Only I Am A Reader
chapter-429

'Great.'

Contrary to Leo's worst fears, the school day went on very smoothly after the small incident at its start. With the help of Frost Internal Energy, everything went according to plan without a hitch.

Even the nervous Yulia quickly calmed down and blended with the class's atmosphere, almost making Leo think that he might have guessed wrongly.

'It wouldn't be too late to confirm it in the meeting.'

Riding the bike back home, Leo was in a deeply calm state. After shuffling all of his thoughts, he was ready to accept whatever came his way.

The actual time of the meeting was 8 PM, so he still had a few hours to spare. However, aside from the time he allocated to getting ready, Leo almost spent everything meditating in the Reading Space.

Collecting both his mind, body, and energy, Leo infinitely slowed down the circulation of everything foreign inside his body.

In this state, Leo believed that even his Internal Energy enhanced senses wouldn't be able to differentiate himself from a normal person.

'That 'feel' is another story though.'

Compared to the Internal Energy and Sword Breath that he was familiar with, Leo had no idea how to stop something like the signal that he felt from Yulia.

Although Leo hypothesized the possibility that 'roleplayers' produced some sort of frequency that they themselves recognized, Leo knew zilch about how to control that.

'Let's just hold it all in.'

In the end, getting proficient in something started from trying. In addition to very basic self-management, Leo used one of the breathing exercises that he learned from Murim to also lower all of his vital signals to the normal level.

'Now I can show what precisely I want to.'

"Phewwww…"

Feeling that he was finally reading, Leo let out a very long breath before going back to his room.

"Meow~"

"I'm hitting the gym!"

After scratching Dark's head one more time, Leo alerted his mother to his departure and left the house at precisely 6 PM.

With everything that he needed stored away in the Reading Space, Leo naturally wouldn't leave for the meeting from his house.

He wasn't visiting the gym to work out either. Leo just needed to specifically disguise everything that he did today with his routine. After all, things could get messy very soon!

'Step 1.'

First of all, Leo headed straight to the gym using his usual route, on foot. This time, however, he only fiddled with his belongings in the gym locker before taking a shower and going out again.

'Step 2. Time for some sightseeing.'

Once he left the gym, Leo started randomly walking around the area before going into a dark alley and coming out as a completely different person.

He then caught a bus that would drop him in the vicinity of his destination. Compared to his last special outing, Leo also took the chance to use the Skin Altering Technique and change his face once more.

'Step 3. It's your turn to shine, Arthur.'

The face that would attend the meeting was the handsome blonde with a knightly aura. The reason Leo made that choice was very simple.

'I need to look as out of place as possible!'

Arthur's otherworldly charm was a great contrast to Leo's actual face, even more so than Baekho's!

From one dark alley to another, Leo finally emerged dressed in a very familiar windbreaker, looking around with a smile on his face.

'This is… Fun.'

What he once did to relieve his boredom was exhilarating, but the game of cat and mouse that Leo was currently playing with hypothetical opponents was just as exciting.

Regardless of whether someone might end up tracking him or not, just imagining their confusion made Leo's heart tingle…

'... It's already 7:30.'

Having followed every single part of the plan to the point, Leo finally started marching towards the exact location that he received.

The only address that he was given was a set of coordinates, but once Leo entered it into the map app, it wasn't that hard to find.

The map pointed towards a small building that looked like it barely had three stories. However, there was something strange about it.

'Is this normal?'

Even though the street was bustling with people, everyone seemed to be avoiding that specific building for some reason, or rather…

'It's like a collective blind spot.'

Just like a black hole that absorbs all light and reflects nothing, everyone's line of sight didn't seem to recognize the building's existence!

'All while keeping their distance from it.'

Instead of just being invisible, an empty zone formed around the paranormal building as if part of another dimension…

'No backing down now.'

A supernatural encounter at the very start. The perfect way to confirm the gravity of the event that Leo was about to become part of.

Would he be able to find some of the answers that he searched for here?

'The 4th and final step.'

With a heart of steel, Leo took one last item out of the Reading Space and put it on his face before stepping into the empty zone.

Expectations and apprehensions came hand and hand as Leo tried to push the unlocked door, but it just spread open on its own.

"Great, one more came today."

The first thing that came to Leo's attention was a group of people wearing a cool-looking uniform, some sort of modified suit.

Just by looking at this, it was obvious that they were the ones that initiated this whole thing.

"Huh? The smiling cat mask? He was actually one of us?"

A purple-haired woman turned to look at Leo, questioning his appearance. The surprise on her face was apparent as none of the people within the group seemed to care about hiding their identity.

"How can that be? I'm just a simple fan. I wasn't sure what to expect today so I put on some cosplay."

Leo quickly spoke out to refute the woman's statement, his smile appearing on the uncovered part of his face.

The perfect disguise was always one that had many layers!

"Heh, I already told you he wasn't a roleplayer. Besides, he isn't even wearing the right outfit!"

A short pink-haired woman jumped into the discussion with a proud expression on her face. Hearing her remark, Leo could only laugh to himself.

"Indeed, we would have met much sooner if that was the case."

The man who spoke at the start smiled at Leo as he elaborated. However, Leo felt nothing but danger from his friendly gesture.

"How about-"

It seemed like he had more to say, but just then…

Tick.

The door spread open, announcing the arrival of another newcomer.