Surviving a Shounen Manga - Chapter 68

“What?”

Upon reaching the peak, I flinched slightly.

Because on the peak stood still a certain big-boned, barrel-chested fellow.

Had it been thirty minutes? Forty?

Definitely less than an hour.

While I left and camp and made a detour for the second peak, this guy had quickly climbed up and planted a flag.

Contrary to his appearance, he was surprisingly quick.

But the funny bit was –

“… Huh, eh?”

He also seemed to be quite perplexed.

…

After such a moment of mutual silence,

“Um… is that your flag?”

I was the one who spoke up first.

I pointed to the small rod at the centre of the peak. There was a dull grey flag hanging on it.

“… Y-, yes.”

“Then you’re the first occupant of this peak?”

I was somewhat regretting it already.

I’d wanted to show the scene of a single flag remaining unchanging from beginning to end.

“W-, well, there wasn’t any flag planted here before mine. B-but… why do you ask?”

“Oh? Why?”

He was a funny guy.

“Why would anyone on this peak be interested in the flag, you think?”

“Y-, you! You want to pull it out?”

“Or how about you pull it out yourself?”

“…”

The man asked a last question very carefully.

“R… right now?”

“Yeah.”

Then,

“Y-, you bastard! You wanna go?!”

The idiot, whose face had stiffened, finally shouted with rage, pulling out the big brutish-looking axe he was carrying behind his back.

How outrageous.

Ignoring him, I strode towards the centre where the flag was planted.

“W-, wait! St-, stop!”

“Nope.”

Then,

“D-, damn it!”

The bastard swung at me.

He moved quite fast, for his size.

‘Still, it’s not like he’s a threat or anything.’

I dodged his axe and tripped him.

“Ugh!”

Leaving behind the guy rolling on the ground, I immediately pulled the flag out.

Then,

Crack–.

The flagpole broke with a bang! on the spot.

“Whoo…”

It was amazing. At first glance, I thought it was just a wooden stick…

Of course, it didn’t feel like a technological device. Someone had apparently applied some kind of ‘conditional control’ ability on it.

For example, ‘if someone who is not the owner of the nameplate touches it, it will break’.

Then,

“Oh, no!”

A screaming cry could be heard.

When I turned around, the big guy was looking at me with a confused expression.

I scratched my head.

“Wait, didn’t you know it was going to be like this? Why the hell did you take the peak over so quickly? You could’ve just been patient.”

“I just… heard that you went to another peak…”

“Who, me? No I didn’t.”

“… Is that so.”

Then he murmured,

“Then, am I already eliminated?”

He asked me as if he’d remembered it just now.

“Looks like it? I’ve pulled the flag out, haven’t I?”

I had no idea about this guy’s future itinerary (?).

Since he got eliminated, he’d naturally have to go down… maybe he’d have to trek the whole way back on foot.

That was then.

“I… will take revenge.”

The kid muttered blankly.

“I will take revenge.”

Then he slowly turned his eyes towards me. It must’ve been a real shock, from how bloodshot his eyes were.

“Uh… you mean against me?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna kill you.”

He picked up the axe he’d dropped and slowly approached me.

It was weird.

Was this really alright? Was it permissible to attack a test-taker regardless of whether or not you’d already been eliminated?

Soon after,

“I’ve got nothing to lose now. You shouldn’t have made me drop out.”

The idiot started recklessly wielding his axe.

His intelligence seemed to have dropped a bit further, but he was still strong and moved quickly. Besides, just like he said, he was far more aggressive than before.

Bang–!

His blows were heavy enough to change the terrain with each strike. Every time the axe struck, rocks would splinter and shards would fly, and the ground would dent.

But, of course, that didn’t mean it was a threat to me or anything.

I watched the situation for a while, dodging his attacks as they came.

But,

“Hmmm…”

No matter how long I waited, nobody else appeared, nor did any warning sound to stop his actions.

That meant that those who were eliminated could continue to function as a separate axis in this occupation, despite not being in the running for winning. They were like free mercenaries not even bound by the flags, moving according to their personal feelings and interests.

Meaning you shouldn’t recklessly make enemies, but if you clearly define somebody as an enemy, you should ‘deal with them’ with a sword in hand.

It was then that I realized something important about this war of occupation.

It wasn’t just a game of staring at each other, taking sides, and taking down the other teams. It was a game of extreme survival, with no clear enemies and allies, where you yourself had to be responsible for your own actions until the bitter end.

There was a reason why Bayar Khan had emphasized the ‘last’ position, telling me to wait all this while. Smartness and political acumen were needed to navigate this game. He’d probably thought I’d clumsily make enemies if I just barged in. The game structure itself facilitated that.

Bang–!

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Meanwhile, the guy’s attacks continued.

Hmmm.

I stared blankly at the axe that bit down on the earth right next to me. Then I turned my eyes to the guy.

He was a sad case, no doubt.

He got lucky, then unlucky, then lucky, and finally unlucky again.

“Wherever you try to run away to…”

“Hey.”

“… Huh?”

I picked up the guy’s axe myself and threw it.

Swish–.

He caught the axe, staggering back at the force.

“Why are you so unlucky?”

“… Huh?”

Although it was just bad luck on his part… but as Bayar Khan had emphasized so many times, it was only who smiled last that mattered. If you got unlucky at the end, then all your good fortune thus far became meaningless.

“Yeah, if you’d just gone down lamenting ‘too bad, I got eliminated this time’, nothing else would’ve happened. But now that you’ve been so rude, I have to actually decide how to deal with you. What happens if people refuse to go down even after losing their flags? Then fights will no longer end with breaking others’ flags, don’t you think?”

“… Ah.”

“And what do you mean, you’ve got nothing to lose? You had one thing.”

“I, I did?”

“Yes, your future. You did still have a future. Until you came at me, anyway. Right? You could’ve just taken the exam again next year.”

“… Ah.”

“Why did you have to throw it all into the gutter? How sad.”

“…”

“Come on, this is the last time, so come at me with no regrets. That’s why I threw you the axe.”

But,

“…”

Despite my kind suggestion, he just backed away instead of moving forward.

“Hey, where do you you’re going?”

“The, the future… my future, you’re right. It’s still left…”

“No, it went poof a while ago, you know?”

“Hey, I can’t lose the one thing I still have left!”

Then, leaving even the axe behind, he ran down the mountain.

…

I was a little conflicted, but I decided to just let him go. Don’t they say that it ain’t over till the fat lady sings^[1]?

Just consider yourself lucky, you piece of shit.

Soon after,

“Hey…”

Looking around, I was a little surprised.

I’d stopped paying attention while dealing with that strange idiot, but now I realized that a lot of people had gathered near the peak.

Everyone was encamped among the bushes that grew near the peak, and the closest one was positioned less than ten meters from the peak.

From the looks of it, these guys seemed to have a higher understanding of the occupation war than that stupid idiot.

They were vigilant, stalking, prowling, constantly observing me, quietly calculating whether I was going to plant a flag or not, or when I would do it.

“Let’s see.”

I also started staring at them openly. To be honest, I wanted to understand what they were thinking.

Were they looking for opportunities in the chaos that’d follow me planting my flag? Were they just trying to confirm my power, which had only been the stuff of rumours so far? Or were they just here to observe the situation without making any specific decisions?

Simply put,

1. Aim for the occupation.

2. Stick to me.

3. Attach to somebody else.

There were a number of options, but none of them had probably committed to one or the other, right now. They were just waiting and watching.

And, in fact, the guys camping nearby weren’t a big deal. Anyway, they’d been in position to see the fight that’d just happened on this peak.

The main issue was the bunch who might skip over to another peak any time and just dipping their feet here. The ones encamped further in the distance.

I looked at the crowd roaming about fifty meters from the peak.

They were the ones harder to deal with.

They were positioned such that it wasn’t easy to subdue them, yet it wasn’t easy to throw them away either. Those who had no intention of occupying the peak themselves, instead wanted to attach to the faction that would become the greatest force.

They were truly the ‘survival-specialized’ talents.

Any faction that absorbed a lot of those guys would probably be able to rise to the most advantageous position, but honestly, I couldn’t come up with a way to lure them in. Not even if I showed off my strength by throwing every single rock on the peak.

Moreover, if I couldn’t lure them in, I’d have to put the guys first on the list of people I’d have to get rid of.

‘Wow, this is tough.’

For some reason, Bayar Khan’s words to wait a little more crossed my mind again.

That was then.

“Squatjaw!”

A familiar voice came from somewhere.

“Ah, here you are.”

Below, the princess was coming up bravely with her two horses.

“What the hell! You suddenly ran to the peak!”

“Oh, I got bored.”

“Haah…”

I didn’t give any excuses, such as ‘the other peaks are already being occupied’ or ‘we are the only ones who haven’t even started…’ Because there was no particular reason to.

After all, the readers knew why I’d made this decision. In other words, they wouldn’t conclude that I was arbitrarily ignoring my teammates.

At a time like this, saying it out loud would only harm my character.

So,

“Even a slug would be faster than you.”

I attacked again.

“Haah…”

But the princess didn’t shoot back. She’d indeed held me back as per Bayar Khan’s words, but it wasn’t like she herself was particularly patient in the first place.

“What about the flag? Did you stick it in?”

“My flag? No.”

“Still waiting? When’re you going to put it in?”

“I’m not going to.”

“… Huh?”

Seeing the princess’ puzzled face, I smiled.

“See that rod over there? You can plant your flag there.”

“… Me?”

“Who else?”

Then the princess looked at me with an expression asking what the hell was I up to.

In fact, from the beginning, I’d had no intention of planting a flag here. Because that was the queen’s share. It was because she was the one who had to lead the army as the leader of a camp in the final ‘war of conquest’.

And secondly –

If I planted a flag here, I’d inevitably have to stay here.

It wasn’t a very good option for me, who had to offer readers a lot of sights and spectacles.

“The doubts cast on you, Princess, have not yet been cleared. At least at the final stage, you have to be the leader of a camp.

“… But what about you?”

“My purpose is to stop your marriage. I’m not here to show my allegiance to the Skull Empire.”

“…”

Soon after, as if she’d made up her mind to do something, the princess walked towards the centre of the peak.

Then, without hesitation, she planted her flag onto the pole.

I watched, grinning.

“Now, we can’t hold back anymore. We have to defend this position unconditionally for four days.”

“I know.”

The princess’ face was filled with resolution.

It was a good look on her.

That was then.

“Oh, oh, oh…”

“It’s huge!”

“A monster has appeared!”

A murmur began to be heard from below.

Somebody was slowly walking up towards us.

An elephant-sized body with a bald head so large that it was shining like the sun. It was an unfamiliar face.

‘Where I see that face before, I wonder?’

At that time,

“He’s the guy who lifted the elephant rock before you in the preliminaries.”

The princess whispered.

“Aah.”

The guy stopped in front of us.

After glancing at the princess once, he looked at me and said bluntly.

“Squatjaw. I’m here to have a match against you, with our nameplates on the line.”

“Oh? You want to fight?”

“The loser becomes a subordinate under the winner. There is no need to lose combat power for no reason, so instead of using weapons, let’s just go for a battle of strength.”

“Oh.”

It was a very attractive proposal, just the way I wanted it.

“You…you’re smarter than you look, huh?”

“…”

That was then.

“Hey, I’m the one who took over the peak, so why are you trying to fight with Squatjaw?”

The princess suddenly stepped out.

In fact, that was indeed an issue. Only a peak occupant can exchange the nameplate.

But for some reason –

“Ah, hey, um you’re a woman… and, and… uh, aren’t you two a team anyway? If that’s the case, I’d rather fight Squatjaw who’s the stronger one… Ah, if I lose, I’ll give you my nameplate…”

The guy was visibly shy.

It was a stark contrast to his vicious impression, so I had a sudden impulse to tease him a little.

So I just said –

“This guy sure looks like he’s got a crush on you, doesn’t he?”

“C-, cr-crush…! N-no!”

His face flushed even redder.

At this point, I was the one feeling embarrassed.

What the hell, I was right?

The princess, too, was startled and stepped back.

“S-, Squatjaw! You handle him!”

The match he proposed was simple.

Face each other, standing solidly on the ground, and clasp hands. Then try to pull the opponent in your direction.

Let’s call it, arm wrestling?

“I’ve wanted to fight with you since the first time I saw you. From the moment you threw that rock.”

As soon as he held my hand, he said in a trembling voice.

“Oh yeah?”

“After everyone disappeared from the arena, I went there alone. I wondered if I could do what you did.”

“So? Did you try?”

“To be honest, I couldn’t pass the fence. But I was able to pretend.”

“Oh, is that so? You do seem to have some strength.”

“There is one thing I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Was that pure power? Or an unique ability? According to the rumours, it doesn’t look like it’s an ability.”

“Why, what does it matter?”

“I hope it was pure power. Like me.”

He smiled, but to be honest that only transformed his dull face into that of a humanoid troll who could only be happier if he could wrestle using all four of his limbs.

“Hey, then I’ll ask you one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Are you tough?”

“… Eh?”

“Looking at you, you look sturdy, but I’m checking just in case.”

“I’ve never gotten hurt before. When I fought the great brown bear on Greatskull Mountain, or when I got swarmed by crocodiles while crossing the Jaron River…”

“Ah, okay. Yes, that’s fine then.”

“…?”

Following,

“Be careful you don’t dislocate your arm, and… I don’t know. Make sure to survive.”

I pulled the guy’s arm as hard as I could.

Who-woooooosh–.

“Aahhhh!!”

So the bald giant flew through the sky.

I shouted at the flying speck in the distance.

“Once you come to your senses, run right back! If you’re late, you’ll be left behind!”

Eventually, the princess approached and asked as if she was worried.

“Did you have to do that? To throw him down the mountain like that…”

“Ah, it’s okay. He said he was tough.”

Guys who looked like that by nature didn’t get hurt often. Of course, if this place were real, his whole body would’ve been shattered by the fall… But, well, this was a manga.

Then, I pointed to the guys around me with their mouths wide open in amazement.

“And I had to show something like this. Those scoundrels over there wouldn’t be able to ignore this.”

And also, because many readers were also in the audience, watching this scene together.

“Aah…”

The princess nodded as if she understood.

At that time,

“W-, wait! Everyone, look over there!”

“It’s the King of the Mountains! The King of the Mountains is coming up!”

“King of the Mountains? Why is he here!?”

“Didn’t he climb the second peak?”

Before the excitement around my battle with the bald giant had subsided, the surroundings began to murmur once again.

Another new guy had appeared.

However, the atmosphere was quite different this time.

When the baldy had come up, it’d been noisy and full of interest, but now a strange sense of crisis seemed to pervade the audience.

“Hey…”

The reason soon became apparent.

Behind the two guys in front, a group of people who seemed to be in military formation were marching along. Even the colours of their flags were unified.

Surprisingly, the leader seemed to be the occupant of the next peak over.

‘Did you leave the peak empty? Even if you left some men behind… how are so confident? Are those two in the front just subordinates, not the leader? Or are they fake?’

As I was thinking about this and that, the two guys in the front came up to the top of the peak.

Of the two, the man with a small and delicate body spoke first.

“Are you the one called Squatjaw?”

“And if I am?”

“I am the King of the Mountains. I am the lord of all these mountains.”

Hmmm.

Judging from his expression and tone of voice, he seemed to have said something great.

But I had no context for any of it.

“Ummm… and?”

“Looks like you don’t know who I am?”

“I don’t, no.”

“Actually, my current reputation isn’t that much bigger than you.”

“…”

He seemed to be a little bit shy.

“Are you currently occupying this peak?”

“Uh… it’s similar.”

The man nodded his head as if he understood, and then looked at the princess standing behind me with meaningful eyes.

Then,

“I came here for one purpose.”

He bit out a few short words.

“Let’s fight. With the peaks on the line.”

“… You want to bet on the peaks?”

“I have the second peak, you have this one.”

“Hey…”

“The winner gets the right to cleanly occupy both peaks. The loser will leave without saying a word.”

“But can’t one flag only occupy one peak?”

“What a stupid question. Can’t you and the princess divide between yourselves?”

“Oh… but that would be a loss for us at this stage, right? We haven’t secured a lot of subordinates yet.”

“That doesn’t matter. After all, it’s just a matter of organizing the rabble.”

Still, I was curious about one thing.

“But do you really need to fight for the peak this way? Can’t you just conquer this place with your own strength right now?”

“What a stupid notion. If you weren’t as good as the rumours say, that might not have been a bad idea. But if there’s even a little truth to those rumours, wouldn’t there be a huge loss of combat power in a head-on fight? That’s best avoided before the final stage. If I attack, will you be easily captured?”

“Ah, no… that’s true.”

“You’re dumber than I thought.”

It was ridiculous to hear.

“But then, why did you bring all these people with you?”

I pointed to the fellow’s entourage.

“…”

He didn’t answer.

“It’s crazy. Weren’t you calling me stupid just now? Or what, did you bring them with you because you’re afraid?”

“…”

“Oh, bingo, huh?”

“… Don’t get too cocky.”

“Or what? You gonna stab me?”

This guy was more irritable than I thought.

“No, Young Master, why did you, who was worried about loss of combat power, bring them all the way over here? Are you that lonely? Or that scared?”

“I told you to stop.”

“Why do I have to stop? It’s not like I’m afraid to talk, you get what I’m saying?”

While I was shooting rapid-fire –

And he just stood still and watched –

“… Kah, kaha.”

All of a sudden, he started chuckling.

It was an incredible about-face compared to his angry face and brows furrowed in anger just a moment ago.

He looked at the guy standing next to him and said some strange words.

“This isn’t the way to talk to this guy. Probably the exact opposite, I think.”

And at the same time,

“… Er, huh?”

His face suddenly began to change.

Black hair changed to red, a glare was added to the hazy eyes, the face got slightly wrinkled, and the overall desolate impression began to add some points of gracefulness.

It was a face that really suited the word, ‘middle-aged’.

And, oddly enough, it was a little bit familiar.

So I thought about it for a while, and a certain guy came to my mind.

‘Ah, that Meroguy or whatever? He looks a little like him.’

Then,

…

There was a sudden silence all around.

“Kaha, look at this. You don’t even know this face of mine?”

“… Oh? Who exactly are you?”

“Yeah, I see you really don’t know. Haah… what a pain in the neck^[2]. Hey, I already told you I’m the King of the Mountains, but I do have another title, you see?”

“What is it?”

“I am the Khan.”

“Huh?”

“Khan. Bumio Khan. The current emperor of the Skull Empire. And… the one who organized this Warrior’s Path.”

“…”

What was this guy blathering about?