Surviving a Shounen Manga

’s literally one lead role and one extra.

I remember that there was a lot of talk among readers later on.
They understood that the situation was created for the sake of development, but wondered if it was too contrived.
It was even set that Kiriko was shot.

Simply put, it’s like watching a UFC fighter sharpening his teeth against a kindergartener.

Then,

“But I need to know where they are…”

Kiriko’s anguished voice was heard.

Oops, look at me daydreaming again.

“At the plaza.
The city square.”

“Plaza? Wait, but how do you know that…”

“Okay, let’s go quickly.
Because I don’t know what they’re going to do.
Make sure you get it right this time.”

“This bastard…….”

Kiriko hesitated as if she had something to say.

Hey, we don’t have time.

So, I dared to add one more word for the hesitant guy.

“Go.
I will find you later.”

“I did say that this was the last warning.”

“Sa, save me… Save me!”

“Even for trash, looks like one’s own life is precious.
If there is even one person who will die for you here, I will spare you.”

“I, please… please save me! Anyone please!”

Fortunately, it wasn’t too late.

I took a deep breath and calmed my beating heart.

The scene I had been waiting for so long was unfolding in front of me.

Sponsored Content

Dozens of mafia scattered around.
Flying dust.
And… the blond hair stood slumped, with soaking wet pants, and a gun aimed at his temple.

It was shocking.
To actually see that scene.

Even though the blond hair cried and begged, no one came forward.

The chamber of the revolver that Kiriko was aiming for rotated.

“Any last words?”

“I, please…….
please…….”

That was then.

“Stop!”

Finally, another voice came to complete this scene.

The timing is amazing.

Of course, this is my point of view as a reader and a spectator.

From Leo’s point of view, I’d say it’s a little late.

Following that,

Pa-ang!

The revolver’s muzzle blew out.

The signal bell sounded.
The signal of the long-awaited ‘real fight’.

The start was like Leo’s lightning strike.

“What are you doing!”

Ptooom!

“Wow······.”

I thought a meteorite had fallen.

The pit dug in the ground was so large and deep that it was hard to believe that it was created by burrowing into the ground.

If it were a real person, it would probably have turned into powder the moment it received a shock like that.

But of course,

“… Awesome.
Who are you?”

The guy who was thrown into the dusty pit over there was a human far from such an ordinary person.

Kiriko got up immediately and looked around with an angry expression.
He staggered a bit, but showed no signs of serious injury.

It was a moment that made the setting of Kiriko having once been shot and dangerously injured, feel more absurd.

It seemed that Leo was also perplexed.
Kiriko must have been the first human ever to get up after eating his kick.

The duel between the two was fierce and terrifying.

Through the scene unfolding in front of my eyes, I could feel the limitations of directing manga through scenes.
Of course, at the time of reading the manga, I could feel a tremendous sense of excitement, but not as much as it is now.

Their presence was no joke.

Both of them moved so fast that only afterimages remained, and whenever their fists and feet touched each other, there was a ‘pop’ sound like an explosion.
They even hit each other and flew away, destroying all nearby buildings.

Yet,

“Hoooo, I don’t know who you are… but are you an idiot?”

“No, you are.”

After a short exploratory battle (?), the highlight of this fight finally came.

Kiriko pulled out a revolver from his waist.

A silver barrel filled with sunlight cast a shadow over the battlefield.

“This will hurt.
If you don’t want to die, avoid it.”

“Screw you.”

Seeing the two of them like that, my heart started pounding again.
A duel was about to unfold using each of their ‘unique abilities’.

Kiriko’s unique ability was [Six Burning Bullets], which fired a total of six types of magic bullets from a single revolver.

Explosion, Penetration, Induction, Stun, Flash and Healing.

But in practice, it doesn’t really matter that much.
Later, Kiriko removed the limitation of types by using a combination of two revolvers.

And Leo’s unique ability was [Lightning that Destroys Disasters], that was perfectly optimized for battle, and one that made you exclaim that this was “the main character”.

Kiriko the Magician, and Leo, the Thunder God.

Sponsored Content

It was the first clash of two great forces that would later shake this world.

Of course, I know the outcome of this confrontation.
Also, right now, those two people can’t show the immense power they would wield in the second half of the manga.

But even so, it felt like my back was getting wet with tension.
The momentum of the two of them already heated the atmosphere all around.

“Last chance.
Avoid it.”

“Don’t worry.
I’m faster.”

Yet,

 … Bang!

Two forces collided.

In an instant, the surrounding noise ceased.

A cloud of dust rose high like a nuclear explosion, and grains of sand mixed with the wind came crashing down on me like a hurricane.

However, all the onlookers around me, including myself, were unharmed.

Well, it’s a manga after all.

Soon after, the cloud of dust subsided, and the sight of the battlefield caught my eye.

One was left standing and the other fell down.

The winner was Leo.

But his eyes did not flutter with joy.
Rather, it was filled with disbelief and embarrassment.

Also, the words that came out of his mouth were not the shouts of the winner.

“You… were already hurt…”

When I saw it, I laughed a little.

However, when I first saw that scene, I thought it would be so.
I even imagined what it would be like if Kiriko hadn’t been shot.

Now what… the blond-haired mafia was really pitiable.
What would you think if you knew that your existence was made just for that one damn cliché scene?

There is nothing special about the development after this.

As Rosemarietta runs to Kiriko and supports him, Leo runs to the blond who was shot by Kiriko.

Then,

“Oh my god, you aren’t dead!?”

Yep, screaming like that.

Then he realizes that everything was his own misunderstanding.
The blonde hair didn’t die, and he was just stunned by Kiriko’s magic bullet.
In the first place, Kiriko’s gun did not contain live ammunition.

Then,

“That redhead… he wasn’t a bad guy…”

End the scene by talking to yourself so that everyone can hear it.

Then, Chapter 3 left a brief gap.

I thought as I watched Leo and Kiriko moving away from each other in opposite directions.

Is there room left for me to play?

Now, the two of them are going to take a break for the next five days.
Healing their wounds, recovering enough stamina, and then attacking the mafia’s main base together.

Presumably, there would be no room for intervention in the scene where they cleared out the mafia.
The author’s intention is to reflect the performance of the two people as a team.

Therefore, the rest period that will start from now on was the last time I had to prove my worth.

Five days.

At first glance, it was not a very small amount of time, but it was by no means an easy task.
In fact, this period received an extremely small amount of content in the manga.

Otherwise, it’s all offscreen.
The scenes drawn on the paper only took a single page.

A cut of Kiriko taking a break at Rosemarietta’s shop, a cut of mafia minions lounging around the shop, and a cut of Leo sitting and guarding the shop, claiming that he owes it to her.
At best, that was all.

After that, the story resumes with a scene where the two immediately leave the store with the legend ‘after five days’.

In other words, I had to somehow intervene in those three cuts.

“… Is it possible?”

Of course, there weren’t many alternatives to consider.
I was just wondering if it would go well.

I stopped thinking about it anymore.

Sitting down and thinking solved nothing.

Now that you’ve seen it all, it’s time to move quickly.