Only I Am A Reader

"Ready to move out?"

With nothing to stop the group of six from going out on an adventure once again, they barely rested for a day in Mount Heaven before departing with the new addition to their team, the Bing siblings.

Faithful to the 'ice' in their identity, neither of them was talkative. Even by the time their carriage had exited the flat plains, the siblings kept to themselves, hiding in the black robes they wore to avoid attention.

'This will take a while.'

Although the quick decision-making of the journey made it look simple, in reality, just getting to the port was a process that took slightly less than a month even when riding a carriage pulled by semi-True Beast horses…

The outer wooden rails of the city surrounding the port generally seemed to be suffering from a certain degree of damage if not completely destroyed, and the number of places undergoing reconstruction was also very high. The frequency and strength of monsters that appeared around wasn't that much different from elsewhere, but the loss of the solid ground advantage when aquatic monsters attacked made it harder to deal with them than usual.

"Fresh Energy Sponge Fish! Come get some!"

"Giant Shrimps for sale! Extremely effective in recovering Internal Energy!"

With more fragile bases and the general light structure of the city, it was obvious that even repelling an attack would leave behind more and more damage. Even then, however, the Port City was just as bustling as most seaside cities.

Knock. Knock.

Fortunately, after spending so much time trapped in the carriage, the group didn't have to wait much longer till a ship was ready to leave the port. Just like they did back at Unnam, they went right away to activate their 'checkpoint' in the Port City.

"Seniors. You are here for… I will prepare the ship right away!"

In most cases, even finding a boat that would be heading to a remote place like the Northern Island would be hard, so using their private ship was more practical.

The one responsible for maintaining this checkpoint was as conservative with his words as his colleague, but he quickly led Leo and the others to a jet black ship matching the Heavenly Strength Society's uniform color. The ship obviously required some time to be prepared for sail first, so he simply guided them to their rooms in the ship so they could adapt to them.

'To think my first sail would be in murim…'

Whether it was back on Earth or on the Sword Continent, Leo hadn't gotten on a proper ship till now. It didn't seem that exciting since he was traveling to an island of ice, but he was looking forward to what he would get from this trip.

'The snatch game is on!'

Although Leo was the one to first snatch Geochin's opportunity at the Mount Hua Sword Conference, Geochin's second unchangeable opportunity presented in the Sky Fruit was actually Leo and his team's rightful prize! If any of them could be considered to be acting unfairly, then it had to be the protagonist!

'Not that I plan to be fair anyway.'

Rather than feeling bad about it, giving Geochin a setback was something that only benefited him. Leo had once felt bad for the protagonist when he read his past, but personally meeting a protagonist wasn't a pleasant experience.

Perhaps it was for the sake of provoking others so they could practice their face slapping skills, or maybe it was just Leo's emotional filter for his future enemy. Either Way, Leo always found Geochin's face to be quite punchable.

With the rough setup of the Murim League as well as Geochin's diligent work in figuring the monsters out, the role of the protagonist was no longer vital enough that Leo cared about his survival. If needed, Leo was okay with taking up the burden in his place after sapping away all of the opportunities that he could get!

'Although that's not realistic…'

Naturally, not every chance meeting or piece of information lying around in the Murim Lord's head could be easily obtainable by Leo. Even if he knew the location and the timing, connections and identity were still vital prerequisites. In fact, Leo was already lucky to have snagged Bing Baek earlier than planned, the same could also be said about his successful trick interaction with Shadow Star…

Creaaakk…

Lost in thought as he explored the small room that he received, Leo found Yeon standing by his side before he knew it. As expected, her wariness of Bing Baek's addition to the group still remained.

In reality, Yeon was the one who knew best that Leo wouldn't simply abandon her for another person considering how deep their link was. However, the more her obsession ran deep, and the more defined Leo's personality became, the fear of losing the symbol that was no longer just her home drove her in certain extreme directions.

"Ho…"

"Yeon… It's okay."

Looking at Yeon's reluctant eyes, Leo somewhat understood her feelings. Without any further delay, he opened his arms and took her into his embrace. To this point, Yeon was always the one who initiated contact, but Leo could tell that her weary soul needed that much even if she didn't ask for it.

"We will always be together."

Leo felt the pain in her heart transfer to his as he imagined the day when he would come to leave. However, he refused to believe that there would be no solution.

'There has to be away.'

It might not be apparently possible, but with enough time and effort, Leo believed that he and Yeon would be reunited before long. Until the day that their temporary separation came, he had to make sure that they enjoyed every last bit of their time!

"The ship will be moving soon, everyone get ready!"

Having finished prepping up the ship, the checkpoint overseer turned sailor announced the start of the trip as Leo and Yeon separated from each other's grasp with mixed feelings.

"What do you say we go watch the waves from up there?"

Taking hold of Yeon's hand, Leo dragged her along to the deck as both leaned on the ship's railing next to each other, letting the serene waves take them away into a happy daydream…