Surviving a Shounen Manga

Destomb.

A city like a facsimile of the New York slums in the 19th century.

Fitting the insidiousness that oozes from its name, there are three mafia organizations in this city, including ‘Skeleton’, the most powerful organization in the Mafia Coalition. Small gangs who listen to their orders are scattered nearby.

In other words, it’s a city full of people who can target Leo and his party. 

Unless they’re stupid, there’s no way they wouldn’t know about this. Moreover, there is a setting that Siana came here several times as the boss of the Goldam City mafia.

But unfortunately, they will still come here. It’s possible to just avoid the place, but they will still come without care.

That’s just how a shounen manga rolls.

Of course, there were a bunch of reasons mentioned.

Leo says that the name of the city is cool, so let’s go.

Kiriko says that his cigarettes have run out, and he needs to buy more from somewhere nearby.

And the sensible Siana wants to tell El Viego, the former owner of Goldam Casino, that she’s leaving.

…

Anyway, this city is as important to me as it is to Leo and his friends. Many chapters will take place here, over a long period.

Besides, as I remember, after all the chapters in this city were over, Leo and his party went straight to the Central Branch of the Adventurers’ Association in the Westland, to get their official adventurer’s license.

And on the way there, they met a ‘Mimic Acrobat’. Within no more than 2-3 chapters.

To summarize, it means that I have to earn enough points here.

But things aren’t that easy.

The Destomb arc is long and contains many scenes. However, the narrative structure is quite basic.

First, Leo’s party and the Mafia Coalition will face off.

Then, after the mafia are destroyed, the Black Shadow bastards will start attacking.

That’s it.

Except for a brief introduction to the personal history of ‘that guy’, who will become Leo’s fourth colleague, it’s just non-stop battle.

It’s difficult to intervene in this kind of basic plot development. Because it has to be ‘plausible’ for a third party to get involved in an entanglement between the two.

No, it’s still fine to intervene in the middle and play an active role. I knows how the fights will develop, and I know when and where the fights will have the most impact. I can manage to sneak into thosee gaps somehow.

But the problem is that I can’t play an active role without taking away the spotlight from the lead actors.

This Destomb arc is the quintessential ‘killer content’ of a battle manga, where Leo and his party use their powerful abilities to fight the enemy. Finally comes an arc that can really take off with the readers, but a strange guy pops up in the middle to muddy the waters? Be it the author or the readers, it’s a surefire recipe to be hated.

One mistake, and I may end up walking the plank of deletion.[1]

“… It’s difficult.”

There was only one way.

To lengthen the arc even more than the original, creating a place for myself to enter the spotlight.

I needed to jazz the plot development up a bit, adding some dashes of trickery and distraction, rather than preserve the original non-stop fighting pattern.

For example, wouldn’t it be fine if the mafia and the Black Shadow were not ‘separate waves’, but rather cooperated with each other to become a higher level of ordeal to Leo’s party?

But,

“My head’s about to break.”

I couldn’t think up a concrete plan to implement it.

I knew roughly what to achieve, but I wasn’t sure how to actually get it done.

To be honest, I could now vaguely understand why the author had said, ‘the character has to work hard for himself ‘.

It’s not enough to just be a character, you have to show some kind of ability as an author.

After thinking about it for a long time, I finally raised both hands and feet in surrender.

Who knows? I don’t.

‘No big deal.’

In the end, I decided to take another peek at the ‘reference material’ sent by the author.

[List of backstories received as a gift]

※ The validity period is until Chapter 9 begins.

The reason I called this a reference was simple. First of all, it meant that characters with this background would do something in the upcoming chapters.

If you think about how you can use that to improve the plot… Either way, you have to take on one of these roles yourself.

‘For now, let’s ignore the third one.’

There were actually two options left. Black Shadow, or the mafia?

At first glance, the one that seemed to have more room for manoeuvre was the [Black Shadow former member]. That was my main concern.

▶ [Former member of the assassination organization ‘Black Shadow’] detail page.

However, there was not much information contained within this background. A fugitive from the Black Shadow, rather than an enemy? There was nothing that really attracted me, except that there would be no problem with plausibility even if I joined Leo’s side.

There was also a slightly risky side.

Not right now, but after the chapter progresses a bit, the ‘boy’ who will be Leo’s fourth companion will arrive here in Destomb.

And as long as he’s nearby, it becomes quite risky to act against the Black Shadow. You never know when or where you’ll become a target and your head will fly away. At this point, his strength should be almost equal to Leo.

‘Is there only one possible option after all?’

I soon made up my mind.

Let’s go with the mafia.

Anyway, if you want to extend the length of this arc, you have to drill into the smaller side and fortify the narrative from there. That’s when the butterfly effect will have more impact.

I immediately began to scan my next background of choice.

▶ [Former No. 2 of the ‘Red Scorpion’, who fell from power] detail page.

Hmmm. First of all, I have to get the ball rolling with this character…

What the background dictated was clear. After I meet the boss of Skeleton and my rights are recognized, I borrow his power to remove the boss of the Red Scorpion and bring the organization under my heel.

But what to do after that, was the key point.

Now let’s say I get an organization to obey me. What use is it? What use are those frail, feeble weaklings?

The main reason why I was reluctant to choose this background was that this mafia organization was actually nothing special. In fact, was there even a single mafia organization that had clearly stood out during this long, long story arc?

Not just the Red Scorpion, but all the mafia organizations in the Coalition. They were all just a big messy hodgepodge made up of a multitude of one-off extras.

To be frank, among the mafia, the only one who’d caught my eye was the head of the Coalition. The Lord of the ‘Seven Rings’.

However, that guy was actually just a puppeteer, mind-controlling the bosses of the Mafia Coalition, so it was hard to see him as a true mafioso. He didn’t have his own organization, and he didn’t have the mafia look either. He was originally set to be a secret plant from the Black Shadow side.

In other words, in this arc, the mafia were just ‘props to heat up the story’, nothing more, nothing less.

‘It’s tough.’

Even after looking at the reference material, I was still confused.

No, it seemed to have gotten worse. Even though I decided my role, I couldn’t grasp the future direction, and even the restrictions on me had increased.

I wouldn’t call it frustrating, but I did feel a bit annoyed.

‘By the way, this one doesn’t even include a special ability, and the benefits are piddling. I don’t even know where Red City is.’

Then it was time to grunt and scan the background description once more.

“… Huh? Wait a moment.”

Suddenly, one phrase stood out.

It was nothing much. Not a big deal. But oddly enough, it caught my eye.

– I have no choice but to visit the boss of ‘Skeleton’, who once swore with me an oath of brotherhood.

“Meaning, I have a pre-existing relationship with a mafia boss…”

That is to say, I could meet the most powerful mafia boss in this city without any restraints.

After a moment of thought –

“Is this… is this an opportunity?”

It was as if a bell had started ringing inside my head.

What if I beat him up, or wheedled him somehow?

Wouldn’t it be possible to devour not only the Red Scorpion, but even the Skeleton?

‘No, no. Rather…’

Soon, an idea flashed into my mind.

A way to revitalize these boring mafia chapters, and to build up my presence throughout the arc.

A way to squeeze out a little more value from those mass-produced one-off extras.

An intuition.

Let’s swallow the Mafia Coalition whole.

Destomb City.

“What are we looking for?”

“Question mark. Find a green question mark. It’s probably painted on a signboard or a door or something. Check out the pubs in the dark alleys. Remember that Dumb Idiots in Big City? Look for a similar atmosphere.”

“You ruthless Squatjaw. You heartless Squatjaw. To make a cute little girl like me wander around the back alleys…”

“Aren’t you good at finding things? If it’s you, I think you could find it in a flash, right?”

Then,

“Hn… let me scout a bit.”

Cocoa grunted, but immediately went to search.

Surprisingly, the compliment was super effective. 

Then, after maybe about 5 minutes had passed –

Cocoa was back.

“Found it. It was nearby.”

“Already?”

“Yeah.”

It was a bit disconcerting. To find it so quickly?

Maybe her familiarity with Big City was helpful, or maybe she had the ability of a ‘guide’.

Soon Cocoa guided me to a place where indeed a green question mark had been drawn at the bottom of a shabby bar sign.

It was the location of the Information Guild in Destomb.

I asked Cocoa to watch the place for a moment, then knocked on the side door with the green doorknob.

Tock. Tock. Tock –.

“… Who?”

“I came to buy some information.”

“… Guild member’s mark?”

“Don’t have one.”

“Then it’ll be expensive.”

Was there a customer service manual or something? The guild member at the reception here parroted the exact same lines as the one in Big City. Without even a single stutter.

“It’s fine. I’m rich.”

“What information do you want?”

First, I should know a little bit about ‘me’. Or rather, about ‘No. 2 of the Red Scorpion’.

“There are rumours that the second-in-command of the Red Scorpion is in this city. Whether it is authentic or not, as well as his personal information.”

“… Wait.”

I made the request, but it was a bit of a long shot. This No. 2’s base was not here, but in Red City, so I was wondering if I could get proper information about him from here.

Then,

“Squatjaw. Can I go over there and take a look?”

Cocoa came closer and asked.

“What? Where?”

“That place where people have gathered.”

When I looked at the direction Cocoa was pointing, there were indeed seven or eight people gathered together. At the centre of them was a boy sitting in a crouch, and he seemed to be sulking for some reason.

“You can’t win anyway. You’ve got no talent for gambling.”

“It’s not gambling. It’s a riddle game.”

“What? Riddle?”

“Yeah. If you get the answer right, he will grant you three wishes. But I heard him grumbling that nobody got it right.”

“… Three wishes?”

I felt a sting of discomfort hearing Cocoa’s words.

A ‘riddle’, and ‘three wishes.’

These were tied to the true identity of that ‘one race’.

But this made no sense. Because they were mysterious beings that appeared only in the mid-to-late parts of this manga, and no one in this world even knew about their existence just yet. Except for one ‘slit-eyed character’.

‘No, it doesn’t make sense.’

However, even as I kept denying it in my head, my feet unconsciously took me towards that direction.

Soon after,

“Hey, you! What was your name? Are you really saying that if I can answer the riddle, my wish will come true?”

“Haha, didn’t I tell you?”

I was startled and my body froze.

A familiar face was there.

Playful eyes, an innocent smile, and freckles all over his face.

It was a face I never thought I could see here. No, he was never supposed to appear in this place.

“My name is Chinuavi. If you get it right, I’ll grant you your wish. However, if not, you’ll have to pay the price. Would you like to bet?”

… A goblin.

Editor’s Notes:

[1] Yes, that pirate joke wasn’t in the raws. But who could resist?