episode_0008

Before Lania could stop Moore, flames flew.

“Yikes!”

Time suddenly began to slow down.

Thud.

The body straightened.

Thud.

The waist curled round.

Shooooo -..

The slowly approaching fireball passed through the circular ring I made with my body and fell to the ground. I rolled my body forward and turned it twice, then stopped, kneeling on one knee with my arms spread out.

Kwaaang!

Like an X-Warrior, a huge explosion erupted behind me. I chuckled proudly.

Whoosh!

“Ugh.”

I quickly turned my head at the smell of burning wood.

“Ahh! F-fire!”

I urgently took off my top and frantically waved it at the blazing fire, but it only grew stronger. It was as if I had fanned the flames.

“You can burn well on your own. I’ll take my leave, Master.”

“Oh, no. I owe that guy.”

“What? Owe?”

Laina and Mia’s words didn’t register in my mind.

‘Underground prison! If we stay like this, everyone might die!’

I didn’t know how different this place was from the comedy world, but at least I knew about the issue of dying.

‘I have to save them!’

As a comedian who rides roller coasters without a safety belt, sacrificing oneself was unthinkable. I headed towards the underground prison with a determined expression.

Bang!

I forcefully opened the door and descended into the underground.

“Hey, kids! Come out quickly! There’s a fire!”

“Huh, huh?”

“Uh…uhh…”

Children who hadn’t properly learned to speak bit their tongues and widened their eyes. Meanwhile, the flames grew, and acrid smoke began to seep into the underground.

Clank! Clunk!

I quickly took out the keys, unlocked the doors, and began pulling out the children who sat there with blank faces.

“Sc-scaredd!”

“Aaahh!”

The children thought they were being dragged away by a dark wizard and started to cry.

“Ah! Hey, hey, don’t cry! Are you okay?”

Amidst the chaotic situation, I hesitated but eventually picked up the child. At that moment, Noah emerged from the next room, furrowing his brow and shouting, “Stop! Do you want us all to die like this?!”

At the rough voice, the crying child froze in place. Noah looked at the children and said, “Even if you can’t speak, you can understand, right?”

As Noah locked eyes with the children and asked, they hesitantly nodded. Gripping Nero’s hand tightly, Noah said, “You heard it earlier, didn’t you? That sound.”

“What sound?”

I looked at Noah and the children, puzzled by the story I seemed to have missed. Disregarding my words, Noah pointed at the door.

Whoosh!

At the tip of Noah’s finger, beyond the wide-open door, flames flickered.

“It’s really on fire. If we stay here, we might all die. So stop resisting and follow me. You… don’t want to die here, do you?”

Internally, I applauded.

‘Wow… Even though the original characters are different, they’re still unique.’

Following Noah’s words, the children stepped out one by one. The fire had started, but it hadn’t spread much, so it seemed relatively easy to escape. No, it looked like it was possible.

“…Wait, what about that kid?”

Noah said with a bewildered expression.

“The one with the red hair who was in the same cell as me—”

Before Noah could finish, I leaped into the burning building.

“Wait…! You—”

Noah’s words were drowned out by the roaring flames and couldn’t be heard clearly.

“Jess! Where are you, Jess!”

The house was engulfed in flames. I covered my mouth with my sleeve and stirred the fire. My heels were burning, but I didn’t pay much attention. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought, and I knew it would get better by tomorrow instinctively.

“Jess!”

“Sob…”

“..!”

The place where I found the small water fairy, Jess, was the kitchen where the fire had started to spread. Curled up inside a drawer, Jess hugged her tail and sobbed.

“Phew… Thank goodness.”

“Hmm?”

Jess had food crumbs around her mouth from whatever she had been eating. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but laugh out of relief.

I took off my upper garment and soaked it in clean water I had kept for cleaning. Not stopping there, I brought an apron that had caught fire and soaked it in water too. The remaining water I poured over my head. Then I wrapped Jess’s body tightly with the cloth.

Jess, who hadn’t eaten well, was so small that I could wrap most of her body in the damp cloth. She looked up at me with teary eyes. Her ears and tail were trembling pitifully. I tried to smile as casually as possible and said,

“I’ll take you outside soon, so keep your eyes closed, okay?”

“Okay…”

With Jess wrapped in the cloth, I turned around. The crimson flames had already crept into the kitchen.

“It’s really sad to be a slave in times like this.”

In preparation for escaping through the window, there was no window in the kitchen, and the walls were very thick. The only way to escape from here was through the blazing entrance.

I chuckled weakly.

“At least… I hope my hair doesn’t catch fire.”

In this cruel world of comedy, everything else may be fixed… but not the hair. Maybe that’s funnier, huh?

I made up my mind to protect my eyebrows and hair, bowed my head as much as possible, and left the house.

Crackle!

The sound of the house pillars falling and furniture collapsing was heard from behind. Odil’s house, which had always complained about being narrow, felt unusually spacious today.

“Khiik!”

Smelling the burning flesh, I rushed out of the house.

“Ugh!”

I gasped for air as I came out, feeling like I had breathed in too much stuffy air.

“Ryan!”

“Hyung!”

The children who were gathered outside rushed towards me. I knelt on the crumbling ground, holding Jesse in my arms, and looked down at him.

“Ha… ”

Jesse slowly opened his eyes and looked up at me. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be injured anywhere. I carefully put Jesse down on the ground and felt my head with my hand.

He’s here! He’s okay! Except for a little burn, he’s fine!

“Thank goodness!”

“What’s there to be thankful for? Are you crazy?!”

Noah looked at my burnt skin, which was so red that it almost peeled off, and frowned. Especially my feet were in a serious condition. The skin had burst, blood was flowing, and blisters had formed.

“Oh, this is nothing. It’ll heal soon.”

“Hmm. That’s quite an interesting story.”

Before Noah could get angry, a charming voice was heard from behind. When I turned my head, Mia was looking at my foot.

“You’re healing so quickly…”

She looked at my healing foot with a twinkle in her eye. Although it was recovering at a speed that couldn’t be perceived by the eyes of an ordinary person, it seemed to be observed properly in her eyes.

“You said you had nowhere to go earlier, right? Then let me take you.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. But if you’re going to take me, promise not to kill me until I become an adult?”

Rania, who stood with her fingers behind her head, smiled as if everything was fine. Mia grimaced at the serious warning not to conduct experiments serious enough to kill, then nodded helplessly. Rania, who had come close to me, bowed her head and whispered in my ear.

“Did you pay for the cookies you ate earlier?”

She answered and swiftly turned her body to escape the dark street. Those who had been slinking out, eyeing the blazing house for something to scavenge, were seized with fear at the sight of Rania and fled.

“Shall we go now?” Mia grabbed my arm, the skin peeled off from the burn. It was a touch devoid of any consideration… but my attention was focused elsewhere, not on the pain.

Squelch.

“Ugh!”

Softly, inexplicably, the pocket of wisdom pressed firmly against my elbow.

“What a reward… Thank you,” I thought as I staggered to my feet.

“Um, if it’s okay, can I take those kids with me?”

“What?”

Her expression crumpled when I made the request. It was a look that seemed to say, “Why is this bug speaking?” I vigorously waved my hands and said, “They’re like my siblings. If they’re not with me, I could become so sad and depressed that I might just die.”

“Is it related to your health?”

At her somewhat suspicious question, I immediately nodded vigorously.

“Yes, yes! If my mental state worsens, my physical condition becomes ex! tre! mely! poor…”

“Well, if that’s the case, there’s nothing to be done. Instead…”

She bowed her head to me. Mia’s large and magnificent chest pressed against my burned chest. At the same time, her breath, sweet and gentle, wafted over me. I stared blankly at her beautiful face.

“Our school’s Madonna isn’t that great after all.”

My frozen face was reflected in Mia’s glasses. Fortunately, I didn’t seem to be making an embarrassing expression.

“If the experiment gets a little more intense, is that okay?”

“Yes, yes.”

Intense, huh? What could be intense? Ah, the experiment? She did say experiment, right? Intense experiment? The phrasing sounds good.