Only I Am A Reader
chapter-430

'Would I have been in trouble if I used something too special?

Leo carefully ruminated over the man's words. Considering that he seemed to be the group's leader, the hidden threat that his words carried was likely very true.

Since he had felt the tingles all over the place ever since he entered the building, Leo almost fully confirmed the existence of the so-called 'roleplayers'.

He didn't know much about them other than his own ability, but they were likely very capable, and just as he guessed…

'As expected, the only explanation is that they are actively suppressing it.'

Although he wasn't sure how they could react quickly enough to do that, Leo was fairly sure that the only reason superpowered humans had yet to make a scene was beacuse they were stopped by the very same kind of special people!

Just thinking about how they could arrange something like that, even as a big organization, almost gave Leo a headache, but at the very least…

'So… This is early management?'

Arranging such a meeting was likely the first step to that process, by joining together all possible sources of chaos, they could hand out an early warning and cut down some of the later stages' work.

'I might have been too careless.'

Leo looked back at his past ignorant self who went to such dangerous extremes. Having met nothing similar to himself all of his life had simply made him too complacent.

Thankfully, True Reading's timing was just right. Not only did Leo get the wake-up call he needed, but the empowerment he received made him capable of self-defense at the very least.

'I do seem to have some fans here though.'

There were two other people with notable features in casual clothes, but the four people in the uniformed group stole all the limelight.

First of all, there was the black-haired leader, not only was he blessed with looks but he even had a few blue locks of hair that highlighted his appearance even further.

The only other man in the group had bleached hair and a tanned skin, but he laid his back to the wall with no interest in the meeting whatsoever. Leo couldn't help thinking that he was brought here against his will…

On the other hand, the tall purple-haired girl had both the body and face to compete with idols. However, the way she spoke was quite tomboyish, even her short hair seemed to match that vibe.

Lastly, the short pink haired one looked more like a cute hamster. She pouted with dissatisfaction as she stole glances at Leo's outfit, making her look even more adorable.

"Humph, Mister Smiling Cat Mask is great because he could do all of what he did without any of our abilities. Someone like you shouldn't be wearing that mask!"

Faced with this reaction, the tension in Leo's mind almost evaporated into nothingness as he barely held back from laughing.

'I hate to break your bubble, but I did have some outside help.'

Although the mask he wore was the authentic one, Leo specifically bought a knockoff of his outfit just to throw everyone off the loop.

He just didn't expect someone to be offended in his alter ego's place, especially not in a mysterious meeting like this!

"Now, now, it isn't the time to discuss something like this. How about-"

Tick.

Just when Blue Locks wanted to steer the discussion toward the main topic of the meeting, the door was pushed open to reveal the figure of an ethereal beauty.

'Oh…'

A pure white robe-like dress, a long stream of very light blue hair that looked like fragile ice, and a complementing butterfly mask with the same color and texture of the hair…

If Leo wasn't sure that he had already used up his True Reading charge, he might have believed he was meeting one of the Ice Witch characters that he read about.

'This reminds me of Bing Baek, but…'

The girl who had now caught everyone's attention also looked like someone who could have come from the Northern Ice Palace. However…

'This is definitely Yulia.'

"Oh? Could this be the wrong place?"

A hint of panic appeared on the girl's mesmerizing face as everyone froze and looked at her.

Compared to her wildest imagination, the inside of the building looked very normal against her expectations.

"N-No. It's just that you are a bit overdressed for the occasion."

The purple-haired girl smiled dumbfoundedly while explaining the situation to the ice beauty. They were the ones that were supposed to mesmerize the newcomers, but their standing was almost backflipped.

'I feel like I'm going to die from embarrassment!!!'

Yulia resisted the urge to run away as she produced a robotic smile. Although she had to change her looks to hide her identity, she didn't have to go this far.

She chose to wear her special dress so she wouldn't be underdressed for a very special occasion like this, but that choice seemed to backfire in her face.

It was only now that Yulia realized that she might have overdone it!

'Just how did I convince myself that we would meet in a place from the fairytales?'

While Yulia had to admit that the place she grew up in wasn't exactly normal, she had specifically come to this city so she can have a more normal life. It felt like was betrayed by her own self…

'Was I not being true to myself… Right! Is he also here?'

Seconds felt like decades when there was awkwardness in the air. Threatened by all the stares, Yulia tried to escape to the one familiar element that she could think about.

'This is… It's all over the place.'

She didn't expect him to come without disguise, so Yulia looked around for the familiar signal. However, that only made things even more confusing…

Almost everyone in this building gave her the same strange feeling! Trying to pinpoint the very one she felt at school was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

"Ahem, anyways. Now that everyone is here. Let me start by saying this..."

Aside from Leo, Blue Locks was the first one to recover his composure. With a gesture of his hand, the door close shut as he announced the true start of the meeting.

"Welcome and congratulations, Roleplayers of this generation. You have done well coming here!"