing the cleanest discarded clothing they could find and roamed through the festivities.

While some children were genuinely curious about the festivities, most were hoping to earn tips from wealthy festivalgoers.

Julianna belonged to the former group. She freely strolled the vibrant streets and took in the beautiful festival with her own eyes. How long had she been walking, half-delirious with fascination, when she came upon a play unfolding in the village center?

“How dare you kidnap the princess!”

The script was hopelessly corny, but the acting was decent.
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Though such acting wouldn’t stand a chance in the capital, it was enough to draw laughter from the crowd here. Especially among the children, it was more than enough to make their eyes sparkle.

‘Impressive.’
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Julianna’s eyes sparkled as she watched a man on stage brandishing a sword. She was captivated not by the threat the sword posed, but by the possibility of it being used for protection.

After that, Julianna took up the sword, and fortunately, her overflowing talent allowed her to become a mercenary. Thus, she lived for three years.

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“Julianna, won’t you go out with me?”

As if by fate, she met the love of her life. Julianna was the happiest person in the world.

…Or so she thought she was.

“Cren, why…!”
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Her lover, Julianna’s Cren, who had been kidnapped by nobles and had sent a letter begging for rescue, burst into cruel laughter upon seeing her disgraced form.

“Puhaha, just look at this sight, my lady!”

“Hoho, she’s no better than a bug.”

The man who had whispered sweet nothings of love to her, Cren, had been sent by a noble lady. And why had the noble lady sent Cren? To whisper those words of love?

“A great mercenary, you said? A bug is just a bug in the end.”

Because, well, it was amusing.

Julianna was merely a plaything for the nobles’ amusement.

“Cren! Cren… How could you…!”

Julianna loved him sincerely, she ventured into the noble household at the risk of her own life, and in the end was killed by the knight at guard.

The woman who was blinded by her first experience with love died a fool.

‘I won’t forgive them.’

Was her hatred too heavy for even the gods to take her away? Her soul became tethered to the earthly realm as a vengeful spirit.

‘I’ll kill them all!’

Having become a vengeful spirit, Julianna cursed the nobles who played with her and gruesomely killed her lover. But her rage never subsided. Just when she was about to move and take more lives, a dark sorcerer appeared at the brutal scene.

“Cluck, cluck, a ghost worth using.”

With a repulsive demeanor, the dark sorcerer trapped her spirit within the pages of a book. The sorcerer who took Julianna showed her endlessly the scenes of betrayal she had endured so her spirit would grow stronger and more potent.

As time passed, Julianna’s hatred deepened, and her power grew. The once trapped spirit in the book soon merged with it, turning it into a cursed tome. As any cursed book would, it escaped the sorcerer’s library and began to travel across the world.
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The newly white book, with its eerie aura, was opened by countless people and led to numerous deaths.

When the white book was stained with the blood of the one who opened it, the book wandered the world once more. Now, the cursed book had been opened again, this time by the hands of Noah.

“Ghost…”

As Noah murmured, Julianna opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Noah wearing ragged clothes, which invoked the image of her past self.

Julianna frowned and moved toward Noah, reaching out her hand above his head.

“…!”

Suddenly the ghost appeared right in front of him, and Noah recoiled in fright, falling back. Julianna ignored Noah’s reaction and closed her eyes, beginning to sift through his memories.

Memories flitted through quickly, and since he was still young, the total volume wasn’t extensive.

Julianna found the memories where Noah’s desires were strong.

I want to live.
I want to protect Nero.
I don’t want to die.

Brushing through memories like fingers through petals, she found the one that led Noah to open the book.

I must protect them.

The moment Noah, who had lived only for his sibling and his own survival, developed a ‘belief’, Julianna snapped open her eyes and her expression turned vicious.

The child sitting in front of her resemblance to herself was uncanny. The innate talent for swordsmanship and the resolve to take up a sword to protect someone else.

That’s why it was incredibly irksome. She wanted to strangle and kill the child right then and there. If it had been her past self, she would have done so without a moment’s hesitation.

‘One can’t die so easily’
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Julianna’s previously vicious expression softened into a kind smile.

‘Just like me, you need to die miserably.’

Like she had been betrayed and miserably killed by a man, Julianna wished for Noah to be betrayed and miserably killed by a man named ‘Lian’.

‘Ah, the mere thought of it fills me with joy. I wonder what kind of expression you’ll make when dying.’

Julianna, with a gentle voice, started to imagine Noah wailing in agony with tears of blood.

“Do you want the power to protect someone?”

“…!”

Noah, entranced by Julianna’s beautiful smile, nodded as if under a spell.

“Take my hand, then I’ll grant you the power to protect everyone.”

Julianna presented her white palm to Noah. A soft white light began to gather above it. The holy-feeling light, like a flamboyant toxic mushroom, was full of all sorts of horrifying curses, but Noah had no way of knowing that.

“Come on, quickly.”

Just as Noah, spellbound, was about to reach out and grab her hand.

Click, bang!

“Noah?! Are you here?”
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“…!”

“..!?”

The wild Lian had appeared.

“Ah! You were here!”

Lian found Noah and entered the room with a bright smile. As Noah’s gaze shifted towards Lian, Julianna hurriedly urged an answer.

“You want to protect that man, right? If so, then take my hand quickly.”

Under Julianna’s whispers, Noah looked back at her. As he hesitated, Lian reached Noah’s side.

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“Huh?”

Previously obscured by the bookshelves, Julianna now came into Lian’s view.

“Huh? It’s a ghost?”

“…?!”

“…?!”

Both Noah and Julianna were startled by Lian’s nonchalant voice.

“How can he see me?”

“Uh… you’re a ghost, so yeah, you can be seen, right?”

In the world of comedy, ghosts were no different than any other regular citizens. Cheap rental houses or old properties were so common to share with ghosts that it was no surprise to hear about someone even marrying a ghost. Lian had heard that one of his neighbors had married a ghost.

For Lian, seeing ghosts was normal, but not for Julianna. No one else had ever seen her unless they were the one to open the book.

“Noah, this is a place Mia told us not to come into. Let’s get out of here.”

“Ah…”

Reacting to Lian’s words, Julianna’s eyes widened as she wedged herself between Noah and Lian.

“Sorry, but this child can’t go back yet. We’re not done talking.”

Julianna glared menacingly at Lian alone. Lian twitched and then froze in place.

‘In the end, you’re just another human.’

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She inwardly grinned, imagining Lian fleeing in disgrace. Contrary to her expectations, the response Lian gave was utterly different from what she had imagined.

“I’ll wait outside if you’ll answer just one question.”

Far from running away, he was setting terms. Julianna’s face flushed with confusion. Lian looked straight at Julianna and said,

“How are you anchoring your geospatial coordinates?”