I, who tortured the readers, was knocked to the ground by them!

Chapter 166: Being close to beasts will make you unhappy.

"take care."

Former gigolo Yamazaki said goodbye to his client with a smile and ended his work for the day.

Although his smile is no longer as bright and cheerful as before, he still found a job specializing in receiving customers thanks to the sales skills he had practiced as a gigolo and his decent image.

After seeing off today's customers, Yamazaki put away the fake smile on his face and walked out of the store in a daze.

"Did you hear about the final episode of Flame Fist?"

"Oh, really? The cartoonist known as one of the three great beasts of the new era?"

Several high school students passing by were chatting enthusiastically about comics.

There was a time when he, a new otaku, would chat enthusiastically about comics with his friends.

They argued about who was more powerful between the Four Emperors and the Admirals, and compared between Garou and Boros to see who was truly "under one man".

I heard that there is still no answer as to who is stronger between Boros and Garou, and the popularity of the manga has dropped a lot.

But he no longer talks about these topics with people.

Because he had lost valuable work in the past because of "Flame Fist".

At that time, he was completely desperate and ready to fall completely into the second dimension and become an incurable otaku.

Fortunately, after playing "White Album" in winter, he broke away from the two-dimensional world and willingly became an idol otaku.

But as an idol otaku, the hurt he suffered made him unable to let go for a long time.

After going crazy online and attacking that bastard Ying Teng Shuye, he walked out of the house again and returned to reality.

He doesn't plan to touch games, comics, or idols anymore. He can't be a otaku anymore.

So no matter what, he would never read that newly born comic.

Cross the street.

On a screen on the streets of Shibuya, there was a promotional advertisement that read, "The popular work "Flame Fist" has officially been completed today, and the single volume is now on sale."

"Oh, I won't be fooled. Even if you sell me a lot, I will never watch it. I want to go back to being a cash-rich person."

Yamazaki muttered to himself and took out his cell phone.

The reason why he was able to get out of that emptiness and pain was actually because he had someone he loved.

No matter how beautiful Yukiko is, she is still illusory. She is more real because people around her can see and touch her.

To be honest, Yamazaki's biggest dream now is to marry his secret crush, Sakura.

Getting married is so beautiful.

If you are like Kumaichi Sakamoto, who is about to get married but still reads the works of a beastly cartoonist, you will definitely become unhappy, so you must never read them.

I returned home and opened Instagram.

The keyword "Flame Fist Completed" is prominently displayed in the popular searches.

"Oh, don't try to trick me. I won't watch it even if you push it to me a million times."

Yamazaki thought, spending money to torture yourself, isn't that pure masochism!

He opened the goddess's INS and checked her updates.

A girl named Sakura: "I discovered a hidden gem today! This girl named Yukiko is so cute! And she's so bold! I love her! If she has any offline events in the future, I'm going to find someone who understands Yukiko to go with me."

Yamazaki certainly understood Yukiko very well, but now when he read this message, his heart ached.

That beast Ying Teng Shuye is even worse than Changshan Haruki!

Sakura: [I found a lot of manga videos on Yukiko's account, and I suddenly feel like I've fallen in love with reading manga.]

"Comics? So, even a modern goddess would be interested in comics?"

Just when Yamazaki looked subtle, a message suddenly flashed on Line.

Sakura: [Yamazaki Yamazaki, when we were in college, I remember you were a member of the Manga Research Club, right?]

The goddess actually took the initiative to send me a message.

Yamazaki jumped up from the sofa in excitement, but should he talk to her about comics?
But I've made up my mind
Yamazaki: [For now. 】

"But I don't read comics anymore," Yamazaki muttered while typing with his hands.

Sakura: [That's great! Can you lend me some comics? I'm so bored lately! Haha!]

Yamazaki's fingers paused and his brows furrowed slightly.

Sakura: [If it's okay, I'll come to your house tomorrow and ask you for the comics! ]

Yamazaki's eyebrows rose, and his finger quickly pressed on the delete key.

Yamazaki: [Of course.]

Yamazaki: What kind of comics do you like to read?

Yamazaki immediately realized that this was a rare opportunity.

Sakura: [I saw Yukiko recommended "Flame Fist" on Twitter. Do you have it here? Of course, if not, that's okay too! Haha!]

Yamazaki originally wanted to say that I don’t recommend you watch Flame Fist.

But that would be too straight.

I remember when I was being trained as a gigolo, a very important point was to follow what the girl said, to listen, and to deliberately find common topics.

So, should the topic be Flame Fist?

Humph, after being tortured so many times by that beast Haruki Nagayama, he can finally be of use to me.

Yamazaki: Yes, there are!

Yamazaki is the core figure in the gathering place of Haruki Nagayama's black fans. As the leader of the black fans, he must have bought a lot of his comics.

After all, you have to see it before you know how to curse.
Sakura: [That's great! Actually, I've always wanted to talk about manga with someone, but I've been so busy that I haven't had time to read. Now that I finally have some free time, I have to make up for what I missed.]

Yamazaki: [Yeah. 】

After greeting the goddess.

Yamazaki found the app called "jump+" in the app store again, sat on the sofa, and pondered.

"I don't watch anime or anything like that, but right now, I'm here to have something to talk about with Miss Sakura, and to pursue a better life. It's definitely not because I'm curious about the ending of The Flame Fist, and it's definitely not something I want to watch."

"that is it."

Then he clicked on the comic that had once caused him great harm.

What is the story of "Flaming Fist"?

Agni, the boy who was a blessing, was cursed by his sister Luna before she was burned to charcoal by the flames.

The name of the curse is "survive."

His purpose in the past had been revenge.

But the purpose of revenge has already been achieved.

Although he once thought about letting go of the enemy who burned his sister to death because he was actually a good man who adopted many children, Agni still used the Flame Fist on him.

Reduced everything to ashes.

Although Agni had achieved his revenge, he was still in pain.

When he decided to die, the director who initially just wanted to make an interesting movie with Agni as the protagonist gradually treated him as a younger brother in their daily interactions.

Afterwards, the director saved him with his own life and cursed him again.

"Live."

What's next?
He played the protagonist of the movie, played the hero, played the Flame Fist who wanted to save the world, and played the hero of the world.

He exposed Yoda's lies about the "Ice Witch".

It turns out that the Ice Witch doesn't exist at all, it's just a lie they use to exploit everyone.

As a hero, Agni faced the liar who told "lies" and committed a lot of crimes, and the "demon" who looked exactly like his sister.

But hesitated.

Yoda said that all the evil was due to her, and you must kill me.

Agni knew that he should kill Yoda!
But when faced with the amnesiac Yoda, he did not kill her, but told her, "You are Luna, my sister."

Agni also lied, deceiving Yoda, but more importantly, deceiving himself.

Otherwise, he wouldn't know why he would live after Yoda's death.

The two of them lived together, and he really treated Yoda as his own sister Luna.

Opening the Flame Fist manga, countless memories of death hit Yamazaki.

It made him feel a little uncomfortable.

And now the final chapter.

Agni, lying on the ground, his whole body turned into charcoal.

Dying.

The one who did all this was the little boy, Sang, who was saved by Agni.

He had grown into a young man, and he embraced Agni as God and founded Agniism.

Now he wants to bring back Yoda, who used the lies of the "Ice Witch" to deceive and harm everyone in the past, and bring him back for trial.

Just when San announced that he would kill all the criminals in the world, Agni appeared.

In front of the whole world and Yoda, he chose to save Yoda.

Sang was unwilling to accept all this, and the god in his heart would not make such a choice.

So, he shouted "You are not Agni!" and started fighting with the idol he had always worshipped as a god.

In the end, Sang won the victory.

Agni is finally dying.

Agni had gone mad, his mind was blank.

Only one sentence left.

【Live. 】

The face of Luna, or perhaps Yoda, kept flashing by.

Flames ignited again between the fingers of the dying Agni.

The never-extinguished flame met Sang who was calling "Agni" in the distance.

Burned him to ashes.

Agni regained his body again.

Yoda appeared and she hugged Agni tightly.

Yoda had recovered all his memories, but she still held Agni tightly.

But Agni no longer recognized Yoda in front of him.

"who are you?"

Agni lost all his memories.

"All I remember is that I felt like I was going to kill someone."

Yoda did not answer.

Just gently wiped away the fire on his face.

Kissed his cheek.

"You no longer need to kill anyone. You are no longer an Avenger, no longer a hero, no longer a god, no longer the Flaming Fist."

Yoda said softly.

"This time, just be who you want to be. That's my wish."

She gently touches Agni's face.

"Live."

Yoda, who successfully awakened all his blessing abilities, turned into a giant tree that grew to the universe, absorbing nutrients from other planets and restarting the entire planet.

At the same time, it also extinguished the flames in him.

The world of ice and snow melted.

Eighty years later.

A student found Agni in the cinema.

Tell him, "San, your sister Nanette is dying."

Yamazaki, already overwhelmed, frowned. Why "Sang"? Was it a typo?
No, it is impossible for Haruki Nagayama to make such a low-level mistake.

Agni, or rather San, came to the hospital.

The fields outside the hospital are full of golden rice fields.

Nanette lay in a hospital bed, surrounded by her children. She lay dying.

Nanette told about the agreement she made with Yoda. After Yoda turned into a tree, she raised her as her younger brother according to the agreement.

As for why the name is Sang.

Nanette didn't mention it.

But Yamazaki understood, just like treating Yoda as Luna's Agni.

She also mistook Agni for the Sang whom she had loved.

Agni, or San now, wants to ask, taking the last chance to ask Nanette, what kind of person he was before he became San.

But before I could ask, Nanette had already left the world.

Sang's students found Sang.

He handed a pill to Sang.

She revealed the secrets of the world.

Before the world entered the glacier of the end of the world, there lived many old humans, each of whom was blessed with the ability to regenerate.

After the Earth entered the ice age, they abandoned the Earth and left.

Now, war is about to break out again because the land where wheat can be grown is becoming less and less.

So, he handed him the pill. The old humans in the past used this pill to commit suicide.

".This worldview."

As a veteran comics reader, he knows that suddenly adding a new worldview at the end of the story is a taboo, which can easily make readers lose their sense of immersion and cause the work to collapse and end badly.

However, when Yamazaki looked at the new world view revealed in just a few pages, he was only filled with immense shock.

He almost forgot that, besides being a beast, Haruki Nagayama was also a terrifyingly talented cartoonist.

Think about it carefully.

From the beginning, I thought the world was a post-apocalyptic wasteland with super powers, to later discovering that all gods were lies, to the worldview that is now revealed.
Although unexpected, everything seems to be within reason.

But Agni can finally die, right?
The person who wanted to die to find relief from the very first episode.
This is probably the only work where readers hope the protagonist dies. After all, death is too easy for him.

The student gave Sang one last thing, a video recorder that was left behind by someone unknown.

Turned on the video recorder.

It was a silent movie.

The comic flashes through the protagonist's monologue.

I don't know what movie this is, or why it was made. There's only a man covered in flames, probably the protagonist.

[He keeps killing and being killed, all in this senseless violence, with absolutely no clue why!]

【But, looking at that man whose whole body is burning with flames.】

[For some reason, I clenched my fists.]

【Live. 】

【I want to live.】

Looking at the words "survive", Yamazaki couldn't help but get goosebumps.

So shocking.

hundreds of years later.

Yoda in the universe often forgets why he is here and what he is.

Every time this happened, Yoda would pray, pray for the man he didn't know who he was.

I don’t know why, but this makes me feel better.

Thousands of years later.

Yoda had forgotten everything and didn't know what his use was.

She wanted to kill herself, but she couldn't do it no matter what.

Why was I born and why do I exist?
I looked at the blue planet under the tree, which had been shattered by a meteorite. Was it useful in the past?
Tens of millions of years later.

This is unimaginable pain.

Nothing makes sense.

Yoda lies in a void where nothing can happen, nothing can happen.

Who can come and save me.

Yoda prayed, hoping a miracle would happen.

A miracle happened.

A man appears.

Although it was the first time they met, they felt very familiar with each other.

She said her name was Luna.

He said his name was Sang.

The two smiled at each other, and then slowly fell asleep together.

【THAN】

Yamazaki put down the comic and took a deep breath.

Sang, Luna.

Day, month.

Thinking back on the story carefully, it was so shocking.

All the foreshadowings are revealed one by one.

It turns out that all the endings were designed at the beginning of the story.

Especially the short last episode, each scene is more shocking than the last.

Yoda became "Luna" and Agni became "San".

What kind of imagination can come up with such a world view and a turning point scene where a tree spreads into the universe and then the roots of the tree shatter the earth.

as well as.

That runs throughout the entire comic.

【Live. 】

Although this comic once brought her an impact, it is no surprise that this is a masterpiece.

But after the shock.

Yamazaki couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Suddenly I realized the core proposition of the comic.

Why do people want to live?
What is the meaning of existence?
What is the result of all this?
Is it painful or lucky to keep living?

If everything is nothing, what is the meaning of existence?
Is humankind nothing to the world?

Yamazaki fell into deep thought, contemplating the end of the story.

He had completely forgotten his plan to prepare well for receiving the goddess tomorrow.

There is only emptiness and some meaningless thoughts in my heart.

A week later
[Changshan Chunshu's haters gathering place]

Cowherd Yamazaki resurrected and posted again, [Haruki Nagayama, you deserve to die! Killing you a thousand times is not enough! ]

Everyone exclaimed: "Brother, how did you come back to life again? Wasn't it because of the cherry vine leaves this time?"

[Haruki Nagayama is indeed a beast, but it's been a week since the show ended, why are you cursing him now?]

Yamazaki, sitting in front of the computer, just smoked a cigarette in confusion.

He didn't smoke before.

The day after that day, the goddess did come to him to ask for comics.

But he was thinking about all kinds of meaningless questions and didn't sleep the whole night.

By the time the goddess came to my house, I was already exhausted and had no energy or interest in dealing with her.

Instead, my mind is full of thoughts about what is the meaning of living, nothingness or existence, if people will die while alive, then what is the point of chasing goddesses?
Now when I think about my mental activities at that time, I really want to slap myself.

When I came to my senses and wondered why I was thinking about these questions, I was ready to go back and pursue my goddess again.

But the goddess said, "I am with Taro."

"I borrowed the Flame Fist manga from you a while ago. After reading it, I was so depressed I couldn't even eat."

[In the end, Taro was by my side, comforting me and taking care of me. I felt that Taro was very gentle! So we got together!]

[Haha, let me tell you something. Taro is also watching "Fist of Fire" and is feeling really depressed. I'll have to think about how to comfort her later.]

"Oh, by the way, can you sell me the 'Flame Fist' you borrowed from me? Taro and I recorded it because you borrowed it from me, so I want to buy it as a memento for both of us."

"Hahaha." Yamazaki was smoking a cigarette and was at a loss.

The phone rang, it was a colleague.

"You're being transferred to a rural area in Kyushu. Didn't your boss ask you the other day if you had any good comics? Actually, it's because of a foreign client who dotes on his children. When his son heard his father was coming to Japan for business, he started asking for comics."

And in the end, you told your boss that the comic you recommended was a masterpiece, and he bought a set and gave it to him.

As a result, the client's child was so upset after watching the video that he didn't eat for the whole day! This put the client in a very bad mood, which indirectly led to the loss of the business."

"The leader was scolded by the board of directors for this, and the company just happened to be transferring someone to the countryside. You understand, right? Of course, you still have another option, which is to resign voluntarily."

Yamazaki, holding a cigarette in his mouth, repeated his miserable accusation over and over again, just like the first time he discussed the topic of "Flame Fist".

But in the end I could only press delete.

Never mind. I'm already numb.

Sure enough, if you get close to animals, you will become unhappy.

He just posted: [Haha, it’s nothing, it’s just Haruki Nagayama, a beast!]

【Well, that's true.】

Everyone nodded and agreed.

[Haruki Nagayama, what a beast! ]

[Although the ending is very romantic, it still cannot change the fact that he is a freshman.]

To celebrate the completion, the official launched a discussion event.

The topic is called "What has "Flame Fist" changed in you?"

For general comics, the replies below will bring joy and touch people's hearts.

And under this topic.

A man in Yamazaki typed out a line of words, "I learned how to smoke."

After typing, Yamazaki shook his head and prepared to face everything calmly.

Suddenly I found that Haruki Nagayama’s Twitter account replied to me.

Haruki Nagayama: [Smoking can easily lead to premature death. Haruki Nagayama has always been a kind manga artist who loves his readers, so I don't want you to die early. Mr. Yamazaki, quit smoking! Live on!]

Yamazaki almost gritted his teeth when he saw the message.

Recalling that he heard that a client's child didn't eat for a whole day after watching Flame Fist, Yamazaki suddenly had an epiphany.

After that, he began to promote "Flame Fist" crazily to everyone he met in various places.

Having lost his loved ones time and time again and become all alone, he wants to take revenge on society!

How could he be the only one being tortured by these beastly cartoonists? I'm disgusted, so there must be someone else who is disgusted with me!

As for if some people hate Haruki Nagayama because of my excessive publicity, that would be even better!

Faced with Yamazaki's revenge, Sakurai Itsuki was of course so sad that he could not close his mouth. He shouted in his heart, Brother Yamazaki, you are my half-brother!
Sato Wakaba suddenly tilted her head and asked, "Ashu, it's rare to see you smiling so happily. Are you looking forward to tomorrow's school trip?"

Hanase Shion: "She must have thought of something really naughty again."

Mizuno Yuki, who had already finished her exam, also appeared in front of everyone: "Maybe she's happy because she heard that I did well in the exam."

Listening to Mizuno Yuki's speech, the other two girls' eyes suddenly revealed a hint of hostility.

"The school trip is certainly something to look forward to. As for Yuki, now that the exams are over, she'll have time to help me make videos. I'm pretty happy about that, and of course, it would be nice to get in."

Sakurai Itsuki sighed and quickly brought some water to ease the atmosphere.

If he wasn't afraid of exposing his identity, he really wanted to chat with Yamazaki again in the group and tell him that there was nothing wrong with being alone.

However, he probably couldn't understand his own distress.

(End of this chapter)