I’m the Only One With a Different Genre

22 – Oh? A Ghost?

Julianna, born in the slums where shadows outnumbered light, hid her exceptional beauty behind makeup from a young age.

Survival demanded it.

Her mother passed away from illness before Julianna turned 8, leaving her to fend for herself, scraping by each day. Then, one day, a festival arrived in the village.

Though despised as something repulsive by the villagers, during the festival, outsiders mingled easily.

Children picked up clean clothes from discarded ones after washing by the river, wearing them to roam the festival.

Some children were driven by curiosity about the festival, but most did it to earn tips from wealthy guests.

Julianna belonged to the former. She wandered freely through the vibrant streets, captivated by the beautiful festival. Lost in thought, how long had she wandered? She found herself watching a play in the village center.

“Daring to kidnap a princess!”

A script so tacky, and acting so convincing.

It might not hold up in the capital, but here, it was enough to elicit laughter. Especially for the children, it was enchanting beyond measure.

‘Impressive.’

Watching a man wield a sword on stage, Julianna’s eyes sparkled. Not threatening anyone, but the fact that he could control it fascinated her.

Afterward, Julianna took up the sword, and luckily, she had enough talent to become a mercenary. She lived that way for three years.

“Julianna, would you go out with me?”

Fate led her to meet someone she loved. Julianna was the happiest person in the world.

…No, she thought she was happy.

“Kren, why…!”

The lover to whom Julianna had sent a letter pleading to be rescued from noble captivity burst into laughter at the sight of her in a messy state.

“Hahaha, look at yourself. Miss!”

“Hohoho, just like a bug.”

The man who whispered that he loved her, Kren, was the person sent by the noble lady. Why did the noble lady send Kren to her? What made him whisper words of love?

“A great mercenary, pretending to be a mercenary. In the end, a bug is still a bug.”

Well, that’s amusing.

Julianna had only been playing around in the entertainment of the nobles.

“Kren! Kren…! How could you…!”

Julianna truly loved him, so she risked her life to go to the noble household, only to lose her life at the hands of a knight.

The foolish girl, who had been blinded by love for the first time in her life, died like that.

“I won’t forgive you.”

Was it because her hatred was too heavy that God couldn’t take her away? Her soul became a wandering spirit, bound to the earth.

“I’ll kill them all! Every single one!”

As a wandering spirit, Julianna cursed the nobles who had played with her, and tragically killed her own lover. But her anger didn’t diminish. When she moved to kill more people, a dark sorcerer appeared at the gruesome scene.

“Hehehe, this spirit is quite useful.”

The unpleasant-looking dark sorcerer trapped her soul in a book. Taking Julianna away, the dark sorcerer showed her scenes of endless betrayal to make her soul even stronger.

As time passed, Julianna’s hatred deepened and her power grew stronger. The soul that had been trapped in a book became intertwined with it, becoming a cursed book. Like any cursed book would, it flowed out of the dark sorcerer’s library and wandered throughout the world.

The eerie white book, exuding an unusual atmosphere, was opened by numerous people and led them to their deaths.

When the white book became stained with the blood of the person who opened it, the book once again traveled the world. The cursed book, wandering like that, was once again opened by Noah’s hands.

“A ghost…”

With Noah’s muttering, Julianna woke up. The first thing she saw was Noah, dressed in shabby clothes, clearly reminiscent of her past.

It reminded Julianna of her past self.

With a frown, Julianna approached Noah and placed her hand above her head.

“…!”

In an instant, when the ghost approached Noah, he was startled and sat down, frozen. Ignoring Noah’s reaction, Julianna closed her eyes and began to search through Noah’s memories.

In an instant, memories flashed through her mind. Perhaps because she was still young, the total amount of memories was not much.

Julianna discovered the memory in which Noah’s desires were strongly evident.

I want to live.

I want to protect Nero.

I don’t want to die.

Like brushing past a petal with the tip of a finger, Julianna rummaged through the memories, and at the end of the fleeting memories, she found the memory that made Noah open the book.

I will definitely protect them.

The moment when the child who had lived solely for the survival of himself and his younger brother gained a “belief” was vividly etched in front of Juliana. She opened her eyes wide and scowled fiercely.

The child sitting in front of her was strikingly similar to herself. The innate talent for swordsmanship, the determination to wield a sword to protect someone.

That’s why it was even more uncomfortable. She wanted to slit the child’s throat right away. In the past, she would have done it without hesitation.

[“It’s not so easy to kill like that.”]

Juliana wiped away the fierce expression she had been wearing and smiled gently.

[“You should die miserably, just like I did, betrayed by a man.”]

Just as she had been betrayed by a man and died miserably, Noah also wanted to die miserably, betrayed by a man named “Lian.”

[“Ah… just imagining it makes me so happy. What kind of expression will you have when you die?”]

Juliana thought of Noah, who would cry and groan inside while shedding tears of blood, and spoke in a soft voice.

“Do you want the power to protect someone?”

“…!”

From Noble mtl dot com

Noah nodded as he gazed at the beautiful smile of Juliana.

“Take my hand, and I will give you the power to protect everyone.”

Juliana extended her white palm in front of Noah. A new white light began to gather on her palm. The holy light, although it felt dazzling, contained all kinds of dreadful curses, like a poisonous mushroom in its splendor, but Noah had no way of knowing.

“Now, hurry.”

As Noah reached out his hand as if enchanted, something happened.

Clank, thud!

“Noah?! Are you here?”

“…!”

“..!?”

Wild Lian appeared.

“Oh! There you are!”

Lian discovered Noah and entered the room with a bright smile. When Noah’s gaze turned towards Lian, Juliana urged him to answer.

“Do you want to protect that man? If you do, then quickly take this hand.”

At Juliana’s whisper, Noah’s gaze turned back to her. Just as Noah was about to move the hand he had hesitated with, Lian arrived at Noah’s side.

“Huh?”

Juliana’s figure, hidden behind the bookshelf, caught Lian’s attention.

“Oh, what’s this? A ghost?”

“…?!”

“…?!”

Noah was taken aback by Lian’s nonchalant voice, even Giuliana was surprised.

[ How do I look? ]

“Well… since you’re a ghost, you’re visible, right?”

In the world of comedy, ghosts were no different from ordinary residents. Cheap rent houses or old homes were considered natural places to share with ghosts. One of Lian’s neighbors even claimed to have married a ghost.

While it was natural for Lian to see ghosts, it wasn’t for Giuliana. Except for the person holding the book, no one had ever seen her before.

“Noah, this is the place Mia said not to enter. Let’s get out of here.”

“Ah…”

Giuliana, with wide eyes, scrutinized the space between Noah and Lian.

[ Sorry, but this child can’t go back yet. Our conversation isn’t finished. ]

Giuliana sent a stern aura only to Lian. Lian, in response, trembled and froze.

[ ‘In the end, just a mere human.’ ]

She inwardly laughed at the thought of Lian running away in a pathetic manner. Contrary to her expectations, Lian’s response was nothing like what she had imagined.

“If you answer one question, I’ll wait outside for you.”

Rather than fleeing, Lian even added a condition, leaving Giuliana bewildered. Lian stared directly at Giuliana’s face.

“How do you fix the horizon coordinates?”