Chapter 32
Iris’s world had crumbled.
It’s hard to tell exactly when it started. At some point, her vision narrowed, and all sounds felt like they were echoing from a distance.
In this entirely white space, Iris spent her time in a daze. She no longer felt tormented. She didn’t feel any pain either.
Then, out of nowhere, she felt a warm sensation and snapped back to reality. A voice, echoing like it was coming from a cave, brushed past Iris’s ears.
It wasn’t a hand slapping her cheek or yanking her hair, but a gentle touch combing through her hair, instinctively making Iris reach out.
Her hand, trembling with learned fear, grabbed onto the warm end. As if it were completely natural, the warmth clasped her hand in return.
In that instant, her confined world expanded just a tiny bit.
With nothing left in her life but a worthless self and the gentle warmth, Iris reacted to that warmth with heightened sensitivity.
Clang!
With the cold sound of metal, she heard murmuring voices. It felt distant, like she was straining to hear faint echoes from afar.
“Haa, ha…”
But the voice of the warm presence hugging Iris was super clear. She felt a rapid heartbeat through their skin, the tension in the hand gripping tightly from nerves, and the gesture of protecting her behind the scenes.
Iris slowly started to register all of this.
“Grrrr…”
The chilling killing intent of a beast on the hunt swept over Iris. In that moment, she knew instinctively that if things continued this way, the warmth might just disappear.
The child who could neither cry nor laugh wished desperately not to lose the one warmth she had left.
‘I want to protect it.’
A light began to seep into her empty eyes.
‘This warmth alone…’
Iris instinctively grasped the sharp sword.
‘I don’t want to lose it.’
As the world crumbled into white, her narrowed vision began to broaden. Her gaze landed on the beast that was baring its teeth.
The moment she snapped back to reality, she found herself running.
“Roarharhar!”
A roar that could scare the faint-hearted into clutching their hearts and collapsing echoed through the arena, but Iris didn’t flinch at all.
The beast flashed its eyes menacingly at her. It leaped back significantly and started to watch her warily, filled with suspicion.
The beast instinctively recognized Iris as a dangerous presence. But that didn’t matter to Iris. With a light kick against the ground, she swung her sword with a poker face.
Swoosh!
Though they were pretty far apart, and the sword sliced through the air, the moment the beast chuckled, a long line cut across its torso and then it ripped open. Following that, green blood began to gush out.
“Grrrr!”
Startled, the beast backed up several times, but Iris was faster. She hacked at the beast’s legs, head, and torso haphazardly like she was butchering it.
“Roarhar! Cough, ack…!”
The beast charged at Iris time and again, but it couldn’t even touch a strand of her hair.
Crack!
The thick neck bone snapped, and the snake-like tail was chopped into ten pieces, marking Iris’s victory.
“Woooooow!! An unimaginable outcome!!”
“Waaaaaah!”
“Woooow!”
The overwhelming cheers that shook the earth filled the arena. Iris, as if the noise and scenery around her were invisible, dashed toward Lian with the bloody sword in her hand.
Clang.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she discarded the sword and grabbed Lian’s hand in a hurry. When her warmth met his, she exhaled a long sigh of relief.
At the same time, her vision narrowed once more, and she curled up again in her own little world. But unlike before, she wasn’t alone. Just that was enough to satisfy her.
*
“Wow, that was impressive.”
The moment Iris took off, I quickly fished out my 3D glasses from my pocket and popped them on. Watching a battle with 3D glasses can turn a mundane fight into something magical, like a scene out of a movie.
As proof, some sort of sword energy was shooting out of Iris’s blade, relentlessly attacking the monster.
‘This level of power wasn’t in the original work.’
I wasn’t sure if Iris had awakened before meeting me or if the comedic filter was just really top-notch, but hey, whatever floats your boat!
Crack!
Iris sliced off the head of that terrifying monster and began racing toward me. I quickly took off the glasses and tucked them back into my pocket.
Clang!
Iris, having ditched her sword, came dashing towards me and carefully held my hand. It seemed she was a bit freaked out from fighting that monster because her hand was trembling. Once I intertwined our fingers, the shaking slowly calmed down.
“Phweeeee!”
“Waaaaah!”
“Wooooow!”
The cheers just kept rolling on. Being the center of attention for thousands of humans and demons wasn’t exactly a picnic. Clutching Iris’s hand tightly, I made my way to the spot where the guy who tossed me the sword earlier was standing.
The man who had been in the passageway was now outside, leaning back against the wall.
“Heh, turns out she’s quite useful?”
The dude swept his sleazy gaze over Iris, which shocked me a lot.
‘That crazy jerk?’
Sure, Iris was pretty, but she was all skinny from not eating well and shorter than me. Seeing some forty-something dude ogling a girl shorter than me like that made me want to curse without even thinking!
I hurriedly covered Iris’s eyes and stepped into the passage.
“Iris, you shouldn’t see stuff like that. Jeez, don’t look. Got it?”
Iris, silently following me, gave a tiny nod.
She actually responded!
I was so surprised that I turned to Iris and asked, “Iris, did you just respond?!”
Then, Iris tilted her head slightly and bumped her forehead against my shoulder. I had no clue what that meant, but it seemed like she was showing more reactions than before.
It felt like watching a puppy, previously abused, slowly open its heart—an emotional tidal wave hit me!
Boom.
Just as we were nearly down the stairs, the huge door that had been shut opened. A guy who looked a bit like an Odol entered.
“Heh heh… Good job! Well done!”
This Odol-ish guy, who treated slaves like dirt, was showering praise like he was the king of the world while clapping his hands.
“Send these two to the upper floor!”
“Yes, understood!”
The rat Therianthrope hiding behind the Odol-like dude anxiously bowed as he rubbed his hands together like a fly. The Odol-like dude cackled like a villain and hopped excitedly before he left.
Iris and I followed the rat Therianthrope into the elevator, heading to the upper floor.
“Wow…”
Just going up one floor, and the scenery had changed dramatically. It wasn’t luxurious, but the space had a bright vibe with lots of plants, spacious windows, and cozy resting areas with sofas.
The rooms resembled the dormitories of noble estates but were far superior compared to a prison.
After looking around the room, the rat Therianthrope clarified this wasn’t the place and led us to the floor directly above the one we initially stepped into using the elevator. The destination was the top floor!
“…!?”
There it was—a VVIP suite, just like the ones I’d seen in MyTube videos from my past life, standing tall. It was a room that would make any noble jealous!
“Hmm… This place seems too fancy for you guys.”
The rat Therianthrope muttered before leading us to the floor just above the dormitory-style level. The neatly arranged rooms had two beds each and appeared clean but somewhat underwhelming.
Having just seen the extravagant top floor, it was only natural to compare. Then reality hit me.
‘Ah, they did this on purpose.’
By showing them the life of luxury on the top floor and then taking them to a designated floor and one that’s worse, comparisons were bound to happen.
Slaves would naturally start craving for the upper floor while fearing the drop down. Ultimately, those entranced by ‘the power of the arena’ would chain themselves and never escape its confines.
“Alright, you two will be staying here from now on. Feel free to hang out until another match is scheduled, just don’t leave the arena.”
The rat Therianthrope pointed to one of the empty rooms, warning us that if we wandered too far from the arena, our collars would blow up. After that, he left, leaving Iris and me alone.
Well, to be precise, we were alongside the other slaves who were peeking out from their rooms with caution.
“Hey.”
‘Shall we head to our room now?’ I wondered when a mocking voice interrupted me.
Turning toward the voice, I saw a guy who looked like he was two heads taller than me, smirking down at Iris and me.
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