Surviving a Shounen Manga

The Conquest of the Peak (1)

Maybe… the author is trying to train me?

That was the first thought that came to mind.

Leaving out the unbelievability of it all, the situation begged for suspicion.

Because what was happening was literally, completely unexpected.

This was at a completely different level from simply giving me free time within a chapter.

Creating a new chapter out of whole cloth, that didn’t even exist before, letting me have free rein on the development, and giving away his authority…

… Was this really alright?

Of course, I’d been front and centre in another chapter before. While competing with Leo and the others as a condition of getting [Mimic Acrobat].

But even then, the plot had been carefully devised by the author. The main point of view had been Leo, too.

That’d been completely different from this.

In other words, it was natural for me to start asking questions.

First you kick me out to Eastland, and then suddenly you’re giving me the lead role in a chapter?

All to, what, appease me?

"Hmmm…"

But soon I shook my head.

This was an irrational idea. Basically, I wasn’t a character to which the concept of ‘appeasing’ could be applied.

Had I been a character he’d created from the beginning; it might’ve been reasonable to think this way.

For example, there were actions and developments my character should’ve taken, but I kept trying to break free and forge my own path, so the author broke out the carrot and the stick to control me.

But I wasn’t that kind of a character in the first place. The original role given to me was, at best, to get beaten up by Leo in the first scene of the first chapter and disappear.

There was no future development that depended on me, so why try to appease me? Was I that much of a pain in the neck? Then the best would be to just purge me.

I really couldn’t guess the author’s intentions.

So,

‘Hmm, let’s not waste time thinking about it right now.’

I decided to simply draw a conclusion based on the situation.

This wasn’t a measure to appease my mood. It must’ve the result of a thorough calculation.

Simple. The author finally chose to acknowledge it. My value.

Perhaps it is because of several factors overlapping.

1. That the readers desperately wanted to see more of me.

2. The fact that I had touched the settings the author had made but couldn’t use.

3. My character drew a lot of attention.

4. It reminded him of a place where he could use me, etc.

I didn’t know which one was the main reason. And there could’ve been something else that I missed, too.

Anyway, one thing was certain.

That he included me in his overall story concept, and the future development would have a place for me.

In fact, it might well be that he now indeed needed to appease me, from his point of view. He’d devised a development that would utilize me, so he desperately needed me to follow along.

It was truly a step forward.

From a deleted extra, to a character the author needed for the development of the plot.

Of course, I’d always been acting like such a character. That was the only way I could grab the readers’ attention. But for the author to directly acknowledge it was at a different level compared to my one-sided actions to far. It felt like the author finally recognized my past efforts and the things I’d done to survive until now.

It was worthy of celebration.

But,

‘Although it’s definitely good for me…’

I couldn’t take this for granted. Because there were two new problems facing me right now.

First, I had no idea what plot development the author was now going to write.

Even if I took a few days to think of the possible future directions, there was no guarantee I’d be correct. My character didn’t march to the same beat as the rest in the first place.

Of course, the author might’ve had a plan in mind.

For example, indirectly inducing my actions through a separate reward, or using a control device such as a ‘preceding plot’ to control it, or just write it down and send it as a message.

But although the author would definitely try to take care of it, it was still a problem right now.

And secondly. Actually, this was a really serious problem.

The development devised by the author might go in a direction contrary to the big picture I’d established.

I’d already decided on the position that’d let me survive until the end.

Right, the ‘rival’.

Besides, I’d also devised a plan of my own to maintain my place in the overall scheme of things.

But what if the direction the author suggested was different? Inconsistent? Or even completely the opposite?

The problem would only get bigger.

"Hmmm…"

I couldn’t help but be concerned. Because this was a tough issue.

Would I have to start introducing myself in every scene, like trying to stamp my existence on the world? The Squatjaw Adventurers, the rivals of the Leo Adventurers?

"It’s problematic."

I couldn’t just play defensive either. It must’ve taken great courage for the author to take sucha bold decision.

Creating a new chapter, and providing an arc for it to be in.

This meant overturning or omitting some of the planned development.

Judging from the current situation, it was not the former. The storylines were running completely in parallel, so the developments had no chance to clash with each other.

Meaning some of the chapters of the ‘Huntington Bandits’ arc were going to be omitted. The ‘Huntingtons’!

They were a group who stayed relevant until the heroes crossed the King’s Road and left for Midland, and they were quite important supporting characters. At least the ‘treasure’ arc couldn’t do without them.

Of course, right now wasn’t the time when they were most active, that would come later. Right now wasn’t the time for a head-on fight, this stage was just for the heroes to get to know (?) them properly.

But that didn’t mean that the current process was unimportant. What was happening now would serve as a build-up factor for some great events in the future.

So, honestly, I’d like to ask the author… ‘Are you really alright?’ So many developments he’d already planned must’ve been disintegrated.

Well, it was up to the author to take care of that, but the issue could still be traced back to me, right? What would stem from that? Expectations, or resentments?

Besides,

‘… I’m still going to bring in the goblins. I won’t soften the blow or anything.’

Even if he was now suddenly reconciling with me, I wasn’t going to change my plans for the future.

Of course, that didn’t change what I had to do right now. I’d just say, ‘Thank you, I’ll do my best!’ and just accept it.

I didn’t know when I’d clash with the author again later… but I had to make full use of the opportunity given to me, first.

So,

"By the way, which way is the peak?"

I decided to stop worrying about meaningless things and just keep acting cool.

I hit the centre of the huge boulder in front of me.

Crack–.

I quickly grabbed it before it could split and crumble.

Originally, I was going to take a closer look at the situation, but… the spotlight I was under didn’t allow that.

First, shoot the cannon, then rush straight in!

I threw the rock as hard as I could at the peak.

"Normaaaaaal Throoooooowww!"

"… Whoo."

The fatty looked at the tired form of the thin man.

He hadn’t rested either, but the other party had it worse. From the time he’d mixed into the first wave of latecomers, until entering Marron Mountain about two and a half days. He’d moved without a single break for a whopping three days.

Tired legs, and parched mouth.

"Will this… really be enough?"

"Nothing is certain. But analysing the information we’ve gotten so far, there’s a good chance."

What they’d done so far was nothing special. Spreading rumours about that Squatjaw. Including all the information most people didn’t know.

There was only one purpose.

Correct – the Khan.

Their aim was to get the rumours to reach the Khan’s ears, and thus to get him interested in Squatjaw.

Bumyo Khan.

The current emperor of the Skull Empire, who often hid his identity and sneaked into public places and even participated in national events. The reason he gave for this was ridiculously simple.

"Because I’m bored."

A man with brilliant wit and incredible power. But he had ‘coalitionist’ leanings that was unworthy of his abilities, and according to one theory, his reason for not pursuing war was also very simple. Because you don’t have the time to have fun during a war.

The Khan was an unknown character.

The fatty had only heard a few rumours about him, and he was a little sceptical of the thought that the Khan would take the time to go meet Squatjaw.

"Isn’t it likely that he’s already got his own plans?"

"Of course. Khan seems impulsive, but he actually plans everything out. He puts a lot of effort into properly savouring his pleasures. He’d probably set aside a cover identity for this Warrior’s Path long back."

"That’s why, I mean…"

"But that is why there’s a possibility. He’s serious about pursuing his own pleasure. That’s exactly why, no matter how many plans he’d made beforehand, he can discard it all at any moment if there’s an element of interest that can move him."

Then, there were two ‘decisive grounds for believing that Khan would move’, which the thin man mentioned one by one.

First, that the fun factor that Khan pursued was nothing less than ‘power and battle’.

Second, the lack of time.

"Now Khan only has five days left. After that, he’ll have to go back."

"So he has to enjoy everything he can before that?"

"Mere power wouldn’t have attracted him too much. But the bait here is more than that."

In fact, the rumours they’d spread one after another over the past three days contained information about Squatjaw’s unique ability, and even the fact that he possessed a divine beast.

And, to top it all off –

Even the fact that the person beside him was none other than Princess Thermis.

"His eldest son is involved in this matter, and this is a situation that’d shaken up the whole empire for a while, so there’s no way he wouldn’t be interested."

The fatty nodded at his words.

It was definitely a convincing argument.

But that wasn’t the crux of the problem. Their purpose wasn’t just to send Khan to Squatjaw.

"Let’s say Khan does go meet Squatjaw. Then what about after that?"

"Depends the situation."

"What if they don’t come to conflict?"

"Impossible."

"Well…"

Really. The fatty thought that this question was slightly absurd even though he himself had asked it. There’d never been a time before that ‘Khan hiding in secret’ didn’t cause any problems.

"But we don’t know who the current Khan even is."

The real problem was this. His disguise.

He was such a master of disguise that rumours even circulated that it might be his unique ability. Even his wife and mother had once stood in front of him in disguise and asked him how he had such good skin. At that time, he’d been disguised as a woman of a certain royal family.

However, the slender man didn’t seem particularly concerned.

"Right now, sure. But we’ll find out soon."

"How?"

"Because someone by his side will let us know. If it’s Squatjaw, he should be able to draw out Khan’s unique ability."

"Beside him… aah."

Khan’s eccentricity was always a popular topic of discussion, but no one in the empire took it seriously. The reason was that not only Khan had his own ability, but everybody also always believed in the power of the one who was always by his side and protecting him.

A man called the Sword of the Empire. General Mong.

"Then, if we’re lucky, we might end up with Squatjaw and the general… that’s really… um.”

The fatty fell silent.

Because his heart was pounding at that thought, a sure disqualification for an assassin.

But the slender man didn’t point that out.

Perhaps because he felt the same.

"For now, let’s keep an eye on things. Either way, we’ll be moving soon."

Then, the fatty turned his head toward the first peak where Squatjaw had gone.

The wind was blowing towards it.

It’d been three days since the second obstacle started.

I thought as I watched the fire burning in front of me.

This was the limit. If I dragged things on any further at this juncture, my narrative significance and the readers’ expectations from me would be burned to ashes like this burning firewood.

It was time to boldly take the first step.

I looked at the princess and said firmly.

"I’m going to plant the flag. Don’t stop me."

Then,

"Haah…"

The princess gently pressed her forehead with her right hand.

Of course, she might also be tired of my repeated demands. Having to repeat the same thing over and over again wouldn’t have been any fun.

However,

"Even if you think that, this isn’t the time."

Did it make sense to stay on the mountainside and enjoy a campfire on the third day, rather than going up to the peak?

Seeing my frustrated eyes, the princess only sighed deeply.

"Hey, old man. This guy’s starting again."

"Yeah, call him, call the old man out. Let’s have a showdown."

"Hah… it’s fine, he’ll just say the same thing anyway, so I’ll tell you instead. I think I said the same thing just two hours ago, but I’ll just say it one more time. Listen properly. Don’t suddenly forget it again."

The first thing to keep in mind is that the owner of the peak is decided on the last day.

It doesn’t matter who climbs the peak first. It’s about whose flag is planted last.

Also, the success or failure of this war of occupation isn’t decided by simply planting a flag on the peak. The real test is how many participants can you get under your control. Furthermore, you have to attract as many of the people on the other peaks as possible. Only then will you be able to gain an advantageous position in the final obstacle, the ‘war of conquest’.

Therefore, simply trying to subdue the other test takers by force or trying to subjugate them through battle is only one way.

In this war of occupation, being eye-catching is more important than being powerful in battle, and being good at politics is even more important than that.

"Do you understand? You idiot Squatjaw."

"What?!"

"I, I was told to call you that."

"…"

Between the fourth and fifth day. Slowly start moving from that point on.

So now, just be patient and wait.

After the princess finished speaking, she shook her head.

The words and gestures were exactly the same as two hours ago.

"Whoo…"

Of course, this was to be expected.

I nodded slowly, then carefully spoke.

"Okay, then forget about the peak for the time being. I’ll just go do some reconnaissance."

"Reconnaissance? You’ve been there before."

"You call that reconnaissance? I was just picking up some firewood or something. And not only do I need to scout out this area, I should go see the other peaks as well. How are things going outside?"

In fact, it’d been a lie that I was going to climb the peak. I was just trying to start with a strong opinion, and then sneak in my actual goal into the discussion afterward.

So?

But,

"Well. It’s one thing to scout out the rest of the peaks, but that’ll break the balance here. You know, right? That everyone is paying close attention to your movements right now? One step from you could shake the whole mountain. Think well before you move."

The princess nodded her head surprisingly quickly.

It seemed that she’d already thought about this.

‘Really, tell me first if that’s the case.’

I ran out of the camp, rushing straight towards the second peak area.

It wasn’t a lie that I needed to do some reconnaissance. Because it was a sight that I needed to capture with my own two eyes.

How far did I run like that?

It was a time when I was feeling a sense that the area was slowly changing.

Somewhere nearby,

"S-, Squatjaw!"

"Wasn’t that guy on the first peak?"

"Emergency! Emergency!"

I could hear cries – no, they were closer to screams.

‘… Huh? Not just one or two?’

I quickly looked around.

Several faces rose from all over the densely packed bushes at the same time.

And surprisingly,

‘Haah…!’

They were all holding flags of the same colour.

As soon as I saw that, I realized two things.

First, that there was already an occupant on this peak.

Second, that the occupant was increasing the size of his subordinate faction with a frightening speed.

At the very least, what did the fact that all the people here staying in the middle reaches of the mountain belonged to the same faction, mean? It meant that the upper part had already been completely occupied.

‘I knew it’d be like this. Four or five days? Bullshit.’

Then,

"S-, Squatjaw! What’re you doing! If you’re aiming for the peak here…"

One of them, as a representative, came out and shouted.

But I ignored him and started running again, straight towards the peak.

Startled, the guys tried to stop me, but to no avail.

Beep–. Beep–.

Warning tones echoed all over the mountain, but I ignored them too.

I only had eyes for the peak.

There was no other reason. My intuition wanted me to share what I’d just discovered with the readers.

In other words, the fires of war were already burning the other peaks aflame.

Soon after,

"Hey, look at this."

The smoke rising from the second peak caught my eyes.

One look, and anybody could tell that it’d already been occupied.

Anyway, my job was done.

I’d achieved my goal.

I chuckled with some satisfaction.

In fact, the reason why I hadn’t climbed to the peak my own way was because of the readers. Because they were watching the situation, I couldn’t act too roughly.

A character who ushered in boredom was of course a sinner from the readers’ point of view, but a character who acted arbitrarily while openly ignoring a colleague’s advice was also unpleasant.

If I’d jumped to the peak before listening to Bayar Khan’s advice and strategy, it wouldn’t have mattered.

But anyway, things were different now. Hadn’t I already shown that the other peaks were moving?

Finally, I had justification. Justification to climb the peak.

The time for chopping firewood and quietly watching the campfire was over.

Beep–. Beep–.

"Squatjaw’s been sighted!"

"That little Squatjaw has moved to another peak!"

"Alone! He’s alone!"

‘So noisy. Please be quiet. I won’t be here much longer.’

I muttered to myself and turned around.

Of course, I had no intention of returning to the camp.

No point letting them hold me back, was there?

It was time to start climbing.

"It’s that guy, right?"

"Looks like it."

"How is he?"

A person next to the man asked as if he didn’t already know.

"What are you talking about?"

Then,

"Hmm… the Heavenly General’s became alert with just a glance at that man, is it…"

The man grinned.

"That’s not…"

"Enough. I know how you think, Mong. Anyway, that’s good. It saved me the trouble of finding him."

"Do you plan to go right away? But we’re not ready yet…"

"That’s enough, what else is there to prepare?"

Then, the man quietly added a word.

"Let’s go catch up."

And at the same time,

Swish–.

Swish–.

Swish–.

⁝

Hundreds of red flags, that’d been hidden in the bushes near the peak, began to flutter in the wind and move in unison.

Editor’s Notes:

None for this chapter.