Only I Am A Reader

The mountainous area around Light City's border was also part of the whole of Skylight Country's border. There were people living not too far from it, but the place itself was as desolate as a desert.

It was just like the long line of mountains had just sprouted at this place out of nowhere. In a way, the place was still acknowledged as one of the country's tourist spots, albeit a very obscure one…

'It does look like a place where bad things happen.'

Considering the purpose of Leo's visit, everything seemed to fit expectations so far. Scary, desolate, secluded… It checked all the marks for a supernatural spot.

"There you are."

Just as Leo was moving toward the exact spot the coordinates pointed to, three familiar faces popped out from behind one of the shorter mountains.

"As expected, it's you two."

Her pink hair was still the same so Leo easily identified Rubin, Alex's bully characteristics were also unforgettable. As for the last person…

'Don't look at me like that.'

The pouty Yulia still got there before him despite the story that her face told. It was very likely that she had waited quite a bit for a message or a call.

"Hello there, it's been a while."

His alter ego was supposed to be a friendly person, so Leo was the first to wave. Now that he was no longer 'Leo', he could act a bit more freely.

With Arthur's face already revealed, Leo didn't even wear the mask this time, as was the case for Yulia. The mask was gone and only her enhanced features and altered hair were different.

"Indeed, this should have happened sooner than this, but we were a bit overworked… At least there are no fakes this time."

'So something did happen.'

While Leo wasn't sure exactly if the World Reformation Front had made more trouble or if the usual tasks of battling the supernatural had suddenly increased, his guess didn't seem to be that far off.

Thankfully, this latency helped avoid the intervention of the Forum's trolls!

'I guess this disrupted their pranking schedule.'

"The other two didn't make it?"

Still curious about what their Roles were, Leo casually asked about the frightened pair from last time.

"They are still undergoing the initiation of the Council itself so they won't be joining us today, right Alex?"

As Rubin elbowed Alex who was awkwardly stealing glances at Yulia, he suddenly became talkative in an attempt to go with the flow.

"Yeah, Damon and Illisha also wanted to come, but they have their own work to do. This place is far from prying eyes, so we won't be needing Illisha's camouflage for this mission."

Alex's explanation made sense. However, the fact that the whole team marched out for a simple introduction meeting, yet only half of them appeared for the far more risky mission spoke volumes.

'It really is getting busy… Oh.'

Before Leo knew it, Yulia was already standing next to him. The pout was still there, but it didn't seem like she was giving up now either.

"Right, before we start, we need to know what we should call you by. Communication is very important for your first mission… Or do you prefer being called by your usernames?"

Though Rubin's Role was less combat-oriented, it looked like she was still the leader of this operation in place of Damon. Only they had shared their names last time, Leo and Yulia had remained anonymous.

"You can call me Arthur."

Naturally, Leo had the perfect name to match his face. As for Yulia…

"Just Snow will do."

'She must have a thing for fairytales…'

Although what Yulia showed in the meeting made her look far from the image of a helpless princess like Snow White, Leo wasn't going to judge her tastes while sporting the face of his other self.

"Alright, let's head on then. It should be in that mountain."

Pointing right ahead, Rubin led the way toward the actual location of their target. Now that they were only minutes away from seeing it, Leo was starting to get slightly anxious.

Rubin and Alex were so nonchalant about it, but this was a game-changing moment for him and Yulia.

"There it is."

Once they reached the side of that mountain, a weird opening appeared.

Unlike one of Leo's imaginations, it wasn't a black or purple portal that took them to some sort of dungeon. However, the way it looked was as if the mountain had vomited out a part of itself.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go."

Rubin bravely stepped into the collapsed cave, while Alex took something out of his pocket to illuminate the way.

'That's kind of underwhelming.'

One would expect someone that came from a large organization like the World Reservation Council to carry a magical floating lantern or something along that line of thought, but all that Alex had was a strong flashlight.

Strangely enough, the path inside the mountain looked completely stable in contrast to the entrance.

Seeing the four of them explore what looked like an abandoned cave by relying on a single flashlight, Leo felt like he had entered some horror movie…

'I see.'

However, it wasn't long before the illumination of the flashlight was no longer necessary. Deep brown light suddenly appeared in the area ahead.

Something like dispersed crystals were embedded in the walls surrounding them.

"We are here, get ready."

Finally, Rubin stopped right before a narrow entrance. Beyond that narrow entrance, what seemed to be a large amalgamation of those light crystals covered half the ground!

"Watch this."

All of a sudden, the sparkling floor started wriggling around like it was a living thing before something started growing out of it.

'This is…'

As it was slowly ejected from the ground, the rocky growth started to lose its shine. It continued rising until…

'A golem?'

The large humanoid statue made out of rocks only stopped until it was about to reach the ceiling. It then casually stepped forward, separating from the part it sprouted from…