I’m the Only One With a Different Genre

31 – The Arena of Madness

“What?! He committed suicide? Who gave them the right?”

A brutal match, where warriors wielding swords fiercely battle demons, igniting the spectators with fervor.

Today, a 15-year-old slave who had taken his own life was scheduled to be used as a sacrificial offering, announcing the beginning of the swordfight.

If a slave died, they could simply replace them with another, but this time it was difficult to do so.

“Damn it, an esteemed guest is coming!”

Tohtogen, known as the Dark Merchant, was expected to come and watch the swordfight. He had a rather perverse taste.

He enjoyed seeing beautiful and lovely children being hurt.

His favorite was when innocent children, who didn’t know when they would die, killed demons and abandoned their pure appearance, becoming corrupted. However, there was no child who possessed the delicate, cute appearance Tohtogen would favor, and could tear apart and kill a demon with their physique.

Instead, a show was planned to display barbaric children who would be torn apart by demons, which Tohtogen would find pleasing.

His standards for appearance were incredibly strict, so the slave who committed suicide was barely prepared to his liking.

“Damn it!”

But now, that slave was dead. There was no time to find another slave. This meant losing a big customer.

“I have to do something, no matter what…!”

Recalling the money they had received satisfying Tohtogen, Oduki’s eyes flashed.

“There must be at least one slave who meets the appearance standards… Ah!”

Oduki remembered the slaves they had confined underground a few days ago.

“If it’s those guys…”

Muttering to himself, Oduki immediately remembered the order Zinso had given. Not to use them recklessly, as they would be used for an event.

“Surely, Zinso will find this side more interesting.”

Oduki chuckled slyly and quickly wrote down the story of the two slaves on a piece of paper.

Tying the letter to a raven’s leg, he sent it off. Before an hour had passed, he received a response.

The letter read, “Do as you please.” Oduki revealed a yellowish smile and laughed unpleasantly.

***

“Iris, let’s eat.”

“…”

Darkness descended, where nothing could be seen… The prison that should have been sitting still had a completely different appearance.

The walls and floor were entirely made of smooth rocks, just like before, but there was lighting on the ceiling, and a decent small table was placed in the middle of the room.

On the table, two rice balls were neatly arranged. It was a natural rule that useful items for survival would be generated in the surroundings in the event of an emergency (or a similar situation).

Especially when one had to take care of someone ‘pretty’ or a ‘sister,’ obtaining food and goods became much easier. Thanks to this, the two of them could live without going hungry.

“It feels like if we continue living like this, the size of the room might increase.”

One side of the room had already transformed into a mechanical device. I hadn’t done anything myself. When Iris tried to see what was on the floor, the wall turned on its own, and a bathroom appeared.

It was a very kind comedy filter for a pretty underage girl. Perhaps, over time, even an ordinary household might get upgraded, I thought.

“Iris, go ahead, eat.”

Iris seemed completely out of it, as if something had happened. I had to put the food directly into her mouth for her to chew and swallow.

After swallowing, she remained still with a vacant expression on her face.

After feeding Iris like giving baby food, I gave her more of my rice ball. Looking at her emaciated body, there was no other choice.

After putting the remaining half into my mouth and swallowing, I sat next to Iris. When I combed her tangled hair, Iris twitched her hand.

Taking her hand first, Iris quietly held onto it. After taking care of her for a few days, she had started holding onto pieces of my clothes or my hand silently.

“If I take good care of her, her condition might improve a bit.”

Thinking it was fortunate to have even a small change, I opened my mouth.

“Iris, would you like to try making the rice balls we ate today later? Where I used to be, kids learned how to cook. Oh, I taught them how to do it. If Iris learns, she’ll surely do well.”

Later, when Iris met Noah and the others, I continued telling stories of living with the children so that there would be no resistance.

I don’t know if she was listening, but since doing nothing was better than doing nothing at all, I kept talking about the kids.

As I talked about the kids, Noah came to mind. I wasn’t particularly worried about Noah or the kids.

He was a character from the original work, and there was an ‘adult,’ Julianna, by his side, so I thought he would somehow manage to endure.

This trust of mine originated from Iris, the original protagonist, who was living well. Indeed, the protagonist doesn’t die, and Iris and Ryan meet as in the original, so I was relieved.

For various reasons, my worry about the kids was light. Instead, I was more worried about Iris, who had completely lost her mind.

“When I go back, I should thank Pia.”

I don’t know why Pia suddenly pushed me away, but somehow, thanks to her, I was able to find Iris. I planned to give her some cookies or something later.

Clang.

At that moment, the abruptly closed door opened. Unlike Jess, the one who opened it had a face very much resembling an animal, and he had a long tail.

“Hey, you two, what’s this?”

The rat-like being looked around the inside of the prison with a puzzled expression. Somehow, I refrained from making the sound effect ‘Follow, follow, follow’ with my mouth.

“Did Jisoo ask you to take care of me specially…? Ah, I don’t know. If you’re late, she’ll nag again…”

From Noble mtl dot com

Mumbling to himself, the rat being snapped his fingers at me and Iris, who were holding hands.

“Follow me.”

I don’t know what the situation is, but I stood up from my seat, knowing that it wouldn’t be good to rebel. I tried to lift Iris right away, but she also stood up as I did.

As we stepped outside, the rat-like humanoid locked the prison door and started walking ahead.

They took the elevator we used to descend and went up steadily. The place they descended to was the floor where Iris was initially imprisoned.

After getting off the elevator, they started walking straight ahead. The rat-like creature stopped its steps in front of a large door across from the elevator.

Approaching the wall, he pulled a long, stretched rope. As he did, a clanging sound echoed from beyond the door.

Kugung.

As if that were a signal, the door opened.

Wow-!

The sound of a loud cheer mixed with people shouting in excitement echoed in my ears. I considered taking out earplugs from my pocket, but refrained from doing so as it might draw attention.

Inside the door was a short corridor. At the end of the corridor was a staircase, at least 30 steps.

A bright light seeped in from the end of the stairs, seeming to connect to the outside. However, it appeared impossible to exit through the barred window.

“Wait inside, and when the window opens in front, go out.”

“Is that all?”

I asked, and the rat-like creature looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“You haven’t been here long, have you? Slaves don’t ask questions. Got it?”

The rat-like creature licked its lips and went out through the open door. The door closed with a kugung sound, leaving only Iris and me in the space connected to the outside.

‘What’s going on?’

I scratched the back of my head, looking around. Old weapons were placed on one side of the wall. Since there was no reason to admire creepy weapons, I decided to go upstairs.

Iris seemed like she might let go for a moment, but as she didn’t, I just held her hand and went up the stairs together.

“Thank you! Thank you! Now, let’s really start the gladiator match!”

“Woohoo!”

“Hweeik!”

A round and large space, enthusiastic spectators, and a man who seemed like the announcer with an exaggerated tone.

‘Could this be… an arena of madness?!’

It was a fighting arena operated by Jiso, where you could witness fights between monsters and humans, humans and humans, and monsters against monsters. However, the fights were unfair, and the only rule was that if it was entertaining to watch, it was enough.

‘Wait a minute! I distinctly remember being told to go out when the window opens!’

My face turned pale. It was okay for me, but Iris might not survive.

Clang, shooruk!

“…!”

Amidst all this, the iron bars above suddenly swung open. I quickly took a step back with Iris. At that moment, a massive, muscular man standing outside the bars swiftly lifted both me and Iris into the arena.

“Whoa!”

I managed to hold Iris in my arms and rolled on the ground.

Clang.

A black sword fell in front of me as I lay on the ground.

“Don’t just lie there quietly; it won’t be fun. Resist as much as you can.”

The man who had tossed us inside laughed, walking towards the passage from where we had emerged. It seemed like he threw the sword. I staggered to my feet, looking around.

The frenzied audience and the intense heat that made the skin burn.

The artificially created light by the magician Jisoo brightly illuminated the arena.

“Now, the demon you’ll be fighting against these pitiful siblings is…?! The Snake Lion!”

Clang, swoosh!

From the opposite side of where I stood, I heard the sound of bars rising. A lion with the tail of a snake, its body the size of an adult man’s forearm, roared as it came out from beyond the bars.

I quickly grabbed the sword. It was quite hefty, and the tip of the sword pointed downward.

‘Should I run and try to escape by climbing the walls? Or should I use those words somehow to negotiate?’

As I desperately brainstormed words to avoid the crisis, Iris, in the meantime…

“Huh?”

Iris snatched the sword from my hand. I stared at her in surprise, and my body froze. There was a white light flickering in her eyes, a beautiful glimmer revealing the qualities of a hero.

…

Iris silently let go of my hand and began to walk confidently forward. Before I could stop her,

Thunk!

She shot forward.