I Bought the Male Lead with Money

2.

Yu Jin was asleep, but Keith could not leave his side and stood by the bed, looking at him with a worried expression.

“Stop it, you should rest a bit too.”

Haruna was concerned, but Keith did not move.

“The doctor said he’s doing better now.”

The doctor had replied that it was just a severe hangover and not a serious illness. He was quite capable, given the substantial amount of money spent to keep him at the mansion, so his words were likely not wrong. However, Keith could not shake off the guilt. The calm expression he wore in front of Yu Jin twisted.

‘It’s my fault.’

His young master, who was weak and could only crumble. If he had been a bit stronger, a bit wiser, he wouldn’t have come to this point. He regretted it, but it was already too late.

Yu Jin was broken, and Keith had no ability to bring him back. All he could do was watch from the side. That was too painful.

Haruna sighed.

“Yeah, I understand how you feel. Still, when Yu Jin wakes up, the first person he’ll see is you. Are you okay with that? You want to look good in front of Yu Jin, right? I’ll bring you something simple to eat, so eat. Eat and gather your strength.”

A small hand patted Keith’s back. Haruna’s words were not wrong, so Keith slowly nodded.

Yu Jin slept soundly. During his sleep, his memories were somewhat sorted out. Some parts were still unclear, but he thought time would resolve that.

When he opened his eyes feeling refreshed, he was startled to see Keith’s face right in front of him.

‘Why are you here?’

Why was he on the bed? Yu Jin pondered this until he saw the towel in Keith’s hand and understood. The bed was so large that it seemed he had to climb up to reach it. But since Yu Jin wasn’t in pain, he didn’t need any nursing.

Just as he was about to speak again, a sudden growl came from his stomach.

“I’ll prepare a meal right away.”

Keith moved quickly. Before long, a tray appeared on the bed, filled with food.

Rice, it was rice! Proper rice after such a long time! Usually, he only nibbled on snacks while drinking, and back then, he had no appetite for rice, but now it was different.

Yu Jin’s eyes sparkled with hunger, confident he could enjoy whatever was given to him. However, all that was on the tray was a single bowl of soup.

Even that soup looked thin. It seemed all the ingredients had been pureed, and there were no solid bits to be seen. Food should have texture! Yu Jin stared blankly at Keith.

“It’s a nutritious porridge.”

“What’s in it?”

“A little grain, and some herbs.”

No, it might look like this, but it could still be tasty porridge. Yu Jin picked up a spoon and took a bite. Then he lowered his head in despair.

‘It’s disgusting!’

A bland taste was followed by a subtle bitterness. It even smelled like something from a herbal medicine shop. Tears welled up in his eyes.

In his previous life, Suho had managed to hold back tears quite well, but Yu Jin, who lived here, was different. Pearly tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Yu Jin!”

A startled Keith shouted.

“Is it poison? Spit it out immediately. No, I’ll—”

Keith moved astonishingly fast. He pushed the tray away, grabbed Yu Jin’s cheeks, and pried his mouth open. Then he shoved his fingers inside.

‘No, that’s not it!’

Before he could say anything, the fingers probing his throat made him gag. At this rate, he was going to throw up on the bed.

Yu Jin desperately clamped his mouth shut. In doing so, he bit down hard on Keith’s fingers, but he didn’t budge.

Eventually, the poison incident only stopped after Yu Jin threw up once.

“No, that’s not it!”

Yu Jin cried sorrowfully.

“It’s not poison! You made me throw up!”

He felt betrayed by Keith. Keith, flustered, tried to soothe Yu Jin.

The doctor, who had rushed in amidst the chaos, looked at the two with cloudy eyes. The guards who had come in with him also wore bewildered expressions.

“…Then, why are you crying?”

Keith asked cautiously.

“It’s… it’s disgusting!”

As Yu Jin spat out the truth, silence enveloped the room. Everyone, including Keith, seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

He had suddenly become an adult throwing a tantrum over food. A wave of embarrassment washed over him, and his face flushed. Yu Jin raised both hands to cover his face. After a while, when he slowly lowered his hands, everyone except Keith had left.

“I’m sorry.”

Keith apologized, meeting Yu Jin’s gaze.

“I should have paid more attention to the taste, but I didn’t. I’ll prepare something else to eat.”

Yu Jin didn’t understand why Keith was apologizing. In this case, he was the one at fault.

“I’m the one who should apologize.”

Yu Jin spoke cautiously.

“No, it’s my lack of thought.”

How could a person be this kind? He had been like this since he was young, but it struck him anew with a wave of emotion.

“Please wait a moment.”

Keith prepared a new meal. This time, it was a light yellow cream soup with soft white bread and a bit of meat.

The taste was on a different level from the store-bought cream soup he had eaten in his previous life, enveloping Yu Jin’s tongue. The bread was also incredibly delicious. Dipping the bread in the soup made it melt in his mouth. The same went for the meat.

A wave of happiness washed over him, brightening Yu Jin’s expression. As he was enjoying his meal, he felt a gaze and looked up to see Keith.

His face, which had always been stiff lately, was now relaxed. The loose smile at the corners of his mouth naturally drew Yu Jin’s attention. So this is what it looks like when a handsome person smiles.

He couldn’t take his eyes off Keith, to the point of forgetting to eat. Noticing Yu Jin’s gaze, Keith’s eyes curved into a crescent shape.

Clang!

Yu Jin snapped back to reality at the sound of his fork dropping.

‘Wow, is that the charm of a man?’

It felt like being sucked into a black hole. After finishing his food neatly, Yu Jin went out to the garden with Keith.

He wanted to lie down right there, but he felt that would be a bad idea. So, he thought of walking a bit until he digested his food. Meanwhile, he organized what he wanted to say to Keith and Haruna in his mind.

Now he would change. It seemed wise to talk about that in advance.

‘But something feels off.’

As he sorted through his memories, a sudden feeling of unease washed over him.

‘Why?’

Yu Jin walked through the garden until he could figure out what was making him uneasy. Keith asked if he was overdoing it, but he shook his head, insisting he was fine. Finally, everything came back to him.

“Novel!”

It was after he had returned from the military in his previous life. Until he returned to school, his schedule was vague, so he worked part-time jobs to pass the time and got into web novels. Then he read one novel.

[From Slave to Emperor.]

It was a story about a modern person who fell into another world, realized his talents, and used them to rise to the position of emperor.

‘That’s right, that novel!’

Someone had once said.

Perhaps novels are fragments written by authors who unconsciously peeked into another world? At the time, he had scoffed at such nonsense, but it seemed that statement was indeed correct.

‘This is bad.’

Now that he had regained his senses, he thought only a bright future lay ahead. But if this world was identical to the setting of [From Slave to Emperor], Yu Jin’s future was doomed.

Because the modern person who fell into this world, that is, the protagonist, was a crazy psychopath! A groan escaped his lips without him realizing it.

To understand the protagonist, one must first understand this world.

The world consists of two massive continents. The continent of the running lion and the continent of the sleeping dragon. Westerners live on the continent of the lion, while Easterners live on the continent of the dragon.

For now, Yu Jin understood it that way. Yes, that’s fine. It’s just different races sharing land. But as he delved deeper, the story changed.

This world has mysteries. The sword energy emitted by a peak swordsman, the peculiar potions created by alchemists, and races with unique abilities that seem to come straight out of a fantasy novel.

And within that, savagery breathes.

Princes who incite rebellions to seize the throne, nobles who start territorial wars to covet others’ lands, and those who capture other races to make them slaves to satisfy their greed.

The protagonist, who had been living a normal university life, falls into such a perilous world and first encounters a slave trader. It goes without saying that a stranded person met in the middle of a desert was excellent prey for the slave trader.

It didn’t take long for the protagonist to be branded as a slave. At first, he was terrified of the situation, but as he traversed the harsh desert with the slave trader, he bloomed a talent.

A talent that would never have blossomed had he lived peacefully. The ability most suitable for killing others most efficiently awakened.

Realizing the ability he possessed, the protagonist first attempted to kill the slave trader. It was because he had inflicted pain on him in this unfamiliar place. However, he failed, blocked by numerous guards, and gained another realization.

Even with abilities, sometimes one must lower oneself. That incident marked the beginning of the young beast learning cunning.