Only I Am A Reader



"The thing you read the invitation on is also a part of Illisha's ability, you can guess the way it works on your own."

Seeing the uninterested people on the street, Leo's senses felt slightly warped. He could tell that the building was still there as well, but whether it looked like it disappeared or not…

No normal person even bothered to glance in its direction!

'Illusionist…'

Looking back, almost every supernatural moment that Leo experienced since he returned from his first True Reading till now was actually all Illisha's doing.

A single Role's ability had almost fully rattled him!

'Directed illusions?'

Now that he has been given the basics to work with, Leo could imagine how the invitation worked in more than one way.

This Illisha had likely scattered her illusions all over the city or in the areas that this organization specifically targeted and gave it a restriction.

An activation requirement so that it would only warp the words once it picked up the signal that Roleplayers gave off! This building's illusion likely worked in the very same manner!

'The scope of a Role is much different than I thought…'

[ Role: Illusionist ]

He was already shocked to see these words on the magenta screen, but seeing an actual display of ability was on a whole other level. Leo's expectations had really been in the wrong direction.

A part of him thought that there were more Readers like him, something that reasonably explained the lack of chaos. After all, they would have other worlds to escape to and fulfill their fantasies.

At the very least, he believed that they would be a group of world-hoppers that jumped from one world to another.

Even the most unlikely scenario that Leo thought of was people suddenly awakening some sort of superpower out of nowhere, and being forced to adapt to it without instructions. However…

'Do we all get guides according to our preferences?'

It seemed like his Personal Book was just one of many!

"Of course, things are plenty different according to the Role you get, the only thing that you are all similar in is that you were all born in the same year. Roleplayers only appear in generations. Each generation is 10 years apart and you only get to awaken your Role once you turn 18."

'Oh?'

That single piece of information made things much clearer in Leo's head. He wondered if he was overthinking it, but awakening True Reading on his birthday didn't seem to be a coincidence.

Gluing an illusion into a school poster made more sense as well. If all new Roleplayers were 18 years old, then it was more than likely that a majority of them would still be in high school.

It looked like Illisha didn't have to overwork herself after all.

The generational gap in itself was also an interesting concept. Judging by their looks, this guiding group was likely just one 'generation' older.

'Unless one of them has a Role that slows aging.'

The versatility of a Role gave birth to many more possibilities compared to something that was usually singular like superpowers.

"Aside from that, anyone can get a Role that's already pretty powerful from the start just as you can get something negligible, but you don't need to worry about that either. Unless in very rare cases, all Roles have the potential to grow."

'So, it is possible to control it the more I grow?'

The degree of freedom that Illisha's Role had looked far too high in comparison to Leo's True Reading.

Aside from some very limited decisions, Leo was always being thrown around by his Role thus far.

Thankfully, it appeared like there was some hope in taking the reins. Going back to take Yeon might also be possible!

"There are many ways to grow an ability, though it is fundamentally dependent on the Role you get. Some just simply need to repeat an action a certain number of times, while others need to do a quest of some sort... A few even only need time to accumulate their ability and grow alongside it."

'Wait. So…'

"If you have explored your Role Guide correctly, then it should have some information or hints on how to grow your abilities. It's pretty simple at the start in most cases."

'Only I Am A Reader?'

Leo had been waiting for Damon to speak of anything that was even only remotely similar to his case. However, his words only seemed to contradict Leo's situation.

Damon might be just hiding that detail, but Leo felt that the words he held back were still not much different than what he said. In short…

'I'm an irregular among irregulars?'

Damon had been pretty adamant that everyone's abilities were restricted by his Role, yet in Leo's case, all of the abilities that he could currently exhibit weren't the smallest bit related to Reading… Even if it mainly originated from it.

'The Reader's Appraisal is a little bit different though.'

That being said, the ability that Leo gained from True Reading advancing to the next stage did feel like it was something that a Reader would wield. So…

Was all the trouble that he went through just to get these abilities, or was Leo only looking at his Role from a shallow perspective…?

"Undoubtedly, even those hints could be pretty cryptic or too indirect, but you wouldn't have to worry about breaking through all of these obstacles as long as you become a part of the World Reservation Council."

'Ah… So here comes the hook.'

Everything had been going far too smoothly with this explanation that Leo almost relaxed his guard. In the end, the true purpose of this meeting was quickly revealed.

"Ugh, excuse me. But didn't you imply that you actively work to suppress such abilities from appearing to the public? Why is it that you are working on actively growing them as well?"

One of the two guys on the newcomers' side didn't hesitate as he spoke out the question that was hovering in everyone's minds.

"I'm glad you asked this question, let me give you a counter. What do you think is the purpose of a Roleplayer?"

In response, a confident grin appeared on Damon's face.