Surviving a Shounen Manga

What does a surviving mid-boss do after retreating?

Due to the nature of shounen manga, no matter how villainous they may be, there are very few cases where they’re totally killed off and disappear from the world. Usually, they get hit by the main character and fly away, or float away and drift off, to someplace far away.

So I remembered always being curious, after the battle is over, what would happen to them?

Of course, I wasn’t in the exact same situation right now, but there were similarities nonetheless.

1. Return to the main camp, and boast of your achievements to cover up the shortcomings.

“Just to protect the mafia, who knows how many assassins were sacrificed. Yet in the end, you only managed to give that little kid a cut on the cheek?”

“I’d clearly told you this beforehand. Those guys are just that strong. You were the ones who brought in people without much ability.”

“Hey, weren’t you the one being so confident? How come you’re now saying something like this?”

“Did I promise you I was going to fight to the death? You’d have liked that, I bet. And even if you’re telling me this now, looks like you already sent Haka to ask for replacements. Are you thinking the job’s a bit difficult after all?”

“That…”

2. If you want the conversation to flow smoothly, present an analysis of the opponent.

“Anyway, those guys are surprisingly strong. Even I almost died.”

“You looked quite relaxed fighting them to say that.”

“I was just pretending. I was afraid they’d chase me.”

“Hmmm…”

“There are a few things I found out by going myself.”

“Oh, for example?”

“The girl doesn’t seem to have much of a fighting ability, so we can ignore her for now, and focus on the redhead and the tuft-haired boy.”

I outlined Leo and Kiriko’s abilities at a very basic level.

For example, Kiriko’s revolver emits magic bullets of several types, and Leo’s lightning is intense enough to paralyze instantly if you don’t wear insulated clothing.

“You should take note.”

“Yeah…”

Actually, those were things that didn’t really need to be spoken out loud, but the executive still nodded his head with a calm face.

“Oh, and it would be best to separate the two if possible. The two of them co-ordinated quite well.”

“I was thinking along the same lines. Anyway, you don’t have to care about how we deal with them, sine we’ve now decided to handle it all ourselves. Originally, I was going to leave it up to the mafia, but like you said, that might be unreasonable.”

“You admitted it pretty quickly.”

“Now what are your plans? If you’re thinking of bringing in your gang anyway, you better forget about it. I might as well get you guys out of the way in that case.”

He looked at me warily.

“Nah. I’ve already gotten what I came for, after all.”

“What you came for?”

I’d already grabbed the aggro and gotten the chapter rewards.

Of course, I couldn’t actually say that out loud.

“Didn’t I protect the mafia? To some extent, at least.”

In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that the damage to the mafia was almost halved compared to the original. Since Leo and Kiriko brought out their unique abilities far too quickly, the second and third waves of mafiosi never even entered the stage. Even the executives, except for a tiny number, suffered no damage.

Of course, you never know if they’d survive the character settlements after this long arc gets over.

“Hey, I don’t know if your organization has any chance to profit. After we get rid of these bastards, we might come for you next.”

“Then please do your best. If you lose more power… we might be able to get our toys back very easily.”

Having said that, I turned my back.

Now all my work here was finished.

“Then work hard, Black Shadow. If I find any more helpful information, I’ll let you know.”

“No need. I don’t know if I’ll ever see your face again. Unless it’s as an enemy.”

“Fine. Tell Haka hello from me when he returns.”

“Adios[1].”

3. Leave the main camp.

I slowly headed towards the front door, planning to leave the Skeleton House behind me.

Yes, this is probably the complete process that most ‘mid-bosses who survive after retreating’ go through. After this, there is no more reason for their existence, so they will silently fade into the background.

However –

“… Let’s slowly start moving.”

I was different from them.

Didn’t I see it in the holographic transcript? There were many readers who were still looking forward to my future appearances and performance.

My next destination should not be the silent background, but rather the very beginning of another thread.

And my next step,

4. Turn double agent.

“Oh, I should bring a present.”

Instead of leaving after walking out of the front door, I turned around and headed for the warehouse next to the main building.

I’d wondered if someone else had found it, but luckily it was still left there.

“Good.”

I hurried out of the Skeleton House, carrying a large sack, that had been secretly hidden in a corner, on my shoulder.

A new chapter started after two days passed.

[Adventure King serialization resumed]

[Chapter 10 – Black Shadow Assassins (1)]

[Belongs to the realm of the ongoing chapter]

[Enigmatic Squatjaw is the subject of character evaluation in this chapter]

‘It’s later than I thought.’

It was quite different from the original. In the original work, Black Shadow members appeared as soon as Leo defeated ‘Seven Rings’.

This was probably because the author was having a tough time correcting the plot development. Also, there must have been a reason why it took some time for the ‘new character’, whose appearance time was changed abruptly, to arrive here.

The name of the chapter was also changed. Originally, [The Destomb Mafia (2)] should have been the next in sequence, but that chapter was instead transferred to [Black Shadow Assassins (1)].

I felt a bit of remorse at this, not simply because the ‘(1)’ behind the ‘The Destomb Mafia’ made me uncomfortable. It was because of the thought that even the ‘(1)’ after ‘Black Shadow Assassins’ might end up the same way.

‘Well, he’ll figure it out somehow.’

Eventually, I found myself in front of a shabby building, with the sack I had brought from the Skeleton House still on my back.

[Sleep Like the Dead].

The reason I stopped in front of this impressively named inn was simple. Because this was the place where Leo and his party were staying currently.

Obviously, they didn’t lack for money. Wasn’t the Queen of Goldam City herself in the team? But oddly enough, Leo’s party always stayed in these kinds of places. Shabby, and you wouldn’t be surprised if something appeared in the middle of the night.

I didn’t know if it was intentional on the author’s part, to push the main cast into an environment conducive to getting involved in various situations, but either way, it wasn’t bad from the perspective of a guest who was sneaking in.

‘Should I go in soon?’

After looking around for a moment, I sneaked into the building.

In fact, if I just wanted to meet them, I could have done that long ago. I had asked Cocoa to find their place of residence as soon as the previous chapter had finished.

The reason I’d deliberately waited for the next chapter to start was to secure an appearance.

Naturally, the readers would have no choice but to panic. The guy who left them with so many suspicions last chapter, appeared immediately in the next one.

Yes, just like,

“You, you!?”

“Squatjaw!”

“… What is it?”

Just like these guys.

“Hey, it’s been a while.”

I smiled and waved my hand.

In fact, this was a greeting aimed at the readers rather than these guys. A gag of an introduction. If the author had any sense, he would definitely use this scene.

“How did you know about this place?”

“What is your identity?”

“Stand back!”

Hmmm.

I meekly followed their instructions. Chinuavi wasn’t here in this yard, so a fight would be really troublesome. If you don’t want to get blown away, you have to listen.

“How did you know we were here!?”

“Wait, are you really from the mafia? Or a secret agent like you said back then?”

“What’s in the sack? Put it down first.”

“I’m sorry, but could please take turns?”

Soon afterwards,

“How did you find this place?”

Leo went first.

“I asked around. Once I described your appearances, it was easy.”

I answered vaguely. It wasn’t a particularly important question.

Then,

“Hmm, I see?”

Leo nodded like an idiot.

It was a reaction truly befitting the protagonist of a shounen manga. The thoughtless archetype.

“That doesn’t matter right now!”

Next came Kiriko.

“Who are you really? What are you planning?”

“I used to be in the mafia. And now I am your helper. Details are confidential.”

“Why would the mafia help us?”

“Because I’m not really in the mafia. It’s just one of my hidden identities.”

“Then, is that part still true? The secret agent?”

I deliberately did not answer. Because letting them wonder for themselves was the way to amplify the ‘secretive’ characteristic.

“But why are you helping us?”

“Someone is interested in you. His identity is a secret. Don’t try to figure it out. Even I don’t know much, so I’m working as requested.”

Of course, this was just me babbling. Still, I thought I should be able to get away with it.

And finally,

“Then how are you going to help us?”

It was as expected. No doubts, no worries at all.

In fact, it’d be hard to find people as insensitive as these even if you comb through the entire manga. Actually, that’s what being a main character is all about. Can you call it being so blessed that you can achieve everything in the end even after being so careless? Of course, other people don’t get the benefit of that plot armour.

“I’ll tell you who are trying to attack you and how they plan to do that. These are things that I learned by taking some risks.”

“Those who’re going to attack us? That’s… that’s the mafia.”

“It’s not just them. More dangerous guys are looking for you.”

That was then –

“Wait. Before that, please explain about the sack you are holding.”

The right person asked just at the right time. I was having a bit of a hard time holding on to it.

“Ah, this? It’s a gift. For the Queen.”

I immediately opened the sack and showed the contents inside.

Soon afterwards,

“Ugh!”

“What, what? A man!”

There were some good responses.

In addition,

“El Viego!”

Siana finished the trifecta.

“This is the guy, right? That you wanted to meet.”

“How did you know that…”

“I’ve known about you and this guy since you were at the Goldam Casino. Don’t ask how I found out, because it’s a secret. Anyway, you can tell from how I arrested a mafia executive, right? I’m not on their side. Rather, I’m somebody who can help you. You may be sceptical, but try believing in me first. You’ve got nothing to lose, right?”

Next, I told them about the existence of the Black Shadow and its members.

The assassins who were divided into low, intermediate, and advanced ranks, with the highest being the leader and the core of the organization.

“There were low-ranked assassins mixed among the mafia. Did you notice?”

“You saying they were just low-ranked?”

“Yeah, so you’re right to be nervous. From the intermediate level, it’s even more scary.”

I also told them how the Black Shadow might attack.

They might pretend to be ordinary people and ambush them, use poison, or even attack while hidden beneath the ground.

“It might be a long fight. Prepare well.”

“Hey, just with those guys?”

“Let them come. They won’t be leaving.”

Again, like main characters, there was no sign of fear.

Good and spirited.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“Something more?”

“It’s the most important part, so listen. There’s a monster among them. Leo, he’s about the same age as you, but he’s a very scary guy. You have to watch out for him.”

“… A monster?”

“Who is it?”

“Don’t ask any more. Because I don’t know either.”

I could only talk to far. I didn’t know what kind of penalty the author would impose if I gave even more spoilers than this.

“That’s all for today. Don’t forget what I told you.”

Then, after watching Siana kick El Viego around for a bit, I hurried out of there.

Because I still had work to do.

Two days later.

[Ice-Cream Shop where Two Ate while the Third Died].

I stared at the ice-cream shop in front of me.

To be more precise, I was staring at a short kid who had been standing in front of it for the last 30 minutes.

Yan.

The official successor of the Black Shadow, and number one in the ranks of its armed forces.

The boy who would become Leo’s fourth companion.

Of course, he wasn’t going to go duel with Leo right now.

Yan was the final boss of this long arc, due to appear only after all the executives of Black Shadow were defeated by Leo and Kiriko.

It’d only been two days since the new chapter started. 

Considering that the battle with the intermediate assassins had just begun, his appearance was still a long way off.

Yes, as per the original development.

But I had no intention of leaving it as it stood.

The reason was simple. Because the current development left no place for me to intervene at all.

The fight against the Black Shadow was intricately divided into stages.

After the low, intermediate, and advanced assassins, meet the final boss. It was a very orderly development, comfortable and familiar to both readers and authors.

However, it left absolutely no room for my three-people team to intervene.

I had to derail it at any cost, if I had to have any chance of earning points from this chapter. 

My plan was simple.

Have this guy join the fight right now.

Editor’s Notes:

[1] The phrase being used is 멀리 나가지 않겠다 (lit. not going far) which seems to be a modern Korean way of saying goodbye, in a negative/harsh way. Adios can have similar connotations for some, like saying it to a stranger you don’t expect to meet again.