Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 540: Heartless Exploitation, Moving Out!

Sob, sob…

The faint but helpless cries easily spread through the dimly lit room since its only contender was deep silence. However, that didn't last for long as the closed door suddenly sprang open.

"Haiya, why are you crying again? I told you didn't I, this isn't a kidnapping. You are here to assist in creating something much greater than you can comprehend. It's beyond you and me both… Well, maybe not me."

The entrant's eyes were hard to see in the darkness, especially when he wore glasses, but it was very obvious that he had some degree of crazy self-fanaticism.

Unfortunately, the hair-covered face and the dirty lab coat didn't live up to the expectations that his words had implied.

"I just want to go home…"

Of course, the one hearing these words didn't care about any of that. His mind was consumed by the idea of escaping this place.

It had already been over a month since his legs had been cuffed to the wall, forced to do as the disheveled man ordered in exchange for the tiny portions of food that he received every day.

If he wasn't too young to think in that manner, the boy might have tried to cut off his leg to escape instead of relying on the hope that someone would come and save him.

Yet that hope had already started to transform into something else. Endless anger and hate, not towards his captor, nor towards himself, the receiver of such emotion was the ultimate goal of many others.

'If only I hadn't eaten the Enigma Stone.'

This was all the so-called treasure's fault. Just like many others, his parents thought that he would be set for life if he awakened, so they did everything in their ability to collect enough money to buy one like a lottery ticket, and in the end…

'If only it didn't work.'

They won the jackpot. Now, however, the 14-year-old wished to throw away that gift. Before he could even make use of that gift, he was taken the next day after registering his ability in the Association and their Ability Development Center.

'If only I had been normal.'

Joy had long left the young boy's heart after being told that he was brought here so his ability would be exploited to create 'Greatness'. He was nothing more than a Special Ability dispenser.

'Or if I was as strong as Heroes…'

The young boy imagined a scenario where a muscled version of himself effortlessly escaped captivity using his great ability, but the despair that overtook him quickly burned such childish thoughts.

'No, someone just take it away!'

His ability wasn't strong, nor weak, it had no value. It was just one of many meaningless abilities treated as if they never existed. However, to his twisted fate, it happened to suit this crazy man's fancy, landing him in his current blight.

"Now, now, the faster you accept the situation, the less suffering you will feel. Hurry up and start compressing."

The disheveled man held up the end of his coat and sat cross-legged in front of the young boy, bringing out his Enigma to the surface as much as he could.

The young body could only comply, putting his hands out as faint rays of platinum light landed on his captor's body, and in response.

"Tsk."

The disheveled man clicked his tongue in displeasure.

'As expected, he doesn't seem to have any potential to grow.'

The ability to 'compress' was extremely vital to his project, but a Basic rating was just too low. He had made the kid use his ability extensively over the past month, even going as far as feeding him an Enigma Stone that he went to great lengths to get.

However, nothing worked! This kid showed no speck of promise!

"Gretel! Come here!"

'Accelerating the project will be impossible at this rate, but I will have to accept the current results for now.'

"Yes, Doctor."

Slowly pushing the unclosed door, a young girl walked into the room with a blank expression. Seeing her, a smile rose on the disheveled man's face. It was only because she was here that he didn't lose hope!

"See, if you are as obedient as her. You can eat more and wander around as you wish, so be a good boy, okay?"

'This won't be over any time soon, so it will help for him to adapt like her.'

"Now, Gretel, help him focus his ability more… I didn't say to stop compressing!"

Standing behind the young boy, Gretel put her hand on his head. Her fingers shone in bloody red, prompting the platinum rays to grow clearer!

'This is it! If I can keep this up, I will certainly ascend to my deserved form!'

Just like the two he was exploiting, the disheveled man was also a Special Ability User with a throwaway ability. He was someone bound to be useless, but he wasn't interested in abilities to begin with.

To him, Special Abilities were just means to an end, Enigma was the thing that he poured his focus into. Unfortunately, a low ability rating came with limited Enigma, so his limits were too clear to ignore!

Nonetheless, giving up without trying wasn't one of his features. Moral code or liability didn't matter to him, he only wanted to evolve into a higher life form through the gift of Enigma!

'Abilities on their own might be useless, but…'

At first, the target that he set his eyes on was the young girl who had the ability to increase 'focus', believing that it would allow him to control his Enigma better, but its effects were very limited on him.

However, in return, his useless ability's function was slightly improved, so he kept her as a contingency plan, renaming her Gretel after forcing her into Stockholm syndrome.

'Stacking abilities almost have as much potential as Enigma itself!'

The stubborn young boy's ability was just as useless as Gretel's, but once both were used together, the disheveled man could see his destiny coming into shape with each compression session.

Unfortunately for him…

'So that's how he did it.'

Whatever he was destined for was no longer relevant. After all, the butterfly of chaos had directly landed in his den.