Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 331 DIGRESSION

In the Red Room of the Manhwa Hall, it sucked to have no green lights. The light above Second Life Ranker was no longer blue, but red like the others. Looking around, I mentally thought of the 12 doors like numbers on a clock. The entrance to the room was my 6 o’clock. The Second Life Ranker was my 11 o’clock. Last time I stepped into rooms without my World Lasting Physique it bit me in the ass, but I wanted to try anyway. World IDs were pretty much useless. 

Moving to the 12 o’clock door I hesitated on the doorknob. “Last time you were Gantz,” I said. I really wasn’t scared to venture into a door with all my skills. But something told me I needed to change things up. I turned to the 10 o’clock door. “You were Naruto,” I said. That was the first good choice I made with the doors. Receiving chakra, my Chikyugi, learning ninjutsu, it set me up for success. I was sure if I hadn’t found the world I would have been dead rather quickly. 

My hand drew away from the 12 o’clock door. “It’s time to learn from my mistakes,” I mumbled as I walked to the West wall. I stepped through the 10 o'clock door and walked in without a worry. I approved Hancock joining me and let the world take me. 

I came to in the new world with a crushing weight overtop of me. Struggling for breath, there was pure darkness all around me. My body aching, I pushed it to the back of my mind. My mind’s eye searching my body I felt an immense Haki called to me. Since I still didn’t have World Lasting Physique I was caught off guard by the amount. The me in this new world was strong, very strong. 

Coating my body with armament Haki and channeling chakra in all of my limbs I pushed out with all I had. A great weight lifted off of me as what was on me followed the path of least resistance. As I lifted, light leaked in from above. I roared louder as I pushed with all I had. A massive boulder was thrown off of me and landed away with a thud. 

The light illuminating the area I noticed I was surrounded by rubble. As if I had been caught in a landslide there were boulders, rocks, tree trunks, and bits of nature all around me. “What the hell happened?” I mumbled as I stepped out of the small pit where my body had narrowly survived the stone wreckage. 

It wasn’t too far to walk until I was at level ground again. Looking around there were trees all around me, except straight ahead, where a line of trees had been knocked down. Confused, I looked behind me to the large boulder I threw off myself. “Was that rock thrown onto me?” I asked, surprised how far the line of trees were knocked down ahead. With nothing else to do I followed the path made by the boulder. 

Looking down to my body I noticed I was in heavy armor. It was pure black without a scratch on it. No weapon around me I was trying to play through what manhwa this could be. “Is it a hero one?” I asked. That was pretty standard for manhwa. Maybe I was a hero. 

Tempted to summon Hancock, I thought it best to wait until I did a memory meld. That was when I got the notification. 

“No fucking way,” I said, amazed. I didn’t think that regressor stories would be part of the world choices. Since they included living your life over, I always thought it would be too much of a hassle to keep track of. Amazed at the possibilities, I noticed a small puddle of muddy water in my path through the trees. Running up to it I looked at my armored reflection. 

I was Weston Woon. Once a student at the prestigious Havrion Academy. Me and another 150 million people had spent the last 10 years trying to conquer the strongest Shadow World ever imagined. These shadow worlds were a danger to our world and posed real threats if not conquered. 

Unlike my other worlds, the memory meld wasn’t quick snippets of information. I continuously received memories from this new version of me. Normally I took the spot of younger people and the major parts of their life were played for me. Now I was taking the place of someone older that had a very hard life. 

After entering the Shadow World loved one after loved one died. Comrades, friends, family, all of them fought and died in this hell of a place. I witnessed all of it. Atrocities that my other lives never had to experience. Over and over they died. Each time this version of me got back up and kept going. 

To be honest I was more than a little impressed as I remembered it all. This sort of existence took true grit. Grit that even I wasn’t sure I had in me. Plans failed and people died because of it, but always, I got back up again. Ready to try again. Ready to save the world.  

As the memories faded I found myself crying on my knees. My hands in the muddy puddle I wiped my nose as I looked up to the path the boulder had made. The trail through the trees hadn’t been made by just the giant rock, it had been made by me as well. Our immortal foe had thrown it at me to knock me away. 10 long years we had spent in the shadow world. All to kill Bhomier Napolitan, a world ending dragon. This was our final battle against the beast, and I was missing it. 

I gritted my teeth and shot up. Instinctively casting buff magic on myself, I ran toward where the fight had been going on. The dragon had thrown the massive rock at me, knocking me away as we began to win. 

My body light compared to the strength of my legs I leapt huge distances to get back to the battle. Back to what was left of my friends. Nothing else mattered but finishing this. 

As my speed only increased, I was desperate to find them and the beast, but before I knew it, they were right in front of me. I had been looking for the monstrous kaiju-like dragon way up in the air. But its body laid prone in front of me, flat on the earth. 

The otherworldly dragon Napolitan was dead. Its massive maw no longer drew breath as my friends stood, sat, and cried in front of it. All appeared beat to hell. Though exhausted and dirty I didn’t see anyone missing. 

“Weston, thank the lord,” Priscilla said. The holy woman was bleeding from a gash on her head but was busy bandaging others up. 

“You made it,” Donovan said. The big man nodded, his huge axe on his shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

“I did…” I said, my eyes struggling to look away from the dragon. I expected it to shoot up at any moment and begin the battle again. Some other phase activating like a cheap master villain. But it really was dead. My senses couldn't feel any life left in the best. It’s two main eyes closed, the one on it’s forehead was gouged out. 

When I was convinced the beast was dead I looked around to see who had survived. Counting one by one, there were only six people, including myself. Six people out of the 100 that had set out to kill the planet destroyer a week ago. 

More tears dripped down my cheeks. I looked back in the direction the fight had started a week ago. So many of my comrades had to be buried. Their lifeless forms left in the path of destruction our fighting had caused. 

“We really did it,” Raphael said. Shaking his head he began to laugh. Throwing his hands up in the air the laugh turned into a cackle. That idiotic laugh of his had actually been missed. Someone else joined in then another, and to my surprise, I began to laugh as well. As if a great weight was leaving my shoulders I found myself laughing uncontrollably. 

The area filled with our laughter. But as time moved on the laughter died down. When someone let out the last it echoed in the wide wilderness around us and was no more. I shook my head, happy tears now mixed with the sad. 

A part of me said that I didn’t need to worry about this. I had been to a dozen other worlds and gone right to planning my next move. This world though I was actually in the middle of a goal. The biggest event in my entire life had just transpired. All the anguish from the memories I just absorbed had finally paid off. I was reveling in the feeling. 

I couldn’t help but feel like this is what it would be like when I finished my Challenges. I knew it was going to take a long time to finish them. In the Manga Hall I had been so burnt out. So ashamed of myself, and for what? I stepped on a few toes?

 I was fucking living the dream. I was traveling to worlds that I had only dreamed of. I was growing strong, sleeping with whoever I wanted, finding true love in more than one place, and making all of these worlds better. I was in the fight for my life, and it wasn’t until this moment that I finished another fight for my life that I could remember that. 

The loss to Mikhail was a distant memory at that moment. I was starting to think that maybe my challenges weren’t about winning every fight. They were a marathon, not a race. Otherwise the controllers of these worlds wouldn’t give us so much time in between fights to allow us to experience these lives. Yes, I was supposed to become strong, but also I was expected to do what I wanted. Which was the greatest gift of all. 

I had died, many times, and I was still kicking. I was still experiencing these amazing situations and lives. I was still pushing forward. Yes, I stumbled now and then, as my original self in this world had, but I pushed through. I always pushed through. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Weston of this land knew what it meant to want to give up. He knew what it was like to go up against insurmountable odds, and here he was, laughing at the end of the world with the few people that pushed through as well. 

“What’s up?” Donovan asked me.

Brought out of my thoughts I looked up at him. Still smiling I shrugged and sat down right there. My elation from victory still fresh in my mind. I didn't care to move past it. I was going to win this, I was going to push through and stop feeling bad for forfeiting. I was going to do what I always set out to do, and win this thing. 

“Look at that. The wise cracking Weston really can shut up for a minute,” Joad said as he sat atop the boulder. The mage was plenty beat up as the rest of us. 

“Up yours,” I said, flipping the man off. “I’m surprised you’re still alive, old man.” 

“Me too,” he said with a huff as the quiet Kingscrest walked over. The standoffship woman sported a deep gash in her side that Priscilla quickly began to work on. “What next?” 

“Hell if I know,” Raphael said. “Pretty sure our plan ended at killing this scaly bastard. Shouldn’t the shadow world be spitting us out about now?” 

“Sometimes it takes a while,” Joad said. “I’m looking forward to getting back home.”

“Pretty sure we all are,” Donovan grumbled. “Weston, you promised to stop by my home once we finished this.” 

A month ago none of us would have expected to beat the final boss. I had made a lot of promises for after we finished the shadow world. Too bad most of the people I promised were dead.

“Of course, how else am I supposed to get myself an Estaban wife?” I asked. The Esteban people were all muscle-headed giants. At least the men were anyway. I wasn’t too sure about the women. “I’m sure you could introduce one to me.” 

“I would be honored,” the big man said, and meant it. “What would you like in a wife?”

I looked around at the two women around us. I locked eyes with the ice princess, Kingscrest. “Preferably one that can crush a watermelon between her thighs,” I said with a wide smile. The white haired woman rolled her eyes as others laughed. 

“I’m sure that is doable,” Donovan said. “You think I am strong? I have a cousin that never travels by horse because she can run faster than them.”

“Sounds like a great ride,” I said. He and I had this conversation dozens of times. By this point the guy probably had a hundred cousins with different attributes we talked about. Whether I wanted a bride that could cook, bear me strong children, or bend me into a pretzel, Donovan had them all. Our own little ritual I was happier than I could imagine that we both made it through this. 

“What about me?” Raphael asked. “I could use a woman like that.”

“Too bad,” Donovan said. “It takes a real man to marry an Esteban.” 

“Real man?! I just killed a dragon,” Raphael said in faux anger. 

“You killed it? No, no, I killed it,” Donovan said.

“I thought I killed it,” I said.

“You were too busy getting blown away by pebbles,” Joad said.

“Pebbles? That thing was a mountain,” I said, pointing where I had come from. “Sorry I don’t get to sit in back like you, my dainty mage friend.” 

“Dainty?” Joad asked, perking up. “No, I am the trump card. Just because I am a little squishy doesn’t mean I’m not strong.”

“Yes, it does,” I said, laughing. 

“That doesn’t sound right,” Joad said, shaking his head.

“I’ll never understand men,” Priscilla commented. 

“Priscilla, how many times must I tell you? Just go on a date with me, and I’ll explain men to you,” I said to her. 

“My lords, how many times must I say no? The end of the world is not the time for a date,” she said, a smile on her face. 

“You’re right, let’s skip the date and go right to the end of the night,” I said.

“You wish,” she said, rolling her eyes. I laughed and the conversation continued on. 

The feeling of victory slowly taking a backburner as we waited, I finally remembered this was a new world for me. Caught up in the drama of the world I brought up the notification I received when I arrived. 

I frowned, not remembering the exact name of the manhwa. I didn’t understand why korean entertainment always had such oddly specific titles. I had read weird things in my original life like “My Second cousins out of the country.” Then the story would be some slice of life story where someone lived in a new place and met people. In the end I guessed it didn’t matter, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember exactly what the story was about. 

It sounded familiar of course. Returners were always a classic theme with Korean series. Some person from the future would go back in time to use cheat codes to speedrun things…which was honestly a lot like what I currently did. I knew the majority of canons for worlds I had picked. I really doubted I would have done so well in the manga halls if I hadn’t.

Caught off guard that I had never really thought about it before, I racked my brain about what this story was about. I remembered a main character sent back to the past somehow. He met a blue haired kid, some wind girl with a sniper rifle, and…the ice princess.

I looked up to Adjest Kingscrown. Was that her? I asked myself. She had pure white hair, shining silver armor, and a long sword. A part of me thought maybe it was her under the shining helm. Confused, I looked around trying to see if I recognized anyone else from the manhwa. I wasn’t too sure. My memory meld and knowledge of the comic was too mixed together. I for sure didn’t see the main character. Was I at the end of the story?

“Why is this taking so long?!” Raphael yelled. “I want to go home.” 

“It should be soon-” Joad said but stopped as the mana in the area skyrocketed in power. Each of us stood at attention, sensing the mana coming from the dragon. Fearful that the beast was still alive, magic circles appeared around the others as the mana only continued to grow. 

“What’s happening?” Donovan asked. 

“I don’t know,” Joad said, fear in his voice. The man was usually emotionless, but we could all tell this was a huge amount of mana. “What-Oh no,” he said as blue magic circles began to stack upon one another in front of him.

“What?” Priscilla asked. 

“I read once that the heart of a dragon is like a mana engine,” Joad said.

“What does that mean, magic-nerd?” I asked, my nickname for him kicking in. 

“It means that dragon hearts exponentially put out mana. A huge amount.” 

“Pretty sure the heart stopped beating, dude,” Raphael said.

“That doesn’t matter!” Joad said as the mana continued to rise. “That thing’s heart might continue to generate mana until…”

“It double dies?” I asked, hopeful. 

“Until it explodes,” Joad said. The air became thick with it. We had been fighting the thing for so long, but none of us moved. Those with magic continued to cast, hoping that our defenses from before were enough, but for some reason I knew it wasn’t. I finally remembered what happened at the end of the story. No not the ending, but the beginning. 

A white light began to explode from the dragon’s center. Like a nuclear bomb set off there was no running from it. Covering the distance from the dragon to us took a millisecond. Far too little time to escape. Far too little to do anything besides flipping the dragon off one last time. I had done it enough to the beast over the last week. Maybe one more bird shot at the thing would finally do it in. 

But my last-ditch effort didn’t pay off. Instead, pain seared into my flesh as my entire body on a cellular level was vaporized with the explosion of the dragon heart. The interesting thing was, I really wasn’t sad about it. A part of me knew death would come when I least expected it. That’s how it always happened. I would know, I’d died more than enough times by that point.