I’m the Only One With a Different Genre

Chapter 34

34 – Muddle

When faced with a great problem, people typically show various reactions. Some brainstorm solutions, while others slump in defeat, only shedding tears.

The comedic world was no different. I, too, belonged to one of these types.

“It’ll work out somehow, I guess.”

In the comedic realm, you never knew what might happen, and even if something did, death wasn’t certain. And if you did die, becoming a ghost and living a mundane afterlife was natural.

Consequently, I naturally stayed calm.

Wasn’t I tense when thrown into the arena with Iris?

It was because I was with Iris, who could easily die unlike me, who wouldn’t be so scared alone.

What worried me the most were the dark sorcerers who might take notice of my ability to endure any injury without dying.

“Should I kill them with cliché remarks like yesterday? Or pretend I know nothing?”

In the comedic world, regardless of the opponent’s sentience or species, they could become family or enemies.

“If I say, ‘Hey, long time no see!’ suddenly the previously mindless creature starts walking upright, scratching its head, or digging through its fur to pull out a phone and call, ‘Mom, do you know a kid named Lian? Yeah, my childhood friend?'”

In short, with good gaslighting skills, you could even befriend monsters.

Anyway, there were countless ways to avoid problems. Hence, unlike other chosen slaves, I maintained a serene state.

Seeing this, the slaves started to misunderstand something odd.

“Um…”

“Hmm?”

While Iris was feeding me a sandwich, a slave who, like me, had ended up in the arena instead of the Pitmax, approached us.

With his head cleanly shaved, the slave, who looked like a night mushroom, suddenly plopped down beside me. To be precise, he knelt and banged his head on the ground.

“…?!”

“Please, save us!”

Not only was it strange for someone to kneel abruptly, but hearing a plea for salvation left me speechless.

Slurp, ah-.

Iris, indifferent to whether the slave kneeled or not, opened her mouth wide and patiently waited as the food disappeared.

Reflexively, I looked away from the slave and gently fed Iris a small piece of sandwich.

Staring at Iris, who was slobbering like an old goat, when I turned my head towards the slaves, there were more people kneeling.

“Huh?”

“Please, help us!”

“I’m really sorry about yesterday! We didn’t know you were such a strong person…!”

All the kneeling slaves were scheduled to participate in the gladiator matches. I looked at them with a puzzled expression and spoke.

“I have no idea what’s going on all of a sudden…”

The four kneeling slaves included two who had mocked me behind Pitmax’s back yesterday, while the other two were new faces.

“Ah-.”

“Oh, right.”

While I was taken aback, Iris opened her mouth. Like a mother bird feeding a baby bird, I placed a sandwich into Iris’s mouth.

“Please, spare us!”

Watching those who only spoke and cut others off, I felt like sighing.

“Why would I kill you guys?”

Showing no sign of understanding their words, Batol, who had kneeled first, began explaining my situation in detail.

Let’s summarize it.

Pitmax, while not unbeatable, was a powerhouse with the potential to climb two more floors here. Naturally, the monsters he faced were also very powerful.

As anyone could guess, among the people on this floor, there was no one who could stand against the monsters Pitmax faced.

As the participant had changed, shouldn’t the monsters to be faced change too?

Batol, with a melancholic expression, explained in response to my question.

Preparing monsters for gladiator matches involves quite a bit of effort. They need to be excited for battle as soon as the fight starts, and magical precautions must be in place to prevent them from attacking the arena’s spectators.

Therefore, the monsters to be used in the arena are prepared a week in advance, even though they can’t fight. In other words, they have to fight against the monsters that have been prepared to fight against Phimex.

The reason why five people participated in the match where only one Phimex would compete was also because of this. It was a desperate attempt to block them in numbers.

If they fail? Anyway, they are slaves, so what does it matter? Just buy new ones.

Unless they are skilled like Phimex, they are all just consumables. For the slaves designated this time, it was no different from telling them to die.

In such a situation, they say the only way to survive is to be chosen by the country.

“Me?”

“Yes! Didn’t you save even the monster dying with mysterious power yesterday?”

From Noble mtl dot com

Bantol looked at me with pleading eyes. If I refused, he seemed ready to grab my pants and kneel down.

“Uh…”

Iris rolled her eyes while putting another piece of sandwich in her mouth.

‘Why me?’

Surviving alone and surviving while saving these guys are completely different difficulties. Above all, I didn’t want to take care of the slaves who insulted Iris with Phimex.

If I helped, I wanted to help only the two slaves who hadn’t done anything.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you!”

With just that word, Bantol trembled with gratitude and bowed deeply. Since Bantol was not the slave who was with Phimex yesterday, there was no discomfort, so I told him to get up and leave.

Bantol got up with a sniffle and left with a big slave. The big slave was also a slave I had never seen before.

“Please, please save me! I’ll repay your kindness no matter what happens!”

The guys who were sticking to Phimex yesterday, hearing the uncertain words ‘I’ll think about it,’ clung desperately, but when I showed irritation, they ran away in panic.

“Uh…”

“Iris, you’ve finished eating.”

“Yeah.”

As soon as they left, all the sandwiches fell. Iris closed her mouth and nodded. Certainly, as time passed, there were more and more subtle reactions.

As I spent more time with Iris, it was time to participate in the match before I knew it.

“It’s time to participate. Come with me.”

I was about to leave the room after putting Iris on the bed. At that moment, Iris grabbed the hem of my clothes.

“Oops… Iris?”

“Ah…?”

Iris made a small sound, tilting her head. It seemed like she was asking, “Where are you going?” I gently removed Iris’s hand and said.

“I’ll be back soon, so wait for me, okay?”

Iris stared blankly at my face, then lowered her head. Although she didn’t look particularly pleased, it was time, so I had no choice but to leave Iris in the room and step out.

“Do you think I can turn your little brother into a pile of flesh with just one finger?”

“Huk…!”

“I won’t even let you breathe in the same space!”

As I warned the slaves who were out in the corridor to watch the departing slaves, they froze and nodded vigorously.

‘If someone approaches, I told them to destroy them… it should be fine, right?’

Recalling Iris tearing apart the monster, I took the elevator downstairs. Five of us, including myself, were guided through the same passage as before.

As soon as the slaves entered the passage, they rushed toward the weapons placed on one side.

‘Is there a light sword somewhere?’

Perhaps because of my small stature, it was difficult for me to lift a long sword. Thinking, ‘Should I just grab a dagger or something?’ I looked around at the weapons.

The swords hanging on the rack seemed to be in good condition, while the ones in the open orc barrels looked like they could break or lose their edge at any moment.

Since all the hanging ones were long swords, I had no choice but to turn my gaze towards the orc barrel. The other slaves didn’t even bother looking in the direction of the orc barrel, as they were all searching for sturdy long swords.

‘Where can I find something useful?’

Pushing aside the swords like I was searching for my own umbrella in a stand full of umbrellas, I found a decent sword.

‘Ah, this one looks good.’

The length was short, and the handle of the sword was inside. After pushing aside the other swords as much as possible, I tried to pull out the sword that seemed to be a short sword.

Shack.

“Oops…”

Since the swords were packed tightly, I ended up cutting my hand while trying to reach in. Blood dripped as I pulled out the short sword.

“Hmm…”

For an ordinary person, it might have been a shocking moment, making them quickly withdraw their hand. But for me, who could quickly recover from any injury, it was not a big problem.

‘Let’s just pull it out quickly.’

Just like pulling out an umbrella from the stand, where no one bothers to grab their own umbrella if their hand gets wet due to other umbrellas, the reason I pulled out the short sword without caring about my bleeding hand was the same.

“Oh.”

The short sword I drew out was surprisingly well-made, with a sharp blade and no gold coating.

The length of the blade was only about 16 cm, quite short, but it didn’t seem likely to break easily.

“There’s too much blood on it.”

‘Should I wipe it with my clothes?’ I thought.

[…Did you wake me up?]

The voice in my head, neither distinctly male nor female, reverberated and spread.

Swoosh.

The blood that clung to the blade was instantly absorbed into the sword.

“Ah… so sweet, so sweet! Bring me more blood right away!”

My hand moved on its own, and the sword plunged deep into my abdomen.

“Hahaha! Yes, this is it! Ah… after centuries, blood tastes so sweet!”