Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 565: The Ideal Condition Of Strength Realization

'If the final boss could be just deleted like the last two instances.'

Taking inspiration from his first two adventures, Leo wished he could just defeat the final threat like he always did, but the means to do so had always been lacking.

In comparison to the earlier instances, it was undeniably advantageous that he didn't have to start from scratch, but that only helped boost plan A's chances of success.

While it required some planning to pull everything off, almost every battle that Leo had to this moment had been very smooth sailing thanks to that advantage. However…

'It doesn't matter where you start if the ceiling is too short.'

It was true that Arthur and Baekho had to start from the bottom, but the early gap is something that was always meant to be bridged quickly for the protagonist's convenience.

Of course, the gap wasn't the same, but each circumstance had its own advantage.

Arthur didn't have as much time but had a lot of Hidden Pieces that could help with his growth.

On the other hand, while Baekho's advancement wasn't as easy, he had more time as well as the support of the Heavenly Strength Society's endless resources, he also had collected a few hidden pieces for the final push.

When it was finally time for the final showdown, the powerless states that Leo had to start with were nowhere to be seen.

'They definitely had the abilities deserving of final bosses, but they weren't unreachable.'

In Arthur's case, not only did his special constitution allow him to jump past the basic ceiling of the 9th grade, but he also had the protagonist on his side.

Against such a deadly combo, a mere 11th stage swordsman from a foreign world didn't really stand a chance.

In Baekho's case, the advantage of being on a higher stage might have been denied by the protagonist's cheat, but this specific final battle wasn't all about strength to begin with.

Talent, mind games, initial preparations… A lot more had to be taken into consideration aside from personal strength.

With the new Heavenly Demon by his side as well as Leo's personal reader cheats, even the impossible task of defeating a protagonist ended up manifesting into reality.

'This one, however, is different.'

As for poor Cassian, the City of Villains was just a totally different kind of novel. Putting in effort didn't equate to happy endings, and even the protagonist herself didn't get one.

Even if he somehow managed to convince Aurora to work with him, stopping the final boss was still impossible. If anything, it could bring about Aurora's bad end even faster.

Rather than a wall that could be overcome, the final boss's existence was more a rule that couldn't be broken. Even a Law-level ability was helpless against the invader who had a totally different classification.

Such rules could usually be broken using Hidden Pieces, but aside from the one that Leo had already claimed, there was nothing left that could help someone of Leo's level… Or at least that should have been the case.

'The first Trial's reward proved me wrong.'

As a setting that had been originally omitted, Leo welcomed the hidden reward that he received for lowering the Encroachment Rate with great excitement.

After all, as a variable that didn't exist in the original text, it could provide an actual solution to the final boss's exaggerated power-level!

'As long as the second one is as good of a hit…'

Despite seeming to be an auxiliary ability at the start, the Secondary Energy Storage showed the unexpected effect of breaking the tough power-ceiling.

Naturally, with a precedent in place, one thing could be confirmed, Trial rewards weren't bound by rules!

'The problem comes from how intricately accurate it has to be.'

Even if the value of the Secondary Energy Storage promised alluded to the lack of duds, what Leo was after wasn't just any valued ability.

In order to break the specific rule that stood in the way of the best possible ending, he needed something just as specific.

'First of all…'

Undeniably, the most important condition of all was that it also had to be an ability that contributed to Leo's offense.

Be that the case of the first reward that came with an unexpected refinement perk or a direct attack boost…

It just had to be on the same topic as battle strength! Otherwise, if Leo ended up receiving a miscellaneous ability like a charm enhancer, the fight would be over before it started.

Thankfully, according to his analysis of the first instance, Leo believed that his chances of fulfilling this condition was pretty high.

'Rather than randomly picking, it seemed to have accurately picked the one thing that I desired.'

No matter what, Leo wasn't crazy enough to base a plan around a gacha-like roulette. After all, the way the wheel behaved was very different from normal gacha, instead, it looked like something was chosen from the available prizes according to a certain set of terms.

The winner's most desired item, the item that most suited them, the item they needed the most… There were a few criteria that the Secondary Energy Storage could fit in, but it most certainly wasn't a dud.

'I both needed and desired to break that ceiling.'

In the same vein, the second condition of the boost being at least as powerful as the Secondary Energy Storage was likely to be met as well.

After all, neither the picked partition nor the rest of them looked any different from the other. In a way, this could be considered an indicator that the rewards possessed similar values but had different purposes.

However, when it came to the last and third condition, even the hopeful Leo couldn't help but falter.

'There is no guarantee that this would be taken into consideration.'

In order to touch the higher ceiling that the final boss had hit, both the second and the first ability had to stack!

It couldn't just be any other boost or else it would be as meaningless as receiving duplicate SSR pulls…

'The only thing I could do is hope and pray.'

Sometimes, the simplest solutions would sprout from the lack of possibilities.