Reader Mage 49-Reader’s Bookmark

rlin washed up, took a bottle of water from the fridge, and dropped to the floor in the sitting room, resting his back on the couch behind him as he heaved out a deep sigh.

He had been of the mind to tease Nora back in the White Room. But upon approaching her, and seeing how red her eyes were, he’d held himself back. That would be inhumane of him.

On a more serious note, he had not been expecting her to cry just because his simulation had taken a rather drastic turn; she was particularly sensitive about crying too—especially in public. Which was why he had not pushed on talking to her when she’d asked for so space.

However, it troubled him, even now that he was back in his dorm room. So, to take his mind off of it, he decided to shift his attention to sothing else.

With his face towel falling from his neck and onto his bare chest, rlin reached for his phone and scrolled through the words of the System.

[Quest Reward: Random Loot Box]

[Accept?]

[Yes?]/[No?]

Yes…

He wondered what Perk would be coming his way this ti. However, the anticipation was not exactly a gripping one, seeing as he had traded his sister’s composure for it. But there was nothing he could do about that now. She would be fine in due ti. In fact, he was of the mind to call her later tonight. Hopefully, she would have settled down by then.

The loot box that had appeared before him concluded its theatrics, and rlin’s new Perk was made known to him…

[You have been granted a Perk]

[You have obtained the Perk: Reader’s Bookmark]

[Perk: Reader’s Bookmark: Replicate movents that you have read or seen for a brief amount of ti, subject to your understanding of them. Current Intelligence Level is low. Not all movents can be replicated.]

[Note: Perks level up concurrently with your Intelligence Attribute. The higher the Intelligence, the stronger your Perks.]

Reader’s Bookmark? rlin blinked. From its description, it seems it ca about because of my awful replication of Kieran’s swordsmanship. So, this is basically a crutch for such monts then. I wonder how brief that amount of ti is. From the vague knowledge I have, it seems to be about five to ten seconds. It probably differs from movent to movent. He caressed his chin. My understanding of them, huh? So the better I understand the concepts behind the movents, the better I’ll be able to replicate them. This is really a nice Perk to have, but, Jesus, I’m not even excited. Ugh… Nora…

And, then, to make matters worse, his mind flew back to his discarding of his ideals back during the assessnt. He glanced at his palm and sighed.

Will I really be unable to avoid acting like a Warrior?That was the second ti… Now I can’t help but wonder if I’m just being childish about the whole thing. He clenched his fist and sighed exasperatedly. I guess I’m too weak to be picking what I don’t like and what I do.

“Why are you so gloomy? What’s going through your mind?” Chima’s voice ca from rlin’s side. He turned to see the boy stepping out of his room, rubbing his head with a towel, wearing nothing but baggy joggers.

rlin had guessed that Chima was ripped… But, damn. He glanced at his own body and chuckled self-effacingly. His figure had seen considerable improvent due to his workouts, but he still had a long way to go, even with the System enhancing his gains.

“Nothing,” said rlin as he turned off his phone. “I was just wondering how I can build my muscles.”

Chima raised a brow and flayed his eyes over rlin. “What are you talking about? You look good. Athletic figures are better than them bulky ones anyway.” He headed to the fridge, took a bottle of water, and lay down on the couch, just behind rlin.

“Huh?” rlin turned halfway around. “They get the girls!”

Chima almost choked on his water. “Wait. Do you already have soone you like? So quickly? Really?”

rlin’s intention had just been to steer the conversation away from falling onto the System, but it seed to have backfired. His lips twitched. He honestly didn’t know what to say here. Yes, he did like soone, but it was not like he could just reveal that information casually. And what was the point? Chima wouldn’t know who she was.

“It’s most likely that Kim Minji girl,” Hakyun voiced, coming out of his own room. It was noon, and, yet, the boy was dressed in his comic book pajamas—with the cap too.

rlin frowned. Not because of the way Hakyun was dressed, but because of what he’d said. It was definitely not her.

“Oh.” Chima’s eyes widened. “Really, rlin? I thought you'd be interested in…uhm…more dominant girls, I guess? Kim Minji seems too soft.”

rlin shot to his feet. “I-I never said I liked her.” He didn’t exactly understand why their words were infuriating him, but he felt like he should clarify things here before it went even further. “I like soone, but it’s definitely not Kim Minji.”

Hakyun scoffed, nudging his glasses upward. “Yeah, yeah. Look at him, all beet red. Teenage hormones. Pfft…” He stretched a hand at Chima. “Water.”

Chima frowned and jerked a thumb at the fridge. “There’s a whole lot in there.”

“Too far,” replied Hakyun without a hint of sha.

“No. Get yours.” Chima gulped down what was left of the water in his bottle.

Hakyun clicked his tongue. “Cheapskate.” He walked up to the fridge and took his. “So? Are we gonna talk about the physical assessnt?”

rlin wouldn’t lie, he felt like the conversation had moved on from the topic of girls far too quickly. Was he sad? He almost laughed. Well, he had no intentions of being the one bringing it back. That would just make him look desperate.

He returned to the floor and crossed his legs once more. Hakyun sat on a stool in the kitchen area.

“What for?” Chima asked, rolling onto his side and pulling out his phone.

“What do you an ‘what for’?” Hakyun scowled. “rlin has to tell us how he was moving like that. It was almost like he was a sword saint!”

“You’re exaggerating,” rlin laughed sheepishly. He was barely a sword peasant, talk less of a saint. Those moves of his were horrendous. And why were they using fantasy terms to discuss?

“I’m sowhat interested in how you threw that sword, though,” Chima chid in. “It had a lot of force behind it, just like back in the exam.”

rlin’s expression froze. He couldn’t explain how he did that; it was all because of the System.

“I believe that knowing each other’s strengths will help us complent one another better,” Hakyun started, his tone suddenly a lot more serious, that rlin and Chima were forced to listen attentively. “I want to tell you guys about myself. We’re in the sa Cohort, and I believe this is the bare minimum.”

He dipped his fingers underneath his glasses and pinched his eyes.

“I, Han Hakyun, am a D-Class Mage.”

rlin’s lips parted slightly as his eyes widened. Compared to him, a Deficient Mage, Hakyun was a lot, lot better. But, from the boy’s tone of speech, rlin could see that he was not pleased with his Class. He felt like he should say sothing here, but he was not exactly sure what. So he remained silent.

“Your Hex?” Chima asked almost impassively. rlin was about to shoot the boy a glare for being insensitive, when he noticed his expression. Chima was not indifferent to Hakyun’s words, he was just trying to better the atmosphere by moving on quickly.

“Earth,” Hakyun replied with a shrug. “I know. I know. Nothing special—”

“Are you kidding ?!” Chima sat upright. “I would trade my Fire for Earth any day!”

“You’re a Fire Mage?!” Hakyun exclaid. “Argh! Let’s exchange!”

Chima shook his head. “No, can do.”

Hakyun jerked back slightly in shock. “What? But you just said you preferred Earth.”

“Yeah. But if it ans giving sothing as dangerous as Fire to you, then I’ll pass. You’re too careless to wield such a dangerous elent.”

Hakyun’s head swelled so much rlin almost thought he was on the verge of exploding. And, at that, he and Chima’s bickering intensified, leaving rlin in the background, once again.

rlin settled into his thoughts, realizing that this was the part where he ntioned that he had the ability to cancel magic. He was not exactly bothered by the fact that he had to reveal his abilities, it was just that even after what Hakyun had said, he would still have to keep a particular secret from them. The fact that he had a System. They were his roommates, and mates of his Cohort. He felt like he shouldn’t be lying to them, but he was not so sure about revealing sothing so delicate to them yet. He had not even told Sunny and Janeth, and he had known them for longer.

rlin heaved out a sigh.

“I can cancel magic,” he said suddenly, putting a pause to Chima and Hakyun’s tussle of words as they shifted their attention onto him.

Hakyun narrowed his eyes, obviously uncertain if he had heard correctly. “What did you just say?”

rlin bit his lower lip softly. “I said I can cancel magic. And, before you ask, I don’t know why I can. I am just able to. That’s all I have to offer in that regard.”

Hakyun glanced at Chima who nodded. Then he jumped up from his stool, an expression of amazent etched on his face.

“Woah! That’s really cool, rlin!” he exclaid, startling rlin. “Wait. Wait. How co? How could you have such an ability? Is it sothing unique to Deficient Mages?” He paced around the room, his thoughts whirling so much they leaked out and made rlin feel dizzy. Then he snapped his fingers. “That makes sense! If Deficient Mages are unable to cast magic, then it makes sense that they’re able to use anti-magic.” rlin was glad soone finally reasoned in that manner. “But… You’re the only Mage that has that ability, right? I’ve never heard of its existence before.” rlin nodded. “So that’s why you got admitted.” He paused. “Oh, not to discredit your efforts during the exam. I just feel like it played a hand. You know, the Academy would want to study you, and—”

“I know,” rlin cut in, unsure why Hakyun was so quick to believe what he had said. Sunny had doubted for like a minute; yeah, he had co around rather quickly as well, though. But that was besides the point.

“Can I see?” Hakyun added, nudging the rims of his glasses as his eyes glistened beneath them.

rlin sighed. A little demonstration wouldn’t hurt, but he was not really in the mood at the mont.

“Maybe later,” he said as he stood up and grabbed his bottle of water on the table. “I’m going to have a nap. I’m exhausted."

“O-Oh okay,” Hakyun replied stiltedly, obviously wondering if he had said sothing wrong.

But that wasn’t it. rlin was just really exhausted. After all, keeping secrets could be quite tasking, and he had a nagging feeling that very, very soon, he would be keeping a whole plethora of them. He feared for his ntal health when that ti ca.