NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7
Who Gets the Money of the Defeated Villains?
After five days.
“Ki-, Kiriko-san! Be careful!"
“No need to make a fuss. Have a beer ready.”
Following Rosemarietta's cry, I shouted along too.
“Do you remember everything I told you? Be mindful!”
“Okay, you shut up too.”
Then, looking at Kiriko's back as he and Leo were moving away, I thought –
It's ruined.
“…”
All my attempts to get even a little bit entangled in their story had been in vain.
I'd thought that at least one of the plans would work, but I was completely wrong. It seems that the author was extremely reluctant to allow something unexpected to intervene in the situation he had devised.
The first attempt was to approach Leo separately. I asked if he remembered the me he met in Initialis, and I tried to weave myself into the plot naturally.
However, this was blocked from the beginning.
[Warning!]
[Intention to violate plausibility has been detected]
[Acts are prohibited by preceding plot]
[Silence is forced for 20 seconds as a cumulative penalty]
I was stopped right at the starting line.
Honestly, I didn't expect it to be like this. Not only was I unable to talk to him, but even getting close was forbidden. In addition, no action that might attract Leo's attention was allowed.
Eventually, I had to give up.
The next thing I tried was to touch the mafia side.
Just before the chapter started, there was this guy who pretended to be a Red Scorpion executive, so I thought that something could be done from that before the two sides collided together.
So I wanted to head straight to the main mafia camp, but –
[Caution!]
[Currently, this space is set as a prohibited area]
[If you ignore this and try to enter, additional sanctions may be imposed]
As soon as I approached the building, a warning message appeared.
It was the first area-type constraint I had ever seen.
Although no penalty was given, the risk was too great to ignore.
Eventually, this too –
‘What the hell.'
To be honest, I wondered if all this was too restrictive. This was at a level where there was no room for intervention at all.
Naturally, conversation with the thugs roaming around Rosemarietta's shop were also restricted. As with Leo, even communication was impossible.
The only thing I could do, really, was to sit idly in Rosemarietta's shop and talk Kiriko's ears off.
“There are a total of three top executives, and one of them is particularly good at escaping, so you have to be careful.
“There are three secret passages in the building. Two of them are out of town, and one is out of town, so you have to be careful.
“There's nobody you have to especially watch out for, but they do have guns. You get that, right? Be alert.”
By the time the morning of the fifth day dawned bright, I'd heard Kiriko tell me to shut up five times, stop talking three times, and that he'll kill me twice.
"Hu…."
As I watched the two of them head to the main mafia camp, I thought –
Now all that is left is prayer.
‘I hope all that time wasn't wasted…'
Of course, I didn't think that I would become a ‘target for deletion' right away. Because I still left a clear impression on Kiriko. ‘Awareness' of my character should therefore rise to some extent.
However, it was difficult to expect a rise in ‘Author’s favourability' or ‘Reappearance probability' because I didn't have any very memorable performance.
Still, if Kiriko said to himself, ‘he was right…' or ‘I think his information is helpful…' –
In the end, it was just prayer.
Kiriko! Remember me!
The next morning.
Virgin City Square.
All the citizens of Virgin City gathered there, where the aftermath of the conflict a week ago was still visible.
The reason they gathered was simple. To thank Leo and Kiriko who were about to leave the village soon.
Last night, the mafia organization was completely wiped out by the two of them.
It actually didn't take long. 4 or 5 hours at most?
When I came back, I was frankly a little embarrassed to see Kiriko ordering beer casually like an office worker who had just finished a normal day's work. There might've been no difference even if I'd left it alone.
Then,
“Thank you.”
Someone walked in front of the two people who were standing in front of the crowd. It was an old bald man, apparently a representative of the city.
“Thanks to you, the city has been revived.”
The old man said thank you again and again.
In fact, the citizens had been suffering from the tyranny of the mafia. Those who defeated them were naturally the heroes of this city.
Then everyone in the square cheered and applauded.
Well, it was a very typical episode ending.
Plus,
“Kiriko-san, are you really going to leave?”
Some faint, bitter emotions.
Of course, Kiriko wasn't swept away by Rosemarietta's cries.
“Ah, I’m thinking of going with this guy. I think it will be fun. An adventure."
“Wherever you go, you must be safe!”
"Don't worry."
Now it was time to end the chapter.
I counted how much time was left.
‘Got a thank you, got asked if you're leaving, and now it's time to say the last goodbye…'
End. Now it's over.
And the moment I realized this,
‘Wait, wait a minute… is this really the end?'
Anxiety was rampant.
Now there are no cuts left in the chapter. In other words, character evaluation will proceed immediately.
But Kiriko hasn't said anything about me yet. Any words that would reveal my existence.
Yet,
“Then, goodbye.”
“Rosemarietta! The rice was delicious!”
Resolutely, Kiriko and Leo turned their backs.
‘… This is the end.'
I had a bitter taste in my mouth.
It was regrettable, but there was no choice but to accept it. Maybe it's not something the author allowed them to do.
It was when I was waiting for the hologram message with my heart clenched –
"Oh."
Suddenly, Kiriko turned back.
His eyes seemed to be looking for something.
Following that,
“I remembered, Squatjaw. You talked my head off, but it was still really helpful.”
Kiriko muttered.
His gaze was definitely on me.
… Success!
It was difficult for me to control my overwhelming joy at that moment.
It couldn't have been better than this. My presence was the final cut of the chapter.
Of course, that didn't mean I forgot to do what I needed to in my joy. Whatever it is, the ending is always the most important part.
I answered with a meaningful voice, raising the atmosphere as much as possible.
“Alright then… see you again.”
So, the two disappeared in the distance.
Soon after,
[Chapter 3 – ‘The Mad Gunslinger of Virgin City' is over]
[The character evaluation of Villain 3 has been updated]
[The name has been changed to ‘Squatjaw']
[‘Chatterbox' has been added to the characteristics]
[Received support from a small number of readers]
[Awareness has increased by 38]
[Reappearance probability has increased by 0.2%]
‘Squatjaw…'
[State]
- Name: Squatjaw[1]
- Characteristics: A little strong, Bluffing, Chatterbox.
- Awareness: 39
- Author's favourability: 0
- Reappearance probability: 0.2%
The chapter had ended.
However, the results were strange. Something was not quite what I was expecting. That's not to say that it's very bad, but I wondered if it shouldn't have been something a bit more than this.
Even if we ignore the author's favourability or the possibility of a reappearance, the awareness only rose by 38.
It wasn't just that the number 38 felt small. Didn't it appear in the text, that the character ‘received support from a small number of readers'?
This meant that there were only a few readers who noticed the ‘reappearance' of the character that is I.
Five days spent glued to Kiriko. Not only that, because of chattering all day, even my life was threatened.
But how come none of that was reflected in the results?
Then, while I was puzzled –
“Ah, the point of view!”
One thought flashed through my head.
I ripped at my hair. How could I have misunderstood something so simple?
Chapter 3, starting with the first cut, never deviated from ‘Leo's point of view'. In other words, even if Kiriko was a deuteragonist, things that Leo did not see were not shown in the scenes. This meant that most of what happened to me and Kiriko was completely offscreen and not shown to the readers at all.
‘No, no matter how many scenes in the chapter –'
There were no more than three or so scenes that I could expect to appear in.
Watching the fight between Leo and Kiriko in the plaza, talking with Kiriko at Rosemarietta's shop before he left to clear out the mafia, and the last scene of the chapter a little while ago.
There is no way that the author could not have been conscious of a character like me, which meant that the author intentionally did not show me. There was no other way to explain it.
‘If I could only check the reader's comments, I would be able to know to some extent the number of appearances…'
But there were not enough points to purchase that. And if that wasn't enough, I probably wouldn't have used it anyhow. Because things are too bad right now.
‘Something is twisted…'
Then another message arrived.
[The final evaluation of the character has been calculated by the author]
[Squatjaw is subject to ‘deletion deferral']
[The grace period given is ‘4 chapters']
[Character points paid 114p for the rise in awareness]
[Character points paid 2p for the reappearance probability]
Deletion deferred, again.
Again, from the author's point of view, it meant that there was not much activity.
“… Hmmm.”
How should I feel about this? Maybe I should be satisfied that this is at least better than the previous chapter.
Not to mention –
I looked around a little nervously.
Many things had happened since I came into this world, but this moment might be the most unpredictable of them all.
Character settlements.
Obviously, most of these people in front of me, no, except for Rosemarietta, had nothing memorable about them.
This meant that, soon, everyone here could be deleted.
‘What's going to happen?'
And one more thing, Rosemarietta's reaction. What if such a situation actually happened? How will she survive this?
Yet –
…
Nothing happened.
No characters were deleted.
The people all dispersed, and the city resumed its normal daily life.
I scratched my head.
‘… What?'
After thinking for a while, I came to a conclusion.
They citizens were not individual ‘characters', but just part of the ‘background'. They weren't given any special roles in the first place.
Perhaps that was the reason. And according to this logic, the characters deleted during this settlement would probably be the people on the mafia side. At least they had a role that stood against the main characters.
‘It's nothing special.'
I wondered if Rosemarietta would realize herself as a character or not.
Hmmm.
In any case, it was the moment when I had to return to the mundane troubles of reality again.
Now, what to do…
As I drank Rosemarietta's special honey beer, I thought.
There is no answer to be found if things go like this.
Now that Leo and Kiriko are united, the storyline's development will accelerate.
It's not just because two powerful people have teamed up. It's because the ‘unique abilities' appeared.
‘Unique Ability' is something that clearly reveals the worldview of ‘Adventure King', and is a key element that drives the interest and fun of the readers.
In other words, the introduction of the main character is now over, and the story begins in earnest.
This unique ability is also related to a character's ‘class'.
As the main character's rank rises, naturally, the ranks of his colleagues and adversaries also rise. This meant that most of the characters to come would be equipped with unique abilities or at least special abilities.
If you fall behind in your abilities, not only will you have a limit to attracting readers' attention, but it will become more and more difficult to keep pace with the plot.
In other words, my survival is bound to become more and more uncertain.
‘Ha… I should have earned some more points in this chapter.'
Even if I settled for only a special ability right away, it was difficult. The points obtained this time were only slightly over 100p. To buy something meaningful, it had to be at least 1000p. The point cost was simply unreasonable.
I shook my head, hard.
It wasn't that there was no way out.
Special abilities are not innate, and can be acquired by ingesting special drugs. In other words, you can get it in this world without having to go to the character shop.
This special drug can actually be purchased from the market. Except for a few dangerous ones, it's not even sold very covertly or anything.
The problem was money.
Even the few coins already in my pocket had been exhausted in Rosemarietta's shop. I didn't have a penny right now.
‘The issue is money, so how do I get more?'
Fortunately for me, I had a little bit of time to spare.
Currently, the grace period given to me is 4 chapters. Chapters 4 and 5, as I recall, were resting tales. From then on, as the phase of welcoming new colleagues began, the velocity of the story gradually increased.
Chapter 6… No, I will have to intervene before Chapter 7 begins at the latest.
‘There is a bit of time…'
I couldn't come up with a best way.
Hmmm.
And then, since I was only clutching my hair, at some point, all I could do was laugh out loud. Even in manga, you had worry about money.
‘Isn't there any money left unattended somewhere?'
Then, it was time to take a look around.
Wait, money left unattended?
In that instant, a certain place flashed in my mind like a lightning bolt.
Virgin City Tower. Mafia headquarters.
Didn't I see it a while ago? The characters disappeared, but the background remained.
The main base of the mafia, where the mafia themselves have disappeared. So what's left?
"… Maybe?"
I'd always wondered one thing while reading manga.
Why do the main characters and their party leave behind the treasures of the villains?
Of course, there were times when they take it. When they need money really urgently, or need to get some necessary equipment.
But most of the time, they leave empty-handed. Yes, just like this time.
I used to think it was fine.
Wouldn't it be shared by those who were just persecuted by the villains? Or maybe the big organizations like the government would collect it all.
Nope. I was wrong.
Who gets the money of the defeated villains?
I smiled at the huge bundles of cash in front of me.
That's right. Me.
Editor's Notes:
[1] 주걱턱 (lit. jutting chin) is being translated as Squatjaw.