MTLNOVEL Chapter 5
#5. Turning Point
“Yus, ah, wh-what should I do-?”
“Cedric.”
I called him calmly.
…Sometimes there are moments like that.
Even in a long and tedious life, some moments are extremely intense and unforgettable, ones that you can never forget no matter how much time passes.
For Cedric, this is probably that moment.
And the protagonist of that moment is probably me.
Depending on what I say now, he will grow differently.
If that’s the case, the answer is clear.
I smiled.
And then.
“Become a good adult.”
With those words, the entrance completely collapsed. I could hear Cedric’s screams from outside.
“Hu….”
Calm down.
‘It was bound to happen anyway.’
If Cedric doesn’t join the hero’s party, the protagonist will die.
So he needed a trigger for his awakening. It’s best to avoid him becoming a traitor, just like in the original story.
But if I go back to life, I will only hinder his growth.
‘First, I need to escape from here. Not through the entrance, but somewhere else.’
This house has a back door.
It’s usually blocked off to prevent thieves, but in an emergency like this, it would be useful.
I glanced at my status window.
[Extra Life: 100,000p] In the worst case, I could quickly buy a skill to resurrect. It’s a scenario I’d prefer to avoid, though.
‘Found it. The back door.’
Fortunately, this side hadn’t been engulfed in flames yet. I hurriedly started moving boxes blocking the entrance.
It was then.
“AAHH!”
A burning pain covered my eyes. I covered my face with my hands and tumbled to the floor.
“Huh, ah, hck…!”
Cold sweat poured down. Tears streamed from my eyes. I couldn’t see anything.
Did a spark land in my eyes?
Damn it. This is bad.
In the maddening, intense pain and the pitch-black darkness, I recalled the memories of when I was Yuna.
“Your left eye is completely blind. Soon, your right eye will be the same.”
“F*ck…!”
Life is messed up.
I gritted my teeth and got up. My legs trembled from the pain.
‘The back door… where is the back door?’
With my vision blocked, I couldn’t tell which direction I was facing. I fumbled around with my hands, trying to find the box I had just moved.
And then.
“F*cking bastard hit it properly!”
“I told you I did, okay?!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I heard someone chopping at the back door with an axe. What was going on?
I froze, unable to assess the situation. The axing stopped at some point, and soon, heavy footsteps were heard.
“Hey, there’s only one kid here.”
“Take care of him! He’s worth a lot, he’ll sell for a good price.”
“What…?”
My head was in a daze.
What the hell does that mean?
Before I could even ask, a smelly, large hand covered my nose and mouth.
“Just sleep for a while, kid.”
“Ugh…!”
Wait, I can’t breathe properly. This is dangerous…
“When you wake up, it’ll be hell.”
And then, I lost consciousness.
***
My head felt like it was going to split open.
No, it wasn’t just my head.
I reflexively groaned from the pain, which felt like my entire body had been hammered with a mallet.
I twisted my body. My hands and feet were bound together.
And with something rough in my mouth, it seemed they had gagged me.
‘Where is this…?’
Where am I?
As I tried to open my eyes to check, I sensed something was different.
‘Ah, I can’t see.’
Cold sweat began to drip down my face.
I thought maybe it was because I was wearing an eye mask, but there was nothing around my eyes.
It was strange to say the room was completely dark.
No matter how much light is blocked, a person will eventually adjust to the darkness.
This wasn’t something I couldn’t see at all… unless I was blind.
‘Is this real?’
Blindness in real life, blindness in a manga world.
The reality I was facing was so absurd that I couldn’t even speak.
No, wait. Come to think of it, I can’t even see the reality in front of me.
I’m blind now.
F*ck.
[An anomaly has been detected in the vaccine program’s functionality.] [Proceeding with an appropriate patch.] [Purchase the ‘X-ray Vision’ skill.]
While I was despairing, an unfamiliar voice suddenly flowed into my mind.
‘What is this? Is it the status window?’
[Yes, it is.]
‘X-ray Vision skill? What happens if I buy it?’
[Just buy it.]
It was a firm command.
Information about the X-ray Vision skill appeared in my mind.
[X-ray Vision: 100,000p] [See the world with a third eye. No matter how much you try to hide it, there are no secrets in front of you.]
It felt like the information was being imprinted directly into my brain, not heard through my ears.
‘Alright, I’ll buy it.’
[Purchase complete.] [‘X-ray Vision’ applied.]
The moment I heard that voice, my surroundings became bright. I opened my eyes wide.
‘I can see again!’
Blink, blink.
I blinked my eyes for a long time.
As a result, I was even more surprised.
‘What the…’
Even when I closed my eyes, I could still see.
It wasn’t just X-ray vision—it was more like a supernatural sight.
I was extremely satisfied. It was worth investing 100,000 points.
Now that I had regained my sight, I quickly looked around.
‘A cabin.’
It was a cramped space like a storage room, but the swaying and the salty smell I had been sensing confirmed it.
I remembered the conversation I overheard earlier from the men.
“Recently, the Kieto orphans have been trying to be taken by the Jigu kingdom.”
‘So it’s a ship heading to Jigu.’
The slums of Kieto are on the far edge of the borders of the Huaguo and Gonguk kingdoms.
From there, crossing into Huaguo and boarding a ship would take you directly to the continent where Jigu is located.
Moreover, there had been ominous rumors, so it was pretty clear where the destination was.
Slave Auction House.
The notorious facility on Terra in Jigu, which the protagonist had broken into and destroyed in the manga.
Knowing the destination made my heart feel a little lighter.
Of course, I had no intention of willingly being dragged to the slave auction house.
‘I have to find a way to escape.’
It would take at least a month to reach Jigu, so there was no need to rush.
‘First, let’s check my remaining points.’
Despite the satisfaction, the X-ray Vision skill had been a significant expense. It was only natural that most of my points had been drained.
I probably had about 2,000 points left.
Thinking this, I opened my status window.
[Good Deed Points: 110,457] ‘Huh?’
What’s this? Why are there so many?
It had even increased since earlier.
‘Did I accumulate points for saving those kids from the fire?’
I stared at the status window in a dazed state.
‘I always earned more points when helping Cedric…’
I had an idea of what was going on.
The accumulation of Good Deed Points depends on the emotions of the person involved.
The greater the emotional change in someone I saved due to me, the more points I earned.
In that case…
‘Was it a turning point?’
It seemed like drastically changing the life of a key character in the manga earned an enormous amount of points.
With this in mind, I might need to adjust my plans… huh?
“Hey, look. The kid’s awake.”
The door in the ceiling opened, and two men descended from the ladder above.
One of them approached me, lifted my chin, and muttered.
“Ugh, the kid’s got a pretty face… Huh? What’s this?”
“What’s going on?”
“The little brat’s eyes are unfocused.”
What?
“What did you say?”
The man rummaging through the boxes muttered the same thing as my question.
He stepped closer, checked my face, and grumbled.
“What the hell? Out of all the kids, why’d we pick the one with messed-up eyes? Tsk.”
“Well, should we have picked one off the street instead?! Raven told us not to make a scene!”
“That’s just what I meant. Just saying.”
As I listened to their argument with a bit of tension, I froze at the word “Raven.”
Raven. The crow.
It might be a common name, but in this world, there’s only one character who could be called Raven.
One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord’s army, the second, Haotian Raven.
He’s a powerful villain who has sacrificed countless humans as the lord of plagues.
“Forget it. Anyway, Raven will be working with the Jigu side soon. Before that, we’ll just grab a bit of pocket change and head back to Huaguo.”
The mention of “working” made my expression harden.
What that means is clear.
Soon, a plague will spread through Jigu.