The Great Declaration
One.
Can you mimic the abilities of characters that you haven't actually t yet in the current work?
This was a question I had since the first ti I planned to purchase [Mimic Acrobat].
It sounded like nonsense, but in reality I thought it might actually be possible.
Even if sothing doesn't appear in a chapter, doesn't an it doesn't exist. Doesn't the world outside the chapters' really exist right here in front of my eyes?
Of course, it might be impossible if only the background setting existed and the character had not yet been created, but other than that, it was quite feasible.
However, there was one problem
The mimicking conditions:
You must know the face and real na of the person using the ability.You must directly see the manifestation of the ability.You must be aware of the chanism by which the ability operates.You must have a physique that matches the level of the ability.
The second clause.
2. You must directly see the manifestation of the ability.
Simple. You had to directly view' the target and the ability.
It was a clause that simply shattered my secret desire, but nevertheless, there was a reason why I thought it might work just in case'.
Because there had been a case in the original where a similar type of condition was satisfied by using a shortcut'.
The contents were as follows:
[An adventurer discovered a sealed ancient artifact while exploring a lost civilization. An old seal protected the artifact, and the conditions for releasing this seal were written over it. One of them was to visit a specific place yourself'.
The problem was that the place was inaccessible, being within the deep sea.
The adventurer found a way after racking his brains for days, and surprisingly, he succeeded in unlocking the seal on the artifact without actually visiting that place.
The thod he used was to transplant the mory' of another person who'd actually visited that place.]
It was obvious why this incident ca to mind.
I thought maybe I could do sothing similar.
What I guessed was:
You have to check the manifestation of the ability, but the act of actually watching the scene is not necessary. The important thing is to know' the ability, recognize' it, and then rember' it.
In other words, the key is whether you can specifically envision the ability in your head.
And I was able to do that. This was true for almost all the abilities that had appeared in the original work.
It was only natural. Although I had never actually seen them directly but only in the form of a manga, I had already encountered the manifestation process of all those abilities several tis.
So, as a result of testing,
" Wow."
To my surprise, my theory turned out to be correct.
I was able to imitate most of the unique abilities as far as my body allowed, for the currently created characters.
Two.
So, can we imitate the future abilities (evolved abilities) of existing characters?
Of course, it was a question that sounded nonsense. It was like saying that I would mimic an ability that had not yet appeared and that even the original owner of the ability couldn't use.
But this ti too, I said just in case'.
Because? As before, there had been quite a few similar cases.
Defaulter Ludenkov.
I couldn't forget this guy even if I wanted to.
One of the Seven Kings', the most powerful people in this setting who can destroy the world with their own strength.
Under the assumption that his unique ability [One who Repays with Death] satisfies various detailed conditions, he can borrow power from everyone who existed', exists', or will exist' in this world with his lifespan as collateral.
As per the setting, there is no limit on whom he can borrow power from, including the previous adventure king' and even his own future self.
Therefore, as soon as I rembered this guy's abilities, I started wondering if it would be possible for as well.
Can you borrow power from soone from the future who doesn't even exist right now?
If the frawork is the sa, Isn't it possible to mimic future abilities as well?' I thought.
Well, I was able to rember those evolved abilities without any difficulty.
Of course, there was bound to be an invisible restriction here.
At this point, the evolved abilities I could mimic were limited to characters that had already been specifically set to have them.
In fact, there were very few of these characters.
The fact that the evolution path of their abilities had been decided ant that they were characters with guaranteed continuous growth in the future', and there were few people with such treatnt in the current work.
To simplify. The main characters, including Leo.
So, just in case, I tried it once.
But what the hell,
"Okay, done!"
It really worked.
Even I myself had been stunned at my own success. Because I really hadn't known for certain what was going to happen.
Of course, Yan was the only one in the main character's party for whom I was able to do it. Even then, it was only the level he would awaken to during the Adventurer Qualification Test, which was slated to be only a few chapters later.
But anyway, that's why,
"Uh, how."
I was able to smile seeing his pale complexion.
"Shut your trap."
Things progressed normally after that.
I roughly tied down two of Yan's ghosts with the two squat-jawed ghosts, then tead up with the other three to attack him.
Yan did a good job running away from one place to another, but unfortunately for him, the narrow square ring offered him no exit.
Under the flood of punches pouring in, Yan, who'd lost his strength,
"Oh, no"
"Yeah."
Thud .
In the end, he couldn't avoid my good-bye uppercut.
As Yan's small form flew out of the ring, the bell rang to signal the end of the match.
Dang dang .
Yes! The match is over! The ga was still a bit boring, wasn't it? The winner is the man everyone expected! The champion, Tyson Squatjaw! A refreshing KO victory! That's what you get for coming at him, little kid!
"Wow!"
"Squatjaw! Squatjaw!"
"I believed in you!"
Finished.
Finally, all the conditions the author had put forward had been fulfilled.
I survived.
"Hoo"
I raised my hand in response to the cheering audience.
Among all that enthusiasm, Leo and his party could be seen, supporting the fallen Yan.
They looked a little gloomy, but they were still looking at with their eyes shining.
Good eyes.'
It would have been rather disappointing if the guys had been sighing or breathing deeply as if everything was over. The scene would remain alive only if they keep their eyes open as if asking for sothing more from , as if it's not over yet.
Since all the matches were over, it wouldn't be unusual for the chapter to end like this. But I didn't intend to let that happen.
End?
No, this was the true beginning.
"What are you looking at? Feeling crabby?"
"You this bastard"
"What the hell was that!"
"If you really wanted to know that, you should have won. If you lose and start clamouring Isn't that a bit too much?"
They shut their mouths at my words.
But their eyes were still wide open.
"Still, you made happy, even if just a little bit. So shall I tell you sothing very simple?"
Then,
"What, what?"
"You really an that?"
Leo and Kiriko shouted like they were having a fit.
It seed they were really curious. And perhaps the sa went for the readers.
I was silent for a mont as I looked at them.
The place beca quiet in an instant.
The gaze of the audience, who had suddenly beco quiet, felt like that of the author himself.
"Hmm."
In fact, ever since I won the first match against Kiriko, I'd been imagining this mont.
Fulfilling the conditions set by the author?
Knocking out Yan at the end and giving everyone a surprise?
I never even thought that it'd be a problem. As long as the author didn't ddle with my strategic victory (?), I thought things wouldn't get too difficult.
In fact, at so point this whole act itself started feeling not that important. It only helped avoid the imdiate crisis, but didn't eliminate the underlying danger. Even if I survived this, I thought that the sa thing might happen again at any ti.
The author has the ability to create and remove characters, but that doesn't an he can delete just any character at will.
The reason why I could be the subject of deletion at any ti was because I'd never clearly presented the role and necessity of my current character.
So,
"Of course, its nothing much. There's no way I'd give so great information to people who don't deserve it, right?"
I had to grab hold to the .
What I was going to do now was simple.
To tell these guys and the readers the most important information' about .
Thus, I would clearly present the role and the necessity of this character.
But, of course, there were a lot of problems that had to be solved before that.
All those questions.
The countless questions I had accumulated from my first appearance until now, were covering like a shackle.
First encounter with Leo in Initialis, Kiriko thanking at the end of the chapter in Virgin City, appearing as one of the VIPs in Goldam City to help Leo, appearing as the mafia's secret boss
The problem was that I couldn't answer these many questions.
Well, because it wasn't sothing that could even be explained. What should I say? That I'm a modern man who fell into a manga, and if I don't get involved with the main characters, I might get deleted?
So, I had to think up an alternative.
Let's not leave the current Squatjaw as a riddle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma that will never be understood. Let's instead turn the character into sothing they can understand even if only a little bit.
The readers won't get too annoyed following the trail of questions about , let's beco that kind of character.
Now was the right ti to tell them. There had never been a ti like now, when everyone's attention was completely focused on .
"Cocoa, the mic."
Oh, the champ looks like he wants to say sothing? I'm excited!
"Hurry. I don't have ti."
Receiving the mic from Cocoa, I once again stared at Leo and the rest.
All my plans thus far had culminated in this very mont.
The lines I would utter from now on would determine my future. Would I be able to keep surviving, or would I collapse eventually?
"Please listen carefully."
How should I act to survive to the end?
What direction should I take, what stance?
Ever since I got into this Adventure King story, I never stopped thinking about it even for a mont.
Can you survive if you beco Leo's companion?
After experiencing the restraint of the preceding plot, I thought that it would never be easy.
Being Leo's colleague ans to literally be one of the central characters that lead the story. The author must've had envisioned the cast format early on, so it was almost absurd for to suddenly intervene in it.
Of course, you can aim for the positions of the guys who appear in the mid-to-late half, but those days were too far away to make it work. Also, even if I managed it, it was difficult to expect a significance comparable to the guys who appeared from the beginning.
I had no choice but to conclude. It'd be hard to beco a colleague.
So what about being the villain?
That was also a hopeless path.
It's not easy to beco a strong, attractive, and long-awaited villain. In order to beco such a character, the minimum necessary requirent would be to have power like the Seven Kings'.
Also, I wasn't sure because I didn't read the last volu, but I didn't think that even if I beca a good enough villain, I'd be able to survive. Because in the first place, the villain is destined to disappear after being defeated by the protagonist.
What about becoming a small recurring character that cos and goes?
This also wasn't good enough. It wasn't unusual for such a role to be scrubbed out by the author at any ti.
Then what is left?
A role that might appear alongside the main character from the very beginning without being awkward.
Not the main character, but occupying an equal weight.
Neither an ally nor a foe, but one that can share the important chapters with the protagonist every ti.
A role that can never be easily deleted, even if the author hates it.
And finally, a role that that can naturally keep pace with the main character till the very end.
There was only one.
The rival.
Ah, mic test. One two, one two.
After looking around once, I fixed my gaze on Leo.
But, of course, what I was going to say now wasn't just for him.
How long are you going to call a squat-jaw, you bastards?
I then applied the effect that ca with the background, [The Boy Cursed by the Witch].
Once a fortnight, you can change into a handso boy for an hour.
At the mont,
Pyororong .
My body began to shrink. Strangely, the jaw shrank first, who knows why.
It only took an instant. By the ti the jet-black bangs that had suddenly beco longer pricked my eyes, the transformation was over.
Is this fine?'
Why did I change? There wasn't really any great reason. Well, just so extra set dressings that I sprinkled in. I wondered if it would make a difference. My current appearance was not that of just so extra, anyone could tell just by looking.
And the fact that this form looked exactly the sa age as Leo made look more like a rival, right?
And then,
To Leo.
To the readers.
And to the author.
I so declared.
My na is Hiro. The man who will overtake you and beco the adventure king of this era.
And the one who will be another protagonist of this story.
Editor's Notes:
None for this chapter. But man, we finally reached this chapter! This was one we'd been really pumped up about. We've weathered the early bits, the story will start moving towards the middle, and soon it'll be ti for the Adventurer Qualification Test. See you in the next chapter!
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