Ron sat up and summoned the item with a thought.
It materialized in midair, and he caught it before it could fall, feeling its solid weight in his hand.
He turned it over several times, examining it from every angle.
“So the system can even produce items from Bleach.
The effect has been weakened, but it’s still pretty useful.”
The real question was what he was supposed to do with it.
Was the system expecting him to erase someone’s memories after doing something unspeakable?
And recent memories was so vague.
How much could it actually erase?
Ron returned the Memory Chikan to the Multiversal Item Storage, then eagerly rubbed his hands together.
Now that the evaluation was over, it was time for another draw.
He had already considered what kinds of abilities he needed.
Now that he was officially a Mage, his first priority was an offensive spell—preferably something ranged, since attacking from a safe distance was always better.
Next came escape magic, something that would let him flee immediately whenever he encountered danger.
A cloning ability would also be excellent
Drawing Naruto, for example, would allow him to use the experience accumulated by his clones to improve much faster, reach S-Class as soon as possible, and regain control of his trust fund.
After completing his usual pre-summoning ritual, Ron pressed the button.
Whoosh—
He watched the animation from the [Multiversal Character Summoning Pool] with eager eyes.
He had already drawn characters from Naruto and Bleach.
Surely the system could give him someone from One Piece this time.
He was not asking for much.
One of the Four Emperors would be enough!
Then a blue-bordered card appeared with a large C printed across the back.
Ron sighed.
His chances of getting what he wanted did not look promising.
The character’s image gradually came into view.
[One Piece — Buggy]
Ron rubbed his temples as his blood pressure began rising again.
He was becoming convinced that the system could hear his thoughts and deliberately chose the most irritating way to grant his wishes.
Buggy technically did become one of the Four Emperors in the future, but…
‘You bastard!
Do you seriously think this is the Emperor I was asking for?!’
Still, it was better than another D-rank card.
Ron took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down before reading the ability list.
[Character Card: Buggy]
[World: One Piece]
[Character Ability Rank: C]
[Ability One: Buggy Ball (D)]
[Effect: Grants basic concealed-weapon throwing techniques and knowledge of gunpowder production.
With the proper materials, the user can quickly create specialized ammunition with powerful explosive effects.]
[Ability Two: Chop-Chop Magic (C)]
[Effect: Grants the user body-separation magic.
The user may detach and levitate any single body part, controlling it freely within their field of vision.
Both feet must remain on the ground while the spell is active.]
[Ability Three: Chop-Chop Emergency Escape (C)]
[Effect: A single-use passive ability.
When struck by a fatal cutting attack, the affected body part will automatically separate and reassemble, completely negating the damage once.]
Ron’s expression brightened.
An ability that could save his life was more than acceptable.
It only worked once and only against cutting attacks, but surviving one fatal blow could make all the difference.
The other two abilities were less suited to his needs.
Buggy Ball was a knowledge-based skill, which meant he might be able to learn it without choosing it as his final reward.
Chop-Chop Magic also felt rather limited.
He could only separate one body part, and his feet had to remain on the ground.
What was he supposed to do—detach his arms and throw punches from a distance?
One weak left hook followed by one equally weak right hook?
Ron stopped wasting time and equipped the character card before climbing out of bed.
This time, he would have to go all in.
If he failed to raise the completion rate, he would lose his chance to obtain the life-saving ability.
He decided not to visit the woman at the flea market again.
The theatre tent should already contain costumes similar enough to Buggy’s outfit.
When Ron arrived, Wes immediately greeted him.
“Young Director, what would you like to learn today?”
Ron shook his head and merely smiled at him without saying a word.
The moment Wes saw that expression, he shrank back as another terrible feeling crept over him.
Ron continued staring until Wes could no longer endure the silence.
“Young Director, please just tell me what you’re planning.”
“Uncle Wes, let’s go advertise the Pure White Theatre Troupe together!”
…
Central Plaza, Magnolia Town.
Laxus had just returned from a job and was making his way through the plaza toward Fairy Tail.
It was part of his usual route back to the guild.
His expression remained cold as he listened through his headphones to classical music with a strong rock arrangement.
He had been in a foul mood for the past several days.
After their encounter in the library, Vee had told him all about Ron.
Laxus had only one word for the boy.
Boring.
Ron was clearly clever and hardworking, judging by everything he had accomplished.
That still did not change the fact that he was weak and possessed almost no combat ability.
Worse, Ron had completely fooled him in the library and left him feeling guilty for frightening an innocent child!
Every time Laxus remembered it, anger surged through him, and he wished the brat would appear so they could settle the matter.
He took several deep breaths and continued toward the guild.
After passing the fountain and drawing closer to Fairy Tail, Laxus noticed a large crowd gathered in the open space outside the guild hall.
Already irritated by the library incident, he frowned and prepared to order everyone out of his way.
Then he looked up and froze.
A temporary stage had been assembled from stacks of wooden crates.
Four poles supported curtains around it, and a large banner stretched across the top.
[THE PURE WHITE THEATRE TROUPE]
Wasn’t that the troupe belonging to that guy?
Perfect!
Laxus had been looking for an opportunity to confront him.
His expression brightened as he searched the area, but he could not find Ron anywhere onstage.
Bang!
Just as his patience was running out and he prepared to investigate, a pair of explosions erupted from both sides of the stage.
Smoke poured outward and covered the entire platform.
The sudden blasts startled the townspeople below, but their surprise quickly turned into excited cheers and applause.
Two shadowy figures—one large and one small—could be seen bouncing out from behind the stage through the smoke.
They finally came to a stop in the center.
As the smoke cleared, their costumes were revealed.
Ron wore a red-and-white striped shirt beneath an oversized coat, along with a triangular jester hat.
Most outrageous of all, a round clown nose had been fixed over his own.
His face was covered in clown makeup, and his lips had been painted a blazing red, stretching his smile into an enormous grin.
Laxus stared at him in disbelief.
‘That clown…
is Ron?’