Only I Am A Reader
chapter-423

"Yo, he is talking to you."

Right after Leo stepped out of the store, two men creeped out on him from the dark alley right next to the Jewelry shop.

"Oh? How can I help you?"

Leo calmly turned around with a nonchalant expression on his face. Thankfully, he had met the right kind of people that he was expecting.

Rather than starving kids who were forced into thievery due to their harsh circumstances, the two adult men were the perfect example of pure unadulterated thugs!

Although Leo still hadn't reached the stage where he could read minds, the visual awareness he trained over hundreds of battles in both Murim and the Sword Continent was also helpful in such situations.

With the addition of his amplified Mind stat, he could see things far more clearly than the normal person.

"Since you passed by our spot, you have to pay a trespassing fee. I'm sure you understand."

This pair were just useless adults who turned into this path out of laziness, the 'We are tough' expressions that were plastered on their faces told everything.

"Say… Why don't you just bring that bag over for us to take a quick look? We will let you go if there is nothing interesting in it."

"This?"

Leo took off his backpack while amused by the whole situation. It looked like making his face intimidating like a tiger didn't make much of a difference.

"There, you can have it."

With a carefree swing, Leo threw over the backpack. Now that he had the powers of novels, novel-like situations really did seem to happen.

Meeting thugs was a pretty normal occurrence even in reality, but what was going to happen next followed a different script.

"You do know what is best for you, good… Eh?"

The bigger-looking thug was all smiles as he received the backpack, it looked like they might be able to fill their stomach tonight… or not?

"How did this happen, brother? I swear this bag was full when he came out!"

The backpack was completely empty, the other thug grabbed the bag and shook it over and over, but all that came out was nothing but empty air!

'First irregularity.'

To begin with, Leo never truly kept his things in the backpack for too long. Whether it was the bracelets or the money, they were safely stored in his Reading Space.

The backpack's only purpose was to act as a magical bag, a magician's hat! Something that made it sense for Leo to pull things out of nowhere!

"So, am I free to go?"

Giving them one last chance, Leo went ahead to retrieve the backpack that the thug had thrown in frustration.

"No! You must have hidden it somewhere on your clothes, as expected of a thief!"

The younger thug couldn't find any other explanation within the scope of reality. As someone who came to this Jewelry Shop to dispose of stolen goods, it only made sense that his hand would be light!

"You speak as if you are any better… Nevermind."

'Good.'

Leo gave up on refuting the thug's skewed logic. Now that his course of action was confirmed, things were just about to get more illogical.

Crunch.

Seeing the younger thug's hand extended toward him, Leo grabbed it with some force. He held back enough so that nothing would be really broken, but he made sure it would be extremely painful.

'Second Irregularity.'

"Gaaahhhhhh!"

The thug dropped to the ground and immediately started screaming as he rolled on the ground. He had been in his fair share of fights, but it was the first time that something hurt that badly!

"You… What did you do to him?"

The bigger thug wasn't stupid enough to charge directly at Leo after what he had seen, but seeing that he was still contemplating doing so…

Leo jumped in front of him with a single step before performing a low kick to flip him over to the ground.

"Uhhh."

Although the thug didn't scream like a girl as his partner did, his face couldn't hide the pain that he was enduring. Even when holding back, Leo's attacks were no weaker than rubber bullets.

'This is…'

Even as the one who did this, Leo was slightly alienated by what happened.

He went ahead and grabbed the two thugs by their arms and pulled them into the alley they came out of before people started to notice, but his head was elsewhere.

Just like an Urban Fantasy novel, the unassuming youth attacked by the thugs had made a magical reversal!

'Should I say things are starting to feel off or… More familiar?'

It wasn't too far off reality just yet, but it was still something straight out of fiction.

However, considering how many novels Leo had read including two that he had even experienced for himself, this was starting to become the new norm for him!

Now there was only one thing that this chance encounter lacked…

'A chance to get things done even more quickly.'

Since he had already beaten them up, it was time to make him his underlings!

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing much, just collecting my own time-wasting fee."

Channeling his Internal Energy, Leo's blue eyes glowed as he injected some of it into the pair's wrists.

The Skin Altering Technique wasn't the only convenient method that Leo had learned from the Heavenly Demon's library. Cliche abilities like Subordination Techniques were also available!

Compared to the Silk Gu or Blood Worms that were commonly used in other novels, the Murim Supremacy Version was very simple.

Although it only worked on normal people, Subordination Techniques that required nothing but Internal Energy existed. It was only when his opponent's Martial Arts Stage was higher that aiding materials would be required.

"Aghhhhhhhh."

"Gyaahhh."

"Now, now, stay still. You have to accept your roles as helpful extras if you popped up in a convenience event like this."

The process to carve it out was just as painful as Leo's attacks, but the Scarlet Cloud Sigils were quickly carved into the two thugs' wrists.

He did go fishing for it, but since reality gave him what he asked for, it was only right to use these tools to finish his task list faster!