Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 13
>Chapter Title: Noah is Definitely an Angel!
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Noah is definitely an angel!
“...!”
Noah's expression twisted into a grimace. My upper body was covered in more scars than I could count on both hands.
“You, this...”
Her low, sunken voice made me flinch for a moment.
“Oh? Uh, this is... those experiment marks I mentioned in the dining hall? They don't hurt at all! They just look nasty.”
I said, smiling inwardly with satisfaction.
*Heh, having a friend is the best. I even get worried over for something like this.*
In the Gag World, you rarely died from ordinary things (and even if you did, you'd often just pop up in the middle of your own funeral), so you hardly ever got worried over unless it was something truly major.
Even when something big happened, the most comfort you'd get was a "Hang in there."
*Of course... the handsome ones could get worried over all day long...*
That damn lookism existed in every world. Back when I was in school, a group of girls once ran me over like a dump truck, rushing to meet the school's "prince."
I ended up with two broken ribs and a sprained ankle, hospitalized for three days.
After living a life like that, Noah's concern felt incredibly warm.
*You're my best friend. For real!*
I smiled fondly, thinking things like, *'Don't forget me when you make it big!'* but Noah's expression didn't soften.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Uhm... Ah, right! I never told you about that!”
Come to think of it, I had never properly explained how my body was different from others.
I immediately clapped my hands and picked up the scissors from the nightstand next to the bed.
They were the same scissors I'd used to mend Nero's clothes yesterday. I took them, then grabbed an old piece of clothing from the laundry pile in the corner of the room, one that was ready to be thrown out.
“The thing is, my body is very different from other people's. Even a fatal wound isn't a big deal for me. Like this—”
*Stab!*
I lightly stabbed the back of my hand with the scissors. They slid in as smoothly as if cutting through tofu.
This was proof that the Gag Filter was active. The back of a hand has solid bones and muscles, so it's ridiculous for it to be pierced so easily. But in the Gag World, my hand would be pierced effortlessly just to create a funny situation.
As soon as blood spurted out, I quickly removed the scissors and covered the wound with the cloth. Then, I thought to myself.
*Oh no, I'm gonna die!*
As I made a pained face, the bleeding stopped instantly.
In the Gag World, if you think, *'Hehe, I'm totally fine!'* something like a giant sign usually falls on you from the sky.
On the other hand, if you make a fuss and cry, *'Oh no, I'm dying!'* the wound usually heals quickly. Of course, it depends on the situation, but in this case, the 'I'm dying' approach was effective.
Just as I expected, when I removed the cloth, my skin was completely healed. Well, there was a faint reddish mark where the skin had just sealed.
That too would disappear with time.
“Ta—”
Just as I was about to say "—da!", Noah, who had been standing there with a blank face, rushed over and snatched my hand.
“Y-You... what do you think you're doing?!”
With a trembling hand, Noah held my hand as carefully as if it were fragile glass. She examined my blood-soaked hand.
I gave an awkward smile and showed her the healed spot.
“Look, it's already healed. So don't worry—”
“Don't be ridiculous! Just because it heals fast doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!”
Startled by her outburst, I flinched and darted my eyes around.
“I-It doesn't really hurt. Just a little sting, maybe? Less than static shock!”
I suddenly remembered that in the Gag World, static shock had a high chance of leading to a lightning strike, but I quickly pushed the thought away.
“It doesn't hurt much and it heals right away, so you don't have to worry.”
“...”
Noah's face was flushed red as she breathed heavily. It looked like a torrent of curses was about to erupt from her throat.
“It's not... not okay at all. This is all wrong.”
Noah gripped my shoulders roughly, her eyes, on the verge of tears, staring right at me.
“Just because it doesn't hurt, just because you heal quickly, doesn't mean it's okay for others to abuse your body like that!”
Noah's words broke my brain. In that fleeting moment, countless memories from the Gag World flashed through my mind.
My mom's greeting, "Oh, were you out?" after I'd finally returned from being kidnapped.
The time I was tossed aside just because I looked average, even though I was hurt just as badly as the others.
My friend who sold me to a mad scientist to pay off his own debts, and so on.
“Huu...”
“...!”
Tears began to stream from my eyes like a waterfall. I threw my arms around Noah and cried out.
“Noah, you're such a good person! Waaah!”
Noah must be an angel sent from the heavens! In that moment, I made a decision.
From this day forward, our relationship of support is over; Noah and I are now one. An attack on Noah is an attack on me!
As I thought this and sobbed my heart out, Noah, who had been stiff, relaxed and hugged me back.
*Sniff, another guy is hugging her, and she's not even kicking me away...*
Noah, just how much of an angel are you!
***
Noah bit her lip as she patted the back of the sorrowfully weeping Rian.
*...What should I do?*
Ever since she was left with only her younger brother, Nero, the most important thing to Noah had been 'survival'.
In a kingdom that had fallen into the hands of the Demon King, emotions like 'pity' were a luxury.
To survive, Noah had turned a blind eye to children around Nero's age. No, she'd had no choice but to turn a blind eye.
There was no way to help them other than to be sold and die in their place. Noah had ignored countless deaths to protect her brother and survive.
She had thought she could do even worse for her brother's sake. The conviction that she could even commit murder was now dissolving into confusion because of this sobbing man.
*If Rian doesn't undergo the experiments... Nero might have to.*
For the sake of 'survival', she had to ignore Rian. She should have felt relieved that he took 'sacrifice' for granted and simply observed. But Noah couldn't do it.
She couldn't just turn away from Rian, who smiled and said it was fortunate while his body was covered in scars. But even if she didn't turn away, there was nothing Noah could do to help.
She couldn't become the test subject in his place, nor could she offer up other children to be experimented on.
The helplessness stemming from that gap made her feel like she was suffocating. The despair of facing an unsolvable problem felt like it was burning a black hole in her chest.
At that moment, Rian pushed off Noah's shoulders and stepped back. He couldn't hide his red, swollen eyes, but he smiled brightly and said.
“Sniff, thank you, Noah. I'll work hard on the experiments and the cooking from now on.”
“Why?! I told you it's not right to be abused by others!”
“But it'd be hard on anyone else but me. Besides, they're all so young.”
“...!”
Rian smiled with such a composed expression it was hard to believe he'd been crying just moments ago. In his eyes, Noah saw something she had never encountered before in her life.
The 'gaze of an adult'—one that takes protecting the weak and young for granted—looked straight at her. Noah froze, staring blankly at Rian.
“I'll do my best with the experiments and the cooking, so you just take care of the kids as best you can, Noah.”
To Noah, who always had her hackles raised to protect her brother, it was as if Rian was whispering to her.
*I'll protect you. Let's protect our precious people together.*
For Noah, who had been forced to mature at such a young age, these words were incredibly sweet.
If she could just ignore her guilt and sense of sin towards him and let herself be deceived by his gentle smile, she could rely on him and be cared for.
She could escape from countless responsibilities.
If Noah had been a more mature and experienced adult, she might have pressed Rian further, scolded him even, but she was too young.
“...Alright, let's work hard together.”
Noah had just made a choice she would regret for the rest of her life.
***
“This one, that one, why won't any of them work!”
Doban ground his teeth and threw the poison he had created onto the floor.
“Aah... the path to creating a masterpiece is truly arduous. The whole world conspires against me!”
*Thump, stomp!*
He viciously stomped on the poison scattered on the floor. Still not satisfied, he approached the girl lying sprawled on the ground.
“Why! Won't! It! Peel!”
“Kugh...”
The girl, so saturated with all sorts of poisons that she might as well have been filth, lay limply with unfocused eyes before being kicked and sent flying by Doban's foot.
“If only I had that beautiful skin, I could create a truly beautiful work of art!”
Doban huffed and spun around. At the end of his gaze stood a chimera, stitched together from various bodies.
“Huu, huu... This won't do. I have to get that poison!”
Although the girl had fine skin and soft hair, her emaciated and frail body prevented her from becoming a beautiful work of art.
So, Doban had tried to peel off her scalp and skin to make his most prized chimera even more beautiful. But this had failed spectacularly. For some reason, poison was unusually ineffective on the girl.
Of course, it wasn't completely ineffective, but it wasn't strong enough to gently peel off her skin.
“...I'm sure they said Mia bought the last of the stock, didn't they?”
Doban's eyes glinted as he muttered.
“It's been a while, but I suppose I'll have to pay her a visit.”