Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 321 MANHWA

“You should be able to see my notifications,” she said. “One mentions you having access to everything.” I looked at her confused for a moment, then brought up my Status Screen. 

Name	Weston Watanabe
Current Quest:
World 1:
World 1 Quest:
Passive Skills:	Memory Meld
	Dead Man Walking
Summon:	Hancock	Summon
1 Challenger Slot
Pet:	Nibi - Level 4	Summon
1 Challenger Slot
Usable Abilities:	Status Screen	Other
6 Challenger Slots	World Escape
	Chakra
	Conqueror's Haki
	Berserker Mode
	Nen*
	Tremor Devil Fruit
Bonuses	Hardened Organs
7 Challenger Slots	Medium Psychic Resistance
	Minor Identity Theft Resist
	Minor Mental Resistance
	Fertility Control
	Body Mod Resistance
Items	Gantz Armor	Stored (29)
2 Challenger Slots	Capsule - House	Stored
Currency:	Gold	3,400
1 Challenger Slot

The first things I noticed were what I lost when I forfeited my challenge. The Give and Take Quirk was gone, not even crossed out. I guessed with the Manga Hall blocked I wouldn’t be able to get it back until I had it unlocked again. But at least I didn’t lose the Challenger Slot. 

I lost Venom Resistance as well. And the worst outcome was losing my Seastone Jitte and an Item Challenger Slot. Challenger Slots were rare and hard to come by. But it was better than dying. The last change was the Other next to Status Screen. I clicked it and was given a new window. 

Other Screens

Companion Screen

Companion Notifications

I brought up Notifications first. 

Congratulations at becoming a Companion: Linked

You will now be able to know all the secrets of the

Challenger that has deemed you worthy of learning

of his adventure.

Congratulations at becoming a Companion: Rider

You now have your very own status screen. And can

join the Challenger on his adventures.

Congratulations at becoming a Companion: Fusion

You will now be able to join the Challenger on his/her

quests. Current Challenger Slots will be rewarded to you

at 1/2 of those of the Challenger.

I had originally gotten the item Companion Link, but I had evolved it. I guessed for some reason it evolved twice. Skipping Rider and going straight to Fusion. This really did mean that she could go anywhere with me. 

You have received the following skills as

Weston's Companion

Memory Meld

Status Screen

Ability Challenger Slot x 3

Bonus Challenger Slot x 3

Item Challenger Slot x 1

I wanted to see what skills she had, but waited until I finished the rest of the notifications. 

Congratulations: You are an Unofficial Challenger

Unopened doors for Weston will be updated

to include your presence.

You will be unable to join Weston on his Challenges.

But can assist him in beating the worlds.

Your Notifications & screen will be accessible by Weston.

Whether you join Weston in a world or not, is up to him.

Language barriers to similar species will be eliminated.

Your body will be altered to match the Challenger’s age.

Your original body will not age, but will gain the powers

earned in your Status Screen through Challenger Slots.

If Weston is killed, you will live on in your world and your

time as an Unofficial Challenger will be wiped from your

memory

So she really would have her own versions in the worlds. Unsure if that was a good or bad thing, everywhere but Manga would have some form of Hancock. I also guessed I would get to pick which worlds her mind was allowed in somehow. Which was probably good if I knew a particularly bad world was ahead. It also looked like joining me was nothing but a gain for her as long as I stayed alive. Since her original body was technically frozen in time, she would only gain new experiences with me. 

Congratulations at becoming a Companion: Summoned

Along with growing stronger with Weston you will be able

to watch his Challenges.

A new skill has been made for you due to your Companion status. This will not require a Challenger Slot.

Force Summon

It made sense now how she was able to come to me at the end of my fight. It looked like this would only be useful for Challenges, but if she did have to join she wouldn’t be lost on who to fight. That was the last notification so I brought up her Status Screen. 

Name	Hancock Boa
Current Quest:
World 1:
World 1 Quest:
Passive Skills:	Memory Meld
Usable Abilities:	Status Screen
3 Challenger Slots	World Escape
	Force Summon
	Love Devil Fruit
	Haki
	Chakra
	Nen
Bonuses	Irresistible Beauty
3 Challenger Slots	Snake Charmer
Items
1 Challenger Slots

“Very cool, babe,” I admitted, trying to wrap my head around all of it. 

“Really? I thought it was a little lackluster,” she said. 

“Oh no, you’re starting off with way more than I did,” I said. 

“Which was this body?” She asked, pointing at my younger self. 

“Yeah, pretty weak huh?” I studied her 16 year old body. She was still beautiful. 

“We Amazon’s trained a lot, especially at a young age. Did you not have to in your first world?” 

“No, worst we had to deal with was a bully at school,” I said. Thinking about it I asked, “Would you mind turning around?” 

She frowned but did so. I moved to her shirt, pulling the collar down. “Weston,” she whispered, I could feel the nervousness in her voice. A little lust leaking out I doubted it would be long until we were in the bedroom again. But that wasn’t what I was doing. 

“It’s gone,” I said. “The Tenryuubito Hoof brand they burned into you when you were a slave.” 

“It is?” She asked excitedly. Trying to look behind her. 

“Yep, congratulations. You have a new body,” I said. 

“That’s…” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Surprisingly a weight off of me. It’s like a dream come true.” 

“Good,” I said, giving her a smile. “Now, we need to discuss our next moves.” 

“I still want to know about the worlds you went to,” she said, turning back around. 

“That would seriously take too long. It would be quicker to get stronger, reopen the Manga world, and just take you there,” I said. 

“So you will take me with you?” She asked, hope in her voice. 

“Yes,” I said. “You’re my wife. And it looks like you will be able to help me in my worlds. I’m sure you and I noticed but we have been rushing a lot. You got pregnant the first time we met. We married right after that, like what, a month or 2 after we met? Maybe it would be good for you and I to start over. We can actually date and you can tell me when I’m being an idiot.” 

“Good,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “No more giving up.” 

“No more,” I promised. “I think I just went too hard in the last fight.”

“I don’t care. Even if you can’t go on. I want to go home with you. Understood?” She asked. I frowned but nodded. She leaned in, kissing my cheek. Blushing as she did so, I felt the love from her Haki. She turned around embarrassed and began to study the Manga door. “So where should we go?”

“First, let me look through my own notifications,” I said and brought the first one up. 

Congratulations for living through your 4th Challenge. Please pick a Path

Those you Gave Hope

Those you Let Down

I clicked Those you Gave Hope and received a long list of skills to choose from. 

Choose 1 perk from those you Gave Hope.

Regal Presence

Business Acumen

First Blood

Helpful Hands

Increased Reflexes

Pure Heart

Fiery Passion

Hard Stare

Sightless

Just in Time

Water Gun Quirk

Archeology

Larger than Life

Second Chance

Timing is Everything

Gemini

Increased Nerves

Increased Sight

Royal Decree

Tracking

Big

Trump Card

Soulmate

Breath of Life

Increased Size

Smaller is Better

Big Heart

...

The list kept going, and honestly it felt really good to know I gave a lot of people hope. I guessed being the Villain Slayer and taking down Doflamingo had helped a lot of people. The only skill I recognized was the Water Gun Quirk from Khota in MHA, but I didn’t need that. There were more quirks further down the list but they sounded rather ambiguous. Since quirks could give you weird antennae and spikes in your body, I didn’t risk taking 1 I didn’t know. 

Looking through the list the ones that intrigued me were: Breath of Life, Soulmate, Trump Card, Second Chance, and Just in Time. I had no way of knowing what these did, but everytime I moved to pick one my eyes went back to the list. I couldn’t help but notice a skill called Gemini. It was so vague that it sounded interesting. Gemini were the twins from the zodiac. One of the main skills in my arsenal was making Shadow Clones. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the Gemini skill could help amplify the ability. 

After more thought I decided to say screw it and picked Gemini. 

Please choose a Hall to receive Challenge Reward

“Oh right,” I said. Since I didn’t have a Challenger Slot for the skill or whatever I just picked, I wouldn’t get the skill until I picked a Hall. Next was my last notification. 

Season 1 of Challenges has finished.

Season 2 will not start for 2,000 in World Days

I let out a long sigh. 

“What?” Hancock asked. 

“We just got a long time to prepare,” I said. “2,000 days without challenges.”

“That’s good?” 

“Yes. We won’t be able to get our kids back for a while,” I said. “But in Manga I had this skill called World Lasting Physique. It let me have the same strength in all the worlds of manga. The reason I am so weak is because I don’t have a Challenger Slot for it.”

“I was wondering why you look so…not yourself,” she said, looking me up and down. 

“You either, babe,” I said with a wry smile. “The last guy I fought was impossibly strong. No one else I have gone up against would have stood a chance against him.”

“Anyway, Mikhail, who I fought last. He had conquered halls in more than 1 world. I think that’s the trick to get the World Lasting Physique Challenger Slot.” 

“So we need to go to each of these halls and conquer a world?” She asked, pointing at the Manhwa, Comic, and Book doors. 

“Yes, or at least get the World Lasting Physique in them. If we can do that, I know we would have a much better chance of winning this,” I said. 

“Then that shall be our goal,” she said excitedly. “Where first? I know what Books are, but the others…”

“That’s the troubling part,” I said. “So I had this item called World Choice. It showed me all the possible worlds. I was then able to pick 1 specific world, and the item guided me to the door that hid it. I think our best bet is going to be to start in Manhwa or Comics, since I at least know 2 of those worlds.”

“Okay, which?” She asked. Her eyes sparkling as she looked to me for the answer. 

“I’m thinking Manhwa,” I said. “There you can usually get super strong-”

“Okay,” she said, moving to the door. She opened it but stopped as she got a notification. “Oh right. I have to pick my Challenger Slots. Which should I choose?” 

“Good question. So what do you want?” I asked. 

“Bonuses I will keep. I am an Irresistible Beauty, and a Snake Charmer,” she said, her finger at her chin as she studied the invisible screen. 

“Yes, yes, very much so,” I agreed. She side eyed me, but looked back to the screen cutely. 

“I would think my Devil Fruit would be best, but I can’t swim.”

“Actually you can,” I said. 

“What?” 

“Back when I used the Companion Fusion and Summon Choice on you, I also eliminated your inability to swim,” I said. 

“You did?” She asked, wide eyed. 

“Yeah. I didn’t want you to-” I stopped as she ran over and hugged me. Holding me tight I leaned into the hug, feeling better after receiving it. I thought maybe we were getting closer to where we were, instead of this awkward feeling I got in my gut when looking at her. 

“Thank you, husband,” she said, kissing my cheek. 

“Anything for you, wifey,” I said. She kissed my other cheek and moved away to look at her screen. 

“So I only have 3 Challenger Slots. I know Haki well. Should I use it on Chakra or Nen?” 

“I would say Chakra,” I admitted. “I have my Nen so I should be able to awaken it in your body when we get to a new world.”

“True,” she made the choice and was walking down the hall. I shook my head following after her. 

“What are these rooms?” She asked, confused. There was 1 door on the right of the hall and 2 on the left. 

“The 1 on the right, should be the rejected worlds. I was able to choose 11 main worlds where I can earn Challenger slots,” I said, pointing at the door ahead. “All the worlds I didn’t pick are here.” I pointed at the lone door on my right.

“What is the point of them?” 

“The World Choice item allows me to see all the worlds available. If I really needed something from one of the worlds I could look through it, and the World Choice could guide me to it. I’m sure there’s great stuff in a lot of these worlds. But for now we need to focus on the 11 because they are the only ones that award Challenger Slots.”

“And these 2?” She asked, pointing to the left wall. 

“One is something I don’t know. Probably a sub-genre of Manhwa. The 11 main worlds I chose tended to focus on fighting. This door could be a slice-of-life story or something unrelated to fighting. Apparently I picked them, but I don’t remember.”

“And the other?” She asked. 

“Smut,” I admitted. 

“Smut?”

“Yeah, you know like romance novels, things focused on sex,” I said without shame. 

“Have you been to one of these worlds?” She asked, blushing. 

“I have, actually. In one world, there was a land of elves and other creatures that had no men. I had to help them repopul-”

“So our children have siblings?” She asked, her eyes turning cold. 

“Probably,” I admitted, trying to be truthful. “Some day.”

“Why do I have to love you?” She grumbled to herself. Letting out a defeated sigh she added, “What else?”

“Another was a moral reversal. So women acted like men, and men acted like women. One was a dungeon diving-” 

“Dungeon Diving?” 

“Yeah. Dungeon Diving will be a big theme in this hall. Dungeons are kind of like an otherworldly area. You go up or down levels and have to complete tasks or fight stronger and stronger monsters?”

“Like how Impel Down has levels with tougher pirates?” She asked. 

“Yeah, kind of,” I said. “The last world in the Smut Hall I went to was a Mind Break world.”

“Mind Break?” 

“Yeah, it’s this sort of messed up porn. Where the women are really sensitive to sex. It makes them feel so good that they can’t think of anything else but sex, so it…” I felt a little awkward explaining.

“And I am…able to earn quests and rewards from these worlds like you?” Hancock asked. She was blushing profusely, but I thought she was also a little turned on. 

“I mean, yeah, you should. Why? Is that a skill you want?” I asked, more than a little surprised. 

“Perhaps,” she said. “We will see.” Blushing more, she walked straight ahead to the main hall. I couldn’t help but get excited. Hancock was a perfect 10. It could be fun to go to one of the smut worlds with her. Then again if she was forced to be some random person that was afflicted with other sexual situations… we would have to see. 

We got to the main Manhwa room. 11 new doors all around us, red lights were lit up above all but one. The door I had used a World Choice on was still blue. 

“What’s this world?” Hancock asked, pointing at the blue door. 

“It’s one I think would be best for starting at. The world is called Second Life Ranker or Ranker who Lives a Second Time. It follows a…Marine.” I decided it was best to use terms she knew from One Piece World. “His brother disappears and dies. When the Marine collects his brother’s belongings there is a watch. The watch gives the Marine tips and tricks to follow when climbing a tower.”

“Why would you climb the tower?”

“The tower is like it’s own world. Each level of the tower is actually like their own world. People grow up inside. They are really strong. And the higher up you go the harder it gets, but also the stronger you become. The Marine wants to get revenge for his brother who was killed by someone in the tower. But you and I should have our own lives. We will have to figure out how to get to the tower.” 

“Okay,” Hancock said. Excitement in her voice. “How do we do it?”

“Just open the door and walk in,” I said. I grabbed her hand. Her pulse was high, but she was excited rather than scared. Reaching for the door I received a notification. 

Do you want to allow your Companion

to join you in this World?

Y/N

I thought about it and clicked Y. Then to my surprise I received another new notification. 

Test of Strength - Handicap Skill

Requirements:

1. More than 5 Challenger Ability Slots

2. Season 1 of Challenges Complete

Would you like to handicap all of your current abilities in

new worlds? Bonuses will not be affected.

Yes/No

Your abilities would be brought down to a base strength.

Training the Ability and growing your physical strength

would bring them back up to original power.

The Handicap would increase the rarity of rewards offered.

As well as increase the amount of Challenger Slots

rewarded.

You can cancel the Handicap Skill at any time for specific worlds.

“Shit,” I said, reading it over and over. 

“What is this?” She asked, reading her own invisible screen. 

“This place is asking if we want to make it all harder. To try to earn more rewards,” I said. 

“That sounds dumb,” she said. “Why would we do that?”

“Well I am sure other Challengers are being offered the same skill. Do you want to risk not getting some of the rewards and skills they could earn?” I asked. 

“I…see your point,” Hancock said. “What do you think?”

“Says we can cancel it. Maybe take it and try to make it as far as possible without removing it. All the worlds here should be with normal people. Manhwa is always a weak to strong story, so we should still have a leg up on everyone, weakened abilities or not.” 

“Fine,” Hancock said, clicking yes. I did the same. Not feeling anything different I opened the door. Walking in with Hancock until the darkness took us.