Surviving a Shounen Manga – Episode 105

The Ramirez Scramble (6)

The afternoon of the second day of the ‘winner-takes-all declaration’.

I looked at the holographic window, confused. Because words that seemed completely incomprehensible were repeating, over and over again.

– The main character of the chapter has been changed.

– The main character of the current chapter is now ‘Gronyan’.

“Again?”

This was already the third time.

Gronyan had again taken the lead point of view.

“…”

It was indeed a confusing situation.

Kiriko three times, Gronyan three times.

In just one day, the main viewpoint had changed six times – all in one chapter.

Switching the lead so many times was already strange, but what was even more absurd was the fact it was Kiriko, of all people, whose spotlight was getting snatched away.

Kiriko! That Kiriko!

Leo’s oldest colleague, and alongside him, the character who boasted the most number of appearances in Adventure King. A veritable pillar supporting the Leo Adventurers’ existence, a super-popular character who grabbed the readers’ attention every time he did something.

Simply put, he was the deuteragonist.

And right now, he was in urgent need of awakening, in order to reestablish the Leo Adventurers’ presence, which had recently been overshadowed both inside and outside the story.

That was the current Kiriko.

Nothing like situation had occurred in the original.

Alternating the lead viewpoint with somebody else? Forget it.

Two full chapters had been solely devoted to Kiriko, burning bright.

So I couldn’t but help call this crazy.

Who the hell was that Gronyan or whoever, to share Kiriko’s spotlight?

Besides, Kiriko wasn’t just playing around.

If he’d been idling or involved in some drudgery that wouldn’t catch the readers’ attention, I could’ve accepted it.

But Kiriko was fighting right now. Fighting non-stop.

Since yesterday afternoon, for more than twenty-four hours, he’d been fighting.

Since the saboteur goblins were waving their light sticks wherever Kiriko went to announce the location, he couldn’t even stop anywhere to rest.

Even so, the lead viewpoint kept switching…

I stared at the message again.

– The main character of the current chapter is now ‘Gronyan’.

It had to mean that the other party was fighting just as much. That to watch him was just as fun.

Or something else along those lines was happening.

“So what do I do now?”

I wasn’t just standing here watching the messages because I had nothing to do.

There were countless things on my plate. Every minute and every second were a precious resource.

The problem was that I didn’t know what to do right now, or what was most urgent.

The reason I was feeling so aimless was simple. Because the plot development had deviated from the original at multiple angles.

Kiriko wasn’t the only problem.

Although half his runtime had been stripped away, he was still active. He was still inching closer towards awakening.

Rather, my thoughts were centred around Tanya.

She definitely should’ve made her move on by now, but there was no news of her at all.

There should’ve been something by last night at the latest. Because according to the original story, Tanya should’ve moved immediately after Karl Zayed and Gelop clashed.

And she would’ve also taken the lead viewpoint.

So it was already late.

Going by the original,

[Kiriko → Karl Zayed → Tanya]

The leading point of view should’ve switched in this way.

But now,

[Karl Zayed → Kiriko & Gronyan → ?]

It was going like this.

The order had gotten jumbled up, and the content was also different.

It was tough to unentangle the issue from the basics. So I was reduced to observing the changes of the lead point of view.

That was then.

Beep beep–.

It was a signal from the transceiver, that I’d been waiting for.

I picked up the call, lightning-quick.

Who was it? Cocoa? Or maybe Haka?

“Who!?”

– Ah, Mr. Squatjaw. Can you hear me?

Haka.

“Wait, why’re you calling now!? What happened over there?”

– The radio wouldn’t work. Looks like somebody raised some kind of barrier. I had some trouble finding a place with signal.

“A barrier? Who did? Gronyan?”

– Well, I’m not sure about that either.

Of course, it couldn’t be to specifically stop my spying. How could they know about it?

Still, apparently, they had some kind of plan.

“Okay, but is there something exciting going on over there?”

– Eh? Oh, are you nearby?

“Huh? No, no, it was just a rumour.”

– There’re rumours already? Amazing. I thought this place was too strictly controlled for information to flow out… And isn’t that side also busy fighting?

“What’re you getting distracted for? C’mon, let’s start with the situation report.”

– Uh, yeah. First of all, it looks like there’ll be a fight soon.

“A fight?”

I knew it.

Just as I’d thought. Something ‘fun’ was going on. Enough to calm the readers’ curiosity about Kiriko.

“Between whom?”

– Who else? That terrifying guy.

“What? Gronyan?”

– Yeah, and the other guy’s no slouch either. Almost as strong.

Really? Another apex powerhouse?

It sounded silly. Few could fight Gronyan on even ground.

In an instant, lightning struck in my mind.

… No way?

– Do you want to come watch, sir? I think you should see it for yourself. It’s Magic Weapon Jimus. The guy who once had an argument with you. Remember?

Yeah.

I jumped up right away. There was no time to waste.

A battle between Jimus and Gronyan? So suddenly?

“I’m coming.”

I had to see it with my own two eyes. What exactly was happening?

---

As soon as Haka told me the names of those Gronyan had already dealt with, I was left speechless.

First opponent – Isaac of Wales.

Second – Dorian.

Third – Big Turtle Adventurer Team’s Captain Turtle.

Fourth – Geronimo.

⦙

They were all people I’d devoured back in Clone City.

“Eeh…”

Gronyan wasn’t just fighting here.

What he was doing, was to create as much of a story as possible using the guys who were tied to me.

Maybe it was purely to absorb my stake in the readers’ awareness.

Besides, weren’t they basically the people significant enough to have a name? Among the chaff, they were the top-notch strongmen.

So it wasn’t surprising that the lead point of view kept going to him.

Or rather, the fact that Kiriko was able to compete with him was surprising.

If his dire situation hadn’t been exacerbated by the saboteur goblins, he might not even have been able to do that.

And now… no matter what I did, it wouldn’t be my turn.

I turned my eyes to the front once again.

An extremely splendid fight was unfolding.

“Acid Storm!”

Booboobooboom!

Jimus was holding a wand with a different shape than when he’d fought Leo; a further upgraded, higher power one. He was continuously blasting out magic with tremendous destructive power.

However, Gronyan –

“Is this all…?”

– Weathered them all with ease. Every single attack was batted away by a light swing of his sword.

Gronyan was holding was a huge grey greatsword, five times the size of a normal bastard sword; making me wonder whether his setting really was that of a renowned ‘assassin’. That size really didn’t match with the concept of stealth.

Then,

“Tch, you should be careful… I’ll do my best from now on.”

Jimus started casting his ‘ultimate magic’ in earnest.

Soon,

Rustle–.

As the surrounding air trembled, rocks and soil began to scatter. Letters emitting blue light were floating around Jimus. They were ‘runes’, the alphabet of the witches, people were said to be true sorcerers.

“It looks like he’s preparing a powerful attack.”

Haka also muttered softly, feeling the strange current in the air.

“It’s all for show, for show.”

“Huh?”

“He isn’t actually incanting spells, he’s just charging up his energy nucleus. All those images are just holograms.”

“Ah… is that so?”

“You should pay attention to the other side instead.”

Despite the unusual energy swelling around Jimus, Gronyan was merely staring at him.

A unique demeanour that only true powerhouses could show.

Just looking at the scene made the difference in power clear.

“More than that…”

But I couldn’t focus purely on their confrontation.

And I couldn’t let things go on like this either.

It was the time to come up with countermeasures to divert everyone’s attention that’d focused on this match.

“By the way, where’re his followers?”

“Their number keeps growing. If that Magic Weapon Jimus is beaten… all his subordinates will also follow the guildmaster of Black Shadow.”

“…”

What was truly shocking was the way Gronyan had forced the big fish to face him.

Those of us who are confident in our own strength, let us put ourselves to the test!

He’d announced –

If anybody defeated him one-on-one, he and his subordinates would submit to their control.

Those hundreds of assassins, who called themselves the Assassin Society, were the bait.

These powerhouses were all confident in their own skills, so they’d become enthusiastic to participate.

It wasn’t just that.

Gronyan had said that those who cooperated with him would be treated with respect and rewarded, but those who didn’t would be destroyed.

In other words, he had no intention of conducting the ‘four-man final’ that I’d proposed in the first place. He rather wanted to gather everyone here together as a single force under his control, and then claim the treasure.

“He also drove away the goblins. Probably because he knows they won’t ever follow him.”

I could only see Haka. The goblins were nowhere to be found.

One of them might’ve dared to hide nearby, but the possibility was low. It was too risky, for not much entertainment. They would’ve just moved to another area.

“Then what about you? Did your infiltration go well?”

“Yeah, yeah. It wasn’t difficult. I’m now under one of the executives of the Assassin Society. But there are too many eyes around, so my people weren’t able to infiltrate.”

“That’s enough.”

My first order to Haka had been to stick as close to Gronyan as possible. To pass me his information without being caught.

Therefore, Haka had entered Gronyan’s group as soon as he’d arrived, one of the first to do so.

“But don’t some of them know that you’re my teammate?”

“I never look like this when I’m around them, I wear a mask. Plus I always carry a face-transforming potion with me, in case something unexpected come up.”

“Ah.”

Haka was meticulous as always.

“Anyway… it’s coming to an end.”

I turned my head back to the battlefield.

Like Haka said, the battle was sprinting towards the final finish line.

Even though Jimus kept firing a barrage of his so-called ‘ultimate magic’, he couldn’t deal a single serious blow to Gronyan.

“Damn it, this is the end! Hellfire!”

Even the ultimate skill that’d beaten Leo down,

“Now that’s something! But…”

Dragon Flash (龍閃)!

Rustle–.

Before Groniyan’s outstretched sword, the fire scattered into embers.

…

This was the end.

Jimus’s face already looked like he’d lost his will to fight.

He might still have some energy left, but he’d already decided that this was to be his last attack.

He lowered his wand slowly.

“It’s over.”

“No… it’s only beginning.”

I pointed to the back.

Where Cyborg Gelop stood waiting.

He was probably the last opponent Gronyan would face here.

Then, once the fight with Gelop finished, as long as it ended in his own victory, he’d probably lead everyone here and go subdue the people in the other areas.

The Leo Adventurers, Karl Zayed, and finally… me.

“… This is ridiculous.”

“Huh?”

“No, nothing.”

It was simply absurd. The original development had gone up in smoke.

I couldn’t help but be curious about the author’s mind.

What the hell was he doing all this for?

Why make such a huge narrative for that guy called Gronyan?

Just how much affection did he have for this character… It was frankly at a level that made no sense. Weren’t Leo and the rest more important right now?

“By the way, what’re you going to do now?”

“… Well…”

I didn’t know. Not yet.

But one thing was clear. I couldn’t stay still like this.

Most importantly, I couldn’t let the readers stew in anticipation of Gronyan’s next move.

The more that happened, the more his narrative would gain power.

If things went on like this, even my fight with Kiriko might get buried. No, maybe… it might not even happen in the first place.

First, I had to snatch the lead point of view. I had to do something significant enough for that.

Also, I had to try and force the plot development to the ‘original’ direction I was familiar with.

At that moment,

“… Kaha.”

A burst of laughter reflexively escaped my throat.

How absurd. It was me, of all people, who was trying to fix the plotline? Who did I think I was, the author himself? My job so far had always been to mess up the plot, not to fix it.

“Mr. Squatjaw?”

“Uh, just… I suddenly remembered something outrageous.”

However, the ‘absurdity’ I felt wasn’t limited to just that.

There was still the biggest one left.

“Huff…”

I took a couple of deep breaths.

After the battle with Jimus, go straight to another battle with Gelop. In order to take away the leading point of view from Gronyan who was exhibiting such an eye-catching performance, or at least to divert attention from it…

At this point, there was only one event that could make this possible.

What Tanya had done in the original.

“Let’s go, shall we?”

“Have you decided what to do?”

“Yeah, and I have to ask you for a favour.”

“What do I need to do?”

After telling Haka a few words, I immediately started moving.

While muttering words that I didn’t know whether stemmed from lamentation or anticipation.

“Just to survive, I now have to do something like this…”

---

‘What the hell is he going to do?’

What Mr. Squatjaw had asked for was very simple.

To give a shout out If he saw something weird happening.

Then,

“Ohh, it’s a robot!”

“I heard he’s the strongest in Northland.”

“Is he human? Or a machine?”

As the audience broke into murmurs, Cyborg Gelop stepped out in front of Gronyan.

Everyone looked at him with anticipation, but Haka’s eyes were fixed on the other party.

Gronyan.

He truly was an incredible monster.

After fighting Jimus, he was right away entering another one-on-one match with that cyborg.

Of course, neither of them would be risking their lives. Otherwise Jimus just now wouldn’t have been able to retreat at a nonchalant pace.

But it’d definitely been an intense battle. That much was not in doubt. The abundance of huge pits dug into the earth proved it.

It’d been a tense fight with the combatants pouring in at least eighty percent of their power – at least, for Jimus.

But that man had dealt with that much power very casually.

It couldn’t be possible without there being a significant gap between the two sides.

Monster.

That word really fit the guildmaster well.

‘Diverting people’s attention from the duel of somebody like that… Is that even possible?’

Haka tilted his head.

Mr. Squatjaw had said so before he’d left. That he’d make it happen. Something with enough impact for people to focus on it, and Haka just had to shout to draw their attention.

“Hmm…”

It wouldn’t be easy.

No matter how surprising it was, even if it was Mr. Squatjaw doing it, the chances seemed low.

To be honest, he even thought it might be outright impossible…

That was then.

… Huh?

Haka’s breath escaped him unconsciously.

His mouth was agape in surprise, but he didn’t even realize it.

In the distance, a red-haired woman was flying near the sky where the treasure, Ramirez, was floating.

Of course, it wasn’t a rare sight.

Similar scenes had repeated several times before.

The only difference was that –

“… It didn’t work?”

The Ramirez didn’t reveal the woman’s weakness.

This was certainly surprising.

Maybe… more than the confrontation between the two over here.

‘It’s not Mr. Squatjaw, but if I had to guess, this must be the situation he was talking about, right?’

At that moment,

“Look over there, at the Ramirez!”

Haka exclaimed loudly.

“Look at the Ramirez!”

And when some people, startled by the sudden shouting, turned to look,

“Th-, th-. that…”

“A thief!”

“Look over there!”

Just then, the Ramirez was caught in the hands of the red-haired woman.

“Some thief stole the Ramirez!”

---

Editor’s Notes:

None for this chapter.

---

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