Surviving a Shounen Manga

You Sure You Won’t Regret It?

The imperial capital, Barantor.

We’d been riding helter-skelter across the vast meadows, forgetting day and night.

When I suddenly looked up, a huge statue of a mounted warrior filled my eyes.

"… Umir Khan!"

A warrior gripping his horse by the mane in one hand, and holding a long spear in the other.

A mythical being atop a ferocious black horse that crushed and trampled on anything in sight, was advancing towards somewhere beyond the horizon, a white hawk that symbolized his lofty pride perched on his left shoulder.

Umir Khan, the first emperor of the Skull Empire.

The princess had said that the imperial capital had no specific dividing line between the inner city and its outskirts. Instead, if more than half of the great statue was visible from where you were, it meant you’d stepped on the edge of the capital, Barantor.

Because drawing a line only limits yourself.

The only place the Skull Empire’s hooves cannot reach, lies beyond the final curtain of death.

Such had been the belief of the conqueror who’d built the empire, his proud declaration.

"Tell me in simple words so I can understand. Do you mean that we’re already in the city?"

"You can even see the statue’s feet. We’d entered the city a while ago. This is actually pretty deep inside."

It wasn’t funny.

"There’s nothing and no one around, you call this the capital?"

Cocoa also chimed in agreement.

"Why is it still a meadow? Why do I still have to keep riding!"

"Why are you asking me? I didn’t set the rules! And, I don’t know either. This is my first time in the capital too."

At that moment,

"Ah, I can see something over there. There, near the feet of the statue…"

Chinuavi pointed to a certain place.

Following his direction, I could indeed see what looked like a bunch of differently-shaped buildings. It at least looked like a ‘real city’.

"Hey, it’s still a long way off."

"Let’s keep going…"

It actually took thirty more minutes before we could actually enter the ‘real city’.

It’d been five days since we’d started our nonstop ride from Nanma Port.

"It took a long time."

My first impression of the city could be summarized in the words, ‘busy’, and ‘a jumble of unexpected stuff’.

To start with, the streets were packed to the brim. With people. Horses. Carriages. And trees that popped up here and there.

And on top of that, the place was filled with noise, and the air that blew between the buildings of various sizes and colours was chock full of dust. The whole tableau was reminiscent of the old great Arabian cities.

At first, I’d thought that the Skull Empire was actually inspired by Genghis Khan’s old Mongol Empire. A country founded by a nomadic people, who were always in constant motion instead of settling to a single place.

So, I’d expected even the capital to look like a slightly underdeveloped city.

But that didn’t really match what I was seeing. Only the national spirit and the temperament of the people had been inspired by the Mongols, it seemed; the scenery was more similar to the old Islamic culture that had been a melting pot of various influences.

As an example, I could even pick out a few places with European-style interiors.

In a word, it was a city that the author had created wilfully, according to his own imagination.

‘Yeah… as expected of a manga.’

Suddenly,

Flap flap flap–.

A small white pigeon came flying from the distance.

The one I’d named Coocoo[1].

"Oh, is that you, Coocoo?"

"Don’t call me that! Ask big sis and she’ll tell you, I’m actually a falcon."

"Alright, what did you see?"

"Looks like the dark ones are still after us."

"The dark ones? You sure? How many of them are there?"

"Of course I’m not sure. How would I know how many? Quite a number, that’s all I could tell."

"Hmm… alright, got it."

The pigeon, Coocoo had been patrolling the skies since yesterday noon.

By that time, any pursuer with the minimum amount of sense should’ve easily gotten to know where we were headed, and Chinuavi had also managed to figure out how to decipher all the curses and locks on the cage, so we didn’t waste any more time and let Coocoo out right away.

It was his first time in three years and eight months, apparently, and he’d since been roaming the long-desired skies to his heart’s content.

However, the anklet tied to his ankle, which apparently constrained the kid’s true body, hadn’t been removed yet.

According to Chinuavi, the anklet was more difficult to remove because it was directly connected to Coocoo, and it was at a different level even compared to all those strong restrictions on the cage, combined.

"It looks like it’ll take some more time. And I don’t think it’ll be easy to decipher it with simple external methods."

"That’s fine. So what if it’s difficult to decipher? It’s simple, just catch the guys who tied the restriction and make them talk. That’s a much easier and quicker method than carelessly messing with it and causing side effects."

And they were coming soon, anyway.

I decided not to worry too much about the pursuers chasing Coocoo, or the ‘dark ones’ who’d been sticking to us since when we’d entered the city.

It was enough to just deal with them as they came. Because I had the strength necessary to do that.

"First let’s find a place to stay. We’ve been on the road for a long while."

I stared intently at the holographic window.

[You have received a proposal to become the chapter’s leading point of view from the author]

• If you agree, please press here.

About three hours had passed since I’d first seen this message.

The reason I didn’t accept it right away and was still considering, wasn’t just to see how long this message might stay if I didn’t accept it.

Of course, I was curious about that, too, but there were two other reasons.

First, I had to understand why this proposal came to me at this time;

Second, because I couldn’t see any great advantage in accepting the leading point of view right away.

I’d already arrived at the empire, was there something I could show now?

I began to ponder.

What was the reason behind this proposal coming to me at this point in time?

First of all, the current chapter was mainly about the mission of Leo’s party. The quest they’d received was to find the lost treasure inside a temple, but they would be facing difficulties due to the sudden appearance of a bunch of brigands, the Huntington Bandits.

I didn’t remember the exact time, but as far as I knew, Leo and the rest had already faced off against them several times in the past. It’d been about two weeks since the Huntington Bandits arc had started, so maybe they’d already clashed three or four times?

If I was right, then this chapter would be over soon, and the treasure hunt would begin in earnest in the next chapter. Then the next five or six chapters would go in a rush.

In other words, right now the story was in a lull.

"Hmmm…"

But even considering the fact that there was space to change the leading point of view, why would such a chance come to me?

What made me wonder about this was the fact that it’d been none other than Karl Zayed who’d occupied the leading point of view at this juncture in the original.

It was already difficult for the author to develop the presence of his favourite character unless he used these small intermissions. In the future, the chapters would speed up more and more, and he’d get fewer and fewer chances.

In such a situation, was it my turn to get such an opportunity? To be honest, I couldn’t quite make head or tail of it.

"…"

Again, there was a limit to how much I could find out by inference alone.

It was time to check out some references.

I went straight into the character shop window.

Although a chapter was currently in progress, I wasn’t appearing in it, so I was able to use the shop.

"Where to check…"

I wondered if I could buy the readers’ comments for the ongoing chapter, but unfortunately it wasn’t on the menu. Again, it seemed that purchase was only possible after the chapter was over.

Even though it was a little disappointing, I decided to purchase the ones from the previous chapters.

[Chapter 19 One Man’s Might – Reader Comments]

Monotype – Isn’t Karl Zayed just a monster?

Cuban – What can Leo even do against that guy?

kirper03 – Is this character alright? What about balance?

KyaoKyao – But he lost to Squatjaw, didn’t he? Squatjaw strongest! haha

Jang Moonchungnaga – No, what the hell happened during the qualification exam!!!

LWJ – When do we get to see Squatjaw again?

Qenari – Nice!

‘… Karl Zayed?’

It was strange. Chapter 19 should’ve been about Leo and his party heading towards where their adventure quest ordered them to go, but the readers’ comments were all about Karl Zayed.

Out of curiosity, I checked the comments on the previous chapter, and they were all the same, too.

[Chapter 18 One Man Adventurer Team – Reader Comments]

Glitch – What, so Karl Zayed gets to be the main character whenever he’s on screen?

Sinkonaj – So that’s how you get to be a one-man adventurer team…

Root – What the hell is his ability?

Cry of Joy – He looks pretty cool, so it’s okay, haha

Kim Tae-hoon – He’s a one-man adventurer team, but he still got second place in the qualification exam.

LWJ – When do we get to see Squatjaw again?

Qenari – Nice!

How puzzling. Apparently, a full two chapters after the award ceremony had been from Karl Zayed’s point of view.

"Hmmm…"

Thinking about it, I could roughly picture the situation.

Since he hadn’t taken the first place in the qualification exam, it seemed that the author first put some effort into hyping up Karl Zayed. It’d probably been necessary to build some hype in advance so that when he showcased his skill in the latter chapters, it’d stay within the bounds of plausibility. Chapters 18 and 19 were short intermission-type ones anyway, so there shouldn’t have been any issue.

However, an unexpected problem arose as a result.

The more Karl Zayed’s strength was revealed, the more my existence was mentioned.

In a way, this was quite natural. Because my team had taken the first place while he’d merely come second.

So this was why my strength hadn’t dropped all this while. Karl Zayed had been hard at work, raising me up.

And, another issue was –

Suddenly a public opinion had formed. ‘Karl Zayed’s in the spotlight, so where’s Squatjaw?’ Or, ‘Now it’s Karl Zayed, so we’ll see Leo and Hiro next?’ Etc.

As it turned out, even the author couldn’t ignore this in the end.

So he’d resorted to giving me a brief chance to show what I was up to. After all, with the princess taking the test of the Warrior’s Path, there was nothing for me to show off.

Actually, this was much earlier than I’d expected. My prediction had been that I might get such an offer only after the clash between Leo and the Huntington Bandits came to a close.

But, of course, an opportunity was still an opportunity.

There was no time to prepare anything, and the time allotted would definitely be short, too.

"… Not bad."

Yet I laughed.

Why would I let such a chance go? When I’d been dreading the thought of spending three months without making a single appearance?

Right now, I was rather in the mood to ask a single question.

Sir author… you sure you won’t regret it?

"Haah, this really is…"

"Let me know if you think you’ve found a new hobby."

"Okay, whatever you say."

"Uwah… what is this? Is this me?"

The princess gaped a little as she looked at the other princess standing in front of her.

The other princess, who was scratching her cheeks as if she was a bit shy, was Chinuavi who’d cast a cloaking technique.

"You get it? Don’t just sneak around. But don’t go out of your way to show off on purpose, either. Because that’d be even more suspicious. Just show yourself a little."

"What if I get attacked?"

"What else? Run away. You just have to waste some time. It won’t take long. We’ll just go ahead and apply. Oh, and you’re going with Cocoa."

"Me too? What about you, Squatjaw?"

"If any of us walk around alone, somebody might directly bump into us. It’s better to be in groups of two. Me and the princess in one group, and Chinuavi and you, Cocoa, in the other."

The operation was simple.

While Chinuavi, disguised as the princess, drew attention, the real princess would go to the reception desk to register for the test of the Warrior’s Path. It was a plan that took any possible interference into account.

"Then let’s start right away. We’ll leave in about ten minutes."

That was then.

"Uh… wait!"

"Eh?"

The princess pointed at me and scratched her head.

"If I go with you, won’t we stand out anyway? Even if you dress up, you’ll still be, erm, pretty bulky…"

"Aha, you don’t have to worry on that score."

I grinned.

"Come to think of it, you still don’t know my name, right?"

"Eh?"

"Call me Hiro. That’s my name."

Then, I transformed. After a long time.

Pyororong–.

The reception desk for the Warrior’s Path.

One of the two people sitting at the counter had a particularly red face.

In fact, he hadn’t been able to calm down ever since he handled the registration for a bald giant a while ago.

"Can you imagine?"

"Hm? What?"

"That guy from a while ago? He’s called the Monster of Greatskull Mountain."

"What, that guy? Aw, that’s ridiculous."

"No, I’m serious, you know!? Didn’t you see that huge body, and that iron rod he dragged behind him? How can somebody carry something like that so carelessly, if they aren’t a monster?"

"Oh, come to think of it, that’s… But is that guy that great?"

At this, the man raised his voice as if frustrated.

"Didn’t you hear the rumours? They say that all the animals on the mountain have been killed off. In just two weeks after he went inside! And do you know how big those monsters were? There was a wild boar the size of a house, and a bear that was even bigger!"

"But just having a strong body isn’t eveyrthing. This is a horse race. Just because you can crush a mountain, doesn’t mean you know how to run across the meadows."

"Idiot! Will his strength only apply in the mountains? Of course, the question is whether there’s a horse that can bear his weight, but… it’s going to be like a monster unleashed on the battlefield!"

"Hmm… is that so?"

The man trembled.

Just imagining it was terrifying. If that giant rode on a horse and wielded that massive iron rod, he’d be no different than a charging elephant.

"By the way, the level of applicants this time is amazing. The leader of the demon gang who they say had conquered the central region, that guy who’s the king of the people over there, and the monster from Greatskull Mountain you were talking about…"

It was definitely bizarre.

This was the first time that such a large number of famous people, who’d all made a name for themselves throughout the empire, or even beyond it, had applied to take the test.

"Yeah. Are you looking forward to it?"

"I wish it could start sooner."

"What sooner? Reception’s only until today, and the preliminaries start tomorrow."

"Should we just close it off? I don’t think anyone else will come anyway. Seems there isn’t much time left until the sun goes down."

"Do you think?"

That was then.

"I’d like to make an application…"

"Huh?"

When they suddenly heard a voice, they turned around and saw a little boy and a woman in a hood standing in front of the reception desk.

"What? What’re you here for?"

"This is the reception, so I’m here to register."

"What? Register? You? Or that kid next to you?"

"Keke."

Even though the receptionists laughed, the woman didn’t seem to care.

"It’s for me."

"Huh… really? You aren’t kidding?"

"Hey, a woman on the Warrior’s Path… check the rules. Is that even allowed?"

"There’s no rule against admitting a woman. Don’t you know? Noblewomen participate once in a while. None of them ever pass, though."

At this, the receptionist who’d spoken second asked the first with a puzzled frown.

"Really? But why haven’t I seen any before?"

"Idiot. Is this the only reception desk in the area?"

"Aha, that’s true. By the way, you, then… are you from an aristocratic family?"

Then,

"I am a little higher than a normal aristocrat. I’m not from here."

The woman gave a strange answer.

"… Huh?"

"Eh? Higher… higher?"

She took off her hood.

"I am Thermis, the second princess of the Mainin Kingdom. I’m here to register for the Warrior’s Path. It’s not closed yet, right?"

…

The man gaped involuntarily.

"P-, Princess Thermis…"

It wasn’t an unfamiliar name. Rather, it was the hottest topic of discussion in the empire right now. A little while ago, it was even said publicly that the Warrior’s Path might have to be delayed this time. Because of a woman with that name.

"How about the registration?"

"Yeah, um, I’ll register you. But how could this…"

The man thought that he should first make a report.

Since this was the most sacred ceremony in the empire, the original rule was to accept all applicants regardless of their identity, unless there was a reason for disqualification; but this time there was no choice but to make an exception.

After all, this was the same princess to whom the first prince had proposed.

So,

"Then please, write down your information here. I’ll just… go outside for a while…”

While he was about to leave in a hurry –

"Wait, there’s one more applicant here."

Suddenly, another voice came from behind him.

And there –

"Yes? N-, no, where the hell…"

A gigantic, squat jaw looked at him and grinned.

The man couldn’t help but be confused. Obviously no one had been there just now.

But instead of answering his question, the suspicious squat-jawed man started to introduce himself out of nowhere.

"Applicant Hiro. From Westland. Leader of the Squatjaw Adventurers, who won the first place in the Adventurer Qualification Test this time, and the one that everybody has no choice but to admit is the super rookie of the next generation."

"Oh, no, wait, please wait. If you want to register as a participant, you have to do it step by step…"

However, regardless of the receptionist’s persuasions, the squat-jawed man simply kept spitting out words that wouldn’t have been out of place if they’d been spoken by the old and famously mad emperor, Bayar Khan, staring into the air all the while for some reason.

"Out here at the edge of the east, I heard that warriors and scoundrels gather… now I’m here, to lay them all to waste."

Editor’s Notes:

[1] 구구 (gugu) is the cry of a dove or pigeon. So we’ve anglicized the name to Coocoo. Let’s hope nobody confuses him with Cocoa…