Squatjaw's Amusent Park of Mystery (2)
I was filled with tension as I watched Leo and the rest leave the shooting range from a distance.
So far things had gone to plan. The operation was a success.
There were no objections from the boys. Perhaps because they were more interested in how I used Kiriko's unique ability, rather than in winning or losing.
It was for this purpose that I'd dared show off mixing penetration' and explosion'. By deliberately focusing on mimicking abilities, I'd managed to distract them from the outco of the confrontation. In fact, hitting the target itself had nothing to do with what kind of magic bullets were used.
To be precise, it didn't matter even if I hadn't gotten it right.
Now all that was left was the author's reaction.
What was he going to do?
First of all, it was clear that he already had bad feelings about , and he intended to delete from this chapter. In his attempt to maintain the original developnt.
To change his mind, I had to make two main variables' move by my side.
The main variables were nothing but:
Leo and his party,The readers.
Once the main character and party beca curious about , the more curious they beco, the more essential my existence would beco in terms of plausibility'. Whether he liked it or not, this would remind the author of the importance of my character.
Fortunately, looked like the operation to amplify their doubts had worked. Seeing how Kiriko's eyes were fixed in my direction.
Next, the readers.
This was simpler. If the readers' reacted to positively, wouldn't it be possible to change the author's mind as well? To the point where he would even want to use a little more.
Presumably, the readers' reaction to this confrontation wouldn't be very bad. Because I'd be showing them offbeat scenes with so good gags mixed in.
In fact, creating and directing this gaboard had taken a truly enormous amount of work.
From mimicking Cocoa's ability to move half of the amusent park directly, to small interior settings, to educating everyone in the party one by one.
In order to not make Leo's party feel sothing was off, and to lower their vigilance, I even hired troops' from the character shop and mobilized them as the audience.
Of course, hiring troops' wasn't cheap.
I paid a whopping 2000 points for a one-day rental. Even though they were rely characters with basic stats, without much in the way of taking commands.
Well, still, I got around 100 people.'
The problem was that despite all this effort, and even if the readers' reaction was not too bad, there was no guarantee of survival.
As long as the author remained the final decision maker of the story, no matter the plausibility or fan popularity, the risk of character deletion couldn't be avoided.
So even after leaving the shooting range, I kept watching the situation like a scared rat.
It'd been about 10 minutes since my fight with Kiriko ended.
If there's no ssage from the author, it's a success. At least, it can be interpreted as I'll watch the situation for now'.
However, if even the slightest restrictions ca in, the plan had to be completely revised right away. Because the upcoming confrontations would be tougher than the gunfight.
But fortunately,
"Phew"
No ssage arrived.
Lifting a heavy weight from my heart.
In fact, if it wasn't for this kind of light mixing of manipulation and subterfuge, it was almost impossible to defeat these guys and survive.
This wasn't just because these guys had great abilities and were exceptional.
There was another reason why I had no choice but to plan such a strategy. Because competing purely on the basis of abilities was by itself detrintal to , regardless of whether I won or lost.
Simply put, in the first place, I shouldn't have been able to corner the main character's party only with my skills. This is because readers basically always stand on the protagonist's side while watching the story, and never want to see them be defeated in skills.
In other words, if it wasn't so playful confrontation where you could laugh it off and ignore the result, it was aningless to win. If that happened, the author's sword would still chop my head off in the end based on the readers' anger.
It's really vicious.'
Every single aspect of the conditions oozed with malice. It was difficult to find a path to escape.
But the greater the crisis, the greater the opportunity.
If I could overco the current situation with my wisdom, I might be able to create an opportunity for a reversal that would've been impossible in the past.
No, I must make that happen.'
First of all, I had to force the future competitions into a certain flow.
I start the ga from an overwhelmingly advantageous position.Taunt.The angry opponent makes a coback and drives to the very brink of defeat.At the last mont, I sohow barely eke out a slapdash victory.End the act by brushing away cold sweat and saying it'd been dangerous just now.
Giving your opponent a chance to make a coback was of course a huge risk, but this too was unavoidable. Because I had to be wary of the main character's party as well.
The equation was simple. If they didn't show their cool sides, it wouldn't et the readers' expectations, and the accumulated resentnt would again co back as another threat.
Anyway, the key was to elicit joy' and surprise' from the readers, and at the sa ti give them a not unacceptable defeat'.
"Hoo"
Of course, I was ready.
All that was left was to implent the plan without any problems.
Then,
"Squatjaw! Shouldn't you have said sothing?!"
"Huh?"
Haka, who'd returned from his mission, sneaked up and grumbled at .
"Why would you shoot sothing like that without any warning in advance?"
"Sothing like that?"
"That last shot of yours!"
"Shot Ah. My shot?"
"I thought it was a firecracker, and I almost died like an idiot!"
After all, what I'd fired wasn't just the form' of a bullet.
The bullet that fused explosion' and penetration' was the most powerful ammunition that Kiriko could currently use. Hidden in the bushes and moving in the shadows, this guy must have been terrified when sothing like that had suddenly flown in.
"But youre not going to die with just that much, are you?"
"Anyway, it really sounded dangerous."
I quietly looked into Haka's grumbling eyes.
This guy was already starting to change his character. While his weirdness and secretiveness subsided, his chatter and fussiness instead rose up.
How his slitted eyes had subtly widened was the best proof. His narrowed eyes used to symbolize his secrecy' and seriousness'. Whereas right now, I didn't even think that his eyes were particularly narrow.
Originally, such changes would co only after he t with Leo and rest a few more tis. A change signifying the character shifting to a gag' character rather than a secret' one.
Presumably, his unexpected encounter with a goblin had now brought this change about.
In fact, if we assud that the initial goal of the character, Haka, had been to introduce the goblins, then it could be said that the reason behind his existence itself had disappeared.
It was unclear what the future consequences of this might be.
The first reason why I'd tried to collect this guy was because I thought that it might buy the author's favour, by helping him weave the unrecovered rice cakes' into the storyline.
Even now, that thought had not changed, but the problem was that this guy was facing the danger of deletion without even becoming a rice cake'.
Actually, this guy had only ever directly faced Leo and his party once, and even then, he didn't really have a great presence.
Rather I wonder if he could beco a treasure trove?'
In my opinion, the reason this guy was able to exist without any problems even after going through character settlent was because he was already connected with .
In other words, he was being protected by my class'.
It was questionable how long the current situation would last.
As the author said, the character has to do sothing to survive on his own. If you don't, you will eventually lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel and collapse.
Of course, the initial settings given to this guy didn't disappear, so he was still usable. He was still strong, and he was a character with potential.
So, I didn't an to just leave this guy alone. I was thinking of laying a solid groundwork that would at least act as support, so that he could stand on his own two feet.
To do that, it was necessary to create an environnt in which the most significant setting' applied to this guy could be made relevant, and there was only one way to do that.
It was to bring forward the appearance of the goblins, at a large scale.
Yeah, the level of risk is no joke.'
For a mont, I naturally imagined the angry face of the author. It would be like bypassing about 20 volus of content.
To be honest, I wouldn't have anything to say even if I ended up being deleted.
"Hmm."
I shook my head, clearing away my thoughts.
Well, it was just an idea right now.
That was that, and for now, I had to focus on the current situation.
"By the way, what about the others?"
"Chinuavi is doing the final inspection, and the little girl is dragging the ti."
"How much ti left?"
"Would it be about 40 minutes?"
The ti had co for to slowly start preparing for the next match.
"You understand your role in the next match?"
"Sure."
"Great. You mustn't be caught. In a way, your role might be the most important this ti too. Don't let that tuft-haired kid"
"Hey, dont worry."
Then, leaving Haka behind, I hurriedly accelerated my steps.
40 minutes later.
Now, were you all bored with the gunfight last ti? That's why we have a new big event for you! The match everyone has been waiting for! It's called Run, One Lap around the Park!'
"Wow!"
"Whoo!"
"I've been waiting!"
Actually, it wasn't much of a ga.
It was literally just starting from the front door and running through a fixed route.
The rules couldn't have been simpler than this.
Reach the target before your opponent.
This challenger is even more cheeky than that cheeky redhead! Introducing, the troublemaker Leo!
There was only one reason why I planned this running race.
Because this was the only way to deal with Leo.
In a situation where you had to compete ability versus ability, it was best to find a way to compete against a part of the ability, not against the ability as a whole. There was no way for to compete against electricity, so the only choice for a match was speed.
Following Cocoa's introduction, the onlookers started booing again.
"Boo!"
"Go away!"
"Who do you think you are, little baby!"
Of course, Leo didn't care about it. He just sported his innocent smile as if he was just having fun.
"Lets get started!"
And our running champ against that tuft-haired kid! The na everyone has been waiting for! Introducing, Lamborghini Squatjaw!
I slowly approached Leo, who'd been waiting at the starting line.
Leo looked at and smiled.
"You said that if I win, youll tell about your identity?"
"Yeah, right."
"Are you sure? I'm not kidding, I'm fast."
"I know."
"No, you cant say you know until you experience it yourself. As for how fast I am"
"No? You must be as fast as lightning."
" That ans you dont know!"
I couldn't even smile when I saw Leo's bewildered expression. Because I was so tense inside.
It took a week of grinding just to prepare for this one simple ga. Because my opponent was none other than the protagonist'.
In fact, this race was a battle that would be the starting point for my path of survival.
"But I'm fast too. Enough to make you nervous."
"Heh, we'll see about that."
"Well, I'll tell you the long and short of it. You see, I"
In an instant, blue sparks flew out of my body.
Crrrrrackkkkkle .
"Am as fast as lightning."
" What?"
As soon as Leo made that blank expression, I signalled Cocoa to start.
To take the opportunity while this guy was confused.
Then ready, steady! Start!
I quickly shot forward. Swerving left to get out of his sight, I quickly took out a bottle of invisibility potion from my sleeves and swallowed the contents.
"Ugh. This taste"
I'd already confird that the invisibility potion wouldn't clash with my [Mimic Acrobat].
I went invisible without hesitation.
And yet,
"Where did you go?"
As if using a booster, Leo rushed past with a flash of lightning.
So far, it was a success.
I stood still and watched him quietly.
As far as running rules were concerned, there was no need to worry about your opponent. Just run at your own pace.
But Leo didn't. Right now, he seed more interested in than the race.
Of course, this was intended. That guy who used lightning never even considered that he might lose, and if I was already in sight, it didn't matter. He'd run by my side and ask questions.
Soon after,
"I found you, you bastard! How the hell are you using my lightning? Tell right now!"
The boy ran forward again.
Of course, I wasn't the one who he'd found.
And soon,
"What! Are you already following ?"
It was Chinuavi disguised as .
The place where the two of them were running was a path that had nothing to do with the previously specified running route.
The reason Leo followed Chinuavi without any doubt was simple.
Because the existence that he thought was , was right in front of him.
And therefore,
" Thats spectacular."
He couldn't have imagined that the path would be wrong.
Beyond the road where the two of them ran, an extrely huge castle slowly began to appear.
What I prepared for this one simple ga, to defeat that main character, was not so simple.
It was another amusent park, hidden inside a goblin cloth'.
Editor's Notes:
None for this chapter.
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