Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 574: Invasive Special Ability? A Concept!

"Even if life had to be unfair, why couldn't it be me that made it instead of you?"

Although Leo didn't flinch after seeing the twisted expression on Kara's face, he wasn't without preparations.

If this whole obsession ended up skewed to the other side of the spectrum, he wouldn't hesitate to dispose of a future obstacle.

However…

"...Shameful, right? Surprisingly enough, this was the first thought that popped up in my mind as soon as my inner self talked me into envying you. Somehow, the whole logic of that thought didn't make sense to me."

'Split-personality?'

Seeing Kara's expression go back to normal within less than a second, Leo had a hard time understanding this instant transition.

While he wasn't one to question fate, Leo himself still understood the base logic behind her first thoughts. Doing something about it would be wrong, but it was natural to somewhat resent those who succeeded where one faced nothing but failures.

'Especially if you gave it all you had.'

Those who didn't have the resolve to chase that success could only blame themselves, but those who gave it their all… How could they possibly understand the logic behind their failure?

Yet, Kara didn't only accept fate for what it was; she somehow didn't understand the aspect of basic human nature represented through envy.

'Model human? Or just wired differently?'

Considering that she barely held onto her life with a very thin string, Leo couldn't imagine the former hypothesis to be the answer.

In fact, even a model human wouldn't necessarily act like one after being worn down for so long. So? There was only one plausible explanation.

'There is more to her Special Ability.'

If this had been months back before he awakened his role as a reader, Leo would only explain deviation from basic human instincts as some sort of mental anomaly.

However, whether it was in the new reality he realized back on earth or in the mystical city of villains, it was safer to assume that it was the influence of a role or a special ability.

Especially in extreme cases, such as the envy-less Kara or the selfless Aurora.

'Normal humans aren't meant to exhibit such perfect traits.'

Although it was hard to say that either people were perfect, they were as close as humans could get to perfection in these specific aspects.

One of two very rare cases was already explained in the original novel, so it only made sense for the other one to be the same.

'The circumstances just match.'

There was a lot left to explain, but now that Leo already had half of the story, he could quickly fill in the gaps, bar a few unimportant inaccuracies.

"Let's see… So after that magical experience, you were able to somehow obtain modified copies of my abilities."

Given the conclusion that he had just come to, Leo was aware that Kara's ability wasn't a simple copy-pasting ability, but it was undeniably one of its properties.

The fact that she copied Cassian's memories and pasted them into her brain was a foregone conclusion. Now, Leo was gathering the facts he had observed to jump to another conclusion.

'The similarities are there.'

It wasn't easy to notice at first thanks to the star-like fanfare that accompanied their appearance, but Leo had already seen Kara execute her own version of Shadow Movement.

On their own, Kara's ability to escape from Leo's shadow tendrils as well as their matching Enigma signature weren't enough as an input to confirm his suspicions.

However, when gathered together with every other input he obtained today, it was undoubtedly confirmed that Cassian's original Shadow Domination was the source of Kara's current abilities.

'Though I'm not sure if the copies are stronger than the original, or if it actually grew stronger thanks to my ascendance.'

If he had to confront her with Cassian's base abilities, Leo wasn't confident that he could take Kara down.

Rather, due to their twisted Enigma capabilities, he wouldn't have been able to keep her in place if Leo hadn't obtained the ability to compress his Enigma.

"Master does have the right to view it that way, but I prefer to regard them as the teachings that I have received from you."

'...?'

Leo was about to comment on the way Kara referred to him. Yet, hearing the reminder of her words sent him in a completely different direction.

'Master as in teacher?'

Was that really the way that Kara viewed him? Was that the base concept of her ability?

'A student… I don't think it's suitable as it is.'

Leo tried to come up with a simple name for Kara's ability, but he was stumped for a minute. Compared to its name, judging the depth of that ability came first.

'This also makes sense.'

Going along with the hypothesis that he envisioned from the start, Kara's ability appeared to be the personification of a True Student.

Without her teacher, she was helpless and her life was meaningless, but once she found him, her situation was completely reversed.

Not only did she receive guidance to appreciate life in any form, but she was also able to inherit Leo's, her teacher, teachings. It was a concept that fitted the 'Roles' in Leo's world rather than the Special Abilities belonging to the City of Villains.

'She really is just like Aurora.'

In contrast to Kara's 'Student', Aurora's concept ability was 'Light'. She was meant to be the shining beacon for all of humanity's hope, even if that meant burning all the way to extinction.

In the same way, a true student like Kara could never renounce her teacher's grace to the point of envying him. In fact, just the thought of it would repulse her.

'...This is truly horrific.'

The influence of extreme special abilities was truly terrifying. Having encountered such a situation twice, Leo couldn't help questioning the possibility that he might be under the influence as well.

'No way, right?'

Despite having absolute confidence in the psyche that endured the heavy mental corrosion that came with deep reading, Leo still couldn't help but dread the possibility of being a puppet.

'Still-'

Unfortunately, before he was able to think through that dread, a headache assaulted Leo's brain as the previous thought was pushed out of his prioritized list of worries.

'This…'

Something very new had just emerged from the depths of Leo's brain.