Picked up by the Protagonist of a Tormented! MC Novel

Translator: Piper Panda

TLC: Sen

Editor: Kleep

Hi everyone! Thanks for being so patient. As you might know, my baby was born! I’m just starting to get on top of things, but we also sold our house and will be moving at the end of the month. Craziness.

Anyways, quick recap from last chapter. Zeno saw Belle talking to Xi Wei. When he went to ask her where Xi Wei went, she attacked him. There’s more, but hopefully that’s enough to jog your memory.

When Xi Wei came back, Zeno's vigilant spirit relaxed, and his nap ended up becoming sleeping in till around noon. Rubbing his eyes as he awoke, he noticed Xi Wei was no longer on the bed. He looked around and saw a person sitting at the table to his right.

Zeno then soundlessly got out of bed and went behind Xi Wei like a ghost, he wanted to 'sneak attack' Xi Wei, but how could a magician sneak attack a warrior? the only result from attempting so would be miserable.

Xi Wei didn’t have to turn to look at him. Instead he just powerfully swung his hand back and grabbed Zeno's wrist and twisted. Being yanked by his wrist, Zeno was pulled into the air and flipped over to land on Xi Wei's thigh.

Zeno struggled with conviction, “That doesn't count, you cheated.”

Xi Wei did not let go of him. He kept him pressed on his knees and admired his vain attempt at escaping.

Twisting and turning, Xi Wei's eyes changed, he lifted Zeno's face by his chin causing Zeno to make a painful yelp sound.

Underneath his chin was a bloody gash, and his neck also had five fingerprint sized bruises.

Due to his posture while sleeping, he had not immediately discovered it.

Zeno shrank his neck with a guilty conscience, but he still obediently took the initiative to explain, “I, I saw you leaving yesterday.”

Xi Wei's eyes looked terrifying, but his expression was calm, "Oh?"

Zeno said, “I was wrong, I shouldn't shouldn't have been impulsive and gone to find Belle.” While internally he thought, 'Why is this guy so handsome!'

Since opening the door to the new world, Zeno had changed from a simple, braindead fan to a braindead fan that coveted beauty.

Sorry, I can't control it.

To a certain extent, Xi Wei's intentional or unintentional 'seduction' was still effective.

However, in the face of a conscious Xi Wei, Zeno did not have the wily courage to make any moves.

No matter what means one has, he has to be willing to try them. Foremost was the question of whether any of it would even be effective against a guy possessing the protagonist's halo.

In the end, he still unwaveringly continued to sell his cuteness and put up a pitiful facade. Although Xi Wei had long seen through his inconsistent character, he was too lazy to expose him. He just remembered to write down Belle's misdeed in his heart.

He took out an alchemical medication from his ring, and applied it on Zeno's neck. He deliberately added a little pressure on it. Zenoscreamed in pain in his heart, but his face had to pretend as if it said 'It doesn't matter, I don't hurt' while his whole person was writhing in pain.

After the medicine was applied, Zeno wasn't in any condition to eat anyone's tofu. Instead he ran upstairs to wash up while secretly pondering in his heart how to deal with Xi Wei.

Everyone had their own lofty ambitions; it was bringing them to life that was difficult. Having the determination was one matter, actually having a strategy was another.

After washing up and touching his hungry belly, Zeno looked up at the sky. He turned into the kitchen and grabbed some snacks. Then he went back to the house and asked Xi Wei, “What is a Demon Catalyst?”

The hand on Xi Wei's book froze, "Why are you asking this?"

Zeno chewed on the snack in his mouth, so his words were a bit distorted, “Oh, that, Belle said you wanted to know.”

Xi Wei gazed at him deeply for a while, “The demon catalyst was a material in the Demon’s taboo magic. It was also a Demon who was born under special circumstances. It can provide the conditions for the taboo magic to create a calamitous demon king.”

Zeno forgot to eat snacks, “As a sacrificial offering?”

Xi Wei nodded.

But, this calamitous demon king that the demon catalyst would incur…

Zeno sneaked a glimpse at Xi Wei, what calamitous demon king, hahaha.

Still, something was not right, “What does that have to do with us?”

Xi Wei did not look at him, “The demon catalysts were born under the power of my ring. It can’t be apart from the ring for more than five years, or else it will become increasingly weak and eventually lose its powers as the demon catalyst, and eventually its life.”

The implications of this hint were obvious.

The snacks in Zeno's hand clattered to the ground. He thought about how Tang Yu had to bring him back to the Shadow race. His voice was trembling a little, "So…so not only do the demons want to catch me, but humans won't let me go either?"

Xi Wei's answer had been squeezed out with difficulty.

Zeno tried to digest this fact and suddenly felt that he had been standing on the edge of a knife and dancing around during his past. He felt a cold shiver pass through his heart.

He could only comfort himself by saying, 'It doesn’t matter. Others don’t know where the ring is. As long as they can’t find the ring, there is room to operate.'

However, the feeling of restlessness still lingered. Both Belle and Tang Yu knew his identity. Such a large handle was being held in the hands of others. It was no longer possible to eat meals peacefully or go to sleep easily.

I have to think of an idea.

However since Tang Yu had not made things difficult so far and Belle had a deal with Xi Wei, it was safe for him for at least a short period of time.

So he patted the snack crumbs off with his hand and said seriously, “I have something to tell you.”

Xi Wei hummed in acknowledgement and gestured for him to continue.

Zeno organized his thoughts into words, “In fact, isn't that Tang Yu from a pure-blooded family? She said that my mother is her aunt. And you need to believe me, Belle is a very bad person. We can’t beat her now, but I will look for a chance to find a solution for her in the future.”

Hearing about Tang Yu, and then associating with his information of the demon species, Xi Wei's body released a murderous aura for a moment before he quickly gathered it back up.

Zeno spoke very earnestly while scooching ever closer to Xi Wei. He stopped just short of hugging onto Xi Wei's thigh and shaking it.

Xi Wei looked down at him for a while, “How do you know I can’t beat Belle?”

There was no threat in his tone, and yet Zeno was terrified. He thought about how Xi Wei was not the opponent of Belle at this time in the book. Moreover, if Xi Wei could deal with Belle now, had he not given any indication of it? Could it be…Xi Wei had a crush on Belle?

This speculation made Zeno feel like he had a bitter gourd in his stomach. The more it got digested, the more bitter it felt. He had worked so hard, even to the point of offering himself up. Had it all been just a wasted effort? He asked choking, “Do you like Belle?”

What was this logic? Xi Wei couldn’t understand his thought process, so he replied, “Am I not allowed to like Belle?”

Zeno was about to explode as he aggressively said, “No, you absolutely cannot like Belle!”

Xi Wei seemed oblivious, “Oh? Then who can I like, Xiao Wu? Jonia? Suji? Or…”

Not having heard the hidden implication in his words, Zeno hurriedly interrupted, “None of them!”

There was a hint of interest in Xi Wei's eyes. Even if he did not mention the past, that did not mean he forgot about how Zeno had tried to secretly prevent him from having any contact with other women.

Though, he did not believe in so-called love, and he had no interest in those women.

Yet Zeno thought that none of these sisters were good enough!

At one point, Zeno had thought to smother the dangers in the cradle, but he was unable to do so. On one hand, he didn't have the capability. On the other, it was really too cruel to sentence a person based on the possible dangers in the future written in a book. So Zeno worked hard to change the plot and not let Xi Wei overcome adversities together with them. If they weren't aware of any benefits, there would be no killing intent.

Who knew that his effort was futile, and that Xi Wei would actually 'seriously' ask which one he could like! There was simply no meaning to life anymore.

Xi Wei saw that he was overreacting, and there seemed to be a lot of haze between Zeno's eyebrows, “What crazy thing are you thinking about?”

Zeno took the hands of the male god with his paws and said with sincerity, “They're all no good. I will find you only the best!”

Xi Wei swept his eyes over him from head to toe, his meaning unknown, “Well, good luck.”

Sweet words came out of Zeno's mouth, while his heart was sneering, You wish! Don't even think about getting together with any of your 'female companions.'

Since Xiao Wu had become the saintess, she became unable to ever marry, so her sister candidacy could be removed.

However, those thoughts were getting too off topic, so Zeno had to work hard to pull his thoughts back, “Where did you go last night?”

“Fenhong Street¹.”

Zeno's eyebrows jumped up, "No… Not the Fenhong Street I'm thinking of, right?"

Xi Wei extended his thumb and helped him wipe off the snack residue from his lips, “That’s the one.”

Zeno was stuttering a bit, “ah…ah…how come there's one here…also…”

"Fenhong Street had always been the place with the most widespread news. Since I wanted information on the demon catalyst and Stone of Destiny, as it is, I could only go there."

Please sir, do not say so calmly that you went to the red light district. You are no longer a child that couldn't do anything, but instead a protagonist who has a strong psychological inner essence.

“Did you find any news?”

There was some disgusted look on Xi Wei's face, “No.”

Knowing him, Zeno knew that he was irritated, others might not be able to see his emotions from his stone cold face, but Zeno was clearly able to distinguish it, “I might know something about the Stone of Destiny.”

“You know?”

Zeno nodded confidently. “The Stone of Destiny was sealed in the abyss. Uncle Hill told me.”

Sorry, Uncle Hill, I used you as an excuse.

As a veteran reader, how could he not know where one of the two golden fingers the protagonist used were? He was confident of that much.

It was a pity he had no way of contacting Uncle Hill, else he could have asked about the demon catalyst. Was this demon catalyst business set in stone, or could it be transferred or rescinded?

That point was very important.

While lost in thought, Qiqi jumped in with a, "Meow~”

“Is Xia An looking for us?”

Qiqi turned around in a circle, her tail curled up and it said an arrogant 'meow' as a response.

When they met up with Xia An, they saw an unexpected person.

“Suji?!”

Suji was obviously very excited, but now she was more sensible than at first, so she just said hello to them and spoke as a standard Providence Academy teacher.

Xia An, while petting the Qiqi in his arms, watched their interactions with great interest.

Suji said, “Providence College was invited to provide one of the judges for the competition in the Mercenary Guild's Meet, so I just requested to follow along.”

Originally, Suji was worried that Master would blame her for not properly looking after the little master to the point that the little master even disappeared, but now that she saw the two masters together, she was relieved.

When Zeno saw Suji, he remembered something that he wanted to do a long time ago.

Rome was not built in one day. Xi Wei lacked the toxic network of relationships brought about by his many sisters. Zeno had two ideas in his heart, but he needed Suji's help.

If it was completed, it would be a tremendous help.

I have started working on the next chapter. I hope it won’t take me too long, but life is busy. Thank you so much for reading, the end is so close!

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1. For those who forgot, Fenhong street is where the first attempted kidnapping of Zeno happened back in volume 1 ↩