Surviving a Shounen Manga

Squatjaw's Loosed Goblins in the City!

"Goblins!"

The scream of a bystandaer brought the dazed party members back to reality.

When they came to their senses, the word ‘goblin' was resounding everywhere.

"Goblins! Squatjaw's loosed goblins in the city!"

"Squat-jawed goblins!"

Goblins?

It was a word she'd heard before. And that too, not very long ago.

Tanya rummaged through her memories.

And soon,

"Ah… Eastland."

She was able to recall a related memory.

It was a word she'd heard from those pursuing her after she'd stolen the Ramirez.

That this newcomer was like a goblin.

At her words, Leo asked with a bewildered expression.

"What, do you know? What's a goblin?"

"No, I don’t know exactly. But some people in Eastland called me that. That I was like a goblin."

"Is… that so? Then, can you grow your jaw to jut out like that too…?"

"… Hell no."

Looking back, it'd definitely been strange.

Why did they think of a goblin when they saw her?

She's used an escape technique at that time, mainly to erase her traces and hide her appearance. She definitely didn't ‘grow' some body part so strangely that it'd make people avert their eyes.

Was ‘goblin' a trait that encompassed both things?

That was then.

"Let's just ask."

The redheaded man said so, and then stepped towards the place where the sound was coming from.

Then he brought a man with him.

Althought instead of bringing, it could be called kidnapping. The man was simply dragged by the collar.

But the strange thing was that the man who'd been suddenly taken captive didn't look upset. Even after suffering something so outrageous, he even seemed to be holding back laughter.

"Wh-, what is it?"

"I want to ask you something. What's a goblin?"

"Eh?"

"You were screaming goblin, goblin just now. What do you mean that goblins are loose in the city?"

"Oh, that’s… but, um! That's a secret…"

"Hey, that’s funny. Were you yelling something so secret for everybody to hear just now?"

"It's just… it was so strange and surprising that I…"

"Eeh…"

It wasn't even funny.

He'd yelled so romptly as if he'd been waiting for a chance.

Not just him. Even now, screams of ‘goblin!' could be heard everywhere.

This meant that an organization was moving systematically.

Although Leo and party didn't know what their scheme was.

"So? What's a goblin?"

When they asked the question one more time, the man shook his head as if he'd given up resisting.

Then,

"‘Goblin' is the name of a race. An enigmatic race that inhabits a place called the Goblins' Den in Eastland. They're cunning, mischievous and capricious; monsters who take pleasure in causing others trouble."

As if he'd been waiting for this moment, he started explaining enthusiastically.

It was a race of beings who were particularly outstanding as decipherers, had incredibly strong personalities, and possessed many mysterious abilities. What they were seeing now was a group of goblins mimicking the appearance of Squatjaw using their ‘masquerade' ability.

"Then you’re saying that the goblins are now carrying out a sabotage operation by Squatjaw's order?"

"I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably something like that."

"Hmm, but why are the goblins listening to his orders?"

"Well, shouldn’t you ask them that?"

"Is it possible that Squatjaw himself is also a goblin?"

Then,

"Hehe, no way. But… it's a reasonable question."

It was as if he'd been waiting for the issue to be brought up. There was a bright smile on his face.

It was a really dubious response.

It seemed that the redheaded man felt the same way.

"Then can I ask you one more thing?"

"As you like."

"How did you get to know about that mysterious race?"

"… Eh?"

"How did you know?"

"Ah, that was just… a rumour…"

"Isn't it a mysterious race, veiled by riddles? How come there're so many detailed rumours?"

The red-haired man took a step forward, and –

"Who are you?"

"… Hah?"

"What's your identity?"

"Uh… I was just over there…"

"Are you…?"

That was then.

"Okay, let him go. He was kind enough was to answer our questions. Don't bother him anymore, Kiriko."

Leo stepped forward and stopped the redhead.

Kiriko scratched his head once at this, then took a step back.

Soon after,

"I… can I go then?"

"Yes, thank you."

The guy ran away. Very promptly.

Leo, who saw it, said with a smirk.

"Hey, isn't it obvious? That guy must be a goblin."

"Why did he come himself to tell us all that, do you think?"

"He said it himself. It's a race that likes to attract others' attention. Maybe that’s why?"

"Hmm."

Surprisingly, Leo and the redhead seemed to take everything in stride, including that goblin's explanation. The situation of Squatjaws pouring down the mountain, and the fact that Squatjaw might not even be human.

When Tanya inquired about it,

"Ah, we've seen it a few times already. That transformation ability, I mean. There's this small, horned guy in the Squatjaw Adventurers. There was a time when that guy turned into Squatjaw. How many times have we been through that nonsense? Hey, maybe that guy was a goblin too."

They replied indifferently.

"What, so you already knew?"

"About the ability itself? Sure. But I just thought it was an unique abilitiy. This is my first time hearing about a new race. It does sound odd, though."

That was then.

"Is that Squatjaw really a goblin? Was that how he could mimick our abilities every time?"

The dwarfish boy who'd been silently observing the situation from the sidelines finally spoke up.

"Hm? I don't know about that. That guy talked a lot about the goblins, but he never mentioned that they have such an ability. Anyway, we'll find out sooner or later."

"So what now?"

"What else? We have to find him."

Leo grinned and looked towards the mountain.

"The real one should be among them. The real Squatjaw, with the treasure."

"Ah, so the one to find him first would get it?"

"Naturally. See how excitedly he's running down from the mountain. He looks like he's already having fun, doesn't he?"

"Hmm, then should we hurry? By the looks of it, we aren't the only ones aiming for him."

It was just as the red-haired man had said.

Even before Leo and his party's arrival, groups had already been flocking in one after another. Some of the impatient ones had gone up first and been propmptly smashed flat, but clearly there were still a lot of people left who were looking for a chance.

Then,

"I have a good idea. There are two guides here, right?"

Leo smiled and looked back at her.

And only then did Tanya understand why they'd found her.

"Shall we split the party? In three and two."

Tiling–.

[Adventure King serialization resumed]

[Chapter 28 – The Battle for Ramirez's Treasure (1)]

[Belongs to the realm of the ongoing chapter]

[Hiro is the subject of character evaluation in this chapter]

"Huff… that was dangerous."

If I'd been just a little late in releasing the goblins, I might've gotten hit with a penalty bomb directly due to the sanctions of the preceding plot.

I let out a long sigh as I watched the ‘other mes' spread out across the city.

And then,

"Ah ha ha ha ha!"

I let out a hearty laugh and left the mountain.

What would happen in the future? By now, I didn't know either.

There was only one thing I'd asked of the goblins.

For the next three days, I wanted them to walk around the city in my own form, and if possible, holding a small mirror.

That was it.

And from then on, they could go do their own thing.

They could go back to the Goblins' Den, go on a tour of Westland, or become friends with other adventurers. Well, as long as they didn't follow me, it didn't matter what they did.

This was my truth.

To be honest, I had no intention of touching them from this moment on. I didn't even have the confidence. Even if some of them didn't wait three days and instead left this city right away, I wasn't going to make an issue of it.

Although I'd dropped the lot of them here to stage a play, this place was essentially a battlefield. The situation could turn for the worse at any moment, placing them in true danger for the first time in their lives.

Of course, goblins were serious about pranks, so some might not want to give up the ‘Squatjaw play' even after three days, but I couldn't control that either.

‘Well, they won't listen to what I say, anyway.'

Anyway, the arrow had already been loosed.

Now it was the author's responsibility to manage and solve the riddle of the goblins in the story.

Maybe he had a migraine already.

As I imagined such a scnene, a hum unconsciously came out of my throat.

"I don’t know~ And I don’t care~ Send me to Eastland again if you dare~"

Hmmm.

Well, I was still feeling proud to some extent.

I'd set up some plot devices in advance so that the future development wouldn't go completely off the rails.

First, the publicity.

In order to reduce the readers' questions as much as possible (although not like it didn't benefit me even more), didn't I publicize the information about the goblins in advance?

Since Leo and his party had an encounter with one of the goblins right at the city entrance, the information should've been conveyed safely.

Well, the amount of information would vary slightly depending on which one they caught.

The next was the change to the game format.

The author should find the current situation much more familiar, compared to what it could've been. Instead of a boring setup of one man guarding the treasure and being attacked on all sides, now he had to weave a plot around a horde of goblins with their own tricks. From some fascimile of tower defence, the game format had again changed to something closer to a scramble.

The reason I thought this was simple. Because right now, I truly didn't have the Ramirez.

Actually I didn't even know where it was or who had it.

I just knew that some goblin or other had it. I'd purposely thrown it among the goblins, and only told them that the one most skilled at hide and seek should take care of it.

Of course, I'd also added a postscript.

If they survived three days without the treasure being snatched away, they'd not only keep the treasure, but also get a separate reward.

In addition to the roleplay aspect, I thought it added a little bit of flavour of hide-and-seek.

Without lures like then, how could I be confident in reining in those free-spirited goblins?

The reason why I didn't keep the Ramirez myself and instead threw it to the goblins was for two reasons.

Firstly. As mentioned earlier, I wanted to stick close to the original plotline to an extent.

Not just to appease the author, but also because it helped me too. It went without saying that knowing the future was my greatest strength. I couldn't mess that up.

For one thing, the core contents of this arc were ‘introduction of new characters' and ‘adjustment of power balance'. To do that, powerful new characters had to take turns with the leading point of view, but they might not get any chance to shine if the treasure was left in my hands. Many of them were slated to be active in the future, so blocking their growth wasn't a good thing for me either.

And the other issue being –

What if all of them united against me, the public enemy no. 1?

I might actually get beaten in an upset.

The current me was far from the strongest in the world, and there were even some who were stronger than me. The risk wasn't small.

In other words, the defence game would've been hard for me as well.

Now let's come to the second reason. In order to not give the Ramirez to Leo with my own hands.

Actually, this was the bigger one. I had to hand it over somehow, but it'd be weird if I just gave it to him, and I couldn't stand the thought of having it be snatched after being beaten.

So, I just handed it over to another guy in advance. Leo could handle the rest.

So now, the most important thing was –

I'd indeed ‘entrusted' the treasure to the goblins. But I still had no intention of giving up on the goal I'd initially set for myself, that ‘I won't hand over the Ramirez to anyone except Leo and Karl Zayed'.

For this purpose alone, I'd spent close to 1 million CP.

I breathed in deep and shouted with force.

"Cocoa! Come out! We have to go, quickly!"

And then,

"Coming…"

Cocoa shuffled out of the bushes.

Her face was full of sorrow.

The face that she couldn't disguise herself like the other goblins had left her heartbroken.

After hanging out with the goblins for the past few days, it seemed she'd fooled herself into thinking she was a real goblin.

"Now stop crying. Let's move. We have a lot to do."

"… What can this incompetent Cocoavi even do?"

"Haah, you. Listen to me."

I felt like I had to remind this kid who'd been bitten by the roleplay bug so hard she'd forgotten her original identity.

She wasn't Cocoavi, she was Cocoa! The guide of the Squatjaw Adventurers!

"Are all the goblins gone?"

"Yeah."

"What about Chinuavi?"

"Don't know."

"Look down there. Have you seen the guy who took the treasure?"

"No. I've never seen him."

"Then can you find him?"

Cocoa frowned for a while.

"I think I can see the path… it might take some time? The goblins are a little tough at first. Plus, if he's determined to hide, it'll be even harder."

She shook his head as if it wasn't easy.

"Is that so?"

Of course, I'd expected that.

If any Tom, Dick or Harry could find them, I wouldn't have thrown the treasure at the goblins in the first place.

I turned on the holographic window and opened the ‘product locker' at one side.

There were two items in it.

[Check the main character of the chapter]

[Penalty veto] x 8

The character shop could only be used when no chapter was running, but some items could still be available if you purchased them in advance.

These two, for example.

I immediately clicked on [check the main character of the chapter].

And then,

– The main character of the current chapter is ‘Isaac of Wales'.

A single line of information appeared on the message window.

‘Really.'

I'd judged correctly.

This time, a newly created character had taken up the leading point of view. Although the situation had changed a bit, this meant the author was still trying to unfold the story in the same old way.

To have this character take over the Ramirez.

"Cocoa, we need to find a guy called Isaac of Wales."

"Wales?"

"Skinny guy, very long hair. Uses a long spear."

"Well, I think I can find him. But why him?"

"He’s the one closest to the Ramirez right now."

What I was aiming for was simple.

1. As in the original, let the main point of view be evenly distributed to the various characters.

2. Hunt the guys who got it.

3. Sanction from the preciding plot? That's what the [penalty veto] was for!

"Have you got the silver screen from Chinuavi? Use that."

"Why? It’s uncomfortable."

"Because they might guess I'm the real one if they see you with me."

"Hmm, okay."

Then I pulled up Cocoa, covered by the silver screen, so she could grip my neck.

"Oh, be careful. Don't cover my head."

"It’s fine, it's fine. This is how you goblin!"

"… Is that so?"

Anyway, the preparations were over.

Now it was time to go hunting.

Wales was wary of making a mistake from being overexcited.

He asked his vice-captain, standing next to him, once again.

"It's him, right?"

"It must be…"

They'd found it earlier than expected.

The treasure, Ramirez.

Of course, he hadn't gotten his hands on it yet.

Wales looked at the Squatjaw in front of him, who was looking around with a bewildered expression.

"Goblin…"

He hadn't given much credence to the information at first. He'd thought it was just a funny rumour.

How the hell could creatures like that exist in this world?

Although the ability to create clones was rare, it was still a known quantity. Of course, considering the sheer number… it was a bit impressive.

Anyway, that was what he'd thought it to be at first.

A ghostly and insubstantial mirage, merely imitating the creator's appearance and wandering around.

But the guy in front of him was different.

He was real. He had physical power and could be cut by a sword. He even shed real blood.

He was even carrying the actual treasure.

This was a real goblin (or something).

However, one question still remained.

‘Is this guy really the Squatjaw?'

Weak.

His technique was weird for sure, but nothing particularly powerful.

Too weak to match up to the rumours surrounding him.

‘Is this then another goblin?'

But Wales quickly shook his head. There was no way a guy who wasn't even the real Squatjaw could have the real treasure on him.

"… The rumours were really overblown."

Wales was preparing to ‘hit', but –

At that time,

"Hey! Wait, wait!"

A voice came from right behind him.

"Eek!"

Startled, Wales jumped to the side.

When he turned around, another Squatjaw was peering at him.

"Whoo… I almost missed the timing."

There were now two Squatjaws?

"…"

Then, the latecomer Squatjaw approached the first one.

They started having a conversation that Wales honestly couldn't make head or tail out of.

"Oh… Big Brother?"

"Wait, how come you got it?"

"Well… things just turned out that way, I guess?"

"It was dangerous just now, you know? You almost got taken down. Don't slack off."

"Actually, I was just really confused for a moment. The bastard who had it suddenly said it was annoying and threw it at me… And just then, these guys popped out of a nearby bush…"

"Heh… well, things turned out okay this time. Try hiding next. Ah, wait, make sure you leave some traces behind."

"Uh… yeah, got it. See you later."

Wales watched the scene silently.

Even as the first Squatjaw ended the conversation, turned around and disappeared.

And then,

"Don't you want to follow?"

His vice-captain next to him asked in a confused tone.

But Wales shook his head.

"How far can a flea like that jump? And in any case, we can't ignore what's already in front of us to go off on some wild goose chase."

Because the bastard in front of him was definitely no flea.

Wales asked the second Squatjaw, still standing in front of him.

"What are you? Another goblin?"

"What do you think?"

I'm the hunter.

Editor's Notes:

None for this chapter.

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