Surviving a Shounen Manga

The End of the Voyage

The most standard way for an adventurer to raise their rank is to receive and successfully complete an adventure quest from the association, and accumulate rating points that way.

There are three main routes for getting and completing such quests:

That’s roughly it.

It’s not so easy for rookies to build up their rank as part of a group. At first blush, one might think that it’d be great to keep growing along with like-minded colleagues, but in fact, this is a very rare case, only possible for parties like Leo’s.

Simple. In most cases, such beginner groups don’t even have the most basic team composition, that is, members in all three positions.

First of all, to have a viable composition, a team must have at least one member in each of the three positions, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. Unless you start with an excellent guide from the beginning, and unless exceptional guys who can become your companions show up ‘accidentally’ along the way, you won’t be able to form a proper adventuring group however much you may want to.

Therefore, most ‘regulars’ camp for a long time in Adventium, where the qualification test is held each year, and form groups just to participate in the test.

And if they manage to pass, nine times out of ten, the group scatters to the wind. Since the group formed just to pass the exam, after achieving their goal, the members simply leave without any regrets, in search of greener pastures.

And thus adventurers who have an adventurer’s license but don’t belong to any group, are born.

For these ‘individual adventurers’, the second and the third ways of getting quests are the only options to raise their rank.

Whether it’s some adventurer clan or the Adventurers’ Association, they go to whoever wants them, keep selling their services until they have a certain reputation, and gradually accumulate rating points.

Of course, it takes a long time, and it’s all up to your luck if you find missions that suit you.

To summarize, adventuring was an industry where it was hard to raise your rank, and it was a fact that the readhead had gotten to S-rank from B+ in two years.

Indeed, that could only be interpreted in one way, if one used their common sense…

"What, what… how?"

The readhead’s lips trembled, as if in great bewilderment.

It was a natural reaction. The attack he’d thought had enough strength behind it, had disappeared without a trace once it’d reached my grasp.

The two crimson spheres he’d thrown at me were a type of magic, orb-shaped spells with an inherent ‘explosive’ attribute. A bigger and red-coloured form of Kiriko’s ‘explosion’-type bullets.

He must’ve expected the spheres to explode the moment they touched me. Not to puff out and disappear like a blown-out candle.

The redhead had a lot of doubts in his gaze, but I ignored that. It wasn’t my job to solve his problems.

But, of course, I didn’t forget to encourage him to figure it out by himself.

"Would you like to try a few more? I’m game if you are."

"… You cheeky bastard!"

Three spheres, each slightly larger than the previous ones, flew in.

I reached out and touched them with my hands, one by one, just like last time.

And then,

Puff–.

The spheres lost their power and winked out.

The redhead was now beyond bewildered, his eyes full of astonishment.

"No, what, what the hell… how?"

"Can you figure it out just by muttering to yourself? Why not try a few more times?"

"Urgh…!"

A huge sphere began to form in his hand.

From the looks of it, he was trying to concentrate all his power into one blow.

Of course, he had to have other ways of fighting instead of just single-mindedly throwing explosives. From his nature and his ability, he seemed to be the type that shined more in melee combat.

However, he didn’t seem to be thinking clearly because of the shock.

‘He’s so mentally fragile. Did they really put him at S-rank?’

I clicked my tongue.

Of course, I’d been a little nervous at first. He was S-class after all. And he was an adversary on top of that, the adventurer position that boasted the highest combat strength.

But even so, I never thought of this guy as Leo’s – and therefore (as of right now) mine – opponent.

Two years to reach S-class? Please.

The Leo Adventurers had taken only six months to achieve that in the original. Including a lot of wasted time, stopping by here and there.

Karl Zayed had taken less than two.

‘And what about you, could you do something like that?’

Before long, a huge sphere, one that could fit three people inside it, was hovering above his palms.

I just watched.

"Heh… it’s your loss now that you’ve given me time to create this."

"Yeah, good job. Now throw it over."

"Even I can’t predict this impact this will create. If this ship sinks and causes numerous casualties… remember that it’s all your fault."

He wasn’t getting any less crazy with time.

"It won’t work, though, you know?"

"You… you keep pissing me off!"

He threw the sphere, hard.

I gently raised my right hand as I watched the sphere slowly float towards me. Then, I folded four of my fingers, leaving only the index finger pointing forward.

Because that was all I needed to get rid of this.

Soon after,

Pop–!

The sphere that had been condensed with such tremendous energy, burst like a balloon.

…

I glanced away from the nonplussed redhead for a moment. Oddly enough, at that moment, I was feeling a strange sense of discomfort.

At the thought that such an ‘irrationality’ could be imposed on me as well, at any time.

Hmmm.

Obviously, if that sphere had exploded properly, not only me, but the whole of the banquet hall here, or indeed the entire ship, might have been blown away. Because the strength this guy had put into it wasn’t weak in any sense.

However, the reason that the redhead’s ability was extinguished so easily was due to the cheat ability I’d mimicked, that of ‘Leo from a few chapters in the future’.

[Lightning that Destroys Calamity].

The word ‘calamity’ here was not symbolic, and neither was the word ‘destroy’ a metaphor.

Calamity referred to the opponent Leo opposes as well as his ‘ability’, and Leo’s lightning can conditionally ‘destroy’ such existences. In particular, if the ‘class’ of the ability designated as a calamity is inferior, even ‘contact’ is not allowed regardless of the total amount of energy contained in it.

The ability to look down on the weak.

That is the essence of Leo’s [Lightning that Destroys Calamity].

It’s true that lightning by itself is a very useful ability, especially for ‘adversaries’ – but Leo’s ability surpasses even that, and is almost a scam when you’re dealing with multiple enemies at once. Since the ability makes a clear distinction between the superior and the inferior, unless there’s somebody among the opponents who’s at your level, there’s no way for you to lose.

Of course, this ‘same level’ setting was a big part of how the author had managed his breakneck plot development in the original.

If the opponent played some kind of important role, he’d be a valid opponent no matter how weak his abilities were, and if the enemy character was of no importance, no matter how good his abilities seemed, he’d just be brushed off and fall by the wayside.

In the end, this setting actually appeared less and less in the second half as the story went on. It was impossible for any of the characters that appeared by then to be called ‘inferior’.

But at the very least, this redhead’s ability, which had never even appeared in the original, definitely couldn’t stand up to Leo’s lightning.

Soon after,

Step–.

I slowly approached the redhead.

His fighting spirit had already been broken, but I still needed to finish things properly.

He looked at me, but didn’t move. Maybe he couldn’t.

I pushed a little electric current into my index finger, the same one that’d popped the sphere.

And I poked the guy who stood there, frozen, in the forehead.

Crackle–.

His body trembled a couple of times, and then collapsed.

That was the end of it.

…

The hall was quiet.

I couldn’t hear any cheers.

This most likely wasn’t because they’d been overwhelmingly supporting the redhead. They just needed some time to accept the current situation.

And very soon,

"Oooh…!"

"Wow!"

"Awesome! Awesome!"

A raucous roar erupted from the deck below like a tidal wave.

I smiled once, and then walked down from the arena. There was no need to wait for the referee to call the match.

Cocoa and Chinuavi were there to welcome me as I walked towards where the VIPs had gathered.

"Great job."

"As expected of you, Big Bro."

However, everyone else, including the princess, just looked at me silently, with a puzzled expression.

Maybe because the long-awaited main event fizzed out so quickly and abruptly?

Especially –

"B-, but, don’t you summon ghosts?"

Nergui’s expression was the most eye-catching.

It was a mix of surprise, anger and bewilderment. He didn’t even seem to be trying to hide. No, maybe he wasn’t even aware that his mask of affability had cracked.

"Oh? How did you know I can summon ghosts?"

"… Well, that, there’s a rumour…"

"Are you still trying to make stuff up?"

"…"

I stared at the guy.

That face, glowing red, really didn’t suit a hidden boss. I’d believe if he was the little prince instead.

"I don’t know why you did all this, but stop horsing around. Next time, you won’t be able to just laugh it off."

"…"

I didn’t dare to engrave [Scribe’s Shackles] on this guy.

It wasn’t because the method wasn’t good, but because it was too much of a cheat. If the author saw and immediately pushed out a balancing patch, I wouldn’t have anybody to cry to.

If this guy really was the secret mastermind, the princess would no longer face the threat of assassination as long as I made him my subordinate. And she’d be able to pass the Warrior’s Path without any crisis.

And this meant that ‘there wouldn’t be any other incidents’ in the future.

Such a method might be convenient and good for the short term, but in the long term, it’d only be detrimental – since it would undermine my role and significance.

And the most important point was –

Making secret bosses like him into my subordinates and manipulating all events to my advantage was an act that’d seriously harm the plot development and power balance envisioned by the author, even if it didn’t violate plausibility.

In other words, it meant that the author’s favourability would sink to the absolute bottom.

Even now, the author could actually get rid of me at any time.

It wasn’t just about his right of ‘absolute deletion’. That had to be the very last resort from the author’s point of view. He probably would never use it unless I somehow brought the manga to the verge of discontinuation.

Even without taking such drastic action, the author could easily handle me within the bounds of plausibility.

Wasn’t it simple? All he needed to do was to make one of the Seven Kings appear early, and somehow come face to face with me. Then things would just end for me. Because the current me couldn’t defeat any of them even if I died and was reborn.

Of course, the readers would definitely protest, but for how long? Were the Seven Kings normal characters? They were the symbols of power that could rule this world. Their presence could easily devour everything I’d built up so far. In the grand scheme of things, I was still just a rookie.

Therefore, I had no choice but to restrain the scope of my actions so that it wouldn’t smash the plot framework the author had woven.

I couldn’t do everything by myself, and I couldn’t stall my growth. And I also needed to continuously prove that my presence was helpful to the story.

I had to bow to the author’s whims for now. Until the day I grew to the point where the author wouldn’t dare ignore all my history and bring forward somebody else to replace me.

So,

"We’ve let you mess with us so far without doing anything in return. Me, and the princess too. I’m being straight with you here. This wasn’t because I was afraid of you, or of the empire. I just didn’t want to go to all that trouble."

"…"

I was giving a naked warning to the fourth prince right now.

Of course, I didn’t know if he could truly accept it.

Two days later, Nanma Port.

The fat guy was talking to the thin one, who’d been silently watching people disembark from the ship.

"What next?"

"…"

Only silence answered him.

"I got the rest of the money. The guy who commissioned us was here just now. He said he understood our plight. If we tried to continue even after seeing that scene the other day, we’d have to be utter lunatics, he said. An S-class adventurer finished off with just one finger? They didn’t even buy a map, just disappeared without a trace… they have to be incredibly strong… I think, unless the former ‘King of Assassins’ comes personally…"

That was then.

"Give it back."

The thin man suddenly spoke. And said something crazy.

"Huh?"

"Spit out everything you got. Except for the down payment."

"… Hey…"

"The payoff comes after success. That’s one of our principles."

"But…"

"And there’s no giving up till the mission is finished. That, too, is one of our principles."

The fat man’s face stiffened instantly.

Upon arriving at the port, we found the Adventurers’ Association’s Nanma branch office right at the heart of the city.

"Everyone’s here? Good, I’ll go."

Telling the princess, Cocoa, and Chinuavi to wait a while, I entered the branch office by myself.

It was to prepare for unexpected situations, such as if I were asked to surrender the princess to them.

But,

"Is that so? All right."

The association’s reaction was absurdly rough.

Even when I said the princess was being kept somewhere else because there was a threat of assassination, the receptionist just stamped the mission confirmation certificate without any other verification procedures.

Bang–!

"Your first quest was successful, congratulations. And there’s a linked quest following it. Will you accept it?"

"What if I don’t accept it?"

Of course I was going to accept it, but I deliberately asked. Because I’d never seen Leo reject it in the original.

I was just curious about her reaction, and the penalty.

"The previous quest would also be considered a failure."

… Well, there was nothing special about it.

"I’ll accept."

"The linked request is simple. All you have to do is take the princess to the capital of the Skull Empire."

The conversation ended with that.

As I left the branch office, I felt convinced once again.

Again, this was a story that the author had devised. If the development had required the princess to get married, there would’ve been a request to protect her until the wedding.

I returned to the party, my steps slightly lighter.

"Are we leaving right now?"

"We should, yeah."

"There’s only about a week left before the Warrior’s Path begins. If we hurry, we’ll probably arrive just in time."

Again, there was plenty of time left. Seriously, the author must’ve put it all together.

"The problem is finding the way… I don’t know anything about the local geography."

"Don’t worry, there’s someone you know who can help."

I patted Cocoa’s back as she shrugged.

"Then, shall we go?"

It was time to ask Chinuavi to summon an earth dragon.

"Wait, what about our rides?"

"Ride? There is one. Just wait."

"Wait? Where are the horses?"

"Don’t be surprised when you see it."

Boooooom–.

Chinuavi’s earth dragon soon rose up from the ground.

But,

"I’m sorry, I don’t need this. I’ll ride a horse."

The princess’ reaction wasn’t very stellar.

"No, the ride isn’t that bad, you know? It’s fast, too! Really fast."

"It’s got nothing to do with that. I have to ride a horse."

She had an oddly stubborn look.

The princess insisted that she’d ride a horse even if she had to separate from us.

"And for the Warrior’s Path, horsemanship is very important. I need to practice."

"Eh…"

That was then.

"Let’s go buy a few. There’s a horse market over there."

Cocoa’s eyes shone unusually, as she supported the princess.

"No, why do we have to visit the market? We can just buy those ones put up for sale by the street…"

"Let’s go. It wouldn’t be bad to visit once, right? It’s just a feeling, but… maybe you’ll stumble upon a treasure?"

"Treasure? What treasure could you find at a horse market?"

At that moment,

… Ah!

Something suddenly came to mind.

There were many rare treasures in this world of Adventure King, but among them, divine beasts were among the best.

These were no simple animals, but beings blessed by God (with innate talents), and had abilities and intelligence comparable to humans, and some could even talk.

Besides, they looked cute.

Of course, they were often introduced as ‘friends’ or ‘colleagues’ rather than treasures, but they did belong to that category.

They always received enthusiastic support from the readers no matter which adventuring group they belonged to, and there were even arcs completely centered around them. The new beast companion of the Leo Adventurers had even been given the ‘leading point of view’.

Of course, I’d always been aware of how important they were. Because the existence of beautiful and strong animals is an essential element of most shounen manga. In fact, one of the backgrounds I’d bought early on had been for this.

However, there was still a long time before the Leo Adventurers would accept a divine beast as their comrade, so I’d simply put that matter aside for a while.

‘Is this already the time to use it?’

I stared intently at the background that was occupying a position in my list.

[Southland National Park Zookeeper].

Of course, it was still just conjecture.

I’d never heard of any divine beasts being sold at a horse market or a peddlers’ street.

There was only one reason why I was looking forward to it.

Because this was the path our guide was leading us along.

"Alright, let’s… first go check it out."

We headed towards the horse market, and I was feeling a little abuzz with excitement.

Editor’s Notes:

None for this chapter.