Ch.234Web Novel Showdown (5)

“You’ve accepted the challenge!!”

Victory Man shouted loudly and immediately activated his Psycho-Robo ability.

“What the…!”

The first victim looked around in confusion with a bewildered expression.

The space around Victory Man transformed into pixel-like dot graphics, similar to a game.

Ding-!

Then, something like a status window appeared above his head.

‘Asamiya Goro’

‘Pen name: Shouk’

‘Web Novel Power: 450’

‘Main genres: Character theft, Academy’

As the Web Novel Power stat appeared, a list of all the works he had written so far scrolled down.

Having all his career exposed like this… that’s a bit embarrassing.

“Five years of writing… but your Web Novel Power is low. Let me see what you’ve got.”

Victory Man said, waving his hand.

Whoosh-!

And a sword made of text appeared in Goro’s hand.

“Here I come!! Taste my best character theft work!!”

Goro immediately charged with the sword.

“Hoo hoo.”

Victory Man stood with his arms crossed, not even trying to dodge.

Stab-! Thrust-! Stab-!

The text sword pierced into Victory Man.

“Wait. I thought this was a novel battle. Why is he using a sword?”

Mika asked in a tone of incomprehension.

“No… that’s just imagery.”

I immediately grasped what was happening.

Though it looked like they were fighting, in reality, he was writing a novel in real-time for Victory Man to read.

“That’s right. Because if we showed the actual process of writing a novel as it is, it would be too loose. So they made it game-like.”

Teacher, being an industry insider, provided additional explanation.

“Exactly.”

I immediately high-fived Teacher.

“Hey. When did you two get so close…”

Mika said in a tone of disbelief.

That’s right. You could call it the limitation of occupational stories. Anyway, that’s how it was. The entertainment value that can be extracted from scenes of people just working is limited. If a show only featured people working non-stop, everyone would drop it and cause an uproar.

What readers expect from occupational stories isn’t painstakingly accurate depictions of work. It’s about succeeding through work. Being recognized at the workplace, winning beautiful women, enjoying the rewards of work.

(This is strictly my personal opinion.)

“I see. You understand entertainment.”

Mika said in a tone of disbelief.

Ting-! Ping-!

“How about this!! The impact from the first five chapters!!”

At that moment, the man’s sword struck Victory Man between the eyebrows.

Stagger-!

Victory Man stepped back slightly with the sword in his face. What? Is it over already?

But… of course, that didn’t happen.

“I get the gist of it. Only the first five chapters are interesting. You front-load the tension by cramming all the rivalry between female characters at the beginning. But… do you have any grand vision for the story after chapter 6?”

Victory Man asked.

“What…?!”

The man seemed struck at his core.

Damn… was he a four-chapter writer?!! Then it can’t be helped!! It’s true that developments often stagnate after the paid chapters!!!

“After the conflicts are resolved, everyone just gets along and the story meanders to an ending. I can see it all.”

Then, numbers appeared above Victory Man’s head.

“I’ve made some edits to your novel… wouldn’t it be better like this?”

Beep-beep-beep-!

Victory Man’s Web Novel Power began to rise dramatically. It surpassed 700.

“Thanks to you, I’ve gained data. This will make me stronger.”

Afterward, Victory Man immediately created a text sword and swung it.

Swoosh-!!

The sword cleanly sliced through the Four-Chapter Man’s body.

“It’s… it’s good… much better than mine…!”

He seemed to have a severe reality check.

And Victory Man drove in the final nail.

“Five wasted years, I see.”

At Victory Man’s words, his mental fortitude crumbled.

“Aaaah…!!”

“Ah!! You’ve acknowledged defeat deep in your soul!! Then victory is mine!!”

Victory Man immediately activated his Psycho-Robo ability.

Fwoosh-!

A dot-graphic monster began to knead Four-Chapter Man’s body.

Pop-!!

Immediately after, Four-Chapter Man’s body transformed into a plastic action figure.

“My victory collection has grown.”

Victory Man fiddled with the action figure.

“Wh-what’s happening…!”

The writers at the banquet all seemed shocked. Everyone tried to flee at once.

“Now, now. You shouldn’t run away during a match.”

Victory Man said, trapping everyone within a barrier.

“Is this the extent of Earth’s novelists? Can’t even defeat one alien who’s just getting into Earth novels.”

Victory Man chuckled as he spoke.

Writers are fundamentally creatures of pride. His words immediately triggered them.

“Bring it on!! You alien!!”

“Uraaah!!”

The writers charged at Victory Man one by one.

“We have to stop them!!”

Teacher shouted. I could guess why Teacher said that.

“Shit!!! This is the cliché where he defeats them one by one and levels up!!!”

It was a development where he collected data from the losers through battles and his Web Novel Power skyrocketed.

Shit!! You’re Japanese, aren’t you?!! Haven’t you seen Dragon Ball?!! This is exactly like the Cell saga!!

“Ah… regret, devastation, obsession….. It’s intense but… lacks depth.”

Boom-!!

“Oh! Isn’t it a bit lazy to make the protagonist a pushover just for conflict? Do you think more sweet potatoes make pure love more touching? It doesn’t.”

Boom-!!

“This is… just boring. Why did it get monetized?”

Boom-!!

“Stop with the tag fraud.”

Pop-!!

The writers who had charged in boldly were turned into action figures one by one.

And Victory Man’s Web Novel Power… approached 3000.

Half of the web novelists remained. The rest had all been transformed into toys.

His ability was simple yet dangerous. If an opponent lost their fighting spirit or felt defeated, they would turn into toys without question. No matter how skilled, no one can perfectly control their mind. If they simply felt defeated, they would irreversibly transform into toys.

———

“I knew this would happen!!”

I immediately cried out in anguish. He’s an enemy you could just ignore, so why…!! This is clearly a contrived power-up event for the enemy!!!

“Shota. Can’t you just pick up a sword or something and cut him down instead of doing this stupid stuff? You’re strong, right?”

Mika said.

“No… that won’t work.”

Teacher said.

“We’re already in his barrier. Once inside, we have to formally compete and win against him.”

Teacher sighed.

“Wait… this is your first time seeing an alien, right? Why are you so calm?”

Mika questioned Teacher.

“I’ve seen this development tons of times in anime.”

Teacher said seriously.

Yeah. It is a common trope. A standard formula.

——–

“I suppose… if I defeat everyone, it would be too boring. So… let’s have you battle my elites in a Web Novel Power contest. These guys are quite strong too. They’re versatile.”

Victory Man opened his coat.

“Mommy… I’m cold…”

“Please… help me…”

Old dolls emerged.

“This one… I got from a battle 300 years ago. I just killed his parents. They seemed unnecessary.”

“A trophy from 30 years ago!! She was a famous idol… I won fair and square in a singing contest!”

Then, Victory Man placed his hand on an action figure. It was a humanoid alien girl with cat ears.

“Ah! This is my favorite action figure!! She’s a descendant of an ancient race with only a few dozen left in the universe! Very rare!!”

As Victory Man said this, Teacher’s eyes widened.

“Y-you’re… Mimiko? It is you, Mimiko?!!”

Teacher stammered.

What? An unexpected reunion here?

“Satoshi…!”

The toy seemed to recognize Teacher.

“Teacher… what’s going on…”

What is this development?

“She was… an alien girl I met in the forest when I was 8. And… the only friend who brought light to my gray life!! She was my first love!!”

Teacher shouted.

It’s a bit of a sudden development… but the passion came through.

“Hoo hoo. That’s good then. You can join my collection together. Slavery is more fun when you’re with friends, isn’t it?”

Victory Man laughed.

“Satoshi… help me…”

Mimiko cried out with tears.

“You… I’ll never forgive you!!”

Teacher shouted with immense anger.

“Teacher…”

It must be his first time getting angry for a woman. Teacher… had grown from a boy into a man.

“Shota! This is my fight!! I’ll win with my own hands!”

Teacher shouted.

However, Mika and I stood protectively beside Teacher.

“I… don’t like that bastard. With his disgusting hobby.”

Mika clicked her tongue.

“Yeah. Do you enjoy doing that?”

I asked.

“Of course!! With this ability, I’ve become the galaxy’s strongest assassin!! These are records of all the losers I’ve eliminated!! So fun!!!!”

Victory Man laughed and shouted.

“Assassin… you’re not an assassin. You’re just a sadistic maniac.”

I said.

“You have no respect or courtesy toward your opponents. You’re… insulting the very concept of competition!!”

I was properly angered too.

“Seems like we all have grudges against him, so let’s join forces.”

I smiled and said to Teacher.

“Heh. That’s right.”

Teacher said, wiping his nose.

“Excellent!! Then battle with my subordinates!! Whoever survives will face me!!”

With Victory Man’s shout, his subordinate toys charged at us.

They were powerhouses with Web Novel Power in the 500s. What? Did he train toys to write or something?

Fwoosh-!!!

At that moment, Mika and Teacher rushed forward.

Slash-!!

Mika immediately swung a text rapier.

“Gaaah!”

“Kyaa!!”

With that, the toys were instantly neutralized.

That’s right. Mika was the #1 author on the platform. Her Web Novel Power was… a whopping 3500.

Boom-!

Teacher unleashed text like energy bolts from his hands. The toys hit by Teacher’s high-powered magic immediately collapsed.

Teacher was no slouch in Web Novel Power either. He possessed a massive 4000 Web Novel Power.

And I… had a Web Novel Power of 1000. Yeah. I’ll just ride the bus. That’s what I decided. It seemed like the two of them could handle everything.

“Let me show you the spiciness of Earth’s web novels!!”

I shouted at Victory Man.

“You’re doing the least!! Stop with the cool lines!”

Mika complained.