Only I Am A Reader
chapter-442

"I'm back."

Having finished touring the city with different faces and clothes, Leo finally arrived home.

"Leo. Your father is out today, so it will be just the two of us for di-"

Mia was busy in the kitchen as usual, but once she took a proper look at Leo, she closed the tap and moved towards him…

"Are you okay?"

She deeply stared into her son's eyes before instinctively taking him to her embrace. She didn't need to know the reason behind it to tell that Leo was having a hard time!

'Eh?'

Subjected to this sudden ambush, Leo wasn't sure how to react. However, his anxiously beating heart immediately started slowing down.

"Has school been tough lately?"

'Is a mother's heart really that sensitive?'

Although Mia's guess went in an entirely different direction, Leo indeed couldn't deny that he was feeling disturbed as a result of what happened today.

His actual reality had become much more interesting. However, Earth could no longer be considered his safe haven…

The balance between his intense life as an otherworldly Reader and the boring life of a senior high schooler could be destroyed at any moment!

'The protagonist candidate is harmless, but…'

Yulia finding out his identity slightly caught Leo off guard, but it wasn't that serious of a situation. Considering her potential identity, she might have caught him sooner or later.

What truly bothered him was the possibility of such a situation repeating.

He might have it better than some of the newcomers who still had to grow and specialize in one direction, but Leo's versatile Role was still developing.

It wasn't a perfected system of abilities just yet. He still needed to enter a few more suitable books to be a true all-rounder!

'What if…'

And while that was happening, what if someone discovered the nature of his ability? What if there was a perfect counter that could cancel or restrict his True Reading?

What if he encountered someone with a weird Role like a Hypnotist and ended up being exploited without even knowing? What if…

Leo wasn't sure if he was truly one of a kind or not. However, more and more disturbing and paranoid questions revolved in Leo's mind now that he caught a glimpse of Earth's supernatural scene.

This wasn't even everything! The concept of endless Roles was terrifying, but he had yet to meet who these superhumans stood up to!

Was his awakening as a Reader the trouble that it brought him into? Couldn't he have just stayed as the normal bored Bookworm that he was?

'Okay, let's stop here.'

Once his dark thoughts reached the very precipice, Leo had to pull himself back by force.

In reality, he was far more fascinated with how things evolved than depressed by them. Leo was definitely excited to explore all the infinite possibilities of his now novel-like reality!

However, it didn't mean that his worries would disappear just because of his enthusiasm. They still weighed heavily on his heart, and this soothing moment was the perfect chance to relieve that weight…

Though he couldn't share the true details, it was great to have someone to lean on for a moment instead of treading alone forever.

"I guess… Is it that obvious?"

"Not really, but…"

Mia attempted to smile mysteriously as she raised her hand to pat Leo's head, but it only made her look adorable.

"Who do you think I am?"

No matter what, she hadn't carried Leo that long for nothing. While Mia long had accepted her son's nature, she was still happy to see that he was starting to change for the better.

It was only normal that he was facing some stumbling blocks, but she would help him through them if she had to.

If his mentality was badly affected by it, then she would rather Leo go back to how he was! He could always try again later.

'Yup, I'm not spoiling him too much. This is just a mother's love!'

"Pffft! You are right. Mother knows me the best."

"Eh. What are you laughing at?"

His mother initially pouted but it was quickly replaced by a smile. It seemed to overlap with certain scenes in Leo's memory, but it was still the most vivid of them all.

'Isn't this the family that I so dearly desired as Arthur and Baekho?'

Leo never truly understood the value of the gifts granted to him until he absorbed his alter ego's life experience. There was more to life than just reading.

"Are you going to stand there forever? Let's eat so we can do something fun together for the rest of the night."

"Got it."

Although Mia's concept of fun, a game of chess, wasn't what Leo would usually go for, he decided to indulge her for a change…

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

'The effectiveness is amazing.'

Some family bonding was a major help to Leo's state of mind, but all it really took to scatter the intrusive thoughts and slow down the overload was a session of Frost Refinement.

Following that, Leo woke up refreshed like a new man!

The first thing that he was itching to do, now that his gears were back in place, was check out the Roleplayer Union's network. Unfortunately, however, he couldn't access it simply like that.

'I can do that on my own, but it would take time.'

In order to access such an identity hazard, Leo required a device that was completely unrelated to him; it would also be convenient for it to have a decent cyber-security system.

'I didn't think I would end up calling them this soon.'

With Leo waking them up as early as he did, the thugs he had tamed proved their value once more.

Rather than Leo having to go through many adventures and detours to acquire a device before setting everything up by himself, they kindly promised to have everything delivered by the time he left school.

Of course, being threatened to become that kind was an unnecessary detail…

'It would take much less even if I still need to touch it up to make sure there are no hidden bugs… Right!'

"Hey, it's me again. Can you also get me this… and this…"

Annoyed by the fact that they couldn't bring him something that he could instantly use, Leo decided to use this opportunity to slightly furnish his Reading Space a bit more!