Only I Am A Reader

<I'm sorry, we can't risk it any more than that.>

Just as Geochin's half transparent arm returned to its original speed, Leo's Heavenly Reign Steps took a different run, moving in the opposite direction. The battle was already decided!

Crack!

"Cheon Baekho wins!"

Geochin persistently wanted to defend with his sword as a last-ditch attempt, but it only made Leo's victory much easier. At the same moment their swords met, the melody of the iron sword's breaking came alongside the referee's winner announcement.

Following that, however, things took a change for Leo.

[ Plot change confirmed. Legendary event occurrence has been detected... ]

'As expected!'

[ The Reader's character had managed to directly defeat the protagonist in a mock battle, achieving a major plot-changing feat! ]

[ You have received 1398 Reading Points! ]

[ Legendary event bonus granting in process… ]

Once more, time seemed to have come to a stop. The world momentarily lost color in Leo's eyes, only Geochin's gray robe still maintained its dull luster.

[ Protagonist Geochin's 'Swordsmanship' is temporarily available for reading… ]

[ Reading Attribute, 'Skill Reading', has been activated! ]

Despite being ready for what was to come, Leo still felt perplexed as his 'Skill Reading' took action. The scene playing in front of his eyes was something he was completely unfamiliar with. The only part that he could recognize was the extreme speed sword that he was 'personally' using.

'Wait…'

Taking a second to look at the blurry-faced figures' weapon that he was clashing with, Leo came to a simple realization. A battle of this level wasn't something the current Geochin could have experienced!

'This is the Murim Lord's…?'

Even as he tried his best not to miss the rare legendary opportunity, the only probable answer came to Leo's mind on its own. The glimpse that he was getting this time was much grander than his last one!

'Much better!'

Ray's swordsmanship was full of experience, but it was even more full of talent! He possessed the ability to learn what he needed for battle whenever it was required. Unfortunately, this talent was something that Leo could only absorb a very small fraction of…

Someone who managed to stand atop the entirety of Murim definitely didn't lack talent. However, the decades that he spent roaming the world, fighting strong masters, settling conflicts, or purging the Evil Faction's forces had developed his swordsmanship into a strong balance of experience and talent! Someone like him was a prime target for Leo's legendary bonus reading!

Of course, even with such great compatibility, Leo still only understood a fragment of the Murim Lord's sword. With an immersion higher than his first legendary experience, the repeated scenes only felt like they ended faster!

'Getting involved with protagonists still brings the greatest return as expected.'

As he slipped away from the Murim Lord's body, Leo inwardly smiled as his mind was still busy processing every last minute of his gain. One of the reasons he had to win in this battle was exactly the possibility of getting a precious chance like this.

In reality, Leo didn't expect that the target of his 'reading' to be none other than Namgung Geom, but even just what Geochin obtained from him was worth seeking. Thankfully, however, his ability seemed to recognize the Murim Lord as part of the protagonist!

The two of them shared the same body, so this connection made sense. Still, Leo wasn't sure if he only experienced the Murim Lord's point of view because he was the one that personally instilled the protagonist's swordsmanship…

"I…"

Looking at the broken hilt in his hand, Geochin seemed to be shaken by the unexpected defeat. He still walked down the stage to return to his seat, but his eyes hardly parted from Leo.

Up to this point, all that Leo did was prepare his best to pull off this task, but now that he had managed to do so… Things were bound to take an unknown turn. To achieve a legendary rating as early as now, this was a necessary cost.

Looking back at it, the Epic event was basically a forewarning for a much bigger change. Unlike the first round where he joined the already existing group that could interfere in the final battle, he had directly taken the place of Cheon Yong this time, leading to a preemptive event trigger.

'I will shoulder it.'

However, Leo wasn't flustered now the goal he had been running towards had been achieved. Rather, he was more than ready to shoulder the responsibility that came with being one of the two finalists! To begin with, this was another one of the reasons behind his choice!

"Martial Artists from all over murim! Although this result was quite unexpected, the two guests from the Heavenly Strength Society had managed to advance to the final round of the 1st competition. Everyone must be waiting for the final battle to decide who of the two is the strongest, me included, but…"

It could be said to be an embarrassment for the whole younger generation of the Righteous Faction for only Leo and Yeon to remain at the final round, but it wasn't like the Great Mount Hua Sect's subtle manipulations could change anything at this point.

Still, getting to pit the two 'demons' against each other wasn't exactly the worst case situation. At the very least, no specific organization could blame the other for being too weak when everyone suffered from the same fate!

"We will still have to wait till the sun sets. The final battle of this Sword Conference will be held at nightfall!"

The two battles of the semi-finals had concluded relatively quickly against the trend, but the sequence following it didn't change so as not to leave any chance for complaints.

Unlike usual, the audience didn't quickly disperse to pass the time as everyone stayed glued to their seats, barely holding back the anticipation to see how things would turn out. Would one of the two surrender to his colleague? Or would they fight to the death?

'Soon…'

Unbeknown to them, one of the two participants that everyone was thinking about wasn't even in the mind to consider what would happen in this battle of his…

"Cheon Baekho! Cheon Yeon!"

The true event masked by the Mount Hua Sword Conference was just about to start.