Only I Am A Reader

"We did it!"

As the head with bulging eyes rolled down on the snow, Cheon Sohee cheered up for their first true team battle. Although this wasn't their first time fighting together, they often coordinated their moves to deal with a higher range of enemies rather than focusing all of their effort on a single target. In a sense, this was a completely new experience for them, especially when considering the stage gap between them and the monster.

"Good work, this was a great hunting performance."

"It's all thanks to you, Baek unni!"

With Bing Baek walking up to them as they surrounded the Devouring Centaur's corpse, Cheon Sohee didn't waste time as she directly took the ice-cold princess into her embrace. She truly wasn't the most social person on the team for nothing!

"It's alright… I'm just returning the favor."

Strangely enough, however, the distant Bing Baek didn't deny Cheon Sohee's hug. When Leo looked back at her taking the initiative in helping them during the battle, the coldness she displayed both on the inside and the outside seemed to have melted a bit.

'Is finding her true calling the true trigger?'

Just like most ice-cold beauties who melt into water puddles in the protagonist's presence, Bing Baek was also scheduled to have a gradual change of personality after the hunt. However, judging from how she still did the same, it meant that Geochin wasn't a necessary factor. Rather, it was more likely that her discovery of her support's effectiveness was what made her break open…

"This is more like it!"

Since the battle had already come to an end, both Cheon Jeong and Cheon Chang similarly arrived by their side. All the frustration that the Blade Spirit had accumulated after holding back for so long was blown away by the snowstorm as a large smile occupied most of her face.

Cheon Chang still acted true to his personality, only nodding at Leo for the second time, acknowledging his effort and progress. However, Leo almost didn't catch his gesture as he was too busy with the hunt's subsequent phase!

'It's time for looting!'

The most awaited finale of the event that he had been waiting for had finally come!

"Now that I'm thinking about it… What are we going to do with this thing? The feathers will be useful but…"

Seeing Leo pouring all of his attention on the collapsed body, Cheon Jeong reordered her thoughts with a question. Going far back, the reason they had come all the way here was that they sought the Phoenix's Internal Core, but all they found was some weird hybrid creature whose mysterious abilities matched that of monsters. By association, the resources that could be harvested were presumably limited…

"Not necessarily."

However, Leo knew the ins and outs of the monster that they had just felled together. Unlike what one would come to think, this particular Devouring Centaur possessed an Internal Core!

Since not even his senior brother could sense its existence, it was only natural that Leo wouldn't be able to find its precise location by just looking at it, but he only had to focus so he could roughly project what happened in the novel into reality for his target was surely there.

Despite being a bona fide monster, things were different when the Devouring Centaur devoured a True Beast. As part of its ability to inherit the physical features and abilities of its victim, the monster took the True Beast's Internal Core as its own, this was also the reason it could be considered a True Transcendent when compared to other monsters.

'It should be close to the lungs.'

Using the White Tiger as a butchering knife, Leo cut through the half-true Beast's skin. Compared to the unknown source of energy that allowed monsters to activate their innate abilities, the Eternal flame was logically produced by the Internal Energy produced by the core, so its position was easily deducible even without the novel's help.

"Hmmm?"

The initial excitement of the achievement seemed to die down, turning into curiosity as everyone watched Leo go about his 'looting'. After digging down deep enough, they quickly came to notice the change.

"This is… an Internal Core?"

The Centaur's body possessed some curtaining capability as a supporting characteristic to its devouring ability, but now that it had been cut open, everyone could feel the warmth that hid inside its body!

The first reaction was to naturally consider the possibility that they had been excluded at first. However, as their perception of the corpse's insides grew stronger, everyone realized that this was just the start!

"More?"

With Leo's precise hands, his desired objective was quickly revealed. A flaming red core with a tinge of darkness at its center, but that was only the first harvest, as he pulled it out, another one popped out to take its place!

Although it was only half as big, this smaller core had a purer color in comparison. Most importantly, its emergence brought along another, and another… and another. Somehow, a chain consisting of four Internal Cores was hidden under the Devouring Centaur's lungs!

'I feel sorry for the babies, but…'

"Five Internal Cores?!"

This phenomenal loot was undeniably the result of a great coincidence prepared precisely for the sake of the protagonist! With its precisely timed appearance just before the weakened Phoenix gave birth, the Centaur had not only devoured the mother's Internal Core but also that of its unborn children…

'...got to make use of what we receive, right?'

"Isn't this just more than perfect?"

Putting a surprised expression on his face, Leo acted as if he was just going by instinct once again. Geochin required that much to make up for his lack of talent, even after the Sky Fruit remedied a part of his problem. However, about one Internal Core was just right for them to consume.

'Not this one though.'

Holding the Internal Core that he grabbed at the start, Leo looked at Cheon Jeong and Cheon Chang. Once again, the two seniors had a great role to play!