Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 207



Only Noblemtl

207.

A land overflowing with weathered rock fragments that have taken the ravages of time.

When you step on it, you will be surprised at the different sensation on your feet compared to other places.

Chains hung high above swayed ominously in the wind, and the iron machinery creaked and creaked as it rose and fell. The great cavern seemed to go on forever, and if you climbed the stairs beyond, you would find their king sitting high above.

This was a playground located on one side of an elementary school.

“Come on, walk! ······I’m sorry. Please walk.”

The ninja boy behind me pushed my back.

Inside the playground, boys wearing black masks and clothes were snickering and laughing sinisterly. Someone was pretending to put his tongue on a plastic blade, and another one came up to me and threatened me, saying, “Gyaha!” He was hit hard by another ninja and dragged away.

And then a ninja beyond said:

“Be careful. That guy just now lost his mind at the sight of blood.”

Is that a light warrior setting? Interesting.

I looked at the ninjas with each setting.

Their actions, each in accordance with the setting, made me realize that the children were serious about this game. I slowly moved forward, watching each of them and trying my best to remember them.

······But was the light warrior setting acceptable in this era? Was he a child ahead of his time?

“Our lord is before us! Be respectful!”

“Huh! I never give in!”

“······I like acting.”

Haha, I got compliments too.

I went up the stairs through a low tunnel leading to the slide.

Two boys on the slide blocked me with their swords crossed in an X shape.

“Stop! This is where the noble one is!”

“Tell me why you came here!”

Before the ninja who brought me to those words could respond, a voice was heard.

“Stop it. You know the dust. Let me hear it.”

······A cute and adorable voice that doesn’t match the dialogue, and has a slightly slurred pronunciation.

“Yes, master!”

The sword that had been blocking my path disappeared.

“Lower your heads and come inside!”

“Oh, over there. It’s so narrow, I don’t think I can fit inside.”

The elementary school slide had a ceiling attached to it, so I had to bend down to get in. Also, considering that there were at least three people inside, including the master, I didn’t think there would be a place for me to get in.

At the moment of crisis when the setting was about to collapse, the Master stepped in.

“Pig. There’s no way I can put him, who has good power, into the hands of evil power.”

“Damn, that’s right!”

“Sam, that skinny old man named Jegil said it was bitter.”

“Very bad! As expected!”

“Um, okay.”

“······.”

These guys are so cute when they get lost in the setting and then occasionally come back to reality.

“Come talk to me.”

I slowly raised my head at the words of the master leading the ninja clan.

He was standing on the slide.

An oriental boy of the same race as me. With chubby cheeks and a pouty expression. Cute.

······Could it be that this guy also became the master of this ninja clan simply because he is ‘Oriental’?

“What is your Ninja Skin?”

“I can climb trees and rescue balls that roll under cars.”

“······! What a surprise! Even I can’t do this technique!”

“A master has the skill to hit a spitball exactly where he wants it!”

“But it’s also a matter of getting used to the saddle. I wonder if Ashley will be able to become a master.”

“Oh, that could be the case.”

“Give that kid to Nya.”

“why?”

“······.”

A boy whose face turns red and he cannot answer.

In that moment, I came back to reality and felt like the puzzle was falling into place.

‘I like it. I like it.’

The other ninjas didn’t seem to know, though.

‘Just a minute. If I use this well.’

After coming up with an idea that I thought was evil(?) even to myself, I held my forehead and groaned.

“Ugh, my Ninja Master Mind skill is about to activate!”

“Ninja Master Mind Skills?!”

People who back away while making a fuss.

I shouted as I watched the Master trying hard to appear calm.

“I know why you’re obsessed with Ashley! You definitely······!”

“Ah, aaaah!! Don’t do that!!”

“Then swear allegiance to me! I am a ninja master far more renowned than you!”

“I swear, I promise!”

“Master?!”

“Why?!”

“Get on your knees, you punks! This is our savior!”

“Ugh······!”

“Ugh!”

“I can’t believe it! Try to guess my mind!”

“Okay. I’ll listen to your hearts.”

I took my wallet out of my pocket.

“You guys must be really craving ice cream right now.”

This is the adult way, kids.

***

“Ugh, ugh······!”

In fact, Ashley had been walking leisurely and slowly until she turned the corner, but the moment she came into sight of the playground, the stronghold of the ‘organization’, she began to run, breathing heavily.

There wasn’t really a big reason, I just thought it would look more dramatic that way.

And rather, she thought that the ‘evil organization’ would need time to talk to the Master they had chosen for ‘play’.

So after running all the way to the playground, she realized that she had not yet received proper training from her teacher and thus had no superpowers or ninja skills, but her body was already moving to save her master.

“You guys~~~!!”

Ashley bursts into the organization’s secret base, shouting curiously.

And what she found was ten ninjas sitting in their seats eating ice cream.

“······???”

“Oh, Ashley.”

The god who was holding the paper bag among them looked back.

“You came. Have some ice cream.”

“Oh, ice cream?”

“This is something brought from the sacred land of the North.”

It’s a product from the ice cream brand Huber’s, and I bought it at the mart right in front of the school.

These were the items bought by boys who, upon seeing the bills in the wallet, would run around with their arms outstretched like real ninjas.

Asked to choose between chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla cone ice cream, Ashley approached them and chose strawberry, looking at the ninjas in a daze. They all took off their masks, which they said they would not take off until they died, and happily ate their ice cream cones. Among them, even their leader, Phillip, was visible.

“Hehehe, ice cream.”

“What is this······.”

“I controlled them. With my ninja mastermind skills.”

“yes?”

“Ashley, have you ever struggled in front of these people? Look. Their leaders are ultimately in the palm of my hand. I brought them to their knees with my ice… no, with my cold insight.”

“Wow, you’re amazing! Master!”

“But look! You have done nothing in front of these cute… no, insignificant ones! Everything was my test! And you will pay the price for failing the test!”

The god shouted, swinging his arms in an exaggerated gesture. Then he suddenly looked to the side.

“······.”

Rebecca Wong was seen standing inside the window with her arms crossed.

A very surprised look. Then, soon after, as if someone had called him, he turned around and disappeared.

God thought that when he returned, he would have to find out about the euthanasia process.

The bigger problem was that Ashley knelt down in front of him, who had momentarily frozen.

To someone who didn’t know, he was a grown man who made a third grade girl kneel before him. Shin looked back blankly at Ashley as she continued to speak, trembling.

‘Wait a minute, this.’

A situation that could be very misunderstood by others······.

“Please teach me.”

“······Era, I don’t know. That’s why I prepared a test for you! Now you have to fight these ninjas and win!”

“Oh, how! My parents passed away, but I’m still a normal human being?!”

“That’s the way to become a ninja! A ninja is not about learning, but about realizing!”

God decided to go beyond the setting.

He knew that no one would want such a loose development, and that no matter how much he tried to teach her, it would only waste time, so he wanted to make Ashley a ninja in one go through an event called ‘Awakening’.

It was a very convenient method of development that has been passed down from ancient times.

“If you don’t want to die, awaken your inner ninja! Come on, ninjas!”

And when he looked back, Shin found the ninjas still eating their ice cream.

“This is really delicious.”

“Yeah, I could eat ten of these!”

“I have twenty! Hehe! I have more!”

“I can eat more!”

“······Oh, guys. Let’s do this after we eat ice cream.”

“yes-.”

Shindo and Ashley also took out one of the remaining ice creams and started eating it.

Yum yum.

Everyone sat down for about 10 minutes, forgot about ninjas, swords, ninjutsu, and superheroes, and peacefully enjoyed their ice cream.

The children gathered the trash for him, calling him Master. God accepted it with a happy smile. He soon collected his emotions and shouted.

“Ninjas!”

“Kuhehehe! If it is the Master’s order!”

“······Ninjas don’t cry.”

Sling-. Ninjas step forward, drawing their swords.

Ashley, who was surrounded in an instant, was attacked. Kyaaat! Kyaak! Kyaak! Take this! Amidst all kinds of dialogue, the ninjas’ sword strikes were sharp and Ashley was helpless.

······Of course, I didn’t actually hit him hard or anything. I just pretended to.

And every time Ashley screamed in pain, Rebecca, who was in the library, would occasionally appear and look at her from the window with a ‘what the heck?’ expression.

God thought.

‘This is not playing. This is not playing.’

It’s really fun, but it’s not playing.

And contrary to expectations, he shouted, completely immersed in the situation.

“Kuhahaha! Ashley! If you don’t want to die, awaken the ninja within you!”

“Huh······! Could this be, the Master’s test?!”

“Don’t be fooled by non-existent truths! You idiot!”

“Oh, you shouldn’t use the word stupid.”

“······Sorry. Hey, he’s a bit lacking!”

“Ugh! Huh, Mother?! Father?!”

Ashley finally remembers a secret from her past and comes up with something.

“Now I know. My rich mom and dad were actually ninjas!”

Some really creepy background settings have been added.

The quick-witted Philip stepped back and shouted.

“Hey, hey, take it! That guy’s trying to become a ninja!”

“It’s too late!”

Ashley snatched the ninja sword from before her and started swinging it wildly!

***

Finally, Ashley awakened as the ninja she had longed to become.

The girl who had defeated ten ninjas in an instant shouted at me that she had finally gained the strength to fight against evil and avenge her parents. And I didn’t just hand over the position of Master of the evil organization to Ashley and retire… Instead, I heard this from the kids.

[Let’s play together again next time!]

[Master! This is really fun!]

[Buy ice cream again!]

That’s nice. Maybe I should rent an ice cream truck and go later.

Somehow it reminds me of the proposal time.

Fortunately, Rebecca, who witnessed the scene herself, either pretended not to know or didn’t care, didn’t say anything.

After returning to the dorm with my friends, I sat at my desk late into the night thinking about what had happened that day.

‘It was definitely a productive day.’

There was something impressive in each and every one of the children’s actions.

Before I even begin to write down how I’m going to put them together, I’ve taken a mental inventory of the history of superhero comics to the best of my knowledge.

The birth of superhero comics is linked to pulp fiction.

In the early 1930s, when Americans were struggling to make ends meet due to the Great Depression, movies, pulp fiction, and comics were like a shower of rain that fell on their leisure time. These three things closely influenced each other and developed into motifs or original works for each other.

Among them, comics began to develop significantly by choosing the somewhat unique genre called ‘superhero’ as its main genre.

Beginning in 1938, many heroes were born, starting with Superman, and have shaped American history.

From the Great Depression to World War II, people loved superheroes who could blow away any problems that were prevalent in the world and any anxiety in their hearts. That era was called the Golden Age, but it later became a dark age due to state censorship and media revolution.

Then, as the scientific competition between the United States and the Soviet Union intensified the public’s need for science, it was successfully revived by using many science fiction materials in the story.

Likewise, if you look closely, the ‘genre’ in general, including superhero comics, has often responded to the needs of the times.

So what era is it now?

Children loved the ‘tragic past’, ‘stimulating subject matter’, and ‘realistic story’. Considering those aspects, it is understandable that ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ became a hit.

Yeah, people loved the provocative story of Batman, a realistic superhero with a tragic past.

‘It was quite a shock for me when I first saw it.’

Should we say that it was a comic that went beyond the existing concept of a hero and made you feel compassion for the human being Bruce Wayne behind the mask?

After thinking about it that far, I slowly organized the ideas that came to mind today by scribbling them on a white piece of paper.

Racism.

A tragedy based on reality.

What kind of superhero movie would be popular?

I think we’ll find out more in the future by manipulating the children with ice cream.