Surviving a Shounen Manga

“But maybe you’ve lost some of your strength?”

The boy smirked and emitted lightning.

At that instant,

“… Hmf!”

Even though he’d already known, he couldn’t help but be surprised again.

What Squatjaw spewed out was obviously another lightning bolt, identical to his own.

“How did you do that!”

“If you want to know… then beat me!”

Squatjaw started running.
It was surprisingly fast.

Leo also lost his patience and chased after him.

‘That guy… is fast.
However…’

He was a still little faster.

Leo freely released all his strength.

So finally,

“Hey, eek!”

“I got you!”

Leo could pass him by.

“I’m going first, Squatjaw!”

“This bastard!”

“Prepare to introduce yourself! You slug bastard!”

Just then, the finish line could be seen in the distance.

Leo felt intoxicated with a overwhelming sense of victory.

Now it was just a few more steps.
Just a little bit more, and it’d be over…

That was then.

“… Huh?”

Despite the goal being in front of him, his feet suddenly stopped.

He was obviously pouring in his strength, but for some reason they wouldn’t move.

It felt as if something on the ground was pulling at his heels.

Leo’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘… A, a shadow?’

A shadow on the ground was holding his ankles with two black hands.

“What, what!? What have you done!”

Soon after,

“Heh heh, did you get tired? Heh heh… that’s a pity.
Victory… heh, it was right in front of you.”

Squatjaw, who came at a speed that could almost be called crawling, slowly passed him by.

He didn’t even run.
Maybe he couldn’t run anymore.

In front of Leo, who stood transfixed like that, Squatjaw slowly passed through the finish line.

– Yes! The match is now over! There was some suspense, but it still worked out in the end! The winner is Lamborghini Squatjaw!

Then he looked back.

There was a smirk on his lips.

“It really was dangerous this time.
But it’s still my victory, you tuft-haired kid.
Is it 2-0 now?”

“This guy…”

He was angry, but he couldn’t help it.

Leo clenched his fists and shouted.

“Damn it! I lost again!”

“H-how dastardly! S-, shouldn’t we say anything…”

To Yan’s words, Kiriko responded indifferently.

“Well, we knew he was going to do something like this.”

“Yeah, it’s my fault for being careless.
Actually, I’d almost thought that I already won.”

Leo also agreed with Kiriko.

If he hadn’t dropped his guard, he wouldn’t have gotten caught by the ‘shadow’ on the ground.

“So who’s next?”

“Well, um… I heard it was a game… Um, actually, I’m not very confident…”

“It’s my turn.
There’s nothing to worry about, Yan.”

Siana confidently stepped forward.

“Is it gambling this time?”

“Well, it’s similar.
We’re playing poker.
The same game you lost against me.”

“Tch… well, I admit it.
At that time, I knew for sure, that I couldn’t win against Siana no matter what.”

“That’s nothing to be disappointed about.
Because it’s the same for everyone.
Of course, that includes the Squatjaw kid too.”

“Come on, wait a minute…”

Yan wondered why Siana was able to step forward with such confidence.
Even after hearing those absurd rules.

“There’ll be five of them, you know!”

“Huh?”

“Five?”

“He said that one-on-one card games are no fun.
We’ll be one, but they will be five.”

But,

“It doesn’t matter.
I’ll still win anyway.
Even if it’s 1vs5 poker.”

Despite Yan’s worries, Siana’s confident expression did not change.

Surprisingly, Kiriko and Leo’s expressions were no different from hers.

“Hah, but…”

Yan hesitated and spoke again.

“In the beginning, Mr.
Kiriko, who was confident in shooting, lost in a gunfight… A-and Leo, who was confident in his speed, also lost in a race…”

“Oh, it’ll be fine! Don’t you believe in me, Yan? I’m the woman from Goldam Casino, and I wasn’t called the Queen there for nothing.”

“It’ll be fine.
Because Siana is that strong.
Oh, you still have to be careful.
Squatjaw cheated to help me out that time.
That’s how I barely managed to win.”

“I remember.
In the 1vs5 poker match, right? I was also watching the situation from the sidelines at the time.
But no problem.
Those frivolous tricks only work against people like the stupid Mr.
Kiriko here, they won’t do any good against me.”

“Girl, you want a match with me first!?”

“If you wish.
I don’t know if you alone would cut it.
Oh, why don’t Mr.
Kiriko and Mr.
Leo team up against me? It might be enough for my warm-up.”

Seeing the group’s confident appearance, Yan, oddly enough, couldn’t hide his anxiety.

He didn’t know if he could describe it as seeing the path ahead, but somehow it felt like they were gradually stepping into a boggy swamp.

‘Not good…’

“I want to challenge you.”

Seeing Siana’s confident appearance, I smiled with satisfaction.

In fact, there being five players was just a bluff.

You couldn’t beat Siana with numbers.
You needed ability.

I had no intention of honestly playing 1vs5 poker.
If you play a game like that, even if you win, the results won’t be any good.
Not only would it be difficult to direct an effervescent scene, but it’d also make me a total villain.

The number of players was just a camouflage to hide what was truly important.

“Hey, I’m looking forward to it.
A gambler who’s never lost.
Frogs in a well really think that it’s the whole world.”

“You sure you can do it, Chinuavi?”

“Senior doesn’t know.
Goblins are a race that boasts the highest win rate in any competition.
And I’m the best player among them.”

“Boasting about that kind of title is really setting up a flag for losing later, but… alright, yeah.
I look forward to it.”

This was what I’d intended from the beginning.
To have only one person sitting next to me, and to hide his importance, adding four more players in the mix.

I looked into Siana’s eyes.

They were good eyes.
Eyes that had never known defeat.

But soon it’d be broken.
The promised victory residing in those pupils.

It was time to teach the frog in the well the bitter taste of defeat.

…

Hmmmm.
Well, by fighting 2vs1.

Editor’s Notes:

None for this chapter.