Surviving a Shounen Manga

It took some time after I received the message for my pounding heart to calm down.

“Hmm.”

It was quite surprising. Obviously, this was not a benefit that just any character could get. Especially at a time like this, when the author shouldn’t have much of a favourable feeling towards me.

Of course, there were times when I’d imagined this happening. I’d wondered if it might be possible if I succeeded at all those countless plans in my head, after innumerable performances that appealed to the readers.

But now was not that time. It was too early. In fact, even the expression ‘too early’ didn’t seem appropriate to describe it.

It didn’t make any damn sense.

“…”

It was a good opportunity. With great benefits to boot.

However, it was not something I could accept immediately. Because I didn’t know what the author was thinking.

‘… What the hell is your plan?’

I pondered carefully.

Of course, there were some small doubts here and there. Maybe the author not liking the look of me was just my bias talking? The increase in the shop prices… Maybe it was just a temporary adjustment to balance the characters?

So, I tried to think more and more positively.

Could it be that this was all my misunderstanding?

Did you appreciate me and give me a chance?

Did the readers keep wondering about me?

Or, did you come up with an idea to use my character appropriately?

Are you really trying to get me to play the lead role?

However,

‘No, it can’t be.’

How cringey. It felt like something was stuck in my throat.

I decided to trust my senses. This was not that kind of situation. This hid a different kind of intention.

There was only one reason I could guess.

To keep watch on me.

Based on my experience so far, even if a chapter was in progress, there were no restrictions on my actions while I was outside of Leo’s point of view.

There was that time in the past when my access to the building in Virgin City got blocked, but it was also a place where Leo would arrive after a while and enter the leading point of view.

This meant that outside the central point of view, you could act quite freely, without caring about the sanctions of the ‘preceding plot’.

Of course, this wasn’t completely certain or definitive. But empirically speaking, it was close to the truth.

Therefore, the author, even if he didn’t like my actions, was in a situation right now where he couldn’t easily control me.

In particular, since my current behaviour wasn’t so docile, the author must’ve felt that he needed to be more vigilant, so maybe he decided to just pass the point of view to me.

“It hurts… My head hurts.”

If the readers were watching, even the author wouldn’t be able to mess with me with impunity, but I couldn’t do anything out of the ordinary either.

Basically, the rival of the main character in a shounen manga must be a just person, same as the main character. He may have a rough personality; he should still essentially be a good guy. That’s the basic rule.

This meant that no matter what concept I was wrapped in, I had to walk the same path of ‘righteousness’ in the end in order to establish my position as a rival. The moment I dared step out of it, I’d forever lose my chance to be one.

What to do?

Frankly speaking, I was worried.

‘Just refuse it for now?’

But then I shook my head.

The opportunity was too precious for that. Who knew when I might get another?

No matter what you do, in the end it’s only the readers who matter. If the readers like it, the character will survive. If the readers look for it, the character will appear.

In other words, it can be much more efficient to acquire the status of a rival by simply showing the readers a cool image one time, rather than making the main character become conscious of you by relying on a bag of tricks.

‘Yeah, let’s just do it.’

Even if the author had some sort of plan, he wouldn’t be able to impose any improbable malicious sanctions in front of the readers.

I immediately pressed on the holographic message.

‘What will happen now… Is it going to be change to a new chapter?’

Following,

[You have accepted the author’s proposal]

[The leading viewpoint is changed from ‘Leo’ to ‘Hiro’]

The message on the hologram changed.

Then,

“Well…”

Nothing happened.

“Well?”

That was it.

I waited for a while, but nothing changed.

The hologram as well as the surrounding environments were the same.

‘What, did it apply preperly?’

It was awkward. I’d thought there would be some explanations and guidance. Or, maybe some change in the hologram?

Then,

“Senior?”

“Squatjaw?”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t we leaving? Why are you standing here blankly all of a sudden?”

“Did you forget how to walk?”

Chinuavi and Cocoa, who’d come closer without me noticing, were looking at me with concern.

Oh, right. I myself said let’s go, but then just stopped in place lost in thought.

“Uh… no. Let’s go.”

Then, I was about to start again, but I ended up doing a weird sort of powerwalk as I thought that the readers were watching. My body felt stiff like a wooden doll.

‘Haah, this is worrying… No, wait a minute.’

Come to think of it, the current situation itself was just a negative for me.

The fight was already over, and all I had to do is walk, so where would the fun be in watching it?

“… Good grief.”

It was a big deal. I could almost hear the readers yawning already.

‘I should’ve accepted it after passing the first stage…’

But it was already too late for regret.

A way. I had to find a way out of this.

What could I do? How could I make things just a little more exciting?

“Senior?”

“Look at you. Did you really forget how to walk?”

“What’s the problem?”

I glanced at them as they approached me.

Chinuavi, Cocoa and Haka.

‘What’s missing?’

I looked them over again.

It was still Chinuavi, Cocoa and Haka.

That was then –

“Ah!”

Suddenly, a ‘notion’ struck like a thunderbolt.

“Chinuavi.”

“Yes, senior.”

“Can you make an earth dragon (土龍)?”

Hearing that,

“Uh, how did you…?”

Chinuavi made a very surprised expression for the first time in a while.

“What are you so surprised about? Can you or can’t you?”

“Uh… Yes, senior. It won’t look pretty or anything, but if it’s just making one…”

“Just make one, then. Let’s ride it.”

“Uh… are you saying, now? But why? Looks like walking should be enough…”

“Uh-huh. Quickly. There’s no time.”

Transforming natural objects to living things was one of the cheat specialties of the goblins. In particular, you could see earth dragons, water dragons, and fire dragons being carried around as pets at the end of the original story.

Of course, this is a bit too early to start showcasing the goblins’ abilities… but, I thought it would be fine. Just like in the poker match with Siana, wouldn’t it be considered as just some unknown ability of a colleague of mine?

Anyway, the first priority was to provide something interesting to see. I had no idea when another opportunity like this would come again, but I couldn’t afford to waste a single minute or even a single second. I had to show anything that could drum up more interest.

And so,

“Wheeew. I don’t know if it’ll work well. It’s been a long time. Please step back for a bit.”

The ground began to shake.

Earth dragon. A dragon made of clay.

It was really closer to a giant earthworm, but it was still enough.

Krrrrr–.

After the ground shook for a while, a giant earthworm rose from the earth, revealing its magnificent majesty.

“Come on then, let’s get on.”

“Wow! Earthworm! Big!”

“As expected of Sir Chinuavi.”

“No, no, you’re exaggerating.”

“Alright, since we’re all on board, let’s get going. We don’t have long.”

And then,

Krrrrr–.

The earth dragon started running down the waterway with a resounding roar.

Twenty minutes later, at the centre of the underground waterway.

“Wow! So much! Water!”

Cocoa exclaimed as soon as she saw our destination.

Well, the sight definitely deserved such a response.

At a place where dozens of huge waterways joined together –

It was a dam built to handle such an enormous volume of water.

A magnificent reminder of why the ancient city of Advenitum had been called the ‘bowl of the sea’.

The sight of that amazingly huge ‘water tank’ filled with water was enough to make you question whether this place was underground, or the beach.

However, the response that came out of my mouth was quite different from Cocoa.

“… What the.”

It was embarrassing. Because this was not the situation that I knew.

First, the tank. There shouldn’t have been any water in there.

The tank had to be filled with water after the test of ‘knowledge’, the second of the basic qualification tests. And the volume wouldn’t be that much.

Next, the existence of those countless spectators surrounding the tank.

They shouldn’t have been here right now. Even if I could only clearly see a few, everyone shouldn’t have been here looking at the tank like that. Originally, the test takers had to prepare for the test of ‘knowledge’ by going to a separate test centre.

“…”

It seemed that I had no choice but to admit it.

The plot development had changed.

As soon as I understood that, I started to get nervous.

The reason behind my tension was simple. Because it was the author’s first time, changing the plot all by himself.

There’d been many times when the development has been changed by me, but this was the first time the author was doing it.

‘Do you have some scheme?’

It wasn’t too difficult to guess what it was, from what I could see.

Changes in the test sequence. The author had decided to test ‘character’ before ‘knowledge’.

This was a conspiracy.

‘Knowledge’ is the least weighted subject among the adventurer’s basic qualification tests. The reason is very simple. Because in this manga, the character’s intelligence does not play a large part in the evaluation factor.

For example, Leo isn’t particularly smart, and he often behaves like an idiot. And yet, isn’t he still the main character? This can even be considered a staple characteristic unique to the shounen manga genre, so a lack of ‘knowledge’ is not some major character flaw.

But ‘personality’ is a bit different.

First of all, there’s no right answer.

Just following the basics of morality won’t cut it. Since it’s a shounen manga about adventurers, there are times when you have to unhesitatingly steal a relic or two, trespass into private property, damage people’s cultural heritage, and even blow a few guys away. Even if the target isn’t a clear-cut villain.

In other words, ‘appropriate behaviour for an adventurer’ means you have to behave according to the time and the situation.

It’s the same for this test.

Simply put, there is no specific correct answer, so you have to somehow come up with an answer that is ‘interesting without being embarrassing’ for the viewers.

Naturally, there was a high possibility of making a mistake, and there was a bound to be a large ripple effect.

Gradually, the author’s intentions began to come into focus.

It seemed that he has no intention of forcefully controlling me. Instead, he was trying to push me into making some difficult decisions, so I’d mess up my score all on my own.

‘Tsk, whatever you try…’

That was then –

– Yes, it seems that all the test-takers have gathered. So let’s go straight to the second stage. Those who’ve taken the test before a few times may be a bit confused, but this time the order has changed a bit. The second stage of the basic qualification test will be the personality test.

As soon as the voice on the speaker finished, the people around us began to murmur.

– Now, how will the personality test be conducted? Simple. I’m going to ask you a question, so you just have to answer it. Of course, you are all aspiring adventurers, so you have to demonstrate with your actions rather than words, right?

Soon after,

“What!”

“Hey, there!”

“It’s a human!”

Two transparent, round spheres suddenly appeared in the middle of the air.

Each of the spheres contained two people: a young woman and a young child in one sphere, and a middle-aged man and a grandmother in the other.

– Drop the spheres, please.

At the speaker’s command, the spheres slowly began to sink into the tank.

– Now, what do you guys do? Here are two families in crisis. Who are you going to save? How would you like to start?

The two spheres were far apart.

But the distance between us and the tank was many times greater than even that.

In order to save them, we had to dive into the ocean-sized tank and swim to the spheres, witout caring about our own lives.

While the people around us hesitated, the spheres drifted closer and closer to the tank.

– Who are you going to save? Yes? Would you like to answer? You, blue-haired guy over there? Or you, lass with the long red hair? Think of them like your own family. Who should you save? Well, you don’t have much time.

At this point, I was feeling quite surprised.

But, of course, not at the question that had been posed at us.

‘What is this?’

The plot development had changed, but the problem remained the same as it was presented in the original.

I couldn’t help but be confused.

Didn’t you plan to give me trouble? Why is it this easy?

That was then –

– Naturally! This much isn’t too difficult for you test-takers who dream of becoming adventurers. At most, there are only four people. Did you all know that the real problem was still to come, and just kept watching? Yes?

At that moment, the spheres came in contact with the water, suddenly enlarged and burst.

Surprisingly, the people inside had disappeared. As if they’d been just afterimages.

– Now, here’s the real problem.

At the same time as he uttered those words –

“Uh… um…”

“Hey, what is that…”

“Are these illusions too?”

Four very large spheres appeared in the air.

At first glance, each sphere contained groups of over a dozen children, senior citizens, middle-aged men and young women.

– What are you going to do now? Yes? O’ aspiring adventurers?

Then, the four large spheres began to descend in unison.

And at the same time, the surrounding murmurs rapidly intensified.

Let’s all gather together, divide into teams, and take charge of each sphere…

Chinuavi and Haka also came up to me and asked, having been swept away by the atmosphere.

“Senior, what are we doing?”

“Are we going to move?”

I looked at the two kids with puzzled eyes.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Well, then I’ll make a water dragon first…”

“Wait.”

Then,

– No, I mean, how long are you going to just watch? Yeah? People are dying! That’s not an illusion! What are you going to do, redhead! Yeah? Are you going to just keep watching, you blonde over there! Yeah? Now what? What about you there, you… squat-jaw?

It came.

Of course, there was no set order for ‘presenting the answer’. Whoever was willing to go first, could.

However, this was only nominally so, and in reality, the person named last had no choice but to move first. Because that was the most natural way for the scene to be directed.

Right, it was me.

This seemed to be what the author had been aiming for.

“It’s not difficult.”

A snort came out of nowhere.

To be honest, this was very lucky for me.

You lay out the plates on the table for me, and I just have to pick up and eat.

“Senior, what should we do? Which one should we choose…”

“Seems like time is running out a bit. The children first?”

I stared at the two impatiently.

“You’re being idiots.”

Adventurers in this world are not bound by moral laws, rules, or some set ‘personality template’. These are guys who just do what they want to do and what they can do. Based on whatever ‘amazing power’ they have.

“What the Adventurers’ Association wants to test is not this kind of kiddish MCQ game. Rather, what great power do we have that they don’t know about? They’re not asking whom to save in this situation. What matters is who can get them all out of there the fastest.”

I then turned to Cocoa.

“You know what to take out.”

“… Is this why you told me to bring that?”

“I didn’t specifically predict this timing… but I thought it’d be useful somewhere. I did think it’d be better than carrying a gyrodrop, anyway.”

“Ugh… okay. Give me a sec. I’ll take it out.”

Then, Cocoa took ‘it’ out from her leather bag.

Thud–.

No longer tied down to an open-air amusement park under the blue sky, it now settled itself instead on the waters of the blue sea.

The amusement ride ‘Viking’, appeared at the centre of the underground waterway of this ancient city.

“Now, rescue team – move out!”

Editor’s Notes:

None for this chapter.