Only I Am A Reader

[ Congratulations! ]

[ A total of 100 Challenges have been cleared. The Conquering Trial has been successfully concluded. ]

Even though Leo had been hoping for it, he couldn't help being a bit surprised hearing the announcement this early. 

Although she didn't go all out with the speed as Leo did, Aurora didn't seem to be going slow either. 

Considering that Leo didn't even have to finish his current challenge, she had actually cleared a total of 21 challenges in less than two days!

'It keeps getting twisted.'

If the realistic version of Aurora was at least a little bit less naive, that would make Leo's job easier. However, at this point, he wasn't sure how much of the novel's information could be trusted.

If the main character was truly going to act differently, then Leo could only be confident about the timing and location of static events.

'Well, it's just happening a little bit early.'

Since Leo's ultimate goal was to induce that change, he couldn't really complain about it. 

As the chaotic butterfly that kept flapping its wings aggressively, Leo learned enough from his first two tries not to overly rely on the source material.

[ The Path to the Final Challenge opens up… ]

Leo's thoughts only continued until the last part of the announcement followed. Not only was he waiting for his mode of transportation to arrive, but he was also trying to mentally prepare himself for the next step.

'This is it.'

This was going to be Leo's first confrontation with Aurora, and he was going to be the Villain in that exchange.

Despite already meeting two other protagonists, one friendly, and one hostile, Leo was slightly tense about playing his role. In the last two worlds, his intention was clear for most of the time, but now he was supposed to act like someone else.

He might have already seen Aurora outside the Gate, but he was in disguise. Very soon, however, Leo was going to address her directly as none other than the psychotic Cassian!

'Not so forceful this time.'

Unlike when they just entered the Gate, the disc-like portals didn't rush in at Leo. Instead, the 'next challenge' portal that he had gotten used to appeared behind him.

'More like in between.'

Leo turned back and looked at the cocoons who were now half-concealed thanks to the portal. Once the challenge quota had been reached, one of these was bound to appear at all active stages.

This wasn't mentioned in the novel, but Leo deduced that the location of these portals wasn't random either. Rather, it appeared in a spot where it was closest to all participants on each stage.

By opening up between Leo and his assistants, the portal offered the option of moving on to all potential challengers. After all…

'If they did wait, they would have got away with it.'

While clearing the trial challenges was a responsibility that all entrants were forced to share, continuing to the final challenge wasn't mandatory.

Only those who believed themselves to be worthy or truly wished to clear this Gate could go on!

On Aurora's side, Leo couldn't do much if her partner didn't choose to follow her. However, at that point, it would be too blatant even for someone like Aurora.

Leo thought that his last target wouldn't make that choice, but he wasn't going to worry about that bit. Her absence wasn't necessarily going to make his play any less successful.

As long as he managed to get the message through to Aurora, the scam couldn't go on anyway.

'There is more important stuff to worry about.'

Rather than the performance and the side task that he had been preparing for since his entrance to the Gate, Leo placed more attention on the final challenge itself.

Removing the parasites was one way to help Aurora, but to truly save her, Leo couldn't let things escalate beyond his abilities. He had to control how fast the plot progressed!

'That being said…'

Leo dragged the cocoons with him into the portal. This one might have looked like any other, but what was behind it was vastly different.

[ You have arrived at the Encroachment Center's final challenge. ]

Once Leo stepped out, the messages continued once again. Raising his head up, Leo stared into the blood-red sky.

Dark lands that spread from west to east, a sky without a ceiling, and a theme of ominous crimson and deadly silence. With no walls in sight, this no longer felt like a Gate, but more like a whole new world!

'Speak about being obvious.'

If the special Gate gave a dreamy vibe, then what Leo was currently experiencing screamed 'doomsday'! 

Was it to foretell the ending would come if it wasn't stopped or simply display its threat to the challengers? Leo wasn't sure, but whatever the intention and whoever was responsible for it, they did a splendid job!

'This couldn't possibly change… Right?'

Amid the bloody sky, a wheel split into four partitions was slowly spinning around a large needle. In a way, it looked like it was going to stop at any and like it was never going to stop at the same time, but the answer to that was quickly answered.

[ A Destruction-Type challenge has been chosen, please wait until the Center's preparations are completed. ]

While the part displayed on the partition where the needle stopped was just as blurry as the rest, the voice faithfully translated what was happening in real-time.

'As expected, the performance comes first.'

The title wasn't any less ominous than the place itself. However, Leo was relieved, the challenge type didn't change from the novel despite all the variables that he caused until now!

Not so far from Leo, an illusory half-circle was covering a large part of the ground. What it was hiding was none other than Leo's target. Nonetheless, he had to pour his focus into something else.

As important as the final challenge was, there was a natural order to things, Leo couldn't put one earlier than the other.

Since this was his only chance to perform his little play, he had to go ahead and do it.

"Heyyyy!"

Especially since his audience had arrived right on time.