Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 607: Speedrunning

"N-no way!"

Having already witnessed the record-breaking Gate Clear that happened just a few days ago, the crowd waiting outside the White Gate was mentally prepared for another shock.

Yet...

"Is this even possible?"

"Not even two hours had passed. Just how?"

The White Gate had already turned blue. Better yet, a familiar shoe also stepped out of it, undeniably confirming that the Gate had been cleared.

"Wouldn’t this make it a universal record? As far as I know, not even normal Gates had been cleared this fast..."

The hardcore Aurora fans were rather excited by this achievement, but at the same time, their heart almost tightened to a close.

The last time Aurora broke the record for Color Gate clearing, she came out half-dead; now that she surpassed it by this much...

Tap.

"Ah!"

Seeing that the newbie Hero walked out quickly without dragging anyone on her shoulders, the fans were optimistic.

Perhaps this Gate was simply easy for a colored one?

However, as if to stomp all their hopes, the next shoe to appear was practically blood-colored.

"Huff... Huff..."

With a weak and battered breath, Aurora finally revealed herself.

This time, she was properly walking on her own, but her body was in an even worse shape than before; the scene was rather gore-ish and almost too graphic.

"Make way!"

As Kara let out a distressed shout, the crowd instantly parted, forming a direct path towards the spot where the medical team was stationed.

"Huff... Huff..."

Though her steps were slow, and her gait was a mess, everyone stared at Aurora trudging forward in admiration.

Having received even more injuries than last time, it would have been completely fine if she had let herself collapse on the ground, leaving the patching up to the specialists, but she openly refused to.

"D-do you need help?"

"Yeah! Let us help you, Great Hero!"

Not able to stand and watch any longer, a few brave people stepped forward, planning to assist.

If just giving her a hand was enough, then so be it, but they were ready to carry her all the way to the ambulance if Aurora needed it.

"No... I will go."

With half-opened eyes, Aurora weakly waved away the assistance. She was trying to prove a point here; such assistance would be nothing more than a nuisance.

"So, this is why she is the Hero of Light!"

"Truly one of a kind!"

"Aurora Dawnbringer! If anyone else dares to compare here to the guys on the Hero ranking, I will personally slap them!"

Naturally, no matter how absurd the situation seemed, no one even considered that Aurora might be acting.

Sure, the scene was quite different from her exit three days ago, but the crowd only saw it as a show of Aurora’s ongoing evolution.

Her first step in the project had been devastating enough that collapsing could only be considered a natural result.

However, now that she had been through that experience once, Aurora was able to keep her wit despite the more grievous injuries through sheer mental fortitude!

’It has to stay that way.’

Though Aurora had been quite surprised by the fact that White Tower stopped at the eleventh level, that didn’t stop her from continuing the script she wrote.

Everything had to suit the higher-ups’ expectations with a hint of variation so that they wouldn’t smell anything fishy.

Either way, both of the Gates that had been cleared weren’t even enough as appetizers.

For Aurora, she could only be satisfied once the entirety of the list had been vanquished!

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

Three days later.

With Aurora’s treatment proceeding in the same manner, New Team Aurora had been given the agreed-upon resting period, and now...

"Do your best."

They were being sent to clear their third Color Gate!

At the very front was Aurora, walking with great zeal as if her haggard appearance a few days back was nothing but a lie.

"Hey, it’s Star Pupils!"

Right next to her was Kara. As the person who always popped first so far, she was already starting to get a couple of fans of her own.

Though she was mostly considered Aurora’s sidekick.

As for the back...

’This... This time...’

The Thorn Sword and the Thorn Princess still looked relatively normal, but the Thorn Queen had an overwhelming, gloomy air surrounding her.

’Definitely!’

Though her unyielding spirit remained, it had already started to eat away at the rationality that she was so proud of.

If it were anybody else, they would have already given up after the great display that they saw in the second Gate, but the Thorn Queen simply refused to give up.

’A hunting method...’

Believing in nothing other than her fate as a Chosen One, and deluded by her illusion of grandeur, Yvonne put all her hopes on the remaining Gates.

’I will definitely obtain it in this Gate!’

Unfortunately for her...

"Blue! I see blue!"

"They did it again!"

Though slightly better than last time, Aurora still came out completely battered, but in just 10 hours, the third Color Gate was cleared without fail.

......

...

...

’This Time...’

Even as they stood in front of the fourth Color Gate, Yvonne still continued to mutter in mad confidence.

"Oh!"

"The fourth! The fourth one had been cleared!"

Over...

’This time...’

"Wah! Only three hours!"

"They almost managed to beat their second record in the fifth try, what a shame!"

And over...

’This time...’

"Quick! Call the medics!"

"Aurora had fallen headfirst through the portal! Where is the Healer at?!"

And over...

’This time...’

"No way! Even Star Pupils came out in a bad shape this time."

"Is it really okay for them to continue without stopping with these kinds of injuries?"

And finally...

’This time...’

Once again, Yvonne was standing in front of another Color Gate. This time, the color it emitted was deep dark purple.

As the ominous light was reflected in her eyes, it seemed to match well with her gloomy atmosphere, especially the face that looked like it had aged by 10 years just over the past month.

’For sure...’

Before she knew it, the Gate that they were about to enter was the one before last.

While she was still busy deluding herself into oblivion, only two more Color Gates were left in all of Enigma City!