Arc 3 - Choices We've Made: Chapter 15

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Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.

The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.

"Speech"

Time*

Arc 3 - Choices We've Made: Chapter 15

I let my guard down after being too relaxed and thinking nothing could happen to me.

Somehow, just by taking a nap, I'm now aware of what's happening around me in my dream, where a creepy clown dressed like a gentleman in a stylish business suit is kneeling before me with his head pressed to the ground.

He won't tell me his name, so I call him a gentleman because it sounds better than anything else.

"So, let me go over it again to make sure everything is correct." I felt my right eyebrow twitch. "Because of several reasons, because of my past actions. I've somehow caused countless problems for everyone."

I pause for a moment in an attempt to gather my thoughts.

"As if that wasn't bad enough. There are certain worlds that I'm supposed to visit to either save certain people or just cause enough trouble to destroy the canon events for a different ending for that world. This would make viewers watch my life like a reality TV show. Viewers who would give you ratings that would be used as payment to help you change your status in your world, which you're not allowed to tell me any further from that." I close my eyes for a moment.

I knew being isekai would somehow become entertainment, but still. This is just a whole new level of bullshit.

"There are others like you who own a personal multiverse to pick the main character like me to start a story to entertain the viewers who will support you to keep recording everything related to the main character through ratings." I had to pause again at how crazy this sounded.

What kind of existence am I dealing with that owns a multiverse as if it were ordinary everyday objects? Fucking crazy, man.

"However, my past actions using Failure Manipulation caused your recording to become unstable instead of capturing the exciting parts of my life as it did in the beginning. Recently, it became boring and meaningless due to one of my earliest uses of Failure Manipulation. One of them makes it impossible for you to spy on me, but that wasn't a problem for you in the beginning. The Failure Manipulation you gave me was still developing and had barely formed a permanent bond with me. Only recently has it become worse for you, as my cheat has become more powerful to affect you. This caused you to reveal yourself to me, which led to you explaining everything to get my permission to record me again temporarily."

I sigh loudly.

"In the past, I was randomly given to you as a main character and a cheat to use as plot armor for the story. However, you couldn't control me because of certain rules that you couldn't tell me for the safety of both of us. In fact, you knew that there might be some problems along the way, but you didn't expect that the cheat I was given would become so powerful. As a result, the plot you had planned would slowly crumble until you were forced to meet me in person, hoping that I could cooperate with you until the story was complete. After that, you won't have to record me anymore, and I'll live the rest of my life without worrying about people watching me. Did I miss anything?"

The gentleman slowly rose to his feet.

"Ah, no. You summed it up very well." The gentleman smiled happily as if he hadn't just performed the Japanese dogeza. "So, for the final season, the story is supposed to end in blazing glory, as the saying goes. Not literally dying in a dramatic action way, I assure you. However, I must request you not bring the Sekirei with you, and I know this might pain you, but even Juvia will not be allowed to come with you on this final journey. For she will distract you from completing the end of the story."

I raise an eyebrow at this.

The gentleman coughs into his hand and looks away.

"Even if it wasn't shown often, you and Juvia have too much sex, and some viewers might like that. But more than half of the viewers are not interested in sex. If they want to watch people having sex, they'll go somewhere else focusing on porn." The gentleman explains carefully. "So it's best while you're on camera. Try not to have sex at that time. I'll even contact you beforehand."

I wonder if the guy knows that it will be annoying not to have sex for a long time. Of course, I can just fuck myself up again by making it so that I don't get horny with any other girls but Juvia and Sekirei. But I'll leave that as a last resort and see what kind of world I'll be sent into.

"So, what do you want me to do?" I ask now before I do something that will disappoint and bore the audience. "And what do I get out of it? Excluding my life and everything related to it won't be on camera unless I say so somewhere long in the future."

"CHAOS!" The gentleman throws his head back and screams at the top of his lungs at this word. "Bring chaos everywhere; make everything unpredictable! Show me what that intelligent brain of yours can do!"

Sorry to burst your bubble. I am anything but intelligent. Hell, I'm not going to make myself smart when I can do it with Failure Manipulation. Yes, it's stupid of me, but I'd rather stay stupid and be myself in my mind. Since my body is already beyond what it was before, I've received Failure Manipulation.

"And the part where I get something in return?" I remind the insane crazy clown in a suit.

"Strictly speaking. This is by default, but whether I continue with the story. Anything related to you in the future outside of the recording would not be shown because I don't have permission to do so, and doing it without permission will lead to an end no one wants to happen to them." The gentleman shrugs. "But, I'll give you a little extra by giving you a minor boon, also known as a minor cheat, that won't be on the same level as Failure Manipulation or having the potential to reach that level. For example, Superstrength is considered a minor cheat."

"Alright, before I choose my minor cheat. How many worlds are you sending me to, and how long do I have to stay there before I return to Juvia and the Sekirei?" I ask now before the gentleman pulls a fast one on me, and I might not see the others for a long time.

"That depends on your performance. The story ends if you can create an epic ending in the first world I've sent you to. If not, I'll have to send you to another one until you bring me an epic ending that satisfies both the audience and me." The gentleman chuckled, then hooked his bright red nose, sounding more like bells from heaven than anything else.

What the fuck. What happened to the whole creepy ass clown that might as well have come from hell itself coming after you?

"In other words, you can keep making me go through multiple worlds until you and the viewers are satisfied?" I narrow my eyes, preparing for the fight of my life.

"Oh, perish that thought." The gentleman rolls his eyes. "I have other main characters waiting for me to deal with. You're just one of the main characters nearing the end of the story. It would be foolish of me to let you go on with more worlds with a high chance of boring the audience with how easily you solve your problems with Failure Manipulation. And believe me, you're not One Punch Man, who has a lot of action to keep viewers excited with each episode/chapter. Not to mention the comedy."

On the one hand, I feel a little insulted, but on the other hand, I'm okay with not being One Punch Man, even though I could technically can. On the bright side, I'm not getting screwed over like I thought.

"What happens if I don't manage to create an epic ending after so many worlds?" I raise an eyebrow when the gentleman lets out a sad sigh.

"It depends on how bad you did in the first world, which shouldn't be a problem since we've seen what you did in the past in Fairy Tail. However, if it's bad, I'll have to give you one last chance before canceling the whole thing by making a disappointing ending." The gentleman made a sad clown noise.

"I see." I raise the other eyebrow to match the other one. "So, will I be sent to a random world, or would it be possible to tell me the name of the world?"

"That would be a surprise." The gentleman's smile widens beyond what should be possible. "Well, how about I tell you the restrictions before you choose your minor cheat?"

Of course, there would be restrictions. I sigh inwardly, "Let's hear it."

"Do not use the magic you have learned in the Fairy Tail world." The gentleman said immediately, but didn't say anything else.

"When you say not to use magic. Do you mean I'm not allowed to use them, or I can only use magic as a last resort?" I ask cautiously because my primary methods of combat are my magic. Not using them will take some time to get used to.

"Do not use magic unless you are on the verge of death." The gentleman let out an angelic chuckle.

Fuck, man! Change your appearance to match your tone!

"Right, then I'll choose my minor boon now." I knew there was something wrong with the way he acted off camera and the way he acted on camera. Damn it!

"Great!" The gentleman claps his hands. "Tell me, what do you want for your minor cheat?" He stares deep into my eyes.

"How about Breathing Empowerment?" I recall how there is an anime I have read in the past that's related to breathing as its core for combats.

"Hm. Powerful, but not too powerful compared to other cheats I know of that could count on a minor cheat level scale." The gentleman rubs his chin. "Granted."

Suddenly, I gained the basic knowledge of how to control my breathing, allowing me to unlock abilities related to breathing alone, even recreating abilities I have in mind when picking this as my minor cheat.

100% failure rate to being unable to recreate all the abilities I know of through anime, manga, light novels, etc.

"Now, off you go, and don't worry about your harem. I'm going to stop time in that world, and everyone in that world will be waiting for your return, Renato." The gentleman smirked. "So, you better work hard and hope you create the epic ending in the first world."

A trapdoor appeared beneath me, making me stare dully at Gentleman as I began to fall. I didn't blink or break eye contact until I could no longer see the freaky clown anymore, who calmly waved me farewell.

Well, time for the final arc of my second life and see if I can make it an epic ending. If not, at least I tried my best. I also do not care if many complain that I could have done better with Failure Manipulate, which I can use whenever and whatever I want since it wasn't restricted. Either way, I have a good reason to make an extra effort to reunite with Juvia and the others.