Chapter 617: Trial Of Ascension
[ Minor Plot Change Confirmed. Rare event occurrence has been detected. ]
[ You have depowered two Villainous Side Characters. You have received 199 Reading Points. ]
[ Repeatable Quest Bonus applied, you have received an additional 199 Reading Points. ]
’As expected.’
Seeing the minimal reward that his intrusive action had garnered prompted no surprise from Leo.
Now that he was aware that Aurora had taken control of the Thorn Trio, the little value that his actions added was to be expected.
In fact, removing the Thorn Queen’s Ability on her way to the hospital had only earned him as few as 99 Reading Points.
Even when the always-activated Side Quest doubled the reward, it was still only a fraction of what he could earn from traditional Villain Hunting.
’Well, it’s not like I’m doing it just for the points.’
To anyone who read the City of Villains all the way to the end, the Thorn Trio was the one Villain Group that they could never forgive.
Given how immersive his reading sessions usually were, that was especially the case for Leo.
And as if to confirm that sentiment...
[ Minor Plot Change Confirmed. Unique event occurrence has been detected. ]
[ A Main Villain Group had lost their clues under the Reader’s influence. You have received 399 Reading Points. ]
The personal book had actually bundled up the two split events into one single event with a higher rating!
’Nothing feels better than an unexpected bonus.’
As someone who calculated too many things to a tee, receiving any kind of extra benefit that went beyond these expectations always evoked a certain sense of excitement within Leo.
However, he couldn’t help but feel that his excitement had been blown out of proportion. There had to be another cause behind this.
’I feel more alive for some reason.’
The way his heart beat was just different. Rather than simple ecstatic excitement, he felt a deep sense of self-reassurance.
It was as if his existence had been slowly fading away, only to be acknowledged now, which was a strange thing to even think about.
Not knowing why, Leo found his mind strangely fed with these subtle explanations. It was as if someone was trying to tell him something, but couldn’t do it in a direct manner.
’It’s as if I was being left out.’
The incomprehensible emotion he felt was getting slightly clearer, but it still didn’t make sense.
Could it be because he hadn’t directly interacted with Aurora for a long period of time?
’It’s not like this was the first time I ignored the protagonist and did my own thing.’
Although this theory fit the most with his recent choices, it didn’t fit into the larger picture that included his previous True Reading Experience.
If Leo could summarize the conclusion that he reached, it all boiled down to a lack of exposure, but to whom?
If Aurora didn’t fit that role, then was there someone or something else watching him all this time?
Or rather, they or it had been watching him for a long while before suddenly switching over to Aurora’s side, which would be the only way to explain the reassurance he felt once he stepped back into Aurora’s circle.
’...What kind of nonsense is this?’
Although he was the one to come up with this theory, it was loosely based on an input that he suddenly received from an unknown source.
It made some sort of sense from that specific perspective, but when it was isolated to just Leo’s basic point of view, it was baseless gibberish.
Compared to participating in the novel’s main events, Leo still preferred his hidden activities because he could get a lot of things done. Tasks usually went way quicker when he didn’t have to tiptoe around main characters.
Besides, if someone had been actually watching him, his comprehensive Shadow Mastery would have already picked up on it. As such, Leo chose not to bother with these intrusive thoughts for now.
Something much more important was at stake here.
The hit and run at the start was more of a personal project; the task that truly mattered was clearing this Gate with as little loss as possible.
"Alright. We can start now."
Having finally cleared the crowd in his mind, Leo stepped out of the pillar of light once again. However, what appeared before him wasn’t the void-like space where it all started.
Instead, he was standing at the edge of a large circular stage carved out of blackstone that had the shine of obsidian.
Furthermore, the stage was slightly elevated from the ground floor, which appeared to be made from the exact same material.
Greennnn!
On the other side of the stage, a little green creature stood with a vicious expression on its face.
The moment Leo appeared, it kept trembling as if it wanted to launch itself at him, but something seemed to be holding it back.
{ The Multiversal Arena of Ascension welcomes you, challenger. }
Unlike the unsettling neutral voice that Leo heard at the start of the Gate, the voice that introduced the arena was distinctly that of a male, carrying a strong flavor of enthusiastic zeal.
{ Your current location is Level 0. Fight and defeat your opponent to ascend to the next level. Only by reaching the top Level could you reach your target. }
{ 5... 4... 3... 2... 1. Challenge starts. }
Once the countdown ended, the small green creature shot forward like an arrow as the restriction that was placed on it lost its effect.
The prey in front of it was too fleshy for the small green creature to resist. It was going to feast right this moment!
’I guess even goblins can be arrogant in a place like this.’
Faced with such an instant attack, Leo chose to match the small creature by falling back into his comfort zone, getting close and personal!
Breaking into a smile, a pitch-black longsword manifested into Leo’s hand as he lightly shook it.
The goblin had his own shortsword in hand, but it wasn’t destined to taste blood.
Swish!
All of a sudden, the goblin found itself frozen mid-air, losing the ability to move its body once more.
’Grreee...n?’
It wanted to scream out in anger at the constant interruption, but as that thought barely formed in its mind, it finally realized what had actually happened.
{ Level 0, cleared. }
Its head was already separated from its body! That sword strike had been so smooth that it took the head a while to slide down to the stage.
’That’s more like it.’
He had been relying on using abilities from range quite a bit as of late, but nothing could truly beat the exhilaration earned from engaging in melee combat, especially when it came to swords!
{ Proceed to Level 1? }
’It also works better for the structure of this Gate anyway.’
{ Combat Skills and Damage Dealt had crossed the threshold of Level 0 by 22 Levels. Initiating Rapid Ascension... }
{ Maximum Levels that can be skipped at once is set to 10. }
{ Would you like to use your Rapid Ascension Privilege to immediately move to Level 11? }
’Use the Rapid Ascension Privilege, of course.’
Compared to the suffocating process that came with clearing the first Encroachment Gate, the second and main Encroachment Gate was a lot more straightforward in that aspect.
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