Chapter 633: Are You Really A Protagonist?
"Hey! Cassian!"
’What now?’
Still busy finishing the last of his preparations, Leo was unsure what to do about Aurora.
During the last Encroachment Gate, he had taken on the mask of a Villain, tormenting Aurora and her team with words whenever he could, all in an attempt to stimulate the protagonist’s psyche into waking up.
However, whether it was because his intervention worked too well or something else was at play, Aurora did indeed change, perhaps a little too much.
’It didn’t seem like she could look me in the eye at the start of the Gate, but she is already shouting at me less than an hour later.’
Although it was part of Aurora’s basic characteristics to charge forward against all adversaries, the recovery time was too quick for the kind of trauma he inflicted, justified or not.
’Good for you.’
Regardless, Leo was actually happy that Aurora was getting better and better, almost like a father felt proud of their child.
It didn’t make sense for the 18-year-old Leo to understand what he felt, but just like he technically became a child as Baek-Ho, the older Cassian’s sentiments seemed to gush over.
"Hey!"
Precisely because of this, it was hard for Leo to do what he had to do. It wasn’t like he considered what he would do if Aurora changed her stance, but he felt bad about it.
’Sorry.’
Unless he was going to tell Aurora the truth about everything she needed to know, Leo could only ignore her like she wasn’t there, and it didn’t feel right.
’There is no figuring out what would happen if she knew what she was about to face.’
Since the full awakening of Aurora’s Light was mentioned to be greatly influenced by her emotions, giving her the cold, hard truth was a very dangerous gamble.
In fact, Leo had experimented with the effect of such a thing through Kara’s early reveal, but the results were rather mixed.
’It all worked out in the end, but it’s evident that she is in pain.’
While Aurora was able to handle the truth about the lie she lived without blowing up, her mental state was far from stable.
Even just by receiving Kara’s report, he could tell that Aurora was in an extremely gloomy space.
Leo could lie in order to get along with her for the time being, but she was too fragile to handle another case of deception like that, let alone the devastating truth.
’It’s for the better.’
Compared to the other, far worse outcomes, ignoring her was the right answer. It didn’t matter if it felt bad. Leo could easily handle a little guilt for the sake of the bigger picture... Or so he thought.
’Can’t I just say ’Hey’ back?’
Was Cassian’s unconscious goodwill towards Aurora that strong? Or was it just hard for a reader to ignore receiving attention from one of the many protagonists he wanted to meet?
Leo wasn’t sure, but for the first time in a long while, his emotions weren’t in order as his suppressed accumulation as a ’Reader’ started acting up.
At this rate...
{ All Trial Participants had reached the Main Encroachment Frontier. }
"Oh, hey."
Just when Leo almost lost control, a burst of light flashed by as Kara made her entrance, catching Aurora’s attention.
’Great timing!’
A sense of relief washed over Leo’s heart once he saw Kara.
He was originally confident that she would be able to clear the Trial without trouble, but after meeting the Abyssal Dragon, Leo was a little worried that Kara might fall short relying on basic Enigma.
However, as expected of a Star Pupil, Kara didn’t disappoint, clearing the Multiversal Arena of Ascension just one minute after Aurora.
Moreover, with her arrival, she could proceed with her secondary task, keeping Aurora busy!
{ The Trial of Defense will be immediately deployed! }
’Huh?’
Unfortunately, before Leo could properly rejoice, something out of expectation occurred, making him turn to look back at Aurora with a weird look in his eyes.
’Are you really a protagonist?’
Leo could hardly process the new information that he had obtained.
He had originally thought that Aurora’s fate was rather ambiguous, for making it in time only to pass out and miss out on taking the challenge from the start.
Yet, it turned out that this was only part of the truth. In any case, all the challengers clearing the first Trial automatically triggered the second Trial, and considering Aurora was the only survivor in the novel...
’Doomed to miss out anyway.’
Truly, aside from the evident power she wielded, Aurora was the least protagonist-like main character that Leo had met.
Compared to someone like Ray or even the broken Geochin, things never really went her way.
Their pasts might have been tragic, but what followed was their imminent rise. On the other hand, Aurora had only ever suffered the moment she obtained the cursed power of Light.
With the tendency to ’help’ that came along with that power, she was destined to be used from the start, and even now, she really wasn’t meant to catch a break.
’Come to think of it, it doesn’t seem like she got the same offer.’
There was a possibility that she rejected it like him, but the way Aurora appeared to Leo, she didn’t seem to have been tainted by the creepy atmosphere that the Arena Manager exuded.
It would naturally make sense for her not to receive the offer in the novel, having barely passed the Trial, but her performance was much better this time around.
Was it because she didn’t break the record as much as he did? Or was one offer considered the maximum per instance?
Or...
’Is her ’Light’ special enough to deter the Arena’s manager?’
Considering the role that Aurora had to play in this world, as well as the true power she held, it wasn’t too far-fetched.
’They certainly do follow the rules.’
Given how the Arena Manager refused Leo’s first request, it was a rather plausible cause.
’Well.’
There were a few more things to prepare and contemplate, but regrettably...
Crack. Crack.
Time had already run out.