Picked up by the Protagonist of a Tormented! MC Novel

Translator: Piper Panda

Editor: Kleep

Please, everyone, a huge and warm welcome to a new contributor on this project. Sen will be doing TLC from here on. So, now you can have even MOOORRREEE faith in our accuracy.

Zeno was still in a coma. Since Asil said that he would be fine, even though he felt indescribable anxiety in his heart, Xi Wei could only choose to believe in him. He glanced at Suji coldly and temporarily left her there. He took Nile and threw him outside so that he was lying with the other mercenaries who were squashed together. Xi Wei then took jackets from two of the mercenaries, wrapped one around Zeno, and gave the other to Suji.

Suji took the jacket with a stunned expression, and a layer of redness appeared on her face. It was now that she realized that she had been naked that whole time. Since she had been living for over 3,000 years, she had already forgotten about the troublesome matter of putting on clothing.

Xi Wei frowned, unsure of what to do with Zeno. He was covered in blood, and even though Xi Wei wanted to move him, he didn't want to get him dirty.

Perhaps the physique of the Demon race was different from ordinary people, because the protagonist took a full week to wake up, while Zeno woke up after only a day of being in a coma.

When he woke up, he found himself lying next to Nile and the group of mercenaries. The protagonist and Suji were missing. His eyesight blurred, was he…abandoned?

A huge sense of loss shrouded him. The inertia of the plot was so great, so was it because he snatched something that belonged to the protagonist that Xi Wei left him with the beauty?

At that time, the people around Zeno also started waking up one after another. They were just over-exhausted, but there was no danger to their life. Nile and Zeno were the two with the worst conditions out of everybody.

Everyone looked pale and weak. They all looked at the stone gate that had closed and their hearts filled with fear. They all thought they were deceived by Nile, but because Nile looked the worst out of all of them, they stopped doubting him.

After all, there was no reason to act to this extent.

Nile also woke up. His face was very unsightly, probably because he did not get what he wanted. His wishful thinking failed, and he did not know what Suji did to him, and do not even mention the treasure house. Even though his eyes were filled with unwillingness, he let the guards he brought help him up and, no longer looking at the sacrifices, he left.

The people here did not know anyone. They were all gathered together to find the treasure house. The leaders were all returning without success. They had no other way. As for that test again? Forget that, if they tried again, they might directly lose their lives. Although mercenaries were not afraid of death, a death like that was so pointless.

Everyone began to scatter. No one cared about the people who were still lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood. The mercenary who had been stripped of his clothes did not care about Zeno's blood and wrenched his stolen jacket back while cursing. That maneuver caused Zeno to wish for death since it had to be better than the pain. He inhaled sharply, lacking even the will to raise any opposition.

Zeno smiled bitterly. He could not move, so he had to stay laying down in the water with a colorful halo on his head. When the mercenaries were all gone, the heavy stone door slowly opened, and Suji came out with the two foals. Seeing the miserable Zeno, she hesitated, “Are you alright?”

The person soaked in blood looked at her with bright eyes. Since Suji and the foals were here, did that mean the protagonist had not left? Did he not blame him for stealing the Heart of the Devil?

Zeno could not speak, but the expectations in his eyes could not be hidden. Suji suddenly understood his expectation and replied, “Master is now refining the Heart of the Devil. I wanted to leave you outside to let your companions take you away, so why didn’t they care about you?”

Suji said that with a bit of confusion in her tone.

Zeno heard that the protagonist had not left and abandoned him, and his heart was 70 to 80% settled, even the pain that was racking his body all the way to the bones became less unbearable.

He lay quietly while Suji talked to him. She had not seen a living person for two thousand years and was very talkative. It did not take her long to explain her background for the past 7788 years. If it was not for her deep obsession with her former master, Suji was, in fact, a good catch.

What a pity.

Zeno thought about those things, with his mind in a mess. He did not know how long it would take to see Xi Wei again. Xi Wei's whole cultivation had become a lot more condensed, and it was obviously a huge gain on a whole new level. A rough estimate, his cultivation should have reached the level of the Great Warrior.

Corresponding to the grading of magicians, the martial arts of the Hong Yue Continent was divided into nine levels. They were, respectively, Beginner Martial Artist, Martial Artist, Warrior, Great Warrior, Martial Master, Great Martial Master, Martial Saint, Martial Deity, Deity.

Xi Wei was less than twenty, and he was already a Great Warrior. He was comparable with those highly respected super geniuses. Despite that, he was used to being low-key, so very few people knew his true level.

In the protagonist’s hand only the texture of the engraving on the ring was left on his finger. A red gemstone appeared, which seemed to add a touch of luster to the dull gray ring.

Xi Wei squatted down and looked at Zeno condescendingly, “Do you know you were wrong?”

Zeno answered pitifully, “I was wrong.”

Coincidentally, the two people weren't talking about the same thing at all. Xi Wei meant to tell Zeno to change his personality trait, to not take his life for granted. Xi Wei was really angry, and there was a dim pain in his heart.

Xi Wei was so smart, how could he not know why Zeno wanted to grab the gem? If he had malicious intent, he would not have given the gem back. He was clearly the first person to eat crabs¹.

However, Zeno's train of thought was not there. He did not know his identity had long been exposed, so Zeno thought he was being punished for trying to rob the protagonist of his belongings.

Although it was indeed a punishment, the direction of the punishment that the two people interpreted went in completely different directions.

After hearing a satisfactory answer, Xi Wei took off his own whitewashed coat and wrapped it around Zeno, revealing only a head of black hair.

No one knew what Suji was doing during this time. It seemed that she had earned the trust of Xi Wei, and she was responsible for taking care of Zeno when the protagonist went out.

Xi Wei went out to find food. With Zeno's current physical condition, he could not go out at all. He had to stay there for the time being, but at least it was safe.

As for letting Suji go instead? Don’t even think about it, this girl coming back without accidentally selling herself off would be considered successful.

Zeno was lying in a daze. While he was bored, he suddenly remembered some lyrics, but he had to change it, “I am your eyes and I will lead you away from a dangerous future.”

Thinking about not having that much to do all by himself, but he had quite a lot of talent for changing lyrics.

Time spent when doing nothing feels particularly long. Zeno was also facing a huge test. He twisted a few times in place and felt particularly uncomfortable.

People have three urgencies, and Zeno was no exception.

Suji noticed his anomaly. When she saw him twisting in a weird way, she then crouched down and asked curiously, “Litt…Zeno, what's wrong?”

Suji almost accidentally call him Little Master.

Zeno's face was red from holding it in. He also had to take care to avoid looking at Suji, who was dangerously bare everywhere except for the haphazardly draped mercenary's jacket. He was really about to cry from not knowing where to look.

What could he say to a girl? How could he even tell her what he needed to do?! Never mind that he needed help.

It was too awkward! For a thousand-year otaku, he would not be able to say it no matter what.

Just as he felt that his future was dark and that all his face was going to be destroyed, his savior returned.

As soon as Xi Wei came in, he found that he was staring at his Zeno who bore an eager look. He felt fuzzy, but his words were cold, “Do you have something to say?”

Zeno mumbled, “#@?”

If it was not for Xi Wei's power, he would not have been able to hear what Zeno was saying.

Xi Wei glanced at him speechlessly, and with his familiar hands, grabbed Zeno into his arms, and took him to solve his problem.

Suji blinked her eyes, at a loss, and watched them leave.

When Zeno was a child, he did not know how many times he performed that action. It was reasonable to say that he should have gotten used to it, but the two people could still feel the awkward atmosphere.

Sometimes humans were strange. The soul was still the same soul, but the shells had changed. Probably because the age changed? When they were young, they did not think there was anything wrong. At the present, this situation made one want to find a hole to hide in.

Not only Zeno, Xi Wei also felt there was something wrong with the situation. Was it because the person in the arms looked like a teenager?

In such a strange atmosphere, neither of them spoke until Xi Wei gave him some trousers. The heat on Zeno's face faded, and with nothing better to say he asked, "What are we eating today?"

“Mushrooms.”

“……Oh.”

While eating absent-mindedly, he looked at the facial-paralysed face of the protagonist opposite of him. For all he knew, he could have been eating poisonous mushrooms. He looked towards the blood pool and saw Suji sitting with her legs submerged within, and his thoughts drifted to strange places again.

In the original book, during the days Xi Wei was completely unable to move, two sentences indicated that Suji was taking care of the protagonist. Then, when the protagonist encountered his situation, Suji was not…

It was reasonable to say that the readers should have been pleased by the protagonist, who was in an ambiguous situation. The premise was quite in line with the heart of an otaku: a lone man and a beautiful women were in the same room, and the ambiguity of the light of one's imagination could be expected to make a person's blood boil.

When reading books, Zeno did not care about those things. Instead, he was worried about if the protagonist could be healed and if it would add fuel to the protagonist’s warm sister's love. Now that he was immersed in the situation, his feelings were completely the opposite. He even thanked fate for having brought him here, otherwise he would have had the same ideas as others who had read the book.

As for his own strange thoughts, Zeno summed it up that, because he knew the ending, he rejected all the sisters he knew were going to betray the protagonist.

After finding a reason for himself, Zeno was relieved.

After half a month, probably due to the fact that the bodies of the Demons were more powerful, Zeno was able to recover 70 to 80 percent. It was time to leave that location.

Xi Wei did not intend to take the Suji with them, but Suji's eyes were so tearful, the kind of pitiful look that all normal men would have been unable to resist.

“Little Master, Please ask the Master to allow Suji to go with you.”

I was so delighted to read this chapter after Piper finished it. Wasn’t it cute? Well, I thought so anyways. She mentioned something about a long weekend from school, so the next chapter may come out quickly. Meanwhile, I’ll be slogging away on the next RAAS chapter.

As a public health nurse, this is one of the busiest times of the year for me (flu season starts my friends) so I have been working like, all day long all week. So I basically have nothing done. Which is life, I still have a family to deal with on top of that. But I promise I’ll get there. Eventually. So look forward to it. Allllll of it.

–>

1. What this means is basically, the first person to eat crabs was brave and willing to take risks. He didn't know if crabs would be poisonous or what, but he still dared to risk it. So it's basically someone willing to take the leap without any idea of how things will turn out. I was so close to just cutting this out, but in the end I decided to leave it in there. ↩