'Did my cheat code finally arrive?'
A thought subconsciously floated out in Leo's mind before he rejected it quickly, he only felt the impulse to say it because most transmigration protagonists usually blurted out that line as soon as they found something abnormal.
Although their names varied according to the author, whether it be a cheat code, a system, or even a golden finger, Leo completely rejected such a possibility.
The reason was very simple.
'This is how I was brought here.'
The voice was exactly the one that he heard before he fainted, and it was obvious that it was the cause of his peculiar situation. Besides, as an educated person, Leo didn't believe in real transmigration.
At the beginning, he decided to name it as such since he wasn't sure if the voice he heard was responsible or not, but now that he had heard it once again, his doubt was already confirmed. There was obviously no such thing as a 'transmigration service'!
'Perhaps I might be able to return...'
Most importantly, the surfacing of the voice brought along a great change, it had allowed his memory as 'Arthur' to completely fuse with him, they no longer felt foreign.
The 12 years he lived as Arthur had become part of the 18 years old Leo!
Even though he didn't feel like he suddenly became 30 years old, the harsh experience that Arthur lives as well as the way he adapted to it truly became part of Leo.
After undergoing such a change, Leo believed that the voice that brought him here was very likely to return him to his world after a certain period or condition had passed. However, he wasn't sure about the specifics. All he could do was wait for the voice that went silent to speak out once again.
'Let's hope this main quest isn't something impossible.'
According to his knowledge of games and a great deal of 'litrpg' novels, Leo understood that the main quest that the voice spoke about 'issuing' was quite possibly his key to returning to earth, but he wasn't that optimistic about it. After all, he was just thrown into the novel, and he was already in this deadly situation. Perhaps the main quest would be to just die?
[ Trial 'True Reading' detected, Main Quest confirmed. ]
[ Target: Reach the epilogue. ]
'Eh?'
As he finally got his answer, Leo wasn't sure how to process it. He had to survive that long in this battle infested novel?
According to the original novel, the final battle that could be said to be the epilogue only took place eight years from this point in time. Naturally, Arthur was long dead by that time.
'This keeps getting tougher…'
Even if he managed to survive that long, he would be almost virtually 26 years old by that time. That wasn't the same as accepting his memories as Arthur. After all, it only felt like a moment to him then, but now he would have to experience every moment of these eight years.
Moreover…
"Can you be more detailed? What do you mean by reaching the epilogue. Do I just have to be alive by that point, or am I required to take part in that 'epilogue'?"
Leo found the target itself to be quite vague, and the difficulty would be different depending on the direction. He at least wanted to assure himself by having a clear target.
Unfortunately, the voice didn't seem like it heard him at all. It didn't speak a word after giving him the target.
'At least this can be considered a short novel.'
Shaking his head, Leo decided to focus on the good points. While eight years seemed long, there were novels that lasted for thousands of chapters, 'The Sword Master's Second Life' was obviously a much better option, it only lasted for 100 chapters.
The only reason the epilogue took eight years to reach was that the author liked using time skips, which at least meant there weren't that many deadly events in this novel.
"Can you at least confirm that the main quest is my way back?"
Trying just one more time, Leo answered the most important question to him. He might not be overly hung up on his current situation, but being stuck here far from home wasn't acceptable.
As his mind jolted, Leo felt excited, it seemed like he could still communicate with this voice!
[ Initiation completed, personal book issued. ]
'Nevermind…'
The excitement quickly died off, the voice wasn't responding to him, it was mechanically delivering what seemed like 'recorded messages'.
"At least tell me what this personal book is!"
Feeling hopeless regarding this unreliable voice, Leo threw a tantrum even though he knew he wouldn't get the answer, but that didn't seem to be the case this time!
As light seemed to fill his eyes, something appeared out of nowhere, it was a golden book that seemed to have his original face drawn on its cover. It looked to be quite ancient, but only had one page inside of it.
'Is this the 'personal book'?'
As Leo tried to touch, the book let out another wave light before it sprang open, revealing the only page inside of it.
The source of light this time was none other than a small square at the corner of the page, which was also the only part of the page that wasn't empty. It didn't take more than a few seconds before subsiding, revealing a fading perfect neutral picture of Arthur's face.
After the picture became completely clear, another change took place on the page, words surfaced up as if they were buried within the page, giving Leo a small shock.
[ Book 1 ]
Name: Arthur (Leo Lock)
Age: 12 (18)
Role: Reader
________________________
Personal Statistics:
----------------
Physique: 0.8
Mind: 1.3 (+1.9)
________________________
Quests:
-------
Main Quest: Reach the epilogue
________________________
As Leo looked at this 'character sheet' that appeared quite magically, He pondered quietly. Although it contained minimal words, to him, there were quite a few hints that were slightly out of his expectations.
While he was still lost in thought, he realized that one last line appeared at the very end of the clean sheet. As he read on, he wondered if the voice was truly incapable of communication…
[ Note: The Reader is advised to observe and influence the events of the book. ]
To Leo, he felt like it was provoking him. However, he didn't feel any anger within his heart, there was only… Excitement!
"Alright, bring it on!"
He was just going to start searching for a new hobby back on earth. Didn't this qualify as another 'special' hobby?
Leo just decided to accept the situation, it wasn't something that he could change. However, he believed he had the ability to completely change the flow of this book!
Countless plans and plots played out in his mind before he was shaken out of his daze by a small voice.
"Big brother, who were you talking to earlier? Were you talking to the fairy living in the lake?"
Leo's face went slightly red as he felt embarrassed by Annie's explanation. He was too engrossed by the situation that he almost forgot that he wasn't alone!
"Haha, Annie sure knows how to joke! I was just passing time until you finished collecting your pretty flowers! Are you done already?"
"Mm, Annie managed to collect lots of beautiful flowers! I will make flower crowns for all of you when we get back!"
"How diligent, alright let's go back."
Holding the basket that was overloaded with exotic flowers, Leo happily chatted with the little adorable girl. He would deliberate as much as he liked once he got back!