Only I Am A Reader
chapter-485

'Definitely not what you would expect from a fan meeting…'

After the unknown fangirl bolted, Leo finally got the chance to stare into the empty air as his head came up with all kinds of explanations.

This was the strangest alteration to the story yet!

Judging from how flustered she was, the fangirl wasn't aware that he had escaped prison. Her actions were purely unrelated to Leo's intervention, yet nothing of her storyline was mentioned in the novel!

'Is it an unreliable Author?'

Leo still hadn't confirmed which theory was true regarding these worlds' relations to the novels that he read, but he was starting to lean more and more toward the 'Dream' theory.

If all the Authors did was receive these novels into their dreams or thoughts, then the changes could be explained as them taking creative liberties.

From a writer's point of view, erasing everything related to Cassian after his retreat made quite a bit of sense, and it also explained why this fangirl was never mentioned in the novel…

Of course, Leo was just guessing as usual. However, there was one thing that he was now sure of. Trying to find out the fangirl's identity and her intention was no longer a side quest!

'I have to take this seriously.'

After all, she wasn't just a crazy girl who popularized Leo's new name, she was also someone who managed to find Cassian's safe house or even houses during his vacation in Asterisk.

Her recent invasion might have been just a coincidence due to this safe house being the closest to First Hero Plaza, but she was still capable enough to escape Leo.

Rather, if Leo had actually been successfully tailed, he would have started questioning life. Thankfully, the only question he wanted to answer now was what the heck was this fangirl doing before he interrupted her… Or maybe not.

'She isn't an actual stalker, right?'

Although it was laughable for Leo, who was going to resume Cassian's career as Aurora's stalker, to call her out for that. He still got goosebumps just thinking about it.

'Just why did all the relevant characters in this novel have to be such weirdos?'

Even as these thoughts were playing in Leo's head, he attempted to inspect the fangirl's trail another time, but it still turned out empty.

'Forget it.'

Finally, Leo decided to give up overloading his brain for today and start afresh the next day. He was just about to collapse on the bed but held himself back at the last moment.

'On second thought…'

Leo ended up quickly changing the sheets just in case before taking a midday nap.

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

For the following week, Leo alternated between spending time inside and outside of the house.

He was still cooped up in front of the laptop screen for most of it, but Leo still made sure to go out for his daily exploration. Most importantly, he made sure to pack the necessities for the approaching event.

Although Leo could create almost everything using his abilities, their convenience didn't come without a price.

With the help of external items, not only did he get to hide his abilities, but he also didn't have to worry about them wearing off with time.

Leo had also taken the chance to give his enhanced abilities a test drive and he was almost surprised with the results.

Aside from unleashing his limits, his lethality had also skyrocketed. His melee combat ability was slightly less versatile when compared to using Martial Arts. However…

'I would like to see how that would play out.'

Baekho would have undeniably been the winner if it was before the final power-up, but now, Leo wasn't sure whether Baekho or Cassian would win if they fought each other to the death.

'This one should be in the bag.'

With information, preparations, and absolute power, Leo was confident that he could perfectly utilize the stage to his advantage. That is…

'Unless another variable appeared.'

Even then, Leo still wasn't worried, this specific event's success could be expedited with meaningful help, but one or two variables couldn't possibly make it worse.

Rather than worrying about endless possibilities, Leo focused his research on the one variable that he was aware of.

'As expected.'

After forcing himself to go through the various obscure forums that housed Cassian's fandom, Leo found a place to start from.

Most of his fans were pretty enthusiastic, so she was hard to discover based on her 'loyalty', but once he focused on her small interruption speech, he was able to find a specific user who frequently used similar words and a matching style.

'Shadow Crow.'

Assuming the persona of Cassian's loyal assistant, a supposed 'crow', this user had quite a bit of weight everywhere Cassian-related.

They were even the founder of the Cassian Archive project where the fans tried to reconstruct their idol's entire history.

Naturally, the fangirl that Leo witnessed could have been just quoting said user, but Leo didn't think that this was the case.

'It just feels authentic enough.'

Even if this was just a persona that she assumed to reach a certain goal, it made even more sense that she fully took on the role of a fanatic fan. After all, only that way would her cover remain intact to the discernable eye…

'That will have to be all for, but I will make sure to give you more attention when I'm back.'

With only very few days left until the Gate Clearing Event's start, Leo decided to pause his second main project with a promise to flush her out soon!

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

At the same time, elsewhere…

"..."

Lying on her bed and staring at the empty ceiling, a black-haired girl couldn't seem to catch her focus. It had already been more than a few days, but ever since that day…

'He… He is finally out.'

The one thing she always spoke of and believed in came true. Even more so, it happened right before her eyes. She had personally met him!

Many thoughts came to her mind then, but she couldn't act on them due to the surprise. Looking back, she regretted every second of that meeting. Could that even be considered personal?

'I'm really sorry! I was just… shy.'

The girl blushed in self-ridicule. She had just performed a great deed without any trouble, yet when the reward she went for became a great miracle, she actually cowered?

'Next time, I will definitely…'

With dreamy yet determined eyes, the girl made a vow that matched the one person that consumed her mind.