Only I Am A Reader
chapter-440

'They at least aren't openly aggressive.'

Seeing that Damon didn't berate him further, Leo confirmed his guess.

Damon might have made it seem like the World Reformation Front's Roleplayers were worse than the devil himself, but even then, they couldn't openly condone killing them mercilessly without messing up their image as Earth's saviors.

His claim of 'Merciless Elimination' was likely just a strong deterrent to prevent easily influenced Roleplayers from scurrying to the other side.

'Who knows? They might actually be saviors…'

"Since we don't know if more of them would come or not, we need to change our location and we still have to clean this place up. So hurry up and decide unless you plan to walk away."

"We will join!"

It only took a few seconds for the newcomer pair to exchange looks and make a decision without any hesitation.

The Syndicate's attack might have been an unfortunate event, but it definitely amplified the Council's impression in their eyes!

What would have happened if they were attacked alone like that? There was no way they could handle being as bloody as Alex currently was!

"Wise decision. Don't worry, once you become official members, you will be protected until you can protect yourselves."

Although the two hadn't voiced their most important demand for joining, he was already aware of the reason behind their easy taming. However…

"What about you two?"

Those who he truly wanted to join were the two who had impressively stood their ground!

While it was still possible that the other two might have amazing Roles, it would likely end up being a waste if it didn't suit their personality.

To begin with, receiving an incompatible Role was near impossible…

"You… You should be a Swordsman or a Knight, right? Both are common Roles within the Council. Although they don't usually start strong when they have just awakened like you…"

'A Magical Swordsman, perhaps?'

In reality, Damon was still the most confused about Leo. His Role was likely a advanced variant compared to the Roles that he was familiar with, yet the signal he released was so incredibly weak that it didn't make sense.

'He can't have possibly learned how to hide it this early…'

One could artificially make it so his signal as a Roleplayer was weak or even invisible, but for Leo to be capable of that was more surprising than the strength of his rudimentary Role.

'It's more plausible that he is already close to his full potential.'

Cases, where special Roleplayers had awakened strong Roles that had little to no potential for growth, weren't uncommon either.

"Why don't you join the Council? The thorough record we have over such Roles should help you grow stronger quickly. You will especially need it."

However, for the same reason that he didn't care much about the unresponsive pair, Damon felt like he had to take Leo in.

Whether he could still grow or not with the Council's help remained to be seen, but even at his current level, he could be directly sent out for missions!

A reliable Roleplayer who didn't need to go through the initial grooming was worth much more! Specifically, now that the Syndicate seemed to be up to something.

"Sorry, but I will have to refuse. While I do want to browse the Council's archives one day, I will just join the Roleplayer Union for now."

Naturally, Leo had no plans to join a place with so many restrictions. His curiosity as a Reader couldn't get the better of him this time around.

'I will need to wait and see first.'

Most importantly, the Syndicate's attack meant that the Roleplayers' main arc was just getting started, and the Council was likely going to be at the very center of it.

Unless he could enter and leave as he pleased, Leo couldn't tie himself to such an unstable ship!

If this was just a normal organization, he could just go in and out after scanning the whole archive into his brain, but an organization of superhumans wasn't an easy target.

"I see. What about you?"

As soon as Leo voiced out his refusal, Damon immediately redirected his attention to Yulia. The Council didn't have to beg for members! Besides, his real target was still Yulia.

Putting aside her otherworldly looks, her overbearing Ice ability had sky-high potential. During her battle with Rose, the signals she was sending were off the charts!

"Me? I…"

Yulia was still flustered about her face reveal, but now everyone's attention was back on her. She personally wasn't sure what would be the right decision to make.

'They probably wouldn't be happy if I just went on and joined some unknown place, but…'

Her whole life was far from normal, yet when she tried to escape that, she fell right back into it. Only now, Yulia found out that there were many like her. Well… Almost.

Between figuring things out and the anger that she might have to endure in the future, Yulia was still undecided. However, looking at Leo's nonchalant expression, she finally made up her mind.

"S-sorry! I will also be joining the Roleplayer Union!"

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

Elsewhere, in an almost completely dark room…

"Now, now… Who is it among you, precious hatchlings?"

Leaning onto the side of a large mobile chair, a woman wearing loose clothes and covered by her own long luscious hair stared into the darkness.

Though it looked like she was mumbling alone in the dark, the gloomy woman was constantly processing countless pieces of information.

'Not you, not you, not you…'

Over a thousand screens of light were spread in her personal view, relaying the results of the test that she had ordered.

'This one is interesting.'

The screens kept disappearing and reappearing at an insane speed as a few of them got solidified and moved to the side.

Before long, the dizzying amount of screens was reduced to no more than a hundred, prompting an eerie yet mesmerizing smile.

"Hehe… The Golden UR has to be here… Hehe."

Letting out a chilling laugh, her eyes passed through the scene of a blonde man cutting someone's arm, but the unknown woman didn't give any additional attention to a specific screen just yet.