The Romance Fantasy Novel MC is Only Into Me

“Karma.”
I once tried to think about what this karma really meant to my sister who made this game. What on earth was her intention in putting this awful thing in? Why did it so bluntly steal an innocent person’s sight?

‘...Did she even think about it? She probably just put it in.’
I’m sure of it.
My sister’s game directing style was basically to just throw in everything she wanted. Whenever I asked about something bothering me, she’d usually answer, “There was something like that?”—acting as if she barely knew herself.

Of course, even I never really thought deeply about the karma value. When I was playtesting, I only glanced over it casually. I just instinctively knew that accumulating it was bad.
Because I never did anything to accumulate it in the first place.
But Merigold did.

She did it.
She built up karma to the terrifying number of ‘200,’ something others would struggle to accumulate even a little, and in return lost the sight in both eyes.
“Life’s unfair, Merigold.”

I sighed deeply and started searching for someone. A thief guild master with some fame on the island came to see me.
“So you want me to find a blind girl? Name’s Meri?”
“She’s definitely somewhere on this island. I’ll pay you a reward upfront.”
“You sure are generous, young master. We’ll catch her within three days and deliver her well.”
“Just find where she is.”
“Yes, sir.”
The thief guild, unlike their confident attitude, failed to find Merigold. Their excuse was that no matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find her.

I felt a gnawing worry, ‘Could she have died screaming somewhere again?’
Feeling frustrated, I went outside and wandered the market streets.
“Just one coin, please!”

I met fifteen-year-old Merigold.
 
“Just one coin, please! Just one coin... huh?”
With a clink and a light sound, something fell and Merigold stopped moving.

After a moment of fumbling on the ground, she grabbed a round metallic object and bowed her head flat.
“God’s blessing will be upon you!”
“...”
I pressed my throbbing temples with my hand.
It wasn’t a mistake.

It was Merigold.
Though her face was hidden beneath the hood of the ‘Salvation Church,’ a commonly called sect,
that blind beggar fiddling with a shiny golden object and carefully judging its value was definitely Merigold.

“Silver coin...? No way someone gave her something so precious. But this pattern, I’ve never seen it. Pinna, is this really silver?”
I quietly watched her. Soon, she let out a scream loud enough to echo through the whole alley.
“G-g-gold... gold...!”
“It’s a gold coin, yes. Definitely gold.”
“Huh? Wha—?”

I hurried over to the flustered Merigold.
“Imperial royal gold coin. First time seeing one?”
“G-gold coin? That kind of money is too much for us... accepting it is... well, of course I’d be grateful and I really need it, but...!”
‘Us?’

I looked again at the pattern on ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Merigold’s hood.
Salvation Church. A relatively small and humble sect.
I thought her clothes were ragged hand-me-downs, but maybe not.

“Think of it as almsgiving. I want to receive blessings from your god too.”
Merigold was silent for a moment with a dazed look.
“Do you know me by any chance?”
“No, first time.”

I knelt down to her eye level.
Her once-lustrous emerald eyes were now cloudy silver.
“When did you lose your sight?”
“Huh? Why are you asking that all of a sudden...?”
“You want your gold coin back?”
“Since I was ten! Since I was ten years old.”

Ten.
That was the game’s starting point.
Since now she was fifteen, it had been exactly five years since she lost her sight.

‘This game is seriously messed up.’
I struggled to hold back the boiling anger inside.
“Just curious. I’m off now.”
“Wait!”

A small hand grabbed my sleeve hastily.
“Please tell me your name, it’s the first time I got such a big coin, I’ll, I’ll pray for you!”
“Pray?”
“Yes!”
Merigold’s face brightened.

“I pray twice a day. Usually, I pray to be able to see again, but this time I’ll pray especially for my sponsor. How’s that?”
Her expression promised something amazing, and I chuckled.
“Lancel.”

The noisy street sounds drifted from afar.
In an alley a little away from the lantern-lit street,
by the dank-smelling sewer, a rat scurried between the stone walls.

The blind Salvation Church girl and I faced each other.
“Lancel Dante. That’s my name.”
“Lancel Dante... yes.”
I saw Merigold’s expression recall something.

I remembered fragments of previous cycles also remained with her.
Maybe my name was familiar to her too.
“Lancel Dante, I will pray for you. Thank you for your precious gold coin. I’m grateful for this meeting guided by God today.”

With her hands clasped, a gold coin gleamed like a talisman in her fingers.
That was the last thing I saw before turning away.
‘I really need to figure out how to fix that damned karma number.’

Every time I saw blind Merigold, I felt a rising fury. I don’t know why. I just didn’t like it.
 
———
[Fallen Noblewoman Simulation]
Schedule for the second week of June:

Mon - Begging on the street.
Tue - Cleaning and laundry at the temple.
Wed - Begging on the street.
Thu - Begging on the street.
Fri - Begging on the street.
Sat - Reading prayers at the temple.
Sun - Recruiting regular donors.
※Begging is hard, but it helps the temple.
———
I observed Merigold’s week closely.

“One coin for grace. Give up one meal to take God’s grace.”
In busy places, she always sat at the same time in the same clothes, begging.
“What do you think?”
“If someone snatches her away, she wouldn’t even notice.”

I glanced sideways. The startled thief guild master changed his tone.
“I’m saying that, Lord Lancel. It’s scary.”
“I heard many criminals in the thief guild specialize in kidnapping.”
“Oh no, please don’t lump us with those thugs. Without parents, it’s hard to get ransom...”
I ignored the excuses he kept throwing out.

I assigned several guards to protect Merigold. I didn’t want to see her die screaming somewhere again.
“One coin for salvation.”
Karma. How the hell can it be reduced?

In the months I watched Merigold, I never saw any sign of karma going down. Only her endless begging was reflected to me.
‘Should I give her some money?’
She mainly survived by begging anyway.

If she had enough money, surely she could do more.
The thought was brief.
Might as well try.

“I usually don’t ask clients’ intentions, but why such a request...?”
“Just do it.”
“Understood!”
Soon, the thief guild executed the request I gave.
“One coin for grace, just one coin... huh?”

I saw Merigold’s suspicion. Suddenly, coins—both copper and silver—kept falling around her.
“Th-thank you, no, you should receive a prayer, oh, thanks again! Eh? Silver coin? If it’s silver, you must get a prayer!”
Flustered, Merigold hurried to pick up the fallen coins.

“Move, this is my spot.”
“Ah!”
A beggar of unknown origin shoved Merigold aside. My gaze grew cold.
“Take care of it.”
“Yes.”
“Wh-who are you? Why are you... aah!”

Two men nearby immediately rushed over and chased the beggar far away.
Only Merigold, clueless about what happened, was left alone there.
.
.
.

===========
—Merigold discovers she has a talent for fundraising.
‘Huh?’
By this point, I sensed something strange. Merigold’s usual begging posture gradually started to change over time.

“Ahem.”
Merigold took a heavy instrument—a three-stringed string instrument.
“Blessings of salvation will come, light and grace, ah, light and grace, ah!”

I covered my face. What the hell was this?
“One coin for grace! Ah, light and grace!”
At first, Merigold did this alone.

Later, several others dressed similarly came and started harmonizing.
“Ah! Light!”
“Day of light has come!”
Though they played music never seen or heard before, it was enough to draw attention.

Eventually, people came from afar just to see the spectacle.
‘A troupe of clowns?’
Before I knew it, the Salvation Church had become a begging genius on the island.

Ten years passed like that.
.
.
.
[Playtime: 10 years 0 days]

—Merigold has turned 25.
—No marriage partner.
—No achievements.
[Normal Ending 85. Merigold, Famous on the Streets]
—Ending recorded in the ‘Memory Album.’
—Opening album.

.
.
.
One coin.
One prayer.

One coin.
One song.
Merigold heads out into the streets again today, searching for the person who appeared in her dreams.

[Normal Ending. Merigold, Famous on the Streets — fin]
—Would you like to restart the game?
.
.
.

“No, this isn’t it.”
I had resolved to watch over her. But I didn’t expect this.
At this rate, she’s just a slightly capable beggar.

===========
—Permanent damage: Merigold has lost sight in both eyes.
※ Merigold’s karma value has reached 200.
※ Permanent damage will occur ‘every cycle’ until karma is resolved.
‘I wanted to see karma go down.’

How can I remove all the karma and never see that damned phrase again?
I found an answer quite nearby.
When I went directly to Salvation Church claiming I wanted to become a regular donor, a clergy member personally offered to guide me.

“The doctrine of Salvation Church is to spread this religion as widely as possible. We build temples everywhere on the continent to collect many offerings and achieve wealth.”
“...I didn’t expect Salvation Church to be such a worldly religion. Isn’t it just merchants, not believers?”
“Salvation Church doesn’t save people with empty faith. Gold and silver. Barley and honey. Wheat and olives. Oil and milk. Only these are the blessings of God, and truly save humans.”

Damn.
No wonder Merigold, unlike her appearance, was obsessed with money—these guys were the cause.
‘I see why it’s so small.’

They were definitely pragmatic. But people don’t want that kind of religion. They want something nobler and greater.
This place is not it. I decided to get Merigold out of this cult as soon as I had a chance.
“And so, only when Salvation Church’s temples have spread to every corner of this vast land, will we finally be freed from the karma given by God.”

Karma.
I heard that word for the first time from someone else’s mouth.