Only I Am A Reader

Despite being locked up for a while, Leo didn't miss too many important events. After all, just Cassian's little scheme covered half of the chapters that had already passed.

That being said, not all events required Leo's interference. However, the one that was coming up soon was different.

'The first milestone Gate.'

Although most heroes and even Villains all wanted to clear Gates and obtain as many Enigma Stones as possible, not all Gates were desirable.

There were failed Gates, ones that have already been attempted by one team or more only to result in their deaths.

Gates that had too high of an energy reading, Gates that exhibited a special nature… There were quite a few telltales that could point out a problematic Gate.

In fact, there were specific omens that drove away even extremely greedy Ability Users. Thankfully, there was a great Hero in town to take care of those things! Aurora Dawnbringer!

'More like a pushover.'

While Leo agreed that all threatening Gates had to be dealt with regardless of the benefit, Aurora's way of doing it was extremely naive.

Proudly announcing that she would be the one to shoulder that burden only made pretend heroes even more lazy.

It was different when every country was on its own, but no one really wanted any Gate to blow up in the middle of New Enigma City. A joint threat could be ignored up to a certain point.

However, with Aurora exclusively making it her mission, those who used to reluctantly do it took the chance to laze around.

Contributing to the issue while gradually increasing the pressure on those who ignored it would have been more effective. Unfortunately, Aurora chose to lead by example in the worst place.

'She might have thrived in Murim.'

The morality of Heroes in New Enigma City was as skewed as could be. At the very least, Murim had actual Heroes among their pretend ones.

On the other hand, New Enigma City was purely built to generate profits, it was hard to find someone an Ability User with a kind soul hanging around.

Most of those had already escaped the City once they discovered how rotten its core was. Leo imagined that they were still trying to fill the shortage in other countries.

Taking care of excessive Gates might have been once the purpose, but it had long been reversed, now the countries that used to be self-sufficient had to repeatedly call for help.

'She is too pure for her own good.'

Aurora just had the same flaw as most protagonists, she was too much.

For example, Ray had tried being nice, but when it backfired, it only made him too extreme. In the same manner, when Geochin suffered, he didn't try to find a way to help people like him.

He went all crazy trying to create an ideal world where no such thing as suffering existed!

Aurora believed that as long as she did enough, more people would follow her lead and Gates would no longer be a threat.

She had only heard stories about it, but Aurora somehow wanted things to return to how they were before the Apocalypse's descent.

'And they made it worse.'

Normally, even with a gullible personality like hers, Aurora would have woken up after being slammed with the cold hard reality, but those who liked her initiative wouldn't let that happen.

They got a special garbage cleaner who accepted pennies for pay, so why would they let them go?

She didn't get promoted so heavily because people actually believed in her purpose, Aurora was just the perfect scapegoat!

Her growth rate was crazier than those who drowned themselves in Enigma Stones, and she was all about justice and doing the right thing.

As such, those with influence gave Aurora just what they believed she needed the most, affirmation!

'They made her a star.' 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐧𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥．𝗰𝐨𝗺

Not only did they direct the media to pour attention on her, but they also altered her journey to suit their agenda. Finally, they perfected their make-believe by pushing Ability Users at her.

'In short, they made her think it was working.'

Aurora was surprised to consecutively meet Ability Users who wanted to use their powers for good like her. Leading by example worked!

They even wanted to team up with her so they could clear more and more Gates.

'Even she tricked herself to play along.'

Of course, those Ability Users were only useless weaklings who held her back, but just their existence by Aurora's side was enough to keep her conviction strong!

'That's why I need to crash her party.'

The perfect first step to saving the protagonist was to remove the leeches. Although the worst ones had yet to join her, Leo wanted to start early to pull the problem out by its root.

He was also capable of mental manipulation!

'Soon.'

After spending some time browsing through the web, Leo found the specific date for Aurora's next Gate Clearing Announcement.

She usually grinded Gates silently without much propaganda, but this one was special due to how many omens it had.

Thankfully, this was also the first Gate that required Leo's attention, so he would be killing two birds with one stone.

There was still over a week before the Gate Clearing itself, but the date of the public announcement was quickly closing by as Leo spent the days in his safe house.

'Who knows? She might be less naive in this reality.'

Although changes made things a bit harder for Leo, a protagonist 'Should I go?'

Perhaps it would be a good idea to personally see the pushover in real life.

'Who knows? She might be less naive in this reality.'

Although changes made things a bit harder for Leo, a protagonist with a more realistic personality was likely going to help more.

'For now…'

Naturally, whether he planned to go or not, Leo hadn't been lazing around either. Reading the novel gave him important information, and so did Cassian's memory.

However, unlike the uncaring Cassian, Leo wanted to educate himself as much as possible.

There were a few books to read about it, but the main source of knowledge was still the internet.

Although it took more time than normal reading, Leo didn't mind going the extra inch to truly blend in with this unfamiliar modern world…